October's Best: Black Consumerism (Are We For Sale?)

About Me:

Dominic Dorsey II is a student activist, entrepreneur, poet, aspiring author, radio personality and president of every organization he's ever joined since the 7th grade. He began a career in public speaking at the tender age of 13 and has spoken in front of crowds ranging from 50 to 800 people at any given setting. From working on an Anti-Violence Teen Resolution in Washington D.C. to present to congress, to staging a protest against his university for racial discrimination and student funding inequity. Dominic prides himself on the lessons of leadership he's learned across the way. Lessons he hopes to share with students across the country. With Music (hip hop in particular) being his passion, this blog is a place to organize all his thoughts and observations on the topic. Along with stories addressing politics, pop culture, race & ethnicity and religion; it is the hope that in visiting this site, subjective analysis can stimulate conversation to enlighten the masses.

Black Consumerism (Are We For Sale?)

Posted by dap_dorsey Feb 18, 2010

Okay. I wish I could stop talking about this, but it keeps coming up. Especially on the heels of the whole UCSD scandal and their "Compton Cookout", then today I participated in a panel discussion for Black History Month entitled "The Slave Trade: Are You For Sale".

Interesting concept, with a difficult question to answer.

You might be reading this questioning how anyone could ponder whether or not they're for sale. I know I'm not. However, the black community is another story altogether. Coming from a history of slavery where the auction block is a place to parade the strongest or most fertile black men and women, even children...how has a history of being bought and sold like cattle effected our daily existence in 2010? We're not for sale? How can we say that when we're walking billboards for fashion labels and designer names that cost more than cloth and stitching ever should? When maintaining a lifestyle that includes the latest in everything outweighs basic necessities...we have a serious issue as a community. Ask yourself, how many of your friends have two rows of Jordan's or a stack of Air Force Ones and Dunks in their closet, still in the box...but no car to speak of. Better yet, they have no bed save for a pallet made of blankets or an air mattress.

Where's the priorities in that? I can't say our present existence is entirely by our design, it's co-conspired by institutionalized racism and oppression that's put a ceiling above us and stolen the legacy and the livelihood of many Blacks and their families. But at some point, personal responsibility has to kick in.

I hate to keep going back to that incident at UCSD, but is that really how Blackness is defined? Clothes and boorish mannerisms? Loud colors and even louder speech? Is black a cultural construct of consumer goods to be pawned off on the masses? It's not so hard to believe. Everything cool that's been co-opted in American Culture seemingly is stolen from the front stoop of predominantly black neighborhoods. Dance crazes, music, style, speech, all for us by us sold to them like so many FUBU jerseys now on sale at Walmart.

But is this all we are?

Is the concept of blackness and being an African American so inexplicably tied to consumerism and being a commodity for the profit of others twisted our sensibilities when it comes to our wallets? Are we truly for sale? Has the slave mentality worn off? Think about it. When you ask young black boys what they want to be when they grow up, they respond one of two ways:

"When I wanna grow up I wanna be a (insert sport) player!"

or

"I'm gonna be a famous rapper!"

Why?

The sad part about these statements is the fact that the individuals these kids look up to represent "making it". They have things, that's a status. If you have things, you're somebody. But if you have nothing, you're nobody. Even sadder, these rappers and athletes are still commodities. Just more expensive ones than the bobbles they own yet we covet. Lil' Wayne makes major money, but Universal makes more money off him than he does for himself. Even when we talk about those black men and women who are ridiculously wealthy. Take Oprah Winfrey for instance, or Jay-Z. They're rich beyond anyone's standards, but they're wealthy blacks. Warren Buffet or Steve Jobs or Ted Turner or Bill Gates. They're the top of the Forbes list. Oprah and Shawn Corey Carter are at the top of the "Black Forbes List". There's a glass ceiling even when we're wealthy!!!!

So what does this mean?

Are we doomed to be a prostituted culture? Have we done ourselves a disservice during black history month? 28 days where we celebrate the accomplishments of Martin, Malcolm and Rosa. We talk about how at one point we couldn't drink from the same water fountain, we couldn't eat at the same lunch counters or attend the same schools. But now we can. YES WE CAN!

Or we talk about how at one point we were all slaves in bondage. We had to fight for the right to be able to read and we were beaten daily...now we're not. YAY!!!

So the outcome is we have a society of people who are either complacent or depressed (ironically as the product of economically impoverished areas that perpetuate sadness in the first place).

We're the first at the Finish Line to buy the latest Jordan's and the last to get out and vote. We're the first to claim streets and projects with pride but with no ownership over those things. When we do step out into ownership, we fall victim to predatory lending practices. Investments only come in small amounts and money is typically lent to items that depreciate in value. Maybe we need help in managing money and explaining it's control and lure over us. Maybe we need Wu-Tang Financial.