Page 5 - Florida Sentinel 3-8-16 Edition

Editorials
March Forth
The Color Of Money: Reaping The Dividends Of Entrepreneurship
America, What Are You Mad About?
America is mad! All the Republicans and much of the news media say so. In fact, things have gotten so bad that it doesn’t seem to matter what America is actually
mad about. America’s just mad, point-blank. But we’d surely like to know if the focus of our nation’s rage has anything to do with the success or failure of the present Obama Administration. So, we did some research, and this is some of what we discovered about accomplish- ments of the Obama Administration. Fasten your seat- belts.
On his first week in office, President Obama signed an Executive Order requiring an audit of government con- tracts, and combating waste; he later created the post of Chief Performance Officer, to make operations more ef- ficient to save federal government money; froze White House salaries for the duration of the so-called Great Re- cession; appointed the first Federal Chief Information Officer to oversee federal IT spending; phased out unnec- essary and outdated weapons; created the National Com- mission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform; got China’s largest manufacturer (Foxcare) to relocate to America; provided affordable healthcare for all Americans; im- proved the Freedom of Information Act; streamlined the Department of Education; reformed NSA Data Collec- tion, and made more accomplishments for the benefit of America than would fit in ten rooms of the Library of Congress.
So, what’s the problem? America is already great, pow- erful, rich, and successful. But for the past eight years, the well-being of America was in the hands of, not only a Black man, but a Black man who refused to play the role of Steppin’ Fetchit. And as far as we can see, that must be the only reason why America is put-out.
Empowered Greetings
Ladies and gentlemen it’s time to March Forth with unwavering faith, a re- lentless resolve and an even deeper desire than ever be- fore, to seize the success you’ve been longing for. In order to do that, you’re going to have to declare that today is the day and this is the moment that you will begin to take your life from a whisper to a shout, by tak- ing actions toward achiev- ing the things you want in
MARC H. MORIAL
President and CEO National Urban League
“So our people not only have to be reeducated to the importance of supporting black business, but the black man himself has to be made aware of the importance of going into business. And once you and I go into business, we own and operate at least the businesses in our community. What we will be doing is de- veloping a situation wherein we will actually be able to cre- ate employment for the people in the community.” –
Malcolm X,
“The Ballot or the Bullet,”
April 12, 1964
Sarah Breedlove was born to sharecroppers on a plantation in Louisiana. Breedlove — later known to millions as Madam C. J. Walker — died on her beloved four-and-a-half acre estate overlooking the Hudson River in Irvington, NY. At the time of her death, Madam Walker’s estate was worth close to six million in today’s dollars - making her one of the most successful, self-made business women of the twentieth cen- tury. Asked how she got her start, Madam Walker is said to have famously answered, “I got my start by giving myself a start.”
Entrepreneurship is deeply embedded in our American DNA. It can take a woman from the Jim Crow Era cotton plantations of the South to the pinnacle of American business success. And entrepreneur- ship’s benefits extend further than the heart and mind of the
life. I want you to be aggres- sive and MARCH FORTH.
March Forth to our di- vine destiny.
March Forth with suc- cess.
March Forth with knowl- edge and understanding.
March Forth in excel- lence.
March Forth and live the life you’ve dreamed of.
March Forth and build doors where there are walls. March Forth and create opportunity for others in
man or woman possessed with the dream of owning their own business. Entrepreneurship is an inspiration and an opportu- nity that can be shared. It is a driver of the American econ- omy and has the potential to provide new economic oppor- tunity to local—and even dis- tressed—communities.
Nationally, the number of firms owned by people of color is on the rise. According to the latest small business survey conducted by the U. S. Census Bureau, minority-company ownership is up from 5.8 mil- lion in 2007 to eight million in 2012. This includes a 46% in- crease in Hispanic ownership; a 34% rise in the number of African-American owned busi- nesses; an almost 24% increase for Asians; and a 27% increase in firms owned by women. And as the growth in minority-com- pany ownership booms, so do its job numbers. It is esti- mated that minority-owned companies provide seven mil- lion jobs and companies owned by women employ up to eight million workers.
To save our struggling cities, we cannot solely rely on getting jobs. To strengthen our streets we must be on the forefront of creating jobs and economic op- portunities. The National Urban League has created the Entrepreneurship Center, a signature program to foster the growth of minority-owned businesses and offer business owners the resources they need to grow their bottom line.
Through counseling, men- toring and training services, the National Urban League’s Entrepreneurship centers work with owners to develop
our community.
March Forth in abun-
dance.
March Forth and be
super successful.
Listen, when you turn up
the volume on your life, you can tune out all the doubters of your dream. When you turn up your message and market it properly you can turn around your bank account from being overdrawn to over flowing. When you turn up and MARCH FORTH you can turn out!
Let’s stay connected.
Facebook Fan Page: Selphenia Nichols Suc- cess Coach To Women, Facebook Personal Page: Selphenia Nichols, Twitter: @queenofsuccess1 or Instagram: Selphenia.
management skills that will help their businesses obtain fi- nancing that supports job cre- ation and preservation. By improving their strategies, the centers have helped over ten thousand business owners ex- perience increased competi- tiveness and profitability, start their businesses with higher survival rates and break out to new markets and higher growth. To date, the center has helped entrepreneurs create or save close to 1200 jobs and get more than 73 million dollars in new contracts and capital.
As women and people of color continue to create and own record numbers of busi- nesses, the buying power of communities of color contin- ues to grow exponentially. Ac- cording to the latest Multicultural Economy Report from the Selig center, Hispanic buying power leads all groups at 1.3 trillion dollars and Black buying power has seen an 86% increase with their buying power rising to 1.1 trillion dol- lars. Yet, how many of those trillions of dollars stay within our economically disadvan- taged communities?
An NAACP study found that a dollar circulates in Asian communities for 30 days, as opposed to six hours in Black communities. It found that only two cents of every dollar African Americans spend goes to Black-owned businesses. One researcher estimated that if Black consumers spent at least one dollar out of every ten with Black businesses, it could generate one million jobs for African Americans. Minority buying power can do far more than purchase; it can become an investment in stronger, local communities.
Buying Black is more than just a slogan. When you buy Black you help assure Black business growth. And, when you shore up Black business growth, you play your part in helping to revitalize the com- munities where those busi- nesses reside.
TUESDAY, MARCH 8, 2016 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 5
The Great American Question
We’re still trying to figure out why, if Americans are so upset, they are still ready to vote for the same Re- publican majority that caused the 8-year gridlock in
Washington. Furthermore, why are they ready to vote for the same Republicans who watered down the Dodd- Frank Act that would again allow banks and investment firms to take us once again to the brink of economic dis- aster from which President Obama rescued us in 2009?
Moreover, why are angry Americans ready to vote for candidates who are promising to snatch health insur- ance from more than 16 million Americans who are in- sured through the Affordable Healthcare Act (Obamacare) as soon as they take office?
Indeed, if Americans are so angry, why are they ready to return the same Republicans to office that filibustered and successfully killed the 2012 American Jobs Act pro- posed by President Obama? The bills were designed to put Americans back to work, extend unemployment compensation benefits, and reduce the corporate share of unemployment taxes.
These same Republicans championed legislation that encouraged American businesses to move American jobs overseas and stash nearly $20 billion of tax free money in foreign banks. Therefore, it appears that if angry Americans are angry at anybody, they should be angry at Pied-Piper Conservatives whose lies led them skipping and dancing toward catastrophe; either that or they should be angry at the only other person they have to blame: themselves.