Martha White, the 99-year-old Black woman whose actions helped ignite the Baton Rouge bus boycott in 1953, has died.

The boycott, which inspired Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks’ well-known Montgomery, Alabama, bus boycott in 1955, was a reaction by the Black Baton Rouge community to racial injustice perpetuated by white bus drivers.

At the time, 23-year-old White was employed as a housekeeper and took the bus home after an arduous day of work and a miles’-long walk to the bus stop. After boarding the bus, she sat down in the section designated for white passengers in the only vacant seat, and was told to move by the driver, but refused. Another Black woman joined White in solidarity and the two continued to refuse to move, even at the threat of arrest.

The police, bus company manager, and a civil rights activist, the Rev. T.J. Jemison, arrived on the scene, however the driver was informed by Jemison that White and her fellow passenger broke no laws due to an...

BOSTON – OneUnited Bank, the largest Black-owned bank and first and only Black-owned digital bank in the country, is proud to announce its OneTransaction Conference. The free state-of the art virtual financial conference is focused on closing the racial wealth gap and will be held on June 19, 2021 or Juneteenth, a holiday celebrating the emancipation of those who had been enslaved in the United States. Over 20,000 have already registered for the conference.

The conference will occur in six subject modules: homeownership, profitable business, wills, life insurance, savings/investments and improving credit score.

The All Star list of presenters include Emmy award-winning actress and author Tiffany Haddish and experts in business and personal finance, including Tiffany Aliche, The Budgetnista, New York Times best-selling author of “Get Good with Money”, Professor Mehrsa Baradaran, author of “The Color of Money: Black...

Robert Johnson, founder of Black Entertainment Television, told CNBC on Monday the U.S. government should provide $14 trillion of reparations for slavery to help reduce racial inequality.

The wealth divide and police brutality against blacks are at the heart of protests that have erupted across the nation following last week’s killing of George Floyd during an arrest in Minneapolis.

“Now is the time to go big” to keep America from dividing into two separate and unequal societies, Johnson said on “Squawk Box.”

“Wealth transfer is what’s needed,” he argued. “Think about this. Since 200-plus-years or so of slavery, labor taken with no compensation, is a wealth transfer. Denial of access to education, which is a primary driver of accumulation of income and wealth, is a wealth transfer.”

Johnson, 74 made history as America’s first black billionaire when he sold BET to Viacom in 2001....

NEW YORK — The NBA today announced the creation of the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Social Justice Champion award, a new annual honor that will recognize a current NBA player for pursuing social justice and upholding the league’s decades-long values of equality, respect and inclusion.

The award is named after six-time NBA champion and Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.  The recipient will have advanced Abdul-Jabbar’s mission to drive change and inspired others to reflect on injustice and take collective action in their communities over the previous year.

The winner of the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Social Justice Champion honor will select an organization to receive a $100,000 contribution on his behalf.  The other four finalists will each select an organization to receive a $25,000 contribution.

“I’m honored and grateful to be associated with this award that will recognize the dedicated and selfless people fighting to...

Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving has announced the launch of his new consulting firm, KAI Eleven Consulting, LLC (KAI 11 Consulting), which aims to assist underrepresented entrepreneurs across industries, including Black and women-owned businesses.

According to a press release, KAI 11 Consulting — in partnership with KAI Family Foundation and Lockstep Ventures — will provide programs and mentoring services to offer business owners access to “development coaches, area managers, and growth groups that offer roadmaps to scaling and cultivating efficiencies.”

The consulting firm will also make it a point to provide resources to help close the financial gap across various communities.

“We must give our people the proper resources and stewardship for them to win beyond traditional investment vehicles,” founder Irving said in a statement. “This is not only essential to closing the wealth gap, but it also fosters...

OneUnited Bank is the largest Black-owned bank in the U.S. It is also the only Black-owned digital bank in the country. The innovative bank invites everyone to join a slate of all-star presenters, including Emmy-Award-winning actress and author Tiffany Haddish, for a free virtual financial conference on June 19, 2021.

The conference is called "OneTransaction," and focuses on closing the racial wealth gap in the U.S. OneUnited Bank chose June 19 in recognition of the day in 1865 when General Order No. 3 was read in Texas, announcing that all enslaved persons in the United States were free.

Now, 156 years later, OneUnited Bank and conference partner Visa challenge virtual conference attendees to "create a plan of action," according to Kevin Cohee, chairman and CEO of OneUnited Bank.

Cohee says Black people across the country may have the financial resources to close the racial wealth gap and create generational wealth, but they're not quite sure how to start....

LOS ANGELES, April 8, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- OneUnited Bank, the largest Black owned bank and first and only Black owned digital bank in the country is proud to announce in honor of Financial Literacy Month that Professor Mehrsa Baradaran has joined the All-Star Presenters for the OneTransaction Conference. The free state-of-the-art conference, co-sponsored by Visa, is focused on closing the racial wealth gap and will be held on June 19, 2021 or Juneteenth, a holiday celebrating the emancipation of those who had been enslaved in the United States. Over 15,000 have already registered for the conference.

Target vows to support Black-owned businesses by spending more than $2 billion with hundreds of brands by 2025. 

The Minneapolis-based company said it aims to advance racial equity by expanding the range of products available at its 1,900 stores across the country. The retail giant will offer products from more than 500 Black-owned vendors, it said in a statement Wednesday. Target will also increase spending at Black-owned marketing agencies and construction firms, Bloomberg reports. Target currently carries more than 65 Black-owned brands.

“We have a rich history of working with diverse businesses, but there’s more we can do to spark change across the retail industry, support the Black community and ensure Black guests feel welcomed and represented when they shop at Target,” Christina Hennington, Target’s executive vice president and chief growth officer, said in a statement.

The killings of George Floyd, Breonna...

In the late 1700s, Jean Baptiste Point Du Sable made his way from the American South to the Great Lakes region. He applied his education, acquired reasoning skills, and charm to the fur trading business. His savvy led to friendly relations with the Potawatomi people and consequential marriage to Kitihawa (Catherine).

Together, this husband-and-wife team created a bakehouse, dairy farm, smokehouse, poultry house, and mill. Their dreams, facilitation of intertribal and international trade in the area, resourcefulness, and determination would ultimately lead to the City of Chicago. 

The origins of shared kinship between Africans and Native Americans—both legitimate and illegitimate—lie in their alliances and allegiances formed during slavery and as fellow citizens in self-determination within tribal nations within the present-day boundaries of the United States. 

Shared slavery 

In shared slavery, enslaved Africans and enslaved Native Americans...