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A recent ForbesBLK conversation featuring ForbesBLK Community Manager Ayisha Mendez and social-impact leader Michael D. Smith pushed the familiar, feel-good message that grit is a muscle entrepreneurs can build and that Black leaders should lean into the AI boom to solve business and social problems. The exchange, promoted by ForbesBLK as part of its mission to champion Black entrepreneurs and leaders, framed technology as an opportunity to create businesses and address issues like mental health and literacy.
Michael D. Smith — an honoree on ForbesBLK’s lists and the newly announced president and CEO of Eckerd Connects — spoke from the perspective of someone who has spent decades in public service and nonprofit leadership, including his recent tenure in federal roles. His story of personal perseverance is real and worth respect, but his prescription for community uplift leans heavily on institutional programs and tech-driven solutions rather than the hard, patient work of private enterprise.
Conservatives should welcome any message that emphasizes grit and personal responsibility, because free people building businesses is what grows wealth and strengthens families. But we must be blunt: celebrating “muscles of grit” from a nonprofit podium is not the same as unleashing the private-sector engine that actually creates jobs, products, and long-term opportunity. If we want durable progress, we reward risk, entrepreneurship, and the market’s relentless demand for value — not more grant-funded pilot programs.
There is a real chance in AI for small businesses and local entrepreneurs to level up, and yes, Black founders should be in that fight — not parceled out as tokens for corporate diversity PR. What worries conservatives is the other side of the equation: the tendency for big tech, big philanthropy, and an ever-expanding government to co-opt innovation, centralize power, and lecture communities about “solutions” while picking winners and losers. Technology is a tool, not a substitute for character, local leadership, and the rule of law.
Smith’s focus on using technology to tackle mental health and literacy reflects noble impulses, but conservatives must ask who controls those tools and who pays for scale. Public-private partnerships can work, but history shows that when programs prioritize feel-good metrics over accountability, taxpayers and families suffer. We should champion transparent, accountable efforts that empower families and local businesses — especially in communities that have been told for decades that government and nonprofits are the only pathways out.
If ForbesBLK’s message is that Black entrepreneurs should master grit and adopt AI, that’s worth applauding — as long as the emphasis remains on building businesses that survive market scrutiny. Conservatives should push for policies that expand access to capital, lower regulatory barriers, promote school choice, and teach technical skills so young people can compete, not just be celebrated on a list. The goal must be opportunity, ownership, and independence, not dependency dressed up as “community impact.”
Ayisha Mendez and the ForbesBLK platform are right to spotlight rising Black leaders and the tools available to them, but the center of gravity for real change must be private enterprise, family, and local churches and civic groups that hold people to high standards. Hardworking Americans of every background deserve a culture that prizes grit, rewards risk, and refuses to let elites decide who counts as a leader. That is the conservative case for building strong communities and a thriving, inclusive economy.
