Voice of Black Expression Forum Black Dollars

I've been singing this song since nine-teen se-ven-tyyyyyyyyy...Oops I almost dated myself. On the real though, If you have to spend your money somewhere, why Tommy? Remember Kani and CrossColors? Why not Phat Farm or Sean John? Or even better...Why not Starbury? $14.98 sneaks, 3/$20 T Shirts and you can't beat the styling. Cause if FUBU=For Us By Us: how come most of Us can't afford one?
Just Checkin.
And this doesn't apply to designers only. That Black owned store might be three blocks out of your way and three cents more per item, but you're feeding that man's KIDS. Guaranteed they won't grow up to bust you in your head for your pocketbook or sell drugs on the corner. Plus, given enough business that same store could grow large enough to employ YOUR child one day, instead of folding to that other shopkeeper who's money is making HIS homeland a better place.

I totally agree that we as black people have to better at supporting each other. I look around at some of the hair shops in the "hood" that get most of the black dollars are owned by asian people. I do my best to support black businesses, but I am only one man. I totally support the idea behind Starbury's $14.95 sneakers. The sneaker companies have for years have soaking up black dollars with those over priced sneakers, that don't make you jump higher, run faster or perform better.

My biggest concern is, in my city of Houston, we have a few urban radio stations, but we have no black TV stations. The hispanic community has it seems a new TV station going on air every week. I think to myself with all these millionaire ball players, and entertainers. Why not put some of that money into the industry for our own platform. But it seems that bling and big cars seem to be the black hole that the money is tossed into. We have all these great playwrites that are struggling to get their work seen, and we miss alot of good work because of this. Radio today is a joke, take some time and listen for an hour, and I bet you will hear the same 10 songs every hour, it a joke! But its just my opinion, we have to do better, and learn to stick together and realize the dream.

I stopped listening to Black Radio years ago. There's not enough positive balancing that Bling Theory. Outside of TV One, which you can't get on the Dish and the other station that plays BY Undercover all the time you're right: there ARE no Black stations, and I feel the void strongly. UPN was our only other avenue, and the new CW just about killed off all our popular shows. I would dearly love to see someone in Black entertainment put their money behind a TV Station, some plays, a novelist or seven, twenty or so open mic poetry clubs...you feel me. We know from experience the White establishment is not throwing its money behind Black Culture, so where are our brothers and sisters with the bling? We NEED that, yo.

I give Tom Joyner credit that man is BLACK radio! He does so much helping kids get in school and stay in school and many other things. But, he's only one man! Where are the rest of our people? I would like to see 5 brothas come together and take some of the money and power they have and make this happen for a true BLACK TV station, Sean Combs, Russell Simmons, Magic Johnson, Sean Carter and Tyler Perry and really have FUBU TV.....That would be truly ::cool:: ::biggrin:: "For Us By Us"!