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When it comes to wealth, Black Americans have always gotten the short end of the stick. In part, a lot of this is due to the lack of financial literacy which comes from a deep history of racism that has held our community back for centuries. “It is the most important issue facing Black Americans. Period,” said Kevin Cohee, Owner, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of OneUnited Bank. In an interview with AfroTech, he told us the role that the largest Black-owned bank in America plays when it comes to not only teaching the importance of financial literacy but providing the community with the tools and resources needed to survive and thrive in a place where the playing field has been everything except level. “It’s fairly understandable how we got into this situation,” continued Cohee. “We were slaves, then we weren’t but we were given no education, we were given no money, no compensation, and we were denied the opportunity to do things like for example, live in neighborhoods where...
If the past few weeks have taught us anything, it’s that not even a global health pandemic can quell racism and intolerance. While COVID-19 has severely affected our ability to convene in large numbers, one Black techie is determined to help Black professionals celebrate Juneteenth nonetheless. Michael Brown, a senior software engineer at Microsoft is hosting Juneteenth Conference , as a way for Black people to “t ake a moment to pause and reflect and celebrate where we are.” In early June 2020, as he was reflecting on his Microsoft anniversary as well as current affairs in Black America, he decided he didn’t want Juneteenth to slide under the radar. Brown decided to take advantage of society’s new relationship with virtual social events to create something special. He wasn’t sure he would be able to get everything ready in time for this year. In fact, several of his friends told him that events like these take at least one year to plan. However, Brown pressed on with the hope that,...
Amid conversations and uprisings surrounding racial justice, Juneteenth is quickly becoming a company holiday . However, with all of the increased awareness, Goalsetter is launching the #SavingOurSelves initiative to help reverse the wealth gap. Founded by Tanya Van Court, Goalsetter —a Black-owned app that provides culturally-relevant financial literacy tools for kids and families to save money—is committing to getting one million Black kids signed up for savings accounts. “Juneteenth is a celebration of our freedom from slavery, but African-Americans can’t truly celebrate freedom until we are financially liberated and the wealth gap is closed,” said Chairman of Vista Equity and Goalsetter investor Robert F. Smith. “By giving Black kids a savings and financial literacy app created by a Black entrepreneur, we can change the way a whole generation of Black kids learns about money and thinks about building wealth. And that can have a profound impact on our entire community.”...