President Joseph Biden

Maya Wiley, president, Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

Damon Hewitt, LCCR president

Former President Barack Obama

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - President Joe Biden is receiving wide applause among Black leadership for his executive order that attempts to assure that artificial intelligence (AI) remains within boundaries that respect civil rights and adhere to principles of democracy. But the question remains whether the executive order goes far enough to protect Black people - particular from abusive law enforcement.

“We believe in the potential for AI to be a powerful tool to help advance our vision of opportunity and prosperity for Black and Brown people. But we cannot let the tools of the future reinforce the mistakes of the past. Guardrails must be implemented now to ensure that this emerging technology centers equity at every step of development and implementation,” said Damon Hewitt, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (LCCR), in a statement issued following Biden’s signing of the executive order. “This executive order is a critical step to help guard against algorithmic bias and discrimination.  It can be the beginning of a pathway to a future where AI empowers instead of oppresses.”

Hewitt says the executive order prepares the federal government “to prevent and address bias and discrimination in new technologies; but more action is needed to fully address harmful AI used by law enforcement.”

Tech experts have pointed out that abusive AI tactics have been racially biased, especially against Black people.

An article titled, “Racial Discrimination in Face Recognition Technology,” written by Harvard University biotech consultant, Alex Najibi, points out that face recognition technology, a form of AI often used by police departments and in airport screening, as well as employment and housing decisions, has been known to involve “significant racial bias, particularly against Black Americans.”

Najibi adds, “Even if accurate, face recognition empowers a law enforcement system with a long history of racist and anti-activist surveillance and can widen pre-existing inequalities.”

He writes that “despite widespread adoption, face recognition was recently banned for use by police and local agencies in several cities, including Boston and San Francisco” because face recognition “is the least accurate” of all recognition technologies such as fingerprinting.

While applauding the Administration on its initial steps to direct agencies to determine how AI is used in criminal justice, the LCCR says Biden’s executive order does not go far enough to actually address “harmful uses of AI by law enforcement agencies, such as the discriminatory use of facial recognition technologies.”

President Barack Obama, who also released a statement, pointed out that he asked his staff seven years ago to study “how artificial intelligence could play a growing role in the future of the United States.”

He pointed out additional problems that could occur, including national security threats.

“We don’t want anyone with an internet connection to be able to create a new strain of smallpox, access nuclear codes, or attack our critical infrastructure. And we have to make sure this technology doesn’t fall into the hands of people who want to use it to turbocharge things like cybercrime and fraud,” Obama states.

He credited organizations such as the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and Upturn to the Alignment Research Center for “tackling these questions, and making sure more people feel like their concerns are being heard and addressed.”

The Leadership Conference, led by Maya Wiley, president, wrote a letter to Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on August 4, urging the Administration to focus Biden’s executive order on “protecting the American public from the current and potential harms of this technology— including threats to people’s rights, civil liberties, opportunities, jobs, economic well-being, and access to critical resources and services.” That letter was co-signed by LCCR, the NAACP, and the Center for American Progress among others.

The Executive Order directs the following requirements for organizations using AI:

• Require that developers of the most powerful AI systems share their safety test results and other critical information with the U.S. government. 
• Develop standards, tools, and tests to help ensure that AI systems are safe, secure, and trustworthy. 
• Protect against the risks of using AI to engineer dangerous biological materials by developing strong new standards for biological synthesis screening.
• Protect Americans from AI-enabled fraud and deception by establishing standards and best practices for detecting AI-generated content and authenticating official content.
• Establish an advanced cybersecurity program to develop AI tools to find and fix vulnerabilities in critical software.
• Order the development of a National Security Memorandum that directs further actions on AI and security.

The focus of the executive order is primarily to assure a fair and safe future while using AI, Biden says. But the LCCR insists the order needs more work and vows to continue working with the Administration to that end.

Hewitt concluded, “To make that future a reality, civil rights-focused protections must apply to every aspect of our lives touched by AI technology, including the harmful use of AI by law enforcement. We look forward to working with the Biden Administration on how we can address the full scope of this challenge and fully leverage the opportunity before us.” 

Oct. 24, 2023

Pro-Palestinian demonstration in South Africa.

SPECIAL TO THE TRICE EDNEY NEWS WIRE FROM GIN

(TriceEdneyWire.com/Global Information Network) - Back in 1963, the founders of the Organization of African Unity pledged to work and speak as one, forge an international consensus in support of the liberation struggle and fight against apartheid.

Their aims were high. The achievements less so.  Last week, a one-day Cairo Summit for Peace, attended  by leaders and top officials from more than a dozen countries, closed without agreement on a joint statement two weeks into a conflict that has killed thousands and visited a humanitarian catastrophe on the blockaded Gaza enclave of 2.3 million people.

Only one Africa leader, President Cyril Ramaphosa, was in attendance.

The speeches reflected growing anger in the region, even among those with close ties to Israel as the war sparked by a massive Hamas attack enters a third week with casualties mounting and no end in sight.

The current Israel-Hamas conflict in the Gaza strip has left the African continent deeply divided, with some countries choosing to remain silent while others openly showing solidarity with either Israel or Palestine.

Kenya, Ghana, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo all expressed some form of support for Israel since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war.

“Kenya joins the rest of the world in solidarity with the State of Israel and unequivocally condemns terrorism and attacks on innocent civilians,” said President William Ruto, writing on Twitter, now known as X.

Ghana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs proclaimed Israel’s right to exist and defend itself while cautioning that country to exercise restraint and seek negotiation talks for both parties.

Rwanda called the Hamas attack an ‘act of terror’ while the Democratic Republic of the Congo expressed support for Israel from the presidency’s Twitter account.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, in contrast, expressed solidarity with the people of Palestine.

“All of us standing here pledge our solidarity for the people of Palestine,” he said at a recent meeting of the African National Congress in Johannesburg. “We stand here because we are deeply concerned about the atrocities that are unfolding in the Middle East.”

One of Palestine’s strongest African supporters is Algeria which condemned ‘brutal air strikes by the Zionist (Israel) occupation forces in the Gaza Strip’. They stated they were in ‘full solidarity with the Palestinian people’ while calling on the international community to act against ‘repeated criminal attacks.’

Tunisia, a member of the Arab League like Algeria, expressed ‘complete and unconditional support for the Palestinian people “who have been ‘under Zionist occupation for decades.” They called on the world ‘to stand by the Palestinians and remember the massacres carried out by the Zionist enemy.”

Countries that are more neutral include Nigeria which, on the day of the attack, condemned the “cycle of violence and retaliation that the current escalation has assumed.”

While Uganda has not taken an official side, President Yoweri Museveni urged Israel and Palestine to strive for peace and a ‘two-state solution’.

“African countries take different positions based on their political and geopolitical interests,” said Louis Gitinywa, a Rwanda-based political analyst and constitutional lawyer. “This is nothing new. States have interests, they don’t have friends.”

The only African country with a strong historical attachment to Israel is Ethiopia, but it is yet to make clear its stance on the current situation.

Buchanan Ismael, a political scientist at the University of Rwanda, pointed out that some African countries depend on Israel for military technology and weapons.

“I don’t think African states have very strong diplomatic relations with Israel,” he said. “Their ties are based on an “opportunistic way of cooperation and assistance.” 

I-Stock Photo Credit: SDI Productions

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - A recent study has outlined a disturbing trend across the nation: Increasing retirement woes among Black people, coming from several angles that indicate some could choose to work longer or seek more palatable options for savings and income.

Either people aren’t feeling on-track to retire, they’re worried about outliving whatever savings they are able to accrue or their jobs don’t offer fair retirement plans for people of color. These being common fears in the Black community, some just breeze over the thought of retirement as a pipe dream.

“Black and Hispanic workers have significantly less access to employer-sponsored retirement plans than do white counterparts, exacerbating economic inequity and hampering the ability of people of color to build financial security later in life, according to researchers,” AARP reports. “Among private sector employees ages 18 to 64, more than 53 percent of African Americans and about 64 percent of Latinos do not have access to a workplace retirement plan, compared with about 42 percent for white workers and 45 percent for Asian Americans, a July 2022 report from the AARP Public Policy Institute found.”

According to the latest U.S. Census data, more than 55.8 million adults are older than 65. That is nearly 17 percent of America’s population that is “retirement age.” Yet only half of Americans even have access to retirement plans. And although we know well what the gender gap is, what isn’t talked about enough is the retirement gap. Generally, studies on savings show that the average Black family has lower savings than the disparity between the average U.S. family. It’s unsurprising, then, that 54% of Black Americans don’t have enough savings to retire – whether it be from system inequalities or otherwise.

All studies and reports on retirement are saying the same thing: People are worried aboutoutliving their retirement savings. The retirement crisis is hitting all of the country, but as usual, disproportionately impacting Black and other racial minority communities. Nearly 40 percent of independent savers, specifically, aren’t feeling on-track to retire. Independent savers are individuals who do not have access to a retirement plan through their employers. Many in the Black and Latino communities fall under the independent saver category. Therefore, for many in these communities, retirement planning gets put on the backburner as more urgent expenses and matters arise.

But there are now new financial tools that every person can use to begin retirement savings. Recently, the financial industry recognized this issue and started to rollout new products that will open up access to professionally managed retirement vehicles at a lower cost and without the need for a workplace-based retirement plan.  

For example, BlackRock recently launched the industry’s only suite of target date ETFs (Exchange-traded Funds), which is a new investment tool aimed at curbing the growing number of people who do not have any retirement savings plans, or access to such. Investors that choose this new product will be able to easily select a fund closest to their target retirement date and make regular contributions as their own finances allow. This allows for recurring deposits, but also allows for more choice. Meaning if life happens and an unexpected expense comes up – which will certainly happen – and there’s nothing left over for the month to invest, that’s okay. However, this investment is professionally managed and is taken care of to make sure it’s stable as retirement nears. 

According to BlackRock’s Read on Retirement report, 47 percent of independent savers lean on cash to build their retirement, creating a missed opportunity for potential investment growth which is important to achieving retirement goals. These new ETF funds allow for savers that might typically rely on stashing cash to instead put that into these ETF funds that will invest in a broad portfolio and turn out even more money.

Such strategies are often in line with initiatives such as Rev. Jesse Jackson’s Wall Street Project, which encourages the financial industry to open up and reach out to communities that may not necessarily be aware of alternatives to their personal savings that they may need from day to day.

“If Corporate America could see the vast potential within our underserved minority communities, would Wall Street provide access to opportunities for economic growth and stability?” Rev. Jackson asks in a statement.

All of these retirement tools are built off of the idea that in order to encourage more retirement saving, we need to make it as easy as possible for people to build their nest egg. Retirement tools like these are for the people that don’t have workplace retirement plans, those looking to complement their existing 401(k), or people that just want to boost their confidence in their retirement potential.

Most Americans are nervous; even stressed about retirement, savings, and finances in general. This is especially true for the Black community. These products may be the first of many from Wall Street aimed at further providing transformational solutions to the retirement burdens many have been feeling over the years.

For equitable economic contributions to family and to American society regardless of race or age, retirement savings and income must become straightforward and possible for everyone.

“The road to shared economic security travels through two-way trade, where all are included, and none are left in the margins of the marketplace,” Rev. Jackson states. “Industry by industry, the quantifiable gaps in opportunity and in access to capital for people of color-owned businesses define our agenda.”

Oct. 24, 2023

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Two federal agencies recently reached a $23 million settlement with TransUnion, one of the nation’s three major credit reporting agencies, and a subsidiary, TURRS. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced the settlement on October 12.  

The regulators said the firm’s use of inaccurate, outdated, and incomplete eviction records to screen prospective tenants harmed consumers looking for rental housing and violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).  

The settlement, when approved by a federal court, will require the firm to repay $11 million to affected consumers, an additional $4 million civil penalty, and $8 million to CFPB for lying to consumers. TURRSS failed to provide consumers with the names of third-party vendors from whom it received criminal and eviction records included in its tenant screening reports. Further, no effort was made to ensure the accuracy of tenant screening reports. As a result, reports included inaccurate and incomplete eviction records that hampered consumers’ ability to obtain housing.  

“Americans across the country were put at risk of wrongful housing denials because TransUnion failed to follow the law,” said CFPB Director Rohit Chopra. “We are ordering TransUnion to cease its years-long illegal activity, clean up its broken business practices, redress its victims, and pay penalties.”  Samuel Levine, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection reacted similarly.  

“Consumers struggling to find housing shouldn’t be shut out by tenant screening reports that are ridden with errors and based on data from secret sources,” noted Levine. “Protecting consumers looking for housing is critical to a fair economy, and we are proud to partner with the CFPB in obtaining this record-breaking order.” 

According to the complaint, TransUnion and TURRSnever took legally-requiredsteps to ensure the accuracy of the data it received until April 2021 when the corporation learned of the related FTC investigation. The firms’ failure to follow reasonable procedures resulted in the use of error-laden consumer credit reports that wrongly showed multiple eviction records when only one may have occurred. As a result, many borrowers were denied rental housing, subjected to additional and undeserved fees, and had to spend hours or days trying to correct errors in their credit reports.  

“An unfair denial of rental housing has effects beyond just the loss of rental application fees—it means losing out on the opportunity to live in a person’s preferred neighborhood, the neighborhood that makes sense for them in terms of schools, work, and more; and it may mean having to pay even more for housing down the line,” added Eric Halperin, CFPB’s Enforcement Director. 

FCRA, a key consumer protection law passed more than 50 years ago, requires firms that collect consumer credit data, as well as those that use it in making credit-related decisions, to ensure accuracy of the information. Further, companies are required to investigate disputes and advise consumers when an adverse action is taken on the basis of credit reporting.  

TransUnion, which has gathered an estimated 190 million consumer credit profiles has a long history of anti-consumer behaviors.  

For example, in 1992, FTC Commissioners issued a cease-and-desist order against the corporation after it was found to have sold information, without consumers’ consent, to a third party who used that information to solicit consumers to purchase goods and services.  A legal finding delivered in the case in 1998 agreed with the FTC, saying in part: “Trans Union invades consumers’ privacy when it sells consumers’ credit histories to third-party marketers without consumers’ knowledge or consent. ... " 

In 2017 the CFPB took action against TransUnion and Equifax, another major credit reporting bureau, for deceiving customers and luring them into costly recurring payments by pushing credit-related products that offered false promises. In 2022, CFPB sued TransUnion, claiming the company did not meet the conditions of the earlier law enforcement order. That lawsuit has not been resolved.  

CFPB encourages consumers to utilize dedicated whistleblower hotline and email to report suspected wrongdoing. The email address is:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . As an alternative, consumers may also phone the toll-free Whistleblower Tip Line at (855) 695-7974.  

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Charlene Crowell is a senior fellow with the Center for Responsible Lending. She can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..