BBE COMMISSION AGREES WITH THE
2019 BLACK CENSUS PROJECT WHEN
IT SAID: THE CHALLENGES FACING
BLACK COMMUNITIES ARE COMPLEX, AND THE SOLUTIONS TO THE CHALLENGES REQUIRE INNOVATION, EXPERIMENTATION, AND BLACK POLITICAL POWER.
BBEC seeks to bring elected officials and community leaders across America to the table to address legislation, policies, capital budgets, and structural roadblocks that prevent the Black community in general and Black-owned businesses and organizations in particular from obtaining substantive contracts and funding at the federal level and, by way of local planning committees, at the State and City levels. We intend to arm elected officials and leaders with a strategic action plan and reparative measures for rapidly repositioning the Black community for positive economic growth and development.
Black communities have a fairly common set of concerns. Politicians have repeatedly failed to address them.
The Black Census shows that the Black electorate wants policies that improve our lives, not pandering photo-ops at Black institutions and churches. The Black community can assist BBEC with its efforts by holding elected officials accountable for their action and inaction relative to the economic health of the Black community.
FACT: U.S. POPULATION - WHITE 60.4%; HISPANIC/LATINO 18.3%; BLACK 13.4%; ASIAN 5.9%; AMERICAN INDIAN/ALASKA NATIVE 1.3%; HAWAIIAN/PACIFIC ISLANDER .2%; SOURCE-U.S. CENSUS BUREAU.
FACT: REGISTERED VOTERS AS A
SHARE OF THE VOTING POPULATION
PER ETHNIC GROUP - WHITE 71%; BLACK 63.7%; ASIAN 54.2%; HISPANIC/LATINO 53.7%. SOURCE - KFF.ORG.
FACT: THE PRESIDENT, 32 CONGRESSIONAL SEATS, AND VARIOUS MUNICIPAL AND STATE OFFICES WILL BE ON THE ELECTION BALLOT IN NOVEMBER 2020. BLACK PEOPLE MUST NEGOTIATE THE TERMS FOR DELIVERY OF THE BLACK VOTE.
NO MORE EXCUSES AND TALK ABOUT THE DATA—BBEC DEMANDS ACTION NOW!
COUNTDOWN TO THE 2020 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
=
SMALL BUSINESS
MINORITY
MWBE
DBE
DIVERSITY
BLACK
BLACK
BLACK
BLACK
BLACK
BLACK
BLACK
FEDERAL CANDIDATES
-
Are you familiar with H.R. 40, the Reparations bill that calls for a commission to study the case for reparations that has been sitting in the US Congress since 1989?
-
Will you push the House Judiciary Committee Chairperson and Speaker of the House to move the bill from committee to the floor for a full vote?
-
Will you vote in favor of H.R. 40 when it comes to the floor for a full vote?
-
According to the latest U.S. Business Census, there are 2.6 million Black-owned businesses in America. More than 95% of these businesses are mostly sole proprietorship or partnerships which have no paid employees. What would you do as an elected official to increase opportunities for substantve contracts for these businesses so that they can grow? Secondly, are you willing to sponsor legislation or develop policies to provide capital funding in the form of grants for business development as a reparative remedy for past ddiscrimination against Black entrepreneurs?
-
In NYC’s affordable real estate market, a prescribed number of units are typically set- aside for neighborhood residents to mitigate displacement and gentrification. Would you support a similar set-aside for Black businesses and workforce that includes prime, sub-contractor and supply chain contracts whenever federal dollars are used to develop or enhance real estate or to incentivize business development?
-
The Black community has been harmed since it arrived on the shores of America. The prison industrial complex along with the improper and some might say, illegal surveillance of Black people has had a devastating effect on the Black community. Would you support remedy in the form of, but not limited to, Cybersecurity workforce development grants designated for locally based entities that have historically served the Black community’s need for workforce development?
ALL CANDIDATES
-
What effect, if any, do you have on business creation as a public official?
-
How have you used your position as an elected official to create businesses in general and Black-owned businesses in particular?
-
History tells us that MWBE programs across America were initially designed to remedy discrimination against America’s non-white population in general and its Black non-immigrant population in particular. White women were subsequently added to the designation. Today, the most recent data from the US Small Business Administration shows that the Black diaspora and particularly, the Black non-immigrant business community lags way behind the economic advancement of white women and other non-whites. What legislative, policy or contract set aside remedies have you put forth to remedy this disparity? If none, are you prepared to work with the historically harmed Black community to craft legislative, policy or contract set aside remedies to address the disparity?
-
Access to capital is crucial to Black people’s ability to create and sustain profitable businesses that will lead to wealth creation. While there are several programs designed to provide capital to America’s micro and small businesses, for many reasons Black businesses have not benefited in a measurable way. Would you support Black Business Empowerment Zones that have capital funds at their core that are managed by locally based entities that have historically served the Black community’s capital needs?
-
Will you propose marijuana legislation that contains Economic Restorative Justice provisions crafted with the single goal of repairing the damage marijuana prohibition and biased policing has inflicted on those most harmed, and is written to ensure that those most harmed will be first and only to market for a period of not less than 5 years?
ASK QUESTIONS
BECOME AN INFORMED VOTER
