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Derrick Rose is truly living up to his name. The former NBA point guard is hosting a pop-up flower shop in Chicago, IL, on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. Rose’s Flower Shop will be open for “one day only,” from noon until 4 p.m., according to the Memphis Commercial Appeal. “Welcome to Rose’s, the No. 1 flower shop in Chicago . How can I help you?” Rose teased in an Instagram reel announcing his venture. “A dozen roses? Coming right up. … We’re open for business. We can do that. We got you. It’s on the house. We appreciate your business.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Derrick Rose (@drose) Rose, a Chicago native, began his NBA career with the Bulls , where he was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2008 Draft. He made history as the youngest MVP in NBA history, winning the award in 2011 at 22 and 6 months old, the Commercial Appeal reported. While Rose is giving the community their flowers in the city where it all started, the Bulls are honoring him in return. The Bulls shared...
Before you close your laptop and get ready to enjoy the long weekend, there’s one last thing to check – is your Labor Day OOO message ready to go? If you’re not familiar, “OOO” stands for out-of-office, which many employees will be in lieu of Monday’s (Sept. 2) holiday. Setting up an auto-response not only lets people know you’re not available, but it also clarifies when they can expect to hear back. It “shows that you’re conscientious and organized while providing people with the information they need to get their needs met in your absence.” The process might seem trivial to some. However, if maintaining good communication is important to you, taking 15 minutes to set up a strong Labor Day OOO message can save tons of email anxiety for you and others. A delayed response (even over a holiday) can be perceived as “digital snubbery, a lack of interest or even negligence,” as TexTex Pander puts it. To keep you away from that drama, we’ve crafted some templates that colleagues and...
Nearly four months after receiving a visit from Keith Lee, this Chicago, IL-based restaurateur is still reaping the benefits. On Sept. 16, 2023, the TikTok food critique posted his review of the Soul Prime restaurant founded by Shonya “Chef Royce” Williams. Food items displayed in the 5:48-minute video included Chef Royce’s collard green dip (8/10 rating), hot chicken wings(8.7/10 rating), corn bread muffins (9.3/10 rating), and short rib tacos (9.2/10), among others.
Being in an industry where the short end of the stick is often given, artists need ways where they’re able to thrive without their counterparts, which is the void Alexander Yoseph came to help fill with his app. Inflow — a music platform described as “the first Black-owned cryptocurrency app for musicians” — wants to help its users not only launch their own cryptocurrency but also have “ new methods for independently monetizing.” “What artists like about Inflow is that you are not monetizing your music, you are monetizing access to you,” Yoseph told AfroTech. “So, if an artist is in a 360 deal and they can’t release exclusive music on inflow they can just monetize vlogs, live streams, meetups, etc., as rewards for their token holders. We also are the only app that rewards fans so it’s a win-win scenario.” After creating his idea, the founder’s app caught the attention of leading Ethereum software platform Consensys and open-source research and development laboratory Protocol Labs....
FLOW, the blockchain created by Dapper Labs designed to be the foundation for a new generation of games, apps, and the digital assets that power them, has announced a new grant program to bring Web3 diversity to the forefront. In a blog post, it was revealed that the company is currently accepting applications “for Black developers, platforms or creators looking to build large-scale dApps and create innovative experiences on the blockchain.” FLOW also announced its $1 million grant. “In addition to the Token grant, recipients will receive promotional and customized support from a team and network of experts including technical, design, product, and marketing,” read the blog post, which also makes it clear that this is in addition to its other initiatives in celebration of Black History Month. “This grant is one step in FLOW’s commitment to creating a welcoming environment for all people to join the ecosystem and that it is a true representation of our diverse world” The company has...
Just last year, Hip-Hop billionaire Jay-Z made his grand entrance into the cannabis industry with the launch of Monogram, in partnership with Caliva, as AfroTech previously reported. Now, the billionaire is hungry for more as he embarks on a new investment in Flowhub — a cannabis technology company — a retail point-of-sale platform for dispensaries. The news broke on Oct. 12 as Flowhub closed on a $19 million round of strategic funding joined by Jay-Z and led by Headline and Poseidon, according to PR Newswire. The valuation for the company now totals nearly $200 million to date. “We are thrilled to announce this capital raise. Headline is an incredible Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm, Poseidon is a pioneer investor in the cannabis industry and Jay-Z is a cultural and creative global force no matter the industry he is involved in,” Kyle Sherman, founder and CEO of Flowhub, revealed in a press release. “I couldn’t think of a better group to be working with as we take this...
Who knew that entrepreneur Ja’Nye Hampton’s first high school job of working at a flower shop would present a full circle moment for her owning her own shop in Detroit? Even the Detroit native counted herself out of the flower business as a busy teenager just hustling to make a way. What started as an after school gig eventually led to Hampton discovering her passion for making flower arrangements and founding Detroit Flower Company. It’s that opportunity that’s helped her create more jobs for young girls in her local community and put small businesses on the map in her city.
Entrepreneur Jayda Cheaves is more than your average social media influencer or the woman who is famous for dating and having a baby with rapper Lil Baby. From launching her own hair business to being an ambassador for brands like Savage x Fenty and Fashion Nova, the mother of one is just one of a few influencers that flipped her social capital into a lucrative cash flow that made her a successful entrepreneur. Who Is Jayda Cheaves? According to an interview with ESSENCE, Jayda Cheaves — better known as “Jayda Wayda” online — detailed all the ways content creation and building her name as a brand has helped her in her upwards journey of entrepreneurship. “Everything you post is marketable,” she says revealing the key to growing a large following online. “You have have to watch what you post and certain things you have to post because it helps your engagement.” This formula for her social media etiquette is what helped garner over 288,000 followers on an Instagram page for her...
In honor of International Women’s Day, we here at AfroTech thought it was only fitting to recognize the work of 31 Black women in tech. Too often, Black women’s accomplishments, especially in the technology field, are overlooked or overshadowed. We encourage you not only to check out these women’s profiles and businesses but also to help shine a light on other Black women in tech this month and throughout the rest of the year. Check out the list of 31 Black women in the tech sector below: Asmau Ahmed, CEO of Plum Perfect, an app that helps women find beauty products in line with their skin tone Sheena Allen, Founder and CEO of CapWay, which works to service the underbanked Shellye Archambeau, Current Board member of numerous tech companies, former President of Blockbuster.com, and CEO of MetricStream Angela Benton, Founder and CEO of Streamlytics, which helps make transparent what users are consuming on streaming services Jean Brownhill, Founder and CEO of Sweeten, which helps to...
As a performance rights organization, ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) has long fought on behalf of their artists. Whether it’s for their rights or their royalties, artists can count on getting their fair share. Now, the performance rights organization is paying tribute to the Black architects of the music industry. In a press release, ASCAP announced that their Black History Month initiatives — which kicked off on Feb. 1 — can be found on a dedicated section of their website, which focuses on Black change-makers in music. “ASCAP is passionate about recognizing the contributions of Black songwriters and composers who have created music that has made an impact on our culture and the world,” said Nicole George-Middleton, ASCAP Senior Vice President, Membership, in the press release provided to AfroTech. “During this month especially, it is our mission to shine the spotlight on ASCAP member pioneers, innovators, and icons who have changed history, shaped...
Many are looking for creative ways to help as COVID-19 has been devastating for certain businesses and people. Overflow, which began operations in late 2019 , has seized the opportunity to double-down on its mission, which is to “make generosity frictionless,” Head of Technology, Kyle Woumn said. If you attended AfroTech 2019, you might remember that Woumn was one of AfroTech’s speakers and a former Twilio software engineer. Like all great products, Overflow was born out of a deep necessity. Vance Roush, an executive pastor at Vive Church in The Bay Area, founded Overflow in November 2019 because he saw that many people wanted to donate stock to the church but either didn’t know how to or found the process difficult. He launched Overflow and used it to raise over $1.1 million in stock for Vive. Woumn, who also attends Vive Church, recalled his own unpleasant experiences when he tried to donate stock to other organizations, so he joined Overflow’s founding team to help them with...
Netflix is spreading the love to some of its new original content ordering new seasons of its most popular roundup of reality shows. Reported by Variety , Netflix’s latest additions, “Love Is Blind” and “The Circle,” have both been renewed for two full seasons on the streaming giant’s platform. Music competition series “Rhythm + Flow” has also been renewed for another season, while organizational expert Marie Kondo gets her own new series. Some News: Love Is Blind ~and~ The Circle have each been renewed for TWO more seasons! @iamcardib @chancetherapper & @Tip are back to judge Rhythm + Flow Season 2! Marie Kondo and her team will set out to tidy up a small American town in the new series, Sparking Joy! pic.twitter.com/KoC4PUkhVs — Netflix (@netflix) March 24, 2020 “Love Is Blind” is the most recent and popular series among Netflix’s reality-show kick. The series shows the process of blindly finding your partner for life, proving that you can practice social distancing and look for...