Protest with Your Black Dollars
Protest with Your Black Dollars. As the black lives matter protest became a national issue, crying for the humane treatment of African Americans by the police. We as protestors should also remember to protest with our dollars, in a capitalist system cash is king. It’s time for us as black people to start spending our money wisely and with deserving businesses. African Americans spend $1.2 trillion annually, its time we mobilize our dollars and start protesting by not supporting companies that align with our interests.
We can start by taking a look at companies that support Donald Trump’s reelection dreams. There is a lot of prominent businesses supporting Donald Trump’s campaign and we should send a strong message letting them know we will not support any company that will support a president that is unfit to lead.
Take for example Home Depot, the company that has contributed $7 million to Donald Trump’s campaign, while Lowe’s its competitor contributed $25 million in grants to help minority businesses reopen. This should make it clear where the black dollar should be spent. However, this is not just about the black dollar, I would suggest that all races and groups participating in this capitalist system spend their dollars morally. We can impact businesses’ policy simply by supporting or not supporting them and we should ensure that we do.
We are entering a phase of capitalism where corporations are becoming more powerful than government worldwide. Companies like Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Facebook, Twitter, and more have the power and influence to affect millions of lives worldwide. Therefore, it’s our responsibility to keep these companies in check.
I hope that my black brothers and sisters become more political and business savvy, protesting is good but we must learn to play the games of the rich and the powerful. We should start spending our money within our communities, supporting black business and media. The black dollar is very powerful, especially in certain sectors, we should organize it and use it as leverage to push for agendas that benefit the black community as a whole.
The image below showcases the power of the black dollar in certain industries:
Image Source: (nielsen.com) (Yaad Finance)
