An Open Letter to Black Business Owners
These past few months have been historical. We have a mobilized force waking up every day fighting for a better world. We have the work of abolitionists being thrown into the mainstream while people are now finally finding ways to reimage a society that functions outside of capitalists constructs. It is a time where great transformative change is occurring and I am begging y’all to join along for the ride.
You have taken on the role of being a Black business owner. Being an entrepreneur is not easy and throwing in the fact that you are Black, makes it ten times as hard. Yet you are here today, even in a pandemic still finding ways to keep your business afloat. This business that you have created is a means of liberation and freedom for you. You are building wealth for yourself but also the generations that are to come. You have spent time, money, tears, blood, and sweat for it to become everything that it is today. You should be proud of yourself and all that you’ve accomplished.
There is a major call to action right now at this moment around supporting Black business, which I agree with. Why wouldn’t I want to put my money towards the Black businesses? Why wouldn’t I want to support the companies that reflect me and the people I am in community with?
I actively do buy Black.
The thing is for every dollar I am spending on your Black business establishment, I can not help but wonder what truly makes a difference between you and the white business owner. I am still paying someone else’s s bills while receiving a product. Every time I spend money on your product, I am investing in your generational wealth while I am still struggling to live paycheck to paycheck. When on social media, I feel there is an abundance of representation of “buying Black” and “Black enterprise” rhetoric that can, and should, be balanced with further questioning of what other collective power we have.
If we want to have a conversation about “Buying Black”, we need to take a moment to look at where this notion even came from.
Richard Nixon’s administration was a huge proponent of the Black business/capitalism theory in the 70s. It was a strategy to derail Black folks from radicalizing during the Black Power movement. (Robert E. Weems, Jr. and Lewis A. Randolph’s The National Response to Richard M. Nixon’s Black Capitalism Initiative: The Success of Domestic Detente ” ).
His administration had no genuine intentions to give Black Americans the tools and resources to adequately play the money game.
Mehrsa Barabaran states in A Bad Check for Black America that “Nixon’s embrace of “black capitalism” was a canny move that ultimately decimated the black community and turned the wealth gap into a wealth chasm.”
She also had the following to say: “To understand why black capitalism has, for the past fifty years, been perennially both appealing and empty, we must look to its origins in the Nixon administration.
Nixon promised ‘more black ownership, . . . black pride, black jobs, black opportunity, and yes, black power, in the best, the constructive sense of that often misapplied term.’
Nixon was practically repeating Malcolm X, who had said that the ‘black man should be focusing his every effort toward building his own business, and decent homes for himself,’
although Nixon left out the part where Malcolm had said, ‘show me a capitalist, I’ll show you a bloodsucker.’ He also ignored Black Power’s demands for land, reparations, and political sovereignty.”
We as Black Americans have to deal with the reality that Black capitalism/entrepreneurship is not the key to Black liberation. It does help the few but rarely does that ever trickle down to the rest of the Black community as a whole. Even the few Black elites are still looking up to the white owners of capital. Black capitalism only continues to uphold the constructs that have harmed Black folks since the founding of this nation.
Aaron Ross Coleman’s mentions in his piece “Black Capitalism Won’t Save Us” that “In the past and present, the rub of black capitalism is evident; it measures success in a few black entrepreneurs, while the everyday black people living, working, and shopping in the segregated economies still face existential financial threats.
They’re still plagued by the wealth gap, squeezed by discrimination, and targeted by predatory businesses. For these people moving their dollars from a white firm to a black one can provide cosmetic change, but rarely does it fix the fundamental underpinnings of racial inequality.”
We need to move away from the idea that all of our collective power is in Black enterprise/commerce. History has shown us time and time again that these methods are merely band-aids for the gushing wounds that are racial capitalism.
The idea that my money is contributing to the well-being of another Black family is beautiful, but in this day and age, I think we need to think outside of our social confines that is capitalism. We are the generation that can drastically shift the roles we play in our communities.
This is not a dig at business owners. This is a call to action for those who have the means to step up and create sustainable survival programs that can drastically make a difference in the lives of so many Black people across America.
Recognize your position in a community as a business owner in the Black community. You have an entire network of people who will support you. How can you support them in a way that’s sustainable and meets their needs?
Black business owners are doing this already. They are out here giving free food. Being mentors in the community and inspiring the young Black people in their community. We have many local organizers who are protesting and making demands while doing their little side hustles to get by.
I’m not here to tell you to not build your company, I’m asking that we push ourselves to start thinking more about ways to continue this good work without further perpetuating the ideals of individualism that is inherently incorporated in the system of capitalism.
It’s 2020 and not everyone can or should be an activist, but there are ways you can pull resources together and meet people’s needs.
Open your backyard or venue to local organizers so they have a place to brainstorm ideas to better the community. Organize with other local Black businesses to team up and pull all the resources to bring free food, clothing, medical supplies, etc to those who need it.
Of course, these are things that are needed especially now during COVID but think about the ways you can help make a long-term sustainable resource for people in your community beyond the pandemic.
We need Black business owners to support organizers who are fighting the battle outside. We need Black business owners to listen to young Black radicals that are fighting for you and me, as well as the future for Black people.
A business can only do but so much for the community by just being Black. The thing is collectivism is good for you too. If you are able to create a community that is committed to taking from one another, you will benefit from that.
Yeah, you can build your generational wealth for your family but what about the poor black kids your child will have to go to school with? Do they deserve less because their parents didn’t follow your footsteps?
What happens if you aren’t there to provide for your child? Wouldn’t it be nice to know that there is a community of people who will make sure your child has everything they need regardless? Wouldn’t it be nice to know that you can count on the community to be there when life gets rough? You would benefit in society that prioritizes community.
We need to invest time and energy into building community wealth and stronger Black communities. Our communities need to be dedicated to creating an environment that allows us to move away from Black capitalism and into Black collectivism. That is how we will get free. That is how we can ensure that we all aid in the future that is Black liberation.
