BLACK BUYING POWER

What is black spending power? It is a reality. It is not something that will exist someday. It is here and it is now. From my point of view we, as a group, are exercising our spending power against our own interest. Political pundits often refer to the idea that a large portion of Americans go into the voting booth and vote against their own best interest. Throughout my life I have exercised this very ideal too many times to count. In fact, I did it yesterday when I bought a pack of cigarettes. I'll do it again the next time I buy some fast food. I am not striving for perfection and I don't expect it from others. I just want consistent improvement. Years ago I was talking to an older African American man about spending habits. He said to me " What black people spend a lot of money on is cars". I thought to myself, do black people really spend more money on cars than other groups? I have to admit that I never did the math. However, this older man was somewhat of a social authority so I take him at his word. Have you or have you ever know someone who went a few days or even more than a week without having any money? I know that I have been in this position. The funny thing is that not only did I not die but I actually found myself being more productive in the absence of money. My options became narrow but my focus became stronger. One time in the absence of money I decided to go take a walk. I found a park about five miles from my home that I had never been to. The park has a four mile walking trail. I love it. Sometimes I grab my iphone and hit the trail for a quick 45min. walk/jog. It's one of my favorite things to do. It does not cost any money. And I never would have found the park if I had money to spend. I probably would have gone to a movie or have gone to go get drinks with friends. All of this is a long winded way of saying fuck money. I mean it. Turn money into your bitch. I know too many broke and nearly broke people who survive on almost nothing. Which tells me that money is not as necessary as we might believe. What can you do without money? What can you accomplish without money? You can accomplish a great deal without money. Do something weird like cleaning out the trash in the vacant lot in the middle of your block. Do something crazy like walking around your city to all the black owned businesses. Talk to the restaurant owners about adding healthier food to the menu. Talk to the salon owners about different techniques for maintaining long healthy natural hair. Make a choice to go a week or two without spending any money unnecessarily. No chips no booze no lottery tickets no fast food no cigarettes. Then at the end of your one or two weeks take the money you would have wasted and pay a young man to clean out the vacant lot in the middle of the block. Spend your money with the restaurant owner who took your suggestion seriously. Buy hair care products from the salon that offered the best advice. Maybe I'm wrong but I don't think that we are going to be to harness our spending power as a group until we can harness it as individuals. Its very difficult, but try your hardest to keep as much of your money in the black community as possible. You might just mess around and turn it into a habit where supporting black owned businesses becomes first nature.