https://time.com/collections/closers/6722351/closers-impact-dinner/ https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/g6Lfz1FO/poster.jpg?width=720 Aurora James' TIME Impact Dinner: The Closers 2024 Toast The first toast of the night came from the founder of The Fifteen Percent Pledge, a nonprofit that challenged retailers to commit to buying 15% of their products from Black-owned businesses. James took time to highlight the pushback that diversity initiatives are facing. “We are witnessing unprecedented attacks on [diversity and equity inclusion] initiatives that were designed to level the playing field and drive growth for Black business owners,” she said. “There are no longer protections in place to ensure we have an equal shot at education, a good job, a bank loan, anything.” https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/g6Lfz1FO.m3u8 https://cdn.jwplayer.com/previews/g6Lfz1FO 203 2024-02-23T02:29:27+00:00 no no https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/RIGwhbRv/poster.jpg?width=720 Ramogi Huma's TIME Impact Dinner: The Closers 2024 Toast Ramogi Huma began his work helping advocate for athletes’ rights while playing football at the University of California, Los Angeles. Over the two decades since, he’s made strides to help end the exploitation of college players. “We’ve made meaningful progress over those years,” he said, “like sponsoring state laws that led to the freedom of athletes nationwide to be paid for the use of their own name, image, and likeness.” https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/RIGwhbRv.m3u8 https://cdn.jwplayer.com/previews/RIGwhbRv 118 2024-02-23T03:44:09+00:00 no no https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/HQ85sTUN/poster.jpg?width=720 Senator Cory Booker's TIME Impact Dinner: The Closers 2024 Toast When New Jersey Senator Cory Booker was mayor of Newark, N.J., this country was home to more African American men under criminal supervision than were enslaved in the 1850s. Mass incarceration, he said in his speech, “destroyed economic potential in communities.” Now, Booker has been working to close the racial wealth gap through different initiatives in Congress. He told the crowd that he sees “folks in this room who understand what guts and grit and hard work and resilience is all about.” https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/HQ85sTUN.m3u8 https://cdn.jwplayer.com/previews/HQ85sTUN 442 2024-02-23T03:26:18+00:00 no no https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/ODYjN0Nk/poster.jpg?width=720 Angelica Ross' TIME Impact Dinner: The Closers 2024 Toast Angelica Ross’ organization TransTech Social Enterprises recently celebrated its ten-year anniversary. “[It’s] not just an incubator—it’s a sanctuary for LGBTQ+ talent, with a special focus on economically empowering our transgender siblings,” she said. “We’ve built a co-working, co-learning community that uplifts and empowers through practical career-ready skills.” https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ODYjN0Nk.m3u8 https://cdn.jwplayer.com/previews/ODYjN0Nk 327 2024-02-23T03:52:11+00:00 no no https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/323dCqQq/poster.jpg?width=720 John Hope Bryant's TIME Impact Dinner: The Closers 2024 Toast John Hope Bryant’s nonprofit Operation Hope is focused on providing financial literacy to underserved communities. “I think financial literacy is a civil rights issue of this generation,” Bryant said. “You cannot have a country with the largest economy on the planet for the next 30 years without these Closers and everybody else in this room that are closing the economic gap—by trading you up, getting you in the economy, becoming homeowners, small business owners, and entrepreneurs.” https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/323dCqQq.m3u8 https://cdn.jwplayer.com/previews/323dCqQq 796 2024-02-23T04:12:54+00:00 no no https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/BqCO89kz/poster.jpg?width=720 Issa Rae's TIME Impact Dinner: The Closers 2024 Toast Issa Rae, who appeared on the cover of TIME’s Closers issue, brought her signature comedic wit to the Closers stage when delivering her remarks as the last speaker of the night. She joked that she was annoyed that the text on the cover read “working to close the racial wealth gap” because, she said, she received texts from family members asking how she’s helping close the family wealth gap. On a more serious note, she shared that the idea of changing the world was “daunting,” but she got there step by step: “I chose to focus on myself and try to be better and focus on what I could do in my small environment and then I focused on my family and then my friends and then my communities, and it led me to realize how I can make an impact in my own way.” https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/BqCO89kz.m3u8 https://cdn.jwplayer.com/previews/BqCO89kz 306 2024-02-23T04:20:34+00:00 no no https://time.com/6800736/prince-harry-immigration-drug-lawsuit-heritage-foundation/ https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/egWPAGK4/poster.jpg?width=720 Prince Harry Settles Hacking Case Against U.K. Newspaper Group, Receives Substantial Damages A British newspaper publisher has agreed to pay Prince Harry a “substantial” sum in costs and damages for invading his privacy with phone hacking and other illegal snooping, Harry’s lawyer said Friday. https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/egWPAGK4.m3u8 https://cdn.jwplayer.com/previews/egWPAGK4 113 2024-02-09T14:57:53+00:00 no no