I was following Russell Simmons on Twitter and came across a great post about a visit he had from the Nation of Islam's Minister Louis Farrakhan. The article is great, but my focus now is on the discussion on the comments section about Integration and the Destruction of the Black Community.
I will repost what was said and my reply:
Allahtheoriginalman Wrote - The part that saddened me was the fact that the corner where you grew is no longer black owned...the almost total collapse of the Black American Business structure. Integration wasn't such a good idea after all.
Russell Simmons Replied - i totally disagree about integration its here and even though it destroyed the fabric of the old black communities business it opened up the opportunity to compete for the other 90percent of american consumers hip hop like jazz blues and rock and roll before it is the cornerstone of american culture but it is different because this time the performers and some of the gatekeepers are african american 8 of the top 8 downloads are hip hop today if u limit your vision to 10percent of population u will loose 90percent of your potential i totally support ebony jet black enterprize etc but i also know blacks who dont want their financial business's limited to black investment and will loose value if anyone gives them money based on any affirmative action grant (i do believe that blacks are owed this form of reparations) then how will they sell their company .. to another african american? the nation will integrate the question is when are u ready to compete ? that is one of the reasons why u have a suit so u can love yourself enuff for the world to have no choice but to love u back.. i submit to u that the world is integrating and business is integrated if u dont have friends at harvard because of their race u could likely loose a great part of the benefeit from going there there are so many businesses that need diversity so they can survive. if u are not open to integrate u will have a more difficult time in most businesses then if u embrace the concept we are merging and integrating and becoming one your blood line is never gonna be black afican again even the minister himself has a beautiful mixed grandchild who he loves .. at the million family march your leader told um if "u marry for love all things are possible"
Deuce Replied - Excellent discussion. I have degrees and experience in Architecture and Urban Planning, with my work focus on neighborhood development. I only give this background to help illustrate this: I always wanted to help the black community hold onto its neighborhoods, stop gentrification and keep the money within the black community. Then, while driving though Detroit one day and seeing the old buildings and trash, I realized, "we didn't design this place, we didn't build it for us, it was never ours, it was just the place we found ourselves living in and made the best out of our situation."
When it comes to business, building and nature, the old falls back to the earth, is recycled, and gives birth to the new.
We should be focusing on building our new neighborhoods, investing in our new business mindset, and allowing the natural order of things.
Let the old, tired, worn out neighborhoods go back to where they came from. The trick is, can we focus our minds together, unified for the future, so that our culture doesn't get washed out by "American Culture" and retain our heritage and collective conscious. The key is not the stuff you see, but what is inside our collective sub-consciousness.
