Around a fifth of African Americans say that when it comes to investments and financial planning for their family’s future, their knowledge is lacking. Crowdfunding platform Buy The Block is tackling this problem by helping them easily invest in real estate and support their community in the process.

Janelle Monae’s ‘PYNK’ evokes the human body’s most intimate parts, and she isn’t coy about the song’s central image – the video sees her sporting what fans and the media have dubbed ‘vagina pants’. Why is vaginal imagery making a comeback among modern feminists?

Black women make up the fastest growing group of entrepreneurs in the US, though venture capital firms are notoriously bad at funding them. A $36 million investment by Backstage Capital seeks to pounce on this missed opportunity by backing diverse companies with black women at the helm.

From the record-breaking Black Panther, to viral ‘Black Twitter’ memes, it’s clear that black Americans are cultural catalysts. Canvas8 talks to Jerome Williams, marketing professor at Rutgers University and founder of Walker & Company, Tristan Walker, about how black Americans are influencing culture.