Economics

Facebook Should Apologize to Black America with $100 Million

Published

6 years ago

April 7, 2018

Mark Zuckerberg’s misuse of the data personal information of his faithful Black Facebook users requires that he establish a small $100 million-dollar fund to repair the damages he has done to Black people.
After he was caught and admitted to selling our soulful messages and networks to the Russian-connected Cambridge Analytica’s campaign for Trump, he placed Mea Culpa ads in major European Newspapers.

He also placed ads in some US metropolitan dailies. But he, like Tom Steyer who is campaigning in the white media to impeach President Trump, has not placed any full-page ads in the Black Press.

Zuckerberg not only enabled the Russians to help Trump’s campaign to depress the Black vote, but he directed his staff to “sit side by side” with their Russian cohorts to teach them how to use Facebook’s open-ended platform to poison the election with hate messages that served to rile up white nationalists, alt-right devotees, NRA activists and many others on the extreme right.

I have asked Congressperson Barbara Lee to involve the congressional Black Caucus to get their legislative colleagues to demand that Zuckerberg, while testifying in Washington next Monday, commit to a year-long series of full-page ads in each of our 200(+) Black newspapers apologizing to Black American citizens who have utilized Facebook in greater percentages than any other ethnic group.

Facebook should also invest in our FAITHSBOOK digital divide effort that would invest in faith-based afterschool technology-related curriculum like Oakland’s pioneering David Glover Computing Center.

At our recent NNPA (National Newspapers Publishers Conference) held in Las Vegas, Facebook sent a brilliant Black female representative to teach us how to more effectively access its data and make our dataavailable to them. They never apologized to us for selling our information, without our consent, and collaborating with the Russians and Trump to undermine our mission to get more Blacks to vote.

Black voters have been taken for granted by the Democratic Party, by Facebook, Tom Steyer, Silicon Valley and many white liberals who profess to be our friends. Zuckerberg needs to press the “LIKE” button on his platform for Black media. We want our readers, especially the youth, to use Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and postnewsgroup.com to send Facebook the message that we will register to vote and vote for a congress that will regulate the internet. We want Zuckerberg to invest in his words of apology. We will meet with Facebook to show them how to “repair-our-nation” with relevant and necessary reparations.

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Business

Black Business Summit Focuses on Equity, Access and Data

The California African American Chamber of Commerce hosted its second annual “State of the California African American Economy Summit,” with the aim of bolstering Black economic influence through education and fellowship. Held Jan. 24 to Jan. 25 at the Westin Los Angeles Airport Hotel, the convention brought together some of the most influential Black business leaders, policy makers and economic thinkers in the state. The discussions focused on a wide range of economic topics pertinent to California’s African American business community, including policy, government contracts, and equity, and more.

Published

6 days ago

April 20, 2024

Oakland Post

Toks Omishakin, Secretary of the California State Transportation Agency (CALSTA), answers questions from concerned entrepreneurs frustrated with a lack of follow-up from the state. January 24, 2024 at the Westin Los Angeles Airport Hotel, Lost Angeles, Calif. Photo by Solomon O. Smith

By Solomon O. Smith, California Black Media

The California African American Chamber of Commerce hosted its second annual “State of the California African American Economy Summit,” with the aim of bolstering Black economic influence through education and fellowship.

Held Jan. 24 to Jan. 25 at the Westin Los Angeles Airport Hotel, the convention brought together some of the most influential Black business leaders, policy makers and economic thinkers in the state. The discussions focused on a wide range of economic topics pertinent to California’s African American business community, including policy, government contracts, and equity, and more.

Toks Omishakin, Secretary of the California State Transportation Agency (CALSTA) was a guest at the event. He told attendees about his department’s efforts to increase access for Black business owners.

“One thing I’m taking away from this for sure is we’re going to have to do a better job of connecting through your chambers of all these opportunities of billions of dollars that are coming down the pike. I’m honestly disappointed that people don’t know, so we’ll do better,” said Omishakin.

Lueathel Seawood, the president of the African American Chamber of Commerce of San Joaquin County, expressed frustration with obtaining federal contracts for small businesses, and completing the process. She observed that once a small business was certified as DBE, a Disadvantaged Business Enterprises, there was little help getting to the next step.

Omishakin admitted there is more work to be done to help them complete the process and include them in upcoming projects. However, the high-speed rail system expansion by the California High-Speed Rail Authority has set a goal of 30% participation from small businesses — only 10 percent is set aside for DBE.

The importance of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) in economics was reinforced during the “State of the California Economy” talk led by author and economist Julianne Malveaux, and Anthony Asadullah Samad, Executive Director of the Mervyn Dymally African American Political and Economic Institute (MDAAPEI) at California State University, Dominguez Hills.

Assaults on DEI disproportionately affect women of color and Black women, according to Malveaux. When asked what role the loss of DEI might serve in economics, she suggested a more sinister purpose.

“The genesis of all this is anti-blackness. So, your question about how this fits into the economy is economic exclusion, that essentially has been promoted as public policy,” said Malveaux.

The most anticipated speaker at the event was Janice Bryant Howroyd known affectionately to her peers as “JBH.” She is one of the first Black women to run and own a multi-billion-dollar company. Her company ActOne Group, is one of the largest, and most recognized, hiring, staffing and human resources firms in the world. She is the author of “Acting Up” and has a profile on Forbes.

Chairman of the board of directors of the California African American Chamber of Commerce, Timothy Alan Simon, a lawyer and the first Black Appointments Secretary in the Office of the Governor of California, moderated. They discussed the state of Black entrepreneurship in the country and Howroyd gave advice to other business owners.

“We look to inspire and educate,” said Howroyd. “Inspiration is great but when I’ve got people’s attention, I want to teach them something.”