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Black influencers, including the owner of a plus-size boutique, are among those lobbying Congress not to ban TikTok

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TikTok, TikTok ban, theGrio.com

WASHINGTON (AP) – Lawmakers, meet your newest lobbyists: online influencers from TikTok.

The platform is once more inviting influencers to Washington, this time to lobby members of Congress to reject a quickly passed bill that will force TikTok’s Beijing-based parent company to be sold or banned in the United States. On Tuesday, some influencers kicked off a two-day event in support of TikTok, which organized their trip ahead of the House vote on the bill on Wednesday.

But unlike a similar lobbying event the company held last March, when talk of banning TikTok got here to a head, this yr’s motion seemed more rushed as the company tried hard to counter laws that was moving quickly on Capitol Hill.

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“If they ban it, I don’t know what that will do” to the company, Summer Lucille, a TikTok content creator with 1.4 million followers who’s visiting Washington this week, said in an interview organized by the platform. “It will be devastating.” The laws enjoys extraordinary support in Congress.

Content creator Summer Lucille poses for a photo in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, March 12, 2024. She is among the influential people lobbying lawmakers against a bill that will force TikTok to sell its platform or face a ban in the United States. (AP Photo/Haleluya Hadero)

Last week, a House panel unanimously approved the measure in an unusual display of bipartisanship. President Joe Biden has said he’ll sign the bill whether it is passed by lawmakers. However, it’s unclear what is going to occur in the Senate, where several bills geared toward banning TikTok are stalled.

The laws faces other obstacles. Former president and current presidential candidate Donald Trump, who holds sway over Republicans in each the House of Representatives and the Senate, has expressed opposition to the bill, saying it will strengthen the position of Meta-owned Facebook, which he continues to sharply criticize for its defeat in elections in 2020. The bill also faces opposition from some progressive lawmakers in the House, in addition to civil liberties groups who say it violates the First Amendment.

TikTok may very well be banned if parent company ByteDance fails to sell its stake in the platform and other apps it owns inside six months of the law’s entry into force.

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The fight over the platform comes at a time when U.S.-China relations have turned strategic competition, especially in areas resembling advanced technologies and data security, seen as necessary to each country’s economic prowess and national security. The change, which began under Trump and continued under Biden, imposed restrictions on high-tech exports and the outflow of US money to China, in addition to access of some Chinese firms to the US market.

The Biden administration also cited human rights concerns in blacklisting a number of Chinese firms accused of helping the state’s surveillance campaign against ethnic minorities.

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There is not any shortage of lobbyists on TikTok. Its Beijing-based parent company, ByteDance, has a powerful lobbying apparatus in Washington that features dozens of lobbyists from well-known consulting and law firms, in addition to influential figures resembling former members of Congress and former advisers to influential lawmakers, according to the Defense Foundation Democracy.

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TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew may even be in Washington this week and plans to meet with lawmakers, according to a company spokesman who said Chew’s visit was previously planned.

But influencers who’ve a strong following on social media and may share personal stories about how the platform has empowered their businesses – or just given them a voice – are still arguably one of the strongest tools a company has in its arsenal.

A TikTok spokesperson said the two-day event can be attended by dozens of influencers, including some who got here last yr. A spokesman did not immediately respond to questions on what number of recent people will take part in this yr’s lobbying foray. The company informs them about this before meetings with representatives and media interviews.

Lucille runs a plus-size boutique in Charlotte, North Carolina, and according to her, she has seen a significant increase in revenue thanks to her TikTok page. The 34-year-old began creating content on TikTok, specializing in plus-size fashion, in March 2022, greater than a decade after founding the company. She quickly gained hundreds of followers after posting a nine-second video about her boutique.

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Due to her popularity on the platform, her company has more online visibility and more customers, some of whom have even visited from throughout Europe. She says she also frequently hears from followers who find support in her content about fashion and self-confidence.

JT Laybourne, an influencer who also got here to Washington, said he joined TikTok in early 2019 after receiving negative comments on videos he posted on Instagram singing in the automotive together with his children.

TikTok, TikTok ban, theGrio.com
Republicans in the House of Representatives are backing a bill that will require Chinese company ByteDance to sell TikTok or face a ban in the United States. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Laybourne, who lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, said he was drawn to the short video platform since it was easy to create videos that included music. Like Lucille, he quickly gained popularity on the app. He says he has also received more support from TikTok users who’ve responded positively to the content he has created about love and positivity.

Laybourne says the community he built on the platform rallied around his family when he had to undergo heart surgery in 2020. He said that after surgery, he used the platform to raise $1 million for the American Heart Association in lower than two years. His family now runs a clothing company that gets most of its traffic from TikTok.

“I will fight tooth and nail for this application,” he said.

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But it’s unclear whether the opposition the company gathers through lobbyists or influencers will likely be enough to derail the bill. On Tuesday, House lawmakers received a briefing from the FBI, Justice Department and intelligence officials about national security concerns about TikTok.


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This article was originally published on : thegrio.com

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Target admits that Dei Rolback and boycott have contributed to the decrease in sales

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It looks like a goal boycott. According to Yahoo FinanceIn the case of merger with earnings with investors, the general director Brian Cornell admitted that the decreases in sales in the first quarter of the store were, at the very least partly due to consumer reactions to their announced initiatives of diversity, equality and integration (Dei) in January. This “reaction” was a phone call of varied organizations and groups to boycott the seller.

According to Cornell, concerns about tariffs, the decreasing trust of consumers in the seller (this dei of things) and inflation caused a slow first quarter of sales.

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“We believe that each of these factors played a role in our performance in the first quarter, we cannot reliably estimate the impact of each of them separately.”

Target, together with other retail sellers, similar to Amazon and Wal-Mart, announced plans to change the course when it comes to Dei, but Target seems to be the most difficult company thanks to this decision. In the first week of March, pedestrian traffic goal fell by 7 percent compared to a yr ago. On the other hand, Costco doubled his involvement in the DEI initiative, and their pedestrian traffic increased by 7 percent yr -on -year.

The boycott of the goal or “fast target” was directed by many organizations, especially Fr. Dr. Jamal Bryant. The results of the “fast” was the goal of Cornell Cornell, having collapsed to meet Fr. Al Sharpton – Rev. Bryant was at the meeting – to discover what a retailer can do to finish a boycott. After the meeting, no reference to a boycott was carried out, and now the website “Fast Target” I even sell goods.

It will be safely said that there isn’t a end in the view of the decline in sales of the goal due to “consumer trust”.

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Research analyst CFRA Arun Sundaram said Yahoo Finance: “I don’t think Target assured that the boycott associated with Dei was limited to this quarter.”

Analysts also consider that history has something more. Wal-Mart, who again decided to undo the Dei strategies, didn’t see the same result as the goal. In fact, Wal-Mart overtook the expectations of sales-using a 4.5 percent sales jump, as opposed to 3.85 percent, which he expected.

The Roth Capital Partners Research analyst said: “Consumers are not forced to use target in the same way as it used to be … If you are not forced to use target for a specific reason, makes the boycott much simpler to make.”

Needless to say, the exact impact of the boycott on the goal will not be easy to analyze, the boycott was successful to date, leaving the sellers only hope that customers who found other stores will resolve to come back and that the boycott leaders will end the movement.

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Yale University Awards Honorary Steps to five black luminaires, including Debbie Allen, Henry Louis

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This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
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Trump cuts off the minimum wage increase

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Executive order 14236, minimum wage, President Trump, federal contractors, hourly workers


President Donald Trump canceled the key executive order from the time of Biden, which raised the minimum wage for federal contractors to USD 17.75 per hour, the movement that warned work supporters will negatively affect a whole lot of hundreds of employees with low earnings, with a very significant impact on black employees, especially in the states through which black Americans are a big a part of the federal force. working.

Pisuction, adopted by the executive order 14236 on March 14 Effectively excludes Executive ordinance 14026, signed by President Joe Biden on April 27, 2021, which progressively increased the minimum wage for federal contract employees.

The currently reborn order of Biden, which from 2022 recorded full effects, raised a minimum wage for these employees and directed the secretary of labor to introduce future corrections to maintain the inflation step.

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From January 1 It caused In a minimum wage of USD 17.75 for individuals employed by private firms and non -profit organizations concluded by the federal government. By raising the federal minimum wage for all employees requires congress activities, the Department of Labor is entitled to set higher wage standards especially for federal contractors. Contractors include a large spectrum of employees in various industries, from the staff of the war and catering service to IT specialists.

Estimates from the Institute of Economic Policy (EPI) in 2021 forecasted that about 1.9 million people, including construction employees, organized federal tasks of contracts in 2022. About 390,000 employees, representing about one five of all federal labor, it was that their wages would increase as a result of the order of executive biden 14026. collectively Experience the increase in remuneration by $ 1.2 billion.

Proponents of the next minimum wage argue that he assures that taxpayers’ dollars support job offers that provide life salary, as an alternative of encouraging the “Race to the bottom” through which contractors compete, providing the lowest possible salary. They also indicate research suggesting that the increase in the minimum wage results in lower trade in employees, improvement of worker efficiency and increased efficiency.

For example, Study 2021 Krista Ruffini He identified that minimum wage increases in care homes correlated with higher worker results, reduced violations of control, less possibility to stop health states and lower mortality of residents.

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The removal of Trump executive ordinance 14026 is capable of reverse these profits for around 390,000 federal contract employees with low remuneration entitled to no less than USD 15 per hour under the regulation. If the Trump administration fully dismantled this principle, the minimum wage for these contractors would probably return to the level set by Obama’s administration in 2014, which was USD 13.30 per hour. Alternatively, if the administration eliminated the next minimum wage for federal contractors, people working in the US and not using a higher minimum wage could decelerate their minimum wage to the current federal minimum of only 7.25 USD per hour.

Trump executive order 14236, “Additional resignations of harmful executive orders and activities”, DirectlY dismissed the executive ordinance 14026. After that, the Department of Work announced that stopping the enforcement of the order from the time of Biden and its implementation rules, initiating steps to officially dismiss 29 CFR Part 23.

Professioners of labor and progressive groups criticized this movement as an attack on the working class, especially when rising maintenance costs are already a major problem. They Argument that disgusting The decision awards the private sector to the governmental agreement freedom to scale back wages of a whole lot of hundreds of employees. Data from Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) in 2022 ensure the context of the influence of minimum wage policies. This yr, about 2 percent of black hourly employees earned Federal minimum or less wage.

Disproportionate effect on black employees

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It is predicted that the remuneration of the federal contractor minimum remuneration in disproportionate influence on black employees who I discovered historically More fair employment opportunities in the public sector in comparison with the private sector.

The data emphasize that no less than 18.7% of all federal employees are black, their representation is way higher in some states. The participation of a black worker in state and federal employment is the highest in Georgia (43.8%), Louisiana (37.6%), Mississippi (34.8%) and Tennessee (34.6%). Averting a minimum wage in the amount of USD 17.75 for federal contractors in those states where a big a part of the federal workforce is black, can have a very clear negative economic impact on the black community.

Earlier evaluation of the minimum wage in the amount of USD 15 for federal contractors showed that a big percentage of people that would receive wage increases were coloured employees, including many black employees, often at work in the lower remuneration sector under federal agreements. The winning of this pay floor threatens disproportionately with the damage to those employees and potentially expands existing racial differences when it comes to income and wealth.

Trump’s administration claims that its principles give priority to American robots. However, the dismissal of the federal contractor of the minimum wage is according to the model decision that undermines wage standards for people from the working class.

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Supporters of the working force claim that this movement is contrary to the claims of supporting American employees, leaving many vulnerable to potential salaries. Existing wage protection pursuant to the Act on the Service Agreement (SCA) and Davis-Bacon ACT (DBA) may not properly compensate for these employees, because their wage levels could also be lower and usually are not all the time usually adapted to inflation.

The repeal also introduces uncertainty for contractors and instability of the affected labor.

It is predicted that Trump’s decision to cancel the executive order raising the minimum wage for federal contractors will cause disproportionate damage to black employees, especially in the United States with a high percentage of black federal employees.

Rolling threatens to scale back wages, reduce financial security and potentially exacerbation of racial economic differences, increasing concerns about the involvement of administration in fair economic possibilities.

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(Tagstranslat) minimum wage

This article was originally published on : www.blackenterprise.com
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Business and Finance

Meet the same guys of the Ole line

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Waiting for things or possibilities will be time consuming and annoying; However, if you have got at the least USD 40, you’ll be able to call one of Robert Samuel’s guys themselves, and they’ll do it for you.

Called by a compatriot from New York, the same guys were seen for people for luxurious samples, holes in the restaurant, and recently the Sean “Diddy” Combs housing. With many good hustle and bustle visible on the web, Samuel began his concert in 2013 during the madness of “Cronut” Croissant-Donut, and now he has 45 employees on his letter and charges from USD 25 to 37.50 USD per hour.

While people attempt to give you how To make a fast zlotySamuel says it’s about using what’s around you. “Always watch out for everything around you. When people complain, just put on a thoughts of thinking and check if you have a solution to what they are complaining about,” said the owner of the company

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“You would probably shock yourself and be on the edge of the next steps.”

His journey began while working as a business representative at AT & T. After nervously that he intended to miss the commission control with the time of the recent edition of the iPhone 5, he decided to comfort himself by publishing an commercial on Craigslist, offering his services to attend in a queue to get one. Three hours later, Samuel was employed only in order that the customer would inform him that he placed a web-based order when he arrived forward.

Then he sold his place in the queue for $ 100, giving the bulb power in his head – and leaving $ 300 in his pocket. “I said,” Well, what can I do? Wait some time. I did lots of sitting on the pavement, “recalls Samuel. “So I created accounts on social media and regularly began.”

His journey even took him outside the NYC limit. Samuel found himself on the plane to face in a queue for the client at the latest meeting of Berkshire shareholders in Berkshire Hathaway in Omaha, Nebraska, at the starting of May 2025. However, the scene of the courtroom became lucrative for his activities, covering the trials of Bankman, Ghislaine Maxwell, and even President Donald Trump in 2024.

According to members of the Samuel team, they’d to fight women I’m attempting to cut the line To take a take a look at Luigi Mangione, a person accused of killing the general director of Unitedhealthcare Brian Thompson. “It was freezing, women tried to limit,” said Brandon Sutton.

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Sutton and two colleagues, Tim and Brian, survived frosty in New York temperatures, because their anonymous customer paid them USD 25 per hour. Regardless of what his clients employ their team, Samuel says that he wouldn’t wish to do the rest, because he can “realize people’s dreams.” “It’s the beauty of bringing joy to people, doing something as simple as waiting in a queue,” said Samuel.

(Tagstransate) Luigi Mangione

This article was originally published on : www.blackenterprise.com
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