Confession: I build Black

This post is inspired by my friends over at We Build Black and Black to Business. They proudly make it known in their names and work that they exist for the betterment of the black community. 

I have a confession to make….

For the longest time, I was scared to publicly state that my work was for black people. I would use labels such as “underrepresented,  underserved, minority, people of color and women” but in all honesty what I wanted to say was “this is built for the black folks but everyone is welcomed”.  I have friends and colleagues from various different cultures and backgrounds. I knew that I would never turn anyone away, but my subconscious knew how society looked at pro-black organizations. But in the depths of my mind, I feared that if I proudly stood in my blackness and support of blackness then that would mean I wasn’t supportive of other races. It pains me to even confess this because I know better. I have studied enough of history and culture for years but yet I am still held back by these societal restraints. 

What makes it worse is that a handful of very successful people both black and nonblack have even told me to avoid making my niche black people because: 

“They don’t have disposable income.”

“They don’t take things seriously.”

“They don’t have sustainable ideas.”

Most people couldn’t even understand why I wanted to target black people. Well, let me break it down. By 2050, the net worth of the average black person will be below zero. Black people make up a large percent of the bottom line/customer service industry, and that industry will be gone by 2050 (you may thank Amazon). So where does that leave us? Broke and unemployed. What do broke and unemployed people do? Make poor choices. From drugs to crime, more black people will be incarcerated, and that 1 in 3 chance of being arrested will become 1 in 2 or 1 in 1. 

I have a black son, daughter, husband, parents, cousins, etc. We’re all black. So these statistics are us and I refuse to let that be us. Right now the black community is struggling the most, and this is my community. Once my community is good, then I can have products and services that focus on a niche that is not embedded in the color of someone’s skin. But until then, this is the fight that I need to fight. I was chosen to fight. So while some are called to make scooters, explore space, create social networks, luxury technology, I am called to truly free my people.

P. S. I discriminate against no one. Anyone can participate in my programs. Just know that these were built with the black community at the top of the mind.