What's On Today - Wednesday

Former President Barack Obama made history in 2008 when he was elected the 44th president of the United States, becoming the first Black person to hold the nation’s highest office. His election marked a transformative moment in American history—one shaped by hope, resilience, and a belief in the power of collective progress.

Obama’s life story reflects the promise of the American dream. Born Aug. 4, 1961, in Honolulu, Hawaii, to a Kenyan father and a mother from Kansas, he was raised by his mother and grandparents.… Read more

In what several activists and spiritual leaders view as an underhanded effort to court Black dollars, Target donated $300,000 to the National Baptist Convention amidst several ongoing Target boycotts nationwide.

According to USA Today, both Rev. Jamal Bryant and activist Nekima Levy Armstrong say the church group accepting the donation does a disservice to their separate, ongoing Target boycotts. Bryant initially called for a 40-day Target boycott before going on to call for a full boycott over the company rolling back its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives earlier this year.… Read more

Outdoor Afro, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to reconnecting Black communities with nature, is making waves with its mission to address a long-standing disparity in swim education. The organization has been spreading the word about their Making Waves program, which provides swimming scholarships—or “swimmerships”—to Black children, teens, and adults across the country, according to a report shared by journalist Phillip Lewis on June 24.

The initiative aims to tackle a troubling and persistent issue: Black Americans are significantly more likely to drown than their white counterparts due to their inability to swim.… Read more

In a significant move toward advancing inclusivity in technology, Howard University and Google Research have unveiled a new dataset designed to enhance how automatic speech recognition (ASR) systems serve Black users. The collaboration, part of Project Elevate Black Voices, involved researchers traveling nationwide to document the unique dialects, accents, and speech patterns commonly found in Black communities, features often misinterpreted or ignored by current AI systems.

The project spotlights African American English (AAE)—also known as African American Vernacular English, Black English, Ebonics, or simply “Black talk”—a culturally rich and historically rooted linguistic form.… Read more

For decades, Nike was the premier name in sneakers and sportswear. Through the Jordan brand, the company had become synonymous with Black cool. In recent years, though, the allure of the brand has cooled with sales steadily declining. A recent earnings report revealed that while Nike’s sales decline appears to be reversing, the company expects to take a $1 billion hit due to the Trump administration’s ongoing tariffs.

According to CNBC, the company announced the news during an earnings call with investors on Thursday.… Read more