NEW YORK CITY — The $3 billion settlement by the NCAA to share revenue with past and current athletes shows why representation of African-Americans matters.
Sen. Steven Bradford, D-Gardena, passed legislation in 2021 to allow athletes to market their Name Image and Likeness, which forced the hand of college athletes nationwide.
VOTEBLACKBUSINESS: State of Black Business, 21st edition, released at the African Burial Ground National Monument on the anniversary of the George Floyd murder notes that National Black Caucus of State Legislators members have generated ten times more legislation, including appropriations in the past five years than the Jim Crow-style backlash of anti-DEI bills.
Sen. James Sanders, economic development chair of NBCSL and N.Y. Senate Banks Chair, described his reparations legislation during the announcement at Central Brooklyn Economic Development Corp. in Brownsville.
“All I’ve known is struggle,” said the father of MBWE legislation for New York City and New York State. “And we’re going to continue to struggle until we win.
As chair of the banking committee in the world’s financial center, Sanders wields significant influence on global commerce. He’s held meetings with the New York City and State controllers to encourage investments in Black-owned banks.
VOTEBLACKBUSINESS describes the progress towards Our10Plan: the African-American economic strategy introduced at NBCSL in 2014 by blackmoney.com editor John William Templeton.
Templeton received a commemorative coin from the African Burial Ground National Monument for his documentary for the 25th anniversary of the national park, created after 1992 protests led by Rev. Herbert Daughtry that blocked construction of a federal building atop a 17th century Black cemetery in downtown Manhattan.
Other milestones cited:
*Illinois’ Health Equity Act
*The creation of the Xavier-Ochsner School of Medicine in New Orleans, the first new HBCU medical school in 40 years
*A $300 million appropriation to maintain service at Brooklyn’s Downstate Medical University Hospital
Additionally, the Congressional Black Caucus, led by House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, sent a Black Wealth resolution to the House floor this year.
The approval of the most recent budget preserved the gains the Black Caucus achieved since 2018, being implemented by the Biden-Harris administration in the Justice 40 initiative.
Of more than $1.6 trillion appropriated in the Inflation Reduction Act, 40 percent is targeted to communities which have not been represented in federal spending or contracting.
Despite that, African-American federal contracting has declined to 1.5 percent during the Biden-Harris administration.
Templeton joined the Southern Regional Economic Roundtable during its DC Fly-In when representatives from seven states noted that federal funding is not reaching those communities due to bureaucratic hurdles and diversions at the state and local levels.