Image

12:57 AM / Sunday February 16, 2025

18 Aug 2023

Fund sued over grant program for Black women enlists prominent civil rights attorneys to fight back

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
August 18, 2023 Category: Week In Review Posted by:

ABOVE PHOTO: Ayana Parsons, right, and Arian Simone, of Fearless Fund attend a during a news conference Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023, in New York. Attorneys for an Atlanta-based venture capital firm being sued over a grant program investing in Black women have vowed to fight back against the lawsuit calling it misguided and frivolous. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

By Haleluya Hadero

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Attorneys for an Atlanta-based venture capital firm being sued over a grant program for Black women vowed last Thursday to fight back against the lawsuit, calling it misguided and frivolous.

At a New York news conference, the attorneys also announced that prominent civil rights lawyers, including Ben Crump, would join the defense for the Fearless Fund, which was founded in 2019 by three Black women.

The lawsuit, filed last week in U.S. District Court in Atlanta, was brought by a nonprofit founded by anti-affirmative action activist Edward Blum, the man behind the Supreme Court cases that led to the dismantling of race-conscious college admissions programs across the U.S.

The complaint could be a test case, as the battle over considerations on race shifts to the workplace. Last month, thirteen Republican state attorneys general sent a letter to 100 of the biggest U.S. companies arguing that the court ruling on affirmative action could also apply to private entities, like employers.

In its lawsuit, American Alliance For Equal Rights argues the fund’s Fearless Strivers Grant Contest, which awards $20,000 to Black women who run businesses, violates a section of the Civil Rights Act of 1866 prohibiting racial discrimination in contracts. It claims it has members who are being excluded from the program because of their race and said it’s entitled to relief.

The venture capital firm was established to address barriers that exists in venture capital funding for businesses led by women of color. It runs the grant contest four times a year. To be eligible, a business must be at least 51% owned by a Black woman, among other qualifications.

“Today, the playing field is not level — that is beyond dispute,” Alphonso David, a civil rights attorney who serves as president & CEO of The Global Black Economic Forum, said at the news conference.

 “Those targeting Fearless Fund want to propagate a system that privileges some and shuts out most. They want us to pretend that inequities do not exist. They want us to deny our history.”

Crump said he was grateful to be able to defend the women who run the Fund against “the enemies of equality.”

Blum “thought they would be the easiest ones to pick off. Oh, was he wrong,” Crump said.

Blum said last Thursday his organization is still awaiting a formal reply to the lawsuit from the fund’s attorneys.

“So far, all that has been asserted in defense of this racially exclusive and illegal program are meaningless cliches,” he said.

Arian Simone, CEO and co-founder of the Fearless Fund, said the fund has invested in more than 40 businesses over the past four years. 

She said it has deployed over $26.5 million in investments and awarded hundreds of grants that total more than $3 million. It is backed by J.P. Morgan Chase, Mastercard and other companies.

The prominent law firm Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher will also take part in the defense, along with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the National Women’s Law Center, which have been enlisted as consultants.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Leave a Comment

Recent News

Color Of Money

Pennsylvania governor seeks more money for schools and transit, but relies heavily on surplus cash

February 10, 2025

Share Tweet Email Governor Josh Shapiro presents his 2025-26 budget proposal to the Pa. General Assembly, as...

Seniors

How Type 2 inflammation contributes to asthma, COPD, and allergic conditions

February 3, 2025

Share Tweet Email BPT Do you live with persistent, moderate-to-severe asthma, COPD, allergies, eczema or hives? Inflammation...

SUNrise

cj speaks…Celebrating in forgiveness for Black History Month

February 10, 2025

Share Tweet Email By cj “This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and...

Week In Review

Black History Month explained: Its origins, celebrations and myths

February 10, 2025

Share Tweet Email This undated photo provided by the Association for the Study of African American Life...

Commentary

Commentary: The Retirement Party

January 19, 2025

Share Tweet Email President Joe Biden speaks about student loan debt at Madison College, April 8, 2024,...

Health

What you need to know about glaucoma

February 10, 2025

Share Tweet Email FAMILY FEATURES More than 4.2 million Americans live with glaucoma, a leading cause of...

The Philadelphia Sunday Sun Staff