Covid-19 has disproportionately affected black businesses.

Recent reports state that 41% of black businesses have had to close the doors indefinitely.

The disparities in the minority community are staggering.

The African American Business Leaders Council of the Lehigh Valley is doing the work of assisting black businesses and providing a place of support, networking, education to minority businesses on inclusion and equity.

The mission of the AABLC is to lead economic empowerment faster and recognize excellence in the African-American business community.

Hello, my name is Phillip Davis.

I'm the host of Courageous Conversations.

We're coming to you from the PPL Public Media Center in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Joining me to discuss issues of race and equity in business are Tyree Blair, Esq., a board member and partner at his law firm in eastern Pennsylvania, Robin Riley-Casey, the director of multicultural life at Muhlenberg College and a board member of the AABLC.

Obi Ndukwe, vice president, marketing manager at First Commonwealth Federal Credit Union and board member of the AABLC.

Thank you all for taking the time to join me today.

I'm so excited to have this Courageous Conversation.

Brother Obi, the AABLC has recently hosted a program navigating your career as a person of color.

What was in this, the necessity of that and what were some of the salient points that came out of it?

- Working with the Chamber of Commerce and the African-American committees, they helped me to really focus on empowering our local communities by providing financial literacy to those in communities who need education on how to achieve their financial goals, how to empower them to find the resources and the tools and education they need to be successful in their future and those of their children.

As we educate others, we continue to grow as a people and we continue to expand our ability to meet the needs of our communities.

And I think working with this committee has been a very amazing opportunity for me because I get to learn a lot more about things within the Lehigh Valley that I was not aware of before, different organizations and some of their missions that aligns with some of the vision and values that my organization, First Commonwealth, believes in.

So I look forward to continuing to grow and to learn more and learn ways I can empower my children and those in the communities on achieving their goals and becoming leaders in their communities.

- Oh, thank you.

Thank you for that.

Robin, so the AABLC, the African American Business Leadership Council, is connected to the Chamber of Commerce of the Greater Lehigh Valley.

Is the AABLC really just for the African-American community?

If so, what are some of the goals and visions of it?

And can non-African-American businesses benefit from the work of the AABLC?

- Absolutely.

Thank you for that question.

I believe that the AABLC certainly is there to amplify the professional lives of African-American black community members.

But it's also a way to sort of demonstrate to majority populations the value and the contributions of these businesses to the community.

So everybody benefits from this council.

And in that way, we begin to diversify some of the positions at the top that often have been not available or accessible to minority populations.

So by creating a space for young professionals or professional members of this community to sort of share their particular missions and the way they sort of go about their work, it also allows them to sort of seek opportunities and positions that have been traditionally set aside for white males.

And that's what we want, we want to support those professional members of our community to have access to every aspect of the work life.

- And as an educator, I mean, when we talk about students now going into a workforce that many times doesn't look like them or is majority white, how do you as an educator prepare them to integrate, if you will, into a world that may be different than where they came from?

- I think by being a member of this particular council, by being able to sort of help them to network so they can have shadowing opportunities, role models, internships, see the way that young professionals of color have navigated these spaces in order to achieve their goals and they can do, as well.

But then also to allow those young people, college students and high school students - you had this recently on your show - to understand how they can help to evolve current practices that really reflect the sort of innovative, creative aspects of our brilliance everywhere.

So that's really exciting for them, I think, to have those role models like yourself so that they can begin to see it is possible, but they need some framework a guide, a mentor.

So I'm happy... - That's good.

You can be what you see.

And so often what we see through media, what we see in the world does not reflect a positive role model.

And so, yeah, and I think that the AABLC, the African American Business Leadership Council, you all are professionals, you all are doing tremendous work in the community.

And those are the type of pictures that we want our young people to be able to see that they can achieve and they can arrive by having role models in front of them.

Brother Tyree, Esq.

You're a young attorney who started a business there in Easton and is doing very well.

You have multiple partners in your law firm now.

I see a list of black businesses on the Chamber of Commerce website and, you know, it's black owned and has a whole page.

And I've been told things like that is reverse racism.

You know, "Why are you only promoting black businesses?"

Can you talk a little bit about why it's important and why does that need to be on the site?

- Certainly.

I believe it is important for us to come up with a African-American business directory so that we could, one, empower our own communities.

It was important to put it out there, to let someone know.

I mean, for instance, myself, I still get people that say, oh, I didn't know that there was even a local black attorney in the area, and I've been doing it for over seven years.

And they're still shocked about it sometimes when they see me.

So it was important that we put it out there, that the plumber, the barber, the engineer, whatever it may be, does exist and that we then circulate dollars within our own community.

It's kind of like, why American or don't send off American jobs.

So to say that it's reverse racism, it's something that we already do.

We already say support local, but when you put black in front of it, it sometimes gives that negative connotation to people that really doesn't exist.

And I think it's very important that you do pour back into the community in which you live, the neighborhoods in which you are in and, like I say, circulate those dollars where you where you reside.

- Yeah, that's great.

You know, when I opened up, I talked about the 41% of black businesses, you know, who have been so impacted by Covid that they've had to close their doors.

And the reality is that many a times, right, when African-Americans and minorities go into business, they're underfunded.

And so with that undercapitalization, they don't have the capacity, the working capital, to be able to make it through difficult times like this.

And I can imagine that us being able to support folks in the black community is a very positive thing, because I believe the black community needs economic empowerment, because we'll never get to political empowerment until we learn to support and build up one another.

Brother Obi, as a black man, as an African-American, you've ascended to the role of vice president.

Is it difficult for you when you are one of the few folks at your level in executive offices?

And then how do you ensure that others who look like you can attain some level of success?

- I would say that through the years I've experienced challenges in achieving my goals.

Sometimes I feel apart because of my blackness.

I'm a Nigerian American, so I had what is a double disadvantage, right?

My family came from Africa.

I'm the first one born in the United States.

My name sometimes created some ill feelings about, you know, where I come from as an African and then assimilating into the American culture and trying to achieve the American dream, as they say.

And I think what my father did is he instilled a belief in me that education is power.

I think he used to use a quote from Nelson Mandela that education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.

And I took it upon myself to really focus on my growth, not just professionally but educationally in order to achieve the goals that I wanted to do, and what I learned through that process is that I became more conscious of my environment, about how people perceive me and how I perceive people.

And I look for ways to overcome those challenges by using my education as a tool to tell people that regardless of my color of my skin or my economic background, I'm on the same playing field with everyone else because I have educated myself.

I think another famous quote was by James Baldwin.

He said that the paradox of education is that one begins to become conscious when one begins to examine the society in which he is being educated.

- Mm hmm.

- So by me becoming more educated and working towards my professional goals, I was able to look at the world through a different lens and really understand the intricacies of equality and equity at work and my environment and how I can influence change in that type of environment.

I have struggled along the way, but I think working at First Commonwealth, where they value diversity, they value inclusion, has really empowered me to spread my wings.

And I'm hoping that other people can follow and understand that there is a light at the end of the tunnel if you focus on what's most important to you, which is education, as well as the strength to have that conversation about the challenges that you see and feel.

- That's great.

Thank you for that.

I mean, really understanding the power of education someone said is the great leveling, it levels out the playing field.

Robin, you work in an institution of higher learning and specifically with students of diversity, diverse cultural backgrounds.

Can you talk a little bit about how the impact of last summer and how the impact of this racial reckoning, I'll say, that's happening in America has impacted your students?

And what are you doing to help assuage maybe some of their emotional struggles that they're dealing with institutionally?

- Absolutely.

Certainly, the crisis, the racial crisis in our country has caused a lot of turmoil in all of us, but certainly our young people.

But I'm very happy to say that many of them have been able to lean on their ancestors and how they were able to pull through in the difficult times.

They're out there in the streets protesting and demanding change, no longer being willing to wait for it.

And also, because we have these opportunities to connect with professional members of our community, I can share with them some advice about how to sort of make sure you balance both your goals for your future and still press on to ensure that there's access for all, you know, every sphere of human life.

So our young people, we've given them a lot of time to sort of reflect and come together for support.

We've allowed, at Muhlenberg College in particular, more opportunities to have conversations and dialogs not only within communities but between communities and for the purpose of building alliance and connections and networks.

So all that matters because they have to figure out how to stay the course, even when they're tired, even when they feel put upon and harmed by societal issues and concerns, how you still move forward when you feel like you can't any longer.

And that is a testament to our people.

And so they can begin to rely on that education, because many of them had not been exposed to their history.

And so they're learning more about the amazing people, the hidden figures that are all over our community.

And many of them are right here in Allentown and the Lehigh Valley.

So we're truly excited about being able to at least provide that sort of support and networking to help them for it.. - That's amazing.

When you think about the need to have what we call here, around here, Courageous Conversations, right, and expose people to information, that's critically important because racism is still very alive and well in our communities.

You know, and one of the examples of that, Brother Tyree, I want to come back to you.

You are one of the only few African-American attorneys here in the Lehigh Valley and I would say in the region.

I've done some research.

And so being the only African-American or one of the few African-American attorneys, tell me about your experiences, because we've had doctors on who have walked into rooms, right, and the patients have refused to allow themselves to be served by somebody who has been authorized by the hospital, has gone to school.

But they're like, look, I'd rather be sick than have you be my doctor.

So talk a little bit about your experience as an African-American attorney and are there any that kind of stand out in your mind?

- Certainly, I've definitely come into contact with several counties in which I did not feel welcome.

One will forever stand out the most.

It was about 2014, so seven years ago and it's still in my mind, my first time in this particular county.

I come in, I go to enter into the well where most of the legal professionals are only allowed into there.

And a deputy sheriff actually accosts me, grips me up from behind.

Another lawyer's trying to vouch for the fact that I belong there.

I actually asked, Sheriff, do you need to see ID?

- Wow.

- "Actually, I do," was my response.

- Incredible.

- I was definitely taken aback by that.

I'm like, well, I need to reach in my wallet, because I didn't want to put any other sheriffs, you know, alert them or make them feel that people aren't safe, because that's the last thing I wanted.

But, you know, I deal with those types of things when I come into a new county or even sometimes to this day, you know, I still stand next to a client and hope that the court is respecting me and respecting the fact that the job that I've done and the reputation I built... ..over the time, and I've had clients actually ask me that before, like,.

you know, is it okay?

Does the court respect you?

Does the prosecutor respect you?

Do other lawyers, your colleagues respect who you are?

And I'm just like, well, yes, I believe my record shows that.

And I think if you were to actually ask the bench, they'd say so, but it's definitely been a trying situation to be in.

You know, I also look pretty young is the answer I always get back, you know, when they think I'm a defendant.

Oh, you just look so young, honey, you know, I'm like, no, I look so black and I understand that.

But I'm going to continue to work hard and show you that I'm just as good as my colleagues and my counterparts and you will respect the work I do.

- Yeah.

It's so sad that in 2021, right, or 2020, whenever it happened, that these type of things still happen, that we're judged by the color of our skin many a times and not by the content of our character, you know, referencing Dr. King's great speech.

How did that make you feel as an attorney, as someone who, you know, is learned, you got your JD, you know, you passed the bar, you doing the work?

What did that do to you emotionally, Ty?

- Yeah.

It really kind of set me back for a moment, you know, because getting to what Obi has mentioned, you know, I thought my education, it's going to make ways for me.

You know, I double majored, I got my JD, I've got the certificates and things of that nature.

It was going to open the door and the world was going to see me different.

- Yeah.

- It was kind of a rude awakening that you can have all those things and still the first thing they see is your black skin.

You know, it was like you can't give up.

- Yeah.

- And it was definitely embarrassing at the moment because my client was just like so taken back by the fact that, wow, my lawyer just got treated like that.

- Yeah.

- But, you know, for me it's always been God, and God had a different plan that day.

I actually handed out a ton of business cards that day.

It's like that negative experience shined a light on me being in the courtroom and made some business out of it.

- Yeah, yeah.

That's powerful, a powerful story because many people would say, you know, racism is gone.

Right?

And you were prejudged even though you had a suit on, probably had a briefcase in your hand.

You been carrying a briefcase since you were nine.

So, you know, and yet, you know, still we have to deal with this.

And that's why we got to have Courageous Conversations, because a lot of people don't believe this stuff still happens.

You know?

And when you think about the work that has been done and the historic work that has been done, Brother Obi, you wanted to share something about Black Wall Street.

And I really wanted to give space for you to talk a little bit about that and share your perspective.

- Yeah, knowing that there was a time where a community of African-Americans lived together and were prosperous, had their own economy, in a sense, in America called what was called Black Wall Street, we had millionaires.

We had people that ran their own businesses.

We had attorneys at a time where being black was, I guess you can say, a detriment to your life, depending on what you were doing.

- Sure.

- And something transpired where black people were accused of talking to a person of white descent and created a lot of havoc in that area, where the white people started to attack them and basically burned the entire town down, massacred individuals who were professionals, who had educational backgrounds and turned what was almost a gem of the African-American culture into rubble.

And we had a crucial conversation in my company that was hosted by Robin, who's also here with us, and a gentleman named Bart.

We focused on talking about having those difficult conversations and learning about black history, not about Malcolm X and Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks, which were important, but about those individuals, those individuals that Robin alluded to, that really influenced change and empowered people to say that we can overcome these challenges.

And in my company, I think a lot of people walk away from that saying, I've never heard of that.

- That's right.

- That's the thing, that really changed the way I look at African-American history.

And we expanded on that and talked about other challenges within the African-American community in relation to our mutual American history.

We share the same country.

We share similar beliefs, but we are treated differently based upon the color of our skin.

And by highlighting that and having the conversation about how that makes me feel and what's happened in the past, when we tie those things together, we can move forward in a direction where black lives matter in relation to all lives.

And I think that we missed that connection because we don't know that history, even people of color don't know that history.

- Yeah, that's so true, Obi.

You know, we did a show so that... Shameless plug, you can go back on PBS39.org, and we did a show on the Black Wall Street and talked about how it actually came about, what happened, the multiple hundreds of lives that were lost, businesses burned, and now they are actually going into Tulsa and they're actually exhuming some of the bodies, they're doing work there to try to repair some of those families that were damaged, because bodies were thrown into the river, thrown into places and buried.

You know, and it is so true that education needs to happen because it helps give empathy and understanding about the past.

Robin, Obi mentioned that you had gone into, you know, his business and did some diversity training, I'm assuming it was.

Is that something that the AABLC provides to primarily white institutions, PWIs, businesses and institutions of higher learning, maybe even police departments?

Is that something you all are considering or is that something that you've done in the past?

- I think it's something that we're lucky to have so many different professionals who actually do that work.

he mentioned Bart Bailey, who actually does it across the nation and internationally, diversity workshops, so many of us, because it's what I do in my job.

And it just made sense that Obi would reach out to us to see if we could do it elsewhere.

But, yes, we've done it at Olympus, PP&L, Air Products, and more and more businesses and corporations are asking for that because they understand, particularly in the Lehigh Valley, the richness of ethnic and racial diversity in our communities is vast.

And they really need to know how to communicate and understand the way that black and brown individuals can actually add something to their bottom line and to the way they actually structure, the way they engage a larger population across the Lehigh Valley and beyond that.

So, yes, we do do that.

And we're really lucky to have at the AABLC a number of people who do that in their professional lives.

- Wonderful.

I mean, just knowing that there's a group of professionals connected to the chamber who could provide this, because, you know, I often deal with school districts and police departments, counties, and they talk about doing diversity training.

It's interesting because many a times they bring in people who have not lived the brown and black experience to do diversity training, which to me is just the epitome of reinforcement of white supremacy.

You're a white male and you're going to tell me about diversity and what the value is.

Right?

And there's a whole business out there or businesses out there that this is how they make their money.

And it's surprising to me.

So we're on Courageous Conversations.

I want to ask each of you very briefly if you could just answer this question.

Tyree, I'll begin with you.

What is the most courageous thing that you have ever done as it relates to where you are today?

- I think it's every day.

That may sound a little vague, but I'll explain.

I think every day is the most courageous thing that I do, because every day I walk into a different courtroom where I'm not sure if my black skin will be a barrier.

Every day I meet with a client where I'm unsure if that person is going to choose me as their counsel moving forward because of my black skin.

So every single day I have to take a courageous step of proving that I belong.

And that's every day, and that can be mid-trial.

You know, I could have proved it on Monday, I belong here.

The very next day, I still have to go in and prove again that I belong here and I have to take that on every single day.

Will the judge treat my client differently because they have black counsel?

Will juries look at it differently just because there's two black people standing here, one sitting at the defense table, the other one standing before me where they treat my client differently because they retain black counsel?

So every day, just to practice what I do, I believe it's a continuous outrageousness every day.

- Thank you, Ty.

What about you, Robin?

One minute.

What do you have as relates to most courageous thing you've ever done?

- Standing in spaces where others can't, of color, so that we can make sure that everybody can move forward together.

I do that every day as well.

- Thank you so much.

Obi, what about you?

One minute.

- Yeah.

Going back to school to get my master's and my second master's degree.

You know, I have five children, and I reached a point in my life where I felt like the glass ceiling was a little lower than I expected it to be.

And I decided to go back to school to show my kids that learning is a continuous process.

- Awesome.

- And you can achieve your dreams if you put forth the effort.

And I was successful in completing my master's degree and now I'm working on the second one, as I'm preparing two kids to go to college.

That was the most challenging aspect, getting back into school, managing a family of this size!

- Of that size!

Well, thank you so much to each of you.

You all are doing tremendous work.

You're living courageously.

You're making a difference, serving on the AABLC of the Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce, and we appreciate you taking the time out of your super busy schedules to come hang out with me.

And thank you once again for taking the time to join me.

You know, there are many people in the Lehigh Valley doing courageous work to engage and enhance the lives of others, and we would like to put them in the spotlight.

Now, if you really want this to happen, you got to go to the website.

If you would like us to highlight the courageous work of someone in your community, let us know by going to PBS39.org/courageous.

We would love to hear all of your suggestions.

Viewers, make sure to stick around for Counter Culture with Grover Silcox.

His show is straight ahead.

I'm Pastor Phillip Davis.

On behalf of everyone here at PBS39, thanks for watching.

Make sure to tune in Tuesday night, 6:30pm, right here on PBS39.