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Microsoft Alum Launches Hey, Black Seattle!: A Hub of Connection for the African Diaspora in the Emerald City

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SEATTLE, March 5, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Today entrepreneur and former Microsoft director Kiesha Garrison proudly introduces Hey, Black Seattle!, a platform to help Seattle residents of the African diaspora answer the question “Where are all the Black people?” This community-centered initiative aims to connect, support, and celebrate the vibrant yet dispersed Black population in the region by using data and technology for good.

Pushing Back on a Stifling Narrative

Despite the often-cited small percentage of Black residents in the Greater Seattle area (6.7% in the city of Seattle, 8% in the central Puget Sound as of July 2022 census), the region is home to a rich tapestry of Black community organizations, Black-owned businesses, and artists actively working to preserve Black culture and address the isolation experienced by many Black residents.  Some, like the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute and the Black Heritage Society of Washington State have been mainstays for decades, while others like the Africatown Community Land Trust and Arte Noir were formed more recently to push back against gentrification and massive displacement in the historic Central District neighborhood.  All are an example of the creative resilience of a people who refuse to be erased by systemic inequality.

Founder Kiesha Garrison emphasizes, “When people repeat the popular hyperbole ‘there are no Black people in Seattle,’ they do so out of genuine frustration, but it is clear they are missing out on the important work of the deeply committed Black leaders here.” Hey, Black Seattle! seeks to close the awareness gap so that disconnected individuals can come to know the facilitators of Black culture & community that are doing this powerful work in the region.

Founder’s Data-Tech Background Meets Her Love of Community

Garrison, a Spelman alumna who held various business leadership positions in consumer products and enterprise AI at Microsoft, also worked at Vitals, a popular physician finder website. She was also a founding board member for The Live Music Project, a Seattle-based nonprofit which supports access to the arts through the development of community-driven technology products.

She drew inspiration from Microsoft Employee Resource Group leaders who provided Black community resource lists to their employee population as well as from her conversations with local non-profit leaders who have long desired to have a digital community hub but lacked the bandwidth and expertise to build it. Leveraging her background with data-driven tech and her passion for the wellbeing of all Black people, Garrison set out to create a central space for the community to share and find information that transcends professional and social silos.

A Simple Yet Necessary Mission

The mission of Hey, Black Seattle! is simple yet profound: to shorten the time it takes for Black people to find their community in the beautiful Puget Sound region. Garrison, also a public speaker who focuses on how oppression affects personhood and culture, shares, “Community is essential because I believe isolation is a dream killer.  And I want Black people and our dreams to thrive wherever we live.”

At the center of the web service is a comprehensive database of entities serving the Black community across King, Pierce, Kitsap, and Snohomish counties. Hey, Black Seattle! pre-seeded their database with over two hundred vetted community organizations, social groups, businesses, and artists, creating a rich directory that will grow through collective knowledge and aspires to give hope to those who might otherwise relocate for a sense of belonging and wellness.

A Comprehensive Platform

Beyond the community resource directory, Hey, Black Seattle! also offers:

An events calendar, providing a focused space for the community to post and discover events which can often seem buried in traditional search sites.A job board, offering organizations a direct channel to list employment opportunities and support of economic empowerment for the Black community.A photo archive to contribute to the preservation of the historical record of Black life in the region.Regular meetups to introduce newcomers to neighborhoods and educate them about the rich Black history of Seattle.And space for residents to share “Black Love Notes,” acknowledging the importance of appreciation in any culture.

Hey, Black Seattle! is more than a platform, it is a movement. A call to action for Black residents of the Greater Seattle area to come together and contribute to a vibrant, inclusive community where everyone can thrive.

Connect with Hey, Black Seattle!:

Website: www.heyblackseattle.comInstagram: @HeyBlackSeattle

For media inquiries, contact: media@heyblackseattle.com

About Hey, Black Seattle!

Hey, Black Seattle! is a community-driven platform dedicated to connecting and celebrating the African diaspora in the Seattle region. Through its rich database, media, events, and merchandise, Hey, Black Seattle! strives to be a beacon for Black life, highlighting resources and spaces for the community to connect and thrive.

Contacts:
Kiesha Garrison
media@heyblackseattle.com 

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SOURCE Hey, Black Seattle!

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HUAWEI CONNECT 2024 | Huawei Unveils the Brand-New Xinghe Intelligent Fabric Solution, Powering the AI Era

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SHANGHAI, Sept. 21, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — At HUAWEI CONNECT 2024, over 300 industry leaders, experts, and scholars gathered for the data center network session themed “Xinghe Intelligent Fabric, Powering the AI Era.” The event featured discussions on the evolution and technological advancements of data center networks. During the session, Arthur Wang, President of Data Center Network Domain at Huawei’s Data Communication Product Line, introduced the newly upgraded Xinghe Intelligent Fabric solution. This cutting-edge solution aims to establish a data center network characterized by one map for intelligent operations and maintenance (O&M), one network for diverse computing, and one platform for simplified deployment, providing a robust network infrastructure to support enterprises’ digital and intelligent transformations.

In his keynote speech, Arthur Wang outlined the emerging trends in data center network development. He emphasized that in the AI era, data center networks require both a “brilliant brain” and “resilient bones.” The newly launched Xinghe Intelligent Fabric solution is designed to deliver a powerful network infrastructure tailored for the AI era, featuring:

One Map for Intelligent O&M: Zero Management Concerns

Huawei’s exclusive network digital map enables rapid cross-data center and cross-vendor fault identification within minutes. Additionally, the NetMaster network large model facilitates AI-driven O&M, eliminating manual intervention and ensuring zero management concerns.

One Network for Diverse Computing: Zero Service Interruptions

The Xinghe Intelligent Fabric supports various application scenarios, including intelligent computing, general-purpose computing, and storage. The innovative Network Scale Load Balancing (NSLB) algorithm increases network throughput to 95% and boosts AI training efficiency by over 10%. With the exclusive iReliable three-level fast switchover capability, it achieves sub-millisecond switchover, guaranteeing zero service interruptions.

One Platform for Simplified Deployment: Zero Configuration Errors

By employing digital twins to simulate networks in advance and verify configurations post-deployment, the solution ensures 100% accuracy in network changes. By harnessing network-security convergence capabilities, AI creates an intelligent security matrix to analyze millions of security policies, achieving zero configuration errors.

Looking ahead, Huawei will continue to collaborate with industry partners to enhance research and innovation in data center networks, promote intelligent upgrades, and create greater value for the industry.

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SOURCE Huawei

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Cultivating a Culture of Peace: International Day of Peace Statement by Education Cannot Wait Executive Director Yasmine Sherif

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NEW YORK, Sept. 21, 2024 /CNW/ — The longing for peace transcends time, geography and religion. Based on justice, human rights and universal values outlined in the UN Charter, a culture of peace brings us all together in our common agenda for humanity. We can only co-exist by aligning ourselves with such a world order.

On today’s International Day of Peace, we call on world leaders to end conflict and embrace a culture of peace as enshrined in the UN Charter and related international law.

As the UN General Assembly outlined in the Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace  a quarter of a century ago, this must include: “Respect for life, human rights and fundamental freedoms; the promotion of non-violence through education, dialogue and cooperation; commitment to peaceful settlement of conflicts; and adherence to freedom, justice, democracy, tolerance, solidarity, cooperation, pluralism, cultural diversity, dialogue and understanding at all levels of society and among nations.”

Educating for peace starts at home and continues in school through years of education. This takes place during the most formative years of a child learning about their identity, ethics, values, conscience, courage and compassion. Wherever there has been a failure in imparting on children the imperative for peace, the world is turned upside down. This is a global failure with no geographical boundaries.

Today, we live in a world of unprecedented violence, armed conflict and chaos. All the genuine and heartfelt commitments made in 1945 in the UN Charter seem to be fading away. Children and adolescents are the most vulnerable, the least protected, and the most impacted. They bear the brunt. 

Global conflicts killed three times as many children in 2023 than in the previous year, according to the United Nations. The number of forcibly displaced people reached an unprecedented 120 million in May 2024.

“In 2023, the United Nations verified a record 32,990 grave violations against 22,557 children in 26 conflict zones, a 35% increase from the previous year,” according to recent analysis by the UN.

We can end these violations and invest in a constructive co-existence globally. We can use our resources for education, rather than for wars. In classrooms around the world, girls and boys who have withstood the wrath of war can rebuild their hopes and their lives. Cultivating a culture of peace is possible. The financial resources exist. The choice as to how we use them is ours.

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SOURCE Education Cannot Wait

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Niutech at the Forefront: U.S.-China Circular Economy Forum Tackles “White Pollution”

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BEIJING, Sept. 20, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — On September 6, 2024, the inaugural U.S.-China Circular Economy Cooperation Forum was held in Beijing. The forum, guided by the U.S.-China Climate Action Working Group Circular Economy Task Force, was co-organized by the China Circular Economy Association and the US-China Business Council. The forum brought together approximately 460 distinguished guests from the National Development and Reform Commission of China, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the Ministry of Commerce, the General Administration of Market Regulation, the US State Department, the US Department of Energy and other government departments, as well as industry experts, business representatives and scientific research institutions of the two countries. As the domestic leader in continuous pyrolysis technology, Niutech was invited by the China Circular Economy Association to attend the forum and gave an insightful speech on the topic of waste plastic recycling, and the issues of ‘white pollution’ that can result from it.

Enhancing Quality and Efficiency in the Circular Economy with Innovative Forces

The forum was strategically designed to advance the goals outlined in the U.S.-China “The Sunnylands Statement on Enhancing Cooperation to Address the Climate Crisis” (hereinafter referred to as the Sunnylands Statement). It aimed to create a collaborative platform for the business community, social organizations, and research institutions from both countries to foster exchanges and drive tangible cooperation in the circular economy.  

Zhao Chenxin, Deputy Director of the National Development and Reform Commission, John Podesta, Senior Advisor to the U.S. President on International Climate Policy, Liu Zhenmin, China’s Special Envoy for Climate Change Affairs, Nicholas Burns, U.S. Ambassador to China, and Xie Zhenhua, former Special Envoy for Climate Change Affairs of China, attended the opening ceremony of the Forum and delivered a speech, and Xie Feng, Chinese Ambassador to the U.S., made a video message. Deputy Director Zhao Chenxin said that addressing climate change is a common cause for all mankind and cannot be separated from the cooperation between the two global forces, China and the United States.

The China-US Circular Economy Cooperation Forum, held as an initiative to implement the Sunnylands Statement, marked another significant milestone in China-US cooperation on the circular economy. This collaboration is crucial for both nations as they join forces to tackle the climate crisis. On the afternoon of September 6, the forum organized four parallel meetings, where representatives engaged in in-depth exchanges on topics such as using the recycling economy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, promoting the application of recycled materials, addressing plastic pollution and enhancing recycling, and increasing the recycling value of waste in the context of new industries and consumption patterns.

Niutech: International Experts on Continuous Pyrolysis Technology and Pioneers in solving the global “white pollution” problem

Globally, hundreds of millions of tons of waste plastics are generated annually, yet only about 30% undergo recycling. Traditional physical methods are typically limited to high-value, single-category, and relatively clean waste plastics. However, repeated recycling can degrade the quality of the plastics. Chemical recycling, on the other hand, offers a transformative approach by converting waste plastics into high-value products or fuels through chemical processes, thus overcoming the limitations of physical recycling.

Pyrolysis technology, a cornerstone of chemical recycling, addresses the challenges associated with the material recycling of waste plastics. It is adept at processing various types of low-value, mixed, and contaminated waste plastics. The products of pyrolysis can be further processed to manufacture new plastics, achieving a closed-loop system where waste plastics are repurposed into high-value new plastics. This not only retains the material’s utility at a high level but also converts “white pollution” into a “white oil field,” signifying a major shift in the management and valorization of plastic waste.

At the forum, as the international expert in continuous pyrolysis technology, the corporate representative of Niutech shared the cases of waste plastic chemical recycling projects deployed with international giants BASF and Quantafuel in Denmark, Thailand and other countries. Niutech has developed its own pyrolysis technology and equipment, which they fully own the intellectual property rights to. This technology enables the transformation of low-value, mixed, and contaminated waste plastics—including various polymers such as PP, PE, PS, ABS—into high-quality fuel oil.  

The fuel oil derived from this process can undergo further refining into naphtha, a critical raw material in the production of new plastics. This advanced recycling process not only diverts plastics from landfills and the environment but also contributes to a circular economy by turning waste into a valuable resource.

In the future, Niutech will continue to champion the principle of “green, recycling and low-carbon” waste plastics pyrolysis. Armed with advanced technology, reliable equipment, abundant high-value solutions and proven experience, Niutech is committed to enhancing communication and cooperation with domestic and foreign partners. Together, they will drive forward the chemical recycling of waste plastics and the sustainable development of the global waste plastics recycling industry.

 

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SOURCE Niutech

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