💸💪🏾Moneda Moves (05): Don't be fooled by the rocks that I got
She's still Jenny From the Block and last night, Jennifer Lopez reminded us of how far she's come in 20 years. The Bronx star stunned with her medley performance at the VMAs and by becoming the first Latinx to receive Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award. Wepa!
If you haven't watched the video, do yourself a favor and watch her 10+ flawless minutes on stage on MTV's YouTube channel. 🎥This mujer has transcended the music and entertainment mediums as an actress, dancer, American Idol judge, singer and producer. 💰Between 2017 and 2018 alone, Forbes estimated that JLo raked in $47 million. She appropriately ended her set with her bilingual collaboration (DJ Khaled, Cardi B) that dropped earlier this year, "Dinero." But the victory lap didn't end there. She won Best Collaboration for that same smash hit later in the night. #Triunfando🏆
Shout-out to Refinery29's TV writer Ariana Romero who gave us a nice summary of the mess Twitter was last night following Jenny's presentation and this simple but wonderful quote:
✨More milestones from last night:
Cardi B was named Best New Artist and Song of the Summer with "I Like It" -- how many of you called this one? 😉She also made alluded to her motherhood multiple times throughout the VMAs. #MadrePoder
J Balvin received Best Latinx Video for "Mi Gente"
Nicki Minaj was awarded Best Hip Hop Video for "Chun Li"
Childish Gambino got Best Direction for "This is America"
Camila Cabello took home the award for Best Artist of the Year and Video of the Year with "Havana," featuring Young Thug. Fun fact: Remember the abuelita in the music video? That was actually Dominican and Puerto Rican social media star LeJuan James.
Know someone who should be part of the Moneda Moves community? Share this notita with them! 👋🏾Don't forget to tweet at me: @LyanneAlfaro or @MonedaMoves.
Con poder,
Lyanne
We're keeping tabs/cuentas on what happened last week in the world of Latinx in business. We review studies, features and news updates as they relate to our community and underrepresented communities at large.
Bumble Fund takes off to empower women in business♀: Bumble is making an attempt at investing in more than your dating and networking life. The new initiative will focus on early stage investments and aiding female and underrepresented entrepreneurs with investments ranging from $5,000 to $250,000, per Forbes. Bumble COO Sarah Jones Simmer will lead the investment strategy along with Senior Advisor Sarah Kunst. The story comes from Sarah Perez over at TechCrunch. 🐝
In a blog post, Bumble shared that in 2017 startups led by women received only 2% of all venture capital funding. Founder of Backstage Capital, Arlan Hamilton has led similar efforts by uplifting specifically underrepresented communities. The company's website reveals a similarly bleak stat:
Translation (not that one is needed): There's a lot of work to do. 💪🏾
How Chicago shut down a $52 tour spotlighting gentrification🤔: How much would you pay for a tour highlighting displacement? One Chicago organization company, Chicago Detours, was ready to charge upwards of $50 to tour a historically Mexican neighborhood in Chicago, Pilsen, until it received criticism via social media. The tour, slated to take place earlier this summer, has since been shut down. Among the concerns was the leaders' lack of contact with local community organizations, especially those who already offered this kind of education for free. The event's itinerary included neighborhood murals, food, beer and the "evolution of Chicago street gangs."
For some locals, the event sounded familiar. Earlier this year, the same company hosted a tour in two other neighborhoods with historically large Latinx populations in Chicago: Logan Square and Avondale. The earlier tour also covered gentrification—this time, from a 37-passenger coach bus, viewing luxury apartments and visiting a new brewhouse. I'd encourage you to read the full story and DM or tweet at me what you think. This one comes from yours truly written for a new news and ideas platform highlighting Latinx voices, Inteligencia.
Get to know the powerful/potentes Latinx and underrepresented up-and-comers in business.
Morgan DeBaun created a hub for black millennials and is now a leader in Silicon Valley👊🏾: Check out this poderosa. At just 24 years of age, DeBaun launched a community for "black creativity and news." It was called Blavity.com, which comes from a mix of "black" and "gravity," and those were exactly the kind of stories she set out to highlight on her website which often get overlooked on other platforms. Words are from Kelsea Stahler over at Bustle, who explains that though the founder didn't think media would be such a lucrative path, the company has gained so much traction that DeBaun is now setting a near record for a startup led by a black woman with $6.5 million in funding. Earlier this summer, Blavity announced it has reached 1.8 million unique readers per month.
Put your money/monedita where your mouth is! These are Latinx entrepreneurs, business owners and thought leaders to consider backing.
What's Good In Your Hood: Carniceria Ramirez 🤤: Let me preface this by saying I've watched a few episodes of We Are Mitú's "What's Good In Your Hood" and I give the series 💯. I love the host's approach to storytelling, the care and respect that each profile receives. We learn about the people behind the business, the community, the role culture plays and learn how the food is made. Plus, it's entertaining! Carniceria Ramirez serves up what looks like some mouthwatering tacos in Atlanta in a Mexican grocery store owned by the same family. But don't take their word for it alone! Here's the address: 2600 Bolton Rd. NW Atlanta, GA 30318.
Thanks for everyone's ongoing support! Be a good socio and share with anyone who might be interested in Moneda Moves using this link. Hasta la proxima, luchadores...