The company's latest chips—and the bending gadgets they power—are learning to think for themselves.
from Wired https://ift.tt/36sJboA
via
Monday, January 6, 2020
Muslim woman receives apology for being sent home from work because she wore a hijab
A Muslim woman challenged her right to wear a hijab to work at a Chicken Express fast-food restaurant in Fort Worth, Texas, and won.
Using the power of social media, Stefanae Coleman posted a video on Twitter last week as she had a discussion with her manager about the hijab she wore. Coleman, whose video detailed the exchange, said her manager was sending her home for wearing it, according to ABC News.
I converted to Islam not too long ago and I started wearing my hijab, I went to work today and was kicked out because my hijab was not apart the “ dress code” apparently and I wasn’t allowed to wear it. Don’t come to the chicken express in Fort Worth!! pic.twitter.com/xiulAEJS8y
— Folake Adebola đź’• (@thatgirlfolake) December 30, 2019
READ MORE: ‘Sesame Place Sallie’ starts fight and allegedly told Muslim woman to ‘go back to where you came from’
Coleman, 22, used the viral video as an opportunity to explain to her manager why she wears a hijab. More than 635,000 people have viewed it.
“Your job is your job and it has nothing to do with religion,” the manager responded.
Coleman told him that she “read the handbook and in the handbook, it doesn’t say anything about not being able to wear religious head pieces.”
“It says you have to follow the Chicken Express uniform policy and it lists out what it is and it doesn’t involve anything else,” the manager replied, according to ABC News.
Coleman said in the video that she started working for the chain in October and had been upfront with her managers about her religion. She said according to the handbook, there was “equal opportunity for every religion.”
Rhett Warren, a lawyer for the Chicken Express franchise owner, released a statement to ABC News backing Coleman’s freedom of religion. He said the manager in question “unfortunately did not take religious liberty into consideration.”
“Ms. Coleman is not facing discrimination for her decision to wear a headscarf or for being Muslim. The manager’s decision to send Ms. Coleman home for wearing the headscarf was due to a lack of training,” Warren wrote in the statement. “The manager was using a strict interpretation of the company policy that does not allow derivations from the standard employee uniform, and he, unfortunately, did not take religious liberty into consideration.”
Warren said Coleman was compensated for the hours that she lost when she was sent home and that she “worked the following day and was allowed to wear her headscarf.”
READ MORE: Halima Aden dazzles on SI Swimsuit 2019 cover in hijab and burkini
“An apology was made to Ms. Coleman for the mistake. The Chicken Express franchisee is addressing this issue through additional training, and Ms. Coleman has been asked to participate in developing the training so that a mistake like this will not happen again,” the statement continues, according to ABC News. “The manager has been reprimanded for his decision, and he will receive further training on how to properly handle similar situations in the future.”
Coleman told ABC News that her response to the manager’s instruction could potentially “help other women like me” and that she hopes that the situation helps other employees to “be strong and fight for your rights and for employers to study about the hijab and what it means to Muslim women.”
The post Muslim woman receives apology for being sent home from work because she wore a hijab appeared first on theGrio.
from theGrio https://ift.tt/37Gzh2C
via
Texas woman allegedly killed by her fiancé, days after he proposed
Kendrick Marquette Akins of Texas had just proposed to his fiancé, Dominic Jefferson, but an argument allegedly ended with him shooting her to death, her family said.
Akins, 39, asked Jefferson to marry him on New Year’s Eve after the couple dated for three months, her family told KTRK in an interview. But on Saturday, they had an argument outside of a Houston apartment and family members say it turned deadly.
READ MORE: ‘She did not deserve that’: Transgender woman’s fiancĂ© speaks out after fatal shooting
During the argument, according to a police affidavit, Jefferson yelled ‘shoot me’ and shortly afterward, the mother of three was fatally shot in the chest.
A witness told Houston police officers that Akins appeared to leave the scene but came back when a “concerned citizen” attempted to help the victim. Akins fired a shot at the citizen and then fled, the witness told police.
“Akins surrendered to officers at the HPD Northeast Police Station. He was questioned by detectives and subsequently charged in the shooting,” according to CNN, which quotes Houston police.
Akins, who was on parole, is being held on $250,000 bond and has expressed concern for his safety while locked up. Through his public defender, Te’iva Johnson Bell, Akins is asking to be put into protective custody because of threats he says he is receiving on Facebook. Akins’ lawyer said relatives of Jefferson are inmates at the same Harris County jail and reportedly got word to him that “they were going to get him as soon as he hits the floor,” reported ABC.
Akins is charged with fatally shooting Dominic Jefferson during an argument outside a west Houston apartment early Saturday morning.
Four days prior to her death, the couple was seen in a Facebook Live post getting engaged. Jefferson’s mom told ABC that she watched it. “I thought she had finally found the man of her dreams,” she said. “It was the nightmare of her life.”
UT Quan, a friend of Jefferson, said he was concerned at how quickly things were going since they had only dated for several months. “I thought it was fast,” Quan told ABC. “I said, if they’re happy, I’m happy, but when the altercation happened, I was thrown off. I was like, how could you do that? You just proposed.”
Court records show Akins, who worked in construction, has a lengthy criminal history. Jefferson’s mom said neither she nor her daughter were aware of his past.
READ MORE: Pregnant Georgia teen found dead in woods, fiancé charged with murder
“This needs to wake women up to do their research on who they’re letting into their lives,” she told ABC.
And she added that she hopes he doesn’t get protective custody while locked up. “He doesn’t deserve protected custody. He doesn’t deserve to live. That’s how I feel about it, with no filter.”
The post Texas woman allegedly killed by her fiancé, days after he proposed appeared first on theGrio.
from theGrio https://ift.tt/2QsS0ZR
via
Levar Burton’s ‘This is My Story’ Captures Black People’s Racist Experiences
LeVar Burton of Roots and Star Trek: The Next Generation fame has released a video series named This is My Story, where he shares stories that speak about some of the racist experiences most Black people in the United States.
Burton had an epiphany that he posted on his Twitter account, “I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the state of race relations in America. One thing I learned from the success of ROOTS (if you don’t know, you better ask somebody) 42 years ago, was the power of storytelling as a way to bridge the gap between races.”
He continued, “There was an America before ROOTS and there was an America after ROOTS and post ROOTS, America was a greater, more enlightened nation. We came to a better, deeper, more informed understanding of the evil nature, intent and outcomes of chattel slavery as practiced in America. As a result, I fervently believe in the power of Storytelling to move the culture forward. To that end, some friends and I have created a few videos, 6 in all, that chronicle some of the racist experiences most Black people who live in America, have in common.”
“Spoiler Alert: Unless you have walked the walk of the African American experience in this country, it is difficult — not impossible — but difficult, to know what that journey is on the daily. Trust me when I say, being Black in America is not for the weak of heart. Neither is it for the weak in Spirit. For, being Black in America oftentimes means living in and loving a country, that does not love us back. You may take exception to my premise but you cannot discount my experience.”
In This is My Story, Burton narrates and gives the audience stories regarding racism in America. The first six videos gives in detail six unique and painful stories about racism starting from Burton’s own experiences of being racially profiled while a student at the University of Southern California, to a young boy’s story of being spit on by a “grizzled old white man” at a Georgia fast-food restaurant.
“The first installment of, This Is My Story, is an incident from my own life. The others are real-life experiences of some of my friends, told by me. Like ROOTS did so long ago, my intention in sharing these stories is to provide anecdotal context for being Black in America.”
Burton recently received Case Western Reserve University’s Inamori Ethics Prize and had a park, LeVar Burton Park, renamed in his honor in the Meadowview neighborhood of Sacramento, California where he grew up.
from Black Enterprise https://ift.tt/2ug9obx
via
New York Gives $3.5M Grant To Help Build Hip-Hop Museum In The Bronx
New York recently awarded a $3.5 million capital grant to help build the world’s first museum dedicated to hip-hop music and culture.
According to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the $80 million Universal Hip Hop Museum will open in 2023 in the South Bronx – which is considered the birthplace of hip hop. The museum is currently operating temporarily in Bronx Terminal Market.
The museum is expected to be a win-win for the city. It’s director, Rocky Bucano, told The New York Post that the Hip Hop Museum will generate tourism and tax revenues for the Bronx and New York. The Bronx Point Development is slated to be its permanent home.
“The museum is part of the renaissance of the Bronx. The Bronx is coming back,” he said. “But the museum will be of the people and for the people.” Bucano added that the museum received $6.5 million in additional funds from the city.
“It’s the best Christmas gift ever,” Universal Hip Hop Museum spokesperson Renee Foster told Patch. “It’s like Santa Claus.”
Hip-Hop music isn’t the only thing that will be showcased at the museum. There will also be exhibits on break dancers, graffiti artists, disc jockeys, and MCs.
“Hip hop culture was born in the Bronx and New York City is the cultural center of the world,” said Foster. “We’re joining institutions like Carnegie Hall and all those great artistic institutions.”
Corporate partners for the museum include Microsoft and MIT as well as support from Hip-Hop artists such as Nas, Q-Tip, and LL Cool J.
“The Universal Hip Hop Museum will occupy 50,000 square feet in Bronx Point, the residential and retail project by L+M Development Partners that will be erected north of the 145th Street bridge along the Harlem River in the Bronx,” The New York Post reported.
Residents had mixed feelings about the grant.
New York City invests $3.75 Million to help build a Hip-Hop museum in the Bronx.
“An archive dedicated to the preservation and celebration of hip-hop history and culture” pic.twitter.com/STq86jmB9A
— East Renaissance (@EastRenaissance) December 31, 2019
New York City invests $3.75 Million to help build a Hip-Hop museum in the Bronx.
“An archive dedicated to the preservation and celebration of hip-hop history and culture” pic.twitter.com/STq86jmB9A
— East Renaissance (@EastRenaissance) December 31, 2019
Ayyyyeeeeeee!!!! Come through BX!#BronxBombshell #bornandraised https://t.co/Gyp5a23cru
— Krystal A. Livingston (@IamKALivingston) December 29, 2019
This article was written by Ann Brown on January 1, 2020 for The Moguldom Nation
from Black Enterprise https://ift.tt/37EeTiM
via
America’s first female TV meteorologist, who also happens to be Black, dies at 90
Dr. June Bacon-Bercey, the country’s first female TV meteorologist and the first Black woman to earn a degree in meteorology, has died.
The trailblazing meteorologist broke racial and gender barriers to win the American Meteorological Society’s (AMS) prestigious Seal of Approval for her “excellence in television weathercasting,” according to AccuWeather. Bacon-Bercey, 90, actually died on July 3, 2019, but her daughter, Dail St. Claire, reported news of her mother’s passing to AccuWeather recently.
READ MORE: Weather Channel owner Byron Allen wants to highlight climate change’s impact on Black communities
In addition to working as a meteorologist for an NBC station in Buffalo in 1970 – a position she filled as an emergency replacement when her predecessor was fired, Bacon-Bercey has also worked for the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, the National Weather Service (NWS) and Sperry Rand.
As important as her groundbreaking work in meteorology was Bacon-Bercey’s commitment to see that other minority women pursue careers in science like her, with a specialty in meteorology.
In 1977, Bacon-Bercey won $64,000 on the TV game show The $128,000 Question, and she used the money to start a scholarship fund for women interested in majoring in atmospheric sciences.
“Education was No. 1, so scholarship was a passion and she always wanted to share it with those who were less fortunate,” her daughter told AccuWeather.
At the time, Bacon-Bercey told The Washington Post that she started the scholarship as a way to encourage women to pursue careers in science even though they wouldn’t see many people who looked like them.
“I was discouraged (from becoming a meteorologist), and other women were discouraged,” Bacon-Bercey said in the Post interview. “If they feel they’ve got some money behind them, it might be better.”
Twelve women ultimately received scholarship money and would go on to careers in geochemistry, physics, astronomy, meteorology, and/or oceanography, with the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), NASA, MIT and TV stations throughout the country.
Bacon-Bercey also established a meteorology lab at Jackson State University and was instrumental in starting the AMS Board on Women and Minorities, also with an aim to increase minorities and women in her field of study.
READ MORE: Rochester meteorologist fired for racist on-air reference to MLK sues former station
“She was obviously extremely successful,” Ralph Bouquet, NOVA’s director of education and outreach told AccuWeather. “She did so much and also gave back in so many prominent ways – with a scholarship, with setting up a meteorology lab at Jackson State University, just really impressive things that one person was able to accomplish. How many people could have done that, could have been in that position to produce so much but also give back so much?”
Capping off a lifetime of achievements, Bacon-Bercey was named Minority Pioneer for Achievements in Atmospheric Sciences in 2000.
The post America’s first female TV meteorologist, who also happens to be Black, dies at 90 appeared first on theGrio.
from theGrio https://ift.tt/35ruBwd
via
Trump’s Nominee To Lead SBA Commits To Expand Resources To Black Businesses Among Her Priorities If Confirmed
As a new year begins, obtaining financing remains among the largest obstacles blocking many black-owned businesses from growing and reaching new heights. The lingering problem comes after the Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship voted 17-2 in December to approve Jovita Carranza’s nomination to serve as the new administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). No votes came from Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Ed Markey (D-Mass).
Carranza, who has served as deputy administrator of the SBA and is currently U.S. treasurer, was nominated by President Trump in April 2019 to oversee the SBA. Her selection came after the federal agency’s previous administrator, Linda McMahon, stepped down. Carranza must go before the full Senate for consideration. Chris Pilkerton is now the SBA’s acting administrator.
During a committee hearing in December, Carranza was questioned on many SBA-related issues. They included how the agency would help small businesses gain access to the SBA’s 7(a) and alternative microlending programs. Another inquiry was how the SBA would offer better outreach to underserved communities and entrepreneurs.
The ante is high for small businesses as the SBA guaranteed more than $28 billion in loans to entrepreneurs in its fiscal year 2019. There are more than 30 million small businesses in America, including reportedly around 2.6 million black-owned businesses.
If confirmed, Carranza testified in hearings before the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship earlier in December that a priority for her will be to expand access to SBA resources among entrepreneurs in disadvantaged communities, including African American and Latino businesses, as well as businesses started by veterans. “By better connecting these small businesses with SBA support services, we can help even more underrepresented entrepreneurs overcome barriers to financial capital and gain access to lucrative government contracts.”
She added one of her priorities will be to open more doors for women-owned businesses. “Women entrepreneurship is on the rise, but we can do more to ensure they have access to relevant resources and professional support so that they can scale and take their businesses to the next level.”
Another priority for Carranza will be disaster relief. “We don’t know when catastrophe will strike, but when it does, it’s important that the SBA disaster loan process is operating at peak efficiency. That includes not only meeting the needs of affected businesses in a timely manner but also ensuring inter-agency coordination and cooperation. When small businesses are out of commission, it negatively impacts not only the local economy but also the regional and national economy.”
Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship Ranking Member Ben Cardin (D-MD) issued this statement after the committee’s approval of Carranza:
“At a time when the face of business ownership in America is becoming more diverse, SBA needs strong leadership and innovative thinking to help entrepreneurs from underserved communities as they overcome pervasive, historical barriers. During last week’s nomination hearing, Treasurer Carranza expressed her commitment to supporting underserved communities and advocating for small businesses within the administration. I look forward to working with Treasurer Carranza to empower America’s entrepreneurs so they can build successful businesses and create jobs.”
Cardin’s comments came after he earlier in December pressed Carranza for her support on SBA programs that aid underserved entrepreneurs.
In more support for Carranza, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, issued a statement:
“I congratulate Ms. Carranza on being favorably reported to the Senate floor. If confirmed, I look forward to working collaboratively with her to modernize the SBA, optimize the agency’s programs, and increase interagency coordination.”
from Black Enterprise https://ift.tt/2Frg9K8
via
Black Flea Market in D.C., Breaks Ground on Permanent Home
Market 7, which is home to a variety of black-owned businesses, has broken ground at a new location in the District of Columbia.
Last month The Neighborhood Development Co., Asturian Construction, and Market 7 hosted a ground-breaking ceremony to start the construction of Benning Market; a new multi-use development site that will include a 7,000-square-foot food hall in the Ward 7 section of Washington, D.C. The venue is located at 3451 Benning Road NE.
The market celebrated the ground-breaking on their new permanent location on its Twitter account, “Cheers to our permanent home! Thank you to everyone that attended. #Fall2020 #Ward7Strong #Market7dc #WeBuiltThis“
The flea market that brought black businesses together in a parking lot was started in 2017 to meet the needs of local people who had to travel to other parts of the city for retail and food options. It has partnered with local urban farmers, entrepreneurs, and community stakeholders in order to provide market-based solutions to the crucial health and economic problems facing the Ward 7 community.
In two short years, the marketplace has gathered 60 new small businesses to the Ward 7 community through alternative pop-up markets. “There is no reason why I should have to cross the bridge to go and get items, produce, food, clothes, and services, which is what most of us have to do in Ward 7 and 8. Having something like this is important,” Dr. Judy Walton, a resident of Ward 7, said in a statement.
More than 80% of Ward 7 residents have to travel to Ward 6 or into Maryland to shop for some or all of their food and grocery needs, although they preferred not to leave the area to do so.
Market 7 will be the anchor tenant at Benning Market and will continue its work to address the food and retail disparities in communities east of the river. Ward 7 residents will benefit from the cultivation of the new food hub since they have experienced very limited food options for several years.
“This is more than just retail,” says founder Mary Blackford in a press release, “Market 7 is a real, multi-generational, community-based approach to sustaining Ward 7. The new Market 7 at Benning Market will be an exciting expansion of the work we are already doing to bring abundance, vitality, and total wellness to our community by creating a space where our local food ecosystem and small businesses can thrive.”
from Black Enterprise https://ift.tt/2QQUXT6
via
MIT School of Engineering and Takeda join to advance research in artificial intelligence and health
MIT’s School of Engineering and Takeda Pharmaceuticals Company Limited today announced the MIT-Takeda Program to fuel the development and application of artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities to benefit human health and drug development. Centered within the Abdul Latif Jameel Clinic for Machine Learning in Health (J-Clinic), the new program will leverage the combined expertise of both organizations, and is supported by Takeda’s three-year investment (with the potential for a two-year extension).
This new collaboration will provide MIT with extraordinary access to pharmaceutical infrastructure and expertise, and will help to focus work on challenges with lasting, practical impact. A new educational program offered through J-Clinic will provide Takeda with the ability to learn from and engage with some of MIT's sharpest and most curious minds, and offer insight into the advances that will help shape the health care industry of tomorrow.
“We are thrilled to create this collaboration with Takeda,” says Anantha Chandrakasan, dean of MIT’s School of Engineering. “The MIT-Takeda Program will build a community dedicated to the next generation of AI and system-level breakthroughs that aim to advance healthcare around the globe.”
The MIT-Takeda Program will support MIT faculty, students, researchers, and staff across the Institute who are working at the intersection of AI and human health, ensuring that they can devote their energies to expanding the limits of knowledge and imagination. The new program will coalesce disparate disciplines, merge theory and practical implementation, combine algorithm and hardware innovations, and create multidimensional collaborations between academia and industry.
“We share with MIT a vision where next-generation intelligent technologies can be better developed and applied across the entire health care ecosystem,” says Anne Heatherington, senior vice president and head of Data Sciences Institute (DSI) at Takeda. “Together, we are creating an incredible opportunity to support research, enhance the drug development process, and build a better future for patients.”
Established within J-Clinic, a nexus of AI and health care at MIT, the MIT-Takeda Program will focus on the following offerings:
- funding 6-10 flagship research projects per year in the areas of machine learning and health, engaging MIT faculty and Takeda researchers on areas of mutual interest to both organizations including diagnosis of disease, prediction of treatment response, development of novel biomarkers, process control and improvement, drug discovery, and clinical trial optimization;
- providing 11 annual fellowships supporting graduate students working at the intersection of AI and health, creating substantial, value-added programming for young scholars; and
- offering educational programs through J-Clinic for Takeda employees to bolster individual and organizational learning in integrating AI and machine learning technologies into practical and applied solutions.
James Collins will serve as faculty lead for the MIT-Takeda Program. Collins is the Termeer Professor of Medical Engineering and Science in MIT’s Institute for Medical Engineering and Science (IMES) and Department of Biological Engineering, J-Clinic faculty co-lead, and a member of the Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology faculty. He is also a core founding faculty member of the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University and an Institute Member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard.
A joint steering committee co-chaired by Anantha Chandrakasan and Anne Heatherington will oversee the MIT-Takeda Program.
from MIT News https://ift.tt/2ZWYLGh
via
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)