< PreviousThe Murder of George Floyd Almost 57 years ago, on August 28, 1963, a young Black Baptist Minister and iconic leader of the civil rights movement stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and challenged this nation to live up to the words enshrined in the Declaration of Independence and United States Constitution. This nation guaranteed that all people would be endowed with certain unalienable rights, including those of “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” and also promised that all people were entitled to “Equal Justice Under Law.” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. told the nation that it had not honored its promise and that the time was NOW to lift the nation from the “quicksand” of racial injustice and to make justice a reality for all people. Fast forward to today, and Black people and people of all races and backgrounds continue to ask when will America finally honor its guarantee and live up to its promise. Dr. King laid out a vivid road map to follow, but recent events in Minneapolis, Minnesota involving the murder of yet another Black man at the hands of police brutality places worldwide attention on America’s failure to follow the road that leads to equal justice for all people in this nation. Protests against police brutality have continued across America, ignited by the murder of George Floyd by a white police officer who held his knee on Mr. Floyd’s neck for almost 9 minutes as he lay handcuffed and dying while on the ground. Many would argue that America has entered another era in its history of denying rights to Black people that were guaranteed by our founding principles. The first era began with slavery; after slavery ended new eras were ushered in that included Jim Crow laws enacted to deny Blacks the right to pursue life, liberty and happiness followed by harsh and brutal efforts to deny Blacks the right to vote. Through continued protests, activism and legal action those eras too were confronted in an effort to remedy racial discrimination that existed in America, including in the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education U.S. Supreme Court decision, the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the 1968 Fair Housing Act, all signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. The nation is now confronted with what must become the final era in a long saga of its failure to live up to its guarantee and the promise of equal justice for all people. The struggle to end police brutality and racism, wherever it exists, must become a national priority to quell the rumblings of centuries of pain, violence and trauma inflicted upon an entire race of people in America. We will end police brutality only when we call it by its name and commit to enact laws and policies aimed specifically at eliminating police brutality along with the racism that exists in all aspects of American life. In his impassioned “I have a Dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Dr. King made it plain that Black people can never be satisfied as long as they are victims of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. As the nation grapples with this current era of violence, discontent and upheaval, we must not allow the torment and murder of individuals who have suffered from the unspeakable horrors of police brutality to fade from our collective consciousness: George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Eric Gardner, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Philando Castille and countless others, named and unnamed. But we must not give up. Instead, we must persevere in our demand for America to honor its obligations. When all people of conscience ban together to collaborate with dedicated leaders in our local, state and federal governments and other willing partners to confront and meet the challenges of the era now before us, only then will America have lived up those sacred words written in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. “Each era finds an improvement in law for the benefit of mankind” (quote from Gideon’s Nov. 1962 letter in Gideon v. Wainwright), and the time is NOW. The National Congress of Black Women, Inc., will hold its seat at the table and follow the road that leads to equal justice for all people. Respectfully Submitted, National Congress of Black Women, Inc. 1250 4th Street, SW, Suite WG-1 Washington, DC 20024 www.nationalcongressbw.org 18 | TALK MAGAZINE • SUMMER 2020 Judge Doris Smith-Ribner Statement by National Congress of Black Women, Inc. Written by Judge Doris Smith-Ribner (Ret.) National President/CEO Dr. E. Faye Williams, MPA, DPA, D.Min, D.Th, Esq. 18 | TALK MAGAZINE • SUMMER 2020 America is under siege by a deadly virus, but we will eventually come up with a cure. Every day, the media highlight those organizations that boast that they are survivors. However, it is mandatory that I remind some of you and inform others that history verifies that Blacks Are Proven Survivors. We survived crossing the Atlantic Ocean chained in the bowels of slave ships. We survived slavery from 1619 to 1863 (244 years) the worst atrocity in the history of America. In the deep south, Blacks were treated worse than the animals. We eventually migrated up north and in too many situations, we left down south to locate in up south. A new kind of plantation, unemployment, underem- ployment, slum housing, robbing, stealing, drugs, and an unbelievable sense of self hate, but We Survived. We served in every branch of the military and fought side by side with white soldiers. We served in the Spanish American War, in the Civil War where over 178,000 Blacks served, in World War 1 over 350,000 Blacks served (my father's war), World War 2 over 1,000,000 Blacks served (my oldest brother's war), Korean War (my war) and untold numbers of Blacks served in Viet Nam. It was widely believed by Black leaders that once we were honorably discharged and returned home, we would be afforded un- limited opportunities. However, we were subjected to unbelievable acts of racism in the military, and upon returning home, were subjected to the same discrimination. Blacks were denied first class educations, jobs at every level of private industry, government – city, state and federal. The unions denied us admission, politicians would solicit our votes but once elected ignored us, but still We Survived. Across this nation the media saturates its viewers and readers constantly about the incarceration rate of Black Americans but fail to enlighten them that the majority of Blacks have no criminal records. On a rare occasion they will identify a Black American who succeeded and became a part of the American Dream. The absolute truth is that there are untold numbers of Black men and women across this nation with strong religious convictions, committed family ties, entrepreneurs, home owners, second and third generation of college graduates, supporters of civil rights movements, political positions at all levels including the President of The United States. Yes, Blacks were subjected to the most horrific system in the world. BUT, We Blacks Are Proven Survivors! Louis Kendrick WWW.TALKMAGAZINEONLINE.COM | 19 Louis "Hop" Kendrick Columnist & Commentator We, Blacks Are Proven Survivors20 | TALK MAGAZINE • SUMMER 2020 Treasury, SBA data show small-business loans went to private-equity backed chains, members of Congress Almost 90,000 employers also appear to have received money despite not saying how many jobs they would save Small Business Administration shows that businesses owned by members of Congress and the law practice that represented President Trump were among the hundreds of thousands of firms that received aid from the agency. As part of its $660 billion small-business relief program, the SBA also handed out loans to private schools catering to elite clientele, firms owned by foreign companies and large chains backed by well-heeled Wall Street firms. Nearly 90,000 companies in the program took the aid without promising on their applications they would rehire workers or create jobs. The data, which was released after weeks of pressure from media outlets and lawmakers, paints a picture of a haphazard first-come, first-served pro- gram that was not designed to evaluate the relative need of the recipients. While it buttressed a swath of industries and entities, including restau- rants, medical offices, car dealerships, law firms and nonprofits, the agency did not filter out companies that have potential conflicts of interest among influential Washington figures. Several major chains who have private-equity investors, including PF Chang’s and Silver Diner, received millions of dollars, which may rekindle questions about whether large companies with Wall Street con- nections should accept the money or not. Over the past weeks, dozens of publicly traded companies returned money after they were told by the Treasury Department that the program was not meant for large, well-capi- talized companies. Companies applying for the money were required to certify that the money was “necessary to support the ongoing operations,” while taking into account “their ability to access other sources of liquidity,” the SBA’s website states. Treasury and SBA spokespeople declined to comment. Other adminis- tration officials declined to speak on the record about the data. “We think we’ve done a reasonably good job of suggesting that those who were not going to be able to meet the certification should have returned mon- ey,” said one senior administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity in accordance with the administration’s rules for releasing the information. Among some of those receiving relief were Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao’s family’s shipping business. In addition, at least seven mem- bers of Congress or their spouses received loans, including lawmakers who were directly involved in shaping regulations and also benefited from a blanket waiver of ethics concerns. Among the loan recipients disclosed is KTAK Corp., a Tulsa-based operator of fast food franchises owned by Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.). Hern had advocated increasing the size of loans available to franchisees, including in a March letter to Senate leaders Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.). KTAK reported receiving between $1 million and $2 million to support 220 jobs. Hern spokeswoman Miranda Dabney said the letter was “a bipartisan idea meant to simplify the way loans were calculated,” and said the franchise rule that Hern advocated did not benefit KTAK because it employs fewer than 500 people. “These PPP loans are all about paying employees, so any expansion or increased funding measures were aimed at helping employees of franchisees stay employed,” Dabney said. “The whole program was designed to keep people off of unemployment.” Rep. Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) benefited when three of his car dealerships, located outside of Pittsburgh, received a combined total of between $450,000 and $1.05 million to retain 97 jobs, according to the data. Kelly is not involved in the day-to-day operations of his auto dealer- ships, said spokesman Andrew Eisenberger, and did not participate in discussions between the dealerships and the PPP lender. “Kelly’s small family business employs more than 200 Western Pennsyl- vanians whose jobs were at risk because of [Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf’s] business shutdown order,” Eisenberger said. Several plumbing businesses affiliated with Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), all based in Broken Arrow, Okla., each received between $350,000 and $1 million. A spokeswoman said Rep. Mullin is not in- volved in the day-to-day operation of his businesses. Craig Holman, an advocate from the watchdog group Public Citizen, said policymakers involved in shaping the program should not be allowed to profit off taxpayer-backed loans. By Jonathan O'Connell, Aaron Gregg, Steven Rich, Anu Narayanswamy and Peter Whoriskey Corporate America — including Wall Street and Silicon Valley giants — is now pledging to play a bigger role in combating systemic racism across the United States, but an examination of companies’ track records shows that they have re- peatedly stopped short of major overhauls during prior opportunities for change. The new corporate posture has spread across firms from nearly every industry in the past few weeks as companies rushed to respond to nationwide protests. One of the most provoca- tive statements came from Jamie Dimon, chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, kneeling with staff at a branch of the United States’ largest bank. Dimon, wearing shorts, sneakers and a mask, was adopting the once-controversial protest pose of former quarterback Colin Kaepernick, still blacklisted from the NFL for calling attention to police brutality against African Americans. Finance, tech and retail firms are proclaiming support for a protest movement that has galva- nized the American public amid a pandemic that has disproportionately claimed black lives and livelihoods. Pushed by employees in some cases, and in others by a fear of losing customers, corporations are being forced to examine their roles in perpet- uating inequalities in hiring, pay and promotion, fostering toxic workplace cultures and consumer discrimination. Their track records have raised skepticism about whether they will indeed intro- duce the kind of change that would make this moment a turning point for racial equity. “There’s a lot of performative allyship going around,” said Y-Vonne Hutchinson, chief executive and founder of diversity consulting firm ReadySet. “Nobody’s asking for a CEO to take a knee. You take the knee after you change your policies.” The image of Dimon, hands clasped over his right knee, was meant to convey his “support for social justice,” said JPMorgan Chase spokeswom- an Patricia Wexler. “Our leaders and our com- pany have done a lot more than kneel, investing hundreds of millions of dollars in combined philanthropic and business resources to address some of the most persistent challenges facing the black community,” she said, highlighting the bank’s programs to help black-owned businesses, build affordable housing and hire people with criminal records. After George Floyd was killed in the custody of Minneapolis police last month, hundreds of companies blanketed social media with state- ments denouncing discrimination and professing their commitment to racial justice. Jack Dorsey, chief executive of Twitter and Square, declared Juneteenth (June 19) a corpo- rate holiday to commemorate the end of slavery, a move more companies are making. Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian, who is married to tennis star Serena Williams, resigned from the board to make way for the first black director in the company’s history. Bank of America promised to spend $1 billion over the next four years to address “economic and racial inequality accelerated by a global pandemic.” Walmart, the country’s largest retailer, pledged to stop locking up “multicultural” hair and beauty products in display cases, and Sephora committed to devoting at least 15 percent of its shelf space to black-owned beauty brands. Toymaker LEGO suspended marketing for police-themed sets after video emerged showing an officer kneeling on Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes. Public opinion on policing and racial equity has shifted rapidly since the 2014 protests against po- lice killings of unarmed black men in Ferguson, Mo., and New York. Polls now show a large bipartisan majority of Americans support the protests. That’s a dramatic departure from three years ago when few of the companies speaking out now voiced support for the NFL player protests, and President Trump called for a boycott over players kneeling during the pregame national anthem. NFL Commis- sioner Roger Goodell now says the league was wrong for not listening to players. But activists, employees and diversity consultants say they question how much corporate promises to “do more” will help upend a system of eco- nomic disparity in which a typical black family has just one-tenth the net worth of a typical white family. Part of closing the racial wealth gap, they say, means ensuring opportunities for black workers to enter and rise in lucrative industries such as finance and tech, whose leadership has long been dominated by white executives and board members. “I appreciate your Black Lives Matter post. Now follow that up with a picture of your senior management team and your board,” said Brickson Diamond, chief executive of diversity consulting firm Big Answers and former chief operating officer of the Executive Leadership Council, a nonprofit focused on increasing the number of black executives. After watching thousands of protesters march past his Manhattan apartment, James Gorman, chief executive of Morgan Stanley, held a confer- ence call with some of the bank’s highest-ranking black executives, and announced the promotion of two black women to positions on its operating and management committees. This period “will not be easily forgotten in history, and it shouldn’t be,” Gorman said. “God willing, it will be seen as a turning point in race relations.” But like many of the country’s largest and most prestigious banks, Morgan Stanley has struggled to increase diversity within its ranks. Only 2.2 percent of its senior executives were black last year. Just 4 percent of JPMorgan Chase’s top execu- tives are black, despite years of public, high-pro- file efforts to increase its diversity. Wells Fargo saw the percentage of black senior executives fall from 8 percent in 2015 to 3.5 percent in 2019. And at Bank of America, which paid a $4.2 million settlement last year after being accused of discriminating against black, Hispanic and female job applicants, about 5 percent of senior leaders are black. The company denied allega- tions of discrimination. Goldman Sachs, which just announced a fund to support groups that address racial injustice and economic disparity, had paid $9 million in 2019 to settle federal allegations of racial and gender pay bias. The firm said at the time that it disagreed with the government’s analysis and was committed to equal pay for employees. The dearth in diversity extends across the corpo- rate world. Of the companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index, 187 did not have a black board member, according to a 2019 analysis by Black Enterprise magazine. African Americans comprise a fraction of the senior leadership at the largest tech firms — 3.1 percent at Facebook, 3.6 percent at Google, 4.4 percent at Slack, 5.3 percent at Twitter and 2.7 percent of executives at Microsoft, according to company data. Amazon did not disclose the demographics of senior leadership, but their report shows that 8.3 percent of U.S. managers are black. (Amazon founder and chief executive Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.) The numbers are lower in the world of venture capital. One percent of venture funding went to black start-up founders in 2018, according to a study conducted by Silicon Valley Bank and others. And 1 percent of decision-makers at the top 100 venture capital firms were black in 2018, according to an annual survey by the Informa- tion, a tech news site. In addition to hiring and pay disparities, banks have come under fire for allegedly discrim- inating against minority customers. Some have settled claims in recent years for targeting black and Hispanic home buyers with risky, expensive loans. Homeownership, one of the most import- ant ways to build wealth, has remained virtually unchanged for African Americans since 1968. “These are some of the same banks that ripped so much wealth from black and Latino commu- nities during the foreclosure crisis,” said Maurice BP-Weeks, co-executive director of the Action Center on Race and the Economy, a nonprofit focused on racial and economic justice. Corporate statements supporting Black Lives Matter stand empty, he said, without meaningful actions such as directing profits back into black communities, eliminating racial pay disparities, increasing hiring from black neighborhoods and promoting black employees. “All of these things would show that this is more than just platitudes.” As Big Corporations say ‘ Black Lives Matter ,’ Their Track Records Raise Skepticism by Tracey Jan, Jena McGregor, Renae Merle and Nitasha Tiku WWW.TALKMAGAZINEONLINE.COM | 2122 | TALK MAGAZINE • SUMMER 2020 CITIZENS ARE LOOKING FOR NEW INSTITUTIONS TO TRUST With declining trust in many traditional institutions, such as the media and Congress, and the Trump administration’s unwillingness or inability to act on key social and political issues, Americans looked to other parts of society to step up. The leadership vacuum has been filled not just by local and state govern- ment leaders and public health officials, but also increasingly by the busi- ness community. From Apple and Google teaming up on contact tracing technology to Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff organizing an effort to procure 50 million pieces of personal protective equipment, many companies are now doing the kind of work that we typically expect from government during a pandemic. Corporations know that their most important stakeholders — employ- ees, customers and investors — are making decisions about what to buy, what to recommend and where to work based on whether their values align with the companies with which they do business. They are judging whether businesses are good corporate citizens not just based on what they say, or how much money they donate, but on the meaningful actions they take, the authentic changes they make and the demonstrated impact they have. The bar is high, and companies are reaching for it. THE GEORGE FLOYD PROTESTS AND THE FIGHT AGAINST SYSTEMATIC RACISM For example, last week, the Business Roundtable, a trade group repre- senting the CEOs of the nation’s largest corporations, launched an advocacy campaign on police reform. The campaign will reach out to Congress, law enforcement and civil rights leaders and run radio and digital ads calling for urgent, bipartisan action to reform police departments in the wake of the murder of George Floyd. Target, Walmart, Nike and Amazon have made moves to penalize the Washington Redskins, such as pulling merchandise from shelves and online stores, in an effort to pressure the football team to change its derogatory name. Now more than ever before, businesses are engaging in — and some- times even leading — social and political conversations and movements that they would have worked hard to steer clear of just a few years ago. Gone are the days of shareholder supremacy. The business community has found a new voice, and it’s using it not just to benefit shareholders, but to support employees, customers and communities at large. How Companies Are Answering the Call to Action Words Photo by Kevin James Shay/Unsplash Pandemic, George Floyd Protests and Popular Opinion: by Jessica Abensour President Trump’s denial and mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic, as well as his support of Confederate generals’ legacies over the lives of Black Americans, has rightfully led many, even past supporters, to question his leadership – questions that have piled up in the several weeks since the George Floyd protests began. A recent New York Times/Siena College survey showed that trust in President Trump as a source of accurate information about the pandemic stands at only 26 percent. And 70 percent of Americans have more faith in their state leadership than the presi- dent when it comes to how and when to reopen, according to an NBC News/Survey Monkey poll.WWW.TALKMAGAZINEONLINE.COM | 23 EMPLOYEES HAVE BECOME ACTIVISTS Staying on top of the ever-shifting public dialogue can be daunting for any company. But organizations don’t need to look far for help. For all companies, employees are among their most important stakeholders and a group that is fundamental to their operations and bottom line. More recently, employees have helped bring important issues to the attention of corporate executives, helping them get ahead of societal challenges that could become risks for companies if left unaddressed. Recent employee activism at Facebook and Amazon shows the two paths companies can take when their workers raise their voices. In September 2019, Amazon employees began pushing their company to take more direct action on climate change — and to press the issue, they staged walkouts, organized into activist groups at work and wrote open let- ters to executives. In response, Amazon made a commitment to go net-zero carbon by 2040 (a central demand of employees) and began rolling out very public climate initiatives. The message to employees was clear: We hear you; we recognize this is an issue, and we are acting. Conversely, when encountering its own instance of employee activism, Facebook took a very different approach. When employees began speaking out against the company’s inaction toward hate speech on its platform, they were largely ignored. When employees staged virtual walkouts or public resignations, the company held a town hall during which CEO Mark Zuck- erberg defended the continuation of Facebook’s policies. The concern over those policies quickly spread beyond Facebook’s employee base to the com- pany’s advertisers, who joined a boycott of the social networking site that has now grown to 750 organizations and counting, including Coca-Cola, Hershey, Walgreens, Best Buy, Ford and Adidas. TWO STARKLY DIFFERENT LESSONS ON EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT The lesson is not that companies must change a policy every time employees raise an issue. Rather, as social, environmental and racial justice become higher priorities among consumers, and as they demand that com- panies demonstrate alignment with certain values, employee concerns can help a company get ahead of societal pressures. By engaging employees, offering them avenues to have their voices heard, and proactively trying to understand what issues are of greatest importance to them, companies can align their purpose to appropriate action. Ama- zon took that approach and is currently basking in the media limelight of another pro-climate initiative. Facebook, however, dismissed employee concerns, even in the wake of the George Floyd protests, and is now navigating one of the biggest crises in its history. Staying on top of the ever-shifting public dialogue can be daunting for any company. In the City of Harrisburg, PA, this was the case for two local Black owned businesses; one being KZM Enterprise, and the other being Rock With You Art. KZM Enterprise, LLC. emerged pre- COVID in 2017 providing workshops that focused on busi- ness startup, credit repair and the impor- tance of networking and quickly grew into a much larger consulting agency. KZM Enterprise provides expertise in branding, marketing, and creative strategies for new small busi- ness startups and careers to clientele across the U.S. Owner Gillian Sumpter identified her mission as being able to assist diverse businesses in creating solid foundations when going into business. Sumpter’s company would become a necessary one within her community, as many were attempting to become entrepreneurs and turn their dreams into reality. “I believe in helping my clients understand and manage their business” Sumpter stated. “As a leader, I understand the importance of building lasting relationships and strengthening the client’s trust in me. That is how I am able to maintain a strong referral system to drive my business forward and increase service production for many of my clients just starting their businesses”. Sumpter’s events were well attended, with an audience of 100+ during her annual empowerment brunch, as well as several credit repair and business startup workshops which were also ran on a consistent basis with favorable community engagement. The onset of COVID-19 for her was an unanticipated setback, but one from which she quickly bounced back. While many were wondering how her events would hold up now that large events were prohibited, Sumpter quickly began to identify threats to her business model and plan accordingly. When asked how her company was able to survive through the toughest parts of COVID-19, Sumpter answers confidently “KZM Enterprise survived COVID-19 first by declaring that the virus would not infiltrate the business nor the services being provided to its clients. We were able to examine some trends earlier on from other existing busi- nesses and see some of the mistakes they made by not immediately responding to the shifts that occurred as a result of shutdowns and extended closures. I was able to study larger corporations and see the ways in which they remained open and consistently serving clients, ultimately deciding to shift into virtual business communications and operating virtually for most of my interactions and new business referrals”. KZM began to move more workshops online, developing Zoom Workshops on Professional Development for those who were seeking new workforce options during and after this pandemic. She also provid- ed online consults and extended her services to include CDC Guideline Consultations to aid companies in how to safely reopen in the midst of the pandemic. Sumpter credits her background in the healthcare system for her ability to utilize this avenue to drive more business consults for clients looking to get back to work under new regulatory restrictions. “It’s about crushing your fears and moving beyond what was once impos- sible” She declared to a live video stream on social media being watched by peers, existing consumers, and potential clients. In fact, during the pandemic, Sumpter was able to expand her leadership titles from Entre- preneur, employee, and mother and became an author. “Crush Your Fear of Flying: 7 Pillars for Bringing Your Life Full Circle” was a book that Sumpter had been developing for years. The book centers itself around an especially by Fiordaliza White How Black and Brown Businesses Survive the Impact of Covid-19 Crushing Fears and Recreating Dreams: Businesses worldwide have been impacted by the Covid-19 Pandemic. With the pandemic occur- ring so close to the beginning of the new year, many who had large rollouts and even larger projec- tions were deeply impacted at the onset of the Coronavirus. Businesses, specifically black businesses, had to add the task of dealing with a nationwide pandemic and a series of problematic social issues to their business survival plans. Coupled with this pandemic, riots and community unrest resulted in property damages and reconstruction of a lot of urban spaces throughout the United States, disman- tling other small businesses as well. For many businesses, these two impacts came at a cost. Many were digging into savings prematurely, and for others, the effect of the virus at an early stage was too much to manage, causing businesses to close early in untimely defeat. However, some entrepreneurs were able to re strategize during this time, and even utilize their ideas to develop new business models to begin new businesses amid the storm. 24 | TALK MAGAZINE • SUMMER 2020important topic during this pandemic: Resilience. With the pandemic pro- viding downtime for individuals to be able to read more and access black and brown businesses, Sumpter released her book to the community. This, in addition to her already existing company, was a way for her to not only increase business sales, but also to maintain some sense of normalcy with her goal planning and execution. ”The goal is to continue to move, grow, and develop during this time. We cannot stay stagnant. In order to maintain stabil- ity and survive this pandemic, we must continue to find new ways to grow our businesses and develop ourselves as entrepreneurs, all while remaining healthy” she adds. For many, maintaining their sense of self became difficult. Mental health cases were on the rise, and people nationwide were not only scrambling to figure out how to maintain their livelihoods, but how to maintain their wellbeing as well. This is how Rock With You Art by Shauna Renee Mosley was formed. “During the initial shutdown of quarantine, I involuntarily added homeschool teacher to the many hats I wear” Mosley began. “In an attempt to incorporate physical activity into my children’s daily schedule, we began hiking or walking along our local trails. In doing so, we stumbled across several rocks that were painted with positive affirmation or characters. Each time, it brought light to what seemed to be an obligation to them. I thought it’d be creative to join in painting rocks and hiding them for others to participate in a ‘Scavenger Hunt” type of walking adventure”. Mosley’s idea quickly turned into a fun interactive way for families to make exercise a part of their daily activities, and it increased community participation as she documented her new findings during her hikes on social media. After a while, what began as a family activity and competition quickly gained support and interest from other families looking to add therapeutic activities to an otherwise tense moment in time for themselves and their families. Mosley continued the project long after the online buzz declined, and individuals moved on from their hiking projects. “I continued because I found that it was peaceful and therapeutic to me”. Soon, friends and family members who noticed her artistic abilities had begun requesting personalized rocks for different occasions. Some wanted their logos painted to a rock, others their favorite football team they missed watching on television. For others, just having an affir- mation was enough to get them through these moments. Her requests became larger and soon, Rock With You Art was born. Mosley satisfies several requests throughout the week. “I do this all while juggling being a mother, wife, teacher, doctor, uber driver, maid and my full-time job” she jokes. For Mosley, creating an activity and tapping into her natural gifts has led her into a business that she did not anticipate, but one she has had much success in thus far. “This is my new norm and I’m passionate about it. I can only hope for longevity and prosperity. I want to be able to continue spreading love through this gift that I have discovered. I have never been creative and never wanted to paint, so I am amazed whenever I am able to conquer the challenges for requests set before me. I’ve always been one who operates under pressure” she adds, “I call this my organized chaos!”. The pandemic has undoubtedly played a role in how businesses have moved forward. For many, the dream has not developed itself as anticipat- ed. Further adding to their hardship was the disparity of securing adequate funding for small businesses of color, in what was a noticeable limit in funding streams for black and brown small businesses. So how do others who have managed to stay afloat project their successes moving forward. Perhaps it is too early in the pandemic to note. What KZM Enterprise and Rock With You Art can serve as are examples of the two main ingredients necessary for a successful formula for small black and brown businesses; an unwavering sense of resilience and faith, as well as the ability to adapt and tap into yourself to discover and expand on skillsets that can turn them- selves into additional streams of income. Those two capabilities lend itself to prosperous outcomes. Gillian Sumpter’s book “Crush Your Fear of Flying” can be found at www. crushingyourfears.com. Shauna Mosley’s “Rock With You Art” can be found on Facebook at www.facebook.com/rockwithyouart/, Instagram at www.instagram. com/rock.with_you and on Etsy at www.etsy.com/shop/RockwithY- ouArt. WWW.TALKMAGAZINEONLINE.COM | 25 A coalition of businesses and nonprofits in Pennsylvania wants to make it easier for Black- owned businesses to get loans and is looking for companies that need help. The Pennsylvania Diversity Coalition is setting up what it's calling a heritage fund to create a pathway for Black-owned businesses to get loans. The coalition said 50 to 75 Black-owned or Black-operated businesses in the Susquehan- na Valley could be the recipients of low-interest loans. The businesses would have to pay off the interest but only pay back the loan when they are cash flow positive. The heritage fund was in the works before Some hard-core craft beer lovers just didn’t see the point. Why was this trio of beer-brewing partners from Harrisburg so insistent on opening what they believe will be Pennsylvania’s first Black-owned microbrewery? Shockingly, their dreams were dismissed with a shrug of the shoulders from craft fans, who believe the beer is the thing. What does the skin-color of the brewers have to do with it, the skeptics scoffed? Turns out, everything. “Why does it matter if we’re the first Black-owned brewery?” said Harris Family Brewery partner Timothy White Jr., while standing in the convert- ed warehouse building on Harrisburg’s Allison Hill that will become the brewery. “That’s the question we were getting,” he said. “It’s kind of like when we say, ‘Black Lives Matter,’ and people go, ‘all lives matter.’ It’s that thing, and it’s bad. That’s racism at its core right there. Representation matters. Every industry, we’ve had to fight to represent ourselves.” In fact, the very mission of the Harris Family Brewery is bringing people of color into the craft brewery movement. “The craft beer industry knows it has a diversity issue,” White said. “They’re trying to figure out how to get more people of color into their breweries to drink their beer. Nobody ever thought, ‘Hey, why don’t we have someone of color make it?’” Since many Black people have been slow to come to craft beer, the Har- ris Family Brewery partners plan to bring beers specially brewed to appeal to Black drinkers right to inner-city bars. It’s no accident their brewery and planned tasting room is opening at 300 S. 18th St., smack in the middle of Allison Hill, long the city’s African-American cultural center. “How do you bridge the gap between people of color and craft beer? Why don’t more Black people drink craft beer? That’s a simple question,” White mused. “The answer is, it was never sold to us. It was never marketed to us. I want to adapt our recipes to what works for our community.” Not since Billy Dee Williams sipped Colt 45 has there been such a direct outreach to Black drinkers as what brew master Shaun Harris says he and his partners are planning. “I understand that I have to sell a beer to Miss Betty up the street, or someone down the street who only ever drank Colt 45 or Coors Light,” Harris said. “It’s going to be hard to snatch that Coors Light out of their hand. We have to get them to try it.” Harris said he’s already working on special brews that will ease that taste transition. One is what he calls an easy-drinking lager with the working ti- tle, “Street Dreams.” The name and its custom-designed urban logo perfectly reflect the brewery project, itself. Harris toyed with a home brewing kit after tasting a Blue Moon nearly a decade ago now. It was the closest he got to craft beer -- and he liked it. Now, he wanted to go further. Much further. The venture became a business when Harris brought his beers to a family picnic and invited Tim White to give his concoctions a taste. White, whose wife and Harris’s spouse, Patrice Walker-Harris, are friends, didn’t just taste the beer. He and Harris swilled the entire supply. “Day One of me drinking his home-brew, I said, ‘Yeah, we need to sell this’,” White said. That was 2014. Ever since, it’s been a six-year-and-counting slog to plan, locate, finance and open the brewery. Entrepreneurism actually comes naturally -- and by necessity -- to many who grow up in the inner-city, Harris and White say. What doesn’t come so naturally is mentors, angel investors and experienced businesspeople willing to walk newbies through all the start-up minefields. “Where we come from, everything is a hustle,” Harris explained. “You can’t afford to have a hobby. Nothing’s a hobby. When you grow up in the hood, everything’s an opportunity. As soon as you learn something, the next thing you by Matt Barcaro by John Luciew Pennsylvania Diversity Coalition aims to help Black-owned businesses get loans ‘It shouldn’t be this hard’ a Struggle to Open Pa.’s 1st Black-owned Craft Brewery: In Harrisburg, 26 | TALK MAGAZINE • SUMMER 2020learn is how to make money off of it. That’s from some dudes who grew up and sometimes the only thing I ate was the school breakfast. So everything I do is, how do I monetize this?” It hasn’t been easy. But White never expected it to be this hard. Asked what it’s taken to get to this point, about three- to four-months from their planned opening, White chuckles somewhat uncomfort- ably, then says, “Everything I have.” “We worked really hard to get here, and it shouldn’t have been this hard,” he said. There’ve been plenty of false starts. An early Kickstarter campaign fizzled. They’re on their third location. But the pieces are finally coming together. So is the funding. the coronavirus pandemic and Black Lives Matter protests, but officials said the timing could be a lifeline to businesses that need help now. "You're talking about the true engine and work- force in terms of what really spurs our economy, and there's nothing that spurs our economy more than traditional small Black businesses," said Karl Singleton, of Pennsylvania Diversity Coalition. Black-owned businesses have historically had a harder time getting loans from banks, and the Pennsylvania Diversity Coalition wants to change that by giving them a seat at the table. The or- ganization is in talks with banks to put coalition leaders on bank committees that review the loan process. Timothy White Jr., left, Jerry Thomas, center, and brewmas- ter Shaun Harris at Harris Family Brewery in Harrisburg. Photo by Dan Gleiter by Tené Croom WWW.TALKMAGAZINEONLINE.COM | 27 Kenneth L. Huston, President of the Pennsylvania State Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), is a longtime civil rights activist. Elected to the state NAACP (two year) position in 2019, he also continues as President of the Monroeville, Pennsylvania NAACP branch where he’s serving a fifth term. Huston says he got his start in civil rights at the Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh where he worked from 1995 until 2009. Hired there as a case manager then promoted to Director of Employ- ment and Entrepreneur Development, he has nothing but good things to say about Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh President Esther L. Bush. “I will forever be grateful to Esther Bush because Esther is the one that taught me about the nonprofit world,” Huston said. When asked about his goals, Huston owner since 2004 of Huston Trust Company, a commercial and industrial cleaning company replied, “I am working to make sure we are advocating for all things civil rights, in partnerships, allies and having a seat at the table, advocating for changes in laws, build- ing a strong youth component, particularly when it comes to what’s called the next generation of the NAACP. We have to realize what our work is as people of color.” The NAACP is tackling racial inequities head on. The nation’s oldest civil rights group refuses to be quiet about the police killing of George Floyd, a Black man in Minneapolis and other senseless police killings of African Americans: Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky, Jonny Gammage and Antwon Rose II in Pittsburgh, to name a few. Because of those killings the NAACP has launched the “We Are Done Dying” campaign. The campaign demands several things including police reforms. “I am calling on all of the forty-four units within the Pennsylvania State Conference to rise up in the fight for justice for not only the most recent deaths, but to rise up as we look to how we view the existing policies and laws in place which may need to be revised. Additionally, in certain areas we must advocate for policies that need to be uplifted that may not currently exist at all. The fight may be a long undertaking, but we are ready to rise up and stand up,” Huston declared about the “We Are Done Dying Campaign.” The administration of Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf asked him to be on two very important commissions. He is honored he said to be on the Governor’s COVID-19 Response Task Force for Health Disparity chaired by Lt. Governor John Fetterman. Huston is anxious to help to narrow the COVID-19 disparity plaguing communities of color. Governor Wolf signed an executive order creating the State Law Enforcement Advisory Commis- sion that will oversee state police and Huston accepted his invitation to be on that commission. “I don’t think we’re anti-police at all. I think what we’re doing is having accountability. Just like in any profession, you need accountability,” Huston told WPXI-TV. The creation of the State Law Enforcement Advisory Commission came about from concerns raised by residents and in conversations the Governor held with members of the Legislative Black Caucus and leaders of Black communities in Philadelphia and Harrisburg following the death of George Floyd. The civil rights leader says his faith has helped him through rough patches in his life. “My faith means everything to me. I’m able to go through some of the personal attacks I went through and some of the things that I’ve been through because of my faith,” Huston, who has been a minister since 1992, said. He and his wife Terri have been married for almost 20 years. They have six children, two girls and four boys ranging in age from 35 years-old to 12 years-old. Founded in 1909 in response to the ongoing violence against Black people around the country, the NAACP is the largest and most pre-eminent civil rights organization in the nation with over 2,200 units and branches across the nation. Kenneth L. Huston, President of the Pennsylvania State Conference of the National AssociationNext >