Business

B2T Summit Ignites Bold Vision for Financial Empowerment Among HBCU Students

What began as a senior capstone project at Virginia Union University has grown into a transformative movement now gaining national attention. Rodney Manning Jr., a May 2025 graduate of Virginia Union University (VUU), launched FOCUS (Financially Optimistic College Men Uplifting Society)—with a mission to equip young Black men with financial knowledge, leadership skills, and a commitment to community advancement. His journey—and the growth of FOCUS—reached new heights during the 2025 Bridge 2 Technologies (B2T) Global Summit, held May 29–30 in Manhattan, NY. Joined by Tyriek Crutchfield, a rising senior at Benedict College, Manning represented the FOCUS initiative at this prestigious

How Enslaved Mothers Were Made to Produce Slaves

Written By Lexx Thornton What if I told you that Black women’s wombs were once seen as tools to grow the slaverybusiness? I’m not talking just as human beings, but as machines to produce more slaves! Let’sdive into one of the biggest cycles that ran America. You hear of the men who built America such as Cornelius Vanderbilt, John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, J.P. Morgan, and HenryFord. But we fail to hear about what ran America, until now. During slavery in America, something terrifying was made legal without any hesitation. A child born by an enslaved black woman would automatically

President Donald Trump’s latest tax bill dubbed his “big beautiful” plan, introduces a new type of savings option for children called MAGA Accounts

Written By Lexx Thornton Who would have thought that the government would pay you to have children? Are youconvinced that your eggs need to begin hatching after President Donald Trump’s newannouncement? President Trump announced a program that will deposit $1,000 in investment accounts for newborn Americans born after December 31, 2024, and before January 1, 2029. In an effort to incentivize more Americans to have children, President Donald Trump’s latest tax bill dubbed his “big beautiful” plan, introduces a new type of savings option for children calledMAGA Accounts. These accounts come with a one-time $1,000 deposit from the federal government

Bishop T.D. Jakes wants to help Black entrepreneurs With The Good Soil Forum

Written By Lexx Thornton Bishop T.D. Jakes wants to help Black entrepreneurs build wealth and he’s using the Good Soil Forum to reach them. With over 300,000 Black women reportedly losing jobs in the past threemonths, Bishop T.D. Jakes is speaking out about the economic challenges facing Black communities. One way he hopes to address them is through his Good Soil Forum conference, which is taking place in Dallas, TX, this week. The world is shifting and the economy is evolving. In an era of change, uncertainty, and rapid digital transformation, entrepreneurs, investors, and thought leaders are uniting to provide

Bill Gates Vows Most of Fortune to Africa

Written By Lexx Thornton Africa has been on the rise and shows no signs of slowing down. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has revealed what he plans to do with his $200 billion fortune, saying most of his money will go to the motherland. Gates appeared at the Nelson Mandela Hall at the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where he revealed that he intends to donate the bulk of his fortune to Africa through his foundation over the next 20 years. Gates previously said that his goal was to support causes that would help save and improve lives across the

Nissan makes donations to Mississippi HBCUs for STEM support

By J.T. Mitchell Nissan is donating $250,000 to Mississippi’s seven Historically Black Colleges and Universities, according to an announcement made by the automaker Wednesday. For the 11th consecutive year, Nissan is donating to the following HBCUs: Alcorn State University, Coahoma Community College, Hinds Community College – Utica Campus, Jackson State University, Mississippi Valley State University, Rust College, and Tougaloo College. The support comes through Nissan’s Mississippi HBCU STEM Initiative, which was founded in 2014 and aims to support and encourage innovative programming serving Mississippi students and strengthening the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics workforce. ā€œI’m particularly proud as an alumnus

Google $50 Million Settlement For Racial Bias

Written By Lexx Thornton Google agreed to pay $50 million to settle a lawsuit accusing the search engine company of systemic racial bias against Black employees. A preliminary settlement covering more than 4,000 Google employees in California and New York was filed on Thursday evening in the Oakland, California federal court, and requires a judge’s approval. Plaintiffs in the proposed class action said Google has a “racially biased corporate culture” where management steers Black employees to lower-level jobs, pays them less, downgrades their performance ratings, and denies them opportunities to advance. According to the complaint, Black employees comprised only 4.4%

Oregon Tech Doubles Down on Student Coaching to Serve Diverse Rural Learners

The United Negro College Fund’s (UNCF) Institute for Capacity Building (ICB) is leveraging the power of networks, technology and innovation to help Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Predominantly Black Institutions (PBIs) achieve their missions.Ā  Ed Smith-LewisThrough digital and innovative platforms, UNCF is building a connected ecosystem where ā€œinstitutions can learn from one another, scale what works, and shape a stronger, more equitable future for their students,ā€ says Ed Smith-Lewis, senior vice president of strategic partnerships and institutional programs at UNCF. In 2015, UNCF received a $50 million grant from the Lilly Endowment Inc. to launch the Career Pathways

Credit access and management significantly impact young African American communities

Written By Lexx Thornton Credit access and management significantly impact young African American communities in theU.S., often exacerbating existing economic disparities. These challenges stem from a combination of historical, structural, and systemic factors. Young adults in majority-Black communities face notably lower credit scores compared to their white counterparts. For instance, individuals aged 25–29 in majority-Black communities have a median credit score of 582, while those in majority-white communities have a median 687. Such disparities often result in higher interest rates and limited access to affordable credit. Credit denial rates are disproportionately high among Black applicants. In 2023, 65% of Black

Tulsa, OK Mayor Proposes $100 M Trust & Scholarships for Black Wall Street Descendants

Written By Lexx Thornton Black Wall Street refers most famously to the prosperous African American business district inthe Greenwood neighborhood of Tulsa, Oklahoma, during the early 20th century. It became asymbol of Black economic success and self-sufficiency, but it wastragically destroyed duringone of the most violent racial massacres in U.S. history. Many residents were highly educated,and the area was home to Black doctors, lawyers, and entrepreneurs. Children went to privateschools in uniforms and had top-tier education. It was dubbed “Black Wall Street” to highlight its economic power and independence—comparable to New York’s Wall Street. On May 31 and June 1,

1 2 3 25