First Lady Pool Reports of February 3, 2024

FLOTUS began speaking at 8:47 p.m. at the Fifteen Percent Pledge Gala at Paramount Studios in Hollywood.

The Fifteen Percent Pledge is a nonprofit organization that asks businesses to commit 15 percent of their shelf space to Black-owned brands. Saturday evening's celebration is the third iteration of the annual event and the first to take place in Los Angeles.

Speech highlights to follow.

FLOTUS pool report #2/Fifteen percent pledge gala

FLOTUS gave a five minute speech emphasizing the importance of supporting Black entrepreneurship and the steps POTUS has taken in office to advance equity and dismantle racial barriers to accessing capital.

This includes:

• Investing $12 billion in community lenders to expand access to capital for small and minority owned businesses.
• Doubling the amount of government loans given to small Black owned businesses.
• Making it easier for businesses in underserved communities to earn federal contracts.
• Signing an executive order to advance racial equity and support for underserved communities through the federal government.

A few quote highlights from FLOTUS's speech at the Fifteen Percent Pledge Gala in Hollywood:

• There are certain moments in history that stir our souls, wrench our hearts and shake our collective conscience so viscerally, so profoundly, so completely, that they command our attention and demand our action. George Floyd's murder was one of those moments.
• These moments of reckoning are not just about the months following a tragedy. The real work of lasting change lies in the moments when history zags, when progress seems to ebb, when the marchers have all gone home and the spotlight has receded, when the backlash has swelled, and opponents are working harder to erase the hard fought gains that we've made. We can't let them prevail.
• President Biden knows that structural barriers and deep disparities have made it so much more difficult for Black entrepreneurs to start businesses to raise capital and to access credit.
• I want you to know that my husband, President Biden, is your partner. He understands that systemic change requires direct action.