On Small Business Saturday, what side of the counter were you on? As we approached another holiday season were you busy hunting for the best deals on Black Friday as a consumer but having nothing to sell the next day?
In the summer of 2018 Maggie Anderson came back to Philadelphia and gave an update of the Empowerment Tour. Maggie wrote My Black Year which gained national intention as her family attempted to support Black Owner business owners in the Chicago area.
When she did her TEDx Talk she discussed the lack of Black owned businesses. If we don’t get involved with being on the other side of the counter we miss out and so does America. You can go to any major city and find a China Town or an Italian Market but there is no Black Market Place.
The African American consumer market has passed the trillion dollar mark. But what do we have to show for that beside all the stuff we buy. That figure is larger than the entire nation of Spain. There is a reason and a solution, if there is a collective will. Black past.org goes into more detail at https://bit.ly/2QiUlaG .
My mother migrated from the South to escape an abusive relationship. When I got older I worked on the assembly line in Detroit while still in high school, but had to find a way off the line because of the daily grind. I personally witnessed the fall of the city during the 1967 Detroit Riots. The whole city didn’t fall, but most of the damage was done in Black neighborhoods; 2,000 building were destroyed, 7,200 people were arrested, 1,100 people were injured and 43 people were killed. I go into a little more detail in my book Standing in the Shadows, Listening to the Greats!!!
America is about economic and political power. If you have no power you have no clout. America was built around neighborhoods and the people in these neighborhoods prospered as they did business with each other. The Atlanta Black Star goes into more detail. https://bit.ly/2ScXgPi . Martin was trying to leave a economic message before he left.
Lemar and Ronnie Tyler created a movie and provided a DVD titled Generation One The Search for Black Wealth. It takes a hard look at the numbers and gives a historical context to early wealth that was creation in the Nation. If you spend all you got what are you going to do if or when you loose your job? https://youtu.be/J8oyWbrF0MM
If you don’t leave something behind then each generation must start over. And that applies to every ethnic group. The cost of housing has gone up and the cost of higher education is like taking out a mortgage. What is really sad is when companies lay people off right before the holiday. It’s the business cycle of clearing the books before the start of the new year, but it’s personal when it happen to you or someone you know.
H.G.M.
Hackett Global Marketing 