So I know I'm hardly the first blogger to discuss this but I have to put in my piece.
Tomorrow is national black out day in which Rev. Al Sharpton and other civil rights leaders are calling for Black people to boycott companies that show little interest in black folk. Essentially they would like us not to buy anything tomorrow.
Now I get it, I'm curious to see the statement it would make if most people actually did so, which not to be negative, I'm sure most won't. Let's face it, the majority of what we as consumers get was founded on some form of racism, be it slavery, discrimination in the work place or out right racist thinking. And most of what we get, doesn't come from us, even in markets where we are the biggest consumers (soul food, black hair care). It just got me thinking that most of what we use to function is not from companies fun by Blacks and some really could be. Perhaps if this boycott was better prepared (got people people enough notice to get the things they need so they won't go without on Friday or be tempted to buy) this would be more powerful. But I see the power in this boycott. The next stage to MLK's plan before his assassination was economic freedom. After the physical freedom and then the educational freedom we were then to put those to good use and empower ourselves to make us a force to be reckoned with. Needless to say, that never happened.
And while there are plenty of black entrepreneurs out there making money for themselves through clothing lines, shoes, perfumes and the like, how is that spreading the wealth? How do some other cultures get it done so successfully? I have no answers but until that time, I wish that we as a people would be more intelligent about our spending choices especially to avoid being so predictable (ever notice how now McDonalds is only advertising to Blacks and Latinos now, what does that say about our eating habits as well?). Stop giving our money to things that aren't improving us and start supporting black businesses ( and not meaning businesses that cater to black folks only but all folks and that it just happens to be run by a person of color) and once you have a good thing going, employ other black people who are qualified. Money is power in this country but so are numbers especially when those powerful numbers are going towards a strong goal.
Just my rant for the day...
Tomorrow is national black out day in which Rev. Al Sharpton and other civil rights leaders are calling for Black people to boycott companies that show little interest in black folk. Essentially they would like us not to buy anything tomorrow.
Now I get it, I'm curious to see the statement it would make if most people actually did so, which not to be negative, I'm sure most won't. Let's face it, the majority of what we as consumers get was founded on some form of racism, be it slavery, discrimination in the work place or out right racist thinking. And most of what we get, doesn't come from us, even in markets where we are the biggest consumers (soul food, black hair care). It just got me thinking that most of what we use to function is not from companies fun by Blacks and some really could be. Perhaps if this boycott was better prepared (got people people enough notice to get the things they need so they won't go without on Friday or be tempted to buy) this would be more powerful. But I see the power in this boycott. The next stage to MLK's plan before his assassination was economic freedom. After the physical freedom and then the educational freedom we were then to put those to good use and empower ourselves to make us a force to be reckoned with. Needless to say, that never happened.
And while there are plenty of black entrepreneurs out there making money for themselves through clothing lines, shoes, perfumes and the like, how is that spreading the wealth? How do some other cultures get it done so successfully? I have no answers but until that time, I wish that we as a people would be more intelligent about our spending choices especially to avoid being so predictable (ever notice how now McDonalds is only advertising to Blacks and Latinos now, what does that say about our eating habits as well?). Stop giving our money to things that aren't improving us and start supporting black businesses ( and not meaning businesses that cater to black folks only but all folks and that it just happens to be run by a person of color) and once you have a good thing going, employ other black people who are qualified. Money is power in this country but so are numbers especially when those powerful numbers are going towards a strong goal.
Just my rant for the day...
No comments:
Post a Comment