In a recent Black alumni association meeting for my school I told the others about the importance of having our organization "show its VALUE" to the population of unattached alumni in the area so they are prompted to join with us.
In reading the views of Al Sharpton as to how the corporations that he is seeking to garner advertising dollars from "OWE US" it appears that he has it all wrong. He will always be in a permanent struggle, working to demand respect - and the money that flows with it.
An advertiser INVESTS their money were they can obtain the most positive returns. IF a particular demographic is within their target market - they will raise awareness among this group by spending money in the channels that reach the members of this group.
What we see, however, is the hole that Rev Sharpton and others have dug themselves into. Their only recourse is for THEM to do the advertising to the ADVERTISERS, showing them how much they OWE THE BLACK COMMUNITY.
The American Political Domain - Politics
First lets talk about his reference to politics for he has already exposed himself as "Obama's Man On The Street". This reference to the "Black President" is only done for rhetorical purposes. I don't care IF after 4 years of Barack Obama - every meaningful Black statistic is down - Al Sharpton and the rest of the Black establishment have already made up their minds who they are going to vote for in 2012 and 2010. Just as the old saying goes "I love you and there is NOTHING that you can do about it". In their case they have failed to build up any alternative - certainly no ORGANIC ones and thus, in their perverted view, the pathway to the development of the Black community runs straight through the erection of POWER for the Democratic party.
“The federal government, the Black President needs to be advertising with the Black Press. Otherwise what does it mean to us if we have Negroes in high places if those on the ground don’t have anything,” he said.Again - this theory of "on the ground" will soon be tested. Shaprton and other "Democrats who are Black" already have been contaminated to the point of non-credibility in regards to the stand alone Black interests.
The Black Establishment Press
He added that in keeping the heat on advertisers, Black newspapers must adhere to their historic mission of defending Black people and defining the struggle for justice.I have never accused the Black Establishment Press of not knowing what its "historic mission" has been. Indeed they all know that they were founded to give voice to the Black community because the "mainstream press" had ignored our community news or was only interested in slandering our names when we did appear in the paper.
As with the modern day NAACP, I charge that the Black press has fallen into the same abyss that originally brought them to life. Where more is the INJUSTICE and "Civil Rights Violations" that take place today WITHIN the Black community ignored than in the local syndicate of the NNPA? They, like the NAACP are so busy echo popular progressive Democratic platform positions and telling the masses how the Republican legislation threatens the Black community that they don't have time to put forth investigative resources toward the true agents of terror and intimidation on the streets of Black America today.
When they do talk about the problem they speak in terms of how the young males in question were "made that way" as part of some conspiratorial plot or via some "national social contract" that has been violated. All this despite the fact that the paper helped put into power the players that control the local franchise of government. It is my view that indeed the Black Press has lost its way. They now serve as press agents for the Black Establishment. Unmotivated to provide check and balance against their "Permanent Friends" and ideological soul mates.
The Value Of The Black Dollar
Worst of all in this list is the inability of Rev Sharpton and other operatives that tell us the value of the "Black Dollar" and how it must be respected is for them to put forth a long term plan to leverage these dollars. I am not talking about a boycott or protest. These are only crafted to raise the awareness of an external power.
I am talking about the capture of these dollars within the community so that those who benefit the most can direct these monies into local and targeted advertising venues. The very demographic that Shaprton claims to have value.
Basically what I am saying is that the rather imbalanced strategy where the same people who show us the National Urban League report that shows that Blacks have $0.16 on the dollar of wealth as do White folks yet they are working to articulate to outside companies what they OWE the Black community per our support - must end.
Unfortunately Al Sharpton and the Black Establishment no only have no real intention of communicating to the community that beyond the short term pain of "disconnecting" and targeting their financial resources is the long term benefit of controlling the community's productive resources. What they fail to see, however, is that in order of this plan to work at the fundamental level they would need to adopt many of the corporate management strategies that they call "dispassionate" and "greedy" - FOR THEMSELVES. In as much as their present economic theories are unable to sustain a well run business - they are stuck in the permanent activist role. Working to cajole those firms that are bound to sound governance of their limited resources to "break some off" to them.
Someone just told me a few days ago "those who have power don't need to keep reminding people of this fact".
A conundrum indeed.
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