Since April, when the $2 trillion COVID-19 Stimulus Bill was passed and the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) began to address COVID-19’s financial hits, the first study to look at the novel coronavirus’ impact on Black and Latinx business owners, conducted by the Color Of Change and UnidosUS, found that 45 percent of these businesses will have to close by the end of the year, and only one in 10 reported that they had received funding.

Responding to the lack of federal help for entrepreneurs of color, former National Basketball Association (NBA) all-star Magic Johnson and Rafael Martinez, majority owner of the asset-based lender MBE Capital Partners, announced they will provide $100 million in loans, on MSNBC’s “PoliticsNation with Al Sharpton,” on May 17.

So, I know how important it is to keep those employees working, keep those Black and Brown people working in those small businesses in our community,” Johnson told Sharpton.

The Federal Stimulus Survey Findings study, conducted from April 30 to May 12, showed that Black and Latinx business owners are indeed worried about the issues that Johnson mentioned.

Upon recognizing that the PPP left many small business owners of color out in the cold, Martinez told Sharpton that when he and Johnson decided to fill the federal financial void, they did so in a week.