Blackonomics: 'The Cost of NOT Doing Business'

by Jim Clingman
cross-posted from Blackonomics

Over the past few decades Black people have been led to believe that we have “power” because we earn and spend so much money in the marketplace, now having eclipsed the $1 trillion mark. As the most studied consumer segment in the world, Black Americans are touted by dozens of studies as the most brand loyal and the biggest spenders, especially on specific goods and services such as fast foods, movies, cellphones, hair and skin care, and sweetened drinks, just to name a few. Is that power? Well, it is for those on the receiving end of those dollars, but not so for Black consumers. It’s more akin to a weakness.

You have heard the term, “The cost of doing business,” which means that folks in business have certain costs that come with the territory. Some characterize it by saying, “It takes money to make money.” Agreed, of course; but how much money does it take for businesses that Black consumers support to make more money? What is their cost of doing business within the Black consumer segment? The answer: little or nothing. They get our money with little effort or reciprocity.

So why do studies always point out that we have power in the marketplace? Black spending power, Black purchasing power, and the power of the Black consumer are all phrases that are utilized by researchers who point to our billions in consumption spending. The question is “power.” Are we powerful simply because we spend a lot of money?

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Blackonomics: 'Putting Our Dollars Under Arrest'

by Jim Clingman
cross-posted from Blackonomics

Here’s an intriguing concept: Arrest the Black dollar. Say what, Jim? You read it correctly. We should arrest our dollars and charge them with neglect. Put them on trial, call the witnesses to testify against them, and convict them of crimes against Black people. Sentence them to a minimum of five years hard labor with no possibility of parole. That’s right, lock them up and make them work for their keep by producing distribution companies, supermarkets, financial institutions, and entrepreneurs.

Since our dollars are not making sense, we should discipline and punish them by keeping them locked up and making them work until they do start making more sense. Right now our dollars are “wilding out” in the marketplace, making everyone happy and secure except us. They are “raining down” at strip clubs; they are beating a path to jewelry stores and exchanging themselves for gaudy trinkets and ornaments; they are hangin’ out at “da club” to pay for expensive vodka, champagne, and other top-shelf liquors. They definitely need to be disciplined.

Our dollars are filling the coffers of profiteers who know that all they have to do is make the most ridiculous item in return for them. Black dollars are strewn at the feet of shyster preachers who “anoint” them by running back and forth on top of them, as they shout, “Money cometh to me!” At least they are telling the truth about that part.

Black dollars are running wild, out of control, in our neighborhoods. They run as fast as they can to the businesses of everyone other than Black people. They are jealous as well and are always trying to outspend one another by purchasing a bigger car, a bigger house, the latest gym shoes, clothing, and all the accoutrements of what they believe to be the “good life.”

More than one trillion Black dollars are acting inappropriately, committing economic crimes against Black people. They really need to be controlled and contained before they destroy us. Our dollars are weak, and are vulnerable to the constant lure of trivial things and dishonest people who are waiting to trap them with their platitudes and false doctrines. If we put our dollars in labor camps where they could work for us all day long, imagine how quickly we could revive our economic power.

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Blackonomics: 'No Justice, No Profit!'

Jim Clingman

by Jim Clingman
Cross-posted from Blackonomics

In a previous article, “The Profit of Protest,” I noted the ridiculous scenario of Black people protesting while others profited, how we travel across the nation to march and never march into a Black hotel, a Black restaurant, or to a Black owned bus company to get to the march, or fill up at a Black owned gas station. I ended that column by noting that we count people “at” our protests while others count profits “from” our protests. Through the years I have wondered when we would “get it.” It took a group of young people who went to Ferguson, Missouri over the Labor Day weekend to encourage me in that regard.

They get it. The Howard University Student Association, led by its incoming President, Mr. Leighton Watson, organized a 13-hour bus trip from Washington, D.C. to protest alongside other students from Washington University and other colleges. They went to stand with the residents of Ferguson to seek real solutions to the issues that plague that city.

An interesting thing happened on their way to the march. Those young people marched to a Black company to charter their bus. When they got there they marched to a Black restaurant to eat. They made every effort to find a Black owned hotel, but the Roberts Hotel in St. Louis is closed. They did, however, manage to get accommodations at a black owned franchised hotel. They let their money speak as they protested; I even saw a sign that said, “No Justice, No Profit.”

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Blackonomic$: Can't We All Get Along?

Blackonomics
By: James Clingman

Can’t we all get along?
Looks like Rodney King is living in the White House these days, y’all. Before you start writing your letters and e-mails to me for having the nerve to say something negative about our President, consider our current situation. We need to open our eyes and our minds to the reality of politics, once and for all, by understanding the nature of the beast.

You’ve heard the story about the frog that the scorpion get on his back for a ride across the pond. The frog said he would do it if the scorpion would not sting him. The scorpion assured the frog he would not harm him in return for the ride across the water. When they reached the other side, the scorpion stung the frog; and as the frog lay dying he said, “You promised you wouldn’t sting me,” to which the scorpion replied, “I was just being true to my nature.”

Lying, backstabbing, grandstanding, accepting bribes, assassinating one’s character, cheating, stealing, cursing, and fighting are among the characteristics on display among many of our politicians. In other words they are a mirror of society in general. Too often we hold them up as paragons of integrity, ethics, and morality, only to be let down when they fall from grace.

We send them to Washington with more financial security than most of us could ever dream of having, and they pass laws that adversely affect us but have no effect on their lives. They debate Social Security and healthcare but are not required to participate in the same programs they legislate for us. They determine how we will live, without having to be subjected to those same rules, and without having to pay a price for being wrong. What a life, huh?

Now we have a President who seems to think he can change the political landscape; he seems to believe that hundreds of years of political gamesmanship can be swept aside, and common sense will prevail. He subscribes to the notion that all he has to do is make a speech, do a town hall meeting, or an interview explaining his agenda, and all will be well in Washington and in this country. He seems to be asking the Rodney King question over and over again. And coming from the President of the Untied States, someone who knows how politics works, it sounds even more ridiculous.

Barack Obama was swept into office by a riptide of emotion, hope, and exasperation at the previous eight years. He was ballyhooed and ushered in on the fragile wings of instant stardom and fame, so much so that it seems he even believed the hype. But, now that he is in office, and the crazies have come out of woodwork, he finds himself having to respond to the ire of many of the same folks who hailed him as their new chief on January 20, 2009.

Obama is busy plugging holes is the dike and is fast running out of fingers. He was forced to take time to have a beer with two guys who had a spat, and offered it to us as a teachable moment that would demonstrate we can indeed all get along. He is on the road explaining his healthcare plan, trying desperately to get his opponents to get on board and get along with him as well. He is attempting to be all things to all people, albeit disciplinary when it comes to Black people; but that’s another article. All of this in his utopian endeavor to have us all get along.

Memo to President Barack Obama: After Rodney King was beaten senseless by those police officers, all he could utter is “Can’t we all get along?” All he could muster the nerve to say before the cameras of the world, before a public shocked beyond their imagination at what happened to him, recorded for everyone to see, was “Can’t we all get along?” It was his time to shine, his time to teach, his time to enlighten; but he blew it big time and squandered his fifteen minutes of fame with that immature, naïve, rhetorical question.

In this country, Mr. President, as you well know, the political system of which you are now at least the titular leader is a system grounded in rancor and adversity, a system that wreaks of discord, a system comprising childlike adults who always want their way, and a system based on a 250-year struggle for the ultimate aphrodisiac: power. You are in charge of a system whose participants have fought like cats and dogs over every little thing, and now you pose the question, “Can’t we all get along.

After years of being beat up, all while watching it take place before our eyes on the evening news; most of the folks who elected you are not down with the Rodney King inquiry. We expect much more from you. Get some backbone, stand up to the political thugs and do the right thing. Don’t go down as simply a “big-baller,” be a true “shot-caller.” And how about looking out for Black folks every now and then too? After all, you are the President.

Politicians have been battling for centuries, and have demonstrated in no uncertain terms that the answer to the question, Can’t we all get along?” is an emphatic, unequivocal, unapologetic, “NO.

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James E. Clingman, an adjunct professor in the University of Cincinnati's African American Studies Department, is former editor of the Cincinnati Herald newspaper and founder of the Greater Cincinnati African American Chamber of Commerce. He hosts the radio program ''Blackonomics'' and has written several books. To book Clingman for a speech or to purchase his books, go to his Web site or call him at (513)489-4132.

Blackonomics Million Dollar Club

I shared information with villagers earlier this year about the effort to rejuvenate the Blackonomics Million Dollar Club (BMDC). In fact, I recently created a BMDC Facebook group to support this effort.

Jim Clingman is the brother that created BMDC a few years ago. He recently shared an update on BMDC at recent Bring Black Back conference. His comments are shown in the video below:



There is no cost to join BMDC. Just place your email address on the BMDC mailing list. That list is how BDMC communicates with its members.

I hope that all villagers take a moment to participate in this process. In the meantime, I would love to hear your comments on this idea. What say u?

Books or Bullets: The Choice is Ours

Drumbeats from Blackonomics pointed us to the Books or Bullets blog. Here I discovered a program that I encourage all Villagers to consider. Do you believe that we are experiencing not a generation gap but an information gap and we will work towards raising the consciousness of the Black community, especially our youth. We have talked about ending Black-on-Black violence ... but, are we willing to take steps to stop youth violence and replace bullets with books?

We understand that during slavery, Black people were not allowed to read and we are still suffering from that legacy today. Later, Black schools were separate and unequal giving Black children an inferior education. Even today, Black children are taught a Euro-centric education that downplays the contributions of African people. This coupled with an entertainment industry that promotes and glamorizes ignorance is the reason that our youth are in their current condition. Since information about Black history has been stolen and information about current events has been hidden, the Books or Bullets Movement says "Stick em up!"

The program suggested for Villager consideration is as follows:


The Program

1. We must return to the "each one teach one principle."
2. We must develop study groups in communities across the country that will meet regularly to discuss Black history and how it applies to current events.
3. We must aggressively develop a more informed Black community by any means necessary.

How you can help?

1. Make a point to buy at "least" one book a month to give to a young person.
2. Clean out your closets and donate your old books dealing with Black history/issues to the Books or Bullets Movement.
3. Always keep information in your posession that you can pass on to a young person, whether it be a book, CD, DVD or a news clip.
4. Develop a syllabus of reading material that you can give to others either hand to hand or via email.
5. Use http://www.booksorbullets.com/ for an information clearing house to post news stories, book reviews and announcements about current events.
6. Encourage radio DJs to become involved by featuring at least a weekly segment discussing a book that gives the historical basis for current events.
7. Encourage barbershops, beauty salons and other places where our people gather to have a small library of conscious reading material.

Villagers, are you interested in following up on this program? If so, you can get more information by phone (919.451-8283) or email (info@nowarningshotsfired.com) .