Atlanta Influences Everything. Do We?
A culturally competent open letter to Georgia and Microsoft’s announcement to expand presence in Atlanta with 1,500 new jobs, new facility
Cultural Context
While the Black world in America was preparing for the Ludacris and Nelly #Versuz last weekend, Georgia’s Governor Brian Kemp, and Microsoft’s Terrell Cox, General Manager of Microsoft’s US East Coast Region & AI Development Acceleration Program, announced that the largest technology company in the world would be “creating” 1500 new high tech jobs in Atlanta’s West Midtown.
Also quoted in the release are our very own Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, Metro Atlanta Chamber’s outgoing CEO, Hala Maddelmog, Fulton County Board of Commissioners Chairman Robb Pitts, University System of Georgia Chancellor Steve Wrigley, and GDEcD Commissioner Pat Wilson.
@MicrosoftATL’s tweet reads, “We’re excited to announce the next chapter of Microsoft #Atlanta is coming summer 2021 to the vibrant @AtlanticStation in @MidtownATL! ATLiens, we’re looking forward to growing alongside you as the next global #tech hub”.
“ATLiens,” really? As the largest company in the world, Atlantans do not want to just hang out until the wee hours in the morning and simply listen to music with you. Our culture has been our safe space and solution to breathing, surviving, navigating, working and building in America since our ancestors’ arrival as enslaved people in 1619. So, when we leave the turn-up, we want the economic mobility to be able to walk, bike, Uber, Lime or drive to our condos in Atlantic station or our homes on Atlanta’s Westside and throughout the Emerald Corridor as well; and most importantly, have an in demand job or venture backed, revenue generating startup to get up and go to the next morning. During the 2018 Georgia Legislative Session, I appealed to our State Legislators and Governor to work together to ensure that Georgia is the most authentically inclusive technology and startup capital in the South, this nation and the world.
As an Atlanta Atlanta, 225 Certified, Doug High, SWATS native, who used to look forward to attending the Jack The Rapper convention with my late friend from church, Bernard Troup, I was truly taken aback on this cultural appropriation of a term that was first dropped by Outkast in 1996 with the release of their 2nd studio album, inspired by them being nearly booed from the stage at the Source Awards in New York City. It was that night that Andre Benjamin declared, “The South got something to say!”
From inventor and scientist Lonnie Johnson to food logistics startup entrepreneur Jasmine Crowe, Atlanta got something to say.
From the Atlanta University Center to Opportunity Hub (OHUB), Atlanta got something to say.
I also got something to say. So, let’s look at this.
First, salute to Bem Joiner, the innovator of the “Atlanta Influences Everything” brand that Ludacris rocked while sitting on his Southern hip-hop throne last Saturday evening. The SX Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau new “Atlanta Influences Everything” activation was going to be lit!
Fast forward to Platform 2014 founded by my late colleague and friend, Hank Williams, when Jonelle Monae reminded us that…”the booty don’t lie” during her talk on Afrofuturism.
The Data Don’t Lie
Well, the data don’t lie.
Atlanta has the worst income inequality in the US, a Bloomberg report finds. Folk!?
“The home of several Fortune 500 companies, including Delta Air Lines Inc. and Coca-Cola Co., the city boasts extreme wealth, with many executives earning top-dollar salaries,” Bloomberg reported. “At the same time, many individuals work low-paying jobs in the hospitality and retail sector. The city’s poverty rate sits at 24 percent − or nearly one in four people.” (Sarah Foster and Wei Lu)
COVID-19 continues to decimate Atlanta’s hospitality and retail sector; and the word at the intersection of these shareholder value and fourth industrial revolution streets is that these jobs are never coming back - ever. Bleakly Advisory Group predicted a short-term loss of $32 billion in retail sales resulting in $10 billion in loss wages in 2020 alone.
While America and the world are fighting an enemy we can’t see; a “future of work mothership” has pierced the midnight sky and landed on our economy and gross domestic product.
While Macy’s furloughs most of its 130,000 workers in March, Amazon announces that it is hiring 100,000 workers in its warehouses and giving a “generous” $2 pay raise. Is this the future of work for retail workers throughout Atlanta and America who can’t afford too much of a gap in income before they have to find gainful employment to meet their basic needs?
So, when folks at Black tech “state of the unions” were getting all excited last year about the media coverage signaling that 1 in 4 tech workers in Atlanta were Black while referencing research by the Brookings Institution of which I happen to be the only Black Nonresident Senior Fellow in Georgia, our State and City of Atlanta leaders were working on a deal with Microsoft, that without major racial equity based intervention, seals our fate as the once “Black Mecca”.
Folks think the “New Atlanta” branding campaign for who would be living in the new luxury apartments and condos on a heavily gentrified Bankhead highway was a design firm error.
Was it? So, how can 1 in 4 of Atlanta’s tech workers be Black; yet, we are number 1 in income inequality?
Trust, the data still doesn’t lie; but you’ve got to dig deeper to rightfully divide the truth.
So, let’s go a little deeper.
In the same USA Today article that I presume well meaning folks were referencing as a “I’ll be down in Atlanta building my own” signal, this was said by the writer:
Opportunity isn't distributed equally at all levels, however, even here. Though Atlanta's black workforce in tech is much larger, so is the equity gap. Black workers' representation in technical positions in the region is 8 percentage points below their presence in the workforce, the Brookings Institution found.
Like in Silicon Valley, white men dominate the leadership of tech companies in Atlanta. Blacks make up 5 percent of executives and 11 percent of managers at area tech companies, according to regional data from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. And venture capital dollars aren't much easier to come by in Atlanta than in Silicon Valley for black entrepreneurs. (Jessica Guynn and Nicquel Terry Ellis, USA Today)
So, why is the equity gap widening in the face of all of these new tech jobs coming to the A.
I won’t bother you with a history lesson on how Deconstruction, Jim Crow, the “long Southern Strategy or Kemp’s recent roll back of dual enrollment impact the equity gap across everything, everywhere in Atlanta and America; ‘cause from most people’s perspective, Blacks in Atlanta have been “getting that bag” for the last 50 years or so since Mayor Maynard Jackson negotiated Delta Airlines’ entry into the region.
I mean, you can rub shoulders with Black rappers and entertainers on a humble; and we’re still holding the number one slot in reality television while all we do is “win, win, win no matter what - and we stay there.” Stay where...number one in income inequality?
Stay where…in a city that still has approximately 3,200 homeless people and where 1 in 7.5 citizens struggle with food insecurity?
Here’s an even starker reality with data for you to consider.
This innovation density drives income inequality, economic immobility, poverty and the racial wealth gap.
This 2017 study entitled “Income Segregation and The Rise of The Knowledge Economy,” by economists Enrico Berkes of Northwestern University and Ruben Gaetani of University of Toronto, uses sophisticated statistical modeling to parse out the connection between innovation and economic segregation.
“As high-tech talent and industry have moved back to many cities, increasing their economic output and lowering unemployment rates, these cities have become increasingly unequal. Now a new study documents in meticulous detail the extent to which rising innovation and deepening economic segregation in cities are two sides of the same coin,” says Richard Florida, City Lab.
Amaka Uchegbu, Chief Product Officer, Upward and Former Senior Analyst at McKinsey and Company, who recently participated in OHUB’s New Jobs Forum with Radio One, Morehouse College & Momentum Learning, echoed her 2019 research suggesting that Black America would lose 4.5 million jobs due to automation. In March, McKinsey went on to predict that Black America would lose another 7 million jobs due to the coronavirus.
Now, given this data, research and context, it’s important that Microsoft’s entry into this Atlanta market be sealed with a comprehensive, racial equity based community benefits agreement that ensures racial equity in every aspect of its Atlanta operations. If not, Microsoft and the other large tech companies that follow their lead will have leaders like the late Maynard Jackson and Hosea Williams turning over in their graves. Let them rest in peace, please; but let their work of negotiating public and private procurement as it were a civil rights issue - and it is; and Feeding The Hungry march on.
Tech bros suggest that greed trumps race; and they are right. It absolutely does. Remember, greed - an agent of economic classism - does not care whom it hurts or takes advantage of, and has no empathy and compassion. It only serves to take from those who are perceived to be weak.
With that, I’ll leave you with some very doable and immediate commitments that all of the involved parties could implement in the form of a community benefits agreement as Microsoft enters the Atlanta market by the Summer 2021.
Community Benefits Agreement
With the support of Black Atlanta, Black America and our allies everywhere, I’m sincerely requesting that Microsoft and the organizations, public and private, listed below enter into a comprehensive community benefits agreement with Black Atlanta, Black suppliers, ecosystem building organizations and Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
Microsoft could:
Hire Black Enterprise 100 minority suppliers Moody Construction and Russell Construction for the office buildout and management; and Elocin Group for the end-to-end interior design.
Based on the City of Atlanta’s population data, commit 52% of the 1,500 new jobs to Blacks in Atlanta or that have graduated from HBCU’s across the country; and hire firms like OHUB to source and place them.
Give Black employees at Microsoft priority transfer consideration to relocate to Atlanta; and purchase all of them a two-year membership at The Gathering Spot or The Legacy Center.
Fund Morehouse College’s new coding certificate bootcamp to train 100 entry level minority software developers every 12 months with $2,310,000/year. This is just 1% of the annual new income created by Microsoft. (According to Levels.fyi, Microsoft’s average starting salaries right out of college pay $105,774 in salary, a signing bonus of $21,623 and $28,944 in stock (4-year vesting). With 1,500 “high tech jobs” paying approximately $154,000, that’s $231,000,000 in annual new income in the city. While at it, make another donation to rehire and re-skill the full time employees they furloughed last week.
Fund Atlanta’s first Inclusive Corporate Innovation Lab and house it in Spelman College’s future Center for Innovation and the Arts with an annual commitment of $5,000,000 for programming and operations.
Fund a Data Science Bootcamp at Clark Atlanta University in partnership with Black In AI for Black PhDs and researchers that want to enter industry with an annual commitment of $2,310,000/year.
Fund an authentically inclusive startup entrepreneurship ecosystem building initiative, including entrepreneurship support programming, an accelerator, large scale pitch competition and early stage seed stage fund for local high growth startups with an annual commitment equitable to Buffalo, NY’s 43 North of $7,000,000; and
Commit $250,000,000 to a Fulton County Economic Development Authority affordable housing fund to mitigate and thwart an affordable housing crisis in Atlanta and Fulton County similar to the noble but reactive $750,000,000 in commitments made in Seattle, Washington.
Microsoft should memorialize these commitments to Atlanta’s HBCUs, county government, ecosystem building organizations and minority suppliers in a comprehensive multi-year community benefits agreement.
Georgia plays a role.
Governor Brian Kemp could recommend that Microsoft support this proposed community benefits agreement; and
As allowed in Section 4515 of the CARES Act in my policy recommendations to All Members of The United States 116th Congress, redirect Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act funds to Historically Black College and Universities and Minority Serving Institutions for the purposes of funding workforce programs in software engineering, technical sales, growth marketing and high growth startup entrepreneurship throughout the State.
Require and/or increase minority business enterprise (MBE) participation by 30% in all economic development, technology ecosystem building and investment related activities, including Invest Georgia as a reflection of the State’s growing minority population.
Support legislation for Georgia to house the world’s largest startup pitch competition; and
Via a rule or urging resolution, instruct your economic development teams to include HBCUs, inclusive ecosystem builders and entrepreneurship support organizations in the tours and negotiations for the attraction and retention of technology companies to Georgia.
Atlanta plays a role.
Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and The Atlanta City Council could recommend that Microsoft supports this proposed community benefits agreement; and
Redirect Worksource Atlanta funding at Techhire grant levels to bootcamps like Momentum Learning, Flockjay, Demand Curve and Trajectory Series in partnership with Historically Black College and Universities and Minority Serving Institutions for the purposes of funding workforce programs in software engineering, technical sales, growth marketing and high growth startup entrepreneurship in Atlanta.
Require and/or increase MBE participation in all economic development and technology ecosystem building related activities, including Invest Atlanta; and
Via a rule or urging resolution, instruct Invest Atlanta to include HBCU’s, inclusive ecosystem builders and support organizations in the tours and negotiations for the attraction and retention of technology companies to Atlanta.
Fulton County plays a role.
Chairman Robb Pitts and his fellow Commissioners could recommend that Microsoft support this proposed community benefits agreement; and
Redirect Fulton County workforce funding to Historically Black College and Universities and Minority Serving Institutions for the purposes of funding workforce programs in software engineering, technical sales, growth marketing and high growth startup entrepreneurship in the Aerotropolis.
Require and/or increase MBE participation in all economic development and technology ecosystem building related activities, including Invest Atlanta; and
Via a rule or urging resolution, instruct Invest Atlanta to include HBCU’s, inclusive ecosystem builders and support organizations in the tours and negotiations for the attraction and retention of technology companies to Atlanta.
The Atlanta Metro Chamber plays a role.
CEO Hala Moddelmog could recommend that Microsoft support this proposed community benefits agreement, develop and implement a MBE supplier diversity initiative for themselves and emerging chamber members; and instruct their economic development teams to include HBCUs, inclusive ecosystem builders and support organizations in the tours and negotiations for the attraction and retention of technology companies to the Metropolitan Atlanta Region.
The University System of Georgia plays a role.
Chancellor Steve Wrigley could recommend that Microsoft support this proposed community benefits agreement and support the launch of inclusive coding, technical sales, growth marketing and high growth startup entrepreneurship programs, certificates and curriculum throughout the University System of Georgia to ensure that all of Georgia’s residents are equitably prepared for the future of work and fourth industrial revolution.
The Georgia Department of Education plays a role.
Commissioner Pat Wilson could recommend that Microsoft support this proposed community benefits agreement and support the launch of inclusive coding, technical sales, growth marketing and high growth startup entrepreneurship programs and standards based curriculum throughout Georgia’s public school districts, including budgetary funding for this urging resolution on “funding public awareness campaigns in support of computer science education passed in the 2018 legislative session.
Black Atlanta, Black America and our allies everywhere play a role.
Black Atlanta, Black America and our allies everywhere could amplify this post by sharing it with your respective networks and signing our petition encouraging Microsoft, the State of Georgia, City of Atlanta, University System of Georgia, Georgia Department of Education and the Atlanta Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce to to enter into this community benefits agreement with HBCU’s, minority suppliers and Black Atlanta.
Atlanta influences everything.
If so, then let’s make history with our new neighbor, Microsoft.