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Using Our Money to Do More for Ourselves -- November 2004
In 1915, Crisis Magazine carried an article titled, The Immediate Program of the American Negro, in which W.E.B. DuBois wrote, "I thank God that most of the money that supports the NAACP comes from black hands; a still larger proportion must so come, and we must not only support but control this and similar organizations and hold them unwaveringly to our objects, our aims and our ideals." Isn’t it sad that we are still dealing with this same issue in 2004? Today we are faced with a dearth of Black owned and controlled economic resources, and our nonprofit organizations, namely, civil rights organizations, are perpetually engaged in fund-raising activities and, for the most part, are dependent upon the largess of white owned and controlled corporations. Aren’t we tired of worrying about how many banquet tables white corporations (and sometimes Black corporations) will purchase at our annual dinners that we hold in white owned hotels? Aren’t we fed up with “funding crises” within our organizations? More importantly, aren’t we concerned about relying so much on someone else t pay the piper for the tunes to which we must dance?x0Dx0A x0Dx0ADuBois and others warned against what we are facing today. Unfortunately, even his own NAACP did not listen to him. When Myrlie Evers took over as Chairperson of the NAACP, I wrote an article that suggested Black people could retire the $3 million debt of the NAACP in a heartbeat if each of us would send in a few dollars. I sounded like DuBois all over again.x0Dx0A x0Dx0AThe same scenario DuBois feared has continued among Black organizations and other entities since he wrote his article in the magazine quite appropriately named, The Crisis. I assume, since the name of that publication has not changed, we are still in a crisis. How do we get out of our fiscal crisis? The obvious answer to me lies in doing more for ourselves with our own money – public money and private money.x0Dx0A x0Dx0AKeep in mind that much of the money paid into city tax coffers is paid by Black people, thus, we must use more of that money to help our people as well. Take the Detroit situation. A city with more than 80% Black residents cannot find a way to use some of its public funds to establish a Black owned and operated business enclave. Black people in Detroit and other cities must demand their tax money also be used to empower them, just like it constantly empowers everyone else via tax abatements for large corporations, land giveaways, and more than 90% of public development and subcontracts going to white owned companies and individuals. x0Dx0A x0Dx0AI read an article in the Chicago Times (“County’s Minority Contracts Plummet to ‘Pathetic’ Low”) pointing to the fact that “Black-owned firms got only 1 percent of the $57.5 million in construction contracts paid out by Cook County government last year, according to county records.” The article also stated that, “Minority and women-owned firms overall got only 8 percent of those dollars, a statistic one official described as "pathetic" in making a call for change.”x0Dx0A x0Dx0AFirst of all, it seems that public official is not as concerned about the 1% going to Blacks as he or she is about the 8% going to minorities; if 8% is pathetic, what is 1%?. Second, as I always say, this “Minority Game” is killing Black folks. And third, from what percentage did these so-called “minority” contracts “plummet”? It seems to me, as far as Black contractors in Chicago are concerned, their share could not have plummeted too far; looks to me like they have nowhere to go but up. x0Dx0A x0Dx0ABy the way, because percentages are sometimes deceiving, the article states, “Though $57.5 million in county construction contracts were paid out last year, white-owned firms collected about $53 million of that work as prime or sub contractors…” I rest my case against these publicly funded sham “minority” programs. x0Dx0A x0Dx0ASo what about the private side? I really believe Black people have no choice but to start local and national funds that we can have at our disposal to support our businesses, our organizations, and our institutions. We must have continuous initiatives that encourage pooling our dollars to lay the foundation for those entities we hold so dear and help us in our quest for full economic freedom. x0Dx0A x0Dx0AAs we draw nearer to the 10th anniversary of the Million Man March, I cannot help but reflect on an article I wrote in February 1995 asking the leaders of the March not only to collect some money while we were there, which we certainly did, but also to encourage the development of local collective funds as well, which I initiated in Cincinnati after the March. Ten years will have passed and we have no such national investment fund, loan fund, or contributory fund. (We do have the Blackonomics Million Dollar Club though.)x0Dx0A x0Dx0ALet’s heed the warnings of the past and step up and do more for ourselves with our own money, and that means demanding a fair portion of our tax money back from city officials, insisting on reciprocity in the marketplace and being prepared to withhold our dollars if we do not get it. And, just like far too many of us are quite willing to pay “membership fees” to white owned businesses and buy their products, as is the case with those multi-level marketing programs out there, we should be willing to do the same – and more – for our own people with our own money. x0Dx0A
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