Black women in business. Still invisible. Still undervalued.
Last week, a coalition of groups representing black women elected officials released a report which acknowledged the role that broadband adoption could play to empower female controlled households with vital online-based job training and search tools, telemedicine options, education and small business resources. It also tasked the federal government when implementing the National Broadband Plan that was released last spring to do so in a manner that support telework options and small businesses, especially considering the role women play as owners of 1/3 of all small businesses.
This quote from a call with reporters on the report’s release by Senator Sharon Weston Broome, president of the National Organization of Black Elected Legislative Women (NOBEL) who released the report in conjunction with the National Foundation for Women Legislators (NFWL) stood out:
As we have advanced over the decades – into college classrooms, legislatures, and boardrooms – women are still at the center of most families in the United States. As a result, many women are often overburdened with a seemingly impossible set of responsibilities that encompass nearly every aspect of everyday life, from making financial decisions to caring for children and aging parents to contributing a growing share to overall household income.
In addition, there are significantly more single mothers in the U.S. than single fathers. In certain communities, fathers are all but absent, forcing young women to figure out how to balance the needs of their children with their own needs.
If properly harnessed, broadband could be a platform for not only making many of these family functions and responsibilities more efficient, it could also serve as a hub to bolster family connections. To read more, see Jeneba Speaks : Black Women Still Invisible, Still Undervalued
JJ says
Thanks for posting this, Deb!