The latest from Prosperity Now and the racial economic justice field.
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Dear John,
It's August! The month of back-to-school rituals, college send-offs, and the last of summer vacations. It is also National Black Business Month--established in 2004—to celebrate the resilience of Black businesses and to issue a call to action to address the challenges Black business owners face in starting, growing and scaling their businesses. Almost 20 years later, our new research brief, The Black Business Owner Experience: A Closer Look at Small Business Financing, reminds us of just how important it is to keep the strengths and needs of Black business owners central in our collective work. It highlights the barriers Black business owners face in accessing capital and the alternative pathways to funding they must take to ensure the survival and success of their businesses.
As we move through the last days of August, we ask that you join us in our call and efforts to create an inclusive business ecosystem, one where Black entrepreneurs have the opportunity and resources to sustain and scale their businesses and build wealth.
This month’s newsletter dives into more of what Prosperity Now and our Community have been working on for National Black Business Month, as well as how we’re improving job quality for BIPOC communities, confronting the lack of affordable housing, and continuing to support families through state and local policies. We’re glad to have you by our side so that together, we can make an economy that works for all of us.
In Solidarity,
Cherie Collins Sims, PhD
Interim President and CEO
Prosperity Now
Exploring the Challenges Black Entrepreneurs of Different Backgrounds Face
To truly understand the challenges faced by Black entrepreneurs today, we must first examine the historical context in which our businesses operate. For centuries, Black individuals and communities have been subjected to systemic racism and discrimination, which has had a profound impact on their ability to thrive economically. From slavery to Jim Crow laws to redlining, Black entrepreneurs have faced numerous obstacles that have limited their access to resources and opportunities whether they are descendants of slavery or not.
Unpacking the Black Business Owner Experience Through Data
Our newest brief sheds light on the financial status, challenges, and funding experiences of Black-owned small businesses. Findings include:
- Black-owned small businesses tend to be worse off financially than White-owned small businesses
- Black-owned small businesses are more likely to experience challenges with loans and credit than White-owned small businesses.
- Black-owned small businesses are more likely to take on personal financial burden than White-owned small businesses.
What’s My Wage Again? Or Whatever Blink-182 Said
A good job is more than wage, and that "more” is different depending on a person’s lived experiences and identities. So how do we know what job elements to prioritize to create good jobs for employees, specifically employees of color? Prosperity Now has investigated how employees of color experience the different elements that contribute to job quality, such as economic stability, economic mobility, and having equity, respect, and a voice in the workplace.
On Homeownership and Wealth: A Prosperity Now and Black Wealth Data Center Collab
Homeownership is largely regarded as one of the key pathways to gaining and maintaining wealth. But the disparities in homeownership rates are also well known: the homeownership rate for White households is 75%, while for Black families it is about 45%. Last month, we teamed up with Black Wealth Data Center to explore how Black migration is affecting homeownership rates in the South (hint: homeownership rates remain stagnant despite a growing Black population. This month, we dove into homeownership rates within the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community. Like all large demographic groups, AAPI households are diverse, and their homeownership rates reflect this, too.
State Legislators at Work (Work, Work, Work, Work, Work)
As many of the state legislative sessions have ended around the nation, thus far in 2023, there have been progressive bills introduced and passed in states across the political spectrum in the areas of homeownership and housing, financial security, taxation, jobs and wages as well as consumer protection. This roundup highlights key progressive legislation across these topics areas that are providing a hopeful foundation for 2024.
Hot Off the Press 🔥
- Boston Globe: Incremental steps, big aspirations in Mass., efforts to lift families, Shira Markoff, Prosperity Now
- Shelterforce: Poor by Design: SSI Asset Caps, Joanna Ain, Prosperity Now
- City of Rochester: Mayor Evans Announces Launch of Pilot Children's Savings Account Program, Cherie Collins Sims, Prosperity Now
