Reply To: The New Black Wall Street for Black Land Ownership

[Lance Thompson]

Yeah just want to add one final thought on this one…….let’s just keep it real, the Asian community is the only community better than the Jewish community at keeping their money in their own community.

A Jewish co-worker of mine and I were having a conversation about it probably about 20 years ago and he said something that I’ve never forgotten regarding something that the Jewish Community does on a regular basis that the Black Community should “also” do. He said “Man I’ve attended more than 1 Black Church and it never ceases to amaze me regarding all of the power that the Black Church has that it never uses.”….I said “Well what do you mean?”……He replied “Well you do agree that the Jewish Community has a lot of money and a lot of successful businesses right?”….I said “Yeah, I’ll grant you that.”…..He went on to ask me “Well what do you think is the central location where a lot of the business deals in our community originate and come to fruition?”…..I said “I don’t know…..tell me?”……He said “At the Synagogue…..at the Jewish House of Worship.”…..He then said “I’ve attended several Black Churches on several occasions with good friends of mine and nearly every time I’ve gone to one, conducting business inside of the Church is always strongly discouraged. That always baffles me!”…..He then asked me this question…..”If you’re a Christian businessman or businesswoman, wouldn’t you want to do business with other Christians? Doesn’t it make sense to conduct business with other people who believe what you believe and who worship as you worship??”

He ended the conversation by saying “If your community is ever going to advance itself economically it will HAVE TO come through business & investing ideas being formulated and brought to fruition right there inside the Black Church. The Black Church is the U.S.’s most powerful black organization and that particular organization will have to become the center of black business, the same way that the Synagogue has become the center of Jewish business”. I said “So your rabbis allow that to take place in the Synagogues?”……He replied “Not only do many of them encourage it, many of them mandate that business be conducted in the synagogue. Also, many synagogues have credit unions or banks ready to extend business loans to businesspeople who attend that particular synagogue looking to form a startup or to invest in real estate”.

I’ve never forgotten that conversation.

Can you dig it Black America?

And you want to know something else? With as many people of African descent who now worship Allah in the U.S., the Black Mosque has to be added to that equation as well. All Black Houses of Worship should become centers for the conduct of black business. We’ve just got to come up with systems that are put in place to keep those black businesspeople HONEST the same way that this website intends to. A website for each House of Worship that “grades” the black businesses run by business owners & investors that attend that House of Worship is an excellent idea if you ask me. It cost me right around $5K to get this website built so it’s something that is easily afforded by many Houses of Worship out there.

Something for all of our Black Pastors, Reverends, Deacons, Bishops, Priests, Imams and church boards to think about and discuss.