Non-profit helps Black entrepreneurs in Mississippi Delta

Tim Lampkin (NPR photo by Kirk Siegler)

"The mostly rural Mississippi Delta has long been synonymous with racial and economic inequality. Yet today there are a growing number of small, economic bright spots, due in part to a grassroots effort that's trying to right some of the wrongs of the past," Kirk Siegler reports for NPR.

Though the Delta's population is mostly Black, relatively few Blacks own businesses, especially Black women. There are a number of reasons: distrust of banks, banks' reluctance to lend to Black entrepreneurs, lack of local role models and more, Siegler reports. But non-profits like Higher Purpose Co. are mentoring Black business owners, assisting with everything from securing grants and loans to navigating everyday operating issues.

Tim Lampkin, 35, founded Higher Purpose when he moved back to his hometown of Clarksdale after working in corporate America. He noticed that most local businesses were white-owned, even though more than 80% of the town's 15,000 residents are Black.

Ensuring that people of color can succeed as entrepreneurs is critical, according to Bill Bynum. He has worked to help Black entrepreneurs in the Delta since the 1990s, and has served as a White House economic advisor to Republicans and Democrats, including Joe Biden. "People of color are an emerging majority and if we leave the emerging majority of Americans on the outside of the economy, then we are really in for trouble," Bynum told Siegler.