Originally published by The 19th Bettina Benson was getting off a red-eye flight from Los Angeles, on her way home to Marietta, Georgia, when she received an email that altered the course of her business. She was a recipient of a 2023 grant from venture capital firm Fearless Fund, established to help Black women small […]
Money
Posted inBlack Farmers, Economy, Food Access
A New Road Threatens to Displace a ‘Safe Haven’ for New Orleans’ Black Youth
NEW ORLEANS — As the youth group sat in its warm-up circle, Kennedy Turner, half-jokingly, scoffed at his peers. “Why didn’t y’all react to my prom photos in the group chat?” Quickly, Cionne Chase, 19, jumped in to explain that she did, in fact, react to the photos and most definitely did not deserve to […]
Posted inEconomy, Science
Eclipse Fever Is Gripping Black Texans
The word “eclipse” comes from a Greek word meaning “abandonment,” but in Texas, this week’s total solar eclipse has had the polar opposite effect. An estimated 4 million tourists are expected to have flocked to the Lone Star state to see the once-in-a-generation event, which starts in the Dallas area around 1:30 p.m. CT on […]
Posted inEconomy, Money
How ‘Bidenomics’ May Not Be Adding Up for Some Black Americans
Tyler McFadden hoped a college degree would help her land a well-paying career in politics, but the 31-year-old didn’t expect it would come with hefty debt, poor credit, job instability, and anxiety, she says. After earning a bachelor’s degree in American Studies from George Washington University in 2014, McFadden became a bartender. With limited income, […]
Posted inRural Issues, Technology
Millions May Lose Internet Benefits if Lawmakers Don’t Act
For years, Leon Hudson struggled to get high quality home internet in the countryside of Selma, Alabama. If he wanted the service, he would “have to get a petition, go to the neighborhood, and get people to sign it for them to put their stuff there,” the 50-year-old recalled last fall about what internet service […]
Posted inEminent Domain, Money, Rural Issues
Rural Georgia Community Keeps Fighting Despite Railroad’s Win to Take Their Land
After a year-long legal battle with a railroad company over their land, landowners in a rural, majority-Black town in Georgia may be forced to sell their homes. In an initial decision on Monday, a Georgia Public Service Commission officer approved a proposed rail spur in Sparta. Several property owners had refused to sell the land […]
Posted inPartner Content, Technology, The Workplace
Whistleblowing While Black: How Truth-Telling Changes the Careers of Black Women in Tech
This article was copublished with The 19th, a nonprofit newsroom covering gender, politics, and policy. Sign up for The 19th’s newsletter here. The night of Jan. 5, 2021, Anika Collier Navaroli slept poorly. She had an uneasy feeling about what might happen in Washington, D.C., the next day. Back then, Navaroli was a senior policy official at […]
Posted inHousing, Rural Issues
Rural America Has an Eviction Crisis, Too
Black rural Americans are still feeling the strain of the failed promises of the Reconstruction era and discrimination in lending, as redlining has pushed them away from homeownership into tenancy. A new report illuminates the struggle: Southern Black counties have higher eviction filing rates than their white counterparts. In four states — Georgia, Mississippi, North […]
Posted inEconomy
These Charts Show How Black Americans Are Navigating the Economy
Nearly 4 out of 5 Black people in America say that economic inequality is a very big problem in the United States. It’s an issue that Capital B has reported on extensively, from how it has stunted health outcomes and access to health care for Black folks, increased rates of incarceration, and led Black communities to be oversaturated […]
Posted inFood Access, Money
Freddie Gray’s Life Ignited a Movement for Black Food Sovereignty
In death, Freddie Gray’s life sparked a movement. After the 25-year-old was killed in the spring of 2015 by Baltimore police, nationwide, Black folks fought for children to receive the support and resources that he lacked while living. In his hometown, it laid bare how environmental factors — toxic contamination and poor access to fresh […]