F*** Rich, Let's Get Wealthy

This is an interesting article that Johnson Publications used to lead off their newsletter. I havent checked out all the numbers but it does provide interesting food for thought. A friend recently brought to my attention that there are no blacks listed in the repeated richest people of the world lists. Yet, African America according to this report is the tenth richest nation of the world. I've never been one to be on the lets amass ridiculous amounts of money so we can pat ourselves on the back, but to take a line from Jay-Z, "f rich, let's get wealthy." The original article can be found at http://www.ebonyjet.com/Living/index.aspx?id=4377. Please check the link since blogger refuses to repost in a correct format.

Black Buying Power: Showing You the Money
where we spent our scratch in 2007
01/02/2008
By Donna Johnson and Boyd Klingler

You’re young, you're hip, a trailblazing trendsetter. You’re mobile—by phone, by car, by ear--in every sense of the word. And if you’re African-American, you’re not just keeping up with the Joneses. In the eyes of merchandisers, and marketing directors, you are the Joneses. Congratulations, you’ve arrived—to the tune of $845 billion in buying power in 2007.

To give you some quantifiable sense of what that number actually feels like, only nine other countries in the world have a larger GDP than the $845 billion African-Americans contributed to the U.S. economy last year. Nine. Which means, in dollar amounts, African-America is the tenth largest country on the planet.

After pouring over a mountain of mind-numbing statistics and data, we’ve worked up a summary of the $845 billion impact African-Americans made in 2007 on an overall $10 trillion U.S. economy. And the aftershock goes beyond the numbers.

One other quick note before we get started: Wherever mentioned, Latinos are grouped by ethnicity and not race. The category of race is reserved for African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Native Americans and Whites. If you have issues with this classification, take it up with the Census Bureau.

Otherwise, here’s a breakout of just some of the more significant findings:

Cell Phones – Much to the annoyance of us urban dwellers who regularly take public transportation it comes as no surprise that African-Americans, particularly the ones with teens and twenty-somethings, spent more after-tax income than non-blacks on cell phone purchases and services. So it comes as no coincidence that most television commercials competing for those consumer telecom dollars are aimed at clingy parents who can’t cut the cord already.

To be fair, Asian and Latinos also spend a good portion of their money on telecommunications, but African-American households still have the edge. Imagine what would happen if meaningful discussions were actually taking place amidst all the chatter.

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Fashion – African-Americans spent more on women and girls fashions than non-black consumers combined, and almost twice as much on footwear. Not particularly shop-till-you-drop numbers, those figures represent only 2.3 percent and 1.5 percent respectively out of a 100 percent total, yearly after-tax income. Significant still when you consider it’s one group versus all others combined. Expenditure on men’s gear was about the same compared to non-blacks combined.

Groceries – One explanation as to why groceries is one of those categories where African Americans spent a higher proportion of their money is that even though household populations are about the same for Blacks as Whites (but not Latinos), Blacks are more likely to have children under 18.

But another account provided by the Brookings Institution suggests that in lower-income neighborhoods, smaller grocery stores are more prevalent, making their goods more expensive and larger, economically diverse grocers that offer considerably more choices are less available. According to Brookings, "a combination of real and perceived market risks, market abuses and uneven consumer access…contribute to these additional costs incurred by lower income consumers."

Pensions & Social Security – The good news is that African Americans spent 10% of their after-tax income on pension contributions in 2007. Whether that number represents maxing out what’s allowable or the minimum set-aside after employer contributions is not clear. Social Security has to do with how much you earn during your working life, and since African Americans are so far relegated to earning less than their White counterparts, that 10% may not hold firm over time.

Transportation – The bad news is that retirement contributions still rival the 17% that Black Americans lavish on automobile purchases and upkeep. So unless you intend to be buried in your SUV, consider spending fewer disposable dollars pimping out your ride and more on the comfort level you hope to achieve in later years.

Education – Here’s a myth-busting fact: Asian-Americans aren’t any smarter than the rest of us--they just spend more of their disposable income on education. That amounts to $1790 versus $940 per household--almost twice as much as everyone else combined.

As we mentioned in an earlier column on investing, while some parents prefer to dole out more of their discretionary income keeping their kids in Akademiks, Asian-Americans put that same money presumably to better use making sure their offspring can actually spell the word correctly. These non-publicly funded expenditures like tutoring and college prep courses begin in pre-school and ultimately lead to career advancement through additional training and continuing education classes. Education pays when you pay for education. What a concept!

Raw numbers, however, don’t always tell the whole story: What’s beyond the importance of sheer buying power is that African Americans are setting trends for use by U.S. consumers of every racial and ethnic background.

The size of the African-American market has been important to market watchers for decades. Currently, that market is experiencing above-average growth. Despite continued lower income levels, African-American consumption draws the attention of companies that make consumer goods and marketing professionals engaged in trend spotting because they know that the tastes and preferences initiated in the African American community eventually intersect with the larger society and translate in importance to the overall market.

Then there’s the international bounce.

One of the most profitable products that the American private sector exports is culture in the form of fashion, movies, music and other media. It’s safe to say that, good or bad, U.S. lifestyles set the standard for the rest of the world in the form of international influence on fashion, media & entertainment. Companies that set their sites on African American consumption know that the trends that emerge from the Black community also cross over overseas.

For some, this is not necessarily news, but neither is the opportunity to capitalize on the influence that African-America can have on these industries at home and abroad.

If you think what happens on Main Street isn’t noticed by Wall Street, think again. The Fortune 500 have already made their nut, and in 2007 $845 billion of it was derived from Black buying power. Why not resolve to make 2008 your year of wealth creation and financial empowerment. A prosperous New Year to all.

Donna Johnson and Boyd Klingler are Giving You the BusinessSM, in an occasional column for EbonyJet.com. Send your business and finance-related questions to our e-mailbag.

I'm Still Here: The Miller Boys

So I know, I say I'm going to bring the freshness for Black History Month, and what do I go and do...get a job. I did have exciting posts planned. I was going to revisist last year's historic superbowl featuring black coaches and forever immortalized by Kanye and Common in their song South Side on Superbowl Sunday. I was also going to look at past black runners for the Democratic Nomination on Super Tuesday (Shirley Chisolm, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Carol Mosley Braun and any others I may have inadvertently left out of this list). The plans were great, but the month is only half past, so do look out.

Shameless. I've been a bit ghost, kind of like The Miller Boys, but I wanted to share some of their latest work with you.

All truth, Master P and Romeo are of an era past, but these videos reaching out to the past are worth taking a little watch. You can fast forward Romeo's part, but the cartoon version would make a good showing for some second graders. Okie dokes, thats it for now.

Cartoon Version "Black History"


Official Video

Happy (US and Canada) Black History Month

We celebrated out here in the UK in October, but you know, I follow the US calendar mostly. This is the 22nd year of the expansion of what was previously Negro history week into an entire month. There are concrete reasons for choosing February: the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. However, we'll start off the month with a (not so serious) examination of whether or not February should be the month in which black history is celebrated.

I present to you, the original drug abuser: Gil Scott Heron in a recent performance at New York's SOB's (Sounds of Brazil...cool shows, often). The revolution may not be televised, but this "luminary" has been put on You Tube.


HAUL,
The Queen

Throwback Pop Culture Clip

This one isn't really of the week, but more like the month. I've been busy with school for a bit, but I'm still here bringing you real information and get ready for a jam packed Black History Month!

Back to the clip.

Remember this toy. Looking back at this is really hilarious. I actually knew people who had a "My Buddy."What made it worse was that the Chucky "Child's Play" movie series was also very popular around then...I had my doubts about My Buddy. He was the only male doll.

Can you imagine a male doll being marketed to little boys today?

Art in Brazil

Interesting article I came across on Grafitti in Sao Paulo, Brazil on the BBC website. No commentary from me: I'm tired.

Turning the spotlight on Brazil's hidden art

By Gary Duffy BBC News, Brazil

Whether this is art seems very much in the eye of the beholder

It is not a location every artist would chose for a display of their work

In the polluted tunnels beneath the streets of Sao Paulo, Zezao, one of Brazil's most famous graffiti artists, returns time and time again to produce his work.

This part of the city is dark and dangerous. The brown and smelly water is a foul mixture, bringing with it rubbish and sewage from above.

Zezao has had several vaccinations to allow him to continue his work.

On one occasion he had to run for his life when the tunnels were flooded after heavy rain. On another he stood on a nail.

The work can be dangerous but Zezao says it is important

But all along this grim and uninviting channel are signs of an unexpected artistic display - graffiti painted with care and attention to detail, even though few people will ever get to see it.

Zezao says he works here to make a point about the years of neglect that have caused this pollution.

"I did this work because I wanted to show the architecture and the conditions of tunnels of Sao Paulo, which is this - degradation, rubbish - everything that the rain brings," he told the BBC News website.

Nike star

It is a journey you have to make with care, and the only audience in this gallery are the insects that made it their home. In the corner a dead rat is clearly visible.

It is not perhaps the image that everyone has of graffiti artists, and despite the risks, Zezao says it is worth it to raise public awareness.

"This place is a very dangerous place, contaminated, because we are in the sewer of Sao Paulo. I did suffer some accidents here doing this job, but as dangerous as it is, I know the importance of my work for humanity."

Across the city another of Sao Paulo's most famous graffiti artists, known as Titifreak to his fans, is hard at work

Zezao uses what little light is available to highlight his work

His graffiti has been displayed around the world and he has also worked for major companies such as Nike, and he proudly wears a pair of the company's trainers with his name printed across them.

Decorating a shabby apartment building, with the owner's permission, he rejects the view of those who dismiss graffiti as vandalism.

"A person who says that graffiti like this one here which is more artistic - to connect that to vandalism I think is missing a little bit of literature and culture," he says.

"People get confused when they see someone with a spray in the hand, which seems too aggressive."

Images erased

Not everyone in Sao Paulo is fan of graffiti. Every day painters from the city authority are sent out to cover it up.

Sometimes it is just names and letters scrawled on walls that are painted over - something that is know here as pichacao, and which is often seen as vandalism.

However sometimes more elaborate works are removed as well. Among the public, opinion seems divided.

Titifreak has shown his work all around the world

"When it is well done it is beautiful... but when it is a mess no, because it is dirty and ends up destroying the appearance of the walls," one woman says.

"I think this prejudices the image of the city and makes it appear dirty - so I don't think it is nice," said a man who was passing by a new piece of graffiti. "I don't think it is acceptable."

But at the same time, Sao Paulo's Museum of Contemporary Art is paying its own tribute to graffiti artists from Italy and Brazil.

Unique style

And far removed from the grim tunnels beneath the city Zezao's work is on display here - work the museum says deserves to be valued.

"Graffiti is a way of artistic expression in a urban environment," says Lisbeth Rebollo Goncalves, director of the museum, which is known here as Mac.

" If you in fact meet a great artist doing a work of art in your home you would take great care of it.

"But because it is an anonymous piece of work, people feel a bit hostile about it being on a wall in a public place, but this part of urban life, " she says.

Pichacao involves just names and letters being scrawled on walls

Such is the fame of Sao Paulo's graffiti, that other artists have come from around the world to see it.

"The artists that I see in Sao Paulo are much more individualistic," says Gary Baseman, an award-winning artist and illustrator from Los Angeles in California.

"Each piece is very unique, but in the States it is more like they have a very iconic image or particular mark that they repeat over and over again.

"Part of the reason that tourists come here is to see the street art that is all over the place, it is like the city is just one big giant canvass. To try to control it, in a way, you are almost destroying the culture that the World sees - the reason they are coming here."

Jonathan LeVine, a gallery owner from New York, believes graffiti in Sao Paulo has particular value.

"In a city like Sao Paulo where maybe people don't have so much money. It's a way for them to have access to art they wouldn't otherwise have access to, and it's a way for people to express themselves to the public."

"From city to city and country to country, the reasons that people do it are very different."

It does seem that graffiti is too well established a part of life in Sao Paulo to ever disappear.

And in his gloomy polluted corner of the city, it seems Zezao will continue to produce his underground gallery in the hope that his message will finally be heard.

Happy Birthday Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Okay, so his birthday was actually a few days ago, but this is the day set aside by the United States government to honor his birthday. Unfortunately ther eis no day set aside for his recognition out here in the UK and this is a break from a twenty page paper that I need to finish, but I thought I'd leave you all with a dedication to this great man with a few of my favorite clips that celebrate the man. (and to think all of this from you're home computer without going to the Dream Concert)

I had great plans for this post, but that dream must now be deferred. Instead I'll leave you with some of my favorite Martin Luther King tributes and a clip to the famous "I Have a Dream" Speech. It's been a rough two days for me..sorry.

Stevie Wonder song that helped kick off the movement to get the holiday.
Cosby Show episode where the family gathers at the end to watch the speech
Different World episode where Terell learns the foolishness of violence and re-enacts a meeting between Martin and Malcolm.
The quote juxtaposition between a Martin quote and a Malcolm X quote in Do the Right Thing and when his picture is finally on the wall.
McDonalds Commercial with the candles and the song. "If we could light a candle..."
The irreverent Boondocks episode.


Oh yea, and my undergraduate thesis which examined the I have a dream speech as a hundred year fast forward of blacks still capitalizing on the memory of Abraham Lincoln.

Quote of the I Have A Dream speech that stuck out for me this time: "We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro in Mississippi cannot vote and the Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote."



Slightly disturbing: The first YouTube link for Martin Luther King is for Ron Paul.


Web addresses for more Dr. King speeches: http://www.writespirit.net/inspirational_talks/political/martin_luther_king_talks/

Talib's Genius

So, I'm sitting, working with my internet disconnected listening to Talib Kweli's " Happy Home" featuring Candice Anderson off his MySpace album with Madlib, called Liberation. "Happy Home" is a pretty cool song that tells the story of Kweli's family going back to his grandparents and how his parents met. This is my umpteenth and a gazillionth time listening to this song, and it is pretty high up in my most played I Tunes list. This time, I caught something else in the lyrics "Back in the day it was hard for black actors/ They had to lighten their skin with Max Factor/ But my grandfather Stan wasn't Nothing But a Man,"when discussing his paternal grandfather. I've usually paused on the Max Factor part, in sheer amazement at their hold on the entertainment history in that time period (watch the credits of an I Love Lucy episode) but this time my ears picked up something different. He slipped in the great and oft-forgotten Ivan Dixon movie "Nothing But a Man."
"Nothing But a Man" is a great 1960s movie about black people, directed by and starring the great black actor Ivan Dixon. Admittedly its a little rough, but it was a budget movie in the 60s, what do you want???? Unfortunately Discon became most famous for being an assembly line worker/Sgt. in Hogan's Heroes. However, he was also involved in awesome projects that are Vanity Dark recommended like the movie version of "The Spook Who Sat By The Door" and "A Raisin in the Sun." For a Wiki on Dixon click here and for information on "Nothing But A Man" click here. Get up on that history.

But back to Talib...

So I do a little research. Talib Kweli's last name is Greene and according to IMDB, there is a Stanley Greene in the movie who played quite the prominent role as the Reverend.

This is an exciting find and indeed a great moment in pop culture history. Talib has quite family tree. NYU educated parents, actors, and afros all settled down in Brooklyn. Hot [Thing]. I really appreciate how he wove that bit of pop culture history into the story line. For me, that's genius. It also makes more sense now that Talib was at NYU studying theater (you must hear him joke about him being the one with the education and Mos Def being the one with all the movie roles...lol).



Sigh, I'm too excited about this and not excited enough about the symbiotic yet disadvantageous relationship between social movements and the media.

HAUL,
The Queen