By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, Report for America Corps Member, msayles@afro.com Reimagine Main Street recently awarded cash grants ranging from $5,000 to $50,000 to over 200 Black women-owned small businesses and entrepreneurs through its Backing Black Business: Small Business Grant Program. Meta provided the $2 million funding for the cash grants as a part […]
Category: !Front Page
Posted inNational News
President Biden signs Congressional Gold Medal Honor into law for women of 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion
By Deborah Bailey, Special to the AFRO President Joe Biden signed into law this week legislation passed by Congress last month awarding the Congressional Gold Medal to the Black Women members of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion. The iconic women’s military unit known as the “Six Triple Eight” of the Women’s Army Corps served […]
Posted inNational News
Women Who Win: How the women publishers of Word in Black keep the Black press going
By Alexis Taylor, AFRO News Editor Sonceria “Sonny” Messiah -Jiles had a deal to break. While some young women set their sights on money or marriage, Messiah-Jiles had made up her mind: She would buy a newspaper. Not just any newspaper- a Black-owned publication. A peculiar arrangement was drawn up and the matter was settled-mostly. […]
Posted inBaltimore News
Diane Bell-McKoy leads Baltimore to bring the Black community together
By Deborah Bailey, Special to the AFRO Long before the April 2015 death of Freddie Gray ignited Baltimore’s volcano of protracted racial inequity, Diane Bell-McKoy was calling on and calling out the business community to end policies and programs reinforcing the structural racism that choked the city’s Black population. “Structural racism is borne out by […]
Posted inBUSINESS
Women who are ‘winning’ and speaking at the AFRO’s Black Business Matters Expo
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, Report for America Corps Member, msayles@afro.com This year the Afro-American Newspapers (AFRO) is highlighting ‘Women Who Win’ at its Black Business Matters Expo, which takes place on March 24. During the celebration, numerous exemplary Black business women will have the chance to talk about their professional journey, offer advice, […]
Posted inBaltimore News
A welcome haunting
By Savannah G.M. Wood, Special to the AFRO During the past three years, I have been immersed in the AFRO American Newspapers’ archives. As Executive Director of Afro Charities, I am working with the AFRO to care for this collection and make it more publicly accessible. As a descendant of the AFRO’s founders, I often […]
Posted inBaltimore News
Frances L. Murphy, II – A remarkable winner in life and in death
By Frances (Toni) Murphy Draper, AFRO CEO and Publisher My mother, Frances L. Murphy II, was a winner and a role model to many- especially aspiring Black journalists. For most of her life she enjoyed two professions: working at the AFRO founded by her grandfather, John H. Murphy Sr., and teaching. She began her newspaper […]
Posted inWashington D.C. News
District mourns the passing of former D.C. Fire Chief Kenneth Ellerbe
By Aysia Morton, Special to the AFRO Many Washingtonians are grieving the passing of former D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Chief Kenneth Ellerbe, who was found dead in his home in Southeast, D.C. on Sunday, Feb. 27. Authorities are conducting a routine death investigation and no foul play has been suspected. The 61-year-old […]
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Singer Traci Braxton of ‘Braxton Family Values’ dies at 50
By Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Singer Traci Braxton, who was featured with her family in the reality television series “Braxton Family Values,” died at age 50 on Saturday. Her sister, Toni, and family said that Braxton died “this morning as the snow was falling.” According to reports, Traci Braxton had been fighting esophageal […]
Posted inWashington D.C. News
Ward 5 Council candidate Faith Gibson Hubbard working hard for Washingtonians outside of the spotlight
By Micha Green, AFRO D.C. and Digital Editor, mgreen@afro.com Wife, mother, education advocate, former Director of the D.C. Office of Community Affairs and now Ward 5 Council candidate Faith Gibson Hubbard said her wealth of experiences doing things outside of the spotlight makes her the perfect candidate to dutifully and selflessly serve her hopeful constituents. […]
Posted inBUSINESS
Q&A with NCAA Champion of Diversity and Inclusion Jen Fry
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, Report for America Corps Member, msayles@afro.com Jen Fry is the CEO of JenFryTalks, a social justice education company that uses conversation to educate and empower those within athletics through an anti-racist lens on subjects of race, inclusion, intersectionality, diversity and equity. Fry transitioned into the diversity, equity and inclusion […]
Posted inNational News
Black Engineer of the Year Awards Recap: Ted Colbert receives top honor and Laura Murphy makes history
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, Report for America Corps Member, msayles@afro.com The Black Engineer of the Year Awards (BEYA) Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) community boasts over 10,000 individuals. Its premier three-day event is the largest Black STEM conference in the country, during which grade and college students; government, corporate and military professionals; […]