KC GIFT fighting systemic racism by investing in black-owned businesses [Video]

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – A Kansas City-based nonprofit is fighting against systemic racism by bridging the gap for black-owned businesses. The nonprofit KC GIFT has awarded $1.7 million in grants to 73 Black-owned businesses.

“We are going to continue to do the work and our goal is to make sure that we can continue to be a resource. Collaboration is powerful and we have strong networks of business owners in this city but we want to continue to foster that environment,” said KC GIFT chief program officer Karis Harrington, “Whatever it takes to grow a strong black economic ecosystem, we want to have a part in that,”

GIFT stands for Generating Income for Tomorrow. The business center is located in Kansas City’s urban corridor on 50th and Prospect which is where they’ve identified a great need. They say due to discriminatory redlining practices in the 1920s and 1930s on …