Electronic Village

Our Million Man March occurred 22 years ago today. October 16, 1995. Over one million brothers standing peacefully on the mall of the U.S. Capitol in Washington DC ... with millions more watching on television around the world took a pledge to improve our lives and the lives of our wives, children and family.

A hush spread over the crowd as each of us raised our hands to take the following pledge:

I pledge that from this day forward, I will strive to love my brother as I love myself. From this day forward I will strive to improve myself spiritually, morally, mentally, socially, politically and economically for the benefit of myself, my family and my people.
I pledge that I will strive to build business, build houses, build hospitals, build factories and enter into international trade for the good of myself, my family and my people.
I pledge that from this day forward I will never raise my hand with a knife or a gun to beat, cut or shoot any member of my family or any human being except in self defense.
I pledge from this day forward, I will never abuse my wife by striking her, disrespecting her, for she is the mother of my children and the producer of my future.
I pledge that from this day forward, I will never engage in the abuse of children, little boys or little girls, for sexual gratification. But I will let them grow in peace to be strong men and women for the future of our people.
I will never again use the "b" word to describe any female, but particularly my own Black sister.
I pledge that from this day forward that I will not poison my body with drugs or that which is destructive to my health and my well-being.
I pledge from this day forward that I will support Black newspapers, Black radio, Black television. I will support Black artists who clean up their acts and show respect for themselves and respect for their people and respect for the heirs of the human family.
I will do all of this, so help me God.

There are two memories that I carry with me from that fall day in Washington DC. First, I remember leaving my wife at the Washington DC hotel where we were staying (the untold story of the Million Man March was the million woman that supported their efforts).

Anyhow, I took the DC metro to the mall ...and it was truly amazing to see dozens, then hundreds, then thousands of brothers all walking in the same direction. The early morning sun did not yet reach above the horizon and a million brothers were of one accord that day. What raw power and promise!

Second, I remember a point during the Million Man March where we were asked to support the event with our dollars.

Thousands of brothers began passing ones, tens and twenties ... folding money ... over our heads from the back of the mall all the way to the front where the money was being collected. No worries about someone pocketing the cash on the way ... just willing hands and willing hearts looking to make a difference on that day. Ujamaa in action.

Villagers, what do you recall about that day sixteen years ago? More importantly, what have you done since that day to live up to the pledges we made at the Million Man March?

Habari Gani? Ujamaa!

To build and maintain our own stores, shops and other businesses and to profit from them.
Cooperative economics can help African Americans take physical control of their own destinies. Did you know that 95% of all earnings in the Black community ends up in the hands of non-Black people? Is it any wonder that when one community has $1.95 and our community has a nickel ... that one community is more respected by local government; has better police relations; has better schools; has better economic outcomes? Perhaps it is time for us to celebrate this fourth principle of the Nguzo Saba principle, 'Ujamaa'!

We can always do more to support our people, because we all benefit when our brothers and sisters succeed. If it means going a block farther to a Black-owned store, let's do it. And if the quality of the merchandise or service disappoints us, let's communicate that to the owner so we give her every chance to rectify the situation and count on us as a permanent customer.

Let's buy books and albums by African Americans, and go to movies by African American directors. Remember the simple saying, "Put your money where your mouth is." Let's show support, and not decry the lack of it.

Those are my thoughts about Ujamaa. Please take a moment to join this online Kwanzaa celebration with me. What do you think when Ujamaa comes to mind?

Harambee!

Soulclap to John William Templeton for letting us know about National Black Business Month. This is a data-driven initiative to channel the creative energy of 2 million African American entrepreneurs as a driver of the global economy. Visit Black Money Worldwide to learn more.

Wednesday, Aug. 1 Support the $6 billion African American food service industry. Buy grocery products; visit a restaurant; book a caterer; buy produce or meats from a farmer. Find restaurants, farm coops, manufacturers in Say Grace and Wipe Yo' Hands. Join 50 Top Names in Black Food at Schomburg Center in Harlem for the opening event of National Black Business Month.
Thursday, Aug. 2 Invest in an African American publicly-traded company such as Amarantus BioSciences or American Shared Hospital Services
Friday, Aug. 3 Make an angel investment or use crowd-sourcing to support a start-up company.
Saturday, Aug. 4 Book seats at the African American theater company such as Chicago’s new Black Ensemble Theater
Sunday, Aug. 5 Attend and contribute to the work of an African American church like Zion Global Ministries in West Chester, Ohio.
Monday, Aug. 6 Contracting Accountability Day. Ask your local and state officials to boost job creation by investing in, contracting with and financing African American community based businesses.
Tuesday, Aug. 7 Spotlight on Uncle Sam Day. Connect with purchasers at federal agencies in your area to boost the 1.2 percent of purchases going to African American businesses. Ask to see the small business contracting plans of major federal contractors
Wednesday, Aug. 8 Higher Education Focus. Show support for HBCUs and ask other universities and colleges to utilize Black businesses and fund research by Black scientists and engineers. Many research universities are near Black neighborhoods but contribute little to their progress.
Thursday, Aug. 9 Utility and Energy Focus. Invite utility companies to utilize local African American owned businesses, particularly renewable energy innovators like 510Nano or Excellatron Solid State.
Friday, Aug. 10 School the Administrators. Ask your school principals and school facility and purchasing officials about using more African American-owned firms.
Saturday, Aug. 11 Visit one of the more than 100 African American museums such as the Charles Wright Museum in Detroit or the Schomburg Center in New York. Support the national tour of the Kinsey Collection.

Sunday, Aug. 12 Support an African American non-profit organization such as as BDPA Education and Technology Foundation, NAACP or the Urban League.
Monday, Aug. 13 Open an account with an African American financial institution like New Orleans’ Liberty Bank and Trust or Mechanics and Farmers in North Carolina. Find them at National Bankers Association
Tuesday, Aug. 14 Utilize an African American contractor for building, remodeling, repair. Visit the National Association of Minority Contractors.
Wednesday, Aug. 15 Book a stay or an event with member hotels of the National Association of Black Hotel Owners Operators and Developers (NABHOOD).
Thursday, Aug. 16 Make an appointment with members of the National Medical Association or National Dental Association
Friday, Aug. 17 Connect with a member of the National Association of Real Estate Brokers about housing opportunities
Saturday, Aug. 18 Buy products from a Black-owned beauty products company, support Black-owned beauty shops and barbers
Sunday, Aug. 19 Use environmentally-friendly products by Black manufacturers such as ChloroFill, EnCap
Monday, Aug. 20 Support African American beverage makers such as United Beverage Group or Heritage Link Brands.
Tuesday, Aug. 21 Utilize African American software and online developers such as Sciberus, Next Galaxy Media, Right Direction Technology Solutions, DB Consulting, BCA, Logicore, or Powertek
Wednesday, Aug. 22 Visit an African American bookstore like Marcus Books in San Francisco or purchase a book from a Black publisher; attend poetry reading or book signing at sites like Sankofa in Washington, D.C.

Thursday, Aug. 23 Support Black radio broadcasters by letting their supporters, advertisers know that you listen to Black radio.
Friday, Aug. 24 Subscribe to a Black-owned newspaper or magazine, like Cincinnati Herald.
Saturday, Aug. 25 Purchase a video or buy a seat for the work of a Black filmmaker.
Sunday, Aug. 26 Purchase gospel CDs or videos
Monday, Aug. 27 Select an African American independent school or tutorial service for your child; use ReUNION: Education-Arts-Heritage to provide culturally-responsive content; select African American educators for professional development
Tuesday, Aug. 28 Purchase back to school items from African American retailers including clothes, electronics, school suppliers or form buying clubs to gain reduced prices
Wednesday, Aug. 29 Buy automobile from an African American dealer
Thursday, Aug. 30 Invest with an African American securities dealer/fund manager/private equity broker.
Friday, Aug. 31 Make a political contribution to the African American candidate or campaign fund of your choice.

Read more. Also feel free to share ways that you are supporting this effort.

There is over $1 trillion flowing into the Black community. Less than 5% of it stays in our community because rarely do we spend OUR money in OUR community. The Anderson Family made a public pledge to buy from Black-owned businesses in 2009.

Isn't it time for the rest of us to support this effort? What say u?

Despite an economy represented by high unemployment rates, a home foreclosure crisis and low consumer confidence, African American buying power is projected to reach $1.2 trillion in 2013, according to a report conducted by the University of Georgia’s Selig Center for Economic Growth. That will be a significant increase over the roughly $800 billion Blacks are believed to have spent in 2006. [SOURCE]

The Selig Center for Economic Growth developed this definitive data series for 1990-2008 and the projections for 2008 through 2013.

In regards to income and wages, the African American median family income declined by $404 or 1 percent and the median weekly wage for African American workers ages 25 to 54 years old declined by 0.2 percent. The weekly wages for African Americans differ by gender—particularly, the median weekly wages of African American men declined in 2007 by 3.4 percent from $649 to $627, while it increased for women by 2.6 percent from $552 to $566.

$1.2 trillion seems like a number to celebrate. However, if we focus on "spending power" then we will be bamboozled and flim-flammed. Spending power ain't realy POWER because it does not translate into the power to have a sustained impact on our own destiny. Black folks spend too much time puffing out our chest about this so-called "spending power" ... when actually all that the $1.2 trillion dollars equals is our "disposable income" ... and Black folks surely know how to dispose of our income. We give away our money faster than any other ethnic group in the country. Only 5% of our disposable income stays in our community. We only spend 5% of our income with Black-owned businesses.

It’s not what you earn; it’s what you keep. Poor people pay interest; rich people earn interest.
If you have a dollar and the otherman has a dollar. You give 95 cents of your dollar to the otherman. Are you surprised when the otherman's roads are better; the otherman's public schools are better; the otherman's homes and cars are better? When you only keep a nickel out of your dollar in your own community ... can we be surprised when the police don't respect us; when our children don't respect us; when our school systems are bankrupt; when our public services from the local government are substandard. Spending power doesn't equal POWER.

You shouldn’t work for money; money should work for you. Don’t have champagne tastes with a beer budget.
$1.2 trillion seems like a number to celebrate. Nevertheless, a whopping 24.9 percent of all Blacks are still officially classified as poor and critics complain that despite its absolute size, Black income is failing to create Black wealth because it tends to flow into Black communities and right back out.

Villagers, don't be bamboozled. the difference between income and wealth when it comes to power is simple --> wealth flows from your net worth. What happens to you if you missed two paychecks? Many of us would be homeless if that happened.

Check out a person’s net worth and you can see how wealthy he or she is. The government tells us that the typical white household had over 10 times as much accumulated wealth (or net worth) as the typical Black household. The median net worth (assets minus liabilities) for the typical white family was $88,651 compared to $7,932 for Hispanics and $5,998 for Blacks. Do you begin to see the trick bag that is placed over our head when we focus on "spending power"?

Credit is a good servant but a poor master. Stop ending each month with more month than money.
Villagers, the next time you see the statistics on Black Buying Power, stop and think about the word “power” and what it means in that particular context. Power for whom? Yes, it’s Black Buying Power, but it’s power for those who receive some 95% of our $1.2 trillion everyday. It is power for others to purchase fine homes and cars. It is power for others to build their own communities. It is power for others to send their children to college. It is power that allows the otherman to maintain their collective hold on the economic system of this country.

Jim Clingman uses the term “Black Buying Weakness.” If we continue to give our power to someone else through our conspicuous consumption of their products and services, we will continue to have billions of dollars in aggregate income and only thousands of dollars in individual family wealth. Additionally, we will continue to have the power of income rather than the power of wealth, which only allows us to our pay bills, continue to work on the proverbial plantations, purchase all of our needs and wants from the proverbial company store, and create the power of wealth for others.

Do you remember the systems of sharecropping and dependence upon the company store shown in the final episodes of the Roots miniseries? It seems like we are repeating that same history today as we convert our $1.2 trillion of spending power into relative miniscule amount of wealth that Blacks have. We could never catch up then, and we will never catch up now, if we continue to depend upon income rather than wealth.

The power of wealth manifests itself in ownership and control of income-producing assets and infrastructure such as banks, hotels, manufacturing facilities, real estate, distribution channels, and other wealth-builders and wealth-retainers. The power of income manifests itself, via the transfer of that income to others, in ownership and control of assets by others from whom Black folks must purchase our very sustenance. If we allow that system to continue, by pouring the vast majority of our income into the vast pools of wealth owned by others, we will always be on the bottom of the economic heap. Yes, some of us will still have the latest cars, fine homes, stock portfolios, and high positions (jobs) in corporate America, but collectively we will remain an income-rich and wealth-poor group of Africans in America.

We must take stock of our economic position in this country by understanding that income is not wealth. Villagers, you are encouraged to redirect more of your income toward your own people, just like other groups do. And, the next time they count how much money we have collectively, they will add a footnote that says, “Black spending among Black owned businesses has increased significantly, the result of which is an increase in the net worth of Black families as well as an aggregate increase in Black wealth.”

The power of income or the power of wealth. Which would you prefer for our people?

Marking the tenth anniversary of its African American Business Services program, Wells Fargo Bank recently reached its initial goal of $1 billion loaned to Black-owned businesses, two years ahead of schedule.

Working with the National Black MBA Association, the bank announced a new goal of lending another $1 billion to Black business owners by 2018. An association spokesperson said, "We continue to support the significant growth of African American businesses by offering resources for existing business owners, small business professionals and aspiring entrepreneurs."

Do we have any villagers trying to take advantage of this Wells Fargo program?

Happy New Year! This is that time of year when all of us resolve to do better. We want to do better for ourselves ... for our family ... for our community ... for our nation. One way that Africans in America can do better is to be more conscious of how we spend out disposable income. We need to 'Buy Black' whenever possible.

We shared information on The Anderson Family and their unique experiment to 'Buy Black'. Could you make the same pledge that this family made for the new year?

Some of you tell me that you cannot locate Black-owned and Black-operated businesses. Symphony was kind enough to point us to USEBOBO.com. It is a remarkable website that provides an expanding directory of Black-owned and Black-operated businesses all around the nation.

Check it out and let us know what you think about it.

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 ou

t 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?

I served as president of the Cincinnati Business Incubator (CBI) for five years. It is a non-profit small business incubator that spurred economic growth and job creation in Cincinnati, Ohio. I am very proud of the work that we did at CBI during the time I spent there. Here is a video with some feedback from CBI clients, sponsors and board members:

Please share comments that you have on small business incubators ... either in Cincinnati or where you are located. I am curious to learn if other villagers have used incubators to help grow their own business.

Drumbeats from Buzzology Surveys about ways that you can Buy Black for Christmas.

What is the point of having so much Black spending power in this country if we are not going to use it to uplift and enhance the economy in our own community?

Have you considered making a conscious effort to spend your dollars with a Black-owned business over the next few weeks?

I have operated as a full-time entrepreneur since July 5, 2002. As a result, I stay attuned to information that impacts on Black business growth.

The Institute for Entrepreneurial Thinking is the leading authority on issues related to minority business development and supplier diversity. The Institute's mission is to help its clients improve the outcomes of their investments in these areas. Dr. Mel Gravely is a colleague here in Cincinnati. He owns The Institute and uses it to provide an objective, balanced and practical resource committed to providing leading edge insight about the evolving opportunities and challenges related to race and business.
I encourage all Villagers to check out the featured article in the November 2007 issue of The Entrepreneurial Thinker entitled, 'Can Mentoring Programs Really Grow Minority Businesses?'.

Are there any other entrepreneurs floating through our village?

It is no secret that I think that the NAACP hasn't been relevant in many yea

rs. When their national president resigned earlier this year I questioned whether the NAACP, with it's 64-person board of directors, could ever become relevant again. I served as a national president of a large association of Black IT professionals in 2004-2005. I know how difficult it is to move a national organization.

That being said, I was pleased to hear the drumbeats from the Wichita NAACP Blog about the NAACP Economic Reciprocity Initiative (ERI). This is a sustained effort on the part of NAACP to measure Corporate America's financial relationship to the Black community. Our Black spending power is over $700 billion. It is helpful that the NAACP provides a booklet with information that helps us spend more wisely.

One of the outgrowths of this effort is the creation of the NAACP Diversity Best Pra ctice Guide. This guide highlights the diversity and inclusion practices of the highest performing companies in each of the categories noted in the ERI. The Best Practices Guide is meant 1) to provide corporate executives, diversity practitioners, and human resource professionals with information to begin a dialogue about diversity and inclusion in corporate America, and 2) to be used as a mechanism to highlight what works as corporations continue to evaluate their current corporate diversity programs.

There is some good news in terms of advancements in employer diversity and community reinvestment. But, there is still

significant ground to cover to advance economic opportunity for African Americans. Here are the specific reports on companies in the following industries:

For the third year in a row, one of the nation's largest retailers, Target, has flat-out refused to participate. What are they hiding? Villagers, my hope is that you will tell Target to take the NAACP Surv ey. African Americans contribute more than $700 billion a year to the economy--and a substantial amount of those hard earned dollars are spent in stores like Target. We are serious about holding companies accountable for respecting the value of African American consumers.

Economic empowerment isn't just a financial issue, it's a civil rights issue. African American consumers want fairness in the marketplace, just as they do in all other aspects of their lives. We must demand economic diversity and transparency from corporate giants like Target. Tell Target to clarify its position on economic opportunity for African Americans by answering the NAACP's survey and supporting the Economic Reciprocity Initiative.

Villagers, we need to use information such as this to advance our belief in the principle of Ujamaa. We simply must learn how to better use our income and spending power to create wealth. I think that this is an issue that we will address more in the future.

According to data compiled recently by essayist and retired patent attorney Richard Everett, African Americans are projected to have spending power of approximately $1 trillion a year by 2010. That will be a significant increase over the roughly $800 billion Blacks are believed to have spent in 2006.

The projection was part of a collection of data Everett compiled to showcase Black progress in America over the last 40 years. His essay concludes that Black accomplishments during the 40-year-period "are absolutely remarkable considering the handicaps imposed on African Americans by the preceding 340 years of racism." Among his other findings were that revenues for Black-owned businesses reached $88.6 billion in 2002 - up 24 percent from 1997 and median Black household income rose to $30,858 in 2005 - up from $25,642 in 1985.

$1 trillion seems like a number to celebrate. However, if we focus on "spending power" then we will be bamboozled and flim-flammed. Spending power ain't realy POWER because it does not translate into the power to have a sustained impact on our own destiny. Black folks spend too much time puffing out our chest about this so-called "spending power" ... when actually all that the $1 trillion dollars equals is our "disposable income" ... and Black folks surely know how to dispose of our income. We give away our money faster than any other ethnic group in the country. Only 5% of our disposable income stays in our community. We only spend 5% of our income with Black-owned businesses.

It’s not what you earn; it’s what you keep. Poor people pay interest; rich people earn interest.
If you have a dollar and the otherman has a dollar. You give 95 cents of your dollar to the otherman. Are you surprised when the otherman's roads are better; the otherman's public schools are better; the otherman's homes and cars are better? When you only keep a nickel out of your dollar in your own community ... can we be surprised when the police don't respect us; when our children don't respect us; when our school systems are bankrupt; when our public services from the local government are substandard. Spending power doesn't equal POWER.

You shouldn’t work for money; money should work for you. Don’t have champagne tastes with a beer budget.
$1 trillion seems like a number to celebrate. Nevertheless, a whopping 24.9 percent of all Blacks are still officially classified as poor and critics complain that despite its absolute size, Black income is failing to create Black wealth because it tends to flow into Black communities and right back out.

Villagers, don't be bamboozled. the difference between income and wealth when it comes to power is simple --> wealth flows from your net worth. What happens to you if you missed two paychecks? Many of us would be homeless if that happened.

Check out a person’s net worth and you can see how wealthy he or she is. The government tells us that the typical white household had over 10 times as much accumulated wealth (or net worth) as the typical Black household. The median net worth (assets minus liabilities) for the typical white family was $88,651 compared to $7,932 for Hispanics and $5,998 for Blacks. Do you begin to see the trick bag that is placed over our head when we focus on "spending power"?

Credit is a good servant but a poor master. Stop ending each month with more month than money.
Villagers, the next time you see the statistics on Black Buying Power, stop and think about the word “power” and what it means in that particular context. Power for whom? Yes, it’s Black Buying Power, but it’s power for those who receive some 95% of our $1 trillion everyday. It is power for others to purchase fine homes and cars. It is power for others to build their own communities. It is power for others to send their children to college. It is power that allows the otherman to maintain their collective hold on the economic system of this country.

Jim Clingman uses the term “Black Buying Weakness.” If we continue to give our power to someone else through our conspicuous consumption of their products and services, we will continue to have billions of dollars in aggregate income and only thousands of dollars in individual family wealth. Additionally, we will continue to have the power of income rather than the power of wealth, which only allows us to our pay bills, continue to work on the proverbial plantations, purchase all of our needs and wants from the proverbial company store, and create the power of wealth for others.

Do you remember the systems of sharecropping and dependence upon the company store shown in the final episodes of the Roots miniseries? It seems like we are repeating that same history today as we convert our $1 trillion of spending power into relative miniscule amount of wealth that Blacks have. We could never catch up then, and we will never catch up now, if we continue to depend upon income rather than wealth.

The power of wealth manifests itself in ownership and control of income-producing assets and infrastructure such as banks, hotels, manufacturing facilities, real estate, distribution channels, and other wealth-builders and wealth-retainers. The power of income manifests itself, via the transfer of that income to others, in ownership and control of assets by others from whom Black folks must purchase our very sustenance. If we allow that system to continue, by pouring the vast majority of our income into the vast pools of wealth owned by others, we will always be on the bottom of the economic heap. Yes, some of us will still have the latest cars, fine homes, stock portfolios, and high positions (jobs) in corporate America, but collectively we will remain an income-rich and wealth-poor group of Africans in America.

We must take stock of our economic position in this country by understanding that income is not wealth. Villagers, you are encouraged to redirect more of your income toward your own people, just like other groups do. And, the next time they count how much money we have collectively, they will add a footnote that says, “Black spending among Black owned businesses has increased significantly, the result of which is an increase in the net worth of Black families as well as an aggregate increase in Black wealth.”

The power of income or the power of wealth. Which would you prefer for our people?

Great news! I learned today that the city manager signed off on our $100,000 gra

nt proposal to provide incubation services in Cincinnati, OH for CY-2007. This is a critical part of the fundraising efforts that we are currently engaged in for our non-profit incubator. It isn't of global importance ... but, dayum ... it is a good feeling to know that our non-profit incubator is moving in the right direction!

One of my goals for this year is to find 20 corporations to match the $100k grant from the City government. I'll keep you apprised of how that effort goes over the coming weeks and months. Suffice to say that today was a good CBI day!