I totally support your movement, and I feel that the media has criticised you all so harshly only because you are doing something right and because they realize the potential that this movement has for African-Americans, especially in this era in which we have an African-American president. I preached the same message in the article posted below in the Talented Tenth, Vanderbilt University's African-American, student, newspaper. Glad to hear that someone else cares and agrees! Yet, we must mobilize our young black scholars that are in high school and college in order to really strenghthen the movement. :)
A Day Late: A Dollar $hort By: Kadoria Ivory STAFF WRITER I have noticed that late night perusal of Black Entertainment Television, or BET, imposes upon viewers a disproportionate amount of advertising commercials, compared to comparable entertainment channels. From a financial standpoint, it is abundantly clear that BET airs more commercials because advertisers help shoulder the costs of running its business. Likewise, businesses advertise their products on this channel because they believe they will have a high margin of success with the particular demographic to which this channel caters, African Americans. Considering this reality, African Americans should use these economic dynamics to their advantage. Everyone may not all be able to utilize his or her political power, considering the age requirements on and red tape surrounding voting; however, everyone can use his or her purchasing power to tell American businesses —and thus American society — that African Americans are tired of being considered secondclass citizens. Considering that America revolves around the almighty dollar and the haves and have-nots, African Americans should use their salaries to show big business what they will and will not stand for. However, instead of exercising the economic “vote”, African Americans exhibit an uninformed and impulsive consumerist culture. A prime example of this is African- American support of the Cristal liquor empire. Recently, this company was cited as saying that they did not welcome the type of “attention” that the rap industry brought to their brand. Furthermore, despite initial boycotts of the brand, spearheaded by rapper Jay-Z, African-Americans continue to be among the top consumers of this and other alcoholic beverage brands that do not even patronize African-American communities (msnbc.msn.com). In dollars and “sense,” this says that being able to drink or consume a certain name brand is worth more than the dignity of the race. African Americans would be better served by refraining from supporting businesses that are inhospitable to African- American interests and, instead, save and invest so that their money will grow. Other ethnic groups in America, particularly Asian Americans and Middle-Eastern Americans, save more money than all other ethnicities in the United States. They also own a larger portion of the entrepreneurial enterprises in this country when compared to the relative numbers of their population. Why can’t African-Americans follow these patterns and share in this same success, bearing in mind that our population is much more numerous than that of both Middle-Eastern and Asian citizens combined? Let’s not let the reason for continual economic and political oppression be lack of financial savvy.
I totally support your movement, and I feel that the media has criticised you all so harshly only because you are doing something right and because they realize the potential that this movement has for African-Americans, especially in this era in which we have an African-American president. I preached the same message in the article posted below in the Talented Tenth, Vanderbilt University's African-American, student, newspaper. Glad to hear that someone else cares and agrees! Yet, we must mobilize our young black scholars that are in high school and college in order to really strenghthen the movement. :)
ReplyDeleteA Day Late: A Dollar $hort
By: Kadoria Ivory
STAFF WRITER
I have noticed that late
night perusal of Black Entertainment
Television, or
BET, imposes upon viewers
a disproportionate amount
of advertising commercials,
compared to comparable
entertainment channels. From
a financial standpoint, it is
abundantly clear that BET airs
more commercials because
advertisers help shoulder the
costs of running its business.
Likewise, businesses advertise
their products on this channel
because they believe they will
have a high margin of success
with the particular demographic
to which this channel caters,
African Americans.
Considering this reality,
African Americans should use
these economic dynamics to
their advantage. Everyone may
not all be able to utilize his or
her political power, considering
the age requirements on and
red tape surrounding voting;
however, everyone can use his
or her purchasing power to tell
American businesses —and
thus American society — that
African Americans are tired
of being considered secondclass
citizens. Considering that
America revolves around the
almighty dollar and the haves
and have-nots, African Americans
should use their salaries
to show big business what they
will and will not stand for.
However, instead of exercising
the economic “vote”,
African Americans exhibit an
uninformed and impulsive
consumerist culture. A prime
example of this is African-
American support of the Cristal
liquor empire. Recently, this
company was cited as saying
that they did not welcome the
type of “attention” that the
rap industry brought to their
brand. Furthermore, despite
initial boycotts of the brand,
spearheaded by rapper Jay-Z,
African-Americans continue to
be among the top consumers of
this and other alcoholic beverage
brands that do not even patronize
African-American communities
(msnbc.msn.com).
In dollars and “sense,” this
says that being able to drink or
consume a certain name brand
is worth more than the dignity
of the race.
African Americans would
be better served by refraining
from supporting businesses
that are inhospitable to African-
American interests and,
instead, save and invest so that
their money will grow. Other
ethnic groups in America, particularly
Asian Americans and
Middle-Eastern Americans,
save more money than all other
ethnicities in the United States.
They also own a larger portion
of the entrepreneurial enterprises
in this country when
compared to the relative numbers
of their population. Why
can’t African-Americans follow
these patterns and share in this
same success, bearing in mind
that our population is much
more numerous than that of
both Middle-Eastern and Asian
citizens combined? Let’s not let
the reason for continual economic
and political oppression
be lack of financial savvy.