Top Black Business and Economic Stories for the Week of May 24th to May 31st

Top Black Business and Economic Stories for the 

Week of May 24th to May 31^st

Protest Related

Minneapolis has some of the worst inequality in the US (Washington Post)

UC Berkeley News has a piece about ignoring the advice of the Kerner Commission called "The Road Not Taken: 50 Years After the Kerner Commission."

Here is the Kerner Commission Report Executive Summary and the Kerner Commission Report. 

In 1968, The Kerner Commission Got It Right, But No One Listened(Smithsonian Magazine)

Quick Summary: The riots were caused by segregation(White flight) and lack of economic opportunity. Duh.

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Blackout Day is July 7th

Social Media is calling for Blackout Day on July 7^th. A nationwide boycott of all spending by Black people. In addition people should spend 15% of their incomes with Black people. The campaign is called Blackout 2020.

The hash tag is #BlackOutDay2020 on Instagram and Facebook.  There are details at the BlackCoalition.org.

KHOU in Houstion has a write-up.

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Camille Squires (Mother Jones) asks the right question: "How much do looted stores really contribute to the local community?"

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Marijuana Industry should deliver social justice (Pot Network)

If any industry owes something to Black people, it's the Marijuana Industry, which is controlled by rich, White men.

Covid-19

Black New Yorkers hit with high layoffs(NY Patch)

Black business is Boston try to stay open (Boston 25 News)

Black barbers and stylist work from home (LA Times)

Work in the hair industry is difficult with social distancing(ABC News)

Massachusetts business look for equitable development and recovery (Mass Inc)

Racism and Inequality

Racism is the reason the US has such a weak social safety net(NoahSmith writes in Bloomberg opinion)

Older piece from 2019 on same topic(Marketwatch)

Black Wealth 2020 details “equality” policy proposals to lawmakers(Charleston Chronicle). 

Black people invest in the stock market at much lower rates than others. (Investors Business Daily)

The stock market since 2008 has been a great investment

Discrimination 

Massachusetts Attorney General wins $380,000 settlement with ENE Systems over false claims of hiring minority subcontractors.(WGBH)

Reparations

Human Rights Watch has produced a report on the Tulsa Race Riot / Greenwood Massacre Reparations study(Human Rights Watch)

General Economics

Many of the problems in US society and Black communities can be linked to de-industrialization. Senator Marco Rubio(R-FL) believes de-industrialization reduced Black opportunities which contributed to covid related deaths among Blacks.

De-industrialization(The Hour)

Sen. Marco Rubio proposes industrialization to close Black White income gap.(The Federalist)

Other

Seventeen medical schools with the highest percentage of African Americans(Yahoo Finance)

A majority of first round NFL picks have Black agents.(Black Press USA)(W

State budget under huge pressure as Lottery Sales have fallen off(NJ TapInfo)

Andrea Harris, leader of Black economic development, dies (ABC 11 Raleigh - Durham)

History Lesson

Sarah Rector was a Black female millionaire during the 1920s. She made her money when oil was discovered on her family’s land. The US Government forced the land to be given to the family by the  tribe who held her family as slaves.

How native Americans adopted slavery from White Americans. (Al Jazeera)

Members of five Native American nations, the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole Nations (known as the Five Tribes) owned black slaves.

From last week

Less than 40% of Black Business still open (Jacksonville Free Press)