Prosperity Alliance will address economic and social injustice in South Florida | Opinion
COVID-19 starkly revealed the pandemic that has plagued African Americans since 1619. W.E.B. Du Bois once said, “The slave went free; stood a brief moment in the sun; then moved back again toward slavery.” The black community today continues to disproportionately suffer from a health and economic crisis.
Food deserts, obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure, all have come to the fore during the coronavirus pandemic.
Millions of black children are marginalized by the third grade, unable to read at grade level, are four times less likely to graduate on time and six times likely to come from low-income families.
Black businesses continue to be last, and when it comes to relief from the federal government, we are barely in the room. The playing field has never been leveled, and now we see that it never was meant to be.
And once again we find ourselves in another pandemic that continues to endure — the mistreatment and injustice toward African Americans.
South Florida understands all too well the fires that rage across the United States after the murder of George Floyd because our deep wounds never healed after the brutal the beating by local police of our native son, Arthur McDuffie in 1979. McDuffie, a 33-year-old former marine, local salesman, father and son died as a result of his injuries. Our city erupted in riotous flames after four white Dade County police officers were acquitted the next year on evidence-tampering and manslaughter charges.
To address these challenges, The South Florida Black Prosperity Alliance (SFBPA) has emerged to stand in the gap for this community and to sit at the table with community leaders to discuss viable solutions to the disparities and injustice, and the blind eye to often turned to it all.
A coalition of civil-rights activists, social-justice advocates, business leaders and community stakeholders across the tri-county area, The Alliance initially came together in response to COVID-19’s disproportionate impact on African-American residents.
During the onset of the pandemic, the federal government disbursed trillions of dollars to ensure the country’s fiscal stability, yet black-owned businesses were left out of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funding and now, unfortunately, bear the economic brunt of this pandemic.
In response to COVID-19’s impact, we are demanding more funding be allocated specifically for black-owned businesses; fair inclusion in procurement opportunities so that more black businesses get a fair share of local contracting opportunities; more dollars be allocated to address health equity and comorbidities; and an infusion of needed capital and opportunities to address the myriad of disparities we face throughout our communities in South Florida.
Additionally, the protests across the country ignited by police brutality is a cry for change. Our community is outraged and hurt.. The data is clear. The United States claims the highest incarceration rate throughout the world, with African Americans making up 37 percent of the incarcerated population while making up only 13 percent of the population. Nearly 40 percent of police killings are of unarmed Black men. Until this country can publicly discuss and address racial tensions, police brutality and social injustice, things will never get better. This pandemic will continue.
Entire police departments must be retrained and elected officials, including the governor, and police chiefs must sit down and discuss these issues.
As an alliance, we are gravely concerned about the continued disparities that plague our community and have committed to holding local, state and federal elected officials accountable for addressing these disparities. It is our duty to be a voice for this community.
G. Eric Knowles is president and CEO of the Miami-Dade Chamber of Commerce. Shaheewa Jarrett Gelin is president of the Broward Black Chamber of Commerce. Frank Hayden is president of the Palm Beach Black Chamber of Commerce.
