A Message to Wealthy Black People.....

A Message To Wealthy Black People…

If you have over a million dollars in assets and you are a Black person you have ``arrived’’ according to some National standards in the U.S. I know for a fact that having that much money in real estate or even cash dose NOT make you able to do anything much with your money such as exert complete control over entire industries like some White Business/Corporate owners are able to do. However, what I want to say is that you MUST, not should, but MUST, keep in mind your own people in these troubled times we are in. Black people remain at the bottom of the totem pole economically. There is no question that we are still the last hired and the first fired. Just go see ``Jurassic Park III’’ and you will see the Black pilot is the first to get chewed up by the Dinosaurs. We are also the first to be discriminated against in the long line of Non-Whites & Whites who now make America their home. We come after the Russians, the South Koreans, the Chinese, the Puerto Ricans, the Native Americans, the Mexicans, the Australians, the French and certainly after the English and all the rest. I’m not saying anything against these groups, but we always are the last to get anything the government is giving out like jobs, money for business or other help. Even though we were here a long time ago and even though there is a Black man in the White House. This is why we MUST help ourselves more & often... If you have an few extra dollars, why not support the Black corner Mom & Pop store, the Family Deli or the neighborhood Black clothing store. The prices may be a bit higher, but the payoff comes in the fact that that store owner is able to maybe set aside more money for his children to go to school, university and or college. You may be helping keep a brother or sister off the streets and out of a life of crime. This has a positive snowball effect that can go a long way in restoring stability to our community. My Brother-in-Law, Dr. Keith Hunter, and my sister owned a restaurant in Washington, D.C. They had to struggle to make payroll for years, but, with GOD’s help they made it for a while and are putting children through school and helping their children in other ways. There are hundreds if not thousands of stores like theirs owned by Black people. We need to be more cognizant of this fact and support Black Businesses accordingly. Why? This support enriches our communities and, as I said, builds stability among us. We used to support ourselves in the 1930’s before the lure of integration pulled needed Black dollars out of the Black community and into the hands of White business owners who still to this day do not hire us in adequate numbers. And the Federal Government continues to fight against mandates to push Big White owned companies like Exxon and Wal-Mart to hire Blacks in significant numbers & also promote Blacks accordingly. We go to these stores thinking we are saving money or maybe we even own stock in such companies. We would be better off subscribing to Black Enterprise Magazine and looking up Black companies that continue to make significant gains and supporting them instead. The more money that stays in our community, in our hands, and among our people and our businesses, the better off we are as Black people. It is a simple economic lesson that is always preached about in Black Enterprise and by OIC and other such organizations. This helps build our futures, as Black people, and helps us have better control over the politics and economics of the Black community. This way, when Black politicians who sell us out, and I won’t mention any names here—they know who they are—we can at least make them pay by NOT supporting these politicians with our dollars. WE will, thusly, have the option (as a group and as individuals) of supporting (or not supporting) the politicians we want to support. This way we can let them know why or why not they are or are not getting our support. This will help us get the things we want such as better schools, jobs and even less crime. Right now, in Philadelphia at least, the money to re-elect our Black politicians comes from OUTSIDE of the Black community. Their pockets are often lined with money from Center City Big Business interests and Asian Business interests. This is why they often don’t represent or push for the things we as Black people really need, desire and want. This is a lesson we as individuals and as groups of people need to learn. Like they say, money talks and well, you know the rest. More money in our community allows our churches to get more money because we have more to give to churches and other non-profits that can serve vital roles in our community. (We need to always be vigilant and make sure the churches are doing the right things also.) Supporting us allows for more money for building new and better houses, better schools and even better people. It decreases crime by creating jobs and keeps our Brothers and Sisters out of jail and prison. There are more educated people in neighborhoods that are better off economically. There are also better role models and more opportunities for Black youth such as jobs, job training, day care and recreation in more economically stable neighborhoods. This, in turn, actually saves lives because there are less Black young people getting into trouble with the law and the legal system when they have more structured things to do such as the Boys’ & Girls’ Clubs and positive community activities stemming from Black churches, Black Civic Organizations, Black fraternities and Black sororities, Black oriented community centers, Black Community Groups and so forth... So, support yourself by supporting the Black businesses in your Black community!! You deserve it and, in the long run, it helps us all!!