JJ Johnson on Support for Black-Owned Businesses

In light of recent events including the trial and conviction of Derek Chauvin, we bring you an important conversation with James Beard Award-winning chef JJ Johnson. Johnson describes the challenges of black business ownership and how to support black-owned businesses. “Don’t say you care about black lives if you can’t walk into a black-owned business and look on the shelves and give it the same amount of money that you give a white-owned business,” says Johnson. There continue to be systemic barriers, as well. “When I was applying for my PPP money, I got declined three times. There are a lot of black-owned businesses that just weren’t able to get PPP money to stay alive,” Johnson explains about the Payment Protection Program within the CARES Act that has provided support for small businesses during the pandemic. Join us for a conversation with an award-winning chef using his talents and voice to build lasting change.