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April 22, 2004

Getting down to business

During Sen. Dianne Wilkerson’s recent 21st Century Black Massachusetts Conference, several speakers noted that African Americans have reached a new phase on their march for full equality. In his keynote address, Jesse Jackson set forth the significant issues in this march.

Jackson said that phase one was to end slavery, phase two was to end racial discrimination, phase three was to secure the vote where blacks were disenfranchised, and phase four is to build wealth and create economic prosperity.

The first three phases are part of the civil rights movement, and for the most part those goals have been accomplished. However, because racial discrimination still exists and there continue to be efforts to vitiate the power of the black vote, many blacks are reluctant to acknowledge that they have won the civil rights battle.

Those attitudes and strategies that brought victory for civil rights will not be successful in the future. Blacks imposed upon the moral conscience of America to do the right thing, and it worked. Success required that whites grant to blacks those rights and protections provided for everyone in the Constitution.

However, there is no moral imperative for whites to make blacks wealthy. That can happen only with enormous discipline and self-effort. This is quite different from the slave mentality which relies on the beneficence of others for one’s welfare.

No matter how determined and ambitious, it is impossible for you to succeed without some knowledge of how the financial system works. For seven weeks in February and March, Gillette sponsored a series of articles describing basic concepts of economics. Subjects included: Scarcity, Opportunity Cost, Incentives, Private Property Rights, Voluntary Exchange, Competition and Money.

This series was so well received that the Banner has decided to launch a new feature entitled “Personal Finance and Business.” Every other week there will be an article providing financial advice for the working family, in terms that can be understood. On the opposite page will be “Profiles of Success,” articles about minority entrepreneurs, executives or professionals who learned how to move ahead.

Remember, it’s not easy to acquire wealth or everyone would do it. The Banner hopes that this new feature will help you
to succeed.

A step in the right direction

When Jesse Jackson ran for president in 1988, he electrified the black electorate and amassed 1,218 delegates. In the recent Democratic primary campaign, Al Sharpton finished with only 25 delegates. While many African Americans were pleased that Sharpton raised issues relevant to them, they seemed to be more focused, like other Americans, on supporting a candidate who could beat George Bush.

Another political development that so far has received little attention is the organization of the hip-hop generation. There are 40 million Americans in the 18 – 25 age group who represent 25 percent of the potential voter pool. Only half are registered and only 36 percent of those bother to vote.

Russell Simmons and Dr. Benjamin Chavis have organized the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network with the objective of creating a significant voter bloc. The organization is traveling from city to city registering young voters.

If HSAN can wake up black youth to the importance of voting, they may accomplish something that eluded Sharpton.

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