Tag: COMMUNITY
Can Black Wallstreet Be Rebuilt?
By: Leon Kwasi Kuntuo-Asare
If ever there was place or time where black prosperity and wealth was of abundance in the African-American community, it would of been the Greenwood section of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Locally referred to as “Black Wallstreet “, by its local residents, and the time would of been the early part of the 20th century. In only a few generations from slavery, the black people in the small and segregated community were not only able to financially survive, they thrived, many of them had more wealth than the local white residents. They built that wealth by hard work and a keen entrepreneurial mindset. With that mindset they owned and controlled their own banks, businesses, grocery stores, restaurants, churches, private airplanes, movie theaters and hospital; until it was all destroyed by its racist white supremacist residents in 1921.
My question is could it be Rebuilt? Not only on a local level, state level, national level, but on an international level, since black people have been economically disenfranchised on a global level, from the cold Detroit streets to the hot Ghanaian streets.
According to financial expert, Dr. Boyce Watkins, black wealth could be Rebuilt using what Watkins calls “the three pillars of wealth”, and that is investing (stock market and bond investing), entrepreneurship ( business creation and ownership), and real estate ( home/rental property ownership ).
Using the three pillars of wealth system, In a generation or two, with stock value increasing due to compound interest and profits from real estate and other entrepreneurial ventures, maybe the massive wealth gap, between blacks and whites (that many people complain about, but do nothing about), could start to close. To the naysayers who think this is impossible, because black people do not have any money, I say Google “black spending power”, according to magazines like Fortune, black American spending power is over a trillion dollars a year. That is more than the GDP of most countries, around the world.
Now, just imagine if a 20% ($200 billion) of that trillion dollars was invested, in the stock market, and in starting businesses and buying real estate in our own communities. So, instead of having to beg a community outsider for a job, we could create a job, for someone in our community. Which is really needed in the black community, because despite all the claims from Trump, about historically low unemployment in the black community; what Trump or other politicians won’t tell us, is that the people who have giving up looking for a job, or whose unemployment benefits have been exhausted, are not counted in unemployment statistics. A recent CNN article titled: “1 in 5 black men did not work in 2016, study says” claims that 20% of working age black men did not earn any income in 2016. Which means they either became homeless, became dependents of a family member or significant other, or joined the underground economy, which more times than not leads to prison.
So to insure, the future of our communities, not only should we start to save and invest in the stock market, which can be done very easily using cost-effective investment apps like Acorns, Stash Invest and Robinhood, but we should educate ourselves and our families on financial responsibility, by reading books like “The $5 A Day Stock Market Investing Plan” or “Black American Money”, which are both by Dr.Boyce Watkins, and we should also, protect that wealth for the next generation by forming a business, getting a Will and starting a family trust, all of which can be easily done by using cheap online services like legalzoom.
For additional information use the link below:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenwood,_Tulsa
http://fortune.com/2018/02/28/raceahead-nielsen-report-black-buying-power/
https://money.cnn.com/2018/02/26/news/economy/black-men-hours-epi/index.html
“White Nationalism Is Spreading Like Wildfire In the Orthrodox Jewish Community”
AMERICA 2016: STILL THE LAND OF THE FREE?!
YOU STILL CAN HELP END PTSD IN GAZA!
By: Leon Kwasi Kuntuo-Asare
This Saturday, on October 15, 2016, the third annual San Francisco Gaza 5K will take place.
To signup for the race or donate to help fight end PTSD, please use link below :
SIGNUP OR DONATE TO THE GAZA 5K
Proceeds from this 5k walk / run benefit the UNRWA’S Community Mental Health Program, for children in Palestine suffering from PTSD and other psychological trauma, due to the blockade and current conflict in the region.
The situation is so dire, the internationally-known scientist, historian, social critic and political activist, Noam Chomsky said the occupation in Palestine is worst than the Apartheid of the South African past.
Noam Chomsky on BDS and How the Israeli Occupation is “Much Worse Than Apartheid”
BLACK 🌍 HISTORY SPOTLIGHT : BUNCHY CARTER
By: Leon Kwasi Kuntuo-Asare
Alprentice “Bunchy” Carter was born in Los Angeles, California in 1942. In his earlier days, Carter was a member the Slauson street gang, he was so well-respected, he was nicknamed the “Mayor of the Ghetto” and was also a member of that gang’s extremely tough inner circle called the “Renegades”.
Carter would later be convicted of armed robbery and would be incarcerated at Soledad prison for four years. While in prison he was influenced by the teachings of the Nation of Islam and Malcolm X and would eventually convert to Islam.
He would later renounce Islam and focus his time and energy on the black Liberation movement.
After being released from prison, Carter would meet Huey Newton, one of the founders of the Black Panther Party (BPP) and would join the organization.
In the early part of 1968, Carter would form the Southern California chapter of the B.P.P and would be that chapter’s leader, like all chapters of the group, they studied politics, trained firearms, first aid and read party literature. They also had a free breakfast program for poor, economically-disenfranchised black youths. By April of that same year, the chapter was becoming so popular it was gaining between fifty to a hundred new members a week.
As the B.P.P continued to grow and popularity, they would become targets of Federal Bureau of Investigation ( FBI ) and it’s director J. Edgar Hoover. The FBI’s secret division known as the Counter Intelligence program ( cointelpro ) it would later be revealed in Senate Testimony, that they worked with local police to sabotage, intimidate and harass members of the party.
During the time between 1968-69, many warrantless searches, false arrests occurred and several members of the black organization would be killed.
Towards the end of 1969, J. Edgar Hoover sent out orders to FBI field offices to : “exploit all avenues of creating dissension within the ranks of the BPP”, and “submit imaginative and hard-hitting counterintelligence measures aimed at crippling the BPP” . In Southern California, the FBI would also work hard to exploit the rivalry between the BPP and the black nationalist organization called “US”, which was founded by Ron Karenga. The two groups had very different approaches about how they battled systematic white supremacy, and often times found themselves completing over the same potential recruits.
On January 17, 1969, Carter and fellow Black Panther named John Huggins were allegedly heard making uncomplimentary statements about the head of US, Ron Karenga. An altercation would ensued , which would lead to the murders of Carter and Huggins.
The Panthers would claim that it was an assassination on their leadership, while the US organization would claim that it was a spontaneous event. Claude Hubert, the man who allegedly killed Carter and Huggins would never be captured.
In 1975, during the Church Committee hearings, evidence was revealed that proved that the FBI’s Counter intelligence program, under the direction of Hoover, covertly sent out disinformation, fake death threats and humiliating cartoons to the Panthers and US organization, pretending they were from the other group with the hope of causing conflict and inciting violence between the two black Liberation groups.
Bunchy Carter tribute
For additional information use link below : https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bunchy_Carter
