By Shawn Robinson, founder of the Bay Area Black Community
SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, Calif.(BlackNews.com) – Throughout the United States, even in the big cities, the media is rife with reports on how the economy is declining. Individuals are losing their homes, jobs and relationships due to the lack of money. A lot of people are desperate for change and want extra money. This is how the concept behind The bay Area Black Community came into being.
Brains behind the Project
I am a Black man living in Oakland, California within the Bay Area that was touched by the plight of Black people living in the United States in terms of unemployment, layoffs and the general decline of living standards due to the economic decline.
So, I conceived the idea of bringing people together to combine resources so as to improve community living. To this end, I am planning to hold several Black Town Hall meetings, the first of which is during Black History Month on Feb. 28, at Williams Chapel Baptist Church in Oakland, California.
The aim of this organization is to create awareness and build a strong network within the community and to also rally support for a membership service and system of which has been created from scratch!
Challenges Faced by the Black Community
Africans in America go through appalling conditions such as lowest quantity of riches, highest rate of unemployment, lowest income, highest rate of crime, and the quickest rate of death. Sociologists attribute these conditions as a result of insufficient economic development.
The Predicament
Distribution of wealth is not equal
Wealth is the money one receives from property ownership such as stocks, bonds, real estate or business. It is money that is continuously available to you so long as you are the owner of the property.
On the other hand, when you sell your labor, you earn an income. The problem with income is that if you are not working, you do not receive any money. Black Americans have a lot of income (around $1 trillion dollars) a year in minimal wealth.
The gap for wealth is becoming wider between white society and Black America. Studies show that in 2001, African Americans made up 13 percent of the population. However, they were the owners of only 3 percent, (inclusive of home equity) of the average family wealth. This translates to $121,000 for white homes and $19,000 for Black households.
Accumulation of wealth is important as it determines the social acceptance of an ethnic group, equal justice, good health care, individual comfort and the life span and quality of the lives they lead.
IBP (Inappropriate Behavior Patterns)
Unequal Wealth Distribution is not entirely to blame for the low economic status of Black America and the resultant life quality. Another big cause of this is referred to as IBP patterns. IBP refers to acts which Blacks carry out that are deemed inappropriate. This is a result of the social training of slavery.
Examples of IBP which is destructive are:
* Community Division
* Clashes with competition
* Looking for whites approval
* Work attitude
* Attitude on Material Items
Community Division
The inappropriate behavior which is most destructive which African Americans go through is community division. This stems from slavery which discouraged any efforts at unity.
The slave makers were aware that communities which were not united would be easy to continue controlling. Community Division is still rampant in today’s Black Community.
The major aim of the project for The Bay Area Black Community is to unite Blacks so as to better their everyday lives.
What is the Solution?
Some Black Americans might opt to look for an additional job so as to combat the above mentioned issues. However, this can prove difficult due to the decline in the number of jobs.
The initiative for The Bay Area Black Community is a vision of ensuring that Blacks start making money today to ensure a better future for them tomorrow. This will prevent more suffering long-term and raise a generation of Black people that will be competitive, socially and financially with the other ethnic groups within the Bay Area and some day nationwide!
For more information about Shawn Robinson and The Bay Area Black Community, visit www.bayareablack.org.
