Blacks must not depend on others for economic development
The fact that African Americans have received only 9 percent of Chicago’s $2.3 billion in contracts – that’s a paltry $207 million – should make anyone mad, including the city’s Black aldermen.They certainly have been voicing their displeasure over the last couple of weeks, and are rightfully blasting city officials for not doing more to ensure that African Americans get contracts.
But anger and righteous indignation will not lead to more contracts. What Black aldermen should immediately do is find out why African Americans are not getting their fair share; work politically to eliminate the obstacles; and lastly, call on Black business groups to step up.
Far too many people sit back and demand that their elected representatives do more. But political folks can only do so much. What if an aldermen, state representative, state senator or other official sponsored legislation to open the doors, but businesses didn’t have the capability to sort through the rigorous and time-consuming process?
Anyone who has seen the contracting process up close understand that it’s the unnamed and unknown bureaucrats who play a major role in writing the RFP’s – request for proposals – that will determine who can quality for a contract. This is the area that continues to remain largely white, and if African Americans just jump up and down protesting – then that won’t lead to any changes.
As a county government reporter for the Austin (Texas) American-Statesman and the Fort Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram, I would see this first hand. In Fort Worth, the city’s housing department was under duress from the federal government as well as stories I wrote exposing their problems. So the council ordered the city manager to bring in an expert to assess the department. I watched as the assistant city manager walked out of the chamber, call the housing leader and ask that she call a particular non-profit group and have them send in a proposal. Because it was a professional services contract, it didn’t require a low bidder.
Do you think that non-profit got the bid? Yep.
But then there is the reality that Black firms just don’t know about what is coming up because they are not in tune with what is coming down the pipe.
That’s where Black business groups must also assume more of the responsibility. There are a multiple number of such groups in the city, but the top three, in my opinion, are the The Alliance of Business Leaders & Entrepreneurs, the Cosmopolitan Chamber of Commerce, and the Chicago Urban League.
For far too long, African Americans have allowed economic development to begin and end in the church. That is a backwards model that doesn’t exist anywhere else. This is not a slam on the Black church. But the purpose of a spiritual body is to focus on your faith, not your pocketbook. It is the primary job of business leaders to drive business.
These groups should be at the forefront of driving this issue. Now ABLE requires that a company should do at least $2 million annually to be a member. The only way they are going to grow their membership is if more Black-owned businesses grow to this revenue level.
The Cosmopolitan Chamber of Commerce has gone through their bumps and bruises with changes in leadership, and they must become more aggressive.
And finally there is the Chicago Urban League, which is now running under the leadership of Cheryle Jackson. As one of her first tasks, she wants to create an entrepreneurship component of the league, and that makes perfect sense. The league has always been joined at the hip with the business community, so it makes sense that they play a major role.
That’s why on my radio show Friday on WVON-AM/1690, I called on the community to step up and help with the creation of a position that will be created to establish a countywide database of Black-owned businesses that can be used to make them aware of contracting opportunities with the school district, city, county and state.
By working in conjunction with other groups, this individual will also help in training businesses get certified, as well as seek opportunities. A small printer may not be able to bid on a contract by themselves, but by partnering with several other Black firms, they could be successful.
Yet the job requires money. And the first one to contribute to the cause was Saint Sabina’s Michael Pfleger, who contributed $5,000. He was followed by the Rev. James Meeks of Salem Baptist Church with $5,000. Jackson called in to say she was willing to house the position at the Chicago Urban League and merge it with their resources. All of a sudden, callers from all over the city offered their donations, some as small as $20 and others as large as $1,000. After an hour, we had received pledges of nearly $13,000.
And that’s where you come in. If you think this is a worthy effort, then do your part to contribute. I want you to send in your checks for the “Black Economic Development Fund” to the Chicago Defender or WVON. Make the checks out to the Chicago Urban League, and in the “memo” section, please write “Black Economic Development Fund.”
This is a time when we can stop complaining and start with some action. The fund is one way of doing this, and the other is bringing the business groups together to discuss the next steps. I am offering the Chicago Defender conference room as a meeting place for our elected officials and business leaders to gather in the next few days to discuss how we all can advance black business in this city and county.
The purpose is to come up with a game plan. Frankly, I don’t want to hear any complaining about who isn’t doing what. If we are getting $207 million of city business, then let’s make our goal at this time next year to be $250 million or higher. We should establish similar goals for the school district, county and state.
African Americans are very good at marching, yelling and screaming, but this is time for us to be strategic and utilize research in order to come up with a workable plan to improve our lot.
Is this the only way to advance Black business? Nope. But it’s my idea of a way to begin. If you have a great idea of your own, fine. Work your plan and go from there. Let’s just stop saying what needs to be done and in the words of Nike: Just do it.
