the only verdict post I'm writing....

Peace.

Black folks are super pissed with the Zimmerman verdict. And they should be. I personally have always said he is going to get off. The fact that it took so long to arrest the man and the jury full of she-devils.... I read the writing on the walls. And where I commiserate with folks, I'm not taking the march/riot/protest route. That is a waste of time, energy and resources. This trial should have awaken those who think sleep is safe. And I'm all about proactive solutions....

The cry has gone up to support Black businesses. Ok. I have always advocated that. My father was an insurance broker who owned his own business. Him owning his own business gave him a freedom that I don't have working for other other people. And there is something self reckoning that happens when you responsible for yourself and other people's livelihoods. His mother had a seamstress business and my maternal grandfather was a self sufficient and successful farmer and meat producer. I say all this to say... I get it.

But it is not easy to support Black business, because thy aren't out there. It's easy to find the specialty businesses... hair salons/barber shops, funeral homes, soul food restaurants, African stores.... But where are the Black owned gas stations and grocery stores? Yes you can buy a car from a Black person; but how often are you going to do that? Our businesses tend to be those that you only use here and there.

I have labored to rid myself of the devil's influence for awhile now. I don't have love for them, but I recognize that their influence is every where. In 2009 I attempted to only trade with Black people. By February I had to re-evaluate my approach. The business that I traded with most frequently weren't Original. My gas station. My grocery store. My utilities. etc. I do my own hair, my car is relatively new, I hope not to need an undertaker, I like to cook and make my own food. I make my own clothes. So when I spend gold it is on the basic necessities. Black folks don't own those. But we could.

For y'all contemplating doing the "All Black" thing, I encourage you to take stock of your life. Get pen and paper and categorize your life. Bills/Utilities - car note, insurances, mortgage/rent, cell phone, etc... Food.... Clothing.... Shelter.... Gas - gas is my highest utility each month. I would be happy to do business with a BLACK person and just not a "person of color."

Now that you have written this out on paper, ask yourself these 2 questions... (1) Do I know a Black owned version to support? and (2) Can I do this business myself? Then get to work.

As far as me and my house are concerned, we have been pro self sufficiency and pro-Black businesses for as long as I could remember. We bank with a Black owned bank. We use as much as we can find. But the basics aren't there. I would love to live in a Black neighborhood (I do) and send my children to a Black private school, shop with Black vendors, buy my food from a Black grocery store and go to a Black movie theater. Right now that looks like going home, stopping at a rib shack and my local bootlegger. That's not a pretty picture. But we can do better.

After the verdict and the ridiculous behavior of the media, Zimmerman's family and Zimmerman himself... We are getting God You Nows... legal ones. Multiple ones. And the license to carry them damn near anywhere I go.



Peace