WEALTH WATCH — Artificial intelligence is making investment scams more convincing and harder to detect, putting retirement savings and older investors at greater risk of financial fraud. One case involves a 63-year-old woman who met a man claiming to be a high-ranking U.S. Army official serving in Syria on an online dating platform; over four months, requests for supplies and loans led her to transfer approximately $150,000 through PayPal, wire transfers, and cryptocurrency. For Black families, churches, businesses, and community organizations, the threat is not limited to money disappearing from one account but can drain retirement savings, church funds, business capital, emergency reserves, charitable donations, and assets intended for the next generation.
ECONOMY & EQUITY — The 2026 State of Black America report highlights several economic inequities facing Black Americans, including rising housing costs, cuts to Medicare, disparities in student loan burdens, and persistent underemployment. In 2025, some 250,000 to 300,000 Black women lost their jobs, and between November 2025 and February 2026, some 567,000 Black men lost their jobs—losses that cost Black America about $87 billion in income. Despite these challenges, the report highlights that the country is in the middle of an industrial revolution regarding artificial intelligence, clean energy, and biomedical engineering, which have the potential to create jobs and close gaps in the workforce.
Black entrepreneurs are nearly three times more likely than White entrepreneurs to have business growth negatively impacted by lack of financial capital.
| S&P 500 | 7,718.6 -0.4% | |
| Dow Jones | 53,414.25 -0.5% | |
| 30-Yr Mortgage | 6.71% | FRED / Freddie Mac |
| CPI (YoY) | 3.3% | BLS via FRED |
| Bitcoin | $79,917 +0.4% | CoinGecko |
| Ethereum | $2,501 +1.9% | CoinGecko |
| UONE | $4.73 | -3.0% |
| RLJ | $10.93 | +0.4% |
| CARV | $1.80 | -2.7% |
Founded by sisters Kharisma and Kyra Mayo, this bakery made history as Ohio's first and only all-vegan doughnut shop, featuring iconic square doughnuts in classic and creative flavors including lemon lavender, cotton candy, and cookie butter.
Visit Business →L'Oréal is awarding six grants of $25,000 each to Black entrepreneurs in the beauty industry through partnership with the NAACP Empowerment Programs, supporting business growth in the beauty and personal care sector.
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