Black Brooklyn Empowerment Summit ll, Day Two

By Mary Alice Miller
Day Two of the Black Brooklyn Empowerment Summit II promised solutions. And it delivered.
The Honorable Annette Robinson addressed the morning plenary session by telling the attendees that we must strengthen our community.

“When you come to my house, I would ask if you are registered and voting. I’d stop a party at my house to let the children know that this is what you are supposed to be doing. You have an obligation and a responsibility,” said Robinson. “We can’t have people lying on our couches and all kinds of stuff, lying around the house, not being productive, not having jobs, not going to school. We can’t allow for that. Our ancestors worked too hard for that. If they are not going to school, they will work. They have to be doing something.”

Nailah Amaru, Advocacy and Policy Strategist, Women Creating Change, spoke of building community power through advocacy. She stressed having a diverse coalition to push your advocacy forward. Amary said one of her most notable advocacy achievements was in 2018-19 when she helped raise awareness for Early Voting which was enacted in New York State.

When opening the Economic Agenda workshop, Dr. Zulema Blair said, “We are trying to get Black venture capitalists, people who invest, to give us that jump-start.” She told of plans to establish a satellite Small Business Development Center at Medgar Evers College under the DuBois-Bunche Center and the School of Business.

Dr. Darlene Williams, CEO of Union Settlement, spoke of succession planning to ensure Black businesses are not just one generation. “In my business, my husband and children are part of it, so that, god forbid, something would happen to me, the business would stay in the family, and we can turn it over to our grandchildren,” said Williams.

Johnny Celestin, Senior Vice President M/WBE, EDC, said financial literacy – budgeting, estate planning, putting structures in place to protect our businesses – is essential. “A lot of businesses in Brooklyn, particularly in the Haitian community that I know, could not get the free [COVID] money because you cannot show the taxes that you paid for your employees because they are paid off the books,” he said. “As a result, you are essentially locked out.”
In addition, Celestin spoke of the succession challenges with small businesses, particularly restaurants.

“I know a number of, particularly restaurants, that the parents worked very hard to build. I think what happens is we want to protect our children and don’t want to involve them in the business, so when the parents retire or pass away and the kids get the business, they don’t know how to run it,” Celestin said. “And then you run into issues like tax problems and that kind of stuff. There are lawyers available to read that contract and protect your interests.”

Jean Pierre, Assistant Vice President, Strategic Investment Group, EDC, spoke of the importance of cultural competency. “Show us your track record and how you understand the needs of that community,” said Pierre. “This is not vulture capitalism where you come in to extract.”

Harry Wells, Small Business Development Center, CUNY, recalled a situation about ten years ago during the development of a JFK Airport project. “In order to get a concession, you need to have $1.6 million,” said Wells. “These people had a chance to get a concession stand, but the owner did not have the financial strength to move forward. So my advisors suggested that the family invest so that the whole family owned the concession to take advantage of this opportunity.”

“This week, a guy wanted to buy a recording studio that cost about $3 million. We talked to him about getting his whole family to invest in the project,” said Wells. “My grandfather was illiterate, couldn’t read or write, and he died a millionaire. There is always hope.”
Wells added that Congressman Meeks was an active participant in making sure M/WBEs got contracts at the JFK redevelopment project.

Celestin said that when the EDC “puts RFPs out, we are there at the beginning to make sure that small businesses are not put in the position where they are excluded.” He added that “When there is a policy decision that needs to be made (related to the RFP process), you need to engage with your city council member so that they can make policies that can be done fairly across the board for everybody.”
The closing plenary, moderated by Dr. Divine Pryor, Executive Director of People’s Police Academy, focused on hard solutions.

Rev. Dennis Dillon, founder and president of New York Christian Times, talked about how he takes African Americans to Africa every year to do business and brings Africans to the United States to do business with African Americans. “It is time for Black people in America and around the globe to develop a culture of commerce,” said Dillon. “Our attitude ought to be around business and ownership. We have to switch from the consumer mindset.”

Dillon emphasized that “Black people have to go to Africa. We have to understand that the economic resources are in Africa. There are tons of Black billionaires in Africa. We have to get them to America. We have yet to create collaboration between Black billionaires who are American and the Black billionaires in Africa.

We have to create those Partnerships.
Expanding on the idea, Dillon said, “We in America have to buy African-made products. We can’t buy them because they barely exist. The only way they are going to exist is if more of us are creating partnerships so that we are manufacturing in Africa and in the Caribbean and bringing them here.”

“We have to start putting our pennies, our nickels, our dimes together,” said A.T. Mitchell, NYC Gun Violence Czar. “There have been occurrences in our history, but when we unite and unify, we are unstoppable. Whether we put together our dollars or our coalition building, we have to put aside our differences. I have overwhelming confidence in us as a people.

I built a family-based organization, a community-based organization,” said Mitchell, referring to ManUp Inc.
Rev. Conrad Tillard, African American Clergy for Economic and Political Power, said “In 2025 NYC, do not give away political power. To me, it doesn’t make sense that a city full of Black folks would turn out Black political power. Hold the line. Hold what you got. You can’t say you want power and when you get it, you just throw it away.”

In addition, Tillard said we must embrace certain principles: faith, family, positive culture, political engagement, economic empowerment, and coordination with each other.
Dr. Blair closed the Summit by outlining the next steps. “We are going to convene a working group to put this policy agenda together. We are going to submit it to our Black leaders on the city, state, and federal levels, and we are going to circulate information to get people’s input,” said Blair. “We want people involved.”