Irene Jiang

Reporter

Irene is a reporter for Voices of Color covering racial justice and stories for communities of color. She formerly reported on independent restaurants for the retail team. She is a Northwestern University graduate and former Fulbright Morocco researcher, and she is originally from Seattle, Washington. You can follow her on Twitter at @irenethesupreme.

Contact

Email ijiang@businessinsider.com
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Latest

Jun 29, 2021

As America reopens, Black travel experts detail how the industry can learn from 2020's racial reckoning

Historians say racial unrest could challenge museums to confront America's true history, and that presents opportunity for Black-owned businesses.

6 min read

A protester wears a mask and holds a homemade sign that says "Defund the Police" at a demonstration on June 19, 2020, in New York City.

Apr 30, 2021

Police killed 121 people in traffic stops last year. Advocates call to ban them in fight for racial justice

Daunte Wright, Philando Castile — most police killings happen during low-level incidents like traffic stops.

7 min read

Apr 14, 2021

There's a reason 'highways do not go in straight lines.' How racism is built into American infrastructure.

Pete Buttigieg was right, racism is built into American infrastructure. Highway construction destroyed Black neighborhoods across the country.

6 min read

Marijuana legalization protest in New York in 2019

Apr 5, 2021

For advocates, New York's new legal weed bill is a major victory against racist drug sentencing

Activists say New York's legal weed bill is "restitution" for BIPOC communities disproportionately targeted by prohibition laws and policing.

4 min read

Derek Chauvin George Floyd officer trial

Mar 31, 2021

It's illegal to pick jurors based on race, so why does it happen all the time?

To get the makeup they want, attorneys often use racial "proxies" like tattoos or social attitudes to dismiss Black and brown jurors.

5 min read

Mar 26, 2021

Police captured the Boulder shooter alive. His arrest reignited debates on use of deadly force and race

While his identity remained unclear, the Boulder shooter was apprehended alive, sparking debates about race and police use of deadly force.

7 min read

Atlanta protests following spa shootings against Asian hate

Mar 22, 2021

Advocates are demanding justice for Atlanta's shooting victims, but experts say hate crime charges are rare

Hate crimes are rarely prosecuted as such. But experts say there's state and federal grounds to charge the Atlanta shooter with hate crimes.

7 min read

Mar 18, 2021

The shooter blamed sex addiction, but experts have 'no doubt' the Atlanta killings were racially motivated

Experts say the Atlanta spa shootings are related to America's "long history" of sexualizing and dehumanizing Asian women.

8 min read

Mar 1, 2021

Umamicart's cofounders say the pandemic created the ideal opportunity to launch an online Asian grocery service, pitting it against industry vets Chowbus and Weee!

Umamicart, which launched Monday, delivers classic and new Chinese, Japanese, and Korean foods sourced from mom-and-pop businesses.

5 min read

Feb 26, 2021

The pandemic could make lines at stores 'totally unacceptable,' says Qudini CEO Imogen Wethered

Post-pandemic retail will see more curbside, more virtual engagement, and the death of lines, Qudini CEO Imogen Wethered told Insider.

3 min read

Robotics

2 retail experts discuss the future of automation, the changing importance of brick-and-mortar, and the future of off-premise sales

Insider spoke with Wavemaker Labs CEO Buck Jordan and Qudini CEO Imogen Wethered about the retail trends accelerated by the pandemic.

14 min read

Feb 15, 2021

People are boycotting Publix because a member of its founding family gave $300,000 to the Trump rally that preceded the Capitol riot

Publix heiress Julie Jenkins Fancelli's donation to the January 6 Trump rally was the last straw for many loyal customers, The Guardian reported.

3 min read

Alvin and Joey cooking with shefs at a commercial kitchen

Feb 14, 2021

Shef's founders built a home-cooking marketplace to help immigrants earn a living. But when the pandemic hit, their mission expanded to millions of newly unemployed Americans

Everyone cooks — why not monetize it? That's the $8.8 million dollar idea behind Shef, a startup that delivers authentic home cooking to your door.

6 min read

Feb 13, 2021

How my mother endured hardship and found joy while growing up in a Chinese labor camp

The pandemic has felt like a relentless, worst-case scenario. But my mother taught me there is value in enduring hardship.

9 min read

Andrew Zimmern on set for "Love Letter" Super Bowl ad

Feb 3, 2021

Independent restaurants banded together to survive the pandemic. Now they've teamed up with Cointreau for a Super Bowl ad to raise relief awareness.

The ad titled "Love Letter" encourages people to support their local restaurants, while pushing for federal government aid.

5 min read

Jan 18, 2021

A Princeton professor warned students not to take his class while in China amid the country's tightening grip on dissent

Rory Truex, an assistant professor at Princeton, told students living in China that they should avoid taking his class on Chinese politics.

2 min read

covid vaccine coronavirus cvs nursing home

Jan 16, 2021

How Walgreens, CVS, Kroger, and other retailers plan to leverage tech, convenience, and public trust to get the chaotic mass vaccine rollout back on track

Retail pharmacies, like those at CVS and Kroger, have the capacity to meet the demand for 100 million vaccine doses.

10 min read

Nov 3, 2020

12 restaurant chains have filed for bankruptcy in 2020 in the wake of the pandemic. See the full list.

Some chains have been bought out by new parent companies and were able to keep their restaurants open. Others are now gone forever.

5 min read

Sep 30, 2020

Ruby Tuesday abruptly stopped paying pensions to more than 100 retirees, leaving them scrambling amid the pandemic

"What are we supposed to do, get a job at Starbucks?" Mark Potter, who retired in 1999 after 28 years at the company, told Business Insider.

3 min read

Sep 28, 2020

A $15 million lawsuit against Fox News analyst Andrew Napolitano alleges he attempted to rape a man and coerced him into 'bizarre sex games'

A lawsuit alleges former judge Andrew Napolitano attempted to rape a waiter after sexually abusing him for years. Napolitano denies the allegations.

5 min read