protests

Biden outraises Trump for month of May amid coronavirus, George Floyd protests

By Tommy Flemm 2 years ago

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has outraised President Trump for the first time this year even as the coronavirus pandemic continues to hit the United States, and George Floyd protests began. 

The former vice president pulled in $80.8 million for the month of May, topping Trump, who pulled in $74 million. 

May was the first month Biden has jointly fundraised with the Democratic National Committee, allowing him to compete on even footing with the president, who has been jointly fundraising with the Republican National Committee (RNC) for months. 

Despite besting the president in total fundraising figures, Biden still lags far behind in cash on hand totals. Trump’s cash on hand equals a staggering $265 million, compared to the less than $150 million in Biden’s coffers. 

According to the Trump campaign, the president has pulled in over $800 million for this election cycle, nearing the $1 billion figure campaign manager Brad

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Former Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett talks protests, defunding police, and criminal justice reform

By Tommy Flemm 2 years ago

As Black Lives Matter protests continue to gain strength across the United States, former senior advisor to President Barack Obama Valerie Jarrett says the country might have reached “a turning point.” 

“It feels different this time,” Jarrett told Yahoo Finance. 

“And I’m hesitant to say we’ve reached the turning point, but I do think this is more than an inflection. I do think it’s the beginning of a turning point. And the question will be, can we sustain this effort over time?”

The top Obama official says that the protests and demonstrations have been “incredibly positive,” with people of all races, backgrounds, and ages participating.

“I also think that those demonstrations have yielded results right away,” she said, citing the appointment of Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison to the George Floyd case and the increased severity of charges against the officers. 

“That’s the kind of swiftness that I think

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Why corporate America ‘can’t unlearn’ protest’s lessons in building diverse workplaces

By Tommy Flemm 2 years ago

As protests erupt globally over the death of George Floyd, more companies are lending a hand to the movement through donations and pledges to expand their workforce to be more diverse — gestures that experts warned won’t be enough by themselves.

The latest companies to address racial inequalities are Adidas (ADDYY), who pledged to fill 30% of their open U.S. positions with black or Latino people, and Nike (NKE), Twitter (TWTR) and Square (SQ), who announced June 19 would be a paid company holiday to celebrate black culture.

But Jeff Lindor, founder and CEO of The Gentlemen’s Factory, told Yahoo Finance that while this is a start, the present pledges won’t define the long-term change that needs to happen.

“One thing that corporate America needs to understand, and the world needs to understand, is that black and brown people can’t unlearn what we’ve just experienced,” he told “On the Move”

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Protests shed light on why ‘black founders matter’ in startups, business

By Tommy Flemm 2 years ago

Widespread protests in response to the police killing of George Floyd have also put a spotlight on a lack of racial and ethnic diversity in the boardroom, a venture capitalist told Yahoo Finance this week, who described the issue as an opportunity for change.

Angel investor Lorine Pendleton, the lead investor for the Rising American Fund with Portfolia, said that the current social upheaval is putting a needed spotlight on issues that pertain to class and wealth. That includes the need to tackle the dearth of minorities on Wall Street, Silicon Valley and in board rooms.

The problem is “really systemic,” Pendleton told Yahoo Finance’s “On the Move” in an interview, adding that the Black Lives Matter movement is “actually shedding a light on income and wealth disparity.”

And so I say, black founders matter, and that’s…what we’re doing and investing in these best of class companies that are out

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Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on George Floyd protests

By Tommy Flemm 2 years ago

Anger over the May 25 killing of George Floyd has coincided with “the slimy underbelly of institutional racism” being exposed by the coronavirus, wrote NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, in a recent L.A. Times op-ed. The recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Abdul-Jabbar is the NBA’s all time leading scorer, six-time NBA champion, and only six-time MVP. 

“I just tried to point out to Americans what they were watching when they saw all of the unrest,” Abdul-Jabbar said in an interview with Yahoo Finance. “People pushed to the edge, people who have no voice, no power, no economic power.”  

“They just are tired of dealing with the system, that it often times ends up killing them. The police forces kill black Americans at an inordinate rate and it has to do with racism,” he said.

Racism, however, is not confined to acts of police brutality and the unjustified deadly

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