Juneteenth As A 26-Year Old, Black FinTech Founder

We need to do better

Dear Rapunzl Community,

It has been two decades since Franklin Raines became the first black CEO to run a Fortune 500 company. Today there are only four companies on that list with black chief executives, also none of them are black women.

I won’t berate recent events except to say that the video of George Floyd execution by Minneapolis police officers has brought unprecedented attention to racial inequities in America. Disclaimer this is not a newfound problem.

Racism is pervasive. It can manifest in silence and lay dormant for years. Talking about race is uncomfortable, even for the many reading this, particularly because racism is so pervasive that it has become entrenched into every aspect of society. It’s systemic. And my own personal successes in the financial services industry have allowed me to pull back the curtains on what many have (rightly) characterized as an Old Boy’s Club.

Let me tell you, meager donations, canned public statements, and empty promises are not enough. Rapunzl was founded on the core belief that the Financial Industry needs to do better.

**Cue White PR Teams Writing Black Lives Matter Posts

Nearly every company has taken a stance on Black Lives Matter — either by speaking out or remaining silent. The vast majority have made contributions to various social campaigns. They released statements about their support for the black community. These “heartfelt” statements expressed long-term commitments to diversity & inclusion within their organization…blah blah

Large tech-giants led the charge with Jack Dorsey being a shining light after his recent direct-attacks at Trump’s tweets which are not worth repeating. But outside of Twitter, these commitments feel empty.

Facebook has one black person in a C-Level capacity: Chief Diversity Officer.

Google has one black person in a C-Level capacity: Global Director of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.

Microsoft has zero black people in their C-Suite.

Amazon has zero black people in their C-Suite.

Only 3.2% of executives and senior manager-level employees of Fortune 500 companies are Black Americans.

58% of blacks indicated they feel racism on their jobs, with the Midwest having the highest percentage at 79% and the Northeast the lowest at 44%

My Question

I guess my question to all of those companies — and the countless others who have committed to diversity — is why do you think having a token Black Board member is sufficient?

How do you invalidate the feelings of the 44–79% of your black employees who suffer from racism at their jobs by asking them to come into work everyday, like nothing is wrong. Like life is normal.

Are the killings of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Mike Brown, Trayvon Martin, Laquan McDonald,Sandra Bland, Oscar Grant, Alton Sterling, Freddie Gray, Walter Scott, Atatiana Jefferson, and Aiyana Stanley-Jones — a 7 year old girl shot by police while asleep in her bed — a cost of doing business in America’s Capitalist society?

Corporate America Gets a C- Because D is Too Close To Diversity

Many companies have atrociously approached cultivating Black talent so that they’re prepared for senior level positions. A lack of implicit bias training remains an insurmountable barrier and is WHY so many people are saying that racism is silent or doesn’t exist because they can not conceptualize how it is still exacerbated in modern society.

The lack of black faces in senior level positions is discouraging to younger employees and it is become the new normal, actually it is business as usual. Corporate America accepts it. Unfortunately, Black Americans, like all Americans, need to be represented in the workforce in order to believe we can achieve it. We do not need to be handed less-coveted, operational, back-office, or administrative roles to meet diversity quotas. Nor do we need to be plastered on brochures to showcase that we work at these organizations.

Meanwhile, the news and investors continue to ask — in the midst of Covid-19 pandemic — when will things return to normal?

I ask you, what normal is that….?

The normal where the Southside of Chicago has perpetual unemployment over 25% and fails to invest in professional development programs?

The normal where food deserts are commonplace on the South & West side but I can get to a Target, Whole Foods, Mariano’s, and over a dozen local grocery stores WALKING from my partner’s parents’ house in Lincoln Park?

The normal where police officers are sent to handle mentally unstable homeless people in my own communities instead of social workers?

The normal where police officers profile me for being in neighborhoods on the city’s North side, ask what am I doing over here, or if a “gun” they found a couple blocks over belongs to me?

The normal where police officers guard the high schools that Rapunzl works in, as if to train Black & Brown students to respect the Criminal Justice System from birth?

The normal where Rayshard Brooks was shot twice in the back by an Atlanta police officer from 20 feet away?

Pardon my language, but why the hell would I want to return to normal?