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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 10, 2018)
Page 4 The Skanner January 10, 2018 Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blackonomics: It’s Time to Give Our Money Marching Orders I n April 2005, I wrote an article titled, “Billion Dol- lar March,” at the behest of “The Ice Supreme Man” Ashiki Taylor in Atlanta. The article was in reference to our penchant for marching when we are upset, and then going home to sit down and wait for another crisis. This reaction to our grievances is so predict- able and has no effect on the situations against which we protest and demonstrate. The obvious question is, “Why do we continue to do it then?” Because I don’t do foot march- ing, I won’t spend my time try- ing to answer that question; you can ask those who are call- ing for marches to explain it to you. What I will do, however, is suggest another kind of march: The Billion Dollar March. Just as in 2005, we are confront- ed with the same problems, the same conditions, the same powerlessness, and the same Black leadership that opts for foot marching as a way to get politicians to change, and as a remedy against unfairness, such as being killed by a rogue cop. Those of us who were mem- bers of the MATAH Network in 2000 will remember our monthly “Standing Order.” We received a book and a tape to help elevate our con- sciousness; two of the tapes James Clingman NNPA Columnist were “Internal Reparations,” by Dr. Conrad Worrill and David Whitaker’s “The Wake- Up Call.” I listened to both of them this week and, while they reconfirmed my decades of spreading the “Economic Gos- pel,” those two messages from two astute, conscious, and con- scientious Black men really il- luminated — once again — the importance of marching our dollars to Black businesses and wielding economic power as a means to change our situ- ation. Using dollars to reward and punish is a proven way of getting someone’s attention and, thereby, causing them to change their ways. Look at the many examples that have taken place just over the past ten years or so. Nations and their products were boycot- ted; sports organizations, en- tertainers, and conferences refused to hold events in cities whose policies went against their beliefs; and most recent- ly we saw NBA Commissioner, Adam Silver, take the All-Star Basketball game out of Char- lotte, North Carolina. Now in reaction to the election, three NBA team owners are boycot- ting all Trump hotels. Billionaires like Mark Cuban give their dollars marching or- ders. We must do no less. Our Billion Dollar March must be organized, measurable, main- tained, sustained, and used to empower us. It must not be done solely to hurt someone “ Every Black household should have Black-made products coming in at least once per month else; it must be implemented to benefit Black businesses owned by conscious and con- scientious brothers and sis- ters, because we know that, “everything Black ain’t Black.” The businesses we support must use some of their wind- fall profits to build a war chest to sustain the coordination of our Billion Dollar March. In addition to supporting and growing our local Black businesses, we must adopt a consistent, continuous, ha- bitual movement centered on buying from ourselves. Every Black household should have Black-made products coming in at least once per month. Goods and services that we use on a regular basis, offered by Black producers, must find their way into our homes con- tinuously. THE One million will keep track of our partic- ipation via pledges and feed- back from our members and the businesses we support. Nationally syndicated col- umnist William “Bill” Reed recently wrote, “Blacks spend less money in Black-owned businesses than other racial and ethnic groups spend in businesses owned by members of their groups. How many Blacks go out of their way to pa- tronize Black-owned business- es? African American buying power is over $1 trillion; and yet only two cents of every dollar an African American spends goes to Black-owned businesses.” A Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management study found that a million jobs could be created if Black consumers spent $1 of every $10 at Black-owned stores and other enterprises.” What’s wrong with us, y’all? Worrill, Whitaker, Reed, and others have given us the for- mula for economic success and, thereby, political success, for many years. We don’t need another foot march, we need – and must have, a Billion Dollar March. Here is our charge: Start right now to redirect $1 billion back to ourselves in 2017, via the example now being shown by The One Million Conscious and Conscientious Black Con- tributors and Voters. We are buying and promoting a ubiq- uitous product, one that is con- sumed worldwide in amounts on par with oil and wheat: Sweet Unity Farms Coffee from Tanzania. To purchase, go to our website at www.ia- moneofthemillion.com/prod- ucts.html. We are also getting our tax returns prepared at Compro Tax Offices. Buy Black products and professional services. If one million of us spend $1,000 per year at Black businesses we will bring our Billion Dollar March to frui- tion. So, take a load off your feet. Let your dollars do the march- ing. James Clingman is the na- tion’s most prolific writer on economic empowerment for Black people. His latest book, “Black Dollars Matter! Teach Your Dollars How to Make More Sense,” is available on his web- site, Blackonomics.com. 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