In The Name of Allah, The Beneficent, The Merciful!
why is black business important?
Black businesses are critical because they contribute significantly to closing the racial wealth gap by creating jobs within Black communities, fostering economic development, and reinvesting wealth back into the community, which is particularly crucial given the historical underrepresentation of Black business ownership and the resulting economic disparities faced by Black people. Supporting Black businesses also helps to celebrate and sustain Black culture by providing products and services that are culturally relevant.
- Black businesses are more likely to hire Black employees, which helps address unemployment rates within the Black community.
- By reinvesting profits back into Black communities, Black businesses can contribute to wealth building and economic growth.
- Supporting Black businesses is a way to combat historical systemic racism and promote a more equitable economy.
- Black businesses often serve as a vital part of the fabric of Black communities, providing essential services and fostering local connections.
Black people in the U.S. hold approximately 4% of the total wealth of this nation, despite making up around 13% of the population! Historical race massacres and Jim Crow laws resulted in a decline in home ownership, loss of property, lower average occupational status, net worth, and educational attainment for Black people in the U.S. Other known reasons for the wealth gap is due to systematic barriers, historical inequalities, discriminatory housing practices, and disparities in credit access.
For years Black people have petitioned for jobs and justice, including equal opportunity for employment, as well as equal resources for business establishment and growth. As a result, most Black entrepreneurs have suffered loss during business establishment, taking personal financial risk, while enduring the conditions of poverty and the lack of resources. Amidst a great increase in small Black business creation, there is still a significant concern about their survival rate, as many face challenges like high operating costs, intense competition from larger companies, and potential instability in the market, including flooded markets, leading to a high rate of closures within the first few years.
You can find many Black entrepreneurs on social media independently striving to represent small business, reflecting great talent, authority and unique styles of self-created marketing techniques and strategies. Some have gone viral and established household recognition within our communities, but this has not significantly impacted the businesses' ability to grow and create employment. There are thousands of other Black-owned businesses struggling for small amounts of success, heavily dependent on a response from our people, who often hold Black businesses to a higher standard than businesses owned by those who have contributed to and benefited from our suffering.
What delays the response to the call for black business support, while we continue to support those who willfully do not support us? What economic conditions must we further suffer to realize the change in our economic condition begins with directing our dollars to our communities first? It is estimated that we have a buying power of around $1.6 trillion, representing a significant portion of the nation's total consumer spending. This substantial purchasing power makes the Black community a prime target for usury and exploitation. We must use our buying power to our own advantage!
In a nation that has not changed it's treatment of Black people and struggles with a falling economy, who can we depend on other than each other? What will happen to the black community if we continue to neglect our own economy?
Muhammad's Economic Blueprint
“Over 48 years ago, at a time of great crisis, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad outlined in the Muhammad Speaks newspaper a “Plan” that sought to address the economic plight of Black people in the United States. It was presented at that time as an “Economic Savings Program,” or a “3-Year Savings Plan”—and it was the greatest effort in the history of Black people in America to: 1) break our harmful spending habits; 2) pool our earnings; and 3) redirect our wealth in ways that would lead to self-sufficiency in America.
The Program called on not only Muslims, but all Black wage earners—the poor, the middle class, and the wealthy—to make affordable contributions, on a regular basis, into a single “national treasury.”
But why did the Honorable Elijah Muhammad give us this Plan 48 years ago? He warned us that 100 percent inflation would come to America, totally destroying the value of “the dollar.” He wrote that a financial crash was on the way more severe than The Stock Market Crash of 1929 (a.k.a. “Black Tuesday”). And, he wrote that America would experience a loss of wealth so severe that it would force the descendants of slaves to finally get up and do something for themselves economically.”
Here are the Five Principles of the Economic Blueprint, which The Honorable Elijah Muhammad critically urged black people to follow over 60 years ago, which we must continue to practice today:
1. Recognize the necessity for unity and group operation (activities).
2. Pool your resources, physically as well as financially.
3. Stop wanton criticism of everything that is Black-owned and Black-operated.
4. Keep in mind —[that]jealousy destroys from within.
5. Observe the operations of the White man. He is successful. He makes no excuses for his failures. He works hard in a collective manner. You do the same!
The Final Call, August 5, 2013: The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan: 'The time and what must be done'—2013 Lecture Series, Part 30 - Muhammad's Economic Blueprint: Ending Poverty & Want (Part 1)
We must have self-sufficiency and empowerment through collective effort and disciplined action!
