The value of the black dollar.

by Staff November 30, 2012 6 Comments Business Money News Opinion Weekly Columns

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(ThyBlackMan.com) “When John Singleton did Boyz-N-the Hood everybody went out to see it. But when John Singleton did Rosewood nobody went to go see it. We vote with our wallets, our pocket books and our time in front of the idiot box”-Spike Lee.

I find it funny how Black folks always talk about how they want to see positive images of us in movies, films, music videos, video games, etc. But when something positive is released a majority of our community doesn’t go out to support it. I can give you all quite a few examples. For one let’s go back to when Denzel Washington starred in “American Gangster” which was a film based on the life of Harlem drug lord Frank Lucas. The opening weekend for that film turned out to be one of the best for Denzel Washington’s career. But a year later when he starred in the “Great Debaters” the film didn’t garner the same opening weekend box numbers that his previous film did.

Now don’t get me wrong he played both parts well in these films. It was because the Black community failed to support it. For example I live in the Bronx and in the Castle Hill section of the Bronx there’s a liquor store on one end of a corner and on the exact same block you have “Juice’s for Life” which is owned by rapper Styles P. Now I ask you why is it that the liquor store is making more money than the juice bar that’s on the end of the exact same block? I’ll give you the answer, it’s because we buy alcohol from the liquor store!

I noticed a few articles written about how BET’s “Don’t Sleep” hosted by T.J. Holmes and how it’s Debra Lee’s fault that Black folks don’t take them serious for the show being on the network which is understandable. I’ve been a huge critic of them for several years based on the shows they’ve put out but I must admit that by adding Don’t Sleep to their lineup does give them a big step in the right direction. Although I disagree with them cutting it to once a week for one hour instead the half an hour show Monday-through Thursdays.

Now I’m going to use the Oklahoma City Thunder as an example for my next point back in 2009 Kevin Durant and OKC were the worst team in the NBA but as years went on they slowly built around the pieces that they had and made the right acquisitions and now their one of the elite teams in the NBA. Now BET can do the same thing with Don’t Sleep and use it as a foundation for what the future of the network could be.

But you see ladies and gentlemen it’s not complicated it’s rather simple as supply and demand or as I like to put it demand and supply. If you keep supporting coonery and buffoonery then that is what you’ll get, so if you want that to change that then grab some money and some friends and family members and boycott ignorance and support intelligence……….

Staff Writer; Shawn Hudson

Feel free to connect with this brother via Facebook; Sha.Dimes.

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Ramses says:
December 2, 2012 at 12:09 pm
For all you black people who think slavery ended…think again
http://www.domesticworkers.org/pdfs/HomeEconomicsEnglishFull.pdf
After four hundred years, this is the best we can do? Black women still letting white children suck milk out here breasts just like in the days of old. I’m 34 years old. I do not watch things on tv and let them influence me in a negative way. Information given through the media is influential. However it depends on what things in the media you are watching. See I’m the type of brother that loves PBS. It’s very informative and it takes me back to those days when I used to watch it as a child. I remember when I was still watching Mr. Rogers in the 8th grade. Lol. My point is when I’m watching science programs and a book, or scientist is recommended or referenced or featured, I look up their material online. When they talk about wormholes, parallel universes, black holes etc. it invokes my curiosity. It taps into my imagination. Now imagine me coming across a black woman in these times being interested in these types of things. You can’t have a conversation with black women on these types o things because a good majority are into the negative things the media presents (Nicki Minaj, Modeling industry, rap videos). How much imagination does it take to be a hoe? None. How many of these same females will sit down and watch ancient aliens? Not a lot. Matter fact let me rephrase it. How many super fine black women will sit down and watch ancient aliens? Miniscule number I’m sure. Women tend to be more adversely affected by things in the media than men, although men are becoming more affected. Black women celebrating a movie like “The Help” is their choice. If they are comfortable being someone’s “help” then that’s who they are. My self-concept came from my father, not what I saw in the media. A lot of these females concept of themselves is from what they see in the media. That’s sad because at the end of the day, the media is Satan. Tempting you with worldly things and corrupting your soul the whole time. Good luck with that
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Terrance Amen says:
December 2, 2012 at 4:33 am
Black people have been so programmed to all the negative aspects about ourselves,that we continue to pass down this type of behavior from generation to generation. A perfect example of this is what we call ourselves. We call ourselves dogs, the n word, the b word, and anything else that’s negative. Until we deal with the mental affects of slavery, we’ll continue to destroy ourselves, instead of build ourselves up. No one is stopping the Black community, but the Black community.
Black Unity means financial independence and happiness
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Deeann D. Mathews says:
December 2, 2012 at 2:10 am
I read this and I thank God for parents that refused to get cable and refused to put a TV in my room (before I was born, and so I did not know what I had been spared until much later) instead hand-picked lots and lots and lots of good books for me to read. It has gotten so bad in terms of what’s available on TV and in the movies that I think we are going to have to do the same kinds of things for all our children and ourselves… limit the time in front of the idiot box (or, throw it out) and learn the value of building intelligence by reading serious-minded books.
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Von says:
December 1, 2012 at 8:55 pm
“Brothers have become so weak and brow-beaten by their women.” Thanks for sharing that info bruh, I had no idea it was the fault of the black woman entirely for the short comings of the black man. I guess you’ve got to place the blame on someone.
And now speaking of the black dollar…do we know the power we can harness if we learn to use capital correctly? No. The majority of us buy into the illusion of emulating the moneyed class to give the impression that we’ve achieved wealth.
Much of our money doesn’t stay in our communities anyway and those who possess a few dollars really aren’t doing much with what they’ve accumulated to create more opportunities for other’s, other than themselves. From now on I’m contributing to my own bottom line.
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Ramses says:
December 1, 2012 at 9:01 am
no doubt at mack…black women celebrating the time when they were servants….how rich….this victimhood mentality blacks exhibit is nauseating…it’s always what someone is doing to “us” but it’s never what we’re not doing….blacks can’t get their own tv shows? start their own networks? it’s ridiculous….never seen a group of people with the rich legacy blacks have squander it the way they do….and yet always want someone to do something for themselves…I stopped watching BET in 2002…I’m surprised blacks still watch this crap…wait no i’m not….blacks love stuff centered around sex, violence,coonery, ignorance. I see females who imitate the very garbage I see on tv everyday…see the same from ball tucking dudes….if the children are the future then blacks future ;looks real bleak right now….these fools are hopeless….once the media has your mind then you’re primed to be manipulated to do anything they want you to
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Mack says:
December 1, 2012 at 2:24 am
I agree with this article. We show by our dollar support that we love foolishness and buffoonery above real life dynamics that lead to positive change thats good for ALL; not just black women.
I remember debating with several sisters over the movie ‘The Help’. I was dead set against the movie even before I saw it. To be honest, even the poster offended me. I already knew where it was going. But for the life of me, I couldn’t understand why black WOMEN would support such a film, under the guise of it being historical in content. Same thing when Precious was released. Those movies had more stereotypes in them than Birth of a Nation and Gone With The Wind combined…but again, sisters made it a massive success.
Great Debaters on the other hand went to DVD so fast, I don’t think it lasted in theaters for 2 weeks.
Tyler Perry catches a lot of flack for his films. Everyone talks bad about the brother for the so-called coonery that takes place in his films. But of all his films to date, the one that didn’t do so well at the box office was the one that showed a black man doing everything he could to be there for his 3 daughters: Daddy’s Little Girls. Now sisters complain all the time about how much brothers need to step up and be men; but didn’t show support for a film that had the ability to become a powerful force for change within black America.
This one isn’t all on the ladies though. I fault a lot of these suck-up, kiss-ass black men out here too. What’s wrong with telling your lady: ‘No, I’m not going to see that cooning crap with you, and neither are my kids?’ Brothers have become so weak and brow-beaten by their women, their “testi” have begun to recede into their lower abdominal cavity…And it won’t be long until they have “ovi” instead.
Good article bruh.
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