General Motors Chairman and CEO Mary Barra refuses to sit down with Black-Owned Media Companies

Today black media made it perfectly clear that we will not be ignored! The following one-page ad was published with an open letter by Byron Allen’s, Allen Media Group, and others to General Motors CEO Mary Barra in the Detroit Free Press:

“Why???  We were seriously offended watching you stand on stage, after the death of George Floyd, saying, “Black Lives Matter,” when you have refused to acknowledge us and you have consistently, over time and after multiple requests, refused to take a meeting with the largest Black-Owned Media companies in America.  Mary, the very definition of systemic racism is when you are ignored, excluded and you don’t have true economic inclusion. 

General Motors spends billions of dollars in advertising and less than 0.5% goes to Black-Owned Media (not to be confused with Black Targeted Media).  This is horrendous, considering that we as African Americans make up approximately 14% of the population in America and we spend billions buying your vehicles.  Mary, you have asked us to meet with your Chief Marketing Officer, Deborah Wahl.  We have absolutely no interest in that because when Deborah was Chief Marketing Officer of McDonald’s, in our opinion, Black-Owned Media was, once again, severely neglected, minimized, and discriminated against.  To be clear, Black-Owned Media and not minority-owned, because minority includes white women and large corporations like General Motors can hide behind and tout their minority records while continuing not to do business with Black-Owned Media companies.

Mary, true leaders must lean in and personally address the real issues in our society and in business.  We are publicly asking you to stop the systemic racism by General Motors against Black-Owned Media companies.  We are requesting a one-hour Zoom meeting with you and several of your key board members and us, the largest Black-Owned Media companies in America, so we can resolve this very important issue and have a long-term partnership that’s mutually beneficial for General Motors and the African American consumers.  Mary, we and others firmly believe that if you continue to hold the position that Black-Owned Media doesn’t deserve meaningful economic inclusion and we are not worth meeting with, then you should resign, effective immediately.”

POINT BLANK PERIOD!

This should not be tolerated and the decent thing to do would be to simply acknowledge black media and the impact that we have in communities. We will see what happens next.

Photo Credit via GM and content via AMG Allen Media Group