 Good evening, I'm Mark up to Grove the president and CEO of the LBJ foundation Welcome to the fourth of six sessions on the path to racial equity As those of you who have attended previous Sessions know the concept for this series came when Leslie Wingow the president CEO of Sanders Wingow and I met about a year ago Our friendship began as we talked about the issue of racial equity Those conversations developed into further discussions around ways that we could all engage the community In working to create positive change for greater equality We found ourselves asking what practical simple steps Can we all take toward greater racial understanding and equality? But we certainly didn't have all the answers. We knew people and organizations who did and that led to the path to racial equity an Unprecedented partnership of over 20 lot local nonprofit organizations Exploring different aspects of racial equity Leslie and I are grateful to our partners for coming together to make this happen We're also grateful to tonight's guests Tam Hawkins the president and CEO of the Greater Austin Black Chamber of Commerce and our moderator Renee Lafair The regional director of the Anti-Defamation League in Austin You'll be in very good hands as they explore Economic equity what we can all do to bridge the wealth gap and create long-term Opportunity for people of color. So now without further ado, it is my great honor to introduce Tam Hawkins and Renee Lafair Hello My name is Renee Lafair and I'm the regional director of ADL Austin Tonight I am thrilled to speak with Tam Hawkins Tam is the CEO of the Greater Austin Black Chamber of Commerce Thank you, Tam. I'm excited to be here with you to hear your wisdom and thoughts During our discussion today. We are going to talk about three ways that we can all work towards economic justice Economic justice is such a huge issue. It encompasses redlining Education job training decriminalization. It threads itself across all sectors First Tam, can you explain what economic justice means and how we got where we are today? Oh, Renee, I I wish I had the magic crystal ball to go back in time I often think about this and and wonder How did all of this happen? But I can give you my point of view from where I sit as the CEO of the Austin Black Chamber of Commerce Economic justice is making certain that opportunities economically are Open all it's basically making certain that things are fair and that everybody regardless of their skin color have access to Intergenerational wealth have access to things that that not that aren't even that lofty But things that are just simple as you know affordable housing Making certain that all all communities in particular communities of colors that have have not seen their fair share of equity and and the economic dream that's the American dream So for me like as I've been kind of studying this issue over the last few years I guess you could say that my aha moment was understanding redlining and understanding that people Could not get mortgages and how do you build wealth if you don't have the opportunity to buy a home and Further like the GI bill the GI bill was supposed to help people buy homes But a lot of banks wouldn't lend to people of color and or there were covenants against it in certain neighborhoods So what happens over generations? How does that lead to where we are right now? so I think we even need to go back a little bit more right because we you think of the The average african-american in this country that has roots in this country Most likely has some history with slavery their family now not everybody but the majority So you compact that with not being able to create wealth for generations for hundreds of years and then you move on to different legislation like Jim Crow and then you get into redlining and and other laws that Even currently prevent and I don't I guess I misspoke there. It was not laws, but other systems that continue to perpetuate a compounded Economic instability and so I believe that The effect is that you can't Have the funds that you need to start a new business You don't have the funds to send your your children to college or you don't have the ability to have some of their Freedoms that others might take for granted and rightfully so like everyone deserves that Part of that dream again So why why is this so hard to change? I mean like you're CEO of the chamber I mean so for example in your world of black-owned businesses, right? What is it that makes black? What are the what are the specific differences that you see in black-owned businesses versus other businesses, you know Are there specific challenges? So I think one that we all think of America as a meritocracy So we all like we all believe in it that you pull yourself up by your bootstraps The strongest survive and and to some degree some of that is accurate, right? But then when you have systems that we all Inherited quite frankly, so nobody really is necessarily responsible for the creation of the systems that we live in But we're all responsible for dismantling some of the injustice, right? So black businesses are less likely to have The same access to capital when they're funded so they're already from the gate 20 to 30 percent Sometimes even greater than that and not funded at the same level given that their expertise their credit All of their things are the same They just automatically don't receive the same funding and then they don't have the access to capital in terms of like VC capital or different other Fundings black women are point two percent funded by VC money and and that you know Point two point two percent point two. Yeah. Yeah, and and women in general And that's a whole nother topic and a whole nother series for Leslie and Mark to tackle and so But there's so many different things and nuances that have come to play over generations and I think it's that Having honest conversations like this in the series making certain that That we are able to talk about it We're comfortable with being uncomfortable and acknowledging that those differences actually exist and they're not made up. They're not a figment of somebody's imagination or a certain ethnic group just not being able to tow the line They're they're real adversity adversities that are at play So it what is like what is the I know this time We're going to make three particular suggestions of what people can do to kind of help with this whole world of securing economic justice What is the first suggestion of specific actionable ideas of what people can do to move towards economic justice? I love the practicality of this, right? So we all get overwhelmed economic justice sounds scary and what does that mean and we don't quite know But what we do know that for instance if you live in a city that has 6% Black residents and you'd like to see more black residents You do know that your personal spending habits might contribute to helping more black businesses stay there thereby more black Citizens and residents and your neighbors. So then you're able to make certain that If that is part of your value system, right that you're able to assist in that manner and so Go ahead. No, so like what is the best way for people to find businesses to support? So our organization does Has a healthy number of businesses in the area. There are a few others that do well as well It's austin bcc.org. That's austin bcc.org and they can go on there and find a list of businesses We also supply Certain news outlets and basically anyone who asks, you know, hey, can you send us a list of and we curate lists That have mental health care providers was big early on in the pandemic. We knew that there was a need we also knew that Entrepreneurs may not have that cash their cash flow might have stopped because everyone was hurting like we all were right And so we also put our vendors and mental health care providers in touch With the city because we knew that they had funding to make certain That people had access to get mental health care during the pandemic and crisis Okay, um, so what about what about your corporate dollars? You know that to me is number two For those people who control corporate dollars, whether that's you hire a lawyer for your business Or you hire an accountant or you're buying pencils, you know How can you what do you what's the best way for businesses to find more vendors? So it's back to that intentionality. What do you want? What what's your value system? What how do you want to assist? It's not good enough to have a black screen in your facebook page or What not that's that's simple. That's easy um Looking at where are you spending your money being honest about that looking at your supplier to the supplier diversity lists Um, have you what's your program like when you know, you have a cafeteria and you're staffing the Eliminate have you considered looking at other vendors? And so what I tell people the easiest way to go about that is Make certain that there's intentionality Create those lists go to an organization like mine go to other organizations. You have to be proactive You can't sit by and just think it's going to happen You have to look at it what I people have learned over time that for instance buying blood diamonds is not appropriate They've learned and they they acknowledge that they they don't want that or child labor for instance like you don't want to support a company that supports Uh children working and in pools and just not going to school I I think now the next iteration of this discussion is How do you support in dismantle systems that are just not just are fair So I was thinking about this so for example the people I know who are in business They have long-standing relationships with law firms with their vendors I mean if people aren't willing to change How do you go about and you say to that business? You know, um, we I've been customer for a long time. What are you doing about to bring diversity into your workforce or into your vendor? I mean, how do you how do you say that to a business? Like so you're that you're a customer already Yeah, there's a there's some great examples in austin of some companies that are already doing that So instead of putting their uh, their their black and I keep going back to the black Screen because that was just such an interesting thing to me And I I had a company in particular reach out to me that said, you know, tim We don't really know if the black square is What we need to do we want to wait a moment and and find out what we what we can do So one of their things was When they go into business with people or as they are in the process of business with them They have a a diversity statement and it's a series of questions that they kind of asked them like tell us about this tell us Um, how many what's your diversity hiring practice? Do you have a diversity statement and they just went down? I think it was about 15 questions asking them This was before but you are of course talking about while you're already in the relationship. I just think you know Candor's king I I'm looking to make certain that I influence My spending in this manner Help me understand whatever the practice is your hiring practice Help me understand that and and we are looking for people that are responsible in this area as well That's right. This is important to me. I'm your customer. We have a long-term relationship And I just want you to be aware that this is important to me. Absolutely. Um Okay, so the next thing that you and I talked about earlier was the third thing that we wanted to kind of cover was You know being intentional on how you spend your charitable dollars Um and asking people to really kind of pay attention to that um And the reason that I find this so interesting is I was in a meeting about a year ago Where dr. Leonard Moore who's like the vp of community engagement and a professor of history at ut Explained that there is this thought that white people will give to white charities that help communities of color But not black charities that help communities of color. Can you comment on that? I can sadly so I can there is a disparity in funding As in our businesses. There's also disparity in funding in our nonprofits Um, we are often asked to create the same amount of deliverables um as other organizations doing similar work or I'm sorry different amount of deliverables for other organizations that are doing similar work and they are um granted more Money in that same amount of scope of work and I said that clumsily basically that When we are executing an amount of uh Restricted funds basically right so those are funds Because I realized that I was using jargon a moment ago Those are funds that are attached to deliverables. You have to do certain things to to get those Some organizations don't have any restrictions. They're just able to to get money and no one asked them any questions No one says we need you to do xyz. So I've been trying to I've been on this personal mission mission trying to make certain that um Companies are understanding that when they give in that manner. They're creating disparity you it's that that's not redlining That's not 50 years ago. This is right now today when you don't give equitably Or you don't believe in the mission for uh nonprofits that are run by black leaders That they're capable because that's that's really what you're saying Even if you don't intend to you're really seeing that somehow we don't value the work that you do the same as some others Um, I I just found that whole concept really actually kind of astounding like for me. I always question, you know I happen to think that houston tiltson and austin is just an amazing place and every you know And everyone is giving to ut but I you know, I wonder, you know I want more people to be thinking about more broadly for the community also houston tiltson And you know, how do people think like when they're giving? You know, if i'm going to give to ut I should also think about other universities that are serving different populations Oh, absolutely other universities other non-profits just really thinking about and in my family what we do is a cycle of our charity charitable giving so we'll have a couple of Of organizations that we decide to donate money to at the top of the year And that's what we do for that year and then we cycle a different So we make certain that we even in my home that we're being diverse and intentional about our giving Got it. Um Tell me about like black black charities Are they like black businesses and that they have unique challenges? Oh, yeah, uh, absolutely again It's it would start with the way that we're funded Initially we're underfunded when we when we start we're we're continuously cash strapped. Um, Again, I I don't know It sounds odd to say because I know how hard and I know there's some amazing Uh black charities and charities run by black leaders, but the um The reality is I can only I don't know why would you not fund them the same? Like why would you go in thinking that I shouldn't fund this like what what is that thought process? How do you come to that conclusion that you should give like my chamber less than you would give another chamber and so and and then on top of that expect my chamber to Do a lot more work for for less money. So, um, I think there's a lot of opportunity there for people to understand that Um and a lot of opportunity for growth So what happened in in your world like to donations and memberships after george floyd Was there a before and an after and I mean there's also I mean There's so much mixed up in this because you also of course had covet So it's trying hard to kind of separate this but the before and the after george floyd world I'm really interested in I call it the perfect storm Interestingly enough our small business membership Uh increased our membership increased businesses understood their their need to To engage your black chamber. They knew that we've been fighting for them for 40 decades I I mean, I'm sorry four decades 40 years and so um So that happened our corporate giving however went down it decreased and we were kind of stunned by that And what we figured out and what we were hearing is that they were forming new partnerships with You know brand new organizations, so we weren't the we weren't the new shiny toy and I was experiencing I was hearing that experience from some other organizations that had been doing this work for a long time and so um I like it when we have corporate Advocates that are inside that know the work that we do and that can say to their higher ups that and not just us But other organizations that they have been doing this work for a long time We've never fully funded them And then the aha moment goes up to their their leaders that like oh, we really haven't you're right And so and that's that's been very helpful Um Okay, so if if there were so now we we've come up with our three things our three things are be intentional in your personal spending Be intentional in your corporate spending both in terms of what you spend And if you can't change who you spend with how you talk to them And then the third thing is in your charitable giving to give to organizations that are run both by people of color And that work on equity and sometimes a combination of the of both If there are one or two things that you want people to take away about economic injustice Or what would that be? But what what do you think about? I think that People have more power than they realize I think more power to shape the future that they wish for their children to inherit um I think that starts with looking around you to understand that things might not Might not appear as Having fresh eyes. I think that unfortunately cove at 19 happened Uh, but we get to look at things differently. We don't have to return exactly to the same way things always have have been We can we can approach things differently and understand that everybody did not start off At the same line, right? We all didn't start off the same line. And some of us have had huge hurdles to to overcome so and kind of like my journey um My journey in understanding all of this and I've always talked about how george floyd kind of cracked the door open for a lot of people You know who were who that was their aha moment I mean, I've had aha moments and then and I think people for are are much more willing to look at this and And this is kind of a painful process for a lot of people, right? And in the way that I I explain this to some of them as I I'll say to them, you know, this country has made great strides But often they come after periods of great reflection and introspection And we are possibly probably going through one of those times right now where we will end up better on the other side So what does the other side look like? How is it different than it is now? So I wholeheartedly agree with you. I think we're we're experiencing growing pains, right? and so We have to be vigilant though, right because in the in that experience We can see some some rollback and and history has taught us that that does occur I the other side to me looks like We are able to see some economic parity We're able to not have this looming before the the pandemic. We had this looming figure that by 2050 that black wealth Would be net zero in this country net zero renae like how is that even possible? and so It looks like that number is so wrong is what it looks like And do you think we'll be able to tell by data? I mean, is that what is is that what it's going to be? I mean, is it going to be that that people talk have the same talks with their kids about what it's like to grow up? No matter your coat. I mean, what is what is that? Are those the metrics that we're going to be looking at? Oh, absolutely. We'll see that when we see the the black consumer Spin rival The black revenue generation will be talking about that more net people will know we will know about asset poverty And we'll see those numbers decrease right and so And people will I think as we evolve will become more aware of that and understanding how to to make things more fair and uh make certain that Our kids are saying well What was it like when that was this way and so I'm hopeful. I'm very helpful And have you seen like the the over the last four decades? What progress have you seen? I mean and you know The things that you're fighting for I mean The thing that I've taken away from all of my studies is it just feels like everything is harder when you know, if you if you can't get loans And and you know resumes are looked at differently depending on your name or you know and Depending on your neighborhood, you know property values and all of those kinds all of those kinds of things Have have you noticed subtle changes even since june since george void? I have I've I've I've noticed A more willingness to admit that things aren't always fair I mean just starting with that basic premise, you know, and and I by that same token I have seen pushback that things are fair everything's fine, but I'm hopeful that more people are able Uh, I think it's because we're all at home together, right? We're all everybody's at home So We're able to focus on it like maybe we got it wrong And so and um or maybe I've never even thought about it to get it wrong in the first place But now I'm focused on it now. I can ask some questions and kind of kind of poke around um So if if you were me like what would you like me? To be doing or my you know, you know like when I I perp for me I work on I like have a gazillion conversations. I ask a lot of questions as I'm sure you've learned And being intentional with all of these things Is there anything One more step that I could be taking, you know after all of these things So I think we talked about personal spin But we didn't talk about how we teach our children to do that And I think that our children You know are just so amazing and they just and even now with a lot of the the division I still see them as very different than us that the it's like the adults are having the crazy conversation and the kids are like What are they talking about? I have no idea. Let's go play on our video game. And so um I think teaching them to make certain that they're intentional about their spending habits I I think is key as well And now it is time for our question and answer session. Thank you guys all for letting us have that time where we um We did the we redid the taping And so now i'm going to go ahead and move on to questions Um for people who are not leading businesses but work in them. How do we advance economic justice? Can you repeat the um, okay, so for those people who are working in businesses that they're not the owners But uh, you know the team members, how do they advance economic justice? So what oftentimes are the small things? Uh that you can start with change. So The the office birthday party. Where'd you buy your cake from? You know, so austinites love to buy locally, right? So pen dig a little deeper How many bake bakers that you know that are black or and find a list and ask around and again It does require effort. It is these businesses have not gotten a lot of press They don't have the money to be right in front of your uh, your screen when you're doing the search So it's you you have to dig a little and you can go to um um Our website you can go to other places you can type in a google by the way great corporate uh, uh citizenship here They are putting uh flags if you're a black business they tag it. So it's even easier now And so um, there there's so many wonderful tools now Okay, so this question is is a little I'm gonna see if I can get this can you speak to the parallel work of proactively supporting black businesses and communities And the work of white people recognizing and working through how white privilege and systemic racism has benefited them so so how I interpret that question is that the the work has to be done simultaneously and um Having people in power quite frankly is to me how I interpret that question come to the conclusion that they also have to be honest And make certain that they are are doing their part because Again, I I maintain that none of us created these systems like we we inherited them, but we all are responsible for changing them So yeah, that's something that um, I always when I was talking to you about this earlier how people This is a very uncomfortable place for a lot of people But you end up better on the other side. It's just having to work through it. It's um It's similar to your parents making you eat your vegetables like you don't want to do that But it tastes gross, but you know that it's better for your health long term. Yes. I would completely agree with that Okay, so this is actually an interesting one The percentage of people of color in austin has dropped dramatically. How does that affect what happens in austin? Well, it depends on from which perspective what I say is similar to the affordability question for austin and for other cities that have gone You know the way of the sword with this Is that really the city that you want to live in where the black population continues to dwindle the the cultural aspect that we provide to it that just diversity in general like is I I believe clearly that diversity is a good thing and so making certain that um That this wonderful city that we've all come to know in love is enjoyed by uh by black people quite frankly and that they understand that there's Great opportunity for uh growth and and businesses. Of course, I'm going to default to that because that's uh, that's what I focus on um Okay, so austin city council has specific targets for women-owned minority-owned businesses They give contracts to but do you think their targets are aggressive enough? Do you think by combining women-owned and minority-owned company deludes the impact for both groups? That's a tough question. I think that um I think we We have some of the same challenges, but we're very different, right? and so I I think there could be opportunity to um Expand some of the work for each group, of course So um, okay So what sources should I look at to see the data about the ability for black people to get a loan property values being lower Resumes being looked at differently access to capital. What are like the best sources? I mean Well, you can go to fred you can go to the us census you can go the economic census you there So if you want to know I was watching uh blackish This week and he's saying this song about uh, you can google it, you know, so um, and I I I hope google's listening and so I am they are there's There's so many um avenues that you can use there's so many resources You can go to our website probably has some statistical data We do presentations on it There's so much information on it. There really is I mean today I was on the brookin institute site and there they talked about how the average white family has 10 times the wealth of the average black family I mean if you just type in any of those things You will get valid sources for the differences and the data disparities Um, um, so I I encourage I encourage curiosity. I mean I think Here that that's what's happened is the more curious I have become about this the more my jaw drops That's that's kind of like this process that you go through and then you kind of go through in acceptance Um, I have the opposite effect brunet like sometimes I'm like crying in my hands just like oh my work is just so hard Like what do I do? And then I remember I'm very privileged and Blessed to do this work right like I'm blessed. So it's uh, and we're having this conversation and I think about the Collaboration that happened to make these the series the series occur And and that's amazing. That is what's different. That's what I've noticed Rene, you asked me about that earlier You've noticed in terms of the community coming together to put on a series like this and to work collectively Correct. And then like give people practicality Dismantling racism is scary, right? What does that mean? What does that look like? But you do know how to tell your kids to Let's go by you know from this baker And it's not even the kids don't even recognize what you're doing and or whatever I mean, so that you do know how to do that. You do know how to look at who are you giving to You you do know how to do that Yeah, yes Okay, do do black owned businesses in surrounding counties belong to the austin black chamber or do they have a local chapter? What is the best way in small communities to find out who our black owned businesses are? So we have a five county reach. So, um, we are the second largest chamber Black chamber in texas And that's so funny to me because we have such a small black population But we we happen to be the the second largest uh chamber in texas black chamber in texas So we welcome you find out about us. We we have the five county that's travis Hayes collwell williamson and bernard Got it. And why why do you have the second largest even though we have so much of a smaller black community in austin? So i'm i'm trying to think of the answer where we don't sound braggadocious, right? Um, so You're just so good No, I think it's that uh the community supports for one. I also think that We have the benefit of having the tech community here And I think austin is just prosperous in general and entrepreneurs even our black entrepreneurs in the retail trade sectors We out earn Others in different larger cities and markets three to one So um, yeah, so there is good news too, right, but it's just not moving fast enough and there's still such huge disparity Yes, and Okay, so what are the challenges the hispanic community faces with regard to economic justice and are they different? um, I I don't Suppose to speak for the hispanic community. I will tell you what my my idea of that is I they have similar challenges to us We often work quite frankly with the uh the hispanic chamber here locally We have a really great working relationship because we do have some of the similar challenges. They have access to capital issues They they experience racism And economic racism and so those are some I hope I answered that as best I could They experienced some of the same challenges that we do Okay, so this is an actually pretty interesting question because this talks about not just like businesses, but but workers, right? How should we approach the matter of tech giants such as amazon who may employ a diverse workforce on one hand? But then exploit communities of color on the other I'm thinking of why these organizations squeeze out local business competition and stifle wage growth Wow, that is a that's an entire like hour-long Other series. Yeah, great question. I I think it's just back to the corporate social responsibility and just I mean I see corporations as as well and legally they're uh declared as human beings, right and so they have the rights of humans and so um Just making certain that you hold their feet to the fire And and keeping them honest and I think most people and I also believe most corporations actually do want to do the right thing Some of them are lost on just how And not everybody some people do not I mean, that's true, but I don't tend to to focus on that What is the group? I know your kind of sphere is business. What is the group you most worry about in your community? Uh, can you in what terms is my community specifically or an outside group in the damage that they could cause to my community? No, no, no, I'm more thinking about um in terms of like economic justice Who are I mean we're speaking about black about about black business, but I'm talking about more You know other other other areas um In terms of like wage growth or in terms of things like that What what areas do you see are that concern you or that you'd like to see more growth in? I mean, I probably 50 but there's a lot. Um, I my first one. I have two My first one would be uh health disparities. I I want that just severely worked on um And there's some wonderful groups here in town that are doing some excellent work and the the pandemic highlighted How grave those disparities which a lot of us that are already doing this work already knew um That's my first one. My second one would be an education uh, and uh injustice for for our youth in particular and I and I Warmed my way to talk about it in the video of the the baby this week that went viral. Um, the nine-year-old who was handcuffed and pepper spray and my mind just keeps in part of it because I have an eight-year-old And so and I just can't imagine having a child be um in that so I would love to see attainment And and and not even when I say that I don't really like it because that puts it on us on the children And I don't think it's the children is the systems. So and making certain that the systems uh Educate them properly and address their needs Got it. So, um So it's again, it's back to that theme that everything is involved health Education, you know, all of these issues end up feeding the economic justice the issues of economic justice Absolutely. Um, what do you think austin does well as a city and what can it improve on? um, I love these questions and so um I think austin has a at the end of the day. I really do believe austin has a good heart I believe that You know, we are a city that could have an a task force on institutional racism like talk about a small task To to to handle um, we also Get to come together and have conversations like this for a cross sector of people, right? So I think that that's the part that we do really well I think some of what we could work on is making People feel welcomed by that same token that we I think sometimes we do this kind of do do-gooder And we pat ourselves on the back and then we forgot um um That there's another side and I'll give you Uh an example, please that would be black black lives matter signs in my in my neighborhood And I make jokes to myself that black lives matter as long as i'm not your neighbor walking in the street and you forget to wave at me And so as I wave back so Do they matter or you know, so? um Make certain that we're not invisible that we're not we're here and you know, uh I have another tiny story with an example. I uh sweet lady sweet lady was um at a birthday party and and our kids go to school and There were a group of black moms that were over here and then she came and she was the only white mom And she stayed over playing with her kids and I thought well come come over like we you know Just and she didn't know some of the black moms, but she knew two of the black moms So I should have done a better job myself of making certain that she was welcome and it's okay And so um just making people feel welcome. Okay next another small topic. You ready? Okay Okay, what can we do to address affordable housing for people of color? So there's another series another series another series, but I can do land trust A great way to look at it. Um We also can and recently uh, and I spoke about the collaboration and partnership that I have with some of my other colleagues We've been talking about In the recruiting cycle back to that corporate citizenship. What are how are we helping companies that come here understand? Their responsibility to to helping us maintain an affordable housing Option and so I think there there are some things that can be done there Got it. Got it. Um, okay Where do you see the future? What what do you see the future is for african americans and austin and in what way can leaders attract More to feel comfortable and move to and live in austin Oh, I say it starts with recruiting I I remember a tech partner that said well, we just can't find black engineers And I was like, well, are you recruiting at prairie view and they were like well No, and I was like it's right down the street and you know about I don't know It's a high percentage. I won't I won't quote it because I don't know anymore But a high percentage of black engineers come from prairie view So you've got to go over there if you want that so that's one thing It starts with recruiting the other thing is Making certain that they're they're hiring Black people and then the the biggest thing I have and I know it sounds so small. It's the welcome factor I hear from black professionals and leaders when they move here. They do not feel Welcomeed they they feel isolated and so how do we how do we change that as a city? I mean, how do you do that? I think it starts with individuals I think it's when you know, you know, you knock on your neighbor. You knock on your neighbor's door Yeah, you knock on your neighbor's door. Hi. Welcome. Welcome to austin. I think it's when you see You make an effort to say hello and and get to to know people so um Okay, what are some projects that the black chamber is working on and how can we be involved? That's like that that is a softball We are currently working on a few accelerators one that I'm super excited about is our uh, and I've I've been seeing a little bit of the chat I can't focus on it, but I will see it pop up and I I didn't realize how much I speak in acronyms But a cpg accelerator and that's consumer packaged goods accelerator. So again, we we found in our research that the The black consumer spend is exorbitantly high As opposed to the revenue generation in the in those goods So we want to make certain that we equip companies with the ability to scale up. I'm so excited about this so that's one we are um In the process right now of finishing our planning on our black elected officials event that we've done for like 15 years And I love that event because we aim to make certain that people have access to their elected officials And so and that they get to know them and see and kind of and that's one of my favorite events And that's grown over years, but we're in covet times and it's a little different my other event that we do Is taste of black Austin which is so much fun and it's multicultural and it's these wonderful chefs and people did not know that we had as many chefs providing high And cuisine here in Austin. They were like kind of these hidden figures amongst us and And one that i'm particularly proud of is over at emmer and rye Tavo is just just amazing food And so in beautiful atmosphere, you know when we are all able to to dine inside again or feel comfortable at least so Those are the things that excite me right now for us and and we're really going to focus on women I I am obsessed. I told renee earlier. I am obsessed with what's happening to women in terms of The retreat from from the working world in business because of covet 19 and the effect that has had on them And our last recession we saw as really gain and I really want to see if we can fight some of the damage that might That's being done and making certain that we can help those women kind of Keep their businesses Scale their businesses up like how can we help them really grow and provide for their families? Okay, um next How can austin resist the racial bias and injustice in the financial credit system, especially around housing and life needs? Wow, that is that's a tiny that's a series. Yeah. Yeah, there all are like no easy questions here Um, and but I love it. I really do because that means we're all thinking right and we're all working on it um I one of the things that's disturbing is about the values of a black person's home when it's Even next door too in a white neighborhood and when they go to sell their home We all know that we've got to eradicate every trace of you being black When you're showing your house when you're listing So I just think it's a mind shift is one thing I think also Institutions holding them accountable again Making certain that they are are adhering to the law and the fear lending practices that so the laws exist But it's a are you turning a blind eye and are you accident or accidentally? Having practices and policies in place that will continue to perpetuate that disparity Okay, ha I'm gonna just I want to go back to one thing you just said so when people sell their house What does it mean eradicate all? All way Oh all your photo and you do that anyway, right? But when you're black, you know to hide like perhaps your haircare products, you know You hide everything to make certain that the buyers do not know That you're black because they will not pay the same value for your house as they would and that's been proven Oh, yeah, that's also proven that it's also there was an expose that just recently was done You can google that and you can find Figures in the study in the research and I and if I had the name of the research I I would Call it off, but it is easy to find this This is the thing that I'm talking about It's those little things that keep adding up and adding up and adding up, you know And if when people get loans the loans are more expensive and then when you go to sell your house You have to hide yourself You know so that you don't get a lower price I mean, it's just it's just Um, it's exhausting. It's exhausting. It's exhausting. It's exhausting Okay, we have one more and then I think we're done. Okay, so we're gonna minute what groups are helping um With health disparities, I would love to get involved. That's what that's what um So there there is a brand new group, uh dawa that's one of my my heart Strings and what they do Oh, I'm sorry. It's d a w a again with now and I can't remember the exact what dawa means but um They help uh in particular black artist with mental health care and Immediate assistance for their their needs like if their light bill is being turned off or whatever and I think right now A lot of people have seen some reprieve But they help them with immediate needs and access That that's one. Um, I'm thinking of the black mama's collective and I believe they might have changed her name um, but uh, they and if even if you google black mama's collective, they'll the the new name will come up Uh, they are one that I like Uh, it's not necessarily health related But the work that meme styles is doing would measure austin. She goes. Yeah, it's amazing And so she talks about the adultification of little girls black girls So to me that still is tied to what I'm talking about because my second part was what's going on with the children in the education So that that is one. Um There's so many. Um, I'm trying to think Who else That does incredible work. We have a list of some of our partners again on our website And if it's not exhaustive, I'll make certain by uh next week that we have more That are there so people can make certain that they're able to um to find the things that they need and then if People want to email us also we can certainly List us send over a list of recommendations Okay Well, thank you tam. I I always find your insights to be incredibly illuminating and helpful And I want to thank everyone for joining us in these important discussions And thank our supporters the incredible team at sanders wingo the lbj foundation and their incredible staff and austin pbs I also want to thank our community partners of which there are too many to list but be sure to look um Now you know the saying that the youth are our future Join us next week at the same time for a conversation about the future about how the next generation is fighting for racial justice And what we can all learn from listening to the voices of the young Our guests and moderator are all from creative action The guests are don bernside the senior director of racial equity social justice And social justice natalie good now school based director And students louisa najar and mickey johnson. They will be interviewed by karen lachelle. Who's the executive director? Thank you all and have a nice evening Thank you