SURVEY: Black Professionals’Ability to Focus Disproportionately Affected by Rising Cost of Living, Health Concerns

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

Ensuring Our Right to Invest in the Next Generation’s Future

By Ben Jealous

About 9.5% of respondents were Black knowledge workers, and the authors called it disheartening to see that they’re disproportionately affected by the ever-rising costs of living.

Black workers prioritize their mental well-being more than any other racial group, according to a survey by the employment platform Oyster.

The platform surveyed more than 2,500 desk-based – or socalled knowledge employees — and found that more than 58 % of Black workers globally chose their mental well-being as their top priority.

Asian respondents came in second at 37.7 %.

“Bearing the brunt of systemic racism, prejudice, and societal injustice, perhaps Black knowledge workers must put more energy into protecting their mental health and can less afford to spend it elsewhere,” the report stated.

Study authors found the ability of Black knowledge workers to focus has suffered because of external factors like the rising cost of living and health concerns, particularly in America, Western Europe, and Canada.

For instance, 60.1 % of Black workers struggle with the cost of living, the survey found.

About 9.5% of respondents were Black knowledge workers, and the authors called it disheartening to see that they’re disproportionately affected by the ever-rising costs of living.

“In fact, Black workers are more affected by pretty much every category than other racial groups, notably by global health concerns – 41.6% of Black workers (compared to 14.8% of white workers) were very concerned about this, compared office in many cases, against their will,” the authors wrote.

But nothing came close to spiraling living costs and personal concerns when factoring in the top external stressors, which the authors said was true across genders and geographies.

White workers reported being least affected in nearly every category – an example of privilege in practice, the authors concluded.

“What privilege does do is protect certain populations from being as negatively affected when taken as a group,” the authors noted.

They said the racial wage disparity present at many companies (and in society in general) means it’s logical that

Tech Founder Killed in Stabbing Early Tuesday

By Bay City News

Black workers are more affected by rising costs of living.

Systemic racism in healthcare and legislative environments means it’s logical that Black workers are more affected by health concerns and political instability.

Additional findings of the report:

55% of Black workers see a safe, inclusive work environment as very important, almost 14 percentage points higher than their white colleagues.

63 % of Black employees indicated that regular raises affect their well-being at work, compared to 48.3% of white workers.

Black employees value access to mental health support (64%) more than their white colleagues (22%).

Across all genders and geographies, the rising cost of living (75%) and personal worries or concerns (74%) are the top stressors impacting employees’ ability to focus on work, followed by:

Global health concerns (61%)

Economic downturn (55%)

War and conflict (35%)

Political instability (34%)

Climate change (23%)

Black knowledge workers’ ability to focus on work is disproportionately affected by these external factors, more than any other racial group. Most critically:

60% of Black employees report struggling with the rising costs of living, compared to their Hispanic (46%), Asian (39%), and white (30%) colleagues.

Global health concerns impact 42% of Black workers, compared to 15% of white workers.

Younger generations are almost twice as affected by rising living costs and personal concerns than their Gen X colleagues.

“Our data broken down by race was also very revealing. Black employees valued a safe working environment almost 14 percentage points more than their white colleagues and were 20 percentage points more in favor of check-ins with their manager,” the study revealed.

“These employees also placed far more emphasis on regular raises (63.0% compared to 48.3% of white workers), which tracks given that our data also found Black workers were the most concerned with rising costs of living.”

The authors concluded:

“What we’re seeing is a greater need to support, include, and create equitable work environments so all employees can thrive. At the very least, managers should be aware that Black employees on their team may appreciate more face time and encouragement and be ready to provide this support as needed.”

If a public opinion poll done last month is right, more than half of you won’t know what I mean by the initials “ESG,” and fewer than one in 10 will understand what they mean for financial markets. But listening to some self-interested politicians, many of whom have ties to our dirtiest industries, you’d think ESG was a significant threat to the American way of life.

For the record, ESG refers to responsible investing that considers companies’ environmental, social, and governance practices. That’s actually something most Americans support. More than half of us think financial managers should be allowed to consider environmental factors, climate threats, and the risk involved in fossil fuels’ future and that states should invest public retirement funds in clean energy. More than eight in 10 of us who invest for ourselves want sustainable options for our savings, Morgan Stanley reported.

In economics class, we called that demand.

In his 2022 annual letter to CEOs, Larry Fink, chairman of the world’s largest investment adviser BlackRock, called it “stakeholder” capitalism. “It is capitalism, driven by mutually beneficial relationships between you and the employees, customers, suppliers, and communities your company relies on to prosper. This is

Ben Jealous

the power of capitalism,” he wrote, adding, “We focus on sustainability not because we’re environmentalists, but because we are capitalists and fiduciaries to our clients. That requires understanding how companies are adjusting their businesses for the massive changes the economy is undergoing.”

Perversely, Fink has been pilloried by right-wing politicians as a green ideologue when his firm claims to be the largest single investor in fossil fuel companies on the planet. These same politicians are trying to prohibit this kind of responsible investing through state and federal laws. They argue they are fighting for free market capitalism when really they are limiting investors’ freedom to choose and the information that they need to make decisions. It’s not free markets, it’s political pressure.

California Sues Huntington Beach for Violating State Housing Element Law...continued from page 3

The founder of a widely used money transfer application was stabbed to death in San Francisco early Tuesday morning.

Bob Lee, 43, was identified by friends and co-workers on social media as the victim of the 2:35 a.m. stabbing, which occurred in the 300 block of Main Street.

Lee was known for creating Cash App, which is a way to send and receive money via smartphone.

The tech community and others in San Francisco and beyond reacted online at the sudden news. No arrest has been made in the case as of Wednesday morning.

Lee’s LinkedIn profile describes him as a “startup advisor and angel investor,” the creator of Cash App, former chief technology officer at the payment platform Square and the current chief product officer at MobileCoin, a crypto wallet app.

Joshua Goldbard, founder of MobileCoin, wrote a long tribute to his friend and colleague on social media.

“Bob was so much more than a technologist. Bob was an artist. Everywhere he went Bob breathed love into this world.

He had so much deep heartfelt love,” Goldbard wrote. “Bob’s energy was infectious. He made friends everywhere he went. One of the things that made him truly special was his capacity to dream big and to summon those big crazy dreams into our world.”

Supervisor Matt Dorsey, who represents the neighborhood where the fatal stabbing happened, said, “This is a senseless tragedy that I know is made worse by the fact that no suspect is yet in custody.”

He added, “I’ve also heard from many constituents in the area — some of whom have already voiced concerns to me about public safety challenges — and I’m asking everyone to cooperate with police in their investigation, especially those with access to surveillance video that may help.”

District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said, “I want to extend my sincerest condolences to Mr. Lee’s family members & loved ones for his loss. We do not tolerate these horrific acts of violence in San Francisco.”

Anyone with information about the fatal stabbing is asked to call the San Francisco police tip line at (415) 575-4444 or to send a tip by text message to TIP411 with “SFPD” at the start of the message.

The post Tech Founder Killed in Stabbing Early Tuesday first appeared on Post News Group. This article originally appeared in Post News Group.

California Black Media News Roundup...

Tech Founder Killed in Stabbing Early Tuesday...continued homelessness but Huntington Beach continues to brazenly violate state housing laws-wasting valuable time and taxpayer money instead of working on solutions,” said HCD Director Gustavo Velasquez. “HCD is committed to ensuring every city and county follows state housing laws and fulfills their commitment to building housing for all.” continued from page 2 to helping improve the lives of others through public service will always be worthy of our admiration and appreciation,” Bradford added.

I believe that this is a sad day for Los Angeles,” said Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who worked with Thomas for more than 40 years. “And I feel that sadness personally,” she added. Bass described Ridley-Thomas as a “a policymaker who made a real impact.”

L.A. City Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson took to Twitter to express his appreciation for Ridley-Thomas.

“When those in power chose to forget our community, Mark Ridley-Thomas centered and uplifted us,” he wrote.

“I certainly think people are shocked and saddened by what they’ve read. But I’ve also heard people share how much respect they have for the work that Mark Ridley-Thomas has done.”

California Black Media Hosts Dinner Honoring Joe Stephenshaw

Last week, California Black Media hosted a reception honoring California’s Department of Finance (DOF) Director Joe Stephenshaw.

A number of state lawmakers, public officials, Black news publishers, journalists and others attended the event co-hosted by the California Black Freedom fund and held at the Prelude Kitchen & Bar in downtown Sacramento.

“For us, this is one of those moments we deeply treasure when the leaders of the Black Press in California get to officially welcome, celebrate and interact with a top thought leader and decisionmaker in state government in an environment that is intimate and welcoming — no spotlights, no cameras, no fanfare,” said Regina Wilson, Executive Director, California Black Media.

“We exchanged ideas and talked freely about our challenges as we got a firsthand view into how our government is deploying our tax dollars in ways that directly impact the lives of the communities we serve,” Wilson added. “We look forward to working more closely with Joe and the Newsom administration on priorities that advance equity for Black Californians.”

Last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed Stephenshaw to the DOF role. In January, he made his first annual budget presentation as the state’s chief fiscal officer alongside the governor.

The post California Black Media News Roundup first appeared on Post News Group. This article originally appeared in Post News Group.

State law requires local governments to include housing elements in their general plans. A housing element must include, among other things, an assessment of housing needs, an inventory of resources and constraints relevant to meeting those needs, and a program to implement the policies, goals, and objectives of the housing element. The housing element is a crucial tool for building housing for moderate-, low-, and very low-income Californians. Huntington Beach has been out of compliance on its housing element since October 15, 2021, and last week in a 4-3 vote the City Council once again refused to adopt a draft housing element prepared by the city’s own staff. As a result, the state is seeking injunctive relief and penalties against the city for their ongoing failure to comply with state housing law.

Furthermore, under California’s Housing Accountability Act, cities that do not have a compliant housing element are subject to the socalled “Builder’s Remedy,” which allows project developers to submit housing projects with deed-restricted 20% low-income or 100% moderate-income without regard to local zoning and general plan standards.

Under the Builder’s Remedy provision, localities must approve these low- and moderate-income projects as long as they conform with objective building and design standards and comply with California Environmental Quality Act and the Coastal Act. These laws allow localities to address any specific, legitimate environmental or health and safety concerns on a projectby-project basis. As Huntington Beach remains non-compliant with the state Housing Element Law, the Builder’s Remedy is in effect, and the city must approve Builder’s Remedy projects that meet the legal criteria.

The city previously attempted to skirt the Builder’s Remedy by proposing an ordinance to ban Builder’s Remedy projects. On February 13, HCD and the Attorney General warned the city’s planning commission that the proposed ordinance would violate state law. Attorney General Bonta and HCD continue to closely monitor the progress of the proposed ordinance, as well as the city’s actions on any Builder’s Remedy project applications submitted to the city, and stand ready to take legal action if necessary.

State leaders stand united in their commitment to defending and increasing access to affordable housing in California. In 2021, Attorney General Bonta announced the creation of a Housing Strike Force within the California Department of Justice aimed at advancing housing access across the state. The same year, Governor Newsom launched a Housing Accountability Unit to increase stringent enforcement and oversight at the local level to create more housing, faster across California. Members of the public are encouraged to visit the California Department of Justice’s Housing Portal and HCD’s website for more resources and information aimed at supporting access to housing.