"Is 'buying black' realistic giving our mis-education in America?"

For those new to the blog, please read my other posts by searching under 'buy black'.  Thanks for all your support.

Supporting black business has become an exercise that is asking a lot of your every day common consumer. The Empowerment Experiment (EE) led by the Anderson family out of Chicago is a great example of this. This couple committed to shopping exclusively with black owned business for one year. They proved that it could be done but more importantly exposed the great lengths one must go to in order to achieve it.(For more information visit http://eefortomorrow.com/EE_Home.html)

Whenever I am seeking professional help, such as doctors, dentist, CPA or even services such as plumbing, home repairs, carpet cleaning, lawn care, etc, I seek out black owned businesses. This seeking out once again is an extra step in the process. You typically try to find a referral from your neighbor, family or friends to identify a business. If not, you utilize other resources to learn if its black owned.

Vegetarians make up 3% of U.S. Population

I became a vegetarian when I attended Tuskegee University. At the time, I was a member of an Afrocentric organization in which everyone was a vegetarian. Granted, I had stopped eating pork and red meat prior to this so the transition for me was very easy. Given the fact that I spent the majority of my time associating with these members the vegetarian lifestyle was extremely easy.

Fast forward 15 years later and we see a very different story. What I didn’t realize was that the change in diet would be easy because I believed in its virtues and health benefits. However, the social aspect of it would become extremely difficult to maintain over time. What I didn’t see was all of the following inconveniences:

1. having a family that was not vegetarian and cooking dinner for all
2. visiting family and friends for dinner, barbeque, etc. and imposing on them
3. Going out to eat at restaurants and finding something on the menu
4. Attending wedding receptions, conferences, group meetings that serve lunch, funerals, birthday parties and banquets and having to make special arrangements.
5. Taking vacations, trips or traveling in general

I could go on and on with this list but the point is that becoming a vegetarian is more than a diet change, it is a LIFESTYLE change and it constantly requires you to go out of your way every time you decide that you want something to eat.

Depending upon where you live you typically have 1-3 storefronts of some type that are black owned and operated assuming that you live in a predominantly black community. That means that probably 70% of your expenditures would go to other ethnic groups unless you go out of your way to locate a black business. This is a major obstacle that is facing us as we seek to solve this ongoing puzzle of how to end our economic enslavement.

Sure, supporting black business is the right thing to do. It has many benefits and will make all black people stronger as a race. There are very few arguing against that position. However, just like becoming a vegetarian which is clearly a healthier diet with tremendous benefits, how many will make the sacrifices necessary on a daily basis to go out of their way to make it a reality and commit to it for life?

Amway is a huge success, but how many people do you know doing it?

Amway, founded in 1959, is a network marketing business in which the members are able to purchase everything from their own store. By doing this they are able to earn points and make money since they are buying from themselves. Initially, you had to buy their products and that was a major limitation. Eventually, you could also buy all types of name brand products, however, you just couldn’t go to the store, you had to buy from their catalog and have it shipped.

However, once again, with all the benefits there is still one major challenge that Amway faces? You have to make a total LIFESTYLE change and commit to it for life! You could no longer walk into a Wal- Mart or Best Buy store or even a grocery store because you had to order it. How many people will agree to do that? 

Now, 15 years later I am learning that they have partner stores such as Sears, Barnes & Nobles, Hotels, Wells Fargo and a whole lot more where you can do business and receive points that will earn you money! Still, even with all these benefits and the added simplicity you MUST still make a LIFESTYLE change.

If Amway is so great and so rewarding, why isn’t everyone doing it? Why is that only a small minority of people participate in it and even a smaller number are able to stay with it past a year? If becoming a vegetarian has so many health benefits, why don’t more change their diets and why don’t those that do change stick with it for a long time?

There are many reasons but almost all of them will reveal the difficulty in asking someone to make a LIFESTYLE change.

The irony is that when someone joins a group and becomes indoctrinated with its philosophy they have trouble seeing all the changes that they made because they become engulfed in all the benefits that they are now enjoying and receiving from the change. They loose sight of the adjustments that they made in order to receive these new benefits and expect the whole world to join them only to learn that others just aren’t ready for that big of change.

Many people who support or own black business have overlooked the dynamics and challenges consumers face in “doing the right thing” and buying black.  In our zealous to fix the problem, we have lost sight in all that we are asking black consumers to do. Yes, the benefits are tremendous to our race but we must open our eyes and minds to accept that what we are really asking for is a LIFESTYLE change.

Our solutions must cease to admonish only the benefits and facts. We know that we have 800 billion dollars in buying power but we must also know what we are asking of the consumer. Our solutions must take all of this into account, realizing that ‘buying black’ is a Lifestyle change and therefore will NEVER reach the masses to be able to solve our economic enslavement!

Rich Mind

For those new to the blog, please read my other posts by searching under 'buy black'.  All comments welcome and appreciated. Let's learn and grow together.