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    brin backBlack

    lets Do ItBaba Lawrence March 25, 2010

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    Dallas, Texas 469-583-3275 [email protected]

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    Bring Back Black . . .Lets Do It!

    RATIONALE FOR THIS DISCUSSION

    This paper was written for two reasons:

    1) To strengthen future solutions for Blacks in America2) To suggest a practical approach to overcoming Black Americas challenges

    After listening to dozens of solutions for Africans in America, from conscious

    brothers and sisters, something continues to work my nerves. Many of the

    illustrious speakers dont understand the logic involved in problem-solving. Why do

    you say that Baba Lawrence? I say that because time after time we hear:

    Solutions presented without agreement on the source of the problem

    Facts established that are irrelevant to the argument

    Solutions touted without a practical implementation plan

    Afrocentric proposals formulated from Eurocentric thought

    We wont mention any names; however lets say this, those who espouse answers for

    Africans in America please remember the following,. . . . . enduring solutions must be

    crystal clear and clarity comes from an age-old four step process:

    1) Definition of the Problem leads to2) Definition of the Cause leads to

    3) Definition of the Solution leads to

    4) Definition of the Implementation method

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    If we keep in mind that each step comes from its predecessor, we may derive

    logically sound solutions.

    The second reason for this discussion is to suggest a workable, race first approachto overcoming Black Americas challenges. Moreover, the suggested approachillustrates use of the four step process.

    THE PROBLEM

    Originally, Black people were brought here to

    work. We worked on the plantations and in the

    factories. With population increase, European

    dominance, influx of immigrants, off- shoring of

    jobs, corporation shutdowns and the high-tech

    revolution, today there is little need for Black

    labor.

    Small business is fast becoming the basis of the

    US economy. Corporate jobs are leaving America.

    According to a recent study released by

    Nationwide Financial (NYSE: NFS), 73 percent of

    African-American males say they were driven into retirement by factors beyondtheir control, compared to 33 percent of the general population.

    Other ethnic groups are well represented in number and business receipts. Theyve

    built self-sustaining economies that mostly employ only members of their own

    group. On the other hand, Black business receipts, employment and wealth

    accumulation are relatively small.

    This situation begs the question, if other ethnic groups control most small

    businesses, and they hire their own, with African American businesses being

    capacity-limited, where will our children work? Moreover, how will we handle the

    racism stemming from others genetic insecurity? How will we deal with the

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    Western worlds non-white depopulation plans? Make no mistake; Black Americas

    survival is at stake!

    Other Harsh Realities

    Furthermore, African Americans face even more harsh realities [1]

    Black median income is $32,000/year versus White median income of

    $45,000/year.

    Black per capita wealth is $10,000/year versus White per capita wealth

    of $55,000/year.

    America has lost three million middle class, health insurance paying,

    manufacturing jobs. This has had the greatest impact on African Americansdue to last hired-first fired discrimination. In addition, African Americans

    are least able educationally to compete in this high technology economy.

    New York lost 520,000, Chicago 326,000, Philadelphia 160,000, and Detroit

    108,000.

    These jobs cannot be replaced with lower class jobs that do not pay health

    insurance. Seventy-five percent of new economy jobs are in the service

    sector which includes security, health aides, waitressing, janitorial, and

    cashiering. Only 6 percent of White adults are unemployed, but 12 percent of African

    American adults are unemployed. Only 15 percent of White youth are

    unemployed, but 37 percent of African American youth are unemployed.

    Forty percent of Black makes ages 16 65 are unemployed.

    Twenty percent of African American adults and 50 percent of African

    American children live below the poverty line. Forty percent of the

    homeless are African Americans.

    The Centers for Disease Controls National Center for Health Statistics in a

    report entitled Cohabitation, Marriage, Divorce and Remarriage in the

    United States, showed that Black women are facing a crisis in their

    relationships with Black men.

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    According to this study, when compared to other races, Black women are:

    least likely to marry, least likely to marry a long-term cohabiting partner,

    most likely to have their marriages end in separation or divorce, most likely

    to remain separated or divorced, least likely to remarry, most likely to see

    their second marriages end.

    The divorce rate in Black America is 66 percent.

    Only 32% of African American children have fathers in the home.

    African Americans constitute 12 percent of the population, but African

    American males account for 43 percent of HIV cases; and African American

    women account for 64 percent.

    In 14 of 16 health categories diabetes, hypertension, heart disease,

    stroke, cancer, infant mortality, etc. African Americans sufferersoutnumber Whites.

    THE CAUSE

    Slavery Conditioning

    Our glorious (Kamitic) ancestors told us that the unseen controls the seen, the mind

    controls the body and the roots control the fruits, or lack of them. If we apply

    that nugget of wisdom, any efforts to find the cause of our woes must firstexamine its roots.

    Astute Black commentators such as;

    Naim Akbar, Dr. Claud Anderson, and

    Anthony Browder say that our psyche is

    the root of our problems. They say we

    dont recognize each other as being

    members of the same group. As a result,

    we suffer from seeing ourselves as many

    different things (community division), i.e.

    grassroots, establishment, college

    trained, non-college trained, pimp, thug,

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    Greek, non-Greek, democrat, republican, Christian or Muslim and so on, you know

    the labels.

    Community Divisionkeeps us divided and unable to perform in a sustainable manner.

    This situation begs a second question, Why cant Black people come together?Other groups (Asians, Hispanics, and Whites) come together whenever necessary.

    Did you see the unity in the Hispanic Immigrant Rights Rallyearlier this year? If

    Black folks deal with our psyche, we can do the same. In that light, heres another

    nugget: Slavery Conditioning is what threw off our psyche and created

    community division.

    Slavery Conditioning was the process that slave masters used to psychologically

    make a better slave. In his book The Peculiar Institution, author Kenneth Stamppdescribes the four pillars of conditioning a slave; fear, loyalty, inferiority, and

    hatred.

    When making a slave the first thing you do is to instill fear. Second, you teach the

    slave to have loyalty only to his master. Thirdly, you teach them to feel inferior by

    always showing Whites in a position of authority. Lastly, you teach them to hate

    anything connected to Africa.

    The methods used to socially engineer Black people were horrific and showed thevicious nature of the enslaver and the enslavement process. One example, cited

    from the Cardinal Principles for Making a Negro, the writer says:

    Take the meanest and most restless nigger, strip him of his clothes in front of the

    . . . [slaves], tar and feather him, tie each leg to a different horse faced in opposite

    directions, set him afire and beat both horses to pull him apart in front of the

    remaining nigger(s). The next step is to take a bull whip and beat the remaining

    niggers to the point of death in front of the female and infant. Dont kill him butput the fear of God in him, for he can be useful in future breeding.

    From Lets Make a Slave, byRobert L. Brock

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    Norman Coombs in, The Black Experience in America, p. 40 wrote:

    The social conditioning process instilled strict discipline in Blacks, a sense of

    inferiority, belief in the slave owners superior power, acceptance of the slave

    owners standards and a deep sense of a slave helplessness and dependence.

    The slave owners cut Blacks off from their history, culture, language and

    community, and implanted White societys value system.

    C. Clark in a monumental 1972 article for Black Psychologyentitled, Black Studies

    or the Study of Black People in R. Jones, states:

    In order to fully grasp the magnitude of our current problems, we must reopen the

    books on the events of slavery. Our objective should not be to cry stale tears for

    the past, or to rekindle old hatreds for past injustices. Instead, we should seek to

    enlighten our path of today by better understanding where and how the lights were

    turned out yesterday.

    We should also understand that slavery should be viewed as a starting point for

    understanding the African American psyche, and not as an end point. Therefore,

    the study of the African American psyche should include psycho-history, but it

    should not be exclusively concerned with events in the past.

    In Survival Strategies for Africans in America, p.33, Anthony Browder submits:

    African Americans must never forget that our ancestors were compelled by the

    letter of the law and the force of the whip, to accept the ideals and beliefs

    imposed on them by their so-called masters. They were forbidden from expressing

    their own thoughts and perceptions of the world and were forced to accept the

    beliefs and behaviors deemed appropriate for them.

    These steps were taken to ensure the continuation of slavery from one generation

    to the next. Such social engineering manufactured culturally deficient clones,

    generation after generation, over the last four centuries. Each successive

    generation was infected from the time of inception with an ingrained cultural virus

    that was designed to prevent them from reaching their fullest potential.

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    In Black Labor White Wealth, p.165, Dr. Claud Anderson points out:

    The slave owners absolute power over Blacks allowed them tooperate an efficient

    and effective slavery conditioning system. Slaveholders constructed internalcontrols on slaves that minimized the external force needed to control them. The

    government provided the environment of legal framework that allowed the

    conditioning process to exist for 250 years . . .

    The effects carried over into freed Black society and affected the general

    behavior of Blacks as a race of people.

    Jawanza Kunjufu, in his powerful book, Solutions for Black America, p.145 says:

    Affluent Whites who are valued in America and who have experienced trauma are

    given treatment immediately. When they have been in stressful eventsColumbine,

    Kentucky, Oregon the government sent counselors immediately to address the

    survivors needs. The fundamental problem for African Americans is that when

    slavery ended in 1865, African Americans were not given counseling to address

    post-traumatic slavery disorder.

    Left untreated this post-traumatic slavery disorder amounts to Slavery

    Conditioning (lost consciousness). Slavery Conditioning empties the mind ofindigenous culture and replaces it with an alien culture. This loss of consciousness

    and re-programming procedure forms the belief systems for what Dr. Claud

    Anderson calls Inappropriate Behavior Patterns(IBP).

    IBP refers to actions that result when Black folk participate in their own

    subordination or exploitation, i.e. Community Division, Attitude Towards the Family,

    Collusion with the Competition, Seeking the Approval of Whites, White Ice is

    Colder, Attitude Towards Work, and Attitude Towards Material Objects.

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    Converting Income

    Wealth also comes from converting active income (income from selling your labor)

    to passive income (income from the ownership of property - businesses, churches,

    communities, education systems, bonds, land, insurance policies, trust accounts andfoundations).

    Although Black active income is high, as evidenced by abundant consumer dollars,

    issues of financial literacy and immediate gratification obstruct its translation into

    passive dollars and therefore negate wealth creation.

    THE SOLUTION

    Overcoming Slavery Conditioning Maafa Healing

    As human beings, our limitations rest only in our ignorance. We are ignorant of whowe are and what we can do. We have the need to gain consciousness (awareness) and

    only in consciousness is our true human capacity open to us.

    Dr. Na`im Akbar

    Breaking the Chains of Psychological Slavery

    Maafa is the Swahili word for holocaust. Maafa Healing (MH) is a system of post-

    traumatic therapy that yields African-centered consciousness by eliminating the

    negative psychological residue lingering from the middle passage, slavery, Black

    Codes, Jim Crow, sharecropping and institutionalized racism.

    MH is designed to transform consciousness from European-centeredness to

    African-centeredness, Caucasoid to Africanoid, from non-melaninated to melanated.

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    This change will leave behind Slavery Conditioned, self-destructive, Eurocentric

    based, Inappropriate Behavior Patternsand replace them with an African-centered

    awareness.

    In Survival Strategies: For Africans in America,p. xvii, Browder states:

    Freedom of the mind is our primary objective because once it is achieved it makes

    other goals readily identifiable and therefore, easily attainable. The mind is the

    conduit through which a person can access spiritual consciousness. If the mind is

    constrained and filled with thought of negativity and inferiority, it is incapable of

    tuning in spiritually empowering thoughts.

    A self-constrained mind is programmed to engage in self-destructive behavior thatis often injurious to the body. To paraphrase a frequently used statement in the

    African American community, If you free your mind, your behind will follow.

    The Role of Heru

    According to our Kemetic ancestors, Heru

    represents the principle of mans Will. Man has beengiven free Will so that her consciousness can

    transcend any social conditioning.

    The Will is often confused with our

    conditioned-driven desires (likes/dislikes). Lets

    make it clear. If an action has conditioning or likes or

    dislikes attached to it, it, its a desire. To qualify as a willed (free) act an action

    must be free of all conditionings, likes, or dislikes. In order to truly act in ourbest interest our Will must be free from desire (social conditioning) and

    grounded in the Will (free action).

    http://inappropriate%20behavior%20patterns2.doc/http://inappropriate%20behavior%20patterns2.doc/http://inappropriate%20behavior%20patterns2.doc/
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    MH allows us to see that our desires are not who we are but instead who we learned

    to be. We can see that we are not the recording but the recorder. We are not

    the content in the glass but the glass itself. We are not the software but the

    hardware. Furthermore, MH enables Black folk to feel a new Group Orientation

    that brings with it: common values, selflessness, trust and unity - the virtues thatrepresent Maat.

    Without Maafa Healing, African Americans remain unconscious. We exist

    perpetually cursed by Slavery Conditioning, Inappropriate Behavior Patterns, drama

    and seeking unidentifiable, unattainable goals.

    Furthermore, an unconscious mind leaves us unable to tune into our melanin-driven,

    spiritually empowering thoughts. MH produces a free and healthy African-Centeredconsciousness that allows us to blend with our melanin and tune in to the light and

    sound vibrations of the Universe. (Higher spiritual consciousness)

    Maafa Healingwas developed by a team of concerned Black folk in association with

    psychologists from Howard University. MH uses a set of awareness, understanding,

    disassociation, declarations and exercise techniques to remove the self destructive

    influences (fear, Black inferiority, White superiority, hatred of Africa) of Slavery

    Conditioning.

    Maafa Healingstrives to kill the European-created Negro. It acts to transform an

    alien controlled consciousness to free will (Heru). It does this by removing negative

    thoughts and amplifying positive ones. The core idea is what you saw, heard, or

    observed at an early age prescribes your perception of the world. Therefore, by

    changing your early age inputs you can change your attitudes and actions.

    For those who are ready, now is the time to break loose from thinking like those

    who have enslaved us. Now is the time to awake your consciousness and surpass thealien conditioning that has held us back for so long.

    Overcoming Lack of Black Wealth

    http://a%20new%20group%20orientation.doc/http://we%20got%20melanin.doc/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregory_Batesonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axiomshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beliefhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beliefhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axiomshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregory_Batesonhttp://we%20got%20melanin.doc/http://a%20new%20group%20orientation.doc/
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    We must redistribute the wealth and natural resources of this country or Black

    people will continue to be slaves.

    Dr. Claude Anderson

    In order to create wealth, one must first own and control natural, processed orhuman capital resources:

    1.) Natural (land, water, precious minerals, and metals)

    2.) Processed (machinery, factories, consumer items, public improvements)

    3.) Human capital (skilled, literate, labor force)

    Of the options available, control of human capital is the most practical for most

    Black Americans. From astute management of human capital, business ownership is ameans to manifest wealth. Although risky, business ownership can redistribute

    wealth many times faster than real estate, or stocks and bonds.

    According to noted economic experts: Claud Anderson, James Clingman, Ken

    Bridges, Al Wellington (Co-founders of the MATAH Network) converting dollars to

    business ownership in Black communities is the key to Black wealth. No one can do

    this for African Americans; we must do it for ourselves.

    We must control what resources we can to produce wealth for Black people. Themajority of African-Americans control no significant resources - we have jobs.

    There is no wealth potential in a job. It is the owner and producer of the job who

    has the wealth potential.

    The masses of Black Americans are also grassroots, underemployed, unemployed

    and/or income challenged. Unlike the Black establishment class, they were not

    trained in college; they are not familiar with the accounting, marketing and

    operational skills of business. Therefore, technical assistance is needed.

    Lets Grow Our Own Entrepreneurs

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    One way to provide technical assistance for business

    ownership is to establish inner city entrepreneurship

    schools that produce our own entrepreneurs. These

    schools teach the essentials to operating a business

    (marketing, accounting, and technical skills) tograssroot masses so they can become business owners.

    *Note: This prescribed entrepreneurship school model is

    based on the highly successful Streets University program

    in Dallas, Texas. For more information contact Baba

    Lawrence,[email protected] call 469-583-3275

    or visit the website at http://www.inside-secrets-for-

    black-business-development.com

    The entrepreneurship schools focus is to seed the community with businesses that

    exchange goods and

    services needed by the

    community. Next, these

    businesses ethno

    aggregate and vertically

    integrate to increase their

    collective

    competitiveness. No more

    rugged individualism (Make

    as much profit as

    possible for my business). Other features of our entrepreneurship school include

    lessons on avoiding pitfalls unique to Black business owners, virtual incubator e-commerce businesses, purchasing portal operation and follow-on finance, business

    coaching and professional services.

    mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.inside-secrets-for-black-business-development.com/http://www.inside-secrets-for-black-business-development.com/http://www.inside-secrets-for-black-business-development.com/http://www.inside-secrets-for-black-business-development.com/mailto:[email protected]
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    Entrepreneurship schoolshelp economically revitalize our inner-city communities by

    establishing hundreds of consolidated businesses per year. Revitalization occurs

    from the synergy between community, smart technology implementation,

    cooperating businesses and secured inner-city markets.

    The Inner City Purchasing Portal (ICPP)

    The ICCP operates as a hub for purchasers of goods and services, suppliers of

    goods and services, economic revitalization agencies and employment service

    providers.

    The purpose of the ICPP is to provide the opportunity for businesses, government

    and Non-Government Organizations to blend economic and social return in their

    every day goods and services procurement.

    The idea for the ICPP is based on the very successful Social Purchasing Portal in

    Canada (see http://www.sppcanada.org/). This concept provides a practical

    approach to our vision of wealth accumulation in economically distressed inner city

    areas. Another effect of the ICPP is that it transforms the employment

    development process from supply-based (where the focus is solely on training for

    employment) to employer-demand where the focus is on creating employment

    opportunities for long-term unemployed and hard-to-employ persons.

    The ICPP connects corporate purchasers

    (buyers) and inner city suppliers (sellers)

    seeking to leverage their transactions for

    economic and social value. Consumer, non-

    government, and government buyers use

    the portal to buy basic goods and services

    (janitorial, catering, courier, office

    supplies, etc.) from inner city sellers who

    have agreed to create job opportunities for

    the inner city hard to employ.

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    The objective of Inner City Purchasing Portal activity is to generate more buying

    from the participating inner city sellers. From the increasing business activity, the

    sellers business grows, ultimately creating demand for more employees. The

    purchases directed to businesses located in the inner city bring new wealth into the

    area, and the demand for new employees creates opportunities for local residentsto enter the work force.

    IMPLEMENTATION

    The Solution outlined above can be implemented on the Internet via a network of

    web-based portals. Each node portal can address Maafa Healing and wealth

    accumulation. A central informational website can facilitate node portals in urban

    areas such as, New York, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Chicago, LosAngeles, Houston, Dallas, etc. Each portal shares overall purpose, common branding

    and services and use a single national database.

    Based on locally-identified needs, each urban area will develop and operate their

    own portal.

    Maafa Healing

    Maafa Healing can be implemented via an online learning sessions.

    Stages of Maafa Healing Implementation

    1) Introduction and Interest to Move Forward With Maafa Healing

    Gain the interest from community leaders and service providers who concur

    on the need to raise local Black consciousness

    Gain commitments from organizations businesses, , private sector leaders,and potential funding sources which will help Maafa Healing evolve.

    Identify the lead individuals that will provide design, development and

    organization [This is usually the convener of this first step.]

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    2) Procuring Funding For Prototype Development And Web Programming-There Are

    Two Funding Needs:

    1. Procure funds for staff time for initial prototype development, meetings,

    planning sessions, and consultation from Howard University professors.Prototype development is currently done in kind by KMT United staff, Dallas.

    However approximately $5,000 to $10,000 is accurate funding depending

    upon travel costs and number of visits averages. Local staff time at this

    stage is usually in-kind from personnel interested in facilitating an expanded

    African-centered consciousness in inner city communities.

    2. The start up costs for Maafa Healing prototype development varies from

    $3,500 to $6,000 depending upon the extent of functionality.

    3) Prototype Completion and Launch

    After the MH prototype is completed and other technical issues addressed, it

    takes Phatboy Media about 3-4 weeks to implement. A launch is the public release

    of Maafa Healing on the web. Since the system initially involves just a few

    concerned individuals at the time, it is not necessarily a major event. Some may hold

    a press conference around the launch, generating good exposure for the site.

    Others may include the launch within a series of other events around inner city

    business week. Still others may include the launch as part of a larger organizationaldevelopment process.

    4) Initial Market Engagement

    The success of the Maafa Healing is dependent upon, offline advertising and other

    Internet marketing techniques.

    5) Design, development and refinement - The final stage of the Maafa Healing is:

    The on-going refinement of the system

    Expand the participation and engagement of visitors as a core staff activity.

    The greater the traffic the closer we come to raising African American

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    consciousness to critical mass. This requires marketing, sales, and

    relationship maintenance.

    Supporting and enhancing the relationships with visitors keeps the energy of

    the site going. This includes search engine optimization, bulk emails,

    publishing articles, online consciousness newsletter, and conducting

    consciousness raising programs for the community.

    Wealth Accumulation

    Stages of Entrepreneurship School Implementation

    1) Conceive SU

    2) Recruit partners3) Funding applications submitted

    4) Funding received5) Administrative Assistant hired6) Recruit staff

    7) Confirm Partnerships

    8) Develop marketing materials

    9) Secure venue

    10)Promote SU

    11)Conduct Streets Universitycurriculum

    12)Hold awards banquet

    13)Hire web developers

    14)Gather e commerce requirements

    15)Recruit Business Coaches, and Service providers

    16)Design, develop, implement e commerce websites

    17)Beta test e commerce incubator

    18)Launch SU e-commerce incubator

    19)Hold SU press conference

    Stages of ICCP Implementation

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    1) Introduction And Interest To Move Forward With Local ICPP

    Gain the interest from community leaders and service providers who concur

    on the local added socialvalue concept

    Gain commitments from initial businesses, organizations, private sectorleaders, and potential funding sources which will help evolve the ICPP.

    Identify the local lead organization that will provide site leadership,

    maintenance and organization [This is usually the convener of this first

    step.]

    2) Procuring Funding For Site Development And Operation-There Are Three

    Funding Needs:

    1.

    Funds for staff time for initial local meetings and planning sessions andconsultation from existing ICPP sites. Consultation is currently provided

    without cost by ICPP Dallas, but averages around $5,000 to $10,000

    depending upon travel costs and number of visits. Local staff time at this

    stage is usually in-kind from a local group interested in investigating the

    potential of an ICPP site in their inner city community.

    2. The start up costs for site development varies from $3,500 to $6,000

    depending upon the extent of changes in the existing site template and

    added database functions and fields.

    3. The on-going cost is approximately $75,000 per year to cover the expenses

    of one person to manage and promote the site, as well as office and

    marketing expenses.

    Funding sources vary from inner city community to inner city community. In the

    Canadian model sites have received funding from foundations (BC Technology

    Social Venture Partners, Be a Light Foundation, Community Economic

    Development Technical Assistance Program and the Vancouver Foundation),

    United Way, private sector partners (Van City Credit Union, Coast Capital

    Credit Union), and government (Western Economic Development Canada,

    Province of Manitoba, Vancouver Agreement).

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    3) Site Development and Launch

    Each local site requires the localization and adaptation of general content and seller

    search criteria. A content template for the ICPP site exists, so most of this is a

    general editing of each page's content and preparing information on the local siteobjectives.

    After the content is prepared and the other technical issues addressed, it takes

    Phatboy Media about 3-4 weeks to build the site. The initial portal ICPP Dallas

    works with each local site through this process and provides training on the

    database management system.

    The launch is the public release of the site to the web. Since the sites initiallyinvolve just a few partners at the time of the launch, it is not necessarily a major

    event. Some may hold a press conference around the launch, garnering good

    exposure for the site. Others may include the launch within a series of other

    events around small business week.

    Still others may include the launch as part of a larger organizational development

    process.

    4) Initial Business And Community Engagement

    The success of the local ICPP is dependent upon the initial business and inner city

    community engagement. In the first three Canadian site developments, there was

    clear evidence of the importance of commitment by an initial group of businesses,

    both buyers and sellers. The higher the profile of this first wave of participants

    the better the start.

    In Vancouver, the early support of key IT industry leaders set the tone for furtherbusiness interest and engagement. In Calgary, the early engagement of the United

    Way and Downtown Foundation led to funding to support their site development.

    The number of businesses, buyers and suppliers is not as critical as the scope of

    their profile and the breadth of available goods and services.

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    Dallas, Texas 469-583-3275 [email protected]

    5) Maintenance, growth and sustaining - The final stage of the process is:

    The on-going maintenance of the site content and management of the

    database of buyers and suppliers

    Expand the participation and engagement of buying and selling partners as a

    core staff activity. The greater the business engagement the greater the

    opportunity to buy goods and services from the sellers. This requires

    marketing, sales, and relationship maintenance.

    Supporting and enhancing the relationships with business and community

    partners keeps the energy of the site going. This includes workshops for the

    sellers that teach: operations, accounting and how to market through the

    ICPP. Also included is other business networking opportunities for the

    buyers and sellers.

    Sustaining the portal requires content maintenance, enhancements, and

    sourcing the funding for the site.

    FOOTNOTES

    [1] Solutions for Black America, JAWANZA KUNJUFU, African American Images,

    2004, pp.1-13

    [2] Solutions for Black America, JAWANZA KUNJUFU, African American Images,

    2004, p. 5

    [3] Powernomics: The National Plan to Empower Black America, Claud Anderson,

    Ed.D., Powernomics Corporation of America, Inc., 2001, p.7