I am proud to have had the chance to speak on Monday’s (June 1, 2020) CNBC SquawkBox during this challenging and unsettling time. A wave of civil unrest after the murder of George Floyd.
First, I spoke with Becky Quick of CNBC SquawkBox.
I began by saying, “The first thing, rainbows only follow storms. You’ve heard me say this before…nobody changes in good times. Why would you? We only change in bad times. Well these are some bad times, these are some challenging times. It’s time for radical, transformational change.”
I was reminded of the President of Coca Cola, Robert Woodruff, in the 1960’s, when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was alive and won the Nobel Peace Prize. Not many people know this story by the way. The business community in Atlanta wouldn’t honor Dr. King. The Mayor of Atlanta called Mr. Woodruff for help.
Mr. Woodruff gathered everyone in a room and told them that if they wouldn’t honor Dr. King, he owns a huge supply chain company and they would move out of this backwards town. They honored Dr. King, the ballroom was full and that was all that people saw.
“We need leaders like Robert Woodruff at Coca Cola who use the power of their brand, power of their balance sheet to force a new vision of what is right in this country,” I said.
Education is essential for minorities, and not just high school. Minorities need to get a college education if we are going to work toward creating equality in this nation.
Look at some of our business leaders and where they came from. If Steve Jobs wasn’t adopted by parents in Silicon Valley, but rather adopted by underprivileged parents in Detroit, would there still be Apple? Think about it.
Watch the full segment now: https://twitter.com/SquawkCNBC/status/1267403889286025219
In the second segment, I was joined by Joe Kernen Zander Lurie, CEO of Survey Monkey. A new poll conducted by Survey Monkey says that over 70% of black Americans say racism is the biggest problem in the U.S.
Economic unrest and income inequality is now in focus.
We discussed how many times this has been happening, racism and police brutality, that we don’t know about it. It hasn’t been filmed. Now, it is filmed. It’s captured on video.
Now there is an undeniable truth that this is a REAL issue. These videos are unmistakable and unexplainable. It’s not just African Americans seeing it, so are caucasian, hispanic, asian and EVERYONE seeing it. The world sees it.
According to Urban Institute, black neighborhoods in Minneapolis have an average credit score of 570, while white neighborhoods in Minneapolis have an average credit score of 728.
The gap here is wealth and education.
Watch the second segment now: https://www.cnbc.com/video/2020/06/01/over-70percent-of-black-americans-say-racism-is-the-biggest-problem-in-the-us-survey-monkey-poll-shows.html
So where do we go from here?
Let’s use social media for something positive like social justice.
We need a silver rights movement and we must not give up.
Operation HOPE, Inc. and the HOPE Inside Network family is here for you, to help.
Whenever you are ready, call us.