Business

COMMENTARY: We did not die, we multiplied

CHICAGO CRUSADER — It is without question. Blacks, as a race of people, are the most resilient human beings walking on God’s earth.

Published

5 years ago

January 11, 2019

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By Harry C. Alford & Kay DeBow

It is without question. Blacks, as a race of people, are the most resilient human beings walking on God’s earth. Starting in the 1500s, Europeans began the greatest holocaust known to history.

The enslavement of Africans would last for over 350 years. A good portion of the captives died within weeks during the passage across the Atlantic Ocean. Many of the females arrived pregnant from the rapes of their captors during the voyage. But as a people, a noticeable number survived, only to be put under the harshest of conditions from the cradle to the grave.

There have been different forms of slavery throughout history. The form used throughout the “New World” was the most vicious and heartless. Victims were denied their religion, language and every aspect of their culture. The treatment was quite like that of the management of livestock. Any resistance would result in certain death. Governments would encourage settlers to utilize slaves on their farms. There was a tradition to award settlers for utilizing slaves. For each new slave purchased by a farmer there would be a fifty-acre bonus of new land.

After going through this holocaust for nearly four decades, African Americans of the western hemisphere developed into some of the strongest human beings known to the world. Every four years we go on display during the Olympics. Popular sports such as football, basketball, soccer, baseball, boxing, etc. prove our strength, speed and courage. Every person, regardless of race should visit the National Museum of African American History and Culture in DC. Blacks, descendants of slaves, come out of the museum inspired by the achievements despite the adversities we have experienced. Whites, descendants of slave owners, come out educated and surprised.

We won our freedom in the United States in 1865. However, for the next one hundred years many of us had to endure the evilness of Jim Crow segregation. We were slotted into the lowest jobs, poorest healthcare, smallest amount of education that could be.

Blacks living in the rural South were denied proper education. Most rural Black children went to elementary school during the winter months. The rest of the year was spent working the fields.

Harry’s parents grew up in Louisiana. They went to school up to the eighth grade. They would work as adults from there on, as the nearest Black high school was 40 miles away. When the Dutch descendants of South Africa wanted to apply apartheid, they modeled this Jim Crow example.

During the George W. Bush administration, we became Cultural Ambassadors. One of our journeys was to Mexico City. We were amazed when we toured La Puebla and Vera Cruz. There were Blacks there. Some did not know how their people got there. So, we did some research. When the French and British drove the Spanish settlers out of the Gulf Coast region, many of the Spaniards fled to Mexico and brought their slaves with them.

Amazed would be an understatement when we journeyed to Brazil in 1999. Brazil has the largest population of Blacks in the Western Hemisphere. In fact, only Nigeria has a greater population of Blacks.

Many Brazilians of European lineage try to ignore that fact.

They divide Blacks by the darkness of the skin color. Light skins are referred to as “mixed.” They are trying to dilute the fact that nearly most of the population are “children of Afri- ca.” Some of the brothers and sisters wear T-shirts that say “100% Negro” (Black in Portuguese). They aren’t buying the toned-down moniker.

Despite their slight majority population, Blacks in Brazil represent less than 18% of the wealth. Such is the same throughout South America. Blacks are at the bottom “rung” of the economic ladder. We are committed to help change that.

This March we will visit Columbia on a follow-up Trade Mission. Our affiliated chapter there is quite ambitious and is headquartered in the Cali region. This country is going through a positive change in terms of civil and economic rights for the African descendants and the indigenous (Indians) people.

It is our mantra to provide “Best Practices” in terms of civil and economic parity. Besides the Pacific Coastline we will meet dignitaries (the president and his cabinet) in the capital city of Bogota. See the details on the NBCC website.

The coast lines of South and Central America are home to the majority of African Americans. As slaves, they would work the harbors and ports in addition to the farmlands. The undeniable truth is that descendants of the “Great Holocaust” have survived and will now begin to economically thrive. It is our destiny. Our Lord is watching over us and will become our guiding light throughout this “journey.”

Mr. Alford is the Co-Founder, President/CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce®. Ms. DeBow is the Co-Founder, Executive Vice President of the NBCC. Website: www.nationalbcc.org Emails: halford@nationalbcc.org kdebow@nationalbcc.org.

This article originally appeared in the Chicago Crusader.

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Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024

Published

6 days ago

April 26, 2024

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State Controller Malia Cohen Keynote Speaker at S.F. Wealth Conference

California State Controller Malia Cohen delivered the keynote speech to over 50 business women at the Black Wealth Brunch held on March 28 at the War Memorial and Performing Arts Center at 301 Van Ness Ave. in San Francisco. The Enterprising Women Networking SF Chapter of the American Business Women’s Association (ABWA) hosted the Green Room event to launch its platform designed to close the racial wealth gap in Black and Brown communities.

Published

2 weeks ago

April 20, 2024

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American Business Women’s Association Vice President Velma Landers, left, with California State Controller Malia Cohen (center), and ABWA President LaRonda Smith at the Enterprising Women Networking SF Chapter of the ABWA at the Black Wealth Brunch.

By Carla Thomas

The Enterprising Women Networking SF Chapter of the American Business Women’s Association (ABWA) hosted the Green Room event to launch its platform designed to close the racial wealth gap in Black and Brown communities.

“Our goal is to educate Black and Brown families in the masses about financial wellness, wealth building, and how to protect and preserve wealth,” said ABWA San Francisco Chapter President LaRonda Smith.

ABWA’s mission is to bring together businesswomen of diverse occupations and provide opportunities for them to help themselves and others grow personally and professionally through leadership, education, networking support, and national recognition.

“This day is about recognizing influential women, hearing from an accomplished woman as our keynote speaker and allowing women to come together as powerful people,” said ABWA SF Chapter Vice President Velma Landers.

More than 60 attendees dined on the culinary delights of Chef Sharon Lee of The Spot catering, which included a full soul food brunch of skewered shrimp, chicken, blackened salmon, and mac and cheese.

Cohen discussed the many economic disparities women and people of color face. From pay equity to financial literacy, Cohen shared not only statistics, but was excited about a new solution in motion which entailed partnering with Californians for Financial Education.

“I want everyone to reach their full potential,” she said. “Just a few weeks ago in Sacramento, I partnered with an organization, Californians for Financial Education.

“We gathered 990 signatures and submitted it to the [California] Secretary of State to get an initiative on the ballot that guarantees personal finance courses for every public school kid in the state of California.

“Every California student deserves an equal opportunity to learn about filing taxes, interest rates, budgets, and understanding the impact of credit scores. The way we begin to do that is to teach it,” Cohen said.

By equipping students with information, Cohen hopes to close the financial wealth gap, and give everyone an opportunity to reach their full financial potential. “They have to first be equipped with the information and education is the key. Then all we need are opportunities to step into spaces and places of power.”

Cohen went on to share that in her own upbringing, she was not guided on financial principles that could jump start her finances. “Communities of color don’t have the same information and I don’t know about you, but I did not grow up listening to my parents discussing their assets, their investments, and diversifying their portfolio. This is the kind of nomenclature and language we are trying to introduce to our future generations so we can pivot from a life of poverty so we can pivot away and never return to poverty.”

Cohen urged audience members to pass the initiative on the November 2024 ballot.

“When we come together as women, uplift women, and support women, we all win. By networking and learning together, we can continue to build generational wealth,” said Landers. “Passing a powerful initiative will ensure the next generation of California students will be empowered to make more informed financial decisions, decisions that will last them a lifetime.”

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Black Business Summit Focuses on Equity, Access and Data

The California African American Chamber of Commerce hosted its second annual “State of the California African American Economy Summit,” with the aim of bolstering Black economic influence through education and fellowship. Held Jan. 24 to Jan. 25 at the Westin Los Angeles Airport Hotel, the convention brought together some of the most influential Black business leaders, policy makers and economic thinkers in the state. The discussions focused on a wide range of economic topics pertinent to California’s African American business community, including policy, government contracts, and equity, and more.

Published

2 weeks ago

April 20, 2024

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Toks Omishakin, Secretary of the California State Transportation Agency (CALSTA), answers questions from concerned entrepreneurs frustrated with a lack of follow-up from the state. January 24, 2024 at the Westin Los Angeles Airport Hotel, Lost Angeles, Calif. Photo by Solomon O. Smith

By Solomon O. Smith, California Black Media

The California African American Chamber of Commerce hosted its second annual “State of the California African American Economy Summit,” with the aim of bolstering Black economic influence through education and fellowship.

Held Jan. 24 to Jan. 25 at the Westin Los Angeles Airport Hotel, the convention brought together some of the most influential Black business leaders, policy makers and economic thinkers in the state. The discussions focused on a wide range of economic topics pertinent to California’s African American business community, including policy, government contracts, and equity, and more.

Toks Omishakin, Secretary of the California State Transportation Agency (CALSTA) was a guest at the event. He told attendees about his department’s efforts to increase access for Black business owners.

“One thing I’m taking away from this for sure is we’re going to have to do a better job of connecting through your chambers of all these opportunities of billions of dollars that are coming down the pike. I’m honestly disappointed that people don’t know, so we’ll do better,” said Omishakin.

Lueathel Seawood, the president of the African American Chamber of Commerce of San Joaquin County, expressed frustration with obtaining federal contracts for small businesses, and completing the process. She observed that once a small business was certified as DBE, a Disadvantaged Business Enterprises, there was little help getting to the next step.

Omishakin admitted there is more work to be done to help them complete the process and include them in upcoming projects. However, the high-speed rail system expansion by the California High-Speed Rail Authority has set a goal of 30% participation from small businesses — only 10 percent is set aside for DBE.

The importance of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) in economics was reinforced during the “State of the California Economy” talk led by author and economist Julianne Malveaux, and Anthony Asadullah Samad, Executive Director of the Mervyn Dymally African American Political and Economic Institute (MDAAPEI) at California State University, Dominguez Hills.

Assaults on DEI disproportionately affect women of color and Black women, according to Malveaux. When asked what role the loss of DEI might serve in economics, she suggested a more sinister purpose.

“The genesis of all this is anti-blackness. So, your question about how this fits into the economy is economic exclusion, that essentially has been promoted as public policy,” said Malveaux.

The most anticipated speaker at the event was Janice Bryant Howroyd known affectionately to her peers as “JBH.” She is one of the first Black women to run and own a multi-billion-dollar company. Her company ActOne Group, is one of the largest, and most recognized, hiring, staffing and human resources firms in the world. She is the author of “Acting Up” and has a profile on Forbes.

Chairman of the board of directors of the California African American Chamber of Commerce, Timothy Alan Simon, a lawyer and the first Black Appointments Secretary in the Office of the Governor of California, moderated. They discussed the state of Black entrepreneurship in the country and Howroyd gave advice to other business owners.

“We look to inspire and educate,” said Howroyd. “Inspiration is great but when I’ve got people’s attention, I want to teach them something.”