Charles Barkley Pledges $1 Million to Fund Alabama Black Women’s Tech Startups

Former NBA star Charles Barkley said he is giving $1 million to fund black women who start tech-oriented businesses in Alabama on TNT Network’s NBA studio, reports WTVY.

“I’m proud of my people in Alabama,” he said during the broadcast. “Shout out to Doug Jones.” He then remarked, “You know what I’m going to do Ernie, I’ll announce it right now…I am pledging 1 million dollars to black women in Alabama to start IT startups,” he said. “Because black women really came out and supported Doug Jones…”

In typical Charles Barkley fashion, he added, “This does not mean hair salons or restaurants, black women…no more weave shops.”

Barkley, who hails from Alabama, was an enthusiastic supporter of Alabama’s senator-elect, Doug Jones.

On CNN, the Hall of Famer addressed the Democratic Party and the loyal support of African Americans, reports The Intercept’s Shaun King: 

Well, this is a wakeup call for Democrats. … They’ve taken the black vote and the poor vote for granted for a long time. It’s time for them to get off their ass and start making life better for black folks and people who are poor.

They’ve always had our votes, and they have abused our votes and this is a wakeup call. We’ve got it in a great position now, but this is a wakeup call for Democrats to do better for black people and poor white people.

And King wrote in his article:

The disparity between the loyalty of black voters and Democrats’ efforts to bring them into the circles of political and financial power extends to the way the party spends its money. Of the $759 million the Democratic Party spent on contractors back in 2010, a dismal 1.5% was spent on African American groups.