Category: Business & Finance

by Megan Sayles AFRO Business Writer Although reducing stress and promoting well-being go hand in hand for many, it’s easy to confuse the act of “self-soothing” with what is called “self-care.” The former is typically reactive and occurs when a person engages in an activity to provide instant relief for emotional, mental or physical distress….

Sponsored by JPMorgan Chase Financial wellness refers to having a healthy and balanced relationship with money. In general, it is where an individual’s financial situation aligns with their values, goals, and overall well-being. However, it’s important to note that financial wellness is a personal and relative concept that varies from person to person based on…

By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, msayles@afro.com When Siraaj Woods joined Kappa Alpha Psi’s Zeta Chapter at Ohio State University, he took charge of the fraternity’s social media. A sophomore at the time, Woods didn’t have experience in social media marketing. He was studying to become a computer scientist. But, Woods quickly realized he had…

“Educational and economic transformation in the Inland Empire is fundamentally impossible without cross-sector, region-wide collaboration, cooperation and alignment. When we all work together, everyone wins,” said Ann Marie Sakrekoff, Growing Inland Achievement’s Interim CEO. INLAND EMPIRE, CA – Growing Inland Achievement (GIA) will host its 7th annual Toward a Shared Vision summit on October 25–26…

By Bria Overs,Word In Black Working for a lifetime is rarely any person’s dream. As people get closer to age 65, they start putting together their plans for living out the rest of their lives in a well-deserved retirement.  However, too many Americans lack the “longevity literacy” to prepare for retirement properly.  In a study…

By Chrisleen Herard Special to the AFRO As the finance world takes hold of artificial intelligence, the question arises of how it will continue to influence an industry that manages money across the globe. The idea of artificial intelligence (AI) came from the pages of a children’s book and a German novel from the 1900s….

By Megan Sayles/AFRO Business Writer msayles@afro.com Four years ago, Carl Brown began writing a story about a young boy named Sammy. He was not a regular boy. Sammy possessed an alter ego with a superpower that helped him and his friends to make smart financial decisions. With the help of a Citi Foundation grant in…

Nationwide — Meet Tamera Preacher, the founder and CEO of LyingClient.com, a website she envisioned after having three consecutive bad experiences with difficult customers. On one occasion, her general contracting company, one of very few owned by a Black woman, had been falsely reported to the BBB, and this motivated her to create a platform…

By Dr. Frances “Toni” Draper, AFRO CEO and Publisher Nearly 20 years ago, historian John William Templeton and engineer Frederick E. Jordan Sr. declared August as National Black Business Month to “drive the policy agenda affecting the 2.6 million African American businesses.” Today, according to the latest data, there are more than three million Black-…

By Oliver Darcy, CNN CNN  —  Facebook is shunning the news business in the US. The Meta-owned company has quietly made changes in recent months that have dramatically reduced referral traffic to media outlets, more than half a dozen publishers told me. The move has put considerable dents in the daily traffic publishers see, with…

By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, msayles@afro.com A letter to big-box retailers like Target, Walmart and Giant Food, is currently circulating through social media, criticizing the stores for the rising use of self-checkout. It speaks on a common experience that shoppers encounter when leaving a store.  Some retailers have associates positioned at store exits to…

Sponsored by JPMorgan Chase In times of crisis, whether it’s a global economic downturn, a natural disaster, or a personal financial emergency, having access to financial resources becomes crucial. These resources not only provide stability during difficult times but also offer opportunities for recovery and resilience. Here are some essential financial resources that individuals and…

Antonio Ray Harvey| California Black Media A study released last week by the California Black Women’s Collective Empowerment Institute (CBWCEI) presents a grim picture of the financial stability of Black women voters in the state. A total of 1,258 women participated in the poll used in the study. Their answers give insight into the web…

Edward Blum, a conservative activist, founded the American Alliance for Equal Rights nonprofit, which has filed a lawsuit against Fearless Fund, an Atlanta-based venture capital fund. By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent With the white sheets removed, the hoods now off, and the dog whistles as overt as they were during Jim…

McKenzie Jackson | California Black Media Joseph Thomas was surprised to receive a notice from his homeowner’s association (HOA) this spring letting him know that there would be an increase in insurance premiums for him and other condominium owners at The Met in Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley. The letter stated the increase was due…

By Ben Jealous  I traveled recently from Baltimore, the city where my mother grew up, to Portland, Maine, where my dad did. It’s easy for many to see differences between one of the Blackest cities in America and largest city in one of the whitest states in the country. What always hits me is what…

By Selen Ozturk Those with 26-49 employees in 2021 or 2022, who paid COVID sick leave, are eligible for $5K to 50K. While COVID relief grants have phased down nationwide since the end of the federal health emergency declaration, California has announced a new one. Through June 30, small nonprofits and businesses with 26 to…

Concerns emerge on new food stamp work requirements, student loan payments   By Charlene Crowell  Last-ditch negotiations to spare the nation a first-ever debt collapse resulted in Congress passing a legislative remedy that attracted bipartisan support. But exactly what the bill known as the Fiscal Responsibility Act actually accomplished and its effects on America’s people…