Column: Representation matters. But a Mayor Karen Bass means more for Black women in L.A.
KAREN BAASS
October 21, 2010
LOS ANGELES — In the aftermath of this year’s election, when the Black community in Los Angeles looked to black women to lead by example, Karen Bass, Mayor of Los Angeles, called on us to step up and make history. Today, I am proud to be able to say I am a part of that legacy. As a professional, as a businesswoman, and as a mother and wife, I am proud to be able to work with Mayor Bass to help achieve her goals for the City of Los Angeles and for our black community.
I am also proud of the work I have done in the past with Mayor Bass as the executive director of the Los Angeles Women’s Business Council (LAWBC). The city’s economic prosperity depends on the jobs that businesses create and on the investments that new businesses make in their communities. To succeed, businesses must be healthy, their employees must be engaged and their communities must have access to job and educational opportunities for all Black women.
Our black women should be leaders who create opportunities for our community. Our community’s collective voice is stronger when we are active in our politics and in our lives. When you can make a difference in your community every day, not for just one day, but on a daily basis, then you have made a difference.
I want to share with you some of what my community has learned through the collective effort of my friends in the black business community. My community is working hard to help get the mayor’s ambitious citywide plans for economic growth and community development on track. These plans would provide new investment in our neighborhoods. We will see more investment, more jobs, more education and more opportunities for families to succeed.
The work of the Women’s Business Council is very important to me, and I encourage other black female business owners in the city to get involved with the council and to learn from what we have done in the past to put our business agenda front and center of our efforts to grow our community. If you are involved and know someone who is, please encourage them to