Don't Ask For Permission, Ask For Forgiveness 👯♀️
VOL 17 - THURSDAY, JUNE 18
Hey Notees! We're excited to meet with you the day before Juneteenth, a holiday commemorating the emancipation proclamation the abolishment of slavery. We hope you are able to take collective action to celebrate the holiday by either attending any socially distant in-person events in your local communities or have a chance to celebrate with us virtually with nationwide events. Check out the full list we were able to gather in our events calendar. Are there any we missed? Drop us a note and let us know!
This week we would also like to remember the nine lives lost at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, at the hands of Dylan Roof. June 17 marks the five year anniversary of this heinous act of violence.
We want to continue use our platform to provide helpful resources to our subscribers. Here are a few sources that we hope will be of value of you and in support of our communities during these trying times:
Shop Black-Owned & Founded Wellness Brands: 66+ Companies To Support
10 Apps and Directories That Help You Find and Support Black-Owned
Also, if you are interested, make sure your voice is heard by submitting your story to Fortune's Working While Black on the racial injustices or even microaggressions in your workplace.
We are excited to introduce a Little Black History Fact where we will share the amazing history of Black women past and present. In addition, you'll notice we are bringing back the article section with our first submission "Get in the game: Play golf to elevate your status and find new friends to connect with" by LJ Finney,
It's been [another] heavy week filled with constant unsettling reports across media platforms, but we hope you enjoy this issue with the things that you missed over the last week, the big news we caught, a few honorable mentions to check out and a quote from Angelica Ross.
Enjoy and always: Stay Notedd!
The July British Vogue cover story celebrates women on the frontline fighting the pandemic, who in the face of danger, still put on their uniforms everyday. Three phenomenal, essential workers share their courageous stories. If you are looking for more cover stories, check out this list of beautiful Black and Brown men and women who re-imagined themselves on the cover of Vogue for the #VogueChallenge.
Did you join the challenge? If so, send us your pics and we'll feature you on our Instagram for more to see!
The City of Ferguson in Missouri welcomed their first Black mayor, Ella Jones, who was elected nearly six years after the death of Michael Brown.
The number of Fortune 500 CEOs reached an all-time high last month with 37 women-led companies. Unfortunately, the list still lacks racial diversity with only three women of color and none are Black.
Fabiana Pierre-Louis is continuing to make history as the first Black Woman to sit on the New Jersey Supreme Court. Previously, she served as Assistant U.S. Attorney and the Attorney-in-Charge for the Camden Branch office where she was the first Black woman to hold this position in the District's entire history.
The Plug, a weekly newsletter providing news and insights on the Black innovation economy, is tracking statements made by top companies on racial justice, Black Lives Matter and George Floyd. We think it's an incredible database and excellent way to keep these companies accountable. Check out this list that is update in real time!
Earlier this week, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the 1964 Civil Rights Act protects gay, lesbian and transgender employees from discrimination. A huge victory!
Drake University graduate Kennedy Mitchum successfully petitioned Merriam-Webster to update its definition of the word “racism” in the dictionary.
Where is the outrage for Breonna Taylor? We strongly echo Solange's sentiments as it makes no sense that there has still been no justice served for death of Breonna Taylor. The Louisville City Council passed Breonna's Law, a legislature banning no-knock warrants and requiring police officers to wear body cameras when serving warrants and to turn their body cameras on at least five minutes before beginning the operation. While this is one step in a more just direction, the officers who killed Breonna still haven't been charged. One of the officers is under investigation for sexual assault and oh, yeah suspended for driving down the wrong way to a drug scene and struck a detective causing series injuries. Like one of the authors of the #SayHerName: Resisting Police Brutality Against Black Women report, Andrea Ritchie shares, "Women's experiences of policing and criminalization and resistance [have] become unworthy of historical study or mention, particularly when those writing our histories are also men."
While the majority of police brutality and killing are towards Black men, Black women and girls (reported as young as 7 and old as 93) are killed by police at staggering rates where their stories are often unheard. Even when Black women are fighting for the injustices of their communities and making their voice heard, Black women are still beaten and killed at the hands of the police or worse when they do nothing for Black women like Oluwatoyin Salau. That's why the #SayHerName campaign and continuing to amplify these stories with every continual effort as possible is of great importance.
Pride will be celebrated in virtual settings: Similar to the nation's changes to transition to teleworking environments, Pride will be taking a similar approach with virtual festivities to celebrate. The New York Times released earlier this week "Your 2020 Virtual Pride Guide." Take for instance, LGBT Detroit's recognized their Hotter Than July event was going to be their 25th anniversary and their responsibility as one of the Midwest's largest Pride events to local Black communities who are one of the most affected populations to COVID. LGBT Detroit will host their event via Zoom and Instagram and are making their event bigger and better with a candlelight vigil, a digital picnic and what may be the nation's first online ball competition. Or, the Not IRL Pride Summit coming up next week which is one of the largest LGBTQ tech industry summit which is FREE.99 and all access to amazing leaders and speakers - which can all be accessed virtually.
Turning celebrations virtual is in response to the pandemic, but for people who are disabled or those who haven't felt comfortable to attend an in-person parade or event, this may allow them the space to enjoy events with their communities in the convenience of their home. In addition, this allow events celebrations to continue outside of Pride month like Hotter Than July.
The state of Black Journalism week two: Last week, we shared the stories of journalist Patrice Peck who wrote an op-ed in The New York Times on this peculiar time to be a Black journalist, especially during the pandemic. We highlighted the arrest of Omar Jimenez and the horrific experiences journalists are facing while covering protests. We shared how journalists Camille Augustin, Desire Thompson and Bianca Gracie are thinking through their pivot plans after being let go and helping those coming after them with advice on how to navigate the long term effects that could come to the Black journalism industry. This week, we share eight more journalists' stories who are reporting while Black and yet have the weight of the history not their shoulders. In addition, sharing this piece from Wendi C. Thomas who shares her story of being surveilled by Memphis police just for being a journalist and for doing her job: to report on what she saw.
As we mentioned previously, it's important to recognize those in the field, especially our Black and Brown journalist. We must continue supporting them, but as Mattie Kahn shares in her Glamour article, this is all very personal for these journalists as it is for many of us having to explain what's going on in our workplaces. Mattie exposes how it's an even larger burden "for Black women in the media, who have to contend with both racism and sexism, the cost is steep."
#PullUpOrShutUp: Similar to Sherrell Dorsey with keeping tech companies accountable, UOMA Beauty founder, Sharon Chuter, started a call to action that aims to hold corporations accountable by releasing the number of black employees they have at corporate and executive levels. On a similar path, over the last week many brave Black employees have shared their experiences at millennial white women created companies Refinery 29 and The Wing. These women shared the numerous counts of toxic work cultures and microagressions throughout the leadership at both companies, resulting in both company's founders stepping down.
As someone who has faced this type of behavior at every workplace, we commend these women speaking their truth and many of you are doing the same in your workplaces. As mentioned, if you want to continue to have your story heard on a larger scale, please submit your story in Fortune’s Working While Black series.
Check out these honorable mentions, and drop us a note on your thoughts if you are able to check them out this weekend or next!
We can't stop listening to Chloe x Halle's new album "Ungodly Hour." It's such a fun unapologetic and energetic album with many songs that we easily relate to. These two talented ladies have done it again, but it's even better to see them behind the scenes with just an instrument and their melodic voices on their IG channels.
What are your thoughts? Any favorites for you? We have the album on full loop, but “Baby Girl,” "Forgive Me” and "Ungodly Hour" are our favorite favorites.
Haven't had a chance to listen to the album yet? Check it out on Spotify or Apple Music.
In one of Notedd's earlier issues, we featured MIT Media Lab researcher Joy Buolamwini's TED talk, "How I'm Fighting Bias in Algorithms." Her research found that current facial recognition technology misidentifies women and people of color, particularly darker complexion women. Her research found that women like Michelle Obama, Serena Williams and Sojourner Truth were identified as black men in AI technology, while white males are clearly identified every time. Influenced and intrigued by Joy's research, Director Shalini Kantayya tapped in to direct the documentary, "Coded Bias," following Joy's research journey and the creation of her advocacy organization, Algorithmic Justice League.
The film was selected as a featured documentary film in this year's Sundance Film Festival. We're excited to rent it this weekend through the Human Rights Film Festival. Check it out with us and let us know what you think!
The Dinner Table Doc is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, partnering with schools and community organizations to provide college and career readiness workshops and programming for young women of color ages 11-18. Their workshops and programs have reached more than 400 young women in the New York City area. Learn more about them and how you can get involved by donating.
Get in the game: Play golf to elevate your status and find new friends to connect with
By LJ Finney
Golf is an easy way to enjoy nature, improve flexibility, think strategically, socialize with friends, and meet new people, all while getting your 10,000 steps in for the day. Earamichia Brown of McKinney, Texas, embraced golf a few years ago. Originally from New York City, she was investigative counsel for the State Inspector General. “My work doesn’t allow me to get up often and my life can be very solitary. I thrive outdoors. I need sun and to be in nature. Golf is an excuse for me to get outside and meet new people. It aids my overall health and stability. I get to look at the sky, and it soothes my soul, it adds to my artistic flow,” says Brown.
Before you say golf is not for me or I have never been athletic and move on, know that you’re not alone: Women often have a negative impression of golf: it takes too much time, costs too much money, playing sports is unappealing, hitting a little white ball is illogical, or a bad golf experience earlier in life turned you off. The objective of the golf is to get the ball into the hole 18 times, with the least number of strokes (times you hit the ball). A standard round of golf consists of 18 holes, ranging from 5,000 to 7,000 yards total. Each hole has a different length, different terrain, and different obstacles like sand, lakes, or trees. It is a social sport where people use various sized golf clubs to hit a ball, like a driver, woods, irons, or putter. When people jokingly refer to the 19th hole...
Read more by clicking the button below to learn six ways you can get in the golf game!
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