My prayer is this: "Dear Lord, please, may the next self appointed, or even majority-favored leader, for Black folks in America...not be a preacher, a public
speaker, or even a politician for that matter...but in fact, an accountant! Amen."
Several years ago, while attending The Blacks in Higher Education Conference. I heard a fellow panelist state, "If black folks in the U.S., were all placed on an island...and took with them, the money they spend in this economy. That island would be the 11th wealthiest nation in the world."
In fact, according to Ken Smikle, President of Target Market News, the Consumer Buying Power of Black America, will reach $1.2 Trillion by 2017. And if I may add insult to injury. Since 1980, the Black church alone, has raised over $500 billion. Question: 'Where in the hell is all of that loot?'
We say, 'Black Lives Matter.' But, does black 'life' matter? And, does it matter to us in the context necessary to compete in the capitalist society in which we live? Does it matter in community economics...or in education? Or, in endowment? After all, each of the aforementioned, are strata we have the ability to shape and control.
In 1956, sociologist, E. Franklin Frazier admonished, "the Negro in America, has the problem of buying what we want, and begging for what we need." Hmmm, yet 60 years, and billions of dollars later, we find black college students attending Chicago State University, placing their bodies in front of expressway traffic. As they protest a lack of State funding for their school.
Meanwhile, Yeshiva University(supported by the Jewish community); Notre Dame(supported by the Roman-Catholic church); and Brigham Young University(supported by the Mormon church), comfortably operate with endowments of $1.1 billion; $10 billion; and $140 million, respectively!
Good people, might I suggest avoiding the temptation of waiting for the next neighborhood crises, to serve as our catalyst for unity. And instead, begin to build our socio-economic prowess, with the billions in cash flow we currently have.
Humbly, I submit, that we root our next community uprising (along with the accompanying Go-fund Me campaign), within the area of recruiting, retaining, and then electing the first African-American community, CFO...lbvs