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I have previously written on my views of practices, policies, & celebrations that I do not agree in full or in part with and I shall continue my diatribe here with Kwanzaa. I have mixed feelings with Kwanzaa because part of me believes that we have pulled away from the family communal atmosphere that once permeated our community. Yet on the other-hand I fully recognize & subscribe to the US being a Constitutional Republic with Capitalistic leanings. Where your are rewarded for your success, if you have the courage to press forward & believe in your dreams.
So with that said on this 4th day of Kwanzaa 2009 - Ujamaa (Corporative Economics) to build & maintain our own stores, shops & other businesses and to profit from them together. This sticks me in the gut. I believe that we should "build & maintain our own stores, shops, & other businesses." That's the Capitalist in me. Yet the next portion "to profit from them together" is the issue point. I fully believe that we as business owners should offer a fair product or service and expect a fair profit in return. Should you expect to share in the profits when I put up the Seed money, Vision, & Sweat equity? That is where the pendulum swings from Capitalism to Socialism. In other-words you have made too much profit so we must take from you & spread it around. It this were a Pyramid or Ponzi scheme you should expect it to eventually trickle down to the lowest level group before colapsing, but as I stated before we live in a Constitutional Republic with Capitalistic leanings & Homie Don't play that...
2009 will go down as a year of eyeopening change in the world of finance & two names have come to the top of the scandle chart Bernie Madoff the jailed architect of a $65 billion Ponzi Scheme & Allen Stanford the alleged architect of a $8 billion Ponzi Scheme. Now it is my thesis that this would never occur in the Black Community, because Bernie Madoff swindled a mostly Jewish investor group in some cases without ever meeting face to face. They almost begged for the opportunity to invest their money with him. Some of the largest names in the entertainment industry (whos names ended in Berg), largest private mostly Jewish universities, hedge funds, & non-profits. These deals came together through country club or golf club marketing where a broker in Florida with the relationship with Madoff would say “Hey Joe, who is handling your investments?” Joe may respond “XYZ firm.” The broker would then ask the gotcha question “If I could get you in the fund managed by the former chairman of the NASDAQ would you be interested?” If by chance Joe said no the next questions is just as critical “You know it has consistently returned above 12%?” (first of all that is unheard of on a consistent basis. & should have sparked an investigation.) But the individuals that were involved mostly answered in the affirmative.
Now it is my Theory that if this same conversation was to occur in the black community it would go Not Slightly, but insanely different. "Yo Donte' where you got your savings?" Donte' answers "In the bank, why you need to know, I don't owe you any money." Oshae answers laughing " Naw, D. Nothing like that, but If I could get you in the fund managed by the former chairman of the NASDAQ would you be interested?" Donte' responds beligerantly "Shae, What in the world are your talking about, you cash your checks at the check cashing place just like me. You don't know anything 'bout no N-A-C-Q. I ain't interested sounds like a pyramid to me."
I often tell the factual story that as a mutual funds broker I held a book a couple million dollars in assets under management and 90% of the total value of my book was held by 3 white women. 10% was held by black folk of all genders. I had to work 10 times harder for that 10% that I had to work for the 90%. The issue was trust. Blackfolk didn’t trust me, where as the white women took me based on my credentials & knowledge.
Every 3-5 years there are a plethora of get-rich-quick schemes that rape the black community of generations of time and wealth that are touted to bring “Passive Income” or whatever the buzzword of the day is to your kitchen table by allowing you to leverage the power of you network. Many times these schemes leave the person an outcast amonst friends & family because every few years they “have found it!”
It is my belief that Blackfolk truly will not know that they have arrived financially until they have a 96 Billion dollar scandle, but that will never happen until we Trust each other.
