Honoring the Life and Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Today, on what would have been Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 95th birthday, we honor his work to open windows of opportunity that enable more Americans to manifest their full potential. This is personal for me: when I was a baby in 1963, my mother drove thousands of miles from Denver, Colorado to Washington, D.C., through a segregated America, to bring us to the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Less than five years later, we were devastated when he was murdered. I grew up with a deep debt of gratitude to Dr. King and all those who labored with him, because they made possible my life and countless others. That’s why, today, I invite you to join me in advancing his still-unfulfilled dream.?

Since the 1960’s, overt segregation has been displaced by systems that continue to divide, discourage, and devalue. The average white family today has more than 12 times the wealth of the average Black family (even worse than the 8:1 ratio when Dr. King was alive) – and at our current rate, it will take us over 500 years to close this gap. As enshrined in the title of the March in 1963, Dr. King emphasized that #civilrights must be accompanied by economic justice: “What does it profit a man to be able to eat at an integrated lunch counter if he doesn't earn enough money to buy a hamburger and a cup of coffee?”

That’s why I’ve joined with partners across our country to build organizations like Student Freedom Initiative (SFI) and Southern Communities Initiative (SCI) – to help reconfigure systems to deliver equitable educational and economic opportunities for #BlackAmericans. The benefits of this work stretch far beyond minority communities; McKinsey estimates that eliminating the racial wealth gap would add $1.5 trillion to America’s GDP.??

At this time last year, I wrote about the importance of investing in Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Education enables prosperity, but 82% of #HBCUs exist in broadband deserts, limiting these institutions, their students, and the surrounding communities from participating in our modern digital economy. Advancing Dr. King’s vision depends on bridging this divide.?

As I wrote last year, as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the largest investment in our country in our lifetimes, the U.S. government is determining the amount of funding that will be allocated to each state for broadband investments. Over the last year, SFI has been hard at work with local stakeholders to assist their development of local Digital Access Infrastructure Plans that can enable HBCUs and surrounding communities to compete and receive an equitable share of the funding. We’ve held over 45 town halls across 18 states, and while much work remains, I’m grateful that leaders in Washington and in state capitals are receptive to these local needs. We now need to ensure that goodwill and good intentions are converted into tangible improvements on the ground.

There are other ways in which we can strengthen the capacity of communities to lift themselves up. In December 2020, the federal government announced additional regulations requiring colleges and universities to comply with #cybersecurity guidelines in order to continue receiving Title IV funding. This is an existential issue: 80% of HBCU students depend on Title IV funds. For this reason, SFI immediately brought partners together to upgrade HBCUs’ cybersecurity capabilities, protecting billions of dollars in funding. I’m particularly grateful to Chuck Robbins for Cisco’s partnership – because of this work, $1.5 billion in Title IV funding is being preserved.

Unfortunately, the barriers that Black Americans face extend beyond our educational systems, into our economic and financial systems. Owning a business is one of the most efficient ways to build generational wealth, but 63% of Black communities don’t have a branch bank. That’s why I’m grateful our SCI partners are driving more capital into six Southern cities that are home to more than half of all Black Americans.?

In partnership with Grameen America, Inc., the fastest-growing nonprofit microfinance organization in the U.S., SCI helped launch Grameen’s Elevating Black Women Entrepreneurs initiative in Atlanta in April, which has already provided affordable loan capital and other forms of support to over 150 Black women entrepreneurs. SCI is also working to upgrade the technical infrastructure at community development financial institutions (CDFIs), financial institutions that are better embedded than traditional banks in underserved communities, and more efficient lenders. SCI has engaged with nearly 400 CDFIs to better understand the tools they need to scale-up. One thing we learned is that a $15 million investment in modernizing 30 CDFIs in these 6 communities can enable up to $4 billion in increased lending, increase business revenue by up to $1 million for minority small and medium businesses, and create up to 150,000 jobs.?

Each of us can help drive this work forward, and advance Dr. King’s dream. Each of us can learn from his often-challenging work to assemble large, diverse coalitions of society. But it will take all of us, working together, to achieve his vision. As we begin this new year, I’m optimistic about our shared ability to continue bending the moral arc of the universe toward justice.?

This is why I’m attending the World Economic Forum in Davos this week – to invite more leaders in #business, #philanthropy, and #civilsociety to join us in this work. There are several ways to do so:

● Partner with SFI to provide financial and in-kind support to HBCUs: every $10 million enables 100 students to attend an HBCU each year, every year, forever. In addition, strengthen HBCUs and Black communities’ access to federal broadband spending: each Plan costs ~$429,000, and just a ~10% increase in broadband penetration could yield?over half a trillion dollars?in GDP growth

● Support the modernization of CDFIs in Southern communities: a $15 million investment unlocks $2-4 billion in loan volume and increases throughput for each CDFI by 2-3x.?

● Become a partner of internXL and provide students with corporate internships that can help launch their careers. InternXL is already enabling more than 25,000 students to find their next opportunity at over 300 corporate partners, but much more is possible.

● Embrace diversity in your organizations and on your boards and embrace a spirit of conscious inclusion. The data proves, overwhelmingly, that diversity is good for business; more diverse firms are 39% more likely to outperform their peers and can spot and reduce up to 30% more risks.

The many hundreds of participants at Davos have enormous expertise and resources, in every sector and segment of society. As a beneficiary of Dr. King’s sacrifice, I’m hopeful more people will honor his legacy by continuing his work. Together, we can strengthen America’s educational and economic systems, dismantle racial inequity, lift our entire economy, and strengthen our global competitiveness.?

We can, and will, overcome.

Each of us has the power to do so.

You are enough.

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