COVID-19 Updates, News, White House Report

Big Brands File for Bankruptcy While Black Owned Business Await PPP Stimulus Loans

April Ryan
May 6, 2020

A person wearing a protective face mask as a precaution against the coronavirus walks past a shuttered J. Crew storefront in Philadelphia, Monday, May 4, 2020. The parent company of clothing chain J. Crew has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, yet another casualty of the coronavirus pandemic that is wreaking havoc on the retail world. Retail veteran Mickey Drexler led J. Crew for more than a decade, helping it become a coveted fashion brand before it hit a multi-year sales slump. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

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Obama family favorite J. Crew has filed for bankruptcy promising to reemerge as a profitable company.

But what of the minority owned businesses that are still hoping for approval for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, the hundreds of billions the federal government is guaranteeing for small business? April Ryan speaks with Rev. Jesse Jackson, who wants an economic package comparable to what Blacks are looking for politically. How could the Trump Administration target Black-owned businesses who have been locked out of stimulus loans?

Click ▶️ to listen to AURN Washington Bureau Chief April Ryan’s White House Report:

House Financial Services Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters, takes her mask off to speak during a signing ceremony for the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act, H.R. 266, after it passed the House on Capitol Hill, Thursday, April 23, 2020, in Washington. The almost $500 billion package will head to President Donald Trump for his signature. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

April Ryan has a unique vantage point as the only Black female reporter covering urban issues from the White House, a position she has held with AURN since the Clinton era. Her position as a White House Correspondent has afforded her heightened insight into the racial sensitivities, issues, and attendant political struggles of our nation. April has written three books; The Presidency in Black & White: My Close-Up View of Three Presidents and Race in America, At Mama's Knee: Mothers and Race in Black and White, and Under Fire: Reporting from the Front Lines of the Trump White House. Twitter: @aprildryan