In the days following George Floyd’s death, over 200 major companies made statements supporting social justice. Almost all of those statements were made via Twitter. They used words like “justice”, “solidarity” and “equality”. If the responses of some of the most economically powerful organizations on the planet can be summed up in less than 280 characters, we have a problem.

That’s not a discussion on racism. That’s not a roadmap to economic empowerment. That’s a snapshot for social media. We need a plan.

This documentary —​ Broken Chains —​ is meant to give perspectives on how we move on from here. Systemic racism is prevalent in corporate life, sports, social life, etc. We can’t solve all these problems in one go but we intend to give some insight on one of the larger issues amongst people of color: access to opportunity and the generation of wealth.

The average black family has 1/10th the wealth of a white family. Less than 1% of Fortune 500 CEOs are black. Closing the black wage gap could add 2.7 trillion in income or +0.2% in GDP per year [add one more punchy stat ideally about access to capital]. There is a racial disconnect in the economy at all levels, that infects every other aspect of society from education, to healthcare, to political representation. Those aren’t necessarily the words we all want to hear, but those are the facts.

Broken Chains features candid interviews with some of today’s leading economists, educators, entrepreneurs, investors, policymakers, and technologists. As we explore their hopes, fears, and frank assessments of what needs to be done to fix the broken economy for so many.

Broken Chains’ narrative focuses on critical inflection points where institutional racism and economic reality meet – which if we get them right – hold the keys to closing the racial wealth gap in America: Education, Government & Policy, Investments, Media, Networks, Entrepreneurship, Professional Sports and Entertainment, Corporate Leadership.