Voices that Inspire

What inspires you from WFSU public media? Here's this week's Voices That Inspire. I think the same Tony O. Jefferson and on the presidency, he owned the big then minority chamber of commerce. Our organization was founded in November of 2012 and our specific focus is on women and minority and business. Nationally, about 41% and it may be a little higher than that now of African-American owned businesses that gone out of business for good. These businesses begin and like most businesses do with first the wealth of the family and most minority owned businesses start with very little wealth in these businesses and then have to grow in five frames and customers that are willing to invest or buy product. But when you get to a point of a pandemic or some of the man-made or natural disaster, they don't have a lot of money to survive. So I think what keeps me as fired is just having any community in quite tall has to be on camera that where I can't tell you that we're perfect, but what I can tell you is that we have a lot of warm genuine hearts that care about the community as a whole. As I think about and specifically, I think COVID has set this aside that as a community, we've been able to realize that we're all in this together. And I think there's a recommitment locally that we are one village. The weakest of us all creates a weak link in our entire ecosystem. And we have to, and also when we stand that in the community, reach back and ensure that we're able to strengthen that link, that particular link so that our community can grow and thrive as it has. I'm Antonio Jefferson, president CEO of Big Dead, Modernity Chamber of Commerce. You're listening to voices that inspire.