BET’s founder is demanding a change when it comes to Black wealth!

Robert Johnson, also the founder of The RLJ Companies, has proposed a new program that would change the way Black-owned businesses gain access to capital.

The Better Opportunity and Outcomes for Socially Disadvantaged Talent (BOOST) Act is based on the FCC Tax Certificate Policy which was created in the 1970s as an effort to increase minority ownership of media properties, according to PR Newswire.

It is a response to the historic problem of attracting capital, specifically “strategic equity” capital, that Black business owners and socially disadvantaged minorities face — something that has long affected them since before the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The biggest challenge to racial equality in our nation is the glaring wealth chasm between Black and white American families,” said Johnson in a news release. “To close that gap, there must be a commitment to finding a workable solution to the lack of capital in the Black community. The BOOST Act, if enacted by Congress through tax legislation and embraced by investors, would elevate Black and minority businesses into the wealth-building and wealth-accumulation economic system that is the principal driver of economic opportunity and achievement in our capitalistic economy.”

There has been a dire need to incentivize investment in businesses owned by socially disadvantaged minorities and the BOOST Act would make that happen.

For years these businesses have not received assistance from the federal government which in turn has limited their chance of achieving long-term financial growth and prevented them from creating wealth and keeping jobs in their communities.

“Therefore, I urge Congress and The White House to quickly move to evaluate my legislative language for the enactment of the BOOST Act,” continued Johnson. “I fundamentally believe the BOOST Act is consistent with and a real solution to the Biden/Harris focus on equity and thus merits full support. Lastly, I hope that the American people will support the BOOST Act as a morally responsible and economically viable solution to help solve socioeconomic problems confronting this country.”

Johnson has quite the business portfolio himself as the founder of The RLJ Companies, an innovative business network headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, that provides strategic investments in a diverse portfolio of companies.

Robert Johnson

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