Chaymeriyia Moncrief is a tech entrepreneur from Alabama who is the founder and CEO of prepaid wireless carrier, Tesix Wireless Network. She turned down a $4.4M takeover offer, raised over $5M, and ended the 2019 year with a $10M valuation. Now, she is taking on an even bigger technology sector: smartphones and electronics.
As a wireless carrier, it is ideal to sell the most popular and latest smartphones under your brand. Wanting to remain a standout Millennial focus carrier, Chaymeriyia was determined to become the first African American woman to launch her own line of smartphones, and eliminate selling other mobile brands.
With a mission to “create to inspire a forward culture,” Chaymeriyia decided to name the electronic brand NSPRE (Inspire) Electronics featuring smartphones and other electronics.
After nearly two years of planning, the brand’s first phone, the NSPRE NX Pro, is officially in production and has already sold out of its first pre-order batch. The NX Pro’s companion NX Pro Plus, Limited Edition model, is now available as the brand’s 2nd launch with only a limited 300 devices available.
The NX Pro & NX Pro Plus are internationally unlocked, and the company will ship in the U.S., Africa, Canada, and Mexico.
With more consumer electronics in works, NSPRE will announce the release of two more products this fall.
Learn more and pre-order at www.nspreelectronics.com/
4th Ave Market has exploded onto the scene as a new Black-owned online retail platform tackling economic inequality in the Black hair care and beauty supply industry. Black people spend $2.5B annually on hair care and beauty products, yet they only own 7% of all beauty supply stores. And historically, the Black entrepreneurs who make beauty products haven’t been able to get distribution in large retail stores as big brands spend money to keep them off the shelves.
4th Ave Market CEO, Salim Holder, co-founded the company, which is now the largest Black-owned online hair care and beauty supply store in the United States.
“Our goal is to create a simple shopping experience and offer easier access to a diverse inventory of the brands that Black people love. And do so at prices that are up to 30% lower than traditional retail. Thanks to our loyal customers, our sales have been organically doubling month-over-month,” said Holder.
The historic 4th Avenue District in Birmingham, AL once thrived as a center for Black culture, entertainment, and economic empowerment with the Black dollar constantly circulating within the community.
4th Ave Market empowers Black entrepreneurs by giving them a popular and simple platform on which to sell their products. And because 4th Ave Market is online, Black beauty and hair care suppliers don’t have to worry about distribution challenges and shelf space restrictions.
“4th Ave Market is great because they provide access to our consumers in an affordable way. And I love how they eliminate some of the usual retail distribution challenges Black hair care entrepreneurs normally face,” said Pamela Booker, Koils By Nature CEO.
The company is creating an innovative and sustainable ecosystem powered by the people it serves. 4th Ave Market provides expert and community curated tips to help customers find the best products for them. And it keeps its audience inspired by highlighting remarkable people in the Black hair care and beauty space.
A portion of all their profits is reinvested back into the Black community through local and national organizations and partnerships.
Learn more at https://www.4thavemarket.com/
Urban Culture Media Group announced the launch of Urban Now TV (UNTV), a video-on-demand platform that streams curated content highlighting Black culture and the Black experience in America. The new streaming service provides an extensive collection of genre-specific videos covering social justice issues, documentaries, news, entertainment, and more. By focusing on ethnocultural content, UNTV aims to cultivate an unexplored niche as it enters the highly competitive streaming video on demand industry.
According to UNTV’s Founder and CEO Jemell Cotton, “The Mission was to create a single digital destination for Black culture by aggregating and organizing urban video content from around the internet and through technology, distribute it in a way that’s easily viewable to anyone interested in American Black culture.”
“Netflix and Hulu have scripted TV shows and movies, Disney has content for children, but no one has focused on unscripted urban content, until now. That’s our niche, and that’s where we’re focusing,” says Cotton. As Ebony Magazine, BET, and Radio One harnessed the power of print, TV, and radio, Urban Now TV’s vision is to become the premier urban streaming platform and a leading source of Black media.
UNTV features a comprehensive collection of videos including coverage of the current protest and civil unrest over the death of George Floyd. The service also aims to strike a more balanced tone by streaming web series, sports content, and community niche programming. Additionally, the app highlights vlogs from celebrities including Will Smith, Ayeesha Curry, Naomi Campbell, and others.
Content creators and influencers looking for distribution and coverage can pitch their video content by uploading their content directly on the platform or through Facebook and Instagram by using the hashtag #urbannowtv.
Urban Now TV’s mobile app is available for download in the Google Play and Apple App Store. Content can also be streamed on the website, UrbanNow.TV. The streaming service plans to launch smart TV apps for Roku, Apple TV, and Amazon Fire in the fall. The service is currently free. However, looking towards the future, UNTV plans to produce exclusive content and grant access for a small annual or monthly subscription fee.
Urban Now TV is a subsidiary of Urban Culture Media Group LLC. For more information and to learn about Urban Now TV, visit UrbanNow.TV
The murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers has sparked a worldwide movement that includes protesting in nearly every city across the globe, and also a lot of songs by artists who are expressing their frustration through their music.
Here are the top 5 most popular songs that address Black Lives Matter and the current state of racial tension in America:
#1 – The Bigger Picture by Lil Baby: In this rap song, much different from his others, Lil Baby lyrically addresses current issues about racial tension in urban cities head-on. His viral music video, which shows him out in the community supporting the cause, has garnered more than 18 million views.
#2 – I Can’t Breathe by H.E.R.: This R&B tune by the Grammy award-winning princess of soul is a nice melody for an older and more conservative audience to vibe to. She even surprises listeners at the end of the song with a little bit of spoken poetry that speaks about generations and generations of pain.
#3 – Black Lives Matter Freestyle by LL Cool J: The 52-year old rapper turned actor reminds new schoolers that he was indeed one of the pioneers of hip-hop. In this viral freestyle, he raps about racism and injustice and even mentions a little bit about America’s political climate.
#4 – I Can’t Breathe by Deitrick Haddon: In this soft R&B song, gospel singer Deitrick Haddon plays the piano as he soulfully sings lyrics addressing exactly what happened to George Floyd the day he was killed by police. The song itself is not a gospel song, but it definitely has an uplifting feel to it.
#5 – I Can’t Breathe Song by The Undiscovered Artist: This song, infused with R&B and pop elements, has a very haunting feel as the singer details what has happened to one too many unarmed African American men. Although the artist doesn’t mention their names, the song directly references George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery. It’s a powerful tune for sure.