8 <strong>August</strong> February 2017 <strong>Chicago</strong> <strong>Street</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> Continued from Page 1 <strong>Black</strong> <strong>Business</strong> Matters distribution, inequality in business and infrastructure investments, and the failure by our elected and appointed officials to provide a quality education to all the residents of this city. But, given the evidence of the disparity, which are known to more, what continues to be a mystery is the acceptance by these communities of the “slights” by the controlling parties, when evidence of the inequality has been staring them in the face since the city’s incorporation. Without a doubt, the cry that #<strong>Black</strong><strong>Business</strong>- Matters should be heard from every corner, pulpit and community organization given that even recently, the sitting elected officials of the city of <strong>Chicago</strong> straight-faced lied while investing $55 million of city TIF monies into Navy Pier as the south and west sides of <strong>Chicago</strong> continues to implode from lack of economic development. One of the city’s creative solutions even includes adding more cops to arrest more people for selling loose squares. Yes, selling loose squares is illegal. But isn’t diverting TIF funds from poor communities illegal and immoral? These are just a few of the reasons why <strong>Black</strong> <strong>Business</strong> Matters: 1. Communities are stronger when the businesses are stronger. Research has shown that the economic state of a community is partially related to the amount of money spent in the businesses within that community. Those businesses invest back into the community’s civic and social structure, thereby, solidifying its base. You know the local business owners. Their concerns are your concerns. You are part of a community family that supports each other and grows together. 2. Employment and training opportunities denied to <strong>Black</strong>s by other communities become available to the unemployed and under-employed. Small local businesses provide experiences the can propel many to upper level management positions by providing them with previously denied chances to gain experience and enhance their employability. (In other words, the community can hire its own college graduates.) 3. Community businesses create and support a business culture wherein the community’s children become a part of that mindset, as they develop and grow around entrepreneurial- minded adults. 4. African-American businesses tend to have achievements in sports, arts, politics, education, and civil rights. Although these industries are of great importance to the community, we must continue to tap into other industries like technology, food and services and engineering. Its resolve must be 100 fold in order to enable support for every product need and service of the nation and permit gains in the US economy that will foster its position in the global marketplace. 5. Just like any other race the prosperity of the <strong>Black</strong> race will contribute to the tax base and that is of benefit to the local and national community. (Given this fact, it is up to the community to ask why the incentive is not there to make the appropriate investments locally in supporting the small <strong>Black</strong> business owner.) 6. New employment opportunities provide chances for previously unemployed or under-employed workers to increase take home pay and better their meet financial obligations. This leads to a higher rate of consumer spending, which benefits other businesses who depend on consumer sales to stay open. This creates a healthier local economy and allows more businesses to thrive and the community to be self-sufficient. According to Wikipedia, “In 2016, <strong>Chicago</strong> hosted over 54 million domestic and international visitors, a new record making it one of the top visited cities in the nation.” But, the revenue flow stopped at the color line due to lack of investment in businesses in <strong>Black</strong> and Latino communities with the violence going unchecked on the south and west sides of the city. Visit Choose <strong>Chicago</strong> (Formerly <strong>Chicago</strong> Convention & Tourism Bureau) and you’ll find <strong>Black</strong> <strong>Chicago</strong> a ghost town in the places to visit listings, therefore percentage-wise barely participating in the inflow of $15 billion in direct tourism spending and the 145,000 jobs generated by the city’s tourism. This means that outside of <strong>Chicago</strong>’s (white controlled) Central <strong>Business</strong> District (CBD) there was almost no opportunity for economic advancement and growth. Because it takes investment dollars to make that happen and the life flow (money) stops before it reaches our communities. When the African-American community truly decides that <strong>Black</strong> <strong>Business</strong>es Matter, instead of the constant lip service paid to such slogans, then they will put in place and demand that those placed into positions of power apply the necessary agendas important to these communities. When <strong>Black</strong> business truly matters to the <strong>Black</strong> community it will make the decision that those elected, appointed and employed persons with six figure incomes that fund their mortgages, educate their children and permit their families to obtain the best medical care are removed from those positions, then and only then will there be a clear understanding that you can’t hold a job that provides you with economic stability while the communities that you manage has doubledigit unemployment. There is no better time, then now, to move forward on the #<strong>Black</strong><strong>Business</strong>Matters platform, as we celebrate <strong>National</strong> <strong>Black</strong> <strong>Business</strong> <strong>Month</strong>. As I’ve heard the Rev. Dr. Albert Sampson say many times, “Where is the rage?” Sonja Cassandra Perdue is Associate Publisher for <strong>Chicago</strong> <strong>Street</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> and Founder of <strong>Chicago</strong>’s <strong>Black</strong> <strong>Business</strong> Network. www.<strong>Chicago</strong><strong>Street</strong><strong>Journal</strong>.com
February <strong>Chicago</strong> <strong>Street</strong> <strong>Journal</strong> <strong>August</strong> 2017 9 Click the images to learn more about our sponsors!
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