Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Dr. Rosie Milligan

(323) 750-3592

BWOT GLOBAL LEARNING ACADEMY BRIDGE THE LITERACY AND TECHNOLOGY GAP FOR AFRICAN AMERICANS

COVID-19 has brought to light the many inequities suffered by Black America for many decades in the healthcare delivery systems, employment opportunities and the education system. Black parents have gone to jail for placing their children in schools outside of their district to gain a quality education.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, people flooded my office with calls seeking help for completing applications for unemployment benefits, SBA loans, etc. My staff spent 50% of their time helping those in need of help. When we offered to assist them from home, we discovered many of them did not have a computer or Internet service. Many who had a computer and Internet services were computer illiterate. When we attempted to walk them through the process, they knew nothing about a browser or how they should use it, nor a URL. Then we knew we had to have them come into our office. We required them to wear a mask and we kept safe distances. Some had to wait in their car until we could bring them in for help—this was at no cost.

Many African American business owners did not have a web presence and many were not technology savvy—COVID-19 crippled them. Black Writers On Tour had to cancel the Black Writers on Tour & Southern California Black Business + Teck Expo slated for March 30, 2020, due to the COVID-19 shutdown. This year’s event included, for the first time, the Technology component. As we embark upon the technology era, I recognize the above deficiencies do not lend itself toward a good future for African American adults and children, which make the future for economic success to become bleak and impossible to compete in a global economy.

My organization, Black Writers on Tour, offered free classes for authors and business vendors on the following topics: 1) Introduction to Zoom, 2) Advanced Zoom Platform, 3) Introduction to Facebook Live and Proper Record Keeping for your business and tax compliance. We offered the record-keeping class as a response to the many who missed out on funds from SBA loans, and other financial help because of not having record keeping and tax information.

The above deficiencies and inequities prompted me to launch The BWOT Global Learning Academy. We offer classes on Basic Computer Made Simple, How to Use the Internet, What You Need to Know When Building A Website, and business classes. We recognize three things in life that are a guarantee: Death, Taxes, and Computer.

We offer classes via Zoom, personal Zoom classes, and personal training in your office or your home. We have learned that many elders prefer us to teach them on their computers in their homes. For information on classes we offer, visit bwotgloballearningacademy.com. We are all in this together and we will survive this if we see all as our brothers and sisters. We must do our part. Together we stand and divided we lean and then we fall.

Dr. Rosie Milligan, Senior Estate Planner, author, publisher, talk show host, founder of Black Writers On tour and BWOT Global Learning Academy and owner of Professional Business Management/Consulting Services, 1425 W. Manchester Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90047, 323-750-3592. Email: drrosie@aol.com—websites: Drrosie.com, blackwritersontour.com and bwotgloballerningacademy.com