- 7 hours ago
Change starts with a foundation of truth. We cannot change society without deeply reflecting and acknowledging the realities that Black and Brown communities face today. In this presentation, we leverage recent data to examine the foundational state of work, wealth, and health equities between Black and Brown communities and other communities. While grounding ourselves in reality, this presentation will also open the dialogue around the emerging mindsets and innovative ideas that Black and Brown people are injecting into culture, business, and society.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00I'm excited to be up here talking with you because our organizations do so much
00:04good work together and I think this is gonna be not only an insightful
00:09conversation but also an inspiring one because we can talk every day about how
00:14important it is to think about data and how it informs our decisions we also
00:18should think about what are the systemic issues that are at play and how can
00:21people basically get involved that's great yeah and we did want to start
00:26this presentation with a quote by Ida B Wells that we talked about which is the
00:32way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them and that's really what
00:37we're trying to do with the data today is to turn some light on what's happening
00:42and what are these inequities that persist in work and wealth and health so
00:52great so the first thing that you need to know and the data is that the Harris
00:57Bowl has been pulsing the American public for the last 176 weeks through the
01:03pandemic to the banking crisis to where we're at today and the thing that you
01:08need to know about the data is that we are not in a pandemic crisis anymore we're
01:14actually in the state of a perma crisis and Lauren if you don't know what a
01:17perma crisis like what does that mean it is defined it by the Collins
01:22dictionary as a state of consistent and ongoing instability created by a series
01:27of catastrophic events what you need to know about that is that it is amplified
01:33for BIPOC Americans so when you look at this data the blue and the peach lines
01:38they show that Covid variants BIPOC Americans are much more worried about that
01:44than white Americans at 58% this is also our recent data from the weekend and we
01:50see 61% of BIPOC Americans also worried about a job loss versus only 45% of white
01:57Americans so you have to start questioning why did those things exist in those ways
02:01and what you see is the fundamental question you have to start with is
02:05systematic systemic racism and actually what you see is six and ten US adults do
02:11believe that there's systemic racism but where the variance lies is on the color
02:16of your skin so 84% of black Americans believe that there's systemic racism but
02:22only 58% of white Americans believe that there's a 26% difference there we also see
02:28generationally people are much more likely younger generations people under 40 to
02:33believe that there's systemic racism versus older generations bloomers for
02:37example at 54% so there's a acknowledgement point of view but then
02:42there's also an outcome and accountability point of view which is
02:45very important in this data 84% of black Americans agree that systemic racism is
02:51the cause of disparities but only 65% of white Americans actually agree with that
02:56and then the other thing you need to think about is 61% of black Americans
03:01strongly agree that there should be something done about the the disparities
03:07that that systemic racism cause but only 37% of white Americans believe that so
03:13there is a compliancy issue happening with society around that just quickly to
03:20get into the state of work inequities and then Lauren is going to also talk to us
03:24about what signals and signs do we see changing the first thing that you need to
03:29know is that things have not changed unfortunately in the research that we
03:33do with huge state of inequity we see 79% of HR directors thinking that their
03:39industry is doing a good job and creating change and implementing these
03:43diversity initiatives but 84% of employees say they've made no
03:48meaningful progress in creating a more equitable workforce for people of color you
03:53also see the other big number here is 84% of all employees report that their
03:58company has not done anything meaningful in the mental or emotional health since
04:03June of 2020 meaning that there were conversations that were had post George
04:07Floyd but those quickly have gone away and you see the impact of that in the
04:13research around there is discrimination wage gaps and burnouts that is just
04:19rife and throughout the workplace one in three black and Asian Americans are
04:23experiencing discrimination in the workplace three and four black women say wage
04:29gaps are a problem in the US workforce that's because black women are still
04:33getting paid 67 cents on the dollar to white men and this this confines this
04:39compounds into a series of burnout right so six in ten black women feel burnt out
04:46from their workplace that's higher than all other populations that we track and look at
04:50there's also another interesting number here where 38 percent of black men feel
04:54even if they have discrimination in the workplace that they're not allowed to
04:59talk about it and they don't come out about it that's that's kind of the hard
05:05notes there we do have to talk about AI you can't talk about the future of work
05:09without AI and what you do notice and it's interesting is BIPOC Americans are more
05:14likely to be testing it out than white Americans so those who are familiar with
05:18chat GPT you see the numbers rise in their likelihood to test it out so 69% of BIPOC
05:25Americans are testing it out that's 11% more than white Americans they believe
05:30it's going to be more effective for their work communications they also believe
05:33that it's going to likely improve the world at 67% versus harm the world they're
05:3810% more optimistic than white Americans they're interesting in this data is that 74% of
05:44white Americans lead in that the fact that they think AI should be monitored
05:49because that it could create more systematic inequalities and reflect racial
05:55bias so whereas only 58% of Americans believe that there's racial
06:01systematic racism they they're they're saying with this tool they are concerned
06:06about it so there's some interesting disparities there and then what's the
06:11future of hope people want to see policy transparency and intentional investment
06:15they want to see you know companies have equity policies they want more
06:20education in the workplace and then this blue line is black Americans who want to
06:25see impact happen in the workplace clear compensation structures you know
06:29investment in minority talent recruitment and talent and white majorities of
06:34employees also agree with that but I wanted to pause here and give Lauren a chance to
06:38talk about what are we seeing like what should we be thinking about yeah I mean
06:42I think it's so important to note some of the disparities because I think when
06:45someone is responding to a survey versus what they do in their workplace can
06:48sometimes be very different and I think when we think about solutions and what
06:52we're seeing that is working it is when organizations or brands or companies are
06:56focused on things like nuance and things like intersectionality and
07:00historical context and I think it's so important we're we're talking a lot right
07:04now about this compounding unearned privilege this concept of you know you
07:08get access to so much stuff just because of the color of your skin where you
07:12don't get access to so many things because of the color of your skin and so
07:15these institutions have this obligation to figure out that nuance and it's hard
07:19it is hard because there's so much complexity and and when we think about how
07:23people can thrive in the workplace when we think about how people can thrive in
07:26these spaces that they're spending most of their time in we have to think about the
07:30fact that equity means writing the wrongs of the past and what that looks like I
07:34mean we're seeing this play out literally as we speak with the Supreme
07:37Court decision on affirmative action we're seeing how historical context you
07:41know at best is being left out of some of these conversations and at worst we're
07:45repeating some of the same cycles so this idea of making sure that we're
07:48understanding the complexities of people's identities and humanity is so
07:52important the other thing is you know speaking of politics you know industries
07:56are not going to be able to shy away from conversations around things that are
08:00increasingly politicized I mean things like access to water or the fact that
08:03people should just be able to exist in their full humanity are up for debate
08:08which is incredibly disheartening we're still talking in terms of binary terms
08:12of man woman black white red or blue and and it's so much more dynamic than that
08:17and so brands organizations we do a lot of work with brands that have to cut
08:20through that noise have a stance that aligns with their values and is one
08:24that's defensible you know and sustainable and then lastly I absolutely I you know I
08:29use this slide to call out a couple of my friends are doing incredible work you'd
08:32mentioned in some of the data people are expecting these investments to still
08:36happen we're seeing left and right where you know diversity dollars are
08:40drying up CSR dollars are drying up and that absolutely cannot happen we have to
08:45keep investing in the learning people have to keep understanding how to remove
08:49that bias from their workplace or get out of the way frankly especially for a
08:53Gen Z and Millennials of future workers who are all saying they
08:56acknowledge systemic racism exists so there cannot be one without that exactly
09:01a hundred percent great so we'll get on to our next one the state of wealth
09:05equities the first thing to know here is that for all Americans it's been
09:10tougher and more challenging and more pressures financially now in the
09:16inflationary time that we are in then during the pandemic but it's
09:20especially hard for by pocket of black Americans and this green line that you
09:24see here is those who have sought additional income we see nearly half of
09:29BIPOC Americans have done that versus just 37% of white Americans but also this
09:34pink line is those who are feeling vulnerable right now who feel like
09:37they're gonna miss a bill payment or have missed a bill payment that's 37% of
09:41black Americans versus just 21% of white Americans and that's a that's a big 16%
09:48swing and then we also see those who support a financial family member which
09:53is something that is absolutely selfless but also challenging and more
09:58burdensome that BIPOC and black Americans are doing that at substantial
10:03levels more than white Americans but that's kind of the short term the long term is
10:08there is a desire to build generational wealth right in the black and Hispanic
10:13community 83% are thinking long-term about building generational wealth for
10:18their families 83% want to do it differently than their parents but heading
10:24you know they're facing financial advisors who don't relate to them who
10:29don't understand them and 62% say they cannot find a financial advisor that is
10:34relatable and can kind of give them that game plan to navigate the future so with
10:40that you see a big rise in BIPOC Americans especially looking into
10:45alternative investments like cryptocurrency and part of this is
10:49because the traditional banking system has treated them unfairly historically and
10:54for years but continuously to this day so this is recent data from this
10:58weekend that 44% of BIPOC Americans are are still unfairly treated by the
11:05banking institutions and loan institutions and that's why you see even
11:09despite a challenging cryptocurrency market they're much more likely to be
11:12invested in cryptocurrency black Hispanic and LGBTQ and they feel like they're
11:18more fairly treated and it's more of a legitimate form of payment than the white
11:23Americans perception of cryptocurrency the second to last point here is it's
11:29important because black and Hispanic people give back to their community and
11:34time and resources but important the number here is seventy six seventy six
11:38percent of black and Hispanic Americans go out of their way to support black
11:44owned and minority owned businesses only 44% of white Americans do that so
11:49there's a difference in aligning values and wallets here and what is
11:54allyship and accountability if you're not going out of your way to support black and
11:58Hispanic businesses the future hope here is both black and white Americans are
12:04looking to businesses this is a distinct change from November of 2022 and we looked
12:10at this information you see a rise and desire for businesses to step up and
12:15create positive impact in communities but where the positive impact is coming from
12:20is if you look at the data on the left on the right corporations are all the way at the
12:25bottom on the top is small businesses NGOs health entities education entities so I
12:32would like to pause there and give Lauren a chance to talk about that and why do
12:36we see that and what's going on yes I mean you know the first thing to kind of
12:39think about is the distinction between what's going on systemically and then
12:43what can we do kind of within our families within our homes within our
12:46communities and neighborhoods I think you're absolutely right at the
12:48systemic level you know no one sector is gonna save us first and foremost I
12:52just want to make that very clear I think there's a lot of effort in the
12:55nonprofit sector to solve all of our problems and the private sector
12:58sometimes get offs gets off scot-free and frankly I think we should be thinking
13:03about how do we hold these sectors accountable for a kind of commiserately
13:07to the harm that they have caused historically so financial institutions
13:10insurance institutions that literally built their wealth on the blacks of on the
13:14backs of black people through slavery like we have to be really honest about
13:17that and so I'm always I used to work in fintech and so I'm very critical of the
13:22financial services sorry for anyone in the audience who works in banking but we
13:26have to think about like where is what's going on to the systemic level on the
13:30interpersonal kind of community level I mean I'm so impressed what's going on in
13:34where people are putting their investments that people are investing in
13:37Main Street in the same ways that we were seeing the investments in Silicon
13:41Valley years prior we're seeing organizations like Lacey that are LA
13:46clean tech incubator that is like hyper focused on climate we see Slauson and
13:49company a hyper localized amazing group of investors that are really building the
13:54companies of tomorrow we're seeing LGBT VC that are hyper focusing on investing
13:58dollars in the communities that have never been who have you know woefully
14:01been under capitalized and black VC which are people trying to think about how to
14:05bring more black folks into venture capital and so when we think about you
14:10know capital deployment and what that means for business it's so important it's
14:13just as important as going into the store and paying for a product or service
14:17with your dollars and then lastly again I love shouting out all my friends you
14:22know when it comes to kind of wealth building I mean that's something me and
14:25my fiance think about constantly is like how are we building well for the next
14:29generation we are you know it happens on the family level I love this idea of
14:34like building an army of financial advisors black and brown financial
14:38advisors that are deeply steeped in the cultural relevancy of things like
14:42supporting family members and reaching back and what it means to be a part of the
14:46sandwich generation where you're taking care of your aging parents while also
14:49raising your your young kids at the same time and making your paycheck stretch as
14:53far as you can but I also think that in addition to the systemic barriers I think
14:58we there's a ton of tools at our disposal that I'm really excited about so
15:01thinking about from short and medium and long term you know how can we build
15:05wealth from things like insurance policies maxing out our 401ks understanding
15:09the tax code my my fiancee works for the IRS I know he's amazing I promise but
15:14really thinking about how do we actually leverage the tax code in our favor you
15:17know planning for exits and liquidity events at the startups that we're
15:21working with and the tax implications of all of that these are all things that
15:24we do have access to right now that we should be thinking about in terms of our
15:28wealth building and that's just a picture of my financial adviser Randall who
15:32is my my homie and there's many of him like that out in the world and
15:37there's a ton of amazing resources and organizations that are hell-bent on
15:41making sure that we're thinking about wealth building so contact Lauren for
15:45Randall's number let's blow up where Randall yes yes shout out to Randall the
15:51last one we have here is the state of health equities unfortunately a health
15:55care is a compounding tax of inequities so it hits your wallet it hits your just
16:02overall well-being and what we find is that 50% of BIPOC Americans not only say
16:07they've received poor quality health care in the last 12 months but they've
16:11also see received discrimination from medical community by their race or
16:17ethnicity and the other challenging part of this slide is that we see black
16:22Americans especially are losing access because of the inflationary times that
16:27we're in to health care you see 28% are unable to afford health care that's 12% more
16:35than white Americans and 22% are just unable to access it and they've lost
16:40access to it and that has obviously long-term implications for communities
16:44and health like lifestyles and health for years to come we did want to highlight
16:52that black women specifically report being gaslit at the doctor's office this is
16:56our data with the skin state of women report 60% of black women have been
17:01dismissed or misdiagnosed by a medical professional 56% say the doctor did not
17:06believe them when they told them what was happening and then you get 81% then
17:11saying I am my only advocate and I'm sitting on my own island which is not a
17:16place and that it's not a fair place for black women to reside when they're
17:19talking about their health care needs last thing here is the future of hope
17:24where BIPOC Americans much more likely than white Americans are reorientating their
17:28priorities and their sense of well-being so they're much more likely than white
17:33Americans for example to look at personal joy to take control of their
17:37life to look at their first financial wellness and literacy to build up their
17:41communities to do continued learning just all of the things that actually
17:45academics tell us that builds a resilient healthy life BIPOC Americans are
17:51doing they're also more likely to be selecting boundaries on their time and
17:56participating in rest culture can you talk to us about talk about the nap
18:01ministry all okay I just want to say how subversive and political us finding our
18:08rest is you know this is one of the sections that is absolutely a huge
18:12systemic problem doctors need to listen to us more I can't think of one black
18:16woman in my life who hasn't had who hasn't been gaslit at the doctor's office
18:19in one way shape or another including myself but we do this is a wonderful place to
18:24kind of honor and respect the people who are making these incredible safe spaces
18:28in the midst of all this systemic harm and trauma I love the nap ministry I'm a
18:32proud member whatever that means I think that means that I just take naps at 3
18:36o'clock every day therapy for black girls is how I found my amazing black
18:40woman therapist out in LA my sister found her doula through the National Black
18:44Doula Association I'm really excited for that and people are just reclaiming their
18:48space and time and they're doing so in a way that combats you know this constant
18:53kind of you know madness that's happening at the systemic level and then the last
18:57thing I'll also say is I'm so impressed by how folks are carving out spaces in
19:02spaces that have traditionally just been completely not accessible to us so I just
19:06came back from the south of France last week at the festival of creativity and
19:09black folks were everywhere because we've demanded that there be space there we
19:13brought an inkwell beach from Martha's Vineyard to can folks like broccoli city and
19:17black joy parade which are in unapologetically celebrating our culture
19:20celebrating our joy and making making a big deal about that and I think that's
19:25so important so this was a you know there's a there's a ton of work that
19:29still has to happen at the systemic level we're working with our health care
19:33organizations to help them understand why this is so important but I did
19:36wanted to celebrate folks who are you know making it happen in the midst of all
19:40of that absolutely and then we have just a couple seconds left with you when I
19:44tell you what are the actions that BIPOC Americans are doing
19:47distinctly over white Americans and that is they're teaching their children
19:51about systemic racism they're voting for BIPOC candidates or candidates with BIPOC
19:55interests and they're also not shopping with brands that do any disservice to
20:01them so we didn't want to leave just on that note we wanted to leave with one
20:04final thought of inspiration yes from the illustrious Angela Davis she says you
20:10have to act as if it were possible to radically transform the world and you have
20:13to do it all the time so that is our message to you and thank you so much for
20:17having us today thank you
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