A venture capital firm has agreed to end a small business grant contest for Black women business owners all because salty conservatives filed lawsuits against it. It’s not a loss, however, it’s a victory, according to Fearless Fund CEO Arian Simone.
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According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Fearless Fund, an organization founded by and largely run by two Black women, Arian Simone and Ayana Parsons, and the conservative American Alliance for Equal Rights — an advocacy group for angry and perpetually-aggrieved Caucasians who made an entire legal agenda out of minding Black people’s business — reached a settlement Wednesday morning.
Source: Arian Simone and Ayana Parsons /Prince Williams / Getty
“As of today, the Fearless Fund has permanently closed the grant contest and will never reopen it,” the Alliance said in a statement.
“The American Alliance for Equal Rights encouraged the Fearless Fund to open its grant contest to Hispanic, Asian, Native American and white women but Fearless has decided instead to end it entirely,” wrote the Alliance’s president, Edward Blum, whose first notable client—the one who put him in the limelight—was Abigail Fisher.
Y’all remember Fisher, right? She was your average white person’s favorite average white person, who, in 2016, claimed she was denied entry to the University of Texas because she’s white, only to have it revealed that only 47 students who were admitted to UT the year she applied had lower grades than her and, out of those applicants, 42 were just as white as she is. It also turned out that 168 Black and Latino students with “combined AI/PAI scores identical to or higher than (Fisher’s)” were rejected as well.
The fact that the woman dubbed “Becky with the bad grades” was a big ball of nothing but embarrassment for Blum, apparently, did not dissuade the card-carrying white-tears-ologist from continuing his crusade by suing Black women just for doing for Black women. (White people keep saying Black people need to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps, build up our own communities and stop asking for handouts, then when we do just that, they say, “Wait, no, not like that!”)
“From the moment the lawsuit was filed, I pledged to stand firm in helping and empowering women of color entrepreneurs in need,”the AJC reports Fearless Fund founder Arian Simone said in the statement that didn’t reveal any specifics regarding the settlement.
“I stand by that pledge today and in fact my commitment remains stronger than ever. Our overarching mission remains focused on helping and empowering entrepreneurs who have been historically overlooked in the venture capital marketplace.”
Arian Simone Clarifies That The Fearless Fund Settlement Is A “Win”
Fearless Fund CEO Arian Simone took to Instagram Wednesday to clarify that while the news sounds like a devastating blow it’s actually a good thing.
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“SOUND THE ALARM and SHARE!” wrote Simone. “To GOD Be The Glory! It’s been over a year of a being in a federal court case and now it’s finally dismissed!”
She then clarified that this is a “win” and a “positive outcome” for the Fearless Fund and its community.
“The US federal court of appeals stopped the fearless strivers grant program for Black women on June 3rd ruling suggesting we were in violation of the law,” wrote Simone. “This program has not been operating since it entered the appeals process back in September 2023 and it was at its conclusion of the grant program when the court case began August 2023, it was designed to award 6 people in one year and it was at its end when the case began.
She continued,
“We strategically avoided a Supreme Court ruling (the deadline to appeal our appeal has passed) because a ruling not in our favor at the Supreme Court would’ve ended minority-based funding across the country and that would not be wise, we have already seen the Supreme Court ruling for the colleges end affirmative action for all colleges in schools and admissions.”
She then denied that the Fearless Fund was over and shared that they’ll be servicing thousands of entrepreneurs via a $200m debut fund.
“Any false narrative floating that anyone is claiming we are not moving forward at the Fearless Fund is not true, what is true is that we are proud to announce our new $200MM debt fund for under resourced entrepreneurs- male and female!” wrote Simone “The one grant program the US appeals courts stopped was funding 6 entrepreneurs, this new program will touch over 3000 entrepreneurs, that sounds like a WIN to me.”
“WE ARE STILL FUNDING WE ARE STILL FEARLESS!” she added.
Famed Civil Attorney Ben Crump, who represented the firm, also released a statement:
Source: Johnny Nunez / Getty
“It has been an honor to represent the Fearless Fund in this historic case. By strategically avoiding a Supreme Court ruling that could have eliminated race-based funding, we protected vital opportunities for the entire Black and brown community. This victory ensures that programs dedicated to uplifting underrepresented entrepreneurs remain intact and continue to serve their critical purpose.
“The Fearless Fund has also announced a new $200 million debt loan program aimed at supporting under-resourced entrepreneurs. This initiative reflects their ongoing commitment to advancing equity and creating opportunities for those who have been historically marginalized. I am proud to have stood with the Fearless Fund in this fight for economic justice and will continue to support efforts that promote fairness and inclusion.”
Crump and Simone’s statements imply that while the Fearless Fund’s grant contest has been sidelined, its work for Black and brown people is still going strong. Still, we see what happens when fragile whiteness interferes with Black progress. It’s exhausting.