BLACK SELF-HELP BOOK: A FOOL’S ERRAND? by William Reed Columnist

When did you last buy something from a Black-owned business?  Maggie Anderson is a champion of “conscious consumerism” and has made supporting Black businesses her goal.

 

Anderson and her husband John are doing what all African-American households should do in the marketplace. A few years ago, they embarked on the “Empowerment Experiment” during which they vowed to patronize Black-owned businesses exclusively. The Anderson’s story about their activities during 2009 is in the book, “Our Black Year: One Family’s Quest to Buy Black in America’s Racially Divided Economy.”

 

Although they could have remained in the middle-class American mainstream, the Andersons set about to inspire more support for Black-owned businesses; stimulate supplier diversity in corporate America; and to get Black households to make pledges of support. The book’s purpose is to place the issues facing Black businesses in the national dialogue.

 

The Andersons should be lauded by the race as true role models who have affected us in ways that make us want to be better people. They are setting examples to correct Black Americans’ lack of economic power by showing how to strengthen our economic base; empower ourselves and/or be self-reliant and self-sufficient. In the book, “Our Black Year, Anderson issues a call to action to all of us to do our part. Alfred Edmond Jr. of Black Enterprise Magazine adds that: “Our Black Year is a must-read.”

 

The most iniquitous thing among humanity is self-destruction and self-hatred. “Being your own worst enemy” is a widespread condition among African Americans.  In the book, Anderson reports that:  “Black people patronize businesses within their own ethnic group less than other ethnic groups.”  She discovered that Blacks’ businesses lag behind all other racial and ethnic groups.  Anderson points out that a dollar circulates among local shop owners, banks and business professionals for up to 28 days in Asian communities. In the Jewish community, a dollar circulates for 19 days. But, in the African-American community the money earned is gone within six hours.

 

African Americans are dysfunctional when it comes to capitalism and reciprocity.  Blacks only spend 2 cents of each dollar we get with other Blacks, and often conspicuously choose to spend with White businesses rather than support Blacks.  "Sometimes I wonder whether something in our DNA prevents us from working together, whether the cultural liabilities we’ve experienced and … cultivated over the decades have become the essence of who we are,” Anderson said.  Anderson points out the plight of Black economic empowerment: "in flexing our economic might, by proving that we can shop wherever we want, in so doing, we abandoned Black-owned businesses.”

 

To be real players in American capitalism, Blacks should shop consciously and racial identity and affiliation should play a role in our actions. In contrast to Blacks that boast how “mainstream” they are in their purchases, the Andersons transferred their money to a Black bank and switched cell phone companies based on race.

 

Blacks have more than $800 billion in expendable income each year, yet the majority of this money is spent outside our communities.  You’d think that this would be a prime time in Black Americans’ development toward economic empowerment based on Blacks helping Blacks.  In contrast to post-racial politics, Anderson encourages Blacks to: 1) subscribe to Black media, 2) open an account at a Black or community-owned bank, and 3) look for basic services – like an alarm or cable company – owned by Blacks.  In addition to the Anderson’s campaign, radio talk show host Warren Ballentine teamed up with the National Bankers Association, the Washington, D.C.-based consortium of minority-owned financial institutions, in “The People’s Economic Movement” designed to encourage African-American individuals and institutions to deposit dollars in Black banks.

 

Our Black Year” and Ballentine’s “The People’s Economic Movement” provide interesting challenges for African Americans. To understand the interplay of race, economics, and conscious consumerism, it’s recommended that progressive Black civic and church groups, book and block clubs make “Our Black Year” their organization’s next month’s theme and topic.

Contact: info@eefortomorrow.com – www.EEforTomorrow.com.

(William Reed is available for speaking/seminar projects via the Bailey Group.org)

See related:

William Reed Columnist

 

Look What Law and Order Has Wrought by William Reed Columnist

Don’t you think that it’s time to reform America’s criminal justice system? It’s an unfair, racist and dishonest system in need of abandonment. In the last 40 years an insidious prison industrial complex has developed to the detriment of African-American males. It appears that politicians of all stripes are more interested in sending African Americans to prison than to college. It’s time to sound the alarm on the harm the country’s prison industrial complex is causing Black Americans.

How is it that African Americans are so dismissive of the mass incarceration of our male population?  It’s time to publicly scrutinize African Americans’ disproportionate prison population numbers. Going to prison represents lifelong exclusion from “proper society” including job discrimination, elimination from juries and voter rolls, and disqualification from access to food stamps, public housing and student loans. Those who are considered [Black leaders] need to address the devastating effect of the war on drugs on our communities.

The American justice system is racist, outmoded and deserving of public scorn. Today, Black males are the country’s most socially disenfranchised group.  It should be of major concern to Blacks that 10.4 percent of the African-American male population ages 25 to 29 is incarcerated. We all know someone “in trouble.” More than 3 million Black households have a close relative currently or previously on parole or probation. The number of Black men in prison has grown to the point that more African-American men are in jail than in college. Since the “War on Drugs” was launched, the U.S. has spent more than a trillion dollars incarcerating millions of young people on drug charges.  The “War on Drugs” has created a marginalized underclass that’s denied equal access to jobs and educational opportunities.

Black voters guilty of electing the same politicians to office repeatedly need to consider the harm the war on drug has wrought over the past 48 years. Isn’t it time to take these elected officials to task for the laws they helped to design, write and legislate? These activities have helped toward the genocide of Black males. To allow these laws and lawmakers to remain in office is a crime.

Blacks receive little of the $321.6 billion the global drug trade generates, but suffer the most in law enforcement and the legal system. You +1′d this publicly. UndoThe U.S. is the single largest marketplace for illegal drugs. Approximately 13 million Americans buy or sell, cocaine, Ecstasy or weed on a regular basis. Whether it’s for recreational use or for profit, they’re not the ones who go to jail for drug crimes. American drug sales and their huge profits exist outside Black communities. It’s estimated that $10 to $30 billion in drug profits goes south to Colombia and Mexico each year. The real beneficiaries of the American drug trade are: wealthy bankers who launder money, land owners who grow and export product, and Wall Street investors and business folk who profit from designing, building, supplying and managing prisons.

Black voters are the key to correcting this problem and its inequities and hold sway over this debilitating situation. Though these issues are real for Black Americans at the local, state and national levels, they are never talked about in racial terms. Candidate Ron Paul is the only one willing to say:   “The true racial problems in this country involve drug law enforcement. The drug war is out of control … and undermines our civil liberties. It magnifies our problems on the borders. We spent, over the last 40 years, $1 trillion on this war … It just hasn’t worked.  It has to do with enforcing the drug laws.”

It may not require voting for Paul, but Black Americans must take more aggressive political positions to rid our people of this criminal justice and prison system. Stop the genocide. People of conscience must let our elected officials know that we want to decriminalize cocaine, heroin and marijuana in order to close the doors on diabolical prisons and policies.

(William Reed is Publisher of Who’s Who in Black Corporate America and available for speaking/seminar projects via the Bailey Group.org)

See related:

William Reed Columnist

BLACK CEO HAS PLENTY ON HIS PLATE by William Reed Columnist

A petition is circulating across America asking that the country’s largest restaurant company treat and pay its African-American employees “equally.”  The petition comes as a result of the suit Restaurant Opportunities Center United (ROC) has filed against Darden Restaurants claiming that the company systemically favors White workers over minorities.

The suit alleges that minority employees at The Capital Grille job sites in New York, Chicago and Washington, D.C. “are shunted away from front-of-the-house jobs like waiters and hosts toward lower-paying kitchen jobs and that Darden discriminates against Blacks “by not offering a clear path” from their low fare restaurants [Red Lobster and Olive Garden] to their high-brow The Capital Grille.

On the other hand, a Darden representative described the allegations as "baseless."  The irony of the situation is that the chief cook and bottle washer at Darden is Clarence Otis Jr., an African American. Otis is the chairman of the board and chief executive officer (CEO) of the company. The Darden family of restaurants features recognizable and successful full-service brands such as: Red Lobster, Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse and The Capital Grille.  Darden owns and/or operates more than 1,900 restaurants that employ 180,000 people and serve more than 400 million meals a year.

The ROC union campaign is asking the public to “join us in calling on Darden to … institute a promotions policy that allows Black workers to compete for jobs as servers, bartenders and chefs at the company’s fine-dining facilities.” The nationwide campaign asks that “Black workers be able to advance to livable wages” at Darden’s Capital Grille sites and not be relegated to the lowest-wage work.  The litigants contend that “Black workers in the restaurant industry are routinely relegated to fast food outlets” while Whites more readily climb the ranks to earn upwards of $50,000 a year.  They say that The Capital Grille is “the only place within the company where workers can earn a living wage.”  They want Darden to provide “clear pipelines … to higher-paid work at Capital Grille restaurants.

Darden acquired The Capital Grille chain from Rare Hospitality in 2007.  The Capital Grille is considered the “Big Leagues” of Darden restaurants and operates upscale steakhouse locations in 20 states and the District of Columbia. The union’s suit  wants Blacks to be put on the path that would lead more of them to Capital Grille locations; strategic moves that would make their career paths and pay equitable with Whites.

“Darden Restaurants is very proud of the work environment that it creates for employees,” said spokesperson Rich Jeffers.  The company is an industry leader.  Fortune Magazine ranks Darden among its “Top 100 Places to Work.” Darden has a well-established history of promoting minority workers to managerial positions, getting high marks for a diverse workforce.

Otis is a Black trailblazer. How he handles this situation may make him a business icon. He is a “hired gun” that’s been with Darden for 17 years. In his capacity for the past seven years, as CEO, he’s guided the company to a $400 million annual net income. Otis came to Darden in its spin-off from General Mills. His only previous restaurant experience had been in college when he waited tables during summer breaks. Now, the 56-year-old executive and his wife have one of the largest collections of African art in the U.S.

The group’s allegation that "Black workers are routinely discriminated against throughout the restaurant industry” merits the public’s attention and concern.  Beyond Darden, restaurants account for one of every 12 private sector jobs and are the nation’s second-largest private sector employer.  The industry has a workforce of nearly 13 million and is one of the country’s strongest job creators. National Restaurant Association President Dawn Sweeny says “The industry provides millions with rewarding career and employment opportunities … and whether in the kitchen or the corporate office, restaurants offer a variety of career paths.”

A sign of the times, the Darden discrimination case bears further watching.  

(William Reed is Publisher of Who’s Who in Black Corporate America and available for speaking/seminar projects via the Bailey Group.org)

See related:

William Reed Columnist

THE AUTO INDUSTRY’S COMEBACK CONTINUES by William Reed Columnist

The Obama 2012 campaign slogan should be “Osama bin Laden is dead and General Motors is alive.”

 

President Barack Obama’s role in the death of bin Laden troubles some, but his decision early in his presidency to extend billions in loans to General Motors and Chrysler has paid off. More than two years ago, the American auto industry teetered on the brink of collapse. Now, it has rebounded and has started to make vehicles for America’s future. Plants are hiring more workers, manufacturers are returning to profitability, exports of U.S. vehicles are increasing and some of the most technologically advanced vehicles are now being designed and produced in this country.  The $80 billion bailout was President Obama’s “bet on the American worker” and there have been ample signs of success in the automotive industry since Obama’s bailout.

 

The news coming out of the U.S. automotive industry has been good for Black Americans.  The automotive industry’s financial crisis was more devastating for African Americans than any other community and eroded a half-century’s economic gains by the Black middle class. From Blacks who left behind subsistent jobs in the South for high-paying factory jobs in the North during the Great Migration, to entrepreneurs and contractors in automotive businesses, the automotive industry has been a major factor in the formation of the Black middle class. In 1945, Blacks comprised 15 percent of the automobile industry workforce, by the late 1970s, "one of every 50 African Americans was working in the auto sector.”  From 1979 to 2007, Black employment in the auto industry fell to one in 100.

 

Black Americans greeted President Obama’s 2012 Washington Auto Show announcement that “the U.S. auto industry is back” with great anticipation.  After hitting a 30-year low in 2009, U.S. auto sales are poised for a second straight year of growth – the result of easier credit, low interest rates and pent-up demand for cars and trucks created by the recession.

 

Black groups and activist should move to forge increased employment, contracting and community partnerships with U.S.-based auto manufacturers as they crank up their factories and add thousands of jobs.  In addition to the expanded plant operations and employment opportunities occurring among Detroit’s Big Three, foreign-owned auto companies such as Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Hyundai, Kia, Volkswagen and BMW have invested $44 billion into their U.S. operations to account for 80,000 direct vehicle-manufacturing jobs and 500,000 dealer and supplier jobs.

 

Automotive manufacturing can help Blacks.  The industry is adding jobs at a faster pace than airplane manufacturers, shipbuilders, health care providers and the federal government.  Americans spent $40 billion more on new cars and trucks in 2011 than in 2009.  The momentum in auto sales is likely to continue because people need to replace aging cars, of which the average age is 11 years old.  A substantive number of Americans are feeling more comfortable about their employment outlook and where they’re going.  Domestic vehicle sales are expected to reach 17 million around 2018 as 70 million “Millennials” – born between 1981 and 2000 – buy cars and set up modern households.  These customer purchases will generate manufacturing activities that have the potential of reviving long distressed populations and industrial sectors.  Increasing manufacturing can turn long-suffering Rust Belt cities like Anderson, Ind., Youngstown, Ohio, Lansing, Mich., and Kokomo and Elkhart-Goshen, Ind., into revived and fast-growing cities.  The industry’s growth enhances Black Americans’ jobs and contracting opportunities.

 

It’s time Blacks take Obama’s bold “bailout move” to the next level.  Innovation through education and research is vital to building a manufacturing economy.  Creating a qualified workforce of technicians and engineers is essential to ensuring future success of America’s automotive industries.  Black leaders and teachers must make sure workers have the skills they need for jobs today and in the future. We need to train our people with skills that will lead to jobs for them. Above politics, we each need to engage in development programs and policies that help people get and hold jobs. 

(William Reed is head of the Business Exchange Network and available for speaking/seminar projects via the Bailey Group.org)

See related:

William Reed Columnist

THE HOWARD THEATRE: “THE PEOPLE’S PLACE” by William Reed Columnist

During the segregation era when Washington, D.C.’s U Street corridor was known as “Black Broadway," the Howard Theatre was its crown jewel. After a $29 million renovation, the 101-year-old People’s Theatre is starting to lift its show curtains once again.  Hopes are high among Black entertainers and entrepreneurs as the historic Howard reopens with a rebuilt stage, a state-of-the-art sound system, walnut paneling, oak floors and new seating.  The reopening of the theater harkens back to a time when Blacks were big in the entertainment business.  At its 1910 opening the Howard Theatre was billed as “the largest Colored theater in the world.”  It was the first major theater built to feature Black entertainers performing for a predominantly Black audience.

This time around, the Howard Theatre, an elegant edifice at 7^th and T Streets in Northwest, Washington combines elements of Beaux Arts, Italian Renaissance and neo-classical design to its stature as a landmark of the historically-Black LeDroit Park neighborhood.  The Howard Theatre appeared on the entertainment scene before Harlem’s Apollo.  Both venues came out of the "Chitlin’ Circuit" tradition, the string of performance venues that existed throughout the eastern and southern United States from the early 19th century through the 1960s.  The name is a play on the collaboration that existed between Blacks and Jews and the term "Borscht belt" which referred to a group of venues [primarily in New York's Catskill Mountains] popular with Jewish performers during the 1940s-60s. Back in the day, the Howard Theatre represented one of the venues – a center of Black commerce and a thoroughfare of locally owned businesses. In city after city these thoroughfares included Black enterprises such as   banks, pawnshops, hotels, funeral homes, fancy shops and upscale eateries.

Noted theaters on the Chitlin’ Circuit included the Royal Peacock in Atlanta; Carver Theatre in Birmingham, Ala.; Cotton Club, Small’s Paradise and the Apollo Theater in New York City; the Regal Theatre in Chicago; the Howard Theatre in Washington, D.C.; the Uptown Theatre in Philadelphia; the Royal Theatre in Baltimore; the Fox Theatre in Detroit; the Hippodrome Theatre in Richmond, Va.; and the Ritz Theatre in Jacksonville, Fla.  The theaters featured vaudeville, musicals and local variety and church programs. A network of business operators and operations flourished along the Chitlin Circuit. These businesses often included entertainment and illicit enterprises run by individuals involved in “the numbers,” bootleg liquor and money laundering. The Chitlin Circuit fostered the development of hundreds of Black businesses and artists who included T Bone Walker, Ike Turner, Little Richard, James Brown and others.

The Howard Theatre is currently owned by the District of Columbia.  Howard Theatre Restoration, Inc. (HTR), a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization, leads a collaborative effort with the D.C. government to oversee the Howard Theatre’s business and cultural development.  The venture is being managed by the Ellis Development Group. Officials from U.S. Bank, Howard Theatre Restoration, Inc., and the Ellis Development Group said more that $10 million in financing was provided through a U.S. Bank community development subsidiary.  U.S. Bank Vice President Laura Vowell said that financial support “helped ensure that a building which played a significant role in Washington D.C.’s past will do so again in the future.”  Other underwriters include Eagle Bank, Howard University and the National Park Service.

The Blue Note Entertainment Group signed a 20-year lease to operate the theater. The company also operates the Blue Note jazz club in New York’s Greenwich Village, the B.B. King Blues Club in Times Square and The Highline Ballroom. The group books venues up and down the East Coast and manages District landmarks that include Georgia Brown’s restaurant. "I’m excited to be associated with restoration of the legendary Howard Theatre," said Steven Bensusan, president of Blue Note Entertainment Group. "It’s an honor to be a part of this project and to help preserve the rich tradition of the Howard [Theatre], while bringing forth a modern concept in both design and programming.”   (William Reed is head of the Business Exchange Network and available for speaking/seminar projects via the Bailey Group.org)

See related:

William Reed Columnist

LONG LIVE D.C.’S “MAYOR-FOR-LIFE” by William Reed Columnist

Marion Barry has been at the forefront of American race and politics for four decades. The latest firestorm for Washington, D.C.’s “Mayor for Life” is his campaign victory party comment that Asian business owners in his ward "ought to go."  At a political celebration the venerable Barry caused widespread condemnation among the District of Columbia Democratic Party faithful when he said: “We’ve got to do something about these Asians coming in and opening up businesses and dirty shops. … They ought to go.  But we need African-American businesspeople to be able to take their places.”

The question is one of relevancy; whether Barry has any clout now that the African Americans Mayor Barry made rich have left town. Barry came to national prominence as the first civil-rights activist to become chief executive of a major American city. At the end of the 1960s, urban political campaigns took over from civil rights protests and over the next 30 years, voters elected African-American mayors in more than 300 cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Birmingham, Dallas and Washington, D.C.

Barry became famous as mayor of the nation’s capital. Currently he serves as a member of the D.C. Council, representing the District’s Ward 8, which is 93.5 percent Black and 0.4 percent Asian. Barry served as the second elected mayor of the District of Columbia from 1979 to 1991, and again as the fourth mayor from 1995 to 1999.  In addition to his current term, Barry also served two other tenures on the D.C. Council, as an at-large member from 1975–79, and as Ward 8 representative from 1992–95.

After winning the Democratic primary for his Ward 8 council seat with 73 percent of the vote, Barry told supporters "We’ve got to do something about these Asians."  He posted photos of Asian-owned stores with Plexiglas barriers and indicated that these businesses "lowered standards" in his constituents’ communities.

Barry and Washington, D.C. are symbolic of a major American social problem. Tensions have existed between urban Blacks and Asian merchants since the 1992 Los Angeles riots.  In this latest spat between Blacks and Asians, Councilmember Barry said that he was referring to merchants “who don’t sell healthy food and don’t engage with the community or hire local residents.”  “We need businesspeople that’ll be a part of the community, not exploit the community” Barry said.  He claimed that some Asian-owned convenience stores and restaurants don’t “respect” the Ward 8 residents.  “These are the only stores in the immediate neighborhood.  It is to these less-than-stellar Asian-American businessmen … that my remarks were directed” Barry said.  He made note that during his time as mayor, he created the city’s Office of Asian-Pacific Islander Affairs and established a sister-city relationship with Beijing.

Is Barry an icon for the Black business and professional class, or are they guilty of exploiting the city too?  Where Barry’s lif-long efforts for naught?  There is little question that the former mayor is directly responsible for the success of many affluent African Americans.  He was the catalyst for the expansion of the city’s Black middle-class. He insisted that professional positions in the District government be filled by minorities; and, he spearheaded the movement to require that all contracts considered by the D.C. government for services, supplies and development include a mandatory 35 percent participation for minority-owned businesses. Barry’s support in awarding the District’s cable franchise led to BET founder Robert Johnson becoming one of America’s first Black billionaires.

These days, Black wealth and influence are on the decline in D.C.  Most African Americans of means have left town.  “Chocolate City” is just under 50 percent Black.  In the 2010 Census, the city was 34.8 percent White. Don’t expect that the Blacks Barry made wealthy to help him rid the city of Asian merchants.  The Blacks Barry made wealthy have left D.C., taken their tax bases, and valuable property payments, to Prince Georges County, Md., gaining prominence as the most affluent majority-Black county in America.

(William Reed is head of the Business Exchange Network and available for speaking/seminar projects via the Bailey Group.org)

See related:

William Reed Columnist

Do You Know a Black Entrepreneur? by William Reed Columnist

Many African Americans don’t even know one single Black entrepreneur.  Most American Blacks are unaware of the roles or accomplishments of Black entrepreneurs.  So, the death of one of the country’s most influential Black businessmen should be duly noted.  In early April 2012, Alvin Boutte Sr. died at his home in Hazel Crest, Ill., outside Chicago. He was 82.

 

Boutte fits the mold of a successful Black entrepreneur.  He was born in Lake Charles, La., and earned a degree in pharmacy from New Orleans’ historically-Black Xavier University. When he later moved to Chicago the pharmacy profession gave him a foothold in the city’s business community.  Boutte owned and operated his own drugstore, which he later expanded into a chain of stores.

 

Boutte took pride, and identified with, his family’s Creole heritage. Maybe because of his orientation and family bonds, throughout his life Boutte sensed business opportunities and was known as being “tremendously ambitious.” Boutte’s successes offer proof of the advantages of Blacks working together.  In his dealings among Chicago’s Black businesspeople, Boutte became acquainted with the late George Johnson, purveyor of Ultra Sheen and Afro Sheen hair products, and the two started Chicago’s Independence Bank, which became the largest black-owned bank in the United States.  Independence was the first African-American-owned bank to purchase a substantially funded White-owned bank when it acquired Drexel National Bank.

 

Boutte is to be emulated for the way he “thought and acted Black.” Chicago’s ground-breaking Black business community also included the late John H. Johnson, publisher of Jet and Ebony magazines.  "When people talk about Chicago being the Mecca for Black business, it was because of that generation of African-American leaders who showed the way," said John Rogers, chief executive officer of Ariel Investments.

 

When Martin Luther King Jr.’s civil rights campaign needed funds to bankroll the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Boutte convened a meeting of Chicago’s Black business leaders to raise $55,000. "He invited Dr. King to Chicago … he was fundamental to those movements for justice," said the Rev. Jesse Jackson. Boutte embodied a unique blend of business savvy and activism and understood how success in business and political progress are both critical to the growth of Black communities.  Boutte said that while he never thought of himself as one who would leave a legacy,  and hoped that people would remember him as honest and successful. 

 

The spirit of Boutte continues in the actions and deeds of a select few in Black enclaves. Between 2002 and 2007 the number of Black-owned businesses in the United States increased to 1.9 million. Black-owned firms saw their receipts rise to $137.5 billion during those years.  The average revenue at those businesses was $72,000 a year versus an average of $490,000 at White businesses. 

 

For African Americans that came of age during the Civil Rights movement much introspection on our roles and relationships to capitalism is required.  Integration distracted Blacks in the 1960s and 70s from building our own businesses and financial infrastructures.  Too many Blacks are ignorant of the fact that the majority of new jobs and opportunities are created in the nation’s small business sector. Since 1987 the number of Black-owned businesses soared.  In 1987 America’s first Black corporate billionaire, the late Reginald F. Lewis, stood atop the Black Enterprise 100 Industrial/Service list. That year his TLC Beatrice International Holdings, an international food company, had revenue of $1.8 billion.

 

Boutte and Robert Maynard both enhanced the profile and recognition of Black entrepreneurs.  Each has now died, but the Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education’s legacy is still being written. The Institute is a non-profit corporation dedicated to expanding opportunities for minority journalists at the nation’s newspapers.  Maynard became the editor of The Oakland Tribune and bought it in 1983, becoming the first African American to own a major metropolitan newspaper.  The Maynard Institute has been at the forefront in celebrating the entrepreneurial achievements of African Americans for 40 years and currently sponsors Richard Prince’s column called “Journal-isms.”

(William Reed is head of the Business Exchange Network and available for speaking/seminar projects via the Bailey Group.org)

See related:

William Reed Columnist

 

WHAT DOES IT COST TO RENT A NEGRO LEADER? by William Reed Columnist

WHAT DOES IT COST TO RENT A NEGRO LEADER?

Did you see George Clooney getting arrested in front of the Sudanese Embassy in Washington, D.C.?   The Hollywood activist brought his “A-Team” for the latest demonization of the Islamic government of the Republic of Sudan.

The staged sidewalk show featured: Clooney’s father Nick, civil rights leaders Martin Luther King III, NAACP President Ben Jealous, and actor and comedian Dick Gregory. The staged protest also included veteran “anti-Sudan” activists, African-American Rep. Al Green from Houston, Massachusetts Reps. James McGovern and John Olver, and Rep. Jim Moran of Virginia.

How Martin Luther King III allowed himself to be cast as a bit-player in the show is questionable; but participants such as Green looks at his role and arrest like a badge of honor. In an interview with the Houston Chronicle, Green lauded Clooney for “shining a spotlight on turmoil in Sudan.” Dazzled by the star-and-celebrity-power around him, Green said “Actions like these to prevent humanitarian crises usually start with one person, and [Clooney] has been that one person.”

Fred Kramer, executive director of Jewish World Watch and Clooney’s cellmate, said “It was dignified, an incredible array of activists and champions for the issue.” Kramer is a part of a Washington lobby that’s comprised of a collection of groups that has provided ongoing opposition to Sudan’s Islamic government.  And, Green can’t help but gush because he’s a part of such a superbly creative visual extravaganza designed to demonize the Sudan government.

The protest had the legendary King name but many of us doubt that Martin, the father, would have placed his creditability among such a lot. Anti-Sudan activists have misled the American public on Sudan for decades and the spectacle in front of the Sudan Embassy was an endorsement of the rebels the Americans support in southern and eastern regions of Sudan. It was another tilt to the region’s rebel forces.  Past decades, imperialist American policies have supported separatist movements in the south of Sudan, particularly in areas where oil was found.

U.S. intervention on the side of rebel forces during the long civil war is long and permanent. Forces such as Clooney and his colleagues caused the division of Africa’s largest country into the oil-rich South and the diminished North. The cause of Clooney and cohorts is “regime change.” The charade’s current origins date back to 2002, when Christian Solidarity International (CSI), paid $50 each to buy back 400 Sudanese men, women and children from “Arab slave traders.” The Sudan Campaigns reek with imperialism and buffoonery and much care should be taken before one casts their lot with them. Clooney is no friend of these Africans and there’s no evidence that he’s done anything to positively affect the lives of people on the ground in Sudan. They spent millions to pass “Save Darfur” legislation and have made “smashing the Sudanese an American cottage industry.” In 2006 Clooney made a TV special called “A Journey to Darfur.” In 2011 Clooney co-wrote a Washington Post Op-Ed titled “Dancing with a dictator in Sudan” in which he encouraged diplomatic isolation of the Sudan regime and freezing of targeted accounts and transactions of senior officials.             

“Caution” should be exercised regarding “slam Sudan” activists. They have manufactured media events and stories that distorted situations in the region and across Africa. It was through, what Louis Farrakhan calls “deceitful practices” that these activists successfully brought about the division of Sudan. A critical look reveals these campaigns to be rife with imperialist policies and practices that further demonize Arab and Muslim people. People in Congress, like Green, need to move toward constructive engagement activities we need to pursue with the country and people of Sudan, not new lies that advocate the overthrow of the Sudanese government. Unfortunately, the family of Martin Luther King Jr. has done plenty over the last decades to tarnish his legacy. Marty sullied his father’s image and legacy for a speaker fee, travel, and lodging to be a bit-player in the Clooney Show.

(William Reed is head of the Business Exchange Network and available for speaking/seminar projects via the BaileyGroup.org)

See related:

William Reed Columnist

LEGACY OF A DIVA by William Reed Columnist

In an ultimate act of charity, movie mogul Tyler Perry offered his Gulfstream III jet to transport Whitney Houston’s body from California’s Van Nuys Airport to Teterboro Airport for her funeral services at Newark’s New Hope Baptist Church. Perry’s patronage toward Houston was only surpassed by her lifelong benefactor, Clive Davis.

Clive Davis is the real rich man in the circle. The 79-year-old record producer and music industry executive is worth $800 million. The music mogul has been at the center of Houston’s life since he signed her to his Arista recording label in 1983. During the last decade of her life, singer, actress, producer, and model Whitney Elizabeth Houston squandered millions of dollars she’d earned and relied almost entirely on Davis for financial support.

(Nippy) as she was known to family had signed a $100 million recording contract with Davis in 2001. Her net worth at the peak of her career was $150 million. She had earned as much as $30 million per year touring, acting and selling merchandise, but at the end, the diva was living on advances on a future album for Davis. Houston had also received money in advance for her role in the upcoming movie, Sparkle.

Actually, the amount of money Houston is projected to make posthumously is far greater than any paycheck she’s seen in years. Houston’s and Davis’ stock has been rising since she died. The day after her death, iTunes increased the price of her songs from 99 cents to $1.29. Similar to the way in which Michael Jackson’s estate increased after his death, demand for Houston’s singles and albums will grow and become valuable commodities.

Nippy went from a middle-class household to penthouses and wealth. She began singing in a junior gospel choir and earned money for backup vocals she provided artists such as her mother Cissy Houston and Chaka Kahn.  During Houston’s career as a fashion model she appeared on the covers of Seventeen, Glamour, and Cosmopolitan magazines.  Houston sold more than 170 million albums and had 2 Emmy Awards, 6 Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards and 22 American Music Awards. She held the all-time record for the most American Music Awards (AMAs) of any single artist and shared the record with Michael Jackson for the most AMAs ever won with 8 in 1994.

However, Houston was “just the voice” and did not write or own the masters of her most popular songs. Houston’s recordings, “How Will I Know”, “Saving All My Love” and “I Will Always Love You”, were all written and produced by others. Country star Dolly Parton wrote and owns the masters to “I Will Always Love You” and has earned $10 million in royalties to date.

At the time of her death, Houston was divorced from “the other man in her life.”  So, all her wealth goes to their daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown.  In 1992, on the grounds of her Mendham, N.J. mansion, Houston married R&B singer Robert Barisford "Bobby" Brown. The couple lived a stylish lifestyle, and Houston also bought homes in Miami, Los Angeles and Atlanta. During their 12 year marriage, Brown had several run-ins with the law. Brown has fathered five children: Landon, La’princia, Robert Jr., Bobbi Kristina, and Cassius.

When Houston decided to end her marriage to Bobby, many fans faulted her for taking so long in light of the marriage’s history of infidelity, scandals, drug and alcohol arrests, and marital problems. The relationship was dysfunctional and a mere 5 years after signing the $100 million contract, the New Jersey mansion faced foreclosure. In recent years, Whitney hadn’t paid property taxes, or her mortgages, and had run up a debt of more than $1 million as she teetered on the brink of financial ruin. Houston was able to save the New Jersey property but lost the Atlanta mansion. Since her death, the “12,000-square-foot home on five acres with a hot tub and pool” the couple had shared is on the market for $1.75 million.

(William Reed is head of the Business Exchange Network and available for speaking/seminar projects via the BaileyGroup.org)

See related:

William Reed Columnist

MAKE YOUR OWN LUCK by William Reed Columnist

Gambling is legally restricted in the United States, but its availability and participation is increasing. Under federal law, gambling is legal and each state is free to regulate or prohibit it. Almost every state allows some form of gambling.  African Americans have little impact in gaming, except as employees.

 

As African Americans lag economically, the gambling industry continues to prosper.  In 2011, gambling activities generated estimated revenues of $92.27 billion: Card Rooms – $1.18 billion; Commercial Casinos – $34.41 billion; Charitable Games and Bingo – $2.22 billion; Indian Casinos – $26.02 billion; Legal Bookmaking – $168.8 million; Lotteries – $24.78 billion; Pari-mutuel Wagering – $3.50 billion.  Commercial casinos provided 354,000 jobs, and state and local tax revenues of $5.2 billion^[update].

 

Nevada is the only state where casino-style gambling is legal statewide. Both state and local governments impose licensing and zoning restrictions. All other states that allow casino-style gambling restrict it to small geographic areas (e.g., Atlantic City, N.J. or Tunica, Miss.,) or to Native American reservations. As sovereign nations, Native American tribes have used legal protection to open casinos. There are 19 states (and two U.S. Territories) that allow commercial casinos in some form.

 

The economic impact of legalized gambling is tangible and quantifiable. They include construction of casinos that lead to many jobs for construction employees, employees to staff the casino, and the suppliers for ongoing casino operations, all provide multiplier effects that ripple throughout the overall economy.

 

The reality is, nearly one in four American men and 1 in 8 women gambled on the recent Super Bowl in some way. Furthermore two-thirds of all Americans have gambled, and some 80 percent of us approve of legal gambling as a means of collecting taxes.

 

Entrepreneurship in gambling and gaming has traditionally been eschewed by Blacks. More often than not, the image of an attractive man or woman holding a drink in one hand and dice or cards in the other is an African-American taboo. But, it was labeled “race progress” in 1955 when the integrated Moulin Rouge Hotel-Casino Resort opened in the Westside of Las Vegas. The resort had partial ownership by boxer Joe Lewis and was built to accommodate African Americans banned from Strip resorts. The integrated hotel-casino site afforded African Americans work and more well-paying jobs such as managing and dealing.

 

Not until Don Barden became the owner of the Majestic Star and Fitzgeralds Casino did an African American have an ownership presence on Las Vegas’ legendary Strip. In 2003, Black Enterprise Magazine rated Don Barden one of the nation’s top Black businessmen and one of the top Black employers in the nation – with more than 4,050 employees.  Over four decades, the late entrepreneur became a self-made multi-millionaire in real estate, the cable TV industry, and in later years, a dominant force in casino gambling. Barden’s influence in gambling came against the odds. After success in politics, real estate and cable, Barden joined forces with powerful Blacks attuned to gambling. In 1998, he and Michael Jackson submitted a proposal for an amusement park along the downtown Detroit Riverfront called The Thriller Theme Park. That project was rejected. In 2006, Barden tried again for a license to build a new casino, this time in Pittsburgh with Smokey Robinson. He got the license, but not the casino. Before he died in 2011, Barden had casino operations across America.

 

But the debate continues about whether or not gambling is an appropriate economic development tool. The argument against it is that although the numbers of jobs associated with new gambling facilities is significant; for some it is not a compelling enough reason for its legalization. Detroit’s casino gambling has led to no noticeable downtown redevelopment. Still, Black political, civic and church leaders have to admit that gambling can be a powerful economic development tool. Las Vegas is a powerful testament to impressive job growth, a low tax burden that many state and local governments envy and prosperity levels that have spawned significant private and public sector investments.

(William Reed heads the Business Exchange Network and available for speaking/seminar projects via the BaileyGroup.org)

See related:

William Reed Columnist

 

HAVE YOU SEEN “RED TAILS” YET? by William Reed Columnist

Have you gone to see Red Tails yet?  When the biopic about the heroic Tuskegee Airmen fighter pilots opened, Sean “P. Diddy” Combs set the tone for African Americans by tweeting: “It’s important that we all go support Red Tails the movie and go see it this weekend!!!” The movie Red Tails has become a Black cause célèbre. The most expensive film ever made with a predominately African-American cast has renewed debates about whether “Black films” can succeed at movie box offices. Blacks’ esteem and posture in the marketplace seems at stake based on Red Tails’ financial successes, or lack thereof.

Red Tails, was financed by legendary Star Wars director and producer George Lucas, with a little help from his friends Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry.  To promote the movie, Lucas makes the case that “the deck is stacked against” movies based on the Black experience. Lucas has been putting forth that Hollywood’s lore is that Black history is a downer and no one wants to see it on the big screen.

Much admiration should go to Lucas for the chutzpah he’s shown in promoting Red Tails.  Principal among Lucas’ ploys was telling how difficult it was getting the film financed and made. Lucas says he began developing Red Tails around 1988.  But, because of the prejudices of Hollywood, it took him 23 years before he went on his own and spent $58 million to produce and $35 million to distribute the film. The crocodile-tear line Lucas, who has an estimated net-worth of $3.2 billion, is using is that he spent $100 million to bring the film to the world and the world should beat a path to the theaters to see the film and help him recoup his investment.

With Red Tails and his “civil rights” storyline, Lucas gave Black Americans the kind of “respect” we seek; and we intend to pay him back for the gesture. The billion dollar question is: how can Blacks replicate the same kind of nationwide enthusiasm for films that Blacks produce?   Lucas’ claim that Hollywood executives refused to fund films with an all-Black cast has compelled millions of Black Facebook users and tweeters to focus chatter and attention toward supporting the movie.  Lucas’ marketing genius made Red Tails a “must see” for Black Americans.

Special screenings of Red Tails were hosted by prominent Blacks across the country.  Receptions and screenings were held in Washington by President Obama, by Snoop Dogg in Los Angeles, and in a host of cities by Tuskegee Airmen chapters. Wells Fargo Bank gave Lucas “red carpet treatment” as Red Tails’ “official financial institution sponsor.”

Red Tails has redeeming features and draws on the exploits of the 332nd Fighter Group. It stars Cuba Gooding, Jr. (previously in The Tuskegee Airmen, an HBO movie made for television) and Terrence Howard.  The Tuskegee Airmen were the first Black aviators in the U.S. military. They were trained as a segregated unit at Tuskegee Institute and became one of World War II’s most respected fighter squadrons. Despite continuing racism throughout their lives, many became affluent businessmen and community leaders.

Lucas’ investment has as shot of paying off.  Red Tails opened in 2,500 theaters, and raked in $19.1 million its opening weekend. Theaters in African-American markets did especially well in top grossing theaters in New York, Los Angeles and Atlanta. Males made up 51 percent of audiences, while 66 percent were over the age of 25.  As the film continues to have box office success among African-American audiences, it will not mean that Hollywood studios will suddenly see the light and increase their investments in Black movements and films; if anything, it will do more for Lucas and his iconic stature than it will for Black cinema.

Supporting Black films, art and culture in general, should be a tenet of the African-American community. But, it surely would be a better use of our time and talents to give up looking to Hollywood for our affirmation, images and definition.

(William Reed is president of the Business Exchange Network and available for speaking/seminar projects via the BaileyGroup.org)

See related:

William Reed Columnist

KNOW BEFORE YOU OWE – By William Reed Columnist

Dez Bryant provides a good economic example of what is happening to Blacks across America. In heavy debt after leveraging his first-year salary to pay for “bling-lifestyle” amenities, during the National Football League (NFL) lockout, the 24-year-old wide receiver had to turn to payday lenders to help him keep up his game. Desmond Demond "Dez" Bryant started spending on his salary as a NFL player for the Dallas Cowboys when he was drafted in the first round of the 2010 NFL Draft.

During the 18 months before Bryant signed with the Dallas Cowboys, he bought at least seven men’s watches and two more for women. He paid $65,500 for a diamond cross made of white gold and $60,000 for a custom charm. He ordered a set of dog tags made of white gold and diamonds, and all sorts of other rings, earrings, bracelets and necklaces in various shades of gold. Bryant got it all through a line of credit with the understanding that he’d settle up once he signed the pro contract that paid him $8.5 million.

While we hold them out to be “successful”, most people don’t know that a third of NFL players live paycheck to paycheck. Or, that by the time NFL players have been retired for two years, 78 percent have gone bankrupt or are under financial stress because of joblessness or divorce. Within five years of retirement, 60 percent of former NFL players are broke.

We all don’t have to be buying gold grills; but Bryant shows how cash and credit poses problems for not only rich Black athletes but, normal folks in the hood as well. More people are using payday lenders to secure essentials critical to daily life, and pay for medical emergencies, tuition fees and house bills that include water and electricity. There are more payday lending stores than McDonald’s and Starbucks combined. Payday lending has grown into a $40 billion industry.

The popularity of the short-term loan product has grown significantly since the early 1990s. America has 23,000 payday loan stores and there seems to be an increasing demand for them.  Nearly 20 million Americans use payday lenders that charge, on average, $16 for a $100 two-week loan.

If you have a job, it’s easy to get one of these high-interest loans. No credit check, car title or other collateral is needed. All you generally need is some proof you have a steady job, a driver’s license and a checking account.  Usually, you’re asked to write a post-dated personal check payable to the lender for the amount you want to borrow, plus a fee. You either repay the loan before your next payday or the lender cashes your check.

Prudent thinking is recommended before you sign up for a “payday” type of loan. If you’re having trouble paying the rent, mortgage payment or other monthly bills, talk to current creditors to develop a new payment plan. If you must pursue a payday loan; shop several lenders, find the best loan, then read the loan application/contract carefully and correct any errors. Never make inaccurate statements about your financial condition. Walk away from any lender who offers to falsify information or asks you to sign a loan application where spaces have been left blank.  Understand what you sign – be sure that the terms of the loan as written in your contract match what the lender has told you.

On the other hand, it would be wise to look at opportunities to participate in ownership and the profits of payday loan stores and kiosk locations.  Half of America’s payday loan stores are owned by independent entrepreneurs who put together approximately $25,000 to open their store. Payday operators can expect to break even in 15 months if they are able to plan and pay out $8,000 a month to pay rent, utilities, one to two employees, signage, advertising, payroll taxes, software, computers, and office supplies and are able to build up to a portfolio of $60,000 in loans.

(William Reed is president of the Business Exchange Network and available for speaking/seminar projects via the BaileyGroup.org)

See related:

William Reed Columnist

COKE AND THE SCHEME TO DEPOSE THE KING by William Reed Columnist

COKE AND THE SCHEME TO DEPOSE THE KING

How far should corporate social responsibility go?  Can groups seeking to depose Swaziland’s king use Coca-Cola to help do it?  Citing charges of “human rights abuses” and “looting of the national wealth” groups opposed to King Mswati  are seeking the world’s support in their demand that the beverage behemoth “withdraw its support” from him.

Mswati III (born Makhosetive Dlamini on April 19, 1968) is the King of Swaziland and head of the Swazi Royal Family. He succeeded his father Sobhuza II as ruler of the kingdom in 1986 at age 18. Mswati III is one of the last absolute monarchs in the world. He has the authority to appoint the prime minister, members of the cabinet, and the judiciary. The king is the means by which state policy is enforced, as well as the mechanism for determining the policy of the state.

The Swaziland Democracy Campaign says: "Coca-Cola must know they’re doing business with the wrong people … Their profits don’t help the average Swazi while the king is getting richer by the day."  The king’s opposition is steeped in efforts to get him to accept “democratic reform.”  Labor unions and pro-democracy campaigns have joined forces to stage noisy public protests calling for political change. The king’s critics also blame him for “poor economic management” and “widespread corruption.

It seems that Swaziland activists ascribe too much power to Coca-Cola.  A country the size of Connecticut, Swaziland has an annual GDP of $3.65 billion, mostly from agriculture, forestry and mining. Swaziland has excellent farming and ranching land, and 80 percent of the population is engaged in subsistence agriculture. The Coca-Cola Company is a $15 billion a year transnational and the concentrate that is the most important ingredient in the company’s African product comes from a huge industrial plant in Mapatsa, Swaziland that it has operated since 1987. Coke is not in Swaziland to arbiter its politics, it is there because of favorable taxes and an abundance of cheap labor and raw sugar.

The consensus is that “Mswati isn’t likely to be deposed.” Swaziland has a population of 1.4 million homogeneous people who share language, culture and loyalty to their king and country.  There are no tribal conflicts; the country is stable, orderly and at peace with her neighbors. The Socialist People’s United Democratic Movement is Swaziland’s largest opposition party.

Coca-Cola has 160 plants and 7,000 employees in Africa, but it’s “not the boss” of the King of Swaziland. The kingdom is a land-locked country in Southern Africa, bordered on the north, south and west by South Africa and to the east by Mozambique.  Reports show that 63 percent of the population lives on less than US$2 per day, and 30 percent live in extreme poverty. The nation, as well as its people, is named after the 19th century King Mswati II. The capital city, Mbabane has a population of 50,000.

Mswati III is not about to abdicate his throne.  According to the former CEO of the Office of the King, Mswati III earns a salary as head of state, has investments within and outside the country and owns an unspecified amount of shares in different companies within Swaziland.   King Mswati is reportedly worth $200 million. This does not include about $10 billion that King Sobhuza II put in trust for the Swazi nation during his reign, in which Mswati III is the trustee.

King Mswati has more than 200 brothers and sisters and the task of taking care of them all.  So beyond Coke, Mswati’s fate is in profits from the royal-owned company, Tibiyo TisukaNgwane, established by his father, King Sobhuza II to provide for his offspring. Nearly 60 percent of Swazi territory is publicly held by the crown in trust of the Swazi nation. All seems in accord with the law of the land as Mswati enjoys wealth through the Tibiyo Tisuka parastatal investment companies and extensive shares in numerous businesses, industries, property developments and tourism facilities.

(William Reed is publisher of Who’s Who in Black Corporate America and available for speaking/seminar projects via the BaileyGroup.org)

See related:

William Reed Columnist

A STAR IS BORN by William Reed Columnist

A STAR IS BORN

"We are happy to announce the arrival of our beautiful daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, born Saturday, January 7, 2012.  We are in heaven. She was delivered naturally at a healthy 7 lbs and it was the best experience of our lives…We are thankful to everyone for your prayers, well wishes, love and support.” – Beyoncé & Jay-Z.

Her daddy is rich and her mommy is good looking. Blue Ivy Carter’s arrival was the most anticipated celebrity birth of the new decade. Jay-Z and Beyoncé called their daughter’s birth "the best experience of both of our lives." The proud parents are Beyoncé Giselle Knowles often known simply as Beyoncé and Shawn Corey Carter better known by his stage name Jay-Z.

The superstars caused a different sort of “birthing pain” at New York City’s Lenox Hill Hospital during Blue Ivy’s arrival. Reports are that the couple paid $1.3 million to rent and redecorate a wing of the Manhattan hospital into a space which could easily be mistaken for the penthouse in a five-star hotel. The power couple had workers tear 6 to 8 rooms down and build a private labor and delivery suite that had bulletproof, tinted glass and burly bodyguards to welcome the diva daughter.

The birthing event was a lavish affair. And, forward “Baby Blue” will have every opportunity the world has to offer. As of 2010, Blue’s 30-year-old mommy was worth more than $400 million.  But, because she was busy having Blue, Beyoncé’s 2011 earnings were $35 million, down from $87 million in 2010.

Baby Daddy, Shawn Corey Carter’s net-worth exceeds half a billion dollars. Rapper, record producer and entrepreneur, the 42-year-old Jay-Z is one of the nation’s most financially successful hip hop artists. He has sold 50 million albums worldwide and received 13 Grammy Awards for his musical work. Actually, Jay-Z is consistently ranked as one of the greatest rappers of all time. Two of his albums, Reasonable Doubt (1996) and The Blueprint (2001) are considered landmarks in the genre with both of them being ranked in Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

A role model if there ever was one. Originally from Marcy Houses, a housing project in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, Jay-Z now owns, or co-owns, the New York City 40/40 Club, just west of Broadway; one in Atlantic City; and a third in The Palazzo in Las Vegas. Jay-Z is part-owner of the NBA’s New Jersey Nets and is also the creator of the Rocawear design line. He is the former CEO of Def Jam Recordings, one of the three founders of Roc-A-Fella Records, and the founder of Roc Nation. Roc-A-Fella also distributes Armadale, Scottish vodka. As an artist, he holds the record for most number one albums by a solo artist on the Billboard 200 with 12. Jay-Z also has had four number one records on the Billboard Hot 100, one as lead artist.  "Glory," the track Jay-Z released two days after Blue Ivy’s birth has debuted at number 74 on Billboard’s chart of the top 100 R&B/Hip-Hop songs in the country.

As of April 2008, Jay-Z’s wife is Beyoncé, an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, she began performing at age seven, winning upwards of 30 local competitions for her dancing and vocal abilities. She rose to fame in the late 1990s as the lead singer of the R&B girl group Destiny’s Child, one of the world’s best-selling girl groups of all time.

Mommy represents a good work ethic for Blue too. According to Forbes, in 2010 Beyoncé earned $87 million, as follows: Touring and Merchandise: $14 million; Films: $5 million; Fashion: $15 million; Music publishing: $8 million; Endorsements: $20 million; and Tour Sponsors: $4 million. In addition to her singing career, Beyoncé has income in fashion and film. One of the hardest working women in show business, Beyoncé continued to perform live as her pregnancy progressed and gave concerts through November 2011.

(William Reed is publisher of Who’s Who in Black Corporate America and available for speaking/seminar projects via BaileyGroup.org)

See related:

William Reed Columnist

WHAT ARE BLACKS TO DO ABOUT RON PAUL? by William Reed Columnist

Republican presidential candidate Congressman Ron Paul (R-Texas) has come under fire over allegations that a newsletter he edited years ago contained racist commentary.  To charge Paul with "racism" is misleading.  The old geezer is being punk’d by people Black voters really should be leery of instead of quoting.  Publicizing of comments published in the 1980s and 1990s reeks as the latest agenda to mis-educate Black voters. 

Ron Paul is far from being a foe of Black Americans.  He is to be admired as a man of principles and a comrade in foiling American imperialists and the war crowd that probably were sources of the racial commentaries in the first place.  If Blacks look a little closer they’d see that Paul’s political positions are in line with those preached and practiced by Martin Luther King, Jr.  MLK’s position on foreign policy was vastly more similar to Paul’s than it is to any other 2012 presidential candidate.

Paul is hardly the racist that the mainstream media would have Blacks believe him to be.  Blacks have more in common with Paul’s opposition to America’s penchant for imperialistic wars, and absurd rationalities behind them like “Manifest Destiny” and “American Exceptionalism,” than with President Obama.

Think about it, Paul has been on the national scene for 30 years.  He has been labeled “conservative”, “Constitutionalist” and “libertarian”, but never called “racist.” Much of Paul’s opposition comes from fear in some pro-Israel circles that Paul reflects an ascendant faction that has little use for a foreign policy so tilted toward Israel.  Paul is not “a mainstream man” and the only candidate seeking to change America’s “status quo.”  A medical doctor, Paul advocates ending the drug war and fixing a biased court system that unfairly targets and punishes minorities.

Paul may have made enough people mad enough to punk him, but Blacks have to be discerning in knowing what his actual views toward us are.  Over the years Paul’s positions have remained clear and transparent. He hasn’t wavered in his voting or policy ideals. What candidate can you name that is more serious on fiscal matters?   Paul wants to get rid of many federal agencies and would like to audit and perhaps abolish the Federal Reserve Bank. Paul advocates an end to the death penalty and, as president, plans to bring all military troops home.

People tied to the military/industrial complex loathe Paul the most.  He labels their banter against Iran “warmongering” and states: “In all wars minorities suffer the most. So I hope that they join me in this position … against the war in Iraq… and the war on drugs.”  What other candidates will stand up and say “I will pardon … everybody convicted for non-violent drug acts and drug crimes. This is where the real discrimination is … the judicial system … that I’m attacking.”

Paul brings a breath of honesty and accountability to the 2012 presidential races.  Blacks of all political stripes would benefit from the honest debate during this season about campaign finance reform, military spending, torture of enemy combatants, immigration, the Federal Reserve, free trade agreements, federal debt resolution  and unfair prison sentences for drug use Paul’s candidacy brings about. In his opposition to American imperialism, Paul provides a certain appeal to people who see through the lies fuelling the Bush/Obama foreign policy: using the American military on behalf of the banks and multinationals.  An unbridled military industrial complex is against the interest of any thinking American, and many voters are starting to rethink America’s foreign policy. For these views, Paul has growing appeal among Americans and is being “played”; as he’s portrayed as a racist on racist mediums.

As the primaries play out, look at Paul for practical political positions that help our nation.  Black voters should move beyond the newsletters in judging Paul. Try judging his efforts to end a “war on drugs” that has contributed to the mass incarceration of the poor and people of color, you’ll find him far from racist and quite progressive.

(William Reed is available for speaking/seminar projects via BaileyGroup.org)

See related:

William Reed Columnist