Marc Morial

So I had these, uh, you know, entrepreneurial activities.

And while I was doing this, I was in college or in law school.

So I was doing this while I was doing something else.

And, uh,

you know, truly business formation and entrepreneurship is part of civil rights.

Because what it is, it's about building economic independence, income, and wealth.

And, you know, our ancestors, forefathers, foremothers who lived from the end of slavery until the civil rights generation

were incredible entrepreneurs and pioneers.

They built businesses, they built funeral homes, they built insurance companies, they built construction businesses.

You know, I remember in New Orleans when I grew up, black people could not, they wouldn't sell houses to black people

So what black people would do would, in the working class and middle class, black people would buy a lot and get a black contract and build a house.

They would build the type of house they couldn't buy.

Right, right.

Get a lot, built a house and they were black contractors, Mr. Barnes, Mr. Gayno.

I mean, these guys were incredible, right?

Because they were great builders and they built with high quality and they used all black artisans and craftspersons.

You know, they used black carpenters and black drywall folks and black bricklayers and black concrete people and black guy with the pile driving.

You know, we had a true, you know, black economy.

It was, you know, it was the economy where people were building independence, you know, and lived independently.

We had that.