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Young Entrepreneurs Revolutionize Education in Africa by Moving It Online

A group of five recent graduates, each from a different African country, are revolutionizing education on the continent by moving classes online.

With all the entrepreneurs being under the age of 25, they have all grown up in the digital era and now they are putting that background to incredible use.

Together, they have launched Funda, which is an online training platform that has been teaming up with universities in South Africa to provide e-courses for users.

“At Funda, we develop learning management systems and provide content development services to higher institutions to take their courses online so that the general public can access them at a cheaper price,” one of Funda’s founders, Kolawole Olajide, explained, according to CNN.

The group of millennials understood that in today’s world, it can be hard for students to make the time to attend classes.

Budding entrepreneurs may have unusual hours as they strive to launch their own startups. Others may have already obtained managerial positions that don’t give them the free time to attend classes on a daily basis. Then there are many cases where family emergencies and special circumstances rob would-be students out of furthering their education.

Moving courses online could resolve these issues, and the founders of Funda want to be a part of charting the way for that to happen in Africa.

“Our major goal is to be a major education technology provider in Africa,” Olajide added. “So we’re just trying to strategically position ourselves, so when Africa is ready we would also be ready.”

Whether or not certain countries in Africa are “ready” has been a major obstacle for the group of founders.

Kennedy Kitheka from Kenya, Jason Muloongo from Zambia, Sameer Rawjee from South Africa and Kumbirai Gundani from Zimbabwe are the other four founders and each of them brought important perspectives about technological issues that still exist in different African countries.

“I was aware of user experience because user experience of technology in Nigeria was not very good,” Olajide said. “One of the other partners was keen on developing the mobile application because he said in his area of the world, there are more mobile users. So we are bringing together solutions made by the problems we’ve faced in Africa.”

While Funda has managed to go mobile, Olajide added that it is very limited for now.

“At the moment, [mobile] is very limited,” he said. “Mobile phones are good for getting your results, educations checking attendance reports and all that stuff. But the real core experience is from the desktop machine.”

While Funda’s headquarters is in South Africa, the founders hope to continue to expand across the continent and make education more accessible.

“The future of the continent lies in how educated people are,” he said. “All the major problems can be solved with education – education is the key to the future.”

Funda was launched in 2009 and since then has earned recognition from the United Nations Development Program and the World Economic Forum.

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A Look Back in History: Jan Ernst Matzeliger, Shoe Production Pioneer

Jan Ernst Matzeliger was born on Sept. 15, 1852, in Paramaribo, Suriname. His father was Dutch and his mother was a former enslaved woman from Suriname. Matzeliger began working in machine shops at 10. He died Aug. 24, 1889.

Matzeliger took night classes and studied English. He collected a personal library of scientific books he used to educate himself. Matzeliger was also a talented artist. He painted pictures, which he gave to his friends, and he taught classes in oil painting.

In 1880, Matzeliger was determined to improve shoe production. In the early part of the 19th century, shoe production was slow and only in the hands of cobblers. His process involved mechanical shaping of the shoe’s upper leather over a form shaped like a human foot, and attaching the shoe upper to the sole.

Around the 1880s, Matzeliger began putting together a crude prototype. He used whatever scraps he could find such as cigar boxes, pieces of wood, wire, nails and paper. He was ridiculed and underestimated by competitors.

On March 20, 1883, Matzeliger received patent number 274,207 for his machine. The mechanism worked by pulling the leather down around the heel, then setting and driving in the nails, and then the machine would discharge the completed shoe. It had the capacity to produce 700 pairs of shoes a day. That’s more than 10 times the amount produced by a cobbler.

In 1991, the United States government issued a “Black Heritage” postage stamp in Matzeliger’s honor.

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5 African-Americans Making an Impact in The Video Game Industry

Morgan Gray

Morgan Gray is a veteran in the video game industry and has worked on many popular games, such as Tomb Raider, Star Wars and most recently The Bureau: XCOM Declassified. Although Gray has worked on many mainstream games, he’s very ready to see a change in gaming when it comes to race. According to an interview he did with mtv.com, Gray stated:

“I am sick of playing the average white dude character. And I’m sick of playing a black stereotype. … As a player I want to have more experiences other than the futuristic super soldier white guy to the unlikely hero white guy. There’s that line where you’re playing you, and you’re playing the character. It’s sort of like, are you behind the character pushing? Are you holding hands with the character in your mind? And for me, I’d like to get more of relating to this character.”

Karisma Williams

Senior Experience Developer/Designer for Xbox Kinect

As a senior experience developer/designer, Karisma Williams designs and develops the various onscreen interfaces, which include menus, interaction models and onscreen elements. In addition to her work at Microsoft, Williams also serves as creative director of Matimeo.com, an independent UX development company.

Gordon Bellamy

Gordon Bellamy has spent the past 19 years producing and marketing interactive content and developing strategic business partnerships with video game publishers, social media developers and technology partners.

He has worked with major companies like MTV, EA Sports and Spike TV. He was named EA’s “rookie of the year” for his work on marketing the NFL Madden series and was instrumental in creating Spike TV’s Video Game Awards show.

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24 African-American Historical Sites You Must Visit

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National Underground Railroad Freedom Center – Cincinnati, Ohio

Opened in August 2004, the center commemorates the history of the Underground Railroad, a secret network of routes and safe houses 19th century slaves used to escape to free states and Canada. It also is dedicated to the abolishment of human enslavement and the secure freedom of all people. The permanent exhibitions include Invisible Slavery, documenting human-trafficking and modern-day slavery, and an exhibition on Solomon Northup, a free man who was kidnapped and sold into slavery. The exhibit was created to provide historical context for the film 12 Years a Slave, based on Northup’s experience.

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Birthplace of Martin Luther King Jr. — Atlanta, Georgia

King’s childhood home is part of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site. Reservations can be made to tour the home. Visitors also can tour the nearby Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, which includes the crypts of King and his wife, Coretta Scott King, and the Eternal Flame, symbolizing King’s continued dream.

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Ebenezer Baptist Church – Atlanta, Georgia

Located near the birthplace of Martin Luther King Jr. and Freedom Hall, a nonviolence exhibition, Ebenezer Baptist Church is an important part of the King family legacy as his grandfather and father, Martin Luther King Sr., served as pastors before he took over in 1960.

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Freedom Rides Museum – Montgomery, Alabama

The museum is located in Montgomery’s historic Greyhound bus station, the site of a violent attack during the 1961 Freedom Rides. The museum features Freedom Ride exhibits, inspired artwork and recorded speeches by the Freedom Riders.

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Motown Historical Museum — Detroit, Michigan

Established on Jan. 12, 1959, Motown Records, nicknamed Hitsville U.S.A., was a highly successful Black-owned record label. The company had great success with performers such as The Jackson 5, Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye. The museum displays the history of Motown’s creation, exhibits featuring famed artists, costumes and photographs as well as the legendary Studio A, where classic hits, such as the Supremes’ Stop in the Name of Love, were recorded.

 

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DuSable Museum of African American History – Chicago, Illinois

Named after Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, the first non-native settler to arrive in Chicago in the 1780s, the DuSable Museum is the first and oldest museum on African-American history and culture, featuring works from scholar W.E.B. Du Bois and an exhibition on anti-lynching activist Ida B. Wells.

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A Look Back in History: Mae Jemison — Breaking New Ground in Space

Mae C. Jemison was born on Oct. 17, 1956, in Decatur, Alabama. At an early age, Jemison developed interests in anthropology, archaeology and astronomy.

She graduated from Morgan Park High School in 1973 as an honor student and entered Stanford University on a National Achievement Scholarship. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering in 1977. Jemison went on to earn a doctorate degree in medicine from Cornell University in 1981. On June 4, 1987, she became the first African-American woman to be admitted into the astronaut training program.

Jemison went into space on Sept. 12, 1992, with six other astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour. This was the first time an African-American woman had gone into space. She served as the science mission specialist in Spacelab-J from Sept. 12-20. Jemison was a co-investigator on the bone cell research experiment flown on the mission. She ended up logging 190 hours, 30 minutes, 23 seconds in space.

In recognition of her accomplishments, Jemison received several honorary doctorates, the 1988 Essence Science and Technology Award, the Ebony Black Achievement Award in 1992 and a Montgomery Fellowship from Dartmouth College in 1993. She was also Gamma Sigma Gamma Woman of the Year in 1990. In 1992, an alternative public school in Detroit, called the Mae C. Jemison Academy, was named after her.

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10 Black Angel Investors You Should Know About as a Minority in Tech

Statistics show African-American-owned firms are less likely to receive angel investments, according to Black Enterprise. In the first half of 2013, only 8.5 percent of startups pitching to angel investors were minority-owned, 16 percent were women-led, according to a report by the Center for Venture Research at the University of New Hampshire. Only 15 percent of those minority-owned businesses successfully got funded, while 24 percent of the female entrepreneurs received angel investments. Moreover, ethnic minorities account for less than 5 percent of the angel population.

24th Annual Heroes And Legends Awards

Troy Carter, Founder, Chairman and CEO, Atom Factory

Troy Carter is the founder, chairman and CEO of Atom Factory, an entertainment and music management company. He has managed artists such as Lady Gaga and John Mayer. Carter began his career in Philadelphia working for actor/rapper Will Smith and gaining industry traction. He is the founder of AF Square, an investor firm that discovers and develops companies whose business disrupts the status quo. The organization provides business expertise and counsel to help companies identify key partners, reach a diverse consumer base and achieve record-breaking results, according to its website. Carter announced the creation of a new fund between $75 million and $100 million to triple-down on tech investing activity.

 

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Ken Coleman, Special Adviser, Andreessen Horowitz

Ken Coleman, a former captain in the U.S. Air Force, has served not only overseas but also in the trenches in the heart of Silicon Valley. He held several managerial positions at Hewlett-Packard, an information technology company, and joined Activision, a video game publisher as its vice president of product development. He was the founder of ITM Software, an information technology software company, and raised $20 million in venture capital funding. Coleman is currently involved with Andreesseen Horowitz, a venture capital firm founded in Menlo Park, California.

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Marshall Graduate Launches American Dream Movement to Give Black Male Students a ‘Sense of Hope’

Marshall University alumnus Charles C. Meyers Jr. has launched a new initiative in West Virginia called the American Dream Movement, which he hopes will give Black male students “a sense of hope and direction” when they need it the most.

Meyers believes that there are many times that a student just needs a positive push or better guidance to be able to succeed in life.

The new program will welcome 12 students from eighth grade through 12th grade.

Thomas Jones, the only eighth-grader being accepted into the program, attends Huntington Middle School while all the other students attend Huntington High School.

While the press release for the American Dream Movement did not give many specifics on what the program will entail, it did clearly state that the initiative’s objective is to help young Black male students reach their full potential.

“In order for African American males to reach their full potential in life, they must be encouraged to achieve their dreams and to take the proper steps to success,” Meyers said, according to a press release for the new initiative. “An investment in the lives of African American male students in the Huntington community is needed, in order to change the trajectory of their lives in a positive direction.”

He explained that it is important for the entire community to be an active, positive part of the children’s lives.

“When members of the community take the time to provide the students with wisdom and guidance, the students have a much better chance of becoming motivated to succeed and to dream of a better life for themselves,” Meyers said, according to the press release. “I developed the American Dream Movement because I know the power of influence. When you take the time to invest in someone’s future, the impact that you can make on someone’s life is worth the investment.”

Meyers also explained why he wanted to call the initiative the American Dream Movement.

“In today’s society, the dedication and encouragement to achieve the ‘American Dream’ has dissipated in the hearts of many African American males in Huntington, West Virginia,” he said. “The motivation to pursue happiness and success has been truncated to fulfilling desires with short-term thinking leading to long-term consequences. Now, more than ever, it is critical for African American males growing up in society to understand the importance of faith, family, education and having a career.”

Meyers promises that the program will allow the students to have a better chance at succeeding in life by offering the young men “positive reinforcement, education and guidance.”

This is only the latest initiative that Meyers has launched.

Other initiatives by Meyers include Future Investment Day, A Gift to Remember in December and the Words of Reflection Writing Contest.

Meyers plans to hold a ceremony called “Gathering of Dreamers” later this month to celebrate the new members of the American Dream Movement.

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Black Film Visionary and Media Entrepreneur Makes History at UCLA

Black valedictorian at UCLA makes history

Graduating summa cum laude is a massive honor for any college student, but for Artel J. Great, that was just the beginning of his success story.

Great has made history at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), by becoming the first Black valedictorian of the university’s School of Theater, Film and Television.

During his interview with BlackEnterprise.com, Great revealed that he didn’t even set out to become the school’s valedictorian. He simply wanted to do his best.

“The funny thing is I never set out to be valedictorian,” he said. “I was just determined to do my best and work to the highest of my ability.”

He also added that although he appreciates the awards and honors, they are still not the most important things to him.

“I focus on doing my work,” he said. “Making a positive contribution, that’s what I think about. What can I give of myself to make a contribution to our culture? If I’m blessed to win more awards I’d be grateful to accept them in the spirit of the ancestors who sacrificed so much for me to even have an opportunity.”

In addition to making history with his performance in the classroom, Great also has made incredible strides outside of his studies.

Great was the 2014 recipient of the Cinema Research Institute Fellowship for Innovation, BlackEnterprise.com reports.

“The CRI fellowship means that executives in a film think-tank believe my ideas are cutting-edge and promising enough to nurture,” he told BlackEnterprise.com. “It also means that I have financial support for one year to test an innovative model in the market, which will help procure long-term funding to secure the company’s growth.”

The recent graduate is also quite the emerging entrepreneur.

He is the founder of Project Catalyst and has recently launched the Project Catalyst App.

According to BlackEnterprise.com, Project Catalyst is a transmedia organization that combines creative community-building practices with cinema, visual art, music and technology.

Great is currently touring major cities in the U.S. to continue promoting the app’s launch.

“We’ve successfully organized live events and presentations in New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles to introduce our new film and music app to the world,” he told BlackEnterprise.com. “We now have users in 11 countries across Europe, Asia, North and South America, the Caribbean and the Middle East.”

Great explained that the app “offers a progressive voice to multicultural communities with fresh, insightful entertainment that empowers and illuminates.”

Great plans to finish his Ph.D. at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and said that finishing his Ph.D. will be done in honor of his two role models – Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

“They inspired me to earn my doctorate – that will be my greatest achievement,” he said.

It is no surprise that Great named these two historical figures as his role models.

The self-proclaimed historian said it is a “deep sense of responsibility” that drives him to work as hard as he does.

“I understand the sacrifice of so many dynamic figures in our culture that gave so much for us to have a chance,” Great said.

 

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7 Minority-Led Investment Firms Every Black Tech Startup Should Know

645 Ventures

Location: New York, New York

Led By: Nnamdi Okike

Portfolio: Poshly, Admittedly, Keaton Row, AbbeyPost, Rifiniti and Hire an Esquire.

About: 645 Ventures is a seed and early-stage venture capital firm specializing in software and Internet companies. The firm invests in companies in the following sectors: SaaS software, application software, e-commerce, data analytics, online marketplaces and Internet-enabled services.

Base Ventures

Location: Berkeley Hills, California

Led By: Erik Moore

Companies Invested In: SocialCam, Swapbox, Virool and many more

About: Base Ventures, founded by Erik Moore, is a seed-stage fund investing in technology companies. Successful exits include Socialcam (acquired by Autodesk), and Appstores (acquired by InMobi).

Bronze Investments

Location: San Francisco, California

Led By: Stephen DeBerry

Portfolio: University Now, LendUp and Better Finance

About: Bronze Investments is a financial investment advisory firm headquartered in San Francisco, California. The firm manages 1 account totaling an estimated $25 million of assets under management.

EchoVC Partners

Location: San Francisco, California

Portfolio: Stipple, Dekko, GraphScience, Life360º and more

About: EchoVC Partners is a seed and early stage venture capital firm focused on financing and cross-pollinating leading technologies, teams, business models and knowledge across North America, Africa and southeast Asia. Average investment size ranges from $25,000 to several million dollars depending on the stage of opportunity and capital needs of the business.

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8 Calls for Submissions for Blerd and Afrofuturist Creators

  1. Stories for Chip: A Tribute to Samuel R. Delany will honor science fiction’s living legend, the author of over 20 novels, approximately as many short stories, five notable memoirs and counting, and 10 essential books of genre criticism. What we’re looking for: We want stories and critical essays that relate in some way to the strength and beauty of Samuel R. Delany’s body of work. This relationship can be made evident through allusions to the author himself; through allusions to his work’s titles, characters, situations, settings, etc.; through evoking a Delanyesque atmosphere; or through analysis of any of these elements, in the case of nonfiction. We’re hoping for essays that elucidate his important, lasting contributions to literature; and for fiction inspired by these contributions.

Wordcount limits: 1,000 to 10,000 for prose
Pay: minimum .05/word up to $400 total per story/essay for original prose; minimum .02/word up to $160 total per story/essay for reprint prose.
Deadline: Dec. 1, 2014

More info: http://rosariumpublishing.com/storiesforchip.html

  1. The Afrofuturist Affair 4th Annual Charity & Costume Ball has expanded space-time from one evening to a monthlong celebration of Afrofuturism. In addition to the 4th Annual Costume Ball on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2014, in Philadelphia, we will have events throughout November, including workshops, dance party, readings, book club, film screenings, art exhibit and more. We are seeking self-identified Afrofuturists to perform or display their Black sci-fi, spec-fic, and Afrofuturistic themed work at the Ball. We are also seeking submissions for workshops and presentations.

Submission guidelines: To share your ideas, talents, and proposed performances for inclusion in this year’s celebrations, please email [email protected] with Name, contact info, title and description of proposed performance/art/workshop, and website, and “Charity Ball” in the subject line.

           Deadline: Sunday, Oct. 5, 2014

More info: http://www.afrofuturistaffair.com/#!events/cee5

  1. TU BOOKS, the fantasy, science fiction and mystery imprint of LEE & LOW BOOKS, award-winning publisher of children’s books, is pleased to announce the second annual NEW VISIONS AWARD. The NEW VISIONS AWARD will be given for a middle grade or young adult fantasy, science fiction or mystery novel by a writer of color. The award winner receives a cash prize of $1,000 and our standard publication contract, including our basic advance and royalties for a first-time author. An Honor Award winner will receive a cash prize of $500.

Submissions guidelines: The contest is open to writers of color who are residents of the United States and who have not previously had a middle grade or young adult novel published. Only unagented manuscripts will be accepted. Work that has been published in its entirety in any format (including online and self-publishing as well as other countries) is not eligible. Manuscripts should address the needs of children of color by providing stories with which they can identify and relate, and which promote a greater understanding of one another. Submissions may be fantasy, science fiction, or mystery for children ages 12 to 18. Realistic stories without a mystery or speculative component will not be considered.

Deadline: Oct. 31, 2014

More info: https://www.leeandlow.com/writers-illustrators/new-visions-award

  1. Literary Orphans Journal, a Chicago-based online literary magazine, is a collaborative writing and arts platform, designed to present original literary work of quality, illuminated by cutting-edge photography and visual crafts, while celebrating individualism with a belief that such exposure will instigate a flowering of personal agency, and contribute to new and progressive understandings of social diversity across geographic spaces. Literary Orphans Journal is proud to announce its upcoming “Black Thought” issue. Named after the lead emcee of the Grammy Award-winning group The Roots, the “Black Thought” issue aims to capture the fluidity of African-American literature, as reflected by its creators. This issue will publish literature from Black people who identify as queer or transgender, or are stout atheists, or who deal daily with mental illness, or who love fantasy and science fiction and comic books, who struggle with their identities within the “Black community.”

Submissions guidelines: Poetry – 3-5 poems per submission; one poem per page. Prose (Fiction and Creative Nonfiction) – All genres are acceptable. 500 – 5,000-word length maximum. Novel excerpts are acceptable. Art and Photography – All mediums are welcome. 300dpi minimum resolution, 1200px longest side. Title, Medium, Year (Skyfall, Oil Painting, 2014) Please include artist statement, if applicable. Simultaneous submissions are acceptable; please notify us immediately if submission is accepted elsewhere.

Deadline: Sept. 30

More info: http://literaryorphans.org/ttl/black-thought-call-submissions/

  1. Escape Pod is the premier science fiction podcast magazine. Every week we bring you short stories from some of today’s best science fiction stories, in convenient audio format for your computer or MP3 player. Diversity:  Escape Pod welcomes submissions from writers of all backgrounds. We are especially interested in seeing more submissions from people of backgrounds that have been historically underrepresented or excluded from traditional publishing, including, but not limited to, women, people of color, LGBTQ or non-binary gender people, persons with disabilities, members of religious minorities, and people from outside the United States.  Our goal is to publish science fiction that reflects the diversity of the human race, so we strongly encourage submissions from these or any other underrepresented groups.

Submissions guidelines: We’re primarily interested in short fiction. We want short stories between 2,000 and 6,000 words. The sweet spot’s somewhere between 3,500 and 5,000 words. We pay $.06 a word for new fiction at this length, $.03 a word for reprints. ($100 minimum payment) We do buy flash fiction, on occasion, and pay the same rates. ($20 minimum)

Deadline: Rolling basis

More info: http://escapepod.org/guidelines/

  1. Midnight Echo is OPEN to submission until Oct. 31. The theme is SINISTER. What does SINISTER mean to you? Is it a character; a shadowy, nightmare figure? Or is it an atmosphere; a foreboding air of doom? Does the word fill you with apprehension, or maybe excitement? Or is the vision in your head something we cannot begin to imagine? Kaaron Warren, our guest editor for Midnight Echo Issue 11, wants to know. She is open to any interpretation of the theme in any style, but she wants to hear original voices. Take a chance. Send us the story you’ve always wanted to write, but were too afraid to tell. There is a lot of freedom in this theme, which makes it both liberating and terrifying. The editor wants to be moved, surprised and impressed – why don’t you take that as a challenge? Sinister. Play with it. Enjoy it. Scare us.

Submissions Guidelines: Fiction, poetry, cover and interior art

Deadline: Oct. 31, 2014

More info: http://midnightechomagazine.com/submission-guidelines/

  1. 5×5 is an online literary journal that publishes poetry and prose of 500 words or less. We publish 5×5 twice a year (Winter & Summer). From Zeit, meaning “time,” and Geist,” meaning “spirit,” Zeitgeist, the theme for the Winter, 2015 issue of 5×5, means “spirit of the age” or “time-spirit.” We are looking for works of fiction, poetry and nonfiction that explore this concept from any number of angles. Maybe you want to take a stab at “defining” the zeitgeist of the present era or of a past era, or maybe you want to examine an idea or a figure of the present or past you see as representative or symbolic of the notion of zeitgeist, or maybe you’ve cultivated a voice or technique that in and of itself evokes “the spirit of the time,” whether past or present.

Submissions guidelines: Poetry, nonfiction, fiction

Deadline: Oct. 15, 2014

More info: http://5x5litmag.wordpress.com/

  1. BLACKBERRY: magazine is an online literary magazine featuring Black women writers and artists. Its goal is to expose readers to the diversity of the Black woman’s experience and strengthen the Black female voice in both the mainstream and independent markets. We hope to illuminate the exceptional work of a newer generation while reaching back to those whose words may have been ignored in the past. New work is shared weekly thus we read on a rolling basis. Simultaneous submissions are permitted. Please notify us immediately if the work has been accepted elsewhere. We prefer work that has not been previously published. BLACKBERRY: a magazine asks for non-exclusive electronic rights. With all submissions, please send a 50 word bio in your Submittable cover letter.

Submission Guidelines: Please submit 3-5 poems not exceeding 1,500 words, in one document. All flash fiction and flash nonfiction should be under 300 words. We love spoken word and audio-visual creations. All other forms: no more than 2 pieces not exceeding 4,000 words. Artwork must be 2-dimensional, in color or black-and-white, 300 dpi or higher. If applicable, include captions.

Deadline: Submissions accepted on a rolling basis

More Info: https://blackberryamagazine.submittable.com/submit