Ending Black Dependency. Well, I think my job is done. The candidacy of Barack Obama has done that for me/us. Which is a good thing. A reason to support this honorary White Man.
Now comes the job of organizing those that get it, and believe that we can be competitive .
There are a lot of Black folks that simply don't believe we can compete. They are angry and going to get angrier as the true impact of "Obama" sets in on Black America. "He's making history and Nigga's gonna be history," as one of my colleagues so pithily puts it.
Our benefactor is in trouble and he has a plan to let our unit go just like so many other under performing business units. And it's not personal. It's just business. After all, even good White folks are getting caught up in the forced downsizing of American hegemony, which is quite evident as my travel and work in the former industrial heartland puts me in direct proximity to all the scattered bodies and rust-belt melancholy, like that of the firefighter with six blond boys and no clue as to what the two graduating seniors are going to do; college isn't on the horizon, not because he hasn't suggested it but because they aren't hopeful about the trade-off between debt and their future prospects in an economy un-buoyed by the generous dispensation generated first by the surplus value from slavery, then global dominance.
And as the sound and vibrations from all those falling bodies reverberates throughout America, a lot of 'good' Negroes are going to tremble right out of their token circumstances like so many grains of salt slowly, steadily, rumbling off the table from the loud, ominous sounds of globalization.
It's hard to say what it'll take to flip the script. You don't just overnight become a genetic mastermind. It takes generations working purposely toward a defined something to achieve anything. Black folks are not independently purposeful, and we haven't defined the "what". Our whole tribe is just floating along hoping that our rudderless ship ends up somewhere, anywhere, and as the saying goes, "if you don't stand for something you'll go for anything."
That anything, right now, is Obama.
*From "Waiting for Godot" a play by Samuel Beckett, in which the characters wait for someone named Godot, who never arrives.
Showing posts with label Black. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Black. Show all posts
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Black Church to the Rescue?
The new civil rights movement for Black people is the Self Sufficiency Movement. Will the Black Church once again provide the primary leadership in this new civil rights struggle?
I've got to say, I am a little uncomfortable with the idea that an institution whose main purpose and reason for being is to pray and "serve God", would be the focal point for Black economic survival. But that does seem to be the case. The Black Church, once again, is coming to the rescue of the general Black public.
We all know about the church's role in the civil rights movement, and in providing a place of solace and activism during the long march out of slavery. But now, in contemporary America, when so many of us are skeptical about the role of religion in civic life, and who bristle at the thought of an institutional interloper in our spiritual space, is this a model that can do justice to the church and our social survival simultaneously? What about all of the charlatans that gravitate to the church for the purpose of making a living? And what about all of those zealots whose every other phrase is "praise God"? Are we giving them too much power over our secular selves?
These are some of the conundrums that are part and parcel of a movement that depends on the institution of God as its primary impetus. But the evidence doesn't' lie. The Black church remains the only example of Black people working together in large numbers to achieve broad social progress.
Over the last 20 years or so, Black churches of any significant size have built an economic development operation. These ECD's are involved in everything from housing and credit unions to owning supermarkets. If you are a Black person with a penchant for self-sufficiency, these ECD's are pretty much the only game in town with regard to being employed by Black people, working on a Black agenda. That's the good news. The bad news is that these organizations can't employ nearly enough of the Black talent that is ready, willing and able to devote itself to the cause of Black self-sufficiency, or can they?
Another concern I have has to do with where these ECD's get their money. Many of these organizations are getting money from the government, and private corporations run by the usual White suspects. Naturally, there is a price to pay in terms of how far they can go in representing the true interest of Black people when their money is coming from White folks with their own agenda. However, from what I can tell, there seems to be a number of progressive Black congregations and ministers out there that really do understand the survival challenge that Black communities face across the nation, and they are stepping up to provide jobs and opportunities for Black people in response.
It is worth mentioning a few of the efforts that, in my mind, deserve to be highlighted because they are charting their own course and using their own money and talent to get there. In Meridan, Mississippi, Bishop Luke Edwards started off with a small group of members who were all on welfare. By pooling their food stamps they were able to start selling groceries out of the basement of their church. Eventually, they elevated their game and opened more than one restaurant, a bakery, an auto repair shop, a cattle farm and a plant to process the meat. Now that's a vertically integrated business infrastructure!
And then there are people like Rev. Gerald Austin, Sr., of Birmingham, Alabama, who founded the nonprofit ECD, Center for Urban Missions, and is involved in an annual conference called the A.G. Gaston Conference, where the specific discussion is about the Black Church's role in economic development of Black communities. This year's speaker was one of my homeboys, Rev. Floyd Flake of Queens, NY, where he has built a formidable economic infrastructure that employs, houses and develops Black human capital. Rev. Austin published a 12 page report for this year's conference, in it he goes right to the heart of the challenge: "the black community faces a new struggle just as daunting as the civil rights struggle - community and economic revitalization," and he challenges the Black church to step up and meet the challenge head on.
Considering the fact that there are so many churches, from storefronts to grand cathedral-like structures, in Black communities all over this country, I can see an opportunity for churches to extend their type of self-sufficiency into businesses that can provide the foundation for more advanced 21st century type opportunity to the cash starved entrepreneurial class of Black folks. I can tell you from my 20 years of experience as an entrepreneur focused on Black self-sufficiency, that there are a lot of Black folks out here with ideas, skills and in-the-trenches experience competing in the mainstream. We all eventually run up against the same brick wall that stands in the way of our ability to build substantial businesses in the 21st century economy (see my article "Managed Mobility" for stats on the pervasive insolvency of Black businesses): capital with a vision for Black power.
The information/entertainment business is a good example. People that invest in companies like New Line Cinema, and now Lions Gate Entertainment, two companies with a history of producing coon comedies and urban malaise movies, are simply not interested in a Black media company that is focused on "three-dimensional images and stories from the African Diaspora" (the motto of KJM3 Entertainment Group, a Black film distribution company involved in Black film classics like, Daughters of the Dust, Sankofa, The Man By The Shore). Wall Street doesn't have a vision for creating a Black business infrastructure that can provide financing, employment and prosperity for the Black community. In fact, they see such efforts as competition for the power to ascribe value to our goods, services and ideas, which they understand is the kind of influence that could change the whole power dynamic in America and the world. The White investor class is simply not interested in relinquishing that kind of power.
Another Achilles heal in church based development is their tax exempt status. When you talk about changing the power dynamic, you must consider that for every action, there is a reaction. How will Uncle Sam respond to a Black business infrastructure anchored by tax free religious institutions? Well, we are already starting to see some push back by the government in its interest in the finances of the mega churches. Creflo Dollar (a Black minister named "Dollar", LOL), along with a number of big White churches have received supeonas from a congressional committee interested in all that money and influence. Remember Marcus Garvey? They finally got to him on a trumped up mail fraud charge. Can you imagine how hard they will come at a tax-exempt, vertically integrated Black business infrastructure capable of disseminating a parallel narrative that can compete with the New York Times and CBS for the hearts and minds of between 40 and 400 million people camped out in major cities around the country and the world (I've been to Africa where they were so thirsty for Black images they sucked up BET like it was water in the desert)?
In some ways, it all seems like a set up. Why is it that all of this economic activity is being led by institutions that regularly deal in the ephemeral? Sometime ago I came across a document purporting to be a National Security Council memo to Richard Nixon. It talked about the rising radicalism in the Black community and ways in which to blunt the efficacy of the radicals' message. One of the suggestions was to sow division in the Black community by appealing to the business-minded Black people with government contracts to help them get started in business.
The idea was that these people represented the best and brightest and could be separated from the lumpen mediocrity with opportunities to build their own wealth. A classic divide and conquer strategy. One very similar to the colonial strategy of identifying a minority ethnic group within a larger society, prop them up with education and privileges not available to the majority, and then let them fight amongst each other over a vision for the future. Naturally, the favored group needed the colonialist's power and weapons to continue to enjoy their artificial advantage over the majority, thereby creating the "massa, our house is burning" symbiotic relationship that Malcolm X talked about. Is there some element of a colonial set-up in the availability of capital and opportunity to all of these individual religious institutions? Does the parochial nature of each individual church prevent them from having broader efficacy? Will a competition for available resources stymie the movement for self-sufficiency and prosperity as it builds momentum? Will secular resentment make it impossible for these ECD's to get beyond their own congregations? Only time will tell.
Right now, though, I am absolutely applauding all of these Black church ECD's involved in the mundane and practical upon which the Black masses live. However, in order to guarantee Black participation in the next iteration of human existence, we will still have to find a way to put together the venture capital to support our entrepreneurs that are trying to keep pace with the evolution of society. We have to play in the 21st Century and a sandwich shop is not enough sustenance to keep our best and brightest minds focused on our future.
....
I've got to say, I am a little uncomfortable with the idea that an institution whose main purpose and reason for being is to pray and "serve God", would be the focal point for Black economic survival. But that does seem to be the case. The Black Church, once again, is coming to the rescue of the general Black public.
We all know about the church's role in the civil rights movement, and in providing a place of solace and activism during the long march out of slavery. But now, in contemporary America, when so many of us are skeptical about the role of religion in civic life, and who bristle at the thought of an institutional interloper in our spiritual space, is this a model that can do justice to the church and our social survival simultaneously? What about all of the charlatans that gravitate to the church for the purpose of making a living? And what about all of those zealots whose every other phrase is "praise God"? Are we giving them too much power over our secular selves?
These are some of the conundrums that are part and parcel of a movement that depends on the institution of God as its primary impetus. But the evidence doesn't' lie. The Black church remains the only example of Black people working together in large numbers to achieve broad social progress.
Over the last 20 years or so, Black churches of any significant size have built an economic development operation. These ECD's are involved in everything from housing and credit unions to owning supermarkets. If you are a Black person with a penchant for self-sufficiency, these ECD's are pretty much the only game in town with regard to being employed by Black people, working on a Black agenda. That's the good news. The bad news is that these organizations can't employ nearly enough of the Black talent that is ready, willing and able to devote itself to the cause of Black self-sufficiency, or can they?
Another concern I have has to do with where these ECD's get their money. Many of these organizations are getting money from the government, and private corporations run by the usual White suspects. Naturally, there is a price to pay in terms of how far they can go in representing the true interest of Black people when their money is coming from White folks with their own agenda. However, from what I can tell, there seems to be a number of progressive Black congregations and ministers out there that really do understand the survival challenge that Black communities face across the nation, and they are stepping up to provide jobs and opportunities for Black people in response.
It is worth mentioning a few of the efforts that, in my mind, deserve to be highlighted because they are charting their own course and using their own money and talent to get there. In Meridan, Mississippi, Bishop Luke Edwards started off with a small group of members who were all on welfare. By pooling their food stamps they were able to start selling groceries out of the basement of their church. Eventually, they elevated their game and opened more than one restaurant, a bakery, an auto repair shop, a cattle farm and a plant to process the meat. Now that's a vertically integrated business infrastructure!
And then there are people like Rev. Gerald Austin, Sr., of Birmingham, Alabama, who founded the nonprofit ECD, Center for Urban Missions, and is involved in an annual conference called the A.G. Gaston Conference, where the specific discussion is about the Black Church's role in economic development of Black communities. This year's speaker was one of my homeboys, Rev. Floyd Flake of Queens, NY, where he has built a formidable economic infrastructure that employs, houses and develops Black human capital. Rev. Austin published a 12 page report for this year's conference, in it he goes right to the heart of the challenge: "the black community faces a new struggle just as daunting as the civil rights struggle - community and economic revitalization," and he challenges the Black church to step up and meet the challenge head on.
Considering the fact that there are so many churches, from storefronts to grand cathedral-like structures, in Black communities all over this country, I can see an opportunity for churches to extend their type of self-sufficiency into businesses that can provide the foundation for more advanced 21st century type opportunity to the cash starved entrepreneurial class of Black folks. I can tell you from my 20 years of experience as an entrepreneur focused on Black self-sufficiency, that there are a lot of Black folks out here with ideas, skills and in-the-trenches experience competing in the mainstream. We all eventually run up against the same brick wall that stands in the way of our ability to build substantial businesses in the 21st century economy (see my article "Managed Mobility" for stats on the pervasive insolvency of Black businesses): capital with a vision for Black power.
The information/entertainment business is a good example. People that invest in companies like New Line Cinema, and now Lions Gate Entertainment, two companies with a history of producing coon comedies and urban malaise movies, are simply not interested in a Black media company that is focused on "three-dimensional images and stories from the African Diaspora" (the motto of KJM3 Entertainment Group, a Black film distribution company involved in Black film classics like, Daughters of the Dust, Sankofa, The Man By The Shore). Wall Street doesn't have a vision for creating a Black business infrastructure that can provide financing, employment and prosperity for the Black community. In fact, they see such efforts as competition for the power to ascribe value to our goods, services and ideas, which they understand is the kind of influence that could change the whole power dynamic in America and the world. The White investor class is simply not interested in relinquishing that kind of power.
Another Achilles heal in church based development is their tax exempt status. When you talk about changing the power dynamic, you must consider that for every action, there is a reaction. How will Uncle Sam respond to a Black business infrastructure anchored by tax free religious institutions? Well, we are already starting to see some push back by the government in its interest in the finances of the mega churches. Creflo Dollar (a Black minister named "Dollar", LOL), along with a number of big White churches have received supeonas from a congressional committee interested in all that money and influence. Remember Marcus Garvey? They finally got to him on a trumped up mail fraud charge. Can you imagine how hard they will come at a tax-exempt, vertically integrated Black business infrastructure capable of disseminating a parallel narrative that can compete with the New York Times and CBS for the hearts and minds of between 40 and 400 million people camped out in major cities around the country and the world (I've been to Africa where they were so thirsty for Black images they sucked up BET like it was water in the desert)?
In some ways, it all seems like a set up. Why is it that all of this economic activity is being led by institutions that regularly deal in the ephemeral? Sometime ago I came across a document purporting to be a National Security Council memo to Richard Nixon. It talked about the rising radicalism in the Black community and ways in which to blunt the efficacy of the radicals' message. One of the suggestions was to sow division in the Black community by appealing to the business-minded Black people with government contracts to help them get started in business.
The idea was that these people represented the best and brightest and could be separated from the lumpen mediocrity with opportunities to build their own wealth. A classic divide and conquer strategy. One very similar to the colonial strategy of identifying a minority ethnic group within a larger society, prop them up with education and privileges not available to the majority, and then let them fight amongst each other over a vision for the future. Naturally, the favored group needed the colonialist's power and weapons to continue to enjoy their artificial advantage over the majority, thereby creating the "massa, our house is burning" symbiotic relationship that Malcolm X talked about. Is there some element of a colonial set-up in the availability of capital and opportunity to all of these individual religious institutions? Does the parochial nature of each individual church prevent them from having broader efficacy? Will a competition for available resources stymie the movement for self-sufficiency and prosperity as it builds momentum? Will secular resentment make it impossible for these ECD's to get beyond their own congregations? Only time will tell.
Right now, though, I am absolutely applauding all of these Black church ECD's involved in the mundane and practical upon which the Black masses live. However, in order to guarantee Black participation in the next iteration of human existence, we will still have to find a way to put together the venture capital to support our entrepreneurs that are trying to keep pace with the evolution of society. We have to play in the 21st Century and a sandwich shop is not enough sustenance to keep our best and brightest minds focused on our future.
....
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Managed Mobility
I've been looking at some census bureau numbers lately, and the picture they paint regarding Black capacity for economic mobility is pretty dismal. Yes, even in the age of Obama, there are some challenging issues that will determine the real "hope" quotient for Black folks.
Here are some stats that best sum up the Black self-sufficiency challenge: 75% of all Black businesses in America gross less than $25,000 per year (yes, total income before expenses); Black folks making grown-up money, $92,000 and up, number a mere 600,000+, roughly 17% of all Black folks with at least a four year college degree (compared to about 12.5 million Whites, or 27% of Whites with a degree). Black owned businesses with at least $1m in income number only about one-percent of all Black owned business in the country. Approximately 49% of all Black people with income make less than $25,000 per year.
What these numbers mean is that 0ur upward mobility is being managed. The number of Black folks making decent money is small and the threat of economic regression so large that it scares the shit out of anyone too-black-and-too-strong enough to even think about challenging the control that White folks have over our lives and priorities. And without the confidence and impetus from this investment class, the grassroots Black entrepreneurial class will continue to fight a withering and debilitating battle to build a business infrastructure that would help Black people worldwide compete in the global economy.
Black people in America are terminally dependent on White people for their jobs, incomes, livelihoods, and opportunities. Very few Black people in this country are secure, and fewer enjoy any real personal sovereignty. Personal sovereignty is what frees one up to define one's own future, plant one's own seeds, cultivate values that reinforce rather than obscure one's existence, and allow one to harvest the power to ascribe value to the economy of our existence: the goods, services and ideas emanating from our collective experience, our tribal connections.
In a world where the White elite, who have benefited mightily from the social contract with American society, its law, military prowess, and economic power, are allowed to take the booty and run offshore along with the middle-class mobility work that was the trade-off for the American public, there is no sense of allegiance to any one thing or entity. There is no "American Business" there is just Business. And that business is being controlled not by nations but people; people connected more by corporate tribal affinities than by national ones.
In a world composed of tribal competitors, our erstwhile benefactor is releasing himself from the obligations that come with great "nations". Simply put, White folks are moving on. In the words of Snoop Dogg, "if ya can't swim ya bound to drizzown."
It is apparent that the Black Tribe is going to have to compete with these other global corporate tribes for our own piece of the rock. Taking control of the "economy of our existence" is our only option.
Here are some stats that best sum up the Black self-sufficiency challenge: 75% of all Black businesses in America gross less than $25,000 per year (yes, total income before expenses); Black folks making grown-up money, $92,000 and up, number a mere 600,000+, roughly 17% of all Black folks with at least a four year college degree (compared to about 12.5 million Whites, or 27% of Whites with a degree). Black owned businesses with at least $1m in income number only about one-percent of all Black owned business in the country. Approximately 49% of all Black people with income make less than $25,000 per year.
What these numbers mean is that 0ur upward mobility is being managed. The number of Black folks making decent money is small and the threat of economic regression so large that it scares the shit out of anyone too-black-and-too-strong enough to even think about challenging the control that White folks have over our lives and priorities. And without the confidence and impetus from this investment class, the grassroots Black entrepreneurial class will continue to fight a withering and debilitating battle to build a business infrastructure that would help Black people worldwide compete in the global economy.
Black people in America are terminally dependent on White people for their jobs, incomes, livelihoods, and opportunities. Very few Black people in this country are secure, and fewer enjoy any real personal sovereignty. Personal sovereignty is what frees one up to define one's own future, plant one's own seeds, cultivate values that reinforce rather than obscure one's existence, and allow one to harvest the power to ascribe value to the economy of our existence: the goods, services and ideas emanating from our collective experience, our tribal connections.
In a world where the White elite, who have benefited mightily from the social contract with American society, its law, military prowess, and economic power, are allowed to take the booty and run offshore along with the middle-class mobility work that was the trade-off for the American public, there is no sense of allegiance to any one thing or entity. There is no "American Business" there is just Business. And that business is being controlled not by nations but people; people connected more by corporate tribal affinities than by national ones.
In a world composed of tribal competitors, our erstwhile benefactor is releasing himself from the obligations that come with great "nations". Simply put, White folks are moving on. In the words of Snoop Dogg, "if ya can't swim ya bound to drizzown."
It is apparent that the Black Tribe is going to have to compete with these other global corporate tribes for our own piece of the rock. Taking control of the "economy of our existence" is our only option.
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