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Reliable internet is the most critical on-ramp to the digital economy and yet many are not included. In fact 38 percent of Black households in the rural south do not have broadband access. The discussion will center around the impact of broadband access for Black consumers and Black businesses and how the digital divide must be bridged.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:01Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Melanie Campbell, President of the National Coalition
00:08on Black Civic Participation.
00:12Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Derrick Johnson, President and CEO of the NAACP.
00:24Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Reverend Siobhan Arline Bradley, President of the National
00:31Council of Negro Women.
00:36Please welcome Ron Busby, Senior President of the U.S. Black Chambers.
00:46Please welcome Reverend Al Sharpton, Founder and President of National Action Network.
00:53All right.
01:00Can you all hear me?
01:05Well, good afternoon, everyone.
01:08Welcome to the Essence Fest for 2023.
01:14I hope y'all having a great time.
01:21Listen, today's conversation, we're going to be framing a very important discussion around digital
01:27divides in the black community.
01:28How many of you know that broadband is a civil rights issue?
01:31Access to broadband means you need access to healthcare, your money, your education.
01:35If you had little ones like me trying to log on during COVID, broadband is a major issue.
01:39So today, we're going to talk a little bit about how black women in the black community
01:44are crucial to hold our states accountable for the funds that have come down from the
01:48infrastructure bill.
01:49You're going to hear us talk a little bit about that.
01:50So Mel, I'm going to turn it over to you to get us started in this conversation.
01:52All right, Reverend Siobhan.
01:53I'm going to start off with you.
01:54How's everybody doing out there?
01:55Y'all okay?
01:56At the Essence Festival.
01:57So, Reverend Siobhan, according to McKenzie and Company, approximately 40% of black American
02:16households, as opposed to 28% of white American households, don't have high-speed fixed broadband.
02:25In a digital age, what are the contributing factors to these disparities?
02:31So I think very specifically, African Americans traditionally have been marginalized in many
02:36sectors.
02:37Education is one of them.
02:38The affordability of broadband has been a major issue.
02:41Many families and households are unable to afford the actual expense to have broadband.
02:46And one major issue has also been around access to income.
02:50We've got to connect jobs to education to broadband.
02:53These issues have literally historically been a major part of black family experiences.
02:58And one of the reasons why we're discussing the disparities is because those contributing
03:02factors really are coming from larger policy challenges that we've had.
03:05So, I would say those are the major issues that are connected and why we need to discuss
03:09this further.
03:12And my brother, another mother, Derrick Johnson, President and CEO of the NAACP.
03:17Can we give my brother a hand?
03:20So, Derrick, not only are disparities seen in computer ownership and internet enabled devices,
03:30this issue is now a consequence of a lower level of digital readiness.
03:36Is that an ongoing driver of larger gaps in black American representation in jobs that require digital skills?
03:45So, three responses to that.
03:48Young people who are exposed to opportunities pursue those opportunities.
03:53The problem with the divide in jobs is far too many African Americans have not been exposed because the tech industry are on the coastlines.
04:03It's in the Silicon Valley, around Stanford.
04:06It's in Boston, around MIT, and a few other places where there's not the density of young African American children who understand what's possible.
04:16Secondly, when you consider how many of our young people are gamers, and they're not connected in the reality of being a gamer with all of these games,
04:29are also equated to opportunities for jobs.
04:32It is incumbent upon us to help them understand, not coding, because coding is about to go out with AI, but they actually hold the key to what the jobs are in the future.
04:44So, many of us, for the NAACP, for example, we're launching a VC fund so we can fund innovators in the tech space so they can see what's possible and give them the seed money.
04:55And then thirdly, the broadband question must be mapped. Equity must be mapped.
05:01The money that's coming down will be diverted to high growth area, i.e. white areas, and not existing infrastructure.
05:09Broadband is a public utility like nothing else we've seen in the past, including electricity.
05:14And so if we don't map the equity, expose our young people to what's possible, and then let them see what they're currently doing with gaming is actually opportunity on the other side, we're going to be behind the curve.
05:27Thank you, Derek. So, Ron, you know it's all about the money, right?
05:32You know it's all about the money, President and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Black Chambers.
05:37So limited broadband access compounds the numerous systemic inequity barriers for black businesses.
05:44Since the pandemic, it is worse. How does this directly affect black business owners' internet visibility?
05:53Great question. Can you hear me? Yes. Great question.
05:57For those of you that don't know, during the pandemic, black America lost 41% of our businesses.
06:03Between the months of February and April of 2020, we lost 442,000 firms.
06:10Most of them are the firms that we supported across the country.
06:13Since then, we've increased that growth rate, so we've opened up the majority of them.
06:18But when you ask them the reason that they did not make it, there were two questions and two answers.
06:24The first one was lack of information. We just did not know what we did not know.
06:29We did not know where to go. We did not know what to do.
06:32And the second one was access to capital. And so with this new infrastructure build that's coming down, we have to think differently.
06:40The businesses that did survive all were able to pivot to make sure that they had e-commerce.
06:46They were able to be found on social media platforms.
06:49And we've got to make sure that we're doing proactive activity versus reactive activity.
06:54Black women are going to be that economic driver for us in the future.
06:59And so I implore each and every one of you to make sure that you're not just starting businesses,
07:05but we've got to have conversations about mergers and acquisitions.
07:09The opportunities that are coming down the pike are large in size and scale.
07:13Our mom-and-pop businesses, our single-employee firms, are not going to be able to take advantage of many of the contracts that come down.
07:20And so we've got to talk about size. We've got to talk about scale.
07:25And we've got to talk about merging as well as acquiring other firms to make sure that we're doing two to two that equals seven and eight.
07:33Because we no longer have the opportunity to grow organically to take advantage of these firms that are coming down and opportunities that are coming down right now.
07:40Black women are there. We've got to make sure that we're providing the capital as well as the technology to make sure that they're successful long term.
07:48And thank you, thank you, thank you. Reverend Al, I know I have a question for you, but I'm going to add a twist to that question.
07:58We cannot ignore what's happening, what's happening coming out of that Supreme Court and how it impacts even what we're sitting here talking about today.
08:08So if you could give us your thoughts about why it matters, what's happening in the Supreme Court, affirmative action, the attacks and the things that are happening.
08:17But also the question that I was charged to ask was how is the digital divide affecting students and continuing to perpetuate a system of educational injustices?
08:31Well, thank you. Let me start with the Supreme Court because it feeds into your question.
08:38When they decided yesterday to go against affirmative action, they can sugarcoat it any way they want.
08:48They set us up in a trajectory to where they're now saying race consideration is unconstitutional.
08:59That's what they said. Now, I talked to a governor today.
09:02I did want to enjoy another one who say they fear that if they take infrastructure money and say we're going to target that we want to make sure black business gets their share,
09:16that any white company could sue us, use this as a legal precedent.
09:20And then they have another case in front of this court that would then hold that up.
09:26So they've got us in a tight squeeze. That's why all of the folks that you know that didn't vote,
09:33tell them that non-vote is what got us in this jam.
09:38People talking about what no difference between Trump and Hillary.
09:42The difference is three people on the Supreme Court that killed affirmative action and today killed student debt loan.
09:50That's the difference. So all of us need to really get on folk about we got to vote.
09:58My friends tell me, yeah, I ain't into that. I want reparations.
10:02If we can't get affirmative action, how are we going to get reparations?
10:06I mean, who are we going to get it from?
10:09The folk that wouldn't give you affirmative action going to say we're going to give you a trillion dollars in reparations.
10:14Let's talk like we got good sense.
10:17We're going to have to fight this thing step by step, moment by moment, common sense,
10:24because they have out organized us.
10:28And we've gotten too complacent and we've sat back and allowed them to do it.
10:35The digital divide was no more exposed than when we had two and a half years of the pandemic.
10:43They were telling our kids and their kids, do your homework online.
10:48Well, if you were in a desert area, you couldn't go online.
10:53So the fact that we have discrimination in the broadband world was no more exposed than the segregated broadband areas during the whole question of the pandemic.
11:10We went from 246 years of slavery to 100 years of segregation.
11:15Now we're in a broadband Jim Crow layout.
11:19And we've got to break that up, not because it's trendy, but because you cannot exist in the 21st century without having equal access to the broadband and to all that we need to do with technology.
11:35This is not mandatory. This is not cute.
11:38It's not something where, you know, years ago, I'm going to give my kid a laptop for Christmas.
11:42No, you're going to give him a laptop so he got a lap because they are putting us out of business and putting us back off into the margins and out of the mainstream.
11:54In two days, in two days, they killed affirmative action and today's student debt loan, which is disproportionately in our community.
12:03In two days, they showed us who they are. The question is, are we going to show them who we are?
12:11Thank you. We're here in essence partying with a purpose. This is about purpose. Can we just say purpose? Real talk.
12:21So Derek, we're in the South. We are in the South. Yes, we are.
12:26So with all that's going on, if you're talking about these big numbers, 42 billion here, all this other, how, because we want to go to each of you all, what are the solutions?
12:36What should folks be doing to make sure we access those dollars for our community?
12:41It's a game changer. It is about being able to build black wealth and have strong black businesses, so the rural South.
12:51So how do we make sure and what is it we should be doing besides having this conversation? What is the call to action?
12:58Well, we're sitting in the city of New Orleans where you have majority black leadership.
13:02They should have already developed their plan to access the money and the plan to engage black business owners.
13:10The black business community should also be having an agenda to understand where to tap into the money because it's at the federal agencies that come down to the states and go to the local jurisdictions.
13:20Electing black folks who are not accountable to the money in the black community is a waste of our vote.
13:27But voting for black folks and white folks who understand we're casting our vote to protect our voting rights, to ensure public policies are in place, but also that the money reign in our community is all a part of the same conversation.
13:43Elections have consequences. And if we are not measuring our vote to get the outcomes from the dollars, we are not doing our communities a just service.
13:55So whether you're talking about Atlanta or Charlotte or New Orleans or Pine Bluff, Arkansas, Jackson, Mississippi, Savannah, all of those are black cities in the South.
14:07And I give you 2024, there will be another southern state to flip other than Georgia.
14:14The fear of a black America is coming through the South because that's where 52% of all black folks live. We have the power. Now we must use it.
14:24Thank you, Derek.
14:26That's Reverend Siobhan.
14:28We got three reverends up here.
14:30You know, sometimes I try to fake like one rev, right?
14:32Wait, wait.
14:34Who's the third?
14:35Because I know two.
14:36Oh, excuse me.
14:37Excuse me.
14:38There's two plus me sometimes acting like I'm one Baptist last AME, y'all.
14:42And I was married to a preacher.
14:44That's another conversation.
14:45So Reverend Siobhan, black women.
14:48Black women.
14:49Yeah.
14:50We are heads of household.
14:51We are, you know, and so when we're talking about this issue and what it can or cannot do, what do black women need to know why this is important to make sure that our families can not only survive but thrive?
15:05I want you to remember three letters, ACP, the Affordable Connectivity Program.
15:12The infrastructure bill, which was a bipartisan bill that was signed by this current administration.
15:19That bill happened because of black women and black voters who pushed the envelope.
15:23I want black women to understand something.
15:25We are the most reliable voting bloc in the history of these United States of America.
15:31And because of your advocacy, the ACP program came out of that bill.
15:35You know what that is?
15:36The connectivity program gives families access to broadband that are living on specific income levels.
15:43What I found is that there are 35 million households that do not have access to broadband that could take advantage of this program and have free internet in their homes.
15:54I'm asking you, Essence, to get the word out on those three letters.
15:58Say A-C-P.
16:01The Affordable Connectivity Program.
16:04And NCNW is telling black women across the country, not only are we heads of households, but we are earners.
16:10We are driving economies.
16:12We are business owners.
16:14We are homeowners.
16:15We are mothers.
16:16We are sisters.
16:17We're bankers, chauffeurs too.
16:18But we are out here engaging in this conversation.
16:21And if we don't get connectivity, we will be left out to the wolves.
16:25Because right now, broadband is just like breathing.
16:28If you don't have broadband, you don't have access.
16:30So please, call on your states.
16:32Find out where your broadband departments are in your states to find out what's the accountability call.
16:38Where are you sending our money, Governor so-and-so?
16:41And find out where those funds are going so that we can ensure our families have access.
16:47And I'm going to say this.
16:50So the bipartisan infrastructure law that was signed in 2021 provides $65 billion.
16:58Say billion.
16:59B billion.
17:00B.
17:01Right.
17:02Right.
17:03In federal dollars for broadband.
17:06Including 44 billion that will flow directly to states as part of the broadband equity access
17:14and deployment.
17:15And all these acronyms, BEED.
17:17And again, state digital equity capacity grant programs.
17:21So Ron, black businesses, right?
17:24Small businesses, black businesses.
17:27How, for folks who are entrepreneurs out here, what should they know about how they can access those resources to grow their businesses?
17:36And in some cases, make sure your businesses survive or you got an idea.
17:40This is an opportunity for you to be looking at how you can grab ahold of some of those resources.
17:45So tell us how we make some money off of our tax dollars that we pay.
17:49Because understand this.
17:50This is our money.
17:51And I know this is not a political conversation.
17:54But the way we got the money, the way these billions of dollars got there for our companies to be able to access those dollars,
18:01to build our broadband, was because we voted in 2022.
18:062020 and 2022.
18:08So let's be real clear how we got here and how we got this money so we can build that business.
18:14So Ron.
18:15So the federal government usually paints this broad brush of minority programs.
18:21It has not worked for our community.
18:23For the first time, the President of the United States, President Biden, went to Tulsa, Oklahoma, the birthplace of our Black Wall Street.
18:30And for the first time in this country's history, we disaggregated the numbers.
18:35The minority spend, as they call it, was actually 1.8 percent went to the Asian community.
18:421.76 percent went to the Hispanic community.
18:46And 1.5 percent went to black businesses.
18:491.5 percent.
18:51That's it.
18:52You want to ask, well, where is the money going?
18:5578 percent of all of the federal dollars, all of the contracts went to white women.
19:01So when women have the conversation about women's programs, women's rights, when we as collectively say minority programs understand we've got to be intentional.
19:12We've got to say black and get away from saying minority because it has not worked for us.
19:18The second thing is we've got to be transparent.
19:21We want to know what's behind those conversations and what is it doing for our community specifically.
19:27And the third thing, it's got to be about accountability.
19:30This is an election conversation.
19:32For the last eight years, we've heard a lot about making America great again.
19:37And we as black people say we want America to be great as well.
19:41But in order for there to be a great America, there must be a great black America.
19:46And in order for there to be a great black America, we must have great black businesses.
19:51And in order for there to have the great black businesses, we need great black chambers and we need your support.
19:57If you have a black business, get certified free of charge.
20:01Write this down. B-Y-B-L-A-C-K dot U-S.
20:06Corporations and federal governments are saying, Ron, we want to do more business with black firms, but we can't find them.
20:12We now have a program that allows you to be found free of charge across the country.
20:17And the second one is they say, well, we don't have the size and scale.
20:21We don't need more new businesses.
20:24We need our businesses to do more mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures.
20:30And where and when it makes sense, we've got to be talking about consortiums.
20:35The opportunities are large and they're today.
20:38We've got to be prepared to take advantage of them today.
20:41And we've got to start making plans right now.
20:43Thank you, Ron.
20:44I know we're out of time, but we want to ask Reverend Al to just close us out.
20:49What should folks do when they go home?
20:51Well, I think first thing you need to do is clearly organize in your area to not only tell them to vote,
21:00but to have an agenda that says that the black community, given this under siege point that we're at,
21:07must be specific about access to broadband, must support what Reverend Shafon is talking about.
21:14Many of us are going to be in Washington August 26, raising these issues for the anniversary of the March on Washington.
21:20Sixty years later, look at where we are.
21:23Sixty years after Dr. King went to Lincoln Memorial, we're going back saying they just killed affirmative action.
21:29They just killed student loans.
21:32We are not fulfilling the dream yet.
21:37We need to be, we can't let them outmarch us.
21:40People talk about what we got from marching.
21:43The fact you checked in a hotel in New Orleans didn't have to go to the college side of town.
21:48That's what we got out of marching.
21:49And we need to stop talking about what we can't do.
21:53Remember what we have done and go forward.
21:56We came inside of 100 years from walking off plantations in 1865, January 1st, when it went into effect, the Emancipation Proclamation.
22:09We walked off plantations with no money, no literacy, because it was against the law for us to read and write,
22:16and didn't know our families because we couldn't marry.
22:19In 100 years, we went from there to the March on Washington in 63, and then from there we went from putting a black man with a black wife with two black kids and the mom-in-law in the White House.
22:33Don't tell us what we can't do if we get up and do it and stop telling ourselves that we're going to be measured by other people's rule stick, measured by ourselves.
22:45Look how far we've come.
22:47Yes, we took a downside or we took a back up or we took a retreat yesterday and today, but we've taken worse than this, and we fought through it.
22:59We've got to keep fighting.
23:00Thank you, Reverend Allen.
23:02I'm Melanie Campbell, convener of the Black Women's Roundtable, and I'm going to do like George Bailey, approve of all of your messages.
23:11Thank you, Essence, and thank you, AT&T.
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