Nov. 19, 2016

Blackonomics

The Billion Dollar March
By James Clingman

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - In April 2005 I wrote an article titled, “Billion Dollar 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 predictable 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 marching, I won’t spend my time trying to answer that question; you can ask those who are calling 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 confronted 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 members of the MATAH Network in 2000 will remember our monthly “Standing Order.”  We received a book and a tape to help elevate our consciousness; two of the tapes 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 Gospel, those two messages from two astute, conscious, and conscientious Black men really illuminated—once again—the importance of marching our dollars to Black businesses and wielding economic power as a means to change our situation.

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 boycotted; sports organizations, entertainers, and conferences refused to hold events in cities whose policies went against their beliefs; and most recently we saw NBA Commissioner, Adam Silver, take the All-Star Basketball game out of Charlotte, North Carolina.  Now in reaction to the election, three NBA team owners are boycotting all Trump hotels.

Billionaires like Mark Cuban give their dollars marching orders.  We must do no less.  Our Billion Dollar March must be organized, measurable, maintained, sustained, and used to empower us.  It must not be done solely to hurt someone else; it must be implemented to benefit Black businesses owned by conscious and conscientious brothers and sisters, because we know that “everything black ain’t Black.”  The businesses we support must use some of their windfall 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, habitual 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 continuously.  THE One million will keep track of our participation via pledges and feedback from our members and the businesses we support.

Nationally syndicated columnist, 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 patronize black-owned businesses?  African American buying power is over 1 Trillion; and yet only 2 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 formula 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 Contributors and Voters.  We are buying and promoting a ubiquitous product, one that is consumed worldwide in amounts on par with oil and wheat:  Sweet Unity Farms Coffee from Tanzania.  To purchase, go to our website at www.iamoneofthemillion.com/products.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 $1,000.00 per year at Black businesses we will bring our Billion Dollar March to fruition.

So take a load off your feet; let your dollars do the marching.

Nov. 20, 2016

Afterthoughts on a Debacle
By Dr. E. Faye Williams, Esq.

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - DEBACLE: a complete collapse or failure.

For Liberals or Progressives, the 2016 presidential election is nothing less than a DEBACLE.  Since Trump’s victory, political and social uncertainty remain top-trending topics. Trump now holds us in suspense, looking to his cabinet appointments as predictive of his method of governance. Trump has a majority of the nation and a large part of the world holding their collective breaths awaiting his next, unpredictable move.

The fear and uncertainty of a Trump presidency engenders a temptation to search for a logical reason as to why we’re in our current situation and finds us listening to analyses as endless as the pundits giving them. Having listened to many well thought out, well-delivered post-mortems, I’ve concluded that some console, some congratulate and others point the finger of guilt. I’ve also concluded that, whether from frustration or lingering disbelief, some wish to debate "Why?" instead of engaging in future-oriented dialogue.

I take pride and consolation in the fact that Black women voted overwhelmingly for Secretary Clinton. Whether a pro-Clinton or anti-Trump vote, the effect was that Black women’s vote carried the more closely contested states and kept a Clinton victory within striking distance in others.  Exit polling showed that 94% of Black women voted for Clinton.

Charles D. Ellison, contributing editor at The Root, said, “If anyone is to blame for Trump’s dastardly white nationalist-driven win, to the dropping jaws of many, clouds can’t be sent over Black women... Sisters may have instinctively felt the approaching electoral freight train—perhaps that same way in which worried Black mothers, for centuries, have given racial-warning pep talks to Black children, bracing for dreams deferred."

Ellison went on, "Whether Black women’s votes were, indeed, an honest attempt at sincerely supporting the candidate or whether they were seated in a real belief that she would be the most qualified president since, well, Barack Obama, is beside the point. What’s poignant is the impressive show of electoral force from Black women, despite odds historically stacked against them and—frankly—the almost scandalous underestimation of their value at Election Day polls."

Among other things, I’m disgusted by attempts to disavow racism as a major component of Trump’s victory.  Although thinly-veiled and less than subtle, appeal to racist leanings was a hallmark of Trump’s campaign. Seen in increasing daily encounters, current incidents of blatant racism give evidence that Trump’s campaign opened the door to a resurgence of overt racism.  As a former educator, most disturbing is that much of the resurgence has shown up in many of our middle and high schools.

"If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't know you're picking his pocket.  Hell, give him someone to look down on and he'll empty his pockets for you."  Attributed to President Johnson, that quote rings more true now than when first spoken.

However rationalized, white privilege is real and expected by those who’re white and those willing to submit. Most white people prefer being white to anything else in the world. The benefits of that privilege are taught from birth and are culturally embedded. For many whites, equality of opportunity and social justice are tantamount to “reverse discrimination.”  For that demographic, the last 8 years have been comparable to trudging, waterless, through the desert.

Although positive prospects for our next 4 years seem non-existent, now is not the time to roll-over in dismay.  Our response to the challenges of a Trump administration will shape our own and our children’s future.  We’ve come too far to relinquish the gains we’ve made since Emancipation and it’s REQUIRED that ALL of us activate and mobilize against any attempt to turn-back the clock of Freedom and Justice.

(Dr. E. Faye Williams is National President of the National Congress of Black Women.  202/678-6788.  www.nationalcongressbw.org)

Nov. 20, 2016

To Be Equal 

Nov. 20, 2016

Will Republicans Prevail in 2018?
By Julianne Malveaux

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - The apprehension that I felt upon Donald Trump’s victory in the Presidential election has only increased as he has announced the appointments of his chief of staff, strategist, and cabinet members.  As of this writing, he has mainly announced the selection of older white men, including the racist Alabama Senator, Jeff Sessions, to lead the Justice Department.  The senator’s use of highly inflammatory racial rhetoric (including describing the NAACP as an “un-American” organization, and expressing support for the KKK) prevented his confirmation to the US District Court in 1986.  Now, he will be charged with law enforcement in our nation.

Equally troubling has been the selection of Stephen Bannon, his campaign chairman, as chief White House strategist and senior counselor.  Bannon is the Executive Chairman of Breitbart News, a news site that has been the home of the alt-right, the source of lies, hate, nastiness and racist rhetoric.  President Barack Obama had to walk away from Minister Jeremiah Wright because one of his sermons was considered racist by some whites.  Trump openly embraces racists and is applauded for it.

The position that Bannon will hold does not require Senate confirmation, while the position that Sessions will be nominated for does.  With 54 Republicans in the Senate, Sessions is almost certain to be nominated.   Hopefully Democrats have retained enough of a backbone to raise questions about Sessions’ racism.  Senate newcomers Kamala Harris (D-CA) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) may be among the first to raise the questions.  Still Republicans will have the votes to confirm anyone they want to confirm.   Welcome to the age of Trump.

Will Republicans get more of an edge in the Senate when we go to the polls in 2018?  Thirty-three Senate seats will be up for grabs then.  Republicans hold only eight.  Independents Bernie Sanders (VT) and Angus King (ME), who caucus and vote with Democrats are both likely to be candidates for re-election.  A whopping 23 seats are currently held by Democrats.  If some of the states that went Republican in this year’s election can be tilted, Republicans can widen their margin in the Senate.

The Trump campaign (and its affiliated SuperPacs) have as much as $60 million to spend, and can use it to build ground operations in states where Democrats closely lost this year.  (Hillary and her affiliated SuperPACS may have as much as $70 million to spend).  Democrats lost Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Florida, North Carolina, and Arizona by less than five percent.  Incumbent Democrats Tammy Baldwin (WI), Sherrod Brown (Ohio), Bob Casey (PA), Joe Donnelly (IN), Amy Klobuchar (Minnesota), Joe Manchin (WV), Bill Nelson (FL), and Debbie Stabenow (MI) are all in states that Republicans won in 2016.  While many of them are popular, and incumbency is a challenging thing to overcome, we’ve just seen that the right kind of Republican rhetoric can prevail.

These candidates, and the Democratic Party, can’t afford to take incumbency or popularity for granted.  They can’t afford to savor a polling lead and conclude that they don’t have to fight for every vote.  If these folks want to go back to Washington, they’ll learn from the Hillary Clinton loss and work indefatigably, starting now, to keep their seats.  They’ll make lots of visits back home, host town hall meetings, and make sure their votes understand what their contributions have been and what challenges they face.

If Trump and his team can brag of results, if his actions are perceived as “making American great again”, then incumbent Democrats may be in trouble.  Virginia Senator Tim Kaine, also on the ballot, has described Democrats in the Senate as the “emergency brake” on Trump’s policy proposals.  I expect them to vocally take Trump and his team on when they revert to the racist rhetoric and proposed racist, misogynistic, and jingoistic policies that Trump promoted during the campaign.  Will they?  They may not want to be perceived as obstructionists (though Republicans surely didn’t mind being obstructionists with President Obama), and they will certainly need to pick their battles carefully.  But they must speak out.