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We're just wrapping up the final week of the Olympics and there are a few notable performances by Black athletes that need their flowers. For the sake of brevity, we’ll use the 3 letter country codes to signify the countries that the respective athletes represent.
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (USA) continued her dominance broke her world record in the 400m hurdles and became the first woman ever to win two 400m Olympic gold medals. Anna Cockrell (USA) came in second. The women’s long jump was an all Black podium with Tara David-Woodhall (USA) getting her first gold medal, Malaika Mihambo (DEU) getting silver, and Jasmine Moore (USA) getting a bronze medal. There was an all Black podium for the women’s 200m as well. Gabby Thomas (USA) earned gold, Julien Alfred (SLU) earned silver, and Brittany Brown (USA) earned a gold medal. Winfred Yavi (BAH) earned a gold in the 3000m steeplechase, Peruth Chemutai (UGA) earned silver, and Faith Cherotich (KEN) earned a bronze medal. Annette Echikunwoke won the first U.S. women’s Olympic medal in the hammer throw. Beatrice Chebet (KEN) won a gold medal in the women’s 5000m final and the 10000m final. Faith Kipyegon (KEN) won the silver medal and Sifan Hassan (NLD) won the bronze medal.
Letsile Tebogo made history and became the first person from Botswana to win gold at an Olympic Games, and the first African to get a medal in the men’s 200 since 1996. Kenny Bednarek earned a silver and Noah Lyles earned a bronze medal. Quincy Hall (USA) had a heroic comeback and won a gold in the men’s 400m final. Matthew Hudson-Smith (GBR) earned a silver medal. Muzala Samukonga earned a bronze in the 400m final marking Zambia’s 28-year drought without an Olympic medal. Roje Stona became the first Jamaican to win gold in the discus throw, the first man from outside Europe to win gold, and set a new Olympic record. Mijain Lopez, of Cuba, won gold in super heavyweight wrestling for the fifth straight Olympic Games. This had never been done before in any Olympic event.
Anderson Peters, of Grenada, became the first Mississippi Bulldog to ever medal in Olympic throwing. He earned a bronze medal in the javelin. Masai Russel (USA) won a gold medal for the 100m hurdles in her debut Olympics. Emmanuel Wamyonyi won a gold medal in the men's 800m. He is the youngest ever 800m Olympic champion and the third fastest ever. Kenya has now won gold in the 800m in five straight Olympics. Team USA won gold in the women’s 4x100 relay. USA now has more gold medals in the women’s 4x100 relay than the entire world combined. USA men and women earned a gold in the 4x400m relay. US women have won this relay eight times in a row.
After years of discrimination, the USDA will be giving $2 billion to minority farmers. This is a substantial step towards writing some of the past wrongs against Black farmers. Historically, there were more Black farmers in the past than there are today. A large part of the reason for the decline has been a lack of resources, lack of capital, and other systemic issues.
Read the full article here.
Pharrell Williams is not shy about his support of the arts. The producer, designer, and songwriter made his support for the arts even more known recently. He made the suggestion that the Olympic games should reintroduce the arts. To some, this may be a foreign concept but at some point, the Olympics included the arts as competition.
Read the full article here.
Carrie Mae Weems is an artist and activist originally from Portland Oregon. This week she shared a billboard in support of Vice President Harris which reads “Lead with Compassion, Not Complaint.”
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Choates Holdings, LLC, has partnered with Urban Icon International to develop state-of-the-art arenas and hotels for multiple African countries including Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania.
Former Netflix and Clubhouse employees have raised $1.7 million for a new conversation application called “Why?!” that will foster communication with open-ended questions and unexpected prompts.
British Nigerian artist and designer Olaolu Slawn has an upcoming collaboration with Supreme. He has previously collaborated with Skepta, and Sotheby's, and designed the set for the 2023 Brit Awards.
During the pandemic, Dr. Ala Stanford used her own money to fund COVID tests for vulnerable members of her community. Now, she's writing a book to tell her story. The book is titled "Take Care of Them Like My Own."
Usher, LL Cool J, and BET will be honored at the 2024 Black Music Action Coalition Gala. The award ceremony will take place in September.
Black-owned Company Myavana, founded by Candace Mitchell, raised $5.9M. This brings its value to $50 million. The way it works is that users upload pictures, and then artificial intelligence will recommend products for the user's hair.
African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM) raised money to develop digital infrastructure in Africa. The fund will operate across the whole continent.
Song of the Week: “Active” by Asake feat. Travis Scott (Nigeria)
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