Source: Brandi Williams / BRANDI WILLIAMS
Last week the NBA announced it would move the 2017 All-Star Game after negotiations with state legislators failed to repeal House Bill 2, or HB2, commonly known as the bathroom bill. HB2 has been widely criticized for being discriminatory against the LGBT community, mandating that persons must use the bathroom of their birth sex. In addition, the bill limits how people pursue claims of discrimination because of race, religion, color, national origin, biological sex or handicap in state courts and means a city or county cannot set a minimum wage standard for private employers.
The departure of the All-Star game is just one of many to pull business from North Carolina because of HB2. A number of performers, including Bruce Springsteen, Maroon 5 and Pearl Jam, have canceled concerts and businesses like PayPal have decided not to come to North Carolina as a result of the legislation. All together it is estimated that this will have a significant economic impact, with the loss of the All-Star Game, costing the City of Charlotte to loose an estimated $100 million. ‘COMMUNITY VOICES’ Guest host, Brandi Williams Tiffany Fant, community activist and founder of Ubuntu Community Project a three-tier response plan for building economic opportunity for black Charlotte and Jason Warner is the CEO of Own the Vision Foundation. Own the Vision serves as a catalyst to develop Black communities across America. The Foundation helps redirect black dollars spent in America back to the black community.
