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Sunday, July 5, 2020

Viewpoint: What Donald Trump gets wrong about Somalia

Somalia has become caught up in the US election campaign thanks to Donald Trump, writes Ismail Einashe.

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Conservative political figure, Steve Hotze, wants National Guard to ‘shoot to kill’ protesters

Last month, Conservative political figure Steve Hotze called Republican Texas Governor Gregg Abbott to make sure the National Guard was available to “restore order.”

“I want you to give a message to the governor,” Hotze told Abbott’s chief of staff, Luis Saenz, in a voicemail. “I want to make sure that he has the National Guard down here and they have the order to shoot to kill if any of these son-of-a-bitch people start rioting like they have in Dallas, start tearing down businesses — shoot to kill the son of a bitches. That’s the only way you restore order. Kill ‘em. Thank you.”

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott approaches the line for people to attend the public viewing for George Floyd in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images) 

READ MORE: Injuries at protests draw scrutiny to use of police weaponry

There’s no word on whether or not Saenz responded to the voicemail.

On Saturday, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, called it “absolutely disgusting and reprehensible” on Twitter.

The Texas Tribune broke this story and almost immediately, Hotze took to Facebook to try to clear his name.

“It’s not about race but has everything to do with the future of America—the freest and most progressive country in the world. It’s about those who burn homes and businesses, including those owned by African-Americans and attack law enforcement. Enough is enough,” said Hotze.

READ MORE: Florida site of GOP convention orders wearing of masks

Hotze is known for being extremely outspoken on social media and his extreme right-wing posts never waver in tone. They range from violent videos condemning protesters and memes making fun of Joe Biden, to coronavirus conspiracy messaging.

Hotze continued to criticize Governor Abbott, referencing his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. On Friday, he filed a lawsuit against the statewide mask mandate in a Travis County District Court.

“This draconian order is contrary to the Texas spirit and invades the liberties the people of Texas protected in the constitution,” the lawsuit says.

 

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Indigenous activists respond to President Donald Trump’s Mount Rushmore address

President Donald Trump’s Mount Rushmore address is receiving criticism from Indigenous activists and human rights groups.

According to the Climate Justice Alliance, the He Sapa or Black Hills, where Mount Rushmore is located, hold a special space for spiritual and political freedom for many native nations including the Shoshoni, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Kiowa, Crow, and Lakota.

READ MORE: Trump says protesters targeting statues are trying to erase history in divisive Mount Rushmore speech

“We will not mince words, America was founded upon the genocide, enslavement, and theft of Indigenous peoples and land. There is no better representation of this violence than the desecration of the Seven Grandfathers with the Mt. Rushmore carvings of colonizer faces. This sacred land was, is, and shall always be Indigenous land,” said a statement from the Climate Justice Alliance.

In part of his speech, President Donald Trump mentioned the statues being taken down across the country. Many believe that the statues, which include Confederate President Jefferson Davis and Christopher Columbus, represent racism at its core.

President Trump referred to the protesters as angry mobs, defacing the most sacred memorials in the U.S. The President then promised to put an end to all of it during his speech.

“I am here as your President to proclaim, before the country and before the world, this monument will never be desecrated,” said Trump.

The He Sapa is also a part of the creation story for the Lakota nation, in addition to being an integral part of the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty, which was broken by the U.S.

READ MORE: Protest group sets American flag afire near White House on Independence Day

The federal government has tried to pay the Lakota for the land, but they refused to give in because the land was never for sale to begin with, according to Lakota representatives.

The CJA says they will continue to fight for solidarity in the Indigenous community despite attempts to erase their history.

Have you subscribed to theGrio’s new podcast “Dear Culture”? Download our newest episodes now!

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Terry Crews tweets that he is not a ‘human wrongs activist’

Once again, Terry Crews is doubling down on his criticism of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Crews announced on Twitter, the night before The Fourth of July, that he is a “human rights activist – not a human wrongs activist.”

READ MORE: Terry Crews responds to backlash over Black Lives Matter tweet

As of reporting, the tweet has garnered more than 38K likes and more than 10K retweets.

Crews has become infamous lately for having some of the least popular tweets perceived by Black Twitter, including his lack of support for fellow America’s Got Talent host, Gabriel Union, and his belief that #BlackLivesMatter could turn into Black Lives Better.

Although there is nothing indicating why Crews published the tweet, he has seen a surge in relevance since he began making these controversial comments. Crews appeared on Roland Martin‘s web show last week to discuss his views.

 

Crews’ “human wrong activist” comments are just another example of his divisive stance on race relations.

Another tweet by Crews implies that it may be best to forget certain things so as to uncloud one’s judgment. He doesn’t reference anything specific, but it might have something to do with race relations, particularly the treatment of Black Americans.

The third and final tweet has Crews simplistically stating that not all white people are bad, and that he is willing to die on this notion for the sake of unifying all races.

This tweet garnered the most likes and retweets, with about 200K and about 40K respectively.

Black people’s reactions to these series of tweets are the same as before, outrage and mockery.

READ MORE: Terry Crews warns #BlackLivesMatter could morph into “Black Lives Better’

As theGrio previously reported, Marc Lamont Hill, a contributor at theGrio, believes Crews’ unwarranted answers to questions no one is asking is to better white people instead of his own, Black people.

 

Have you subscribed to theGrio’s new podcast “Dear Culture”? Download our newest episodes now!

 

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FDA commissioner dodges Trump claim that 99% of coronavirus cases are ‘totally harmless’

Loyalty to President Donald Trump knows no bounds, even amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Since the beginning of the virus outbreak, Trump has repeatedly peddled misinformation when it comes to the severity of the respiratory illness.

In the most recent show of support regardless of the facts, the commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration did not claim nor deny that 99% of coronavirus cases are “totally harmless,” as the president suggested Saturday during a White House Independence Day event.

“I’m not going to get into who is right and who is wrong,” Dr. Stephen Hahn, a member of the White House coronavirus task force, told CNN‘s Dana Bash on “State of the Union.”

READ MORE: Florida site of GOP convention orders wearing of masks

“I totally support the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and the information that they’re putting out with respect to this pandemic,” Hahn said in the Sunday interview.

Hahn also said the coronavirus pandemic is “a rapidly evolving situation” and stressed that the U.S. “absolutely must take this seriously.”

The CDC estimates that 35% of COVID-19 cases are asymptomatic, but even people with mild or no symptoms can still spread the virus.

The World Health Organization has said the global fatality rate is likely less than 1% and that about 20% of all people who are diagnosed with the contagion are sick enough to need oxygen or hospital care.

According to John Hopkins University research, the U.S has recorded more than 2.8 million cases of the coronavirus and more than 129,000 people have lost their lives over it. The global positive case count is 11.3 million and the global death count is nearly 532,000 as of Sunday afternoon.

READ MORE: Judge: Ex-Trump advisor John Bolton can publish tell-all book despite efforts to block it 

Meanwhile, Trump is preparing to officially accept his nomination at this year’s Republican National Convention in Jacksonville, Florida.

The convention, with events split between two southern 2020 battleground states, is scheduled for Aug. 24-27 in Jacksonville, Florida, and Charlotte, North Carolina. A mandatory mask requirement has been implemented for attendees to keep them safe.

Coronavirus cases in Florida have spiked over the past couple of weeks, but especially on Saturday. The state set an all-time high of the most coronavirus cases in the U.S. in a single day with 11,458 cases, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Have you subscribed to theGrio’s new podcast “Dear Culture”? Download our newest episodes now!

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Janelle Monae rants against sexism in music, religion and other institutions

Singer Janelle Monae has long been an advocate of equal rights, and has never been shy on her stances against racism, sexism and discrimination toward the LGBTQ community.

Monae has always included social commentary in her work. As a singer, she promotes feminist ideals on albums like Electric Lady and Dirty Computer. Her TV show Homecoming and upcoming film Antebellum grapple with racism against Black Americans.

On Friday, the Grammy-nominated music artist took to social media to get some more things off her chest in terms of the misogyny in the music industry.

Monae posted several entries on her Twitter page to discuss her distaste for disrespectful rhetoric directed at women that some choose to use in hip-hop music and other genres.

“I really only ever wanna hear women rapping,” Monae wrote. “The amount of misogyny from most of men in rap and music is infuriating . We need to abolish that sh*t too .”

The tweet has received at least 5,000 retweets and 32,000 likes as of Sunday afternoon.

READ MORE: Janelle Monae says filming ‘Antebellum’ on plantation was ‘triggering’

In her Twitter posts, Monae calls for men to “do the work” to destroy misogyny in both music lyrics and in the business, since men are the ones who “normalized” it.

“Y’all can’t wait to call women every b***h , hoe , discuss violent acts against women, etc for clout in rap, rock, and through out music history,” she posted.

Monae would go on to speak about how patriarchy has contributed to the oppression of women from many sources beyond just music.

“Misogyny in entertainment, boardrooms, the WH, households, corporate spaces, army, church, let’s us all know ya’ll do not care about women on a human to human level and you never have. If you did it would have been ABOLISHED centuries ago. You had time,” the entertainer said.

The “Make Me Feel” singer zeroed in on the way she thinks religion has played a part in patriarchy, especially.

READ MORE: Janelle Monae on ‘Homecoming’ season two, PTSD in Black communities

“The way many RELIGIONS are used to oppress women and perpetuate misogynistic ideals to REMAIN IN POWER must be discussed WAY MORE and ABOLISHED,” she said.

Monae was not above pointing the finger at herself, stating that “love and accountability go hand in hand.”

“A lot of my musical heroes and peers’ Work are problematic in many ways . And I just might be a problematic hero to someone,” she wrote.

Have you subscribed to theGrio’s new podcast “Dear Culture”? Download our newest episodes now!

 

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Black descendant of Thomas Jefferson recreates image of complicated ancestor for photo shoot

A Black descendant of a founding father and early president of the United States dressed as his ancestor for a photoshoot published in the newest edition of Smithsonian Magazine.

Shannon LaNier posed for an image that has been published alongside that of his great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather, Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson is credited with writing the Declaration of Independence, which led to the country’s founding in 1776, and later served as the third U.S. president.

LaNier descends from former slave Sally Hemings, who was raped by her owner, Jefferson. LaNier, who is a TV news anchor in Houston, Texas, is a ninth-generation descendant of Hemings and Jefferson.

READ MORE: Frederick Douglass descendants deliver his famed speech: ‘What to the Slave is the Fourth of July’

A 1998 DNA test showed that LaNier and Jefferson are related, according to The New York Times.

He posted both photos on his Instagram page, stating that this article is is helping hold a mirror’ to the country. He continued by writing that Jefferson “not only took part in creating this country but also it’s people… black, white, brown, yellow & red!”

READ MORE: President Thomas Jefferson descendant wants his statues taken down

The photoshoot was a part of a Smithsonian Magazine piece titled “American Descendants” in which photographer Drew Gardner recreates photos of famous Americans. Gardner also gathered descendants of 19th-century abolitionist Frederick Douglass and suffragist leader Elizabeth Cady Stanton to recreate their images.

The descendants dressed up in identical outfits, wigs and make-up to match photos of their ancestors, which are placed side-by-side in the publication.

LaNier, however, opted not to wear a wig during his shoot. He did the shoot to illustrate the paradox of Jefferson’s legacy.

“I didn’t want to become Jefferson,” LaNier said in the article. “My ancestor had his dreams — and now it’s up to all of us living in America today to make sure no one is excluded from the promise of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

LaNier co-wrote a book about his family’s complex lineage called Jefferson’s Children: The Story of One American Family that was published in 2000.

“He was a brilliant man who preached equality, but he didn’t practice it,” LaNier told NBC News. “He owned people. And now I’m here because of it.”

Have you subscribed to theGrio’s new podcast “Dear Culture”? Download our newest episodes now!

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Black militia marches through Georgia Confederate park on July 4: ‘I’m in yo’ house’

A group of mostly Black and mostly armed protesters descended on a Confederate memorial park in Georgia Saturday to stage a demonstration on the Fourth of July, Reuters reports.

Video footage of the scene posted to social media shows about 200 militia members, identified as “Not F**king Around Coalition” (NFAC), marching through Stone Mountain Park, according to Newsweek.

Stone Mountain is a state-owned park in an Atlanta suburb.

The marchers, dressed in all black and some in paramilitary-style clothing, paraded through the park peacefully. Some carried rifles, while others were armed with military-type weapons. Ammunition belts were slung over some demonstrators’ shoulders.

Stone Mountain has been a gathering spot for white supremacist groups like the Ku Klux Klan throughout history. They even meet there on occasions, usually with protesters nearby.

One of the leaders of the July 4 march, who is unidentified, took a knee and spoke into a loudspeaker, calling out said groups.

READ MORE: Former Atlanta officer who shot Rayshard Brooks released on bond

“I want the heart of the Ku Klux Klan to hear me no matter where … you are,” he said. “I’m in yo’ house. Where you at? You made a threat. We don’t threat. We don’t scare, ’cause we don’t care.”

Many statues and monuments made to honor the Confederates have been toppled across the country, either by design or force. Stone Mountain also features a Confederacy commemoration. The giant granite displays a carved depiction of Confederate leaders Jefferson Davis, Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson and Robert E. Lee on it.

STONE MOUNTAIN, GA – JUNE 16: A protester holds a Black Lives Matter sign in front of the Confederate carving in Stone Mountain Park on June 16, 2020 in Stone Mountain, Georgia. (Photo by Jessica McGowan/Getty Images)

Reuters further reports that many have called for Stone Mountain’s Confederate monuments to be removed after the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis Police in late May.

READ MORE: Mississippi lawmakers vote to remove Confederate emblem from flag

A spokesman of Stone Mountain Memorial Association, John Bankhead, made a statement to WXIA-TV that the armed protesters were peaceful and they had a right to demonstrate there.

“It’s a public park, a state park. We have these protests on both sides of the issue from time to time. We respect people’s First Amendment right,” Bankhead stated. “We understand the sensitivities of the issue here at the park … so we respect that and allow them to come in as long as it’s peaceful, which it has been.”

Stone Mountain Park had just reopened for the Fourth of July weekend. I had been closed to the public prior to the holiday due to the coronavirus epidemic.

Have you subscribed to theGrio’s new podcast “Dear Culture”? Download our newest episodes now!

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Protest group sets American flag afire near White House on Independence Day

President Donald Trump has had nothing but scathing things to say about the protesters around the country, particularly those that continue to rally outside the White House.

On Saturday, some of those demonstrators decided to fight fire with fire, literally.

As reported by The Hill, a group of demonstrators gathered at Black Lives Matter Plaza near the White House to burn the American flag and chant “America was never great” on Independence Day.

READ MORE: Trump says protesters targeting statues are trying to erase history in divisive speech at Mount Rushmore

The group responsible for the flag burning demonstration was the Revolutionary Communist Party, or RevCom for short. The scene followed a speak-out event put on by Refuse Fascism, who has organized a slew of national protests following the president’s divisive South Dakota speech at Mount Rushmore Friday.

Refuse Facism called for the president’s removal, as well as Vice President Mike Pence. A caption from the website reads: “Trump’s Mount Rushmore speech was a nightmare for humanity. We need to make July 4th a nightmare for the Trump regime.”

People gathered near Lafayette Park, the epicenter for many of Washington D.C. protests stemming from the police killing of George Floyd.

READ MORE: 1 of 2 protesters hit by car on closed Seattle highway dies

In video footage taken by protesters, the group lit a large American flag on fire, and began a chant for the crowd:

“One, two, three, four! Slavery, genocide and war! Five, six, seven, eight! America was never great!”

Although the president has yet to respond to this act, he has been critical of people who burn American flags. At his campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma last month, Trump exclaimed that those who burn the flag should be arrested. He expressed a desire to propose that such action should be punishable by at least one year in jail.

The Supreme Court, however, in 1989 ruled that burning the American flag is protected by the First Amendment.

Have you subscribed to theGrio’s new podcast “Dear Culture”? Download our newest episodes now!

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1 of 2 protesters hit by car on closed Seattle highway dies

SEATTLE (AP) — A car drove onto a closed freeway early Saturday and struck two people in a crowd protesting against police brutality, killing one and critically injuring the other, authorities said.

Summer Taylor, 24, of Seattle died in the evening at Harborview Medical Center, spokesperson Susan Gregg said.

Taylor and Diaz Love, 32, of Portland, Oregon, were hit by the car that barreled through a panicked crowd of protesters on Interstate 5 early Saturday morning, officials said.

Dawit Kelete of Seattle drove the car around vehicles that were blocking I-5 and sped into the crowd about 1:40 a.m., according to a police report released by the Washington State Patrol. Video taken at the scene by protesters showed people shouting “Car! Car!” before fleeing the roadway.

Love is in serious condition in the intensive care unit, Harborview, Gregg said.

Emergency personnel work at the site where a driver sped through a protest-related closure on the Interstate 5 freeway in Seattle, authorities said early Saturday, July 4, 2020. (James Anderson via AP)

Love was filming the protest in a nearly two-hour-long Facebook livestream captioned “Black Femme March takes I-5” when the video ended abruptly; with about 15 seconds left, shouts of “Car!” can be heard as the camera starts to shake before screeching tires and the sound of impact are heard.

A graphic video posted on social media showed the white Jaguar racing toward a group of protesters who are standing behind several parked cars, set up for protection. The car swerves around the other vehicles and slams into the two protesters, sending them flying into the air.

READ MORE: Elijah McClain should not have been injected with ketamine

The driver, who was alone, fled the scene after hitting the protesters, Trooper Chase Van Cleave told The Associated Press. One of the other protesters got in a car and chased the driver for about a mile. He was able to stop him by pulling his car in front of the Jaguar, Van Cleave said.

Troopers arrived, and the driver was put in custody, Washington State Patrol Capt. Ron Mead said.

Kelete was described by offices as reserved and sullen when he was arrested, according to court documents. He also asked if the pedestrians were OK, the documents say.

Kelete was booked into the King County Correctional Facility on Saturday morning on two counts of vehicular assault. Bail was denied.

A protest sticker is posted on a handrail above Interstate 5 Saturday, July 4, 2020 in Seattle, where two protesters on the highway were critically injured after a car barreled into them earlier in the day. One has died of her injuries. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

A judge found probable cause to hold Kelete on an investigation of vehicular assault. He faces a second court hearing on Monday at which the judge will determine if he can be released on bail, according to court documents.

It was not immediately clear if Kelete had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.

READ MORE: Detroit activists aim to ban racist facial recognition software

Officials were trying to determine the motive as well as where he got onto the interstate, which had been closed by the state patrol for more than an hour before the protesters were hit. Mead said they suspect Kelete drove the wrong way on a ramp. Trooper Rick Johnson said the driver went through a barrier that closed the freeway.

Troopers did not know whether it was a targeted attack, but impairment was not considered a factor, Mead said.

Kelete has a Seattle address. He is listed in public records as a student who attended Washington State University between 2011 and 2017 majoring in business and commerce. His enrollment status could not be confirmed because the university was closed Saturday.

The Washington State Patrol said Saturday evening that going forward it won’t allow protesters to enter I-5 and would arrest pedestrians on the freeway.

Seattle has been the site of prolonged unrest following the May 25 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, which sparked nationwide protests. Dozens of people were arrested this past week in connection with protests as demonstrations continue after authorities cleared the “Capitol Hill Occupied Protest” zone Wednesday morning.

Protesters had shut down the interstate for 19 days in a row, Mead said at a press conference.

The State Patrol responded by closing sections of the interstate to keep drivers and protesters safe.

“In a time that requires care and flexibility, we are exercising the safest means possible to avoid injuries or worse to motorists, protesters, WSDOT personnel and our troopers by closing the roadway and separating protesters from vehicular traffic,” Chief John Batiste said in a statement on June 27, responding to complaints about the road closures.

Mead emphasized that the freeway is “simply not a safe place” for pedestrians, and said he hoped protesters would cease what he termed “unlawful behavior” in blocking the interstate.

“My hope is, as a result of this tragedy, protesters will reconsider their desire to be on the interstate because I cannot guarantee their safety, plain and simple,” Mead said.

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan said the city stands beside the friends and family of the victims.

“No one should risk their life for demanding better from our city, state and country,” Durkan said on Twitter.

Protesters were on the freeway for more than an hour before the car drove around the blockade around 1:36 a.m., Mead said.

The state patrol tweeted out two pictures of the driver’s car with significant damage to its bumper and windshield.

Seattle police tweeted that they were assisting.

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Founder of Black-Owned Smart-Vending Startup Makes History, Raises $2.3 Million Through Crowdfunding

Dawn Dickson PopCom

• PopCom is an automated retail company that leverages facial detection, machine learning and blockchain technology to help retailers collect valuable customer insights

• In the age of COVID-19, PopCom validates the need for vending and retail automation

• PopCom has the technology to securely verify customer identity to sell regulated products including cannabis and alcohol in vending machines


PopCom, a leading automated retail technology company specializing in smart vending and kiosk solutions successfully completed their second equity crowdfunding campaign on Start Engine. The goal was to grow its operations, build its sales team, reach more customers, and meet the demand for more automated retail machines in the wake of COVID-19, with their proprietary vending machine, the PopShop Kiosk. In a mere 47 days, PopCom did what no female founder in global history has ever done – they raised $1.3 million in capital exclusively from crowdfunding investors. This comes on the heels of a previous campaign where PopCom was able to raise $1.07 million in capital bringing their crowdfunding total to $2.3 million.

“Although the timing is sensitive due to the COVID-19 outbreak, we must continue to look towards the future and build products for our customers,” said Dawn Dickson, PopCom Founder & CEO. “While some industries are hurting, the requirement for social distancing validates the need for vending and retail automation. We believe that the market will continue to move towards self-service and contactless retail. Vending machines and convenience services are becoming more essential, and retailers are looking for more ways to deliver their products direct-to-customer with less human friction. We are excited about what is to come.”

With the intention to service the entire regulated retail market, PopCom has secured technology pilots and rollouts starting with cannabis and alcohol in 2020. It is the company’s intent to eventually power all machine-driven transactions in the retail space with its operating system that integrates facial detection to understand the customer demographic profile including age, gender, and emotion. The COVID-19 pandemic has made it more apparent that this could be a valuable asset to communities around the world, mitigating the need for human contact in emergency situations. Consumers would be able to access essential items around the clock, preventing lines and crowding.

With more than 4,000 investors, Dickson raised a historic crowdfunding campaign using Regulation CF secure token offering (STO). This type of fundraising instrument allows companies to secure investment from the general public, both accredited and non-accredited investors, which is outside of the traditional fundraising route that most technology start-ups take. “It was important to me to be able to raise capital this way to build and encourage intergenerational wealth in often overlooked communities,” Dickson said. “I aim to bridge the gap between venture capital and everyday people.” PopCom is still accepting reservations from investors who want to be waitlisted for future rounds. There is over $300,000 in commitments to date.

Using new security rules passed in 2016, equity crowdfunding platforms like Start Engine level the playing field for underrepresented startups, and for micro angel investors to invest alongside venture capitalists. These platforms allow everyday people to get in early-stage tech deals with high growth companies, and offer them the opportunity to reap the rewards as they scale and increase in value.

“The global community is calling for self-service retail to become more easily accessible, considering the shifts in our climate and technological advancements,” said Dickson. “With investment becoming more inclusive and open to forward-thinkers, my family, friends, community, and supporters, I believe we will reach the next milestones to success.”

About PopCom
PopCom is an automated retail technology company specializing in software for vending machines and kiosks. The company is venture-backed and an alumnus of TechStars and Canopy Boulder. Other Investors include Backstage Capital, NCT Capital, and Black Star Angel Fund.

Currently based in Columbus, Ohio, PopCom was founded as a software company in 2017 and is revolutionizing brick-and-mortar retail with frictionless, machine-driven transactions–changing the way consumers and businesses interact in self-service retail environments. Learn more at https://popcom.shop/

This article was written by BlackNews.com.



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Black Woman-Owned Book Store in Chicago Overwhelmed With Book Sales

Danielle Mullen book store

Danielle Mullen, the owner of Semicolon Bookstore, a Black-owned book store in Chicago, says that the global Black Lives Matter campaign has resulted in a huge financial boost for her business. She says that her store has gone from selling 3,000 books a week to 50,000 books a week.

As a woman-owned business, Danni says that her store is committed to having a direct impact on raising literacy rates in Chicago and beyond. She is selling books both online and inside her recently-reopened shop located at 515 North Halsted Street. “We were created with one thing in mind — community,” she says.


According to The New York Times, many other book stores across the nation are having the same success. However, sometimes the orders are so overwhelming, that they can’t “manage the deluge of orders”.

Even Danni admits that she struggles to keep up, and they’ve even had to unplug the store’s phone. “We couldn’t answer it and answer email and fulfill orders at the same time,” she said. “We now have almost 60,000 followers on Instagram — and we’re a bookstore! We had probably 3,500 to 5,000 before.”

For more details about Semicolon bookstore, visit SemiColonChi.com or follow the store on Instagram @SemiColonChi

This article was written by BlackBusiness.com.



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Former neo-Nazi says Trump shows a ‘pattern’ of alignment with white supremacy

While many people, especially minorities, believe that President Donald Trump sympathizes with white supremacy, one former white supremacist has spoken out saying that he believes it as well.

Christian Picciolini, a reformed neo-Nazi who now does work to deter extremism, in an interview with NPR‘s “Morning Edition last week expressed that the president has a pattern of behavior that is consistent with someone who subscribes to white supremacy.

Questions about this pattern were revived once again after Trump retweeted a video clip that included a white man wearing a MAGA hat yelling “white power” in late June. Trump later deleted the tweet, but has not commented on the matter.

Picciolini in the Thursday interview said “this has been a pattern.”

“This hasn’t been the first time that the president has tweeted something that has come from a white supremacist or that has had a white supremacist message, whether it’s talking about a conspiracy theory that’s connected to white genocide or whether it’s using pejorative language to describe other people,” he stated.

READ MORE: Trump says protesters targeting statues are trying to erase history in divisive Mount Rushmore speech

The former neo-Nazi believes that regardless of what Trump’s actual affiliations are, what the president’s plan involves is spurring a reaction out of his base of supporters. Picciolini is now an author and founder of the Free Radicals Project, which works to prevent extremism, according to NPR.

“What is intentional, I believe, is the goal to instill fear,” Picciolini continued. “We’re seeing a lot more language that is racist, especially with the use of social media, and he is emboldening that kind of language through his tweets.”

READ MORE: Trump approvingly tweets video showing ‘white power’ chant

In one of those tweets, Trump called a group of George Floyd protesters “THUGS.” His documented love for Confederate statues dates back at least to 2017 when wrote that a “beautiful” statue of Robert E. Lee was being removed.

Such rhetoric was amplified during his Friday speech, one day before Independence Day, at Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota, where he criticized demonstrators for forcibly removing more Confederate statues in the name of Black Lives Matter protests, saying: “this left-wing cultural revolution is designed to overthrow the American Revolution.”

“I think what President Trump is, is a megaphone,” Picciolini stated. “It’s as if Trump kicked over a bucket of gasoline on all of those small fires that have existed for 400 years and created one large forest fire.”

In a statement addressing since-deleted retweet of the white power clip, White House Deputy Press Secretary Judd Dere explained that the president “did not hear the [white power] statement made on the video” and that he liked the display of “tremendous enthusiasm from his many supporters.

“It was always used in a way that was a white supremacist manner,” Picciolini said. “Not in a sense that black power is used as a cry for equity and a cry against white supremacy. White power has always been used as kind of a bludgeon and not as anything other than that.”

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The post Former neo-Nazi says Trump shows a ‘pattern’ of alignment with white supremacy appeared first on TheGrio.



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A Startup Is Testing the Subscription Model for Search Engines

Neeva—formed by ex-Googler Sridhar Ramaswamy—asks users to be the customer, not the product.

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Bank of America Partners With iHeartMedia For National Audio News Service For The Black Community

Black Information Network Bank of America

This week Bank of America announced its new partnership with iHeartMedia to launch the Black Information Network (BIN), the first 24/7 national and local all news audio service dedicated to informing the Black population and spotlighting issues of importance within the community.

The goal of the new network is to provide a voice for Black people to help foster new conversations with a deeper understanding. form. A study by iHeartMedia showed that 86% of Black listeners believe a platform like this is necessary and are likely to use it as an important news source. CVS Health, GEICO, Lowe’s, McDonald’s USA, Sony, 23andMe, and Verizon are also apart of the new partnership for the platform.

“When we can invest in opportunities that genuinely serve communities, like BIN, we are living up to our values and achieving the highest and best use of our resources,” said Meredith Verdone, chief marketing officer of Bank of America in a press statement.

“Keeping informed about events in our rapidly changing world has never been more important, and BIN’s goal of delivering relevant, local news tailored to the needs of Black communities across the U.S. directly aligns with Bank of America’s goals to strengthen and better serve local communities across the country.”

“We are pleased and proud to support the launch of BIN: Black Information Network by contributing resources that will have the greatest impact—our reach, our multiple platforms, our technology infrastructure and our broad, in-depth relationships with consumers,” said Bob Pittman, chairman and CEO of iHeartMedia.

“The commitment to service, and the immediate need we saw for a news and information destination for the Black community, accelerated the launch of BIN: Black Information Network to serve this community in an important new way.  We are honored to be joined by some of the most important companies in the world that are also committed to this mission.”



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Covid-19 Is Accelerating Human Transformation—Let’s Not Waste It

The Neobiological Revolution, is here. Now's the time to put lessons from the Digital Revolution to use.

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The 7 Best Drones (2020): Budget, Toys, Professional Video

Whether you want to battle Star Wars spaceships or shoot a cinematic masterpiece, you'll find a pick that's perfect for you.

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LG's CX OLED TV Review: Pretty and Expensive

The company's new C-series is really expensive, but it looks really, really good—and not just when you're watching Zoolander.

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Congress Needs to Make Silicon Valley EARN IT

More narrow than its critics contest, the act would help stop tech giants from prioritizing profits over safety.

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Astronomers Are Uncovering the Magnetic Soul of the Universe

Researchers are discovering that magnetic fields permeate much of the cosmos. If these fields date back to the Big Bang, they could solve a cosmological mystery.

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