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We are thrilled to invite you to the Michigan Black Summit, a two-day event designed to educate, empower, and uplift individuals and leaders from across the state. This inspiring summit will take place on February 7-8, 2025, in Benton Harbor, Michigan.Click here for a printable PDF of ad as printed on Page 12 of the January 17, 2025 edition of the Benton Spirit Newspaper.The Michigan Black Summit features engaging workshops on topics such as the social determinants of health, voter empowerment, and economic mobility, along with dynamic keynote speakers such as Quitin Messner from MEDC and Michigan Department of Human…

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – The Anchorage Museum was a happening place on Saturday afternoon as hundreds of people turned out for the 10th annual Alaska Black Business Expo. According to event organizer Jasmin Smith, about 60 black-owned businesses from around Alaska signed up, making this year’s gathering the largest in the expo’s history. Recalling her first expo, Smith said it was nothing more than a small gathering of entrepreneurs.“I didn’t even have vendors,” Smith said.Fast forward to Saturday, and vendors were out in full force. Businesses offered various services like red carpet pictures and weight loss programs; and sold products…

Anissa Keyes Credit: Courtesy photo In the Black community, those seeking mental health services face barriers of stigma, access, and a lack of diversity among providers. Anissa Keyes has spent over a decade breaking down those barriers, all while supporting Black businesses. Born and raised in North Minneapolis, Keyes obtained a degree in social work from the University of Minnesota. She went into private practice in 2012. “I really had a heart for serving other people,” she says, stemming from a father with a lifelong struggle with addiction. “I just wanted to support those that were not probably going to…

Aug. 28 is a significant day. On Aug. 28, 1955, 14-year-old Emmett Till, a Black boy from Chicago, was brutally murdered by three White men, provoking outrage and activism during the Civil Rights Movement. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his timeless “I Have A Dream” speech in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 28, 1963. On Aug. 28, 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, La., significantly impacting neighborhoods that housed a large number of the city’s Black residents. In 2008, Barack Obama accepted the Democratic nomination for president on Aug. 28, which made him the first Black man to ever win…

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – There are several local people and organizations doing their part to narrow the disparity gap.Pastor Portia Cavitt has advocated for equitable COVID-19 vaccine distribution. The Noah Clinic, along with Charles Drew Health Center and One World, help provide more equitable healthcare choices as well.Dr. Jasmine Marcelin of Nebraska Medicine also advised being on the lookout for local health fairs.“Healthcare organizations can and should play a role in reversing the health disparities by addressing structural racism in practices and policies. In the community, there is also great work already happening that people should know about. Community leaders…

Sisters-in-law Ashley Billings and Zoe Baker both knew they could be strong business partners. After talking all summer last year, Baker took their discussions to another level in an email. “The email was the incorporation of our company and the application for our business license,” Billings recalled. “It was the moment when I thought, ‘We’re actually going to do this. We’re going to make this happen.’ And it was exciting because, coming off the social justice movement, we had been conscientious about buying Black and supporting small businesses. And now we were going to jump into the fray.”Six months later, in…

“Black People Know Things” is a Black culture-focused trivia event that began online in Denver in 2020, to curb cabin fever during the COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns. It has since evolved into a popular in-person event held monthly at Colorado breweries. “Our goal is to celebrate blackness in all shapes and forms from the serious to the hilarious and making Black culture and Black history fun and approachable for all people,’ explained founder and original host Darian Wilson.He got the idea after attending a virtual trivia night with his wife and her former roommate in the summer of 2020. Wilson said…

  Design and fabrication by Electric Playhouse   Facing the Rising Sun was curated by the African American Museum and Cultural Center of New Mexico in collaboration with the City of Albuquerque Department of Arts and Culture. The project and installation were produced by Electric Playhouse.    Details subject to change.   Facing the Rising Sun: The Journey of African American Homesteaders in New Mexico, Vision, Belief, and Sovereign Ownership was a high tech mobile exhibit telling the story and honoring the legacy of the first African American families to homestead New Mexico. Facing the Rising Sun was a partnership between the…

by Sharelle B. McNair June 23, 2023 New York City created a great way to highlight all the Black-owned businesses in the city. The New York City Department of Small Businesses Services created an online business directory, titled The Shop Black NYC, which lists over 3,000 Black-owned businesses across the city, New York Amsterdam News reported. Sponsored by the SBS’s Black Entrepreneurs NYC, the website filters the businesses by borough – Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, The Bronx, and Staten Island. It was created in 2019 and launched strategically on Juneteenth. Supporters of the website called the Shop Black initiative “positive” for the…

At least 15 states have joined the growing movement to make financial literacy a requirement for high school graduation.  Utah became the first to require a half-credit financial literacy class as a graduation mandate in 2004. Today, eight states require a stand-alone course that provides students with an understanding of personal finance and skills to make good financial decisions. In the coming year or so, financial literacy requirements will go into effect in seven more states: Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio, Rhode Island and South Carolina.  Experts widely agree that financial literacy should be taught in schools, but the way…