This is the fifth article in a series of articles about connecting Black consumers and entrepreneurs more effectively. In this article we discuss "Key Players in the Second Diaspora Initiative."
The Second Diaspora Initiative is an economic empowerment concept that seeks to connect the dots and mobilize the Virtual Black Community to have a greater impact across the entire community. The goal of this initiative is energize Black spending in measurable ways that result in growing Black businesses and empowered Black consumers.
It is important to make a distinction in the ways the Virtual Black Community can leverage Black spending power. We are all aware of the BE 100's. These are the nation's largest Black businesses. Two key factors distinguish these businesses: First, their target audience is the mainstream economy. The defining element of their success is that they have made it to the mainstream. Second, much of their success is B2B activity -- government contracts, construction, manufacturing, hospitality and food franchises, and auto dealers. We can visit the local Black-owned MacDonald's franchise, or stay at a hotel owned and operated by a Black entrepreneur. But most of the time we don't know that the owner is Black.
The overwhelming majority of the 1.9 million Black-owned businesses are much smaller, and the fastest growing new entrepreneurs are targeting online sales to Black consumers. In fact, there is a Black Niche Market Online that offers many products that cannot be found in the mainstream marketplace.This new arena for start-ups can deliver high quality goods and services at a lower cost of entry, and at competitive prices. This is where highly mobile and connected Black consumers can leverage their buying power and help launch some of these businesses into the mainstream. Who are the key players to help make this happen?
The Key Players in the Second Diaspora Initiative
- Online Communities/Social Networking Mavens
We must identify and invite key influencers to participate by helping their members and contacts to connect the dots across the Virtual Black Community. Here are a few examples:- The Empowerment Experiment -http://eefortomorrow.com/
- iZania.com - www.izania.com
- National Association of Market Developers (NAMD) - http://www.namdntl.org/
- Urban Professionals- www.urbanprofessionals.com
- AroundTheWayApp.com -http://aroundthewayapp.com/
- BlackCrowdFunding.net -http://www.blackcrowdfunding.net/en
- Target Market News (publisher of "The Buying Power of Black America")- http://www.targetmarketnews.com/
- George Fraser, Black Networking Guru -http://www.frasernet.com/
- National Newspaper Publishers Association -http://www.nnpa.org/
- US Black Chambers, Inc. -http://usblackchamber.org/
- BlackStartup.com -http://blackstartup.com/
If leaders of these online communities and organizations connected all of their members, followers, and contacts, this would create the largest critical mass of Black sellers and buyers in the country. In the information age, access to capital is needed, but access to a large networking community is even better.
- Black Business Directories - We must determine how to link to multiple Black directories in a collaborative manner. Most of these directories are local directories. We need to develop a means to link these directories so that "any Black-owned business in the Virtual Black Community is connected to everybody, and everybody in the Virtual Black Community is connected to any Black-owned business."
- Enlightened Black Consumers - One of the characteristics of the Second Diaspora is that upwardly mobile Blacks are often geographically isolated from one another, but increasingly more connected online. However, the data from all social studies show that gaps between Blacks and Whites persist across all social classes. So, Black unemployment among Black graduates of elite universities is double that of white graduates, just as Black unemployment among poor Blacks is double that of their white counterparts. We must begin acting in our "enlightened self-interests"if we want to leverage our spending power to the benefit of the Virtual Black Community.
When the key players begin to act in our self-interests, then the best opportunity for improving Black unemployment will be a successful Black entrepreneur. Black wealth will increase when we help each other to succeed. Black spending power is the fuel for growth when properly leveraged.
In upcoming articles I will discuss "Mobilizing Behavioral Change."