Sustainability by Thomas Sheffield
A racist is insane. The late Toni Morrison said in an interview when asked how she felt about racism, she said it feels insane and it is insane. So we need to stop paying attention to insanity until they get therapy. We are wasting our time dealing with racist like our president as he says insane things. We spend too much of our time fighting with racists and need to spend more of our time on self improvement and lifelong learning. We need to spend our time building businesses and respond to them by taking their money and businesses through competition.
How can we do this? It will not be easy and it will take time. There is no magic pill, no magical legislation, and no presidential candidate that will allow us to overcome racism. The insane racist have been here for the past 400 years and will continue to be here long after we are gone. The insanity will have to be ignored as we continue to lift up one another, as we continue to add value to our communities through education and as we continue to create better ways of living.
As mentioned last week, African Americans make up 14% of the population (47 million) and make up $1.3 trillion annual economy. This is enough to be the 15th largest global economy in the world. We are an awesome and powerful people. But we have been divided and conquered. When you look at other ethnic groups, you will find a great support system. Our brothers and sisters in the Jewish community always support one another, our brothers and sisters in the Asian and Latino community always support one another. Meanwhile, the people in the African American community continue to be threatened, jealous or untrusting of one another. We must work on mending the fences that were torn down for us. Had Africans come to this country voluntarily and were allowed to keep their cultural heritage like other ethnic groups, then a feeling of trust and connection would have enabled the people from African decent to thrive and be successful in this nation.
African Americans should therefore commit to working together. We should commit to supporting one another. We should commit to supporting newspapers like this one, banks, stores, HBCUs and shops to ensure the success of our community. This is sustainable. This will allow money we have to remain in our communities and make them stronger.
Oh yes, school has started, and parties and parades will begin. This gives us a wonderful time to network with one another. Look at these gatherings as a chance to learn about the goods and services you need to support. According to George Fraser, “Networking is the identification and building of relationships for the purpose of sharing information, opportunities and resources”. There is no better way to beat the insanity of racism than for us to all beat it together. When we network and work together and drive upward mobility for our people, we all win.
If you feel the need to learn more, feel free to contact me directly at thomsustainableconsulting@gmail.com or follow me on Twitter @tcsheff.