Amos 3:3 Can two walk together unless they have agreed to do so?
his blog is not intended to discriminate against anyone, rather it was written to encourage any group of people who have been historically and systematically discriminated against and showed implicit bias. Whether it be through racism, classism, caste systems or sexism, economic discrimination is unjust and wrong. Though it may seem that I am being political in this blog, I strongly feel that I am not being so. I truly think that there must be justice everywhere before ALL men and women can truly be free. I welcome your feedback but please know, this information is not to bring division. It is merely to bring awareness and a new mindset toward Black business ownership and support in a time when the majority of the Black population in the United States of America does NOT invest in or capitalize their own community of entrepreneurs and businesses owners. I earnestly believe the scripture in Proverbs 11:1 – “Dishonest scales are an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is His delight.” God delights in justice and honorable business practices. Bringing balance and equity to the Black economic scene is another way of allowing the Kingdom of God to flourish on Earth.
Economic disparities and injustice affects EVERYONE. If equality was a reality, there would be no reason for this message. Yet in 2020, I find myself talking about the very same things I used to talk about as a young child with my great grandmother Medora on her porch in Yazoo City, Mississippi in the early 1970’s. My great grandmother was a very wise woman and she used to talk to me, even as a little girl, about heavy and interesting things. I guess she knew I was an old woman trapped in a 7 or 8 year old body. I remember her talking to me about science, astronomy, social studies and economics. No, she wasn’t formally educated, so her talks were about how things grew and how lines matching would form angles and measurements. She showed me the stars and talked about how punching holes in the sky from space rockets would eventually disturb the atmosphere and cause growing problems in weather patterns. And that wise woman in her 90’s told me about the social injustices of being Black in America and how our skin was never going to be good enough for them but our dollars they would willingly take. Medora taught me the game very early and I never forgot the rules. So listen up:
Black America.
I need you to understand the game. So what these companies are apologizing for their ignorance and giving donations in the name of Black Lives Matter. What is a one time $10 million pledge going to do against the scale of $1.7 TRILLION annual spending by our people?
Here’s the current playbook:
1. Something happens to offend/decimate the Black community.
2. “They” placate with words and small monetary/PR gestures.
3. We accept the lame effort/apology.
4. Things go back to “normal”, with no Black board members, executives, or policy makers at the table and no significant investment in our neighborhoods and economic corridors.
5. We continue to purchase their goods/services.
6. They renege on their promise for real change and investment.
7. We take 15 more steps backwards.
$1.7 TRILLION in buying power, key word not being dollar but POWER. Time we make them feel it in their pockets for a change.
For once, this generation of Blacks will have to exercise our #blackpowerindollars. It will be a sacrifice but it will make change, significant and lasting change to the economic and social foundations of all of America.
Here is my suggestion for a NEW playbook:
1. Research and support and SPEND in Black Businesses. (Stop giving excuses against them and stop tearing them down and berating them too.)
2. Join a group, organization or effort to help support your choices in spending your Black dollars. (It shouldn’t matter who gets the credit or leads the group as long as it is reputable and effective.)
3. STOP feeding our Black dollars into fruitless and bottomless efforts, like the lottery. For example, 70% of the lottery sales in Illinois comes from the south and west sides of Chicago. SEVENTY PERCENT. How could that money be funneled into our neighborhoods directly?
4. #eatblack The biggest consumer of fast food in America is Black people. If your favorite fast food chain is not making SIGNIFICANT investments in the Black community, stop supporting them. Period. Support local, Black owned restaurants, cafes and Black owned franchisees ONLY. (I LOVE White Castles but they donate 100% of their political dollars to the Republican party; I’m sad I bought my last slider FOREVER on yesterday. I’m not giving them another DIME until I see SIGNIFICANT changes in policy.)
5. Stop your ears up against the rhetoric of corporate America and the fragility of white businesses. They realize our economic power more than we do. (Black Americans have the 9th largest GDP in the WORLD. We’re literally a nation within a nation.) That’s why they are all rushing to make ads and issue statements. Unless we see real and systemic change in corporate behavior, I don’t care who it is, boycott, boycott, BOYCOTT.
7. STOP using generic and grandiose excuses to make yourself exempt from the hardship of participating in boycotting and “Black”outs and the sacrifices necessary to buy Black. (Selma showed us that it takes effort, discipline and TIME to effect change. 97% of Black Selma participated in the bus boycott. It lasted 381 days but it crippled that city and caused changes that still ripples through time now.)
8. Recognize that there are allies in other minorities and whites but understand and know that we must learn “To thine own self be true” and “Take care of home first”. Now is the season for us to enact what the Jewish, Mexican, Chinese and others have already learned: we gotta take care of our own! So no offense but we are not supporting yours until we start supporting ours. Sorry Vietnamese nail salon owners.
9. Educate, educate, EDUCATE others in your sphere of influence to get uncomfortable and #buyblackourcommunity.
It is the time to make some REAL change. We literally cannot afford to go back to normal economically or socially.
???? Black Americans, please use this fragile time in history to come together on one accord and make a real commitment to seeing our people do better. Use your resources wisely and expand your database of Black owned businesses and services. It doesn’t mean you have to discriminate or be biased against any other race. It just means you can INTENTIONALLY support and purchase from your own.
❤️ Minority Americans, please recognize that if the white supremacists get their way and get rid of Black Americans they WILL turn their tactics upon you. History has proven this time and time again. They will turn on anyone they see as weaker than them. Help by being an ally in this fight against systemic racism. Do not allow the common enemy of HATE divide us by something as trivial as skin color.
???? White Americans, please acknowledge that systemic racism is real. Search your hearts and decide if you even want to know the truth about your own biases, stereotypes and racism, then act positively upon it. The fact is when oppressors have no one else left to oppress they turn upon themselves. Today it may be Black people, but remember yesterday it was the Irish, Italians, Polish and Slovic. Tomorrow it may be brown and hazel eyed White people. But in their warped eyes, there will always be someone who is on the bottom of an oppressors totem pole…
