WEBVTT - Pharrell Says Juneteenth Good for All Americans 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:04.160 This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and Bloomberg 0:00:04.240 --> 0:00:10.320 Quick Takes Tim Stinovic on Bloomberg Radio. Juneteenth mark's both 0:00:10.320 --> 0:00:15.800 a long, hard night of slavery and subjugation and a 0:00:15.880 --> 0:00:19.520 promise or brady morning to come. This is a day 0:00:19.520 --> 0:00:22.840 of profound in my view, profound weight and profound power 0:00:23.360 --> 0:00:28.880 to day which you remember the moral stain, the terrible 0:00:28.920 --> 0:00:33.480 toll the slavery took on the country and continues to take. 0:00:34.120 --> 0:00:36.920 And that, of course, was just moments ago President Biden 0:00:37.360 --> 0:00:39.400 in the East Room of the White House signing into 0:00:39.440 --> 0:00:43.159 law the eleventh national annual federal holiday in the US. Juneteenth, 0:00:43.479 --> 0:00:48.080 also known as Emancipation Day, a reference to ju E 0:00:48.400 --> 0:00:50.760 sixty five. That's the day when a Union general arrived 0:00:50.760 --> 0:00:54.360 in Galveston, Texas, telling African American slaves at the Civil 0:00:54.360 --> 0:00:57.160 War it was over. They were now free under the 0:00:57.200 --> 0:01:01.480 Emancipation Proclamation, which had been signed two years earlier, back 0:01:01.480 --> 0:01:05.000 in eighteen sixty three by President Abraham Lincoln. Were joining 0:01:05.040 --> 0:01:07.720 us right now is Bloomberg New York Deputy Bureau Chief 0:01:07.720 --> 0:01:11.480 Shartilla Brantley joining us in our Interactive Broker studio. You 0:01:11.480 --> 0:01:16.320 know you do wonder especially after the year that we've had, 0:01:16.560 --> 0:01:18.679 we are having conversations. I had to pause for a 0:01:18.680 --> 0:01:21.520 moment because I was thinking, Chartier, if the last year 0:01:21.560 --> 0:01:26.120 hadn't happened. Uh, And in many ways we wish it 0:01:26.160 --> 0:01:28.039 didn't because of the pandemic, but of course of what 0:01:28.080 --> 0:01:31.639 happened to George Floyd and so many other black Americans. Um, 0:01:31.760 --> 0:01:34.280 but if it hadn't, wouldn't this have happened? And would 0:01:34.319 --> 0:01:36.920 we be having some of the conversations that we're having 0:01:36.920 --> 0:01:39.480 in corporate America, that we're having in the Bloomberg newsroom, 0:01:39.640 --> 0:01:43.040 that we're really having around this country. I don't think so. 0:01:43.120 --> 0:01:47.640 I think we were satisfied with the glacial piece of 0:01:47.680 --> 0:01:51.200 progress that we had been making, and we were okay 0:01:51.240 --> 0:01:54.960 with ignoring the eight hundred pound elephant in the room. 0:01:55.000 --> 0:01:56.800 You know, you have so many conversations as part of 0:01:56.840 --> 0:02:01.000 our Bloomberg Live events. You produce the Equality Summit, you know, 0:02:01.000 --> 0:02:02.720 and you've been doing that for a few years. Here 0:02:03.000 --> 0:02:06.520 has the conversation changed, especially when it comes to corporate America, 0:02:06.600 --> 0:02:10.000 about you know, more inclusion, more diversity, and not just 0:02:10.080 --> 0:02:14.480 talk but actually the walk it really does actually shameless plug, 0:02:14.600 --> 0:02:19.040 we just hosted Corporate mandate for change. Earlier today a 0:02:19.080 --> 0:02:22.519 Bloomberger Quality briefing, and I had the opportunity to speak 0:02:22.560 --> 0:02:26.800 with LEVI CEO chip Berg and his chief Diversity, Equity 0:02:26.840 --> 0:02:31.480 and Inclusion Officer, Elizabeth A. Morrison on just um the 0:02:31.919 --> 0:02:35.120 reckoning that they've had within that organization. And we also 0:02:35.200 --> 0:02:37.880 had the heads of d n I from three M, 0:02:37.880 --> 0:02:41.880 Twitter and Mass Mutual to talk about how their organizations 0:02:41.880 --> 0:02:44.079 have been impacted as well over the past year. You 0:02:44.160 --> 0:02:46.760 talked about a reckoning and LEVI, is that just within 0:02:47.200 --> 0:02:50.359 the management structure? Is it within the employee base or 0:02:50.360 --> 0:02:52.359 a little bit of everything? A little bit of everything. 0:02:52.480 --> 0:02:55.160 I think UM over the past year, companies have had 0:02:55.200 --> 0:02:57.760 to take a serious look at their numbers. And you 0:02:57.800 --> 0:03:01.400 may have diversity in the you know, entry level positions, 0:03:01.440 --> 0:03:05.040 but when it comes to senior management representation, what are 0:03:05.040 --> 0:03:07.720 you doing? And I think companies like LEVI and other 0:03:07.840 --> 0:03:11.520 organizations are taking a step what does our board look like? 0:03:11.840 --> 0:03:14.520 What do our senior ranks look like? You know, you 0:03:14.600 --> 0:03:17.280 can't be what you can't see. What's interesting too? And 0:03:17.280 --> 0:03:19.760 if I look at corporate boards and you know, I 0:03:19.800 --> 0:03:22.600 feel like we went through a period where it was 0:03:22.800 --> 0:03:25.839 the same Black Americans on the same boards, right, rather 0:03:25.840 --> 0:03:28.040 than branching it out. And that's part of it. Right, 0:03:28.080 --> 0:03:32.600 diversity means and inclusion means not just diversity among a few, 0:03:32.720 --> 0:03:35.960 but right really including the population that are such a 0:03:36.000 --> 0:03:38.840 significant part of our country. And we've seen quite a 0:03:38.840 --> 0:03:42.040 few initiatives pop up over the past year, you know, 0:03:42.160 --> 0:03:46.040 or slow Burns and her board Action for Diversity and 0:03:46.080 --> 0:03:48.680 other initiatives have propped up over the past year to 0:03:48.880 --> 0:03:53.560 try to a um educate and major corporations that there 0:03:53.760 --> 0:03:57.400 is a huge pool of executives who of color, who 0:03:57.480 --> 0:04:00.240 are more than qualified to join corporate boards. Well, someone 0:04:00.280 --> 0:04:03.280 taking actions, someone looking to educate, someone looking to help 0:04:03.400 --> 0:04:06.600 and really spread out the wealth in our country is 0:04:06.640 --> 0:04:10.000 none other than singer, songwriter, producer, entrepreneur Pharrell Williams, who 0:04:10.080 --> 0:04:13.040 joins us right now on the phone, joining our own 0:04:13.040 --> 0:04:16.640 Bloomberg New York Deputy Bureau Chief Shartier Brantley. Pharrell, It's 0:04:16.640 --> 0:04:19.200 great to have you here. It's a very significant day 0:04:19.240 --> 0:04:22.839 for this country. Talk to us about hearing about seeing 0:04:22.880 --> 0:04:27.200 about the President put Juneteenth a making it a federal 0:04:27.240 --> 0:04:32.400 holiday here in the United States. Well, of course, as 0:04:32.400 --> 0:04:35.800 an African American and African diaspora. All of our DNA 0:04:35.960 --> 0:04:40.640 is excited. We're very grateful to be recognized on a 0:04:40.680 --> 0:04:44.720 federal level. Um, But there's a lot of there's there's 0:04:44.760 --> 0:04:47.720 so much more work to do. UM. I'm not sure, 0:04:47.760 --> 0:04:52.920 but I think our state was first. Man, Um, it 0:04:52.960 --> 0:04:55.760 would be the first state to do it. But man, 0:04:55.839 --> 0:04:58.240 it's been a long time coming, you know, and for 0:04:58.279 --> 0:05:01.880 so long people have you know, debated as to whether 0:05:02.400 --> 0:05:04.719 you know, it's an either or situation with you know, 0:05:04.800 --> 0:05:09.799 Independence Day. But my ancestors, most like everybody else who's 0:05:09.839 --> 0:05:14.080 African American and people of color here, our ancestors had 0:05:14.120 --> 0:05:16.800 to fight in the war, whether it was on either side, 0:05:16.880 --> 0:05:19.480 they had to do it. Um. But they were not free, 0:05:19.560 --> 0:05:23.440 and nor were white women, and nor were lgbt q 0:05:23.600 --> 0:05:26.880 I a like. Essentially, no one was free, accept our 0:05:27.400 --> 0:05:30.960 our white brothers at the time, you know. Um, But 0:05:31.040 --> 0:05:33.640 this was America, and America was trying to figure out 0:05:33.720 --> 0:05:36.839 what it wanted to be. And once they made that decision, Um, 0:05:36.880 --> 0:05:40.760 it took a very long time for us to be emancipated. 0:05:40.920 --> 0:05:45.120 And for so long that day of emancipation for us, 0:05:45.520 --> 0:05:49.400 which was such a joyous day, Uh, we go ignored 0:05:49.560 --> 0:05:52.159 like it was something that was seen as like some 0:05:52.279 --> 0:05:56.360 sort of like divisive thing, but it's really not. Um, 0:05:56.400 --> 0:05:58.760 it happens to be our history. And for us to 0:05:58.839 --> 0:06:02.080 be free, everybody's free. It's like we talk about liberty 0:06:02.360 --> 0:06:05.640 in our pledge, but even if we're really going to 0:06:05.760 --> 0:06:08.279 use that word, then everyone in this nation needs to 0:06:08.360 --> 0:06:13.240 be free. Everyone. So it was a good day. It 0:06:13.480 --> 0:06:16.800 was when I say that I'm in Americans. By the way, well, 0:06:16.839 --> 0:06:20.920 you're being inclusive, which is wonderful. And that's what this 0:06:21.000 --> 0:06:25.960 is about. For rell, Why has our history become so 0:06:26.040 --> 0:06:31.000 controversial as of late and what does today's uh, you know, 0:06:31.080 --> 0:06:35.120 the President Biden signing this into law, does it increase 0:06:35.279 --> 0:06:38.400 the much needed conversations we need to bring us all together, 0:06:38.520 --> 0:06:41.200 because you can't move forward if you don't know where 0:06:41.240 --> 0:06:46.840 you've been, right right, Well, I mean there are those 0:06:46.880 --> 0:06:49.640 who just don't know the history, and then there are 0:06:49.720 --> 0:06:52.720 people who know the history but don't want to hear 0:06:52.760 --> 0:06:56.839 about it. Um. And then there are people who would 0:06:56.839 --> 0:06:59.240 like for other people to not know the history. And 0:06:59.240 --> 0:07:01.680 then there's a lot of people who want people to 0:07:01.839 --> 0:07:06.280 really understand the history. Um. You know, we're on Bloomberg 0:07:06.480 --> 0:07:11.400 right right right now, right, you are and do you 0:07:11.440 --> 0:07:13.640 all know you know this this place that everything is 0:07:13.680 --> 0:07:17.200 where everything is traded, right, you know this place Wall Street? 0:07:17.240 --> 0:07:22.680 Do you know the history of Wall Street? Yes, you're 0:07:22.680 --> 0:07:28.200 talking about you do. The first commodity that was ever 0:07:28.360 --> 0:07:33.800 traded on Wall Street? Slave trading? Is that what you're referencing. 0:07:34.920 --> 0:07:40.040 I can't yes, I can't hear you. Oh I said 0:07:40.120 --> 0:07:46.720 slave trading, right, because that's what they needed to stand 0:07:46.720 --> 0:07:48.640 against the wall. And there's a lot of people that 0:07:48.720 --> 0:07:52.320 don't understand that or know that. Um. And and there's 0:07:52.640 --> 0:07:57.400 so much more, I mean, you know, and there's so 0:07:57.440 --> 0:07:59.280 many that and I don't want us to get off 0:07:59.360 --> 0:08:02.600 of the beautifu full celebration that is on teeth and 0:08:02.600 --> 0:08:05.000 and and what our president was able to do today 0:08:05.040 --> 0:08:06.840 and what by the way, the Senate and the House 0:08:06.880 --> 0:08:11.440 and we needed them both everybody unanisments that unanimously voted 0:08:11.640 --> 0:08:15.080 and and uh, I thought that was a very beautiful thing. 0:08:15.120 --> 0:08:17.920 It's such a it's a great gesture and such a 0:08:17.960 --> 0:08:20.600 great step in the right direction. But again, we have 0:08:20.640 --> 0:08:22.520 a lot more to go. There was there was some 0:08:22.560 --> 0:08:25.520 delay between us, and I couldn't hear what you all 0:08:25.560 --> 0:08:29.960 were saying. But it's just there's so much um and 0:08:30.000 --> 0:08:34.400 I see I see critical race theory being like um, 0:08:34.480 --> 0:08:37.080 you know, I see it being question I see it 0:08:37.120 --> 0:08:39.200 being debated, and I see it see it being vilified. 0:08:39.200 --> 0:08:41.640 But why would you not want people to know the 0:08:41.760 --> 0:08:44.200 history of our country in order for us to move 0:08:44.240 --> 0:08:47.200 forward like that is like the natural thing for us 0:08:47.240 --> 0:08:51.319 to do is to understand, you know, like celebrate our 0:08:51.400 --> 0:08:55.640 difference versus being afraid of them. You know, celebrate our 0:08:55.679 --> 0:09:00.559 stories and um and and and and and try to 0:09:00.559 --> 0:09:03.600 get bluff of healing. Are you concerned that in terms 0:09:03.640 --> 0:09:06.640 of as you said, this was an important day, but 0:09:06.720 --> 0:09:09.560 you don't want this to be necessarily a distraction, right, 0:09:09.600 --> 0:09:12.120 There's still a lot of work to do. Shartie and 0:09:12.120 --> 0:09:15.120 I were talking before we got going with you, for all, 0:09:15.240 --> 0:09:19.240 is that we look around corporate boardrooms and they're still 0:09:19.280 --> 0:09:22.840 not really diverse, or the c suite isn't still really diverse. 0:09:22.920 --> 0:09:25.560 So we've had a lot of conversations again in the 0:09:25.600 --> 0:09:28.160 past year. What do you see from some of the 0:09:28.160 --> 0:09:31.240 work that you're doing, are having an understanding of being 0:09:31.240 --> 0:09:33.679 a black American that what really needs to be done 0:09:34.160 --> 0:09:37.120 to make significant change so that there you know, we're 0:09:37.120 --> 0:09:39.120 not talking about d n I, we're actually having it 0:09:39.200 --> 0:09:45.560 done and seeing it done well. So firstly, we have 0:09:45.800 --> 0:09:48.160 a jiltee pledge UM, and it would be great to 0:09:48.240 --> 0:09:51.960 have all of the fortune five hundred you know, uh, 0:09:52.040 --> 0:09:55.840 you know, all of the bigger corporations assignment UM and 0:09:55.880 --> 0:09:58.160 make sure people have a pay holiday or at least 0:09:58.160 --> 0:10:01.520 like a skeleton they are ghost day where they can 0:10:01.559 --> 0:10:03.199 figure out what they want to do with to day 0:10:03.280 --> 0:10:08.760 but still UM paid for it. There are Americans, right 0:10:08.760 --> 0:10:12.440 and Juneteenth is now in American federal holiday. UM. But 0:10:12.640 --> 0:10:15.480 what we're what I'm doing specifically as it pertains to 0:10:15.640 --> 0:10:20.880 like the UM, the disparity and the disproportioned access to 0:10:21.360 --> 0:10:27.360 education health UH and health care UM and legislation is 0:10:27.520 --> 0:10:31.839 Black ambition and Black ambition. It's a prize that we 0:10:31.920 --> 0:10:33.600 put together so a five or one C three that 0:10:33.760 --> 0:10:36.439 we work in partnerships with the historic black colleges and 0:10:36.559 --> 0:10:42.400 universities to find more UM, black and Latin X entrepreneurs. Now, 0:10:43.040 --> 0:10:45.440 why did we do that because if you look at 0:10:45.480 --> 0:10:49.920 the American pie chart, like we don't own enough things 0:10:49.920 --> 0:10:53.720 out there right where you find people in communities that 0:10:53.800 --> 0:10:57.040 own things their children actually have great acts health care, 0:10:57.200 --> 0:11:00.880 education and legislation. So in order us to have a voice, 0:11:00.880 --> 0:11:03.480 we've got to own more things. UM. And it wasn't 0:11:03.520 --> 0:11:06.559 just Tulsa, Oklahoma that this that this happened too. It's 0:11:06.559 --> 0:11:09.600 happened many, many, many many times. Right. So what we 0:11:09.679 --> 0:11:14.839 want to do is create a level playing field, because 0:11:14.880 --> 0:11:18.680 we think that HBCUs have the most fertile grounds to 0:11:18.760 --> 0:11:21.600 launch such a prize in such as search UM and 0:11:21.640 --> 0:11:25.480 then and then once you win, the coolest part is 0:11:26.280 --> 0:11:30.280 there is mentorship. If you ask the less than three 0:11:30.320 --> 0:11:34.640 percent of the private equity and VC founders, UM, you know, 0:11:34.720 --> 0:11:37.880 of color, what was their biggest hurdle? You think it 0:11:38.000 --> 0:11:40.600 was the capital. Capital is hard, but what's even harder 0:11:40.600 --> 0:11:43.320 as mentorship. It's like, you know, it's like giving a dirt, 0:11:43.440 --> 0:11:46.640 you know, a motorcycle to you know, a really excited 0:11:46.640 --> 0:11:49.560 twelve year old without training wheels or any kind of 0:11:49.600 --> 0:11:53.199 practice or any kind of UM schooling or tutelage. That's 0:11:53.240 --> 0:11:54.520 what we want to do is make sure that like 0:11:54.559 --> 0:11:59.240 when these people who have a good idea UM but 0:11:59.360 --> 0:12:02.439 may not have the business acumen, this has given them 0:12:02.320 --> 0:12:05.640 the advice to make sure that like their idea actually 0:12:05.679 --> 0:12:09.560 can take off. I know that you launched this initiative 0:12:09.640 --> 0:12:13.320 back in December, and you're targeting you know, startups and 0:12:13.440 --> 0:12:18.240 black and Latin X entrepreneurs within consumer products and services, design, healthcare, 0:12:18.720 --> 0:12:21.600 UH and tech. UM. I was on your website and 0:12:21.600 --> 0:12:25.640 it said that National Demo Day is scheduled for next month. 0:12:25.960 --> 0:12:34.480 How many of these entrepreneurs will be making presentations. There's 0:12:34.520 --> 0:12:37.960 a lot. There's a whole, whole whole lot. I can 0:12:38.000 --> 0:12:44.360 also tell you the numbers were crazy. UM. What I've 0:12:44.400 --> 0:12:47.400 tried to do, UM is get out of the way. 0:12:47.520 --> 0:12:52.840 I'm a galvanizer. This is something that I knew needed UM, 0:12:52.880 --> 0:12:55.560 But I'm not one of those like you know, celebrity 0:12:55.600 --> 0:12:58.120 people who are like, man, I'm like right in the 0:12:58.120 --> 0:13:00.640 middle in the front of this because one, yes, I'm 0:13:00.640 --> 0:13:04.120 an entrepreneur, but as it pertains to like training these 0:13:04.120 --> 0:13:06.360 people and mentoring these people for what it is that 0:13:06.400 --> 0:13:10.120 they need. We wanted to make sure that, like, UM, 0:13:10.120 --> 0:13:13.760 this was in a true real partner with the g 0:13:13.800 --> 0:13:16.720 bc US, because there's a lot of talent that come 0:13:16.760 --> 0:13:18.320 out of there and they don't really get the love 0:13:18.320 --> 0:13:20.320 and the light and the shine that they deserve. So 0:13:20.360 --> 0:13:23.360 this is not like something where like I am like 0:13:23.600 --> 0:13:26.440 the Griffin on the ship. UM. If anything, it's just 0:13:26.520 --> 0:13:28.679 the black ambition that is. I don't know if that's 0:13:28.720 --> 0:13:30.760 answering your question, but I just wanted to just tell 0:13:30.760 --> 0:13:34.640 you like it does. Well, I'm a proud graduate and 0:13:34.640 --> 0:13:38.320 I don't want to be I said, I'm a proud 0:13:38.400 --> 0:13:42.240 graduate of a historically black college and university. I graduated 0:13:42.320 --> 0:13:45.640 from Albany State University in Georgia. And one thing I 0:13:45.640 --> 0:13:48.400 do want to say, UM mentioning about black ambition. I 0:13:48.400 --> 0:13:51.599 see you partnered with some major organizations such as the 0:13:51.679 --> 0:13:57.360 Rockefeller Foundation, Adidas, UH, the chan Zuckerberg Initiative UM, and 0:13:57.520 --> 0:14:01.040 Ron Conway as the Angel. Was it um a challenge 0:14:01.480 --> 0:14:07.160 bringing these big names together for this endeavor. Well, let 0:14:07.200 --> 0:14:09.800 me just tell you Ron Conway, and that's the Angel 0:14:10.040 --> 0:14:13.040 where he was the first one. It was on his 0:14:13.120 --> 0:14:16.400 birthday last year. I had a conversation with him at 0:14:16.400 --> 0:14:19.560 a dinner and he, you know, he stopped what he 0:14:19.720 --> 0:14:22.440 was doing and he got his falled out and he's 0:14:22.440 --> 0:14:25.240 got a piece of paper and literally he started working 0:14:25.360 --> 0:14:28.200 right there at that table, and honestly the rest has 0:14:28.200 --> 0:14:34.240 been history. He called Willis Selden, African American partner at 0:14:34.680 --> 0:14:37.600 Bridge Fan UH to come on board to help us 0:14:38.320 --> 0:14:40.800 architect this thing. And she put together one of the 0:14:40.840 --> 0:14:48.320 most amazing, comprehensive, mostly female uh a mostly female team. 0:14:48.680 --> 0:14:50.640 It's one of the most amazing processes I've ever seen 0:14:50.640 --> 0:14:53.360 in my life. You realize that these five are one 0:14:53.400 --> 0:14:56.080 C three's are are just like any other art like 0:14:56.240 --> 0:15:00.840 it is it is, it's comprehensive, and these people are 0:15:00.880 --> 0:15:05.040 real true architects, UM. And you know, Ron started picking 0:15:05.120 --> 0:15:07.400 up the phone and everyone answers the phone for him. 0:15:07.400 --> 0:15:10.680 He's a very smart man and he's lent his time, 0:15:10.760 --> 0:15:13.720 his likeness, and his resources to a lot of great causes. 0:15:14.440 --> 0:15:18.240 And I literally got a chance to watch this man work, 0:15:18.960 --> 0:15:23.120 UM because he really believed uh in black ambition. And 0:15:23.160 --> 0:15:26.080 so it hasn't been that hard. I mean, we've raised 0:15:26.120 --> 0:15:29.720 a lot of money UM, north of north of fifty 0:15:29.760 --> 0:15:32.880 million dollars and we're not gonna stop because it won't 0:15:33.200 --> 0:15:37.360 it won't matter less than a year. It won't matter 0:15:37.880 --> 0:15:41.600 if the minorities and we're not really minorities, but the 0:15:41.640 --> 0:15:46.400 minorities in this country, you know, have an equitable opportunity 0:15:46.440 --> 0:15:48.880 to own and to and and by the way, not 0:15:49.000 --> 0:15:51.960 just own, but also senior leadership position. Something else that 0:15:52.000 --> 0:15:55.040 you talked about, like we need that, we need the diversity. 0:15:55.320 --> 0:15:57.520 That's what America really and truly looks like. And what 0:15:58.000 --> 0:15:59.840 and and and to go back to your other question 0:16:00.000 --> 0:16:02.120 about whether it was hard or not, you know a 0:16:02.120 --> 0:16:05.840 lot of these big corporations realized, like these that that 0:16:05.920 --> 0:16:10.560 their consumer base votes by their purchases. You know, they 0:16:10.680 --> 0:16:13.040 vote with their credit cards. So it's like they got 0:16:13.040 --> 0:16:15.560 to make these decisions. They have to make these changes 0:16:15.600 --> 0:16:19.760 because if not, people go to their competitor or they 0:16:19.800 --> 0:16:23.240 create their own right for you make a really good point, 0:16:23.320 --> 0:16:25.240 and Bloomberg has done a lot of reporting about this, 0:16:25.320 --> 0:16:28.360 that this isn't an income story. It's about being able 0:16:28.400 --> 0:16:31.360 to acquire wealth. And Black Americans haven't had the same 0:16:31.400 --> 0:16:33.480 opportunity when it comes to homes. They haven't had the 0:16:33.520 --> 0:16:36.200 same access when it comes to the establishment in the 0:16:36.200 --> 0:16:40.000 financial community. Do you fault and and and does the 0:16:40.040 --> 0:16:50.400 traditional financial community still continue not to embrace minority communities. Sure, 0:16:51.880 --> 0:16:54.360 but that's just because they don't The ones that do that, 0:16:54.360 --> 0:16:57.640 they don't understand us, you know, they just think that 0:16:57.680 --> 0:17:00.000 we are consumers. They have no idea that we are 0:17:00.040 --> 0:17:04.200 so contributors. We are all co creators. Right, We're made 0:17:04.200 --> 0:17:06.480 in God's image, or at least in the universe's image, 0:17:06.520 --> 0:17:10.040 Like we're all co creators, and they just gotta come 0:17:10.040 --> 0:17:12.560 around and seeing that, right, And so until they do, 0:17:13.000 --> 0:17:16.240 we're gonna we're gonna flex our you know that word flexure. 0:17:16.320 --> 0:17:19.520 We're gonna flex our black ambition. This is this is 0:17:19.600 --> 0:17:21.640 what it's about. And if you love us, man, it's 0:17:21.640 --> 0:17:24.239 just like June tenth. If you love us, then you 0:17:24.320 --> 0:17:27.080 know that that's like a pledge that your cooperation should 0:17:27.080 --> 0:17:28.720 be a part of, or your small business to be 0:17:28.720 --> 0:17:32.280 a part of. If you love us, you see that black. 0:17:32.359 --> 0:17:34.960 You said that black colors are very interesting color because 0:17:34.960 --> 0:17:38.159 they like black glasses, black dresses, black shoes, black cars, 0:17:38.200 --> 0:17:42.480 black tent, black remote controls, like black everything, black leather, 0:17:42.520 --> 0:17:46.880 black jackets. But when it comes to the people, there's 0:17:46.920 --> 0:17:49.639 an issue. You like black food, you like black dancers, 0:17:49.640 --> 0:17:53.280 You even like black sling. You know, all the companies 0:17:53.280 --> 0:17:57.120 give you swag. Now listen, and we love you for that. 0:17:57.240 --> 0:17:59.720 But you gotta love us back, because at night, when 0:17:59.720 --> 0:18:01.520 you up open to that sky, I don't care what 0:18:01.560 --> 0:18:03.960 color your eyes are. You see a lot of black. 0:18:04.680 --> 0:18:07.400 There's nothing wrong with that color. And it's a lot 0:18:07.480 --> 0:18:11.800 good with us. So it's time, well, has something much 0:18:11.880 --> 0:18:15.640 we love you back? Has something changed in the past year. 0:18:16.119 --> 0:18:19.720 Is the conversation different? Is it the recognition different? Do 0:18:19.760 --> 0:18:28.760 you think that's a different conversation altogether. I'm just working 0:18:28.760 --> 0:18:32.720 on the front lines ofism. But there's there's a lot 0:18:32.760 --> 0:18:34.520 going on in the background, and I know you all 0:18:34.520 --> 0:18:38.159 see it. There's a lot. The world a very different 0:18:38.200 --> 0:18:41.200 place when you think about the fact that like everything 0:18:41.280 --> 0:18:43.240 is in the air, all the information is in the air, right, 0:18:43.280 --> 0:18:45.240 this is definitely the age of Aquarius. This is where 0:18:45.240 --> 0:18:48.760 I get a little weird. Um, but everything is and 0:18:50.560 --> 0:18:54.480 you know, more people are work working remotely. I mean 0:18:54.640 --> 0:18:58.000 the new phenomenon of companies saying hey, okay, so finally 0:18:58.359 --> 0:19:01.080 we need you to come in, and people go, I'm 0:19:01.080 --> 0:19:03.879 really sorry. You know, I moved to like Florida during 0:19:03.920 --> 0:19:07.119 the pandemic, or I moved to Austin during the pandemic. 0:19:07.920 --> 0:19:11.760 And companies are having to change their operation hours and mandates, 0:19:12.560 --> 0:19:14.440 uh because they don't want to lose the talent to 0:19:14.480 --> 0:19:18.640 their competition. And you know what, the workers now know that. 0:19:19.280 --> 0:19:22.440 So we are in a different time. You know, it's 0:19:22.480 --> 0:19:25.560 it's different It's like, yeah, we have an offline life, 0:19:25.560 --> 0:19:30.399 but your online life, that's life, and that has a 0:19:30.400 --> 0:19:34.520 tremendous effect, a trickle down and domino effect on everything. 0:19:35.280 --> 0:19:38.439 Every every sub talk about is being affected by that, 0:19:38.520 --> 0:19:44.000 including race relations, including citizenship. You know what these companies 0:19:44.040 --> 0:19:45.639 have to realize right now, this is what you have 0:19:45.680 --> 0:19:49.359 to ask yourself if you're a company, Um, will you 0:19:49.400 --> 0:19:52.840 accept a black dollar? Sure? Okay? Will you will you 0:19:52.920 --> 0:19:57.160 accept a transgender dollar? Now? Some of them will pause 0:19:57.240 --> 0:19:59.600 for a second, but they say, okay, yeah, right, would 0:19:59.600 --> 0:20:04.040 you steven undocumented workers dollar? They really pro paused for 0:20:04.080 --> 0:20:07.320 a second, but then they say yeah. But then the question, 0:20:07.520 --> 0:20:11.240 the real question, real question, and I'm done, sorry, the 0:20:11.320 --> 0:20:17.040 real quick apologize. It's can your business survived without the 0:20:17.119 --> 0:20:22.280 black dollar? Can your business vibe without the lgbt q 0:20:22.520 --> 0:20:25.880 y A dollar? Can your business survive without the undocumented 0:20:25.880 --> 0:20:31.359 workers dollar? That is the new question. This is where 0:20:31.359 --> 0:20:35.360 we are now, so Farrell and our remaining moments, where 0:20:35.400 --> 0:20:38.919 do we go from here? Juneteenth is now federal holiday, um, 0:20:39.000 --> 0:20:41.440 but we still did not have the George Floyd Justice 0:20:41.440 --> 0:20:45.080 and Policing Act, um, you know past for an example, 0:20:45.359 --> 0:20:48.239 So where should we focus our attention and energy at 0:20:48.240 --> 0:20:50.720 this time and forgive her. It's a big question, but 0:20:50.760 --> 0:20:55.639 we've only got unfortunately about fifty seconds left here. That's okay. 0:20:55.680 --> 0:20:58.080 It was a universal question. So the answer is, just 0:20:58.280 --> 0:21:01.560 like the universe, the universe growing in all places, all 0:21:01.600 --> 0:21:04.080 at the same time. We need work in all places 0:21:04.119 --> 0:21:07.680 at the same time. We need improvement. That's my black 0:21:07.720 --> 0:21:12.119 ambition doing better. Hey, listen, Thank you so much, Pharrell. 0:21:12.440 --> 0:21:17.280 I really appreciate it. Pharrell Williams of course UH singer, songwriter, entrepreneur, 0:21:17.440 --> 0:21:22.159 producer joining us. UH there from UH. I believe he 0:21:22.240 --> 0:21:25.000 was on the West Coast, and UH of course our 0:21:25.040 --> 0:21:28.640 own Bloomberg News New York Deputy Bureau Chief Shartilla Brantley, 0:21:28.920 --> 0:21:31.320 a really thoughtful conversation. To really appreciate it.