New Year – New Strategy

Blackonomics
By: James Clingman

New Year – New Strategy

For those of us who were blessed to see it, another year has arrived and brings with it another opportunity to start afresh with new ways to move our people closer to economic empowerment. The New Year brings a clean slate, so to speak, since we like to make resolutions and promises regarding things we would like to change. So what will we write on our 2007 slate? What will be our agenda this year? What strategy will we employ to empower our people? Will we stay on the endless circular path that has led to where we are today? Will we follow a new path? Will we adopt a new strategy?

Whatever we decide to commit ourselves to will certainly not be new; everything we need to do in 2007 has already been done by our ancestors who lived and survived in this country for centuries, under the worst treatment human beings could suffer. But 2007 will be new, and it’s always good to look at our commitments in a new light, with a new resolve, and out of a renewed strength. Are you ready?

Here we go. Don’t fall for the same old tired rhetoric we hear everyday from self-appointed “leaders” who do what James Brown described as “talkin’ loud and sayin’ nothing.” Don’t continue following folks that are only sending you deeper into the woods of poverty, while they relax in the lush fields of prosperity.

Don’t get hood-winked by pandering politicians and pontificating preachers who are only interested in what they can get for themselves, and how they can use you to get another pair of “gators,” a Bentley, a mansion, or elected to public office. Don’t be lulled to sleep by intellectual banter that makes you feel good but never tells you how to do good, or do well, for that matter.

Don’t succumb to celebrity claptrap, which only excites the Paparazzi rather than enlightens our people. Don’t get down in the muck with entertainers who strut their stuff by denigrating themselves and their own people. And please don’t subscribe to the same old “okey-doke” that has literally and figuratively programmed our people to such a degree that some of us are still waiting to be rescued by people who really care very little about us. Please stop the nonsensical behavior in 2007, and let’s get down to the business of taking better care of ourselves.

What must we do? First, raise the level of your Black consciousness by reading, by studying, by listening, and by associating with brothers and sisters who are serious about doing the work of liberation and unashamed to proclaim their Blackness. Connect with other individuals and collectively establish economic initiatives that benefit Black people; trust me, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that; other groups do it all the time.

Be prepared to make the small individual sacrifices required to move the masses of Black people forward, both locally and nationally – and then let’s move on to internationally. Always define yourself, and do not accept definitions like “minority” and “person of color.” Terms like those really lose something in translation, namely, us.

Stand up against injustice and wrongdoing, no matter who the perpetrator is, white, Black, or any other color. Follow through on your commitments to one another and the commitments to yourself. Get fired up, but stay fired up long enough to get the work done. Teach your children how to navigate through this world; that’s right, you teach them. If you don’t know what to teach them, get some help for yourself, and then teach them.

Take better care of yourself. Find something physical that you can do and keep doing it for the rest of your life. Yes, it will hurt sometimes, but it’s worth it. I ride a bicycle, and I plan to ride as long as I am physically able to pedal and hold the handlebars. Besides that, I love it. Anyone out there want to race? Try not to eat so much of whatever you are eating. Just eat less of everything and get up and do something to burn some calories.

Do kind things for those less fortunate than you. It doesn’t always have to be money. It could be an encouraging word, a hug without words, some baked cookies, a small gift just because, or a few hours spent with a child who may not have a father or a mother. You don’t need a program to do this; you just need yourself.

Seek out new Black leadership, authentic leadership, or be a leader yourself. There are young folks all across this country waiting to step up to the task of leadership, many of who are leading right now. Find them, especially you old soldiers out there; you can’t hang on forever, you know. Teach the young and pass the baton to them, not to someone on the other team.

Start viable businesses, grow those businesses, and create jobs for our people. Build economic enclaves throughout this country, like our relatives did two hundred years ago. Identify industries where we have the competitive advantage because of our consumerism, and build vertically integrated businesses within those industries. James Brown also said, “Let’s get together and get some land; raise our food like the man. Save our money like the mob; put up a factory and own the jobs.”

Boycott prisons! Stay out of the cells and get into sales, the legal kind. And finally, do all of these things under the Bring Back Black mantra, because the time is long overdue for us to take our rightful place in this country, politically, socially, educationally, and most of all economically. Have a wonderfully blessed year in 2007.

12/30/06 www.blackonomics.com