With the Kwanzaa season still fresh in many of our minds, we can recall many of the discussions about each of the Nguzo Saba (Seven Principles). It seems that many in the community are elevating the forth principle – Ujamaa (co-operative economics) to increasing prominence. As a reminder, the Nguzo Saba definition of Ujamaa is: “To build and maintain our own stores, shops, and other businesses and to profit from them together.”According to 2010 Family Resources Survey, although Afrikan families have derived a comparable proportion of household incomes from salaries to other communities, we gain less than everybody else from self-employed income and investments but more than everybody else (except “Pakistani and Bangladeshi”) from “other social security benefits.” (1) This finding is supported by separate research by Ram and Jones revealing that Afrikans have the lowest rates of self-employment among all groups. (2)
However, it should be made clear that this proportion is relative to income of each particular group within itself. Not compared to each other. When “median net wealth” per person is compared across communities, as in the 2012 Policy Commission on the Distribution of Wealth report: Wealth inequality: key facts, Afrikans at £48,500 (combined ‘Black Caribbean’ £76,000 and ‘Black African’ £21,000) have a of around one fifth of ‘white British’ (£221,000) and ‘Indian’ (£204,000) and less than half of ‘Pakistani’ (£98,000). (3)
Nevertheless, research undertaken in September 2015 by marketing consultant Kay Akinwunmi indicates that from a population of 1.8 million, the “spending power of black consumers in Britain… [is]… A gigantic £300 billion.” (4)
But as some of the discussions during Kwanzaa highlighted, this £300 billion doesn’t appear to be getting translated into group wealth and resources. So it is appropriate that the interim National Afrikan People’s Parliament will be focusing on this issue at the General People’s Assembly (GPA) from 4:30pm to 9:30pm on Saturday, 30th January, 2016; at the West Indian Ex-Service Men’s Association, 150 Clapham Manor St, London SW4 6BX, under the theme: Economic Empowerment – Key to Nation Building.
Within the context of its aim to be a “national, independent, representative body designed to promote, preserve and protect the best interest of Afrikan people domiciled in the UK (and globally) and to establish the framework for the restoration of Afrikan sovereignty through nation building,” iNAPP and its invited panel of experts will explore the ways to build on exiting models of economic empowerment in order for Afrikans to control our own finances and means of production, exchange and distribution.
Within this context iNAPP is targeting nothing less than a national economic strategy that works in conjunction with other political and cultural strategies. For example, although many leading activists rightly avoid reducing reparations solely to monetary considerations, the financial aspects to need to be factored in, as is the case with Dr Claud Anderson’s “National Reparations Plan” as part of his PowerNomics programme. (5)
Although Afrika UK’s £300 billion is somewhat dwarfed by the oft-quoted African-American $2.2 trillion ‘GDP’ making it the tenth largest country in the world, statistic, harnessing even a fraction of this resource could begin to yield immense benefits. (6) Consequently, both Dr Anderson and Amos Wilson, in his 900-page tour de force Blueprint For Black Power, offer similar proscriptions:
“If others can become rich off us, we must think out-of-the-box and redirect or resources to our benefit.” (7)
“We not only propose that the Afrikan American community gain control of its internal markets but combine this control with the judicious use of its consumer power to markedly influence the American government and society.” (8)
Anderson, Wilson and iNAPP for that matter are advocating national programmes, arguably in the absence of a national structure or even identity. Hence, there is also an argument that before the financial considerations can be seriously addressed, work needs to be done on the national formation. This could include the prevalent (yet evasive) appeal to self-repair or even the coalescing around national events and observances such as iNAPP‘s call to make the National Black People’s Day of Action on March 2nd a public holiday. The principle behind this that if there are things specific to a nation within a nation that can be “named and claimed” without regard to external agencies then this can foment the necessary mind-set for nation building.
(1) White - 64%; Asian or Asian British – 70%; Indian – 74; Pakistani and Bangladeshi – 56%; Black or Black British – 69: Black Caribbean – 70; Black non-Caribbean – 69%. Referenced in Carrera, Sonia and Beaumont, Jen (2010) Income and wealth (Social Trends 41), Office for National Statistics p 5. (2) RAM, Monder and JONES, Trevor (2008), Ethnic minority businesses in the UK: An overview, in Oliveira, Catarina Reis and Rath, Jan (eds.), Migrações Journal - Special Issue on Immigrant Entrepreneurship, October 2008, n. 3, Lisbon: ACIDI, p 64. Table 1 - Self-employment Rate of All Economically Active People Aged 16-74, England and Wales: Chinese - 21.6%; Pakistani - 17.2%; Indian -14.6%; Other Asian - 13.9%; White British - 12.5%; Bangladeshi - 11.1%; Afrikan - 6.1%. (3) Rowlingson, Karen, (2012) Wealth inequality: key facts, University of Birmimgham Policy Commission on the Distribution of Wealth, p 19. (4) Akinwunmi, Kay (17/09/15) Data Reveals 5 Key Areas Black Businesses in London Need to Improve Significantly. http://limconcepts.com/blog/five-areas-black-businesses-london-need-to-improve/. (5) Anderson, Dr Claud, (2001) PowerNomics - The National Plan to Empower Black America, PowerNomics Corporation of America, p 249. (6) Martin, Rev. Anthony (28/09/15) The Worlds Tenth Largest Nation. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/worlds-tenth-largest-nation-rev-anthony-martin?trk=prof-post&trkSplashRedir=true&forceNoSplash=true. (7) Anderson, p 154 (8) Wilson, Amos N. (1998) Blueprint for Black Power: A Moral, Political, and Economic Imperative for the Twenty-First Century, Afrikan World InfoSystems, p 513.
So we ask the question:
Will we ever achieve Economic Empowerment in the UK?
1. Will you be attending the iNAPP GPA on 30/01/15?
2. Is Afrikan spending power in the UK really£300 billion?
3. Are we over reliant on paid employment?
4. Why are our self-employment rates lower than other communities?
5. How do reparations fit into a national strategy for economic empowerment?
6. Will economic power help to create a national consciousness or vice versa?
Our special guests are:
Bro. Ldr. Mbandaka: Resident guest who is Spiritual Leader of the Alkebu-Lan Revivalist Movement and UNIA-ACL Ambassador for the UK and national co-Chair of the interim National Afrikan People’s Parliament. Bro. Ldr is a veteran activist of over 30 years standing, a featured columnist in The Whirlwind newspaper and author of Mosiah Daily Affirmations and Education: An Africentric Guide To Excellence.
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