We will not be treated as equal socially, until we are equal economically!

BY WAZARI JOHNSON

In my last article about the legacy of Marcus Garvey and his outlook on black economics, I mentioned the kind of spending power we have as a people. I do not think this is an area that most people pay keen attention to. While some of us do, some also offer very bad advice on how this power should be used.

For weeks I have seen African-American celebrities tweeting and putting messages on Instagram that black people should “stop spending”, unless that statement is properly qualified it makes absolutely no sense in relation to the black struggle.

These influencers should be encouraging blacks to support black owned businesses.  We have been running at the back of the geopolitical race so long that we cannot afford any counsel that simply just tells us to stop spending. We should be encouraged to start spending more with our people.

It is estimated that African Americans spend $1.2 trillion annually. Black businesses combined in America could do with that sort of combined annual sales for our business community.

Black consumers and consumers of color alike are making very significant contributions to the overall economy. Research shows that in some cases, our spending representing more than 50% of the overall spending in key product categories. For example, half of the total spend ($941 million) on dry grains and vegetables in the U.S. in 2017 came from consumers of color. Black consumers represented $147 million of the total spend in this category, which has resulted in advances in product creation to meet the demands of this diversity of buyers.

With this in mind I would say that a lot more of us need to become suppliers to the dry grain and vegetables market and as previously stated we should be supporting these suppliers. (I keep repeating it because repetition deepens impression and this economic paradigm needs to be impressed upon the minds of black people).

Outside of Marcus Garvey, there are other black thinkers that have views on black economics that I greatly value. One such thinker is Malcolm X. These are some of his words that he shared in relation to the issue of black economics, “The economic philosophy of black nationalism only means that we have to become involved in a program of re-education. Our people need to be educated about the importance of knowing that when you spend your dollar out of the community in which you live, the community in which you spend your money becomes richer and richer; the community out of which you take your money becomes poorer, and poorer.”

This is a fundamental lesson that we keep missing as a people It is said that Malcolm’s father was a Garveyite, and this might have had some influence on his mind in his formative years.

Malcolm X promoted the idea that black people should start establishing their own stores and once they grew, we should seek to expand into larger operations. He used Woolworth and General Motors as examples. Woolworth closed its operation in America in 1997 (Woolworth is still in operation in the island of Jamaica) and General Motors is still in operation.

They started out as small operations and grew into larger ones over time. Malcolm X emphasized that the place where we should start was our communities. I agree with him wholeheartedly.

We keep clamoring as a people for equality, but we will not be treated as equal socially until we are equal economically. Repeat the last lines I just wrote about three times and please let the reality of that set in. Repetition deepens impression.