Vision Circle

Thinking about black markets

I've been trying to wrap my thoughts around the idea that politics is marketing by other means. Around a paradigm in which we don't elect representatives so much as hire them (Bush as CEO). I can't roll with it for a number of substantive reasons, but at the same time there is something very appealing in moving the focus of black politics towards market oriented activity. My father says over and over again that if black people want to build economic power there is tons of money to be made in black spaces like Detroit. As these communities are largely underserved, this strategy makes a great deal of sense, and has single handedly propelled Magic from a million dollar man to a 700 million dollar man.

One of the benefits here is that such a strategy only requires "black consciousness" to the degree that the individuals are actually AWARE of black people. Understand the difference?

And this model is easily portable. I know both Covington and Sudarkasa from my years at Michigan. When Cobb is talking about the new black critical mass, these are the folk he's talking about.