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Support Us -- Minding Our Businesses!


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A funny thing happened on the way to the revolution.

Somebody forgot to tell us that, in our rush out the door to join in the riches of the larger society as a result of desegregation, we might want to preserve at least some to the things that made us a self-sustaining community, just in case.

Well, with the current high unemployment rates among African-Americans, higher than the nation as a whole, that "just in case" moment may be here.

The one thing we may have forgotten to do "just in case"? Mind our own businesses!

It’s no surprise that, as times get tough, people tend to look out for their own. Yes, that means a lot of cronyism, a little bit of nepotism, and unfortunately, the ugly monster of racism.

But, hey, if we don't own the business or know people who do, we don't have a whole lot of sway in the hiring process, do we? Sure, we can file a lawsuit or something if we suspect preferential hiring practices, but those cases are hard to prove if we don't have a "smoking gun," -- say, an application with an incriminating statement like "I don't hire N-words!" scrawled across it with someone's signature attached to it or a video of someone saying the same.

The point I'm trying to make is this -- I remember growing up in a community where blacks owned motels and restaurants and butcher shops and print shops and millineries and newspapers and fish markets and cake shops and corner stores, and yes, funeral parlors and hair salons. In fact, funeral parlors and hair salons seem to be about the only things left that we do own.

Granted, many of these types of businesses have fallen victim to the supermarket, the department store, big-box behemoths like Wal-Mart and the Internet, but still...what do we own NOW?

Where is our Facebook guy or gal? When's the last time you ate at a black-owned restaurant? Can you find a black book store? Do we even try?

Look, "preachy" is not my style and I don't want to end of a negative note, especially since I see glimmers of light on the horizon. In the true style of my people, in times of struggle, we know a thing or two about making a way out of no way. Statistics and stories are trickling in of our not waiting on "the man" to give us a job or keep us on the job, but creating opportunities for ourselves. Cases in point:

--I have a neighbor who is making and selling a tasty sauce that is native to his Sierra Leone upbringing.

--I have a soror who has launched a communications consulting business.

--I stopped at a sample table in the commissary at Quantico and purchased a bag of seasoning for chicken and fish from a sister whose family owns a restaurant in the area and is trying to expand their offerings.

I myself, spurred by the story of a young white girl who is raking in the dough selling her self-published e-books on amazon.com, have refreshed and relaunched my own book on the same platform, I'm a Good Wife...Most of the Time, http://mysite.verizon.net/resysc92/ .

There are other stories out there, no doubt, and I'm encouraged by them. So, I urge all of us to rethink who we are and what we have to offer and -- LET'S GET TO WORK!

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Granted, many of these types of businesses have fallen victim to the supermarket, the department store, big-box behemoths like Wal-Mart and the Internet, but still...what do we own NOW? Where is our Facebook guy or gal? When's the last time you ate at a black-owned restaurant? Can you find a black book store? Do we even try?

Nice rant but unfortunately, you might as well be pissing up the side of a tree in a 90 mile an hour windstorm. Your words sound like pure fiction and fantasy. Not saying that they are bad or anything like that (I agree with everything you suggested) but you are addressing the collective ineptitude of the American Negro. So, none of this (massive black entrepreneurship) is showing any signs of occurring now or anytime in the future. Sorry to be the messenger of bad news but the aforementioned is true.......

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Nice rant but unfortunately, you might as well be pissing up the side of a tree in a 90 mile an hour windstorm. Your words sound like pure fiction and fantasy. Not saying that they are bad or anything like that (I agree with everything you suggested) but you are addressing the collective ineptitude of the American Negro. So, none of this (massive black entrepreneurship) is showing any signs of occurring now or anytime in the future. Sorry to be the messenger of bad news but the aforementioned is true.......

Got to keep the faith, my brother!

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