By Jonathan Blount – Guest Columnist
As a requiem to the death of one of our most forceful, self-critical, directional and stand up voices, Lucius Gantt, I call for more “Speak Truth To Power” dialogue and commentary in our African American Community.
As such, it is important that African American efforts to seek parity in business opportunity not be perceived as misguided and distracted gestures, but instead focused, planned, organized and coordinated sustainable campaigns. I offer my responsive suggestions to the Black Business Consortium’s call to follow up the Black Legislative Bus Ride to Tallahassee.
Just last week Governor Rick Scott came to Orlando and held a round table with The Hispanic Business Initiative Fund. I managed to gain limited access and learned of the major initiatives and promises made to them.
He held no such meeting with African American businesses. His office can change our opportunity dynamic with the stroke of his Executive Order Pen and/or a demand to HIS staff. Meanwhile, the Black Legislators, according to this week’s published report, can scarcely keep their Legislative office open. The Hispanics focus their efforts strategically for most effective result. We smile for the cameras and vanish.
They are organized. We are not.
At the first Congressional Black Caucus Dinner, I was privileged to be present to hear my friend and mentor, Ossie Davis call for a coordinated action plan for Black America.
He exclaimed, “It’s not the Rap, it’s the Map. It’s not the Man, It’s the Plan!”
Here we are more than 44 years later and that call to action is yet our spirited charge.
The following are my observations as to critical next action steps:
1. Isolation and Identification of Target Institutions and Businesses
2. Consolidation of effort and collaboration
3. Immediate Direct Action
I believe we want intelligence about what business is being done with BLACK businesses now and by whom. Not just by the State but by especially high purchase index consumables. For example, LYNX has 100,000 mostly all Black riders per day. What percentage of their $127 million annual budget is reciprocally recycled to the Black customer base? (Frequently Black Faces in White Places means we still “Chasin”……Unless we provide them with supportive pressure so they can advocate in our behalf).
We must request that target entities establish a programmatic effort. This leads us to include a research and monitoring element. This team might cite best historical and existing practices. The Polk County Sheltering and The Orlando Blueprint might be examples.
Why are we limiting our attention to “government agencies?”
Through a concerted action initiative, we should immediately petition target entities to DO BUSINESS NOW! Tell us what is in the pipeline and provide us with contacts that have decision authority. Senior management to charge them with parity goals.
Perhaps a Leadership Committee should lead the campaign to arrange opportunity meetings, present our case, lobby our interest, challenge recalcitrants, organize protest against those who unfairly deny us “an equal opportunity to compete”!
Maybe they should call, write and confront. “POWER CONCEDES NOTHING WITHOUT A DEMAND. IT NEVER HAS AND IT NEVER WILL!” Frederick Douglas.
In our mix of effort, a business development function seems critical. We launch a daily campaign on all fronts that provides a constantly tabulated and updated report card as to who is responding to our calls for economic parity and reciprocity. Engage social and other media to protest, request, shame and extol.
We ask our Clergy to list these findings as weekly Church Announcement updates. We suggest economic dollar voting for our friends or against our foes. There has to be consequence for action or inaction. NO PUSH, NO GIVE! We need to launch a sustainable movement.
Derrick Wallace and others will attest that it was the protest from the community that provided him with his first opportunities. I, as Founding Chair and President of ESSENCE, My Brothers from BET, Black Enterprise and others would never have gotten access to the capital to launch had it not been for the unrest in the streets. ESSENCE was launched on a bet, (much like trading places). Black Economic Activist, Russ Goings, got Shearson’s (white) Michael Victory, EVP and Bob Van Tyle, Chairman to bet that if you give Blacks the same access to capital as whites, they would succeed at the same rates as white Entrepreneurs that they bet on everyday. We proved them right. Imagine what would happen if we had the same capital in our communities today. Caribbean, Indian and Arab Americans demonstrate this every day.
It is about economic RECIPROCITY, PARITY, EQUALITY AND JUSTICE. Our communities are business redlined. We are asking to participate fairly in the economic equation. We are demanding OUR SILVER (not Civil) RIGHTS. We want freedom from ECONOMIC SLAVERY.
We must be prepared to sacrifice, bleed and die, (if necessary) for this just course. We suffer from a planned conspiracy of economic genocide. Our communities primarily suffer from insidious, subversive economic terrorism.
We have the same cause as the American Patriots. We have the same cause as against JIM CROW. The futures of our children’s, children depend on our action now. We are dooming them to failure through our inaction, inattention and comfort satiation.
Business is the tail that wags the dog. A strong business community yields a stronger social dynamic. The circulatory effect of money multiplication is the blood and fuel of our livelihood. The entire body politic benefits. More and stronger businesses, more jobs, less crime, larger tax base, better schools etc, etc.
We must be prepared to wage an Economic War. If not, continue to whimper, whine and mealy mouth our empty protestations and beg.
It is a call to Economic ARMS. Give our children liberty or give us death!
As we always closed our letters in the founding and early years of ESSENCE:
Yours in the Struggle,
JONATHAN
Jonathan Sebastian Blount
202.997.7574
