Top Stories

• When Tulsa’s Black Wall Street Went Up in Flames, So Did Potential Inheritance (Wall Street Journal)
• Racial discrimination has cost American economy trillions. Tulsa, massacres just a start. (USA Today)
• Wanted: Creative careers for Black and Brown New Yorkers (NY Daily News)
• Tech companies made big pledges to fight racism last year — here’s how they’re doing so far (CNBC) – Wow, pretty comprehensive.
• How Restaurants Can Promote a More Diverse and Inclusive Wine Industry (FSR Magazine). Association of African-American Vintners is here.
• USDA starts rollout of debt relief for socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers (AG Week) – What !!!
  
• Four ways the US can pay reparations for slavery that aren’t direct cash payments (Business Insider). Good way to start thinking about equality (reparations). There is also “10 Solution to fix the racial wealth gap” from 2019.
  
• A legacy of empowerment: Gipson Grocery in Dallas looks to expand its key role in the Black community (Dallas News)
• Thomas Sowell: The Soul of Black Conservativism (Wall Street Journal)
• Black-owned banks are booming, and they’re pouring money back into their communities(CNN) – Disappointing. No specifics on any actual specific community investment like home mortgages, commercial real estate or business loans nor customer geography. They could have at least pulled some CRA data. One United Bank’s Community Reinvestment Act filing is here.
• Her mother told her to take an economics class at Harvard. Now Cecilia Rouse is a history-making economic adviser to President Biden (Boston Globe)
• Biden’s $6 trillion budget proposal would rebuild America’s social safety net (Vox)
• Sean Combs Teams Up With Salesforce To Launch SHOP CIRCULATE, An All-In-One Digital Marketplace For Black-Owned Businesses (PRNewswire)
  
• Racism Derails Black Men’s Health, Even as Education Levels Rise (Kaiser Health News) — Good and long. Racism and isolation cause health problems.

All Stories

• States Cutting off Expanding Unemployment (Vox)
• Sean Combs Teams Up With Salesforce To Launch SHOP CIRCULATE, An All-In-One Digital Marketplace For Black-Owned Businesses (PRNewswire)
  
• TPCO Invests In First Black Women-Owned Cannabis Speakeasy In The U.S. (Forbes)
  
• Why Black Americans Need Black-Owned Banks (Time)
  
• Biden-Harris Administration Announces New Actions to Build Black Wealth and Narrow the Racial Wealth Gap (The White House). Policy announcement from the White House.
  

Protest / Social Justice

• 10 Minutes with… Black Lives Matter (License Global)
• Asheville’s Black Lives Matter protests: What’s changed a year later? (Citizen Times)

Coronavirus / Covid-19 / Paycheck Protection Program

• Lawsuit keeps minority-owned businesses from getting pandemic financial relief (Wish TV)
• How social identities are affecting post-Covid economic prospects (Consulting)
• Black-owned businesses used internet lending sites more than other groups for PPP loans (Banking Dive). Fed Study is Here.

Jobs / Workers / Unemployment / Gig Economy

• How Cuts to Unemployment Benefits Will Hurt Rural People (In These Times)
• Black, Latino NC workers had to play ‘Russian Roulette’ during COVID. The toll was steep. (Charlotte Observer)
• Gig workers to lose all unemployment benefits in 20 GOP states (CBS News)
  
• Black and Hispanic women are still behind as jobs rebound. (New York Times)
  
• Without enough child care, workers can’t get back to work (Philadelphia Inquirer)
  
• States Cutting off Expanding Unemployment (Vox)
• Hiring Picked Up in May but Lagged Behind Broader Recovery (Wall Street Journal)
• First 3 African American firefighters in Newark honored (Yahoo News)
• Wanted: Creative careers for Black and Brown New Yorkers (NY Daily News)

Inequality / Systemic Racism / Economic Justice / UBI

• Business of Pride: Davin Clemons of Relationships Unleashed (Proud to be IP)
• The search for balance among four Americas. Book Review of George Packer’s “Last Best Hope” (Washington Post) – Conservative
• Racism Derails Black Men’s Health, Even as Education Levels Rise (Kaiser Health News) — Good and long.

Black Business

Black Business General / Interesting Businesses Stories

• Black Businesses Matter (Forbes)
• Why doesn’t Rochester have more Black-owned business startups? (Post Bulletin)

Black Business Specific

• 13-year-old entrepreneur supplies 400 notebooks to Penn Hills Charter School of Entrepreneurship (Trib Live). Kenz N’ Co is a business run by the 13-year old Ryleigh Mackenzie.
  
• Kahawa 1893: The First Black Woman-Owned Coffee Brand in Trader Joe’s (GlobalNewsWire) – Press release
  
• Sean Combs Teams Up With Salesforce To Launch SHOP CIRCULATE, An All-In-One Digital Marketplace For Black-Owned Businesses (PRNewswire) – Press release with good links.
  
• The Importance of Black-owned Vintage Stores | Business (Pennsylvania News Today)

Black Economics

• Biden-Harris Administration Announces New Actions to Build Black Wealth and Narrow the Racial Wealth Gap (The White House). An official report from the administration. Lot’s of good research and links.
  
• Exclusionary Zoning: Its Effect on Racial Discrimination in the Housing Market (The White House) – Good research and links. Another very difficult problem that may be beyond our abilities as a country.
  
• Sadie Alexander: Bucknell professor publishes book on first Black American economics Ph.D. (Daily Item)
• For Black America, Bitcoin is Hope, Bitcoin is Change (Bitcoin Magazine)

Co-Ops / Employee Owned / Cooperative Economics (UJamaa)

• One big strategy to reduce racial wealth inequality: employee ownership (Technically)
• Bridging The Energy Efficiency Divide (Forbes) – Roanoke Electric Cooperative pays for members home energy upgrades.

General Business

Big Business / Business Strategy

• Tech companies made big pledges to fight racism last year — here’s how they’re doing so far (CNBC) – Wow, pretty comprehensive.
• Spending on diverse suppliers has increased more than 50%, says Bain report (Consulting.US). Supplier Diversity: How to Overcome Four Key Obstacles (Bain & Company)
• How companies can celebrate Juneteenth (HR Dive)
• This volunteer-led platform is tracking nearly $50 billion in corporate promises (Morning Brew)
• Corporate board diversity census showed Black men lost ground (Aljazeera)
• Racially Diverse CFOs Are in High Demand, but Challenges Persist (Wall Street Journal)
  
• You Can Still Count The Number Of Black CEOs On One Hand (NPR). There are still just 5 Black CEOs within Fortune 500 companies.
  
• Big business emerges as major US community investor – but ‘smaller dollar’ also playing a growing role (Pioneers Post)
• One year after #BlackoutTuesday, what have companies really done for racial justice? (Vox)
• PayPal Deposits $135 Million in Financial Institutions Serving Black and Underserved Communities as Part of $535 Million Commitment to Advance Racial Equity (Yahoo Finance)

Discrimination / Racism

• Auditors find racial disparities in King County contracts (Bellevue Reporter)
• Racial Discrimination Lawsuit filed Against Terlato Wine Group (Wine Business) – Same stuff; different day. Terlato Wine Group
• For LGBTQ employees of color, sexual orientation is the biggest source of discrimination in the workplace (USA Today)
• How does age discrimination affect the economy? (Marketplace). Age discrimination hits twice for black workers.
  
• First study in 30 years to document whether minorities are getting their fair share of CT contracts (Danbury News Times)
  
• Racial discrimination has cost American economy trillions. Tulsa, massacres just a start. (USA Today)
• Not just Tulsa: Racist mobs were ‘widespread and a constant concern’ 100 years Ago (USA Today)
• AlaBev, AKA Birmington Beverage Company, settles EEOC suit claiming racial bias (AP) — The chair of the agency, Charlotte Burrows, said the case illustrated “the destructive and demoralizing impact race discrimination can have on employees when they are denied employment opportunities based on their race.”

Real Estate / Housing / Segregation

• Black homeownership: Low in California, even lower nationally (Silicon Valley)

Reparations / Affirmative Action / Diversity / Inclusion

• What Happened When Evanston Became America’s First City to Promise Reparations (Bloomberg)
  
• Steve Rodgers from Harvard Business School, suggests how white Americans can help fix racial wealth disparity (Chicago Sun-Times) – Problems are caused giant wealth gap. White people can donate to HBCUs, buy from Black businesses and support reparations.
  
• Racial Justice and diversity in business require leadership (USA Today)
  
• The huge diversity issue hiding in companies’ forced arbitration agreements (CNBC) – Interesting. Arbitration is less diverse than the court system.
  
• Businesses with racial equity achieve 58% higher revenues (Personnel Today)
  
• After George Floyd was killed, retailers pledged to put Black-owned brands on shelves. Here’s how it’s going (CNBC)
• Four ways the US can pay reparations for slavery that aren’t direct cash payments (Business Insider). Good way to start thinking about equality (reparations). There is also “10 Solution to fix the racial wealth gap” from 2019.
  
• Industries and Update On Retailers’ ’15 Percent Pledge’ (NPR)
  
• How Can You Start Shifting Your Business to Be Actively Anti-Racist? (Entrepreneur)
• How the Columbus Urban League hopes to boost the earning power and wealth of Black Women (Columbus Business First)
• Repairing America (AZ Central) — Exploring Fight for Reparations, Racial Justice Across the Country
• After a decade of being othered, here’s why this publicist started an agency for ‘misfits’ (Digiday)

Categories and Industries

Beauty / Fashion / Retail

• How One Black-Owned Brand’s Handbag Became a Pandemic Hit (Washingtonian)
• More major retailers are carrying Black-owned beauty brands (CBS News)
• How Fashion Influencer Mamissa Mboob, AKA The Color Me Mam, is influencing women to wear more color (Digital Journal)

Sports / Media / Entertainment

• General Mills, Nestle Among 20 Big Advertisers Pledging to Spend More on Black-Owned Media (Variety)
• Black media owners remain skeptical despite investment pledges (Marketing Brew)
• The pandemic sparked a Black cycling movement in South L.A. — and a new Business (Los Angeles Times)
• IndyCar courts Black fans, drivers in its push to diversify (Indianapolis Business Journal) – Via AP
• Directors should honor African Americans by hiring Black Americans to play them (LA Times)

Alcohol / Cannabis / Gambling

• Legislators, law enforcement focused on black market marijuana and rural Concerns (Nondoc)
• The brewing industry is facing a social reckoning. Now Black brewers are making craft beer more inclusive. (Business Insider)
• Illinois Senator Lightford moves to create more cannabis dispensary licenses for minority applicants (Illinois Senate Democrats)
• Colorado wrestles with increasing minority cannabis ownership (The Denver Channel)
• A Black whiskey entrepreneur will help bankroll others like her (Philadelphia Tribune)
• TPCO Invests In First Black Women-Owned Cannabis Speakeasy In The U.S. (Forbes)
  
• How This New Food and Wine Festival Will Put the Spotlight on Black Chefs (Robb Report)
• UK cannabis campaigners take note: in the US, change came from below (The Guardian)
• How Restaurants Can Promote a More Diverse and Inclusive Wine Industry (FSR Magazine)
• Association of African-American Vintners is here.
• Rhode Island Coalition Pushes Most Equitable Legal Cannabis Regulations Yet (The Intercept)

Food / Restaurants

• As part of goal to build Black generational wealth, SOUL Street starts Black Owned Farmers Market (Frederick News Post)
• Diageo launches DEI initiative to boost Black community in spirits industry (Marketing Dive)
  
• A legacy of empowerment: Gipson Grocery in Dallas looks to expand its key role in the Black community (Dallas News)

Finance / Investing / Venture Capital

• Where Do Black Millennials Stand in the Wealth Game? (Ebony)
• Black-owned banks are booming, and they’re pouring money back into their communities(CNN) – Disappointing. No specifics on any actual specific community investment. No discussion of community mortgage, real estate or business loans. No discussion of geography or customers they serve. They could have at least pulled some CRA data.
• One United Bank’s Community Reinvestment Act filing is here.
• How Waka Flocka Is Using NFTs To Amplify The Voices Of Black Artists (Forbes). Artists are using NTFs as a form of investment.
  
• Why Black Americans Need Black-Owned Banks (Time)
  
• Black, Latinx and female entrepreneurs are still ignored by most venture capitalists (LA Times)
  
• Calling For Diversity In Financial Service (Wilmington Biz)

Real Estate / Finance / Development / Segregation

• The housing market is booming but remains deeply unequal (Washington Post). Talks about discrimination within appraisals. 
  
• How housing discrimination and white flight segregated America (Economist)

Technology / Apps / Innovation

• TikTok Announces New Funding and Training Initiatives to Provide Support for Black-Owned Businesses (Social Media Today)
• App Focuses On Racial Wealth Disparities By Boosting Credit Scores—And Home Ownership (Forbes). The app, My Home Pathway, helps those master financial literacy and increase credit scores.
  
• The funding gap for Black founders of social apps (Axios) – Interesting read.
  
• Meet 30 Black Founded Startups Selected By Google For Their New $2 Million (£1.5 Million) Black Founders Fund (Forbes) – What businesses are Non-US Blacks starting ? Google gave money to 30 of them.
• Why A U.K.-Based Organization Has Launched An A.I. And Blockchain Accelerator For Black Founders (Forbes)
• Ice Cube and Anthony Anderson endorse “Follow Me For Equity” social media investing app. (Black Unicorn Factory)

Science / Math / Statistics / STEM

Criminal Justice / Police / Corrections / Re-entry / Rehabilitation

• A public health intervention for violence across the Americas (The Hill)

Cities / Urban Planning / Local Government

• Building Back Severed Communities (American Prospect)
• Charleston, Johns Island undergoing huge demographic shift among Blacks, Whites (Charleston Post & Courier) – Whites are moving back into Charleston and taking over the Black suburb of Johns Island.
• The Highway That Sparked the Demise of an Iconic Black Street in New Orleans (Smithsonian)

Politics / Government / State and Local

• Biden embraces symbolism, but substance on some issues proves more difficult (Washington Post)
• Her mother told her to take an economics class at Harvard. Now Cecilia Rouse is a history-making economic adviser to President Biden (Boston Globe)
• Senate confirms Kristen Clarke as first Black woman to lead DOJ civil rights division (CNN)
  
• Biden-Harris Administration Announces New Actions to Build Black Wealth and Narrow the Racial Wealth Gap (The White House). An official report from the administration. Lot’s of good research and links.
  
• Biden announces bold new plan to fight the racial wealth gap (The Hill)
• Remarks by President Biden Commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre (White House)
• To Accelerate Our Economic Recovery, Look to the Arts (Governing)
• Biden’s $6 trillion budget proposal would rebuild America’s social safety net (Vox)

Law / Legal / Non-profits / Philanthropy

• As ‘Anti-Riot’ Laws Pass, Legal Challenges Grow (Law 360)
• Courts are challenging the Biden Administration’s prioritization of women and minorities for restaurant relief grants (Nation’s Restaurant News)
• Uber, DoorDash settle Arizona cases over waived delivery fees for Black-owned Businesses (CNET)
• Amid Push for Inclusion, Law Firms Face Pressure to Make Racial Progress: “Everyone Has to Be Part of the Effort” (Hollywood Reporter) – Another business opportunity created by Black entertainment.
• Meet LaMonica Love, a 40 Under 40 honoree who launched a law firm, a startup and more (Houston Business Journal)

Education / Healthcare

• Prominent Atlanta businesses seeks to give 25K Black men free life insurance (Fox 5 Atlanta)
• The Economics Of Early Childhood: ‘You’re There For The Kids…Not For The Money’ (LAist) — Even across overall low wages, there are disparities.
• Louisiana Legislature approves Black history courses for TOPS qualification (The Advocate)
• The 7 best scholarships for Black college students (Bankrate)
• Tom Hanks says schools should teach the Tulsa Race Massacre and stop ‘whitewashing’ curriculums (Market Watch)
• Why it may be hard to close the racial wealth gap without forgiving student debt (CNBC)
• Opinion: The City’s Engine of Economic Mobility Needs a Kickstart (Bklyner)

Farming / Agriculture / Food Production

• Black-owned vineyard and farm credits community for helping business thrive during pandemic (WRAL)
• John Deere Starts New Initiative To Help Black Farmers Succeed (The Shadow League)
• Seed Money: Black entrepreneurs hope pandemic gardening boom will grow healthier eating (Colorado Newsline)
• USDA starts rollout of debt relief for socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers (AG Week) – What !!!

People, Careers and All Other

Career / Professions / Entrepreneurship / Businesses You Can Start

• Business leaders can fuel the next generation of Black innovators and entrepreneurs. Here’s what it will take (CNN)
• Black Female Entrepreneurs Are Launching More Businesses Than Ever: Here’s What They Need To Help Them Mature (Forbes)
  
• Start-ups in Black communities strongest nationwide amid entrepreneurship spike (Washington Post)
  
• Kamalanomics: Vice President Harris Outlines Her Vision Of Inclusive Entrepreneurship (Forbes). A conversation with the Vice President that is a part of Forbes 50 under 50 series.
  
• Entrepreneurship boomed in these predominantly Black neighborhoods during Pandemic (CBS News)
• U.S. Department of State Appoints Howard Alumnus Gharun Lacy to Lead Cyber and Technology Security Efforts (Howard University)

People / Motivation / Leadership / Success Stories / Ideas

• Founder Of 1863 Ventures, Melissa Bradley, Is Helping Entrepreneurs Build Black-Owned Businesses (Forbes)
• A Black-Owned Plant Shop Blooms In The Pandemic’s Wake (Wbur)
• Covid-19 decimated Black women-owned businesses — Ayesha Curry wants to change that (NBC News)
• How a Black-Owned Digital Boston Radio Station Launched, Survived, and Thrived during Lockdown (Boston Magazine)
• KC’s only Black-owned book shop — forced to find a new home — hits crowdfunding goal in just a few days (Starland News)
• The female CEOs on this year’s Fortune 500 just broke three all-time records (Fortune)
• Meet Lauren Haller, a 40 Under 40 honoree who champions diversity at Pattern Energy and with her own ventures (Houston Business Journal)
• Roy S. Johnson: The true legacy of Black Wall Street? I lived it; my father, a massacre witness, embodied it (AL)

Caribbean / Africa / International

• Google shares its $2M Black Founders Fund among 30 European startups (Tech Crunch)
  
• Dikembe Mutombo Leads $1 Billion Investment to Revamp Mining in the Congo, Build Electric Vehicle Supply Chain (Sport Techie)
  
• Workplace racism ‘amplified’ for Black Canadians, entrepreneurs, new reports find (The Hill Times) – Canadian
  
• Federation of African Canadian Economics (FACE) schedules Toronto and Quebec Roundtable to meet with local entrepreneurs and provide information about the $291.3 million Black Entrepreneurship Loan Fund (Agility PR) – Press Release.
  

Travel / History

• On these Black history walking tours, bring your imagination (CS Monitor)
• An unprecedented push to save historic Black homes in Chicago (Chicago Business)
• Documentary focuses in on longtime heart of Black community (Times-Enterprise)
• How Protests Against the Jim Crow Credit Market Changed the Civil Rights Movement (Pro Market)
• When Tulsa’s Black Wall Street Went Up in Flames, So Did Potential Inheritance (Wall Street Journal)
  
• The Tulsa massacre wasn’t a ‘race riot’ — it was a pogrom (Forward)
• Tulsa’s Greenwood neighborhood wasn’t America’s only Black Wall Street (Yahoo News)
• A New Generation of Black Entrepreneurs Wants to Recapture Greenwood’s Past (Wall Street Journal) – Part of a larger series: Greenwood, 100 Years Later.
• Black Wall Street was shattered 100 years ago. How the Tulsa race massacre was covered up and unearthed (CNBC)
• Beyond Tulsa: The Historic Legacies and Overlooked Stories of America’s ‘Black Wall Streets’ (Time)
• Meet Elmer Whiting, Jr., the first Black partner in the Big Eight (Accounting Today)

Conservative / Alternative

• Thomas Sowell: The Soul of Black Conservativism (Wall Street Journal)

Opinion

• In 2021, it is time. Joe: Biden’s plan to have more Black executives in boardrooms (Thomson Reuters Foundation)
• America’s racial wealth gap is 400 years in the making (Dallas Morning News) focused and long Overdue (NY Daily News)
• Critical race theory is under attack (The Hill)
• On the Tulsa massacre anniversary, corporate America can’t forget the fight against racism (Fortune)
• It was much more than Tulsa (The Washington Post)

Other

• How American Icon Henry Ford Fostered Anti-Semitism (History) – Inside, Ford would hire Black workers and pay them close to White workers.