Fearless Fund Founders Fight Back After Being Targeted For Investing In Black Women
An anti-affirmative action group is suing a Black-owned venture capital fund organization that specifically invests in Black women entrepreneurs.
The lawsuit was filed on August 2, 2023, by The American Alliance for Equal Rights (AAER). It claims that Fearless Fund, an Atlanta-based venture capital firm, offers a grant contest that racially excludes women who are not Black. The lawsuit claims that the “Strivers Grant” violates Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which mandates that private contracts be made available to all people regardless of race. The group also filed a motion for a temporary restraining order to stop the Fearless Fund from closing its application period or awarding grants as scheduled at the end of August.
The Fearless Fund firm launched back in 2019 and awards thousands of dollars in grants to small business owners looking to secure money to grow their ventures. The organization was initially co-founded by actress and businesswoman Keshia Knight Pulliam, along with Ayana Parsons and Arian Simone. However, Pulliam is no longer affiliated with the company. Since its inception, the organization has already seen much success with investors, including PayPal, Bank of America, and General Mills, just to name a few. To date, the firm has raised more than $25 million for over 40 companies, including the popular Black woman-owned restaurant Slutty Vegan.
Both Parsons and Simone are still actively working with the organization and, along with Attorney Benjamin Crump, spoke publicly on the lawsuit during a sit-down interview on The Breakfast Club. Both Parsons and Simone believe that they’re being sued “because” their organization is creating Black and brown female billionaires. During the interview, Parsons says Black women are the most founded entrepreneur demographic who start more businesses than anyone else but are still getting the least. Shocker! According to Simone, their firm not only provides grants to their clients but valuable tools on how to run a successful business.
AAER is led by Edward Blum. Blum’s organization is also affiliated with the decision from the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down affirmative action in college admission. In reference to the Fearless Fund lawsuit, Blum told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) that three white and Asian female entrepreneurs are the ones claiming that the Strivers Grant violated civil rights laws and proceeded to ask Blum to represent them.
As a result of this lawsuit, Simone says she and Parsons are now developing their own legislative order, telling The Breakfast Club, “If you want to use the law against us, we need some more laws to protect us.” As for the next steps, Attorney Crump wants to be clear that this is all of our problem. Crump is concerned that this lawsuit can open Pandora’s box for Black and brown people everywhere, telling The Breakfast Club, “You have to stop him on this. If you don’t stop him now, it’s open season on all of us." But Blum’s organization is acting as if a sin was committed.
Some would argue that this lawsuit is just another attempt of the AAER to dismantle any and all programs that attempt to leverage generational wealth in America, which is concerning. The basis of the lawsuit seems blurred, at minimum, being that it is against progressiveness and equity. The point of the Fearless Fund is to invest in businesses that get looked at last, if at all. So Blum pretending that these inequities don’t exist is problematic in itself, and if he is successful, then Crump is correct; it could very well be open season on us all.
Ben Crump, Arian Simone & Ayana Parsons On The Fearless Fund, Racial Discrimination Lawsuit & More
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Smile, Sis! These Five Improvements Can Upgrade Your Oral Hygiene Instantly
This article is in partnership with Sensodyne.
Our teeth are connected to so many things - our nutrition, our confidence, and our overall mood. We often take for granted how important healthy teeth are, until issues like tooth sensitivity or gum recession come to remind us. Like most things related to our bodies, prevention is the best medicine. Here are five things you can do immediately to improve your oral hygiene, prevent tooth sensitivity, and avoid dental issues down the road.
1) Go Easy On the Rough Brushing: Brushing your teeth is and always will be priority number one in the oral hygiene department. No surprises there! However, there is such a thing as applying too much pressure when brushing…and that can lead to problems over time. Use a toothbrush with soft bristles and brush in smooth, circular motions. It may seem counterintuitive, but a gentle approach to brushing is the most effective way to clean those pearly whites without wearing away enamel and exposing sensitive areas of the teeth.
2) Use A Desensitizing Toothpaste: As everyone knows, mouth pain can be highly uncomfortable; but tooth sensitivity is a whole different beast. Hot weather favorites like ice cream and popsicles have the ability to trigger tooth sensitivity, which might make you want to stay away from icy foods altogether. But as always, prevention is the best medicine here. Switching to a toothpaste like Sensodyne’s Sensitivity & Gum toothpaste specifically designed for sensitive teeth will help build a protective layer over sensitive areas of the tooth. Over time, those sharp sensations that occur with extremely cold foods will subside, and you’ll be back to treating yourself to your icy faves like this one!
3) Floss, Rinse, Brush. (And In That Order!): Have you ever heard the saying, “It’s not what you do, but how you do it”? Well, the same thing applies to taking care of your teeth. Even if you are flossing and brushing religiously, you could be missing out on some of the benefits simply because you aren’t doing so in the right order. Flossing is best to do before brushing because it removes food particles and plaque from places your toothbrush can’t reach. After a proper flossing sesh, it is important to rinse out your mouth with water after. Finally, you can whip out your toothbrush and get to brushing. Though many of us commonly rinse with water after brushing to remove excess toothpaste, it may not be the best thing for our teeth. That’s because fluoride, the active ingredient in toothpaste that protects your enamel, works best when it gets to sit on the teeth and continue working its magic. Rinsing with water after brushing doesn’t let the toothpaste go to work like it really can. Changing up your order may take some getting used to, but over time, you’ll see the difference.
4) Stay Hydrated: Upping your water supply is a no-fail way to level up your health overall, and your teeth are no exception to this rule. Drinking water not only helps maintain a healthy pH balance in your mouth, but it also washes away residue and acids that can cause enamel erosion. It also helps you steer clear of dry mouth, which is a gateway to bad breath. And who needs that?
5) Show Your Gums Some Love: When it comes to improving your smile, you may be laser-focused on getting your teeth whiter, straighter, and overall healthier. Rightfully so, as these are all attributes of a megawatt smile; but you certainly don’t want to leave gum health out of the equation. If you neglect your gums, you’ll start to notice the effects of plaque buildup, which can irritate the gums and cause gingivitis, the earliest stage of gum disease. Seeing blood while brushing and flossing is a tell-tale sign that your gums are suffering. You may also experience gum recession — a condition where the gum tissue surrounding your teeth pulls back, exposing more of your tooth. Brushing at least twice a day with a gum-protecting toothpaste like Sensodyne Sensitivity and Gum, coupled with regular dentist visits, will keep your gums shining as bright as those pearly whites.
Megan Thee Stallion Shares The 'Intense' Workout Routine That’s Got Her Snatched
One thing about Megan Thee Stallion is that she’s going to motivate you to stay active. From afar, she seems like the perfect gym bestie, and up close, it looks like her workouts would have us gasping for air. But hey, she doesn’t call her routines “bootcamp” for nothing.
After an extended break from social media and the public eye, the Houston Hottie is back sharing the high-energy workouts that are keeping her lean and she’s happy to report that “the results have been resulting."
The 28-year-old rapper dropped an Instagram Reel, detailing the workout routine that’s putting her endurance to the test. With the help of her personal trainer, Megan has one word in mind when it comes to her progress and that’s: “Consistency.”
The “Savage” artist has been traveling, making “hot girl moves," and after returning from a trip to New York, she expressed that her trainer is pushing her to keep the same energy back in the gym.
“I had just gotten back from New York and I told my trainer, ‘Look, friend, I was having a time. Can you please take it easy?’” Megan said. “He said, ‘Hmm, I’ve seen you doing all that hot girl s—, so what you need to do is get in that gym and have that same energy.’”
Her trainer then instructed her to do jumping squats with an exercise ball and resistance band around her legs for an extra burn. “I put my thing down, flipped it, and reversed it and that’s what happened. This sh– burned like a motherf—,” she teased in the video’s voiceover while executing both forward and backward jumping squats.
It’s clear that when it comes to Megan’s fitness, her trainer doesn’t play around about pushing her to her limits. In the next set of her cardio moves, we see the Grammy-winning artist jumping rope and moving on to a combination of mountain climbers and lateral jumps over a speed hurdle.
“Right here, that’s when I realized: I’ve been saying my trainer’s crazy but I know he’s really, really crazy because he must think that I’m trying out for the Houston Texans or something,” she joked.
To finish her workout, Meg hit two more barbell exercises, one being a set of cleans with 10-pound weight plates on the barbell. She then closed out by doing lunges with the barbell racked on her shoulders.
Of course, the best way to close out a workout is to nourish yourself with a balanced meal. Meg showed off her delicious post-workout plate with salmon, a sweet potato, and assorted veggies.
With so much of her public life being shared on the internet, it’s nice to see her letting us in on her progress in a fun and motivating way. “I just want to be transparent with y'all. Working out hurts, but it’s really a mental thang, so go do it!”
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