Can't Nobody Tell Us Nothing
VOL 4 - WEDNESDAY, MAY 22
Happy Graduation Season y’all! Thanks for staying with us as we took a brief hiatus for our graduation from Georgetown University. To my fellow grads out there, congrats to you all too!
Honestly we’ve been a little out of the news space for a minute but we have few articles to share your way on what we've Notedd over the last couple of weeks. We’ll be back in our Notedd mode next week for the first week of June (can you believe we are halfway through the year?)
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Seize The Day With A Backpack. New trend alert: self-care and comfort. Women are trading in their purses for backpacks. As a fellow member of the backpack committee, we stand behind this message.
#EndAdultificationBias. In a recent study conducted by the Georgetown Law Center on Poverty and Inequality, U.S. adults believe black girls are much older than white girls, are less in need of nurturing and support, know more about adult topics in addition to an array of other problematic beliefs. The center has taken a call-to-action to support young black girls and women through EndAdultificationBias.org to generate awareness and allow others to tell their stories.
Help Those Who Can't Save Their Coins. The FDIC reported that nearly 33 million who are youth with credit histories, immigrants and lower-income people are either "underbanked" or "unbanked" due to the lack of financial services available to them. Sheena Allen created CapWay to provide better financial services for people she grew up with. CapWay is a banking solution that provides your account balance, notifies you when your upcoming subscription service like Netflix or Hulu will drain your account. Let's say you forget - CapWay will front you the cash if you are at a low balance until funds are back in your account. Still in the works to be fully baked and developed as an app, but a great organization to help those that are daunted by the big banks and created by a women of color.
Behind-The-Scenes With The Infamous Amy Sherald. The woman behind the stunning portrait of our Forever First Lady Michelle Obama shared what life was like before the portrait as a struggling artist to now preparing for her next biggest show. What we love most about this interview is what she would tell her younger self when asked:
"Don’t waste your time on all these wack-ass dudes. Quit obsessing over being in love and falling in love and just live your life."
“You just have to realize that only you can make the work that you make, and that your life is your life.
"I have low self-esteem right now as I’m speaking to you. It never goes away. You just learn how to deal with it. You just have to work through it."
Quit Ignoring Us. Former lead counsel for Facebook who created their Supplier Diversity program Bärí A. Williams wrote an amazing piece on the importance of making Black women a priority in this upcoming election, and the facts clearly show. For both 2008 and 2012 elections, historic numbers for our Forever President Barack Obama were a result of black women voters. 94% of black women voted for Hillary Clinton, according to exit poll data. Williams suggests that the road to nomination is by way of showing up to the places where we gather from organizational meetings to hair and nail salons to the conversations we lead on social media. Overall, she notes that it is necessary that our voices and suggestions are not only heard, but respected AND implemented.
Informed Influencers and Powerful Purchasers. Nielsen recently released their findings on a recent study of the Asian American population who at 22.6 million strong have a spending power that rose to $1.0 trillion in 2018 and is expected to reach $1.3 trillion by 2023, with a powerful long tail of younger and bigger spenders.
In honor of the graduation theme, we are excited for the 34 phenomenal African-American women who recently graduated from the United States Military Academy West Point. This dynamic group of women is the first and largest class of black women to graduate from West Point. Just last year, the school appointed Lt. Gen. Darryl A. Williams as its first black superintendent. Congrats to the Class of 2019!
Did you believe your mom when she said,
“Don’t touch the iron?"
By Lauren S.
No formal note this week but something brief to keep in mind as you push through toward the holiday weekend. In honor of our spirit animal - Rihanna - who has been killing the game specifically over the last year and now, we leave here a quote from her recent interview with The New York Times:
"I have a tattoo that’s written backward so I can read it in the mirror: “Never a failure. Always a lesson. How you gonna learn without making mistakes? Did you believe your mom when she said, “Don’t touch the iron?"
Until we meet again next week, Notedd ✌
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