Could You 'Buy Black' For a Year?

Our country is in the midst of an economic crisis. One response ... demonstrated by the debate over the auto industry bailout ... is that we should 'Buy American'. Nothing radical about the idea. The concept is simple and effective. Spend discretionary funds in your own community in order to climb out of an economic downturn.

Can we do the same thing in the Black community? Can we recognize that the 20% unemployment in our community is a symptom of an economic crisis? Do we have the strength of mind and purpose to focus the 'Buy American' response into a more targeted 'Buy Black' campaign?

We have plenty of income in the Black community ... but, our inability to keep more than 5% of our spending with Black-owned businesses means that we have very little wealth in the Black community. Not surprising. If I give you 95 cents out of every dollar that I earn ... I'll be poor and you will be rich. The Black community gives 95 cents of every dollar to white-owned businesses. We are poor. They are rich.

One family in Chicago ... the Andersons ... plans to flip the script. For the Ebony Experiment, the Anderson Family publicly commits to exclusively ‘Buy Black’ for one year. They will live their lives as they normally do, except that each time they make an expenditure – from consumer goods to professional services to real estate and travel – they will make an exhaustive attempt to utilize Black businesses and Black professionals. In addition to actual new purchases, the Andersons will endeavor to convert any standing contracts (e.g. loans, bills, subscriptions, etc.) to adhere to their 'Buy Black' pledge.

Are you willing to support this effort? Can you find ways to 'Buy Black' in the coming weeks and months? Ken Bridges advocated for internal reparations ... and the Andersons appear to be doing it on a family level.

Please share your village voice on the 'Buy Black' concept. Will it work?

Internal Reparations

Barack Obama recently indicated that he opposes 'external reparations'. Many villagers are troubled by the idea of having the government follow-up on their apology with a modern-day version of 40 acres and a mule.

I think that Obama and most villagers would be in favor of 'internal reparations'. The late Ken Bridges talked about 'internal reparations' in the following talk given at a rally in Washington DC.

Ken Bridges, the co-founder of the MATAH Network, dedicated his life to the upliftment of African Americans. Ken was the 10th victim of the Washington DC snipers on October 11, 2002. What do you think about his comments on 'internal reparations'?