NAACP panel discussion in Charlotte highlights challenges facing Black-owned businesses | WFAE 90.7
After nearly 30 years, the NAACP National Convention has returned to Charlotte. The group held a panel discussion over the weekend on how to grow and support Black businesses.
The conversation comes at a time when corporations are pulling back from diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives because of the Trump administration.
The discussion featured three women entrepreneurs, who said there’s a growing need for community members to step in and invest in Black-owned businesses, as political pressure causes some corporations to pull back on diversity efforts.
Panelists also encouraged business owners to explore other avenues of branding themselves through social media.
“I made a decision to leave a partnership that we were doing good work with,” said panelist Nikki Porcher. “They were starting to cut back and start[ing] to do a lot of things because the (Trump) administration is putting a lot of pressure on corporations.”
Porcher is from Atlanta and the founder of Buy from A Black Woman, a nonprofit started in 2016 to support other Black women businesses.
In Charlotte, the Historic West End partners launched West End Wednesdays, where small and minority-owned businesses offer discounts in places along the Beatties Road corridor to help increase foot traffic.
Saturday’s forum was moderated by Keisha Bross, the NAACP’s director of opportunity, race and justice. She spoke about the impact of companies pulling back on DEI.
“Companies are not obligated by the administration to cut diversity, equity, inclusion — but they did that in fear,” Bross said. “And that’s really going to hurt Black-owned businesses.
“So this ban on diversity, equity inclusion, and this negative narrative — which, by the way, is false — there’s no bad thing around diversity, equity inclusion. It’s not targeted to one population. These are all, again, myths and negative narrative building.”
More panel discussions are expected to take place at the convention, which runs through Wednesday.
