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Black Capitalism is a name for a movement among African Americans to build wealth through the ownership and development of businesses. It has not been acknowledged as a legitimate "movement" among African Americans, such as Black Nationalism or the Civil Rights Movement as it has no organized body to promote its intent and goals. However, much in these movements were financed by the wealth of African Americans. An African American (also Afro-American, Black American, or simply black) is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ...
Black nationalism is a political and social movement arising in the 1960s and early 70s mostly among African Americans in the United States. ...
Historically, the civil rights movement was a concentrated period of time around the world of approximately one generation (1924-1980) wherein there was much worldwide civil unrest and popular rebellion. ...
Historical Roots Roots of Black Capitalism can be found in the lives of "Free Negroes" during times of the American Enslavement. Many records exist reporting the development of economic wealth by these "Free Negroes".
The earliest recorded words touting the economic upliftment of African Americans by an African American was written by Lewis Woodson under the pen name "Augustine" in the Coloured American Newspaper. Woodson helped found Wilberforce University and the first AME Theological seminary, Payne Theological Seminary and was an early teacher and mentor of Martin Delaney. An African American (also Afro-American, Black American, or simply black) is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ...
Lewis Woodson Lewis Woodson (1806-78) was an educator, minister, writer, and abolitionist. ...
Martin Robison Delany (May 6, 1812 - 1885) was the First Afro-American Field Officer in the United States Army. ...
A prominent southern affluent Black was A. G. Gaston who was, at times, instrumental in the civil rights movement. Galston was influenced by Booker T. Washington, who was an early leader at the Tuskegee Institute. Another wealthy African American was Robert Reed Church, who founded the nation's first Black-owned bank, Solvent Savings, in 1906. Arthur George Gaston (July 4, 1892 – January 19, 1996) was an African American businessman who established a number of businesses in Birmingham, Alabama and who played a significant role in the struggle to integrate Birmingham in 1963. ...
Booker T. Washington Booker Taliaferro Washington (April 5, 1856, – November 14, 1915) was an American political leader, educator and author. ...
There is also the Tuskegee Airmen, a corps of African-American military pilots trained there during World War II Tuskegee University is an American institution of higher learning located in Tuskegee, Alabama. ...
There are many historical and current examples of neighborhoods of prominent and affluent Blacks in American history. Some include the historical Highland Beach, Maryland and more recently Mount Airy in Philadelphia, Pa and Prince George County, Maryland. Mainstream media identifies this with some interest USA Today. Highland Beach is a town located in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. ...
Mount Airy is a neighborhood in Northwest Philadelphia in the state of Pennsylvania in the United States. ...
Prince Georges County is a suburban county located in the state of Maryland immediately east of Washington, D.C.. It is notable as the wealthiest majority-African-American county in the country. ...
A more focused movement of Black Capitalism can be found in the popular magazine [[Black Enterprise]].
Strands of Black Capitalism
Group Success One strain of Black Capitalism is immersed in the ethic of African-Americans building wealth together, as exemplified in the Kwanzaa value of "ujamaa" meaning 'cooperative economics'. A prominent proponent and example of this cooperative economics is Russell Simmons who can be seen advocating the building of not only individual black businesses but communities of black businesses. Simmons has made the comment that Black MBA students and graduates have the notion that they want to own their own businesses, not to simply be employed in someone else's business. Kwanzaa (or Kwaanza) is a week-long Pan-African secular holiday primarily honoring African-American heritage. ...
Russell Simmons (born October 4, 1957 in Queens, NY), is an African American entrepreneur, the co-founder, with Rick Rubin, of the pioneering hip-hop label Def Jam, and founder of another label, Russell Simmons Music Group. ...
The mentality of group success is highlighted and examined in the book Black Power Inc. by Cora Daniels. In her writings, Ms. Daniels says that the ethic of individual success is exemplified by African-Americans born before and during the civil-rights movement, while proponents of group success are born after the civil rights movement.
A recent effort to standardize black capitalism as a movement was introduced in two books: Black Labor: White Wealth and the more recent book Powernomics by Dr. Claud Anderson. In these two books Dr. Anderson outlines a schema on which black wealth can be coordinated and developed through a nine-issue plan.
Some see this group success strain of Black Capitalism as a form of Social entrepreneurship which aims to build businesses that are oriented around providing services and goods that benefit the community in which they were built. Others see this as an outgrowth of the communal and tribal ethic attributed to traditional African cultures. Social entrepreneurship is the act of a social entrepreneur. ...
Individual Success A parallel, but seemingly opposing, strain of Black Capitalism stems from the American ideal of building individual wealth. Prominent examples of this can be popular figures such as Oprah Winfrey, Robert L. Johnson and so forth. The complaint leveled against the adherents to individual succes from advocates of group success is that individually wealth African Americans have made millions of dollars and that in and of itself has made very little contribution to the plight of African Americans in general. Oprah Winfrey, (born January 29, 1954) is a multiple-Emmy Award winning host of The Oprah Winfrey Show, the highest rated talk show in television history. ...
Robert Johnson, on the cover of a biography. ...
In general, African Americans and the media sometimes point to this phenomenon as "black flight" or "selling out" where affluent blacks move out of predominately black neighborhoods into affluent white neighborhoods. A history of some of this was documented in the book Our Kind of People: Inside America's Black Upper Class by Otis Graham.
Issues Facing Black Capitalism
The notion of racial integration is such that African Americans should be able to move and operate in a predominately white society safely. This effort at racial integration concerns mostly public spaces and private hiring practices. It is thought that attempts and movements supporting racial integration are efforts to enable blacks to assimilate into white institutions. Children at a parade in North College Hill, Ohio Racial integration, or simply integration includes desegregation (the process of ending systematic racial segregation). ...
Black Capitalism is an effort to position Blacks as the owners of land, the means of production, and businesses that own either or both. The aim of Black Capitalism is to bolster self-reliance, both individually and communally.
Black Anti-Capitalism There are also two strands of thinking in African America, and specifically Black Nationalism, that is against Capitalism as an economic system in all of its forms. One strands is against capitalism on the basis of the historical treatment of Africans and the African Diaspora, i.e. slavery, subjugation and colonization. Other strands are against capitalism through strict political critiques, i.e. socialist. Many critics of capitalism from within the Black community blend the two positions, however the reasoning behind them are distinct. A prominent Black political critic was C. L. R. James. Two of the most popular black anti-capitalist books are [How Capitalism Underdeveloped Africa by Walter Rodney] and [How Capitalism Underdeveloped Black America by Manning Marable] give an analysis of how capitalism as an economic system has not raised the quality of living for the African Disapora. Cyril Lionel Robert James (4 January 1901–19 May 1989) was a journalist, and a prominent socialist theorist and writer. ...
Violence against Black Capitalism Examples of the explicit and public opposition to African American economic success has diminished since the Civil Rights movement. However, before this period of American transition, there are a few notable violent attacks against prosperous African American communities including the Tulsa Race Riot and Rosewood, Florida This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...
Rosewood was a small community of 25 to 30, mostly black families in Levy County, central Florida, USA [1]. It was a whistle stop on the Seaboard Airline Railway. ...
Economic disparity Blacks on average have a lower net worth than Whites in America. This is especially pertinent in the creation of new businesses. One of the most common forms of collateral for loans to open businesses is home equity. With the historical and current differences in lending patterns toward blacks and whites, the option of using home equity to borrow against in order to open a business is diminished.
Magazines - Black Enterprise Magazine
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