What's your opinion on this article?
The strength we gain from coalescence will bring about this much-needed change, and one major step is to reach out and connect with other like minded people of African descent. This should be done on a national and an international level, the closest area being just south of our country—the Caribbean.
One of the greatest Africans in modern history was born in Jamaica. Of course, that would be Marcus Mosiah Garvey, who founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA). Look across the Caribbean and you will find other Blacks who knew and followed through on solutions; they took action rather than merely talk about their problems. They stood up against aggression, ignorance, and oppression. They understood and followed through on the value of educating their people, and they subscribed to the lessons their elders left behind.
Haitian history shows us strength and refusal to submit to enslavement; it also shows us resolve and a willingness to help others, as in the case of Haitian soldiers going to Savannah, Georgia to fight against the British in the Siege of Savannah on Oct. 9, 1779, during the U.S. Revolutionary War. We also remember the irrepressible Toussaint L’Ouverture, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, and Henri Christophe, Haitians who led the only successful slave revolt in the Western hemisphere.
Marcus Garvey instructed us to do one thing prior to taking on economic empowerment initiatives. He told us to “Organize!” He shared with us the truth about economic empowerment over political empowerment and how we should seek economics first. He said, “The most important area for the exercise of independent effort is economic. After a people have established successfully a firm industrial foundation they naturally turn to politics and society, but not first to society and politics, because the two latter cannot exist without the former.”
Lessons from Garvey and others have led a precious few of us to implement strategies that, in fact, will lead to economic empowerment; we need many more. One such effort is the One Million Conscious Black Voters and Contributors (OMCBV&C), which was established on Garvey’s words, “The greatest weapon used against the Black man is disorganization.” The OMCBV&C movement is underway, actively recruiting that critical mass of Black people who will take action rather than merely talk about problems. The One Million will leverage dollars and votes to obtain reciprocity in the marketplace as well as in the public policy arena.
In the tradition of Marcus Garvey, the One Million is organized, cooperative, and supportive of one another. It is entrepreneurial in its philosophy regarding ownership and control of income producing assets. The One Million is molded in the very practical notion of using our own resources to help ourselves and our children. We are committed, dedicated, sacrificial in our giving, and unapologetically Black as we pursue our ultimate goals of economic and political strength—in that order.
Black people, no matter where we were born or where we live, must appreciate the fact that we started out in the same place and our differences emanate from our experiences in the nations where our ships docked in the Western hemisphere.
James Clingman, whose writings focus on economic empowerment for Black people, is the author of “Black Dollars Matter! Teach Your Dollars How to Make More Sense.” The book is available at Blackonomics.com. His column was distributed by the NNPA Newswire.