PowerNomics: Plan for Economic Power for Blacks

Dr. Claud Anderson, Ed.D, PowerNomics, The Economic Plan to Empower Black America

Economic Empowerment Plan for Black America


PowerNomics is the vision of Dr. Claud Anderson, Ed.D, of the Harvest Institute. Dr. Anderson is currently working with Detroit, Michigan's City Council. He is working to create a "Black business district", in Detroit.

According to The Harvest Institute's Fall 2004 report, "the Detroit City Council undertook a bold and unique initiative. It engaged the PowerNomics Corporation of America to develop an empowerment plan for its majority under-served population. Detroit's majority under-served population is the Black population.

On July 29, 2004, the City Council accepted the Draft Plan that Dr. Anderson presented, and adopted two of the resolutions he proposed in the Plan. The first resolution declared that Blacks (89% of the population) are the majority population in the city. The second resolution called for the city to establish a fiscal entity to help finance and train entrepreneurs and existing business owners, for the Black Business District that Dr. Anderson proposed in his Detroit Plan. The vote was 7 to 2.

The Plan that Dr. Anderson submitted to the city rests on the fact that Blacks are the majority population and according to the Constitution, the majority should win. Blacks are not winning in Detroit and other urban centers. Past plans to empower the urban inner-city have linked its fate with that of the suburbs. Those plans typically produced policies and financial incentives to attract Whites from outside the city to live in and bring their businesses into prime urban areas. The local indigenous Black population are usually offered nothing more than jobs and opportunities to be consumers.

The PowerNomics Plan that Dr. Claud Anderson presented and the City Council accepted, has a different premise. The basic premise is that inner cities outght to be improved for and by local people. Local residents should own and control the businesses in their neighborhood that will profit from the spending within their communities. Consumer dollars should circulate in a way that strengthens the inner-city, instead of providing an outflow of cash that enriches others.

How did Dr. Anderson approach The PowerNomics Plan for Detroit? He examined patterns and characteristics that are traditionally considered negatives, and converted them into positive competitive advantages. For example, a crowded inner city neighborhood with median income near the poverty line would generally be considered an undesirable place to locate a business. However, this same demographic becomes a positive if it is viewed as a densely concentrated market niche with few services, billion of disposable income, and a high level of unmet needs. PowerNomics' concepts seek to transform a group's economic weakness into group-based economic power.

The Plan identifies the City's strengths and competitive advantages, suggests industries and businesses that should be built around those competitive advantages, then lays out a plan to revitalize the City. The centerpiece of the Plan is the proposal to build a Black business district in the inner-city, modeled after Mexican town, Chinatown, and a nearby Arab town. This new district would have industries and businesses built specifically upon identified competitive advantages, and would be owned by the majority under-served population.

The Plan also seeks to redress the economic and racial disparities within the Detroit metro area. Detroit's under-served Black majority is on the bottom of every economic and social indicator. The City and its native Black majority population are in a crisis that the Plan urged City public officials to address as a policy fundamental. Government programs have assisted various immigrant groups and women to enhance their lives economically. All the statistics indicate that those programs have been successful because each of these groups now rank above Blacks on social and economic indicators. For instance, while Blacks suffer a 35 percent national unemployment rate, a study from the Center of Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University in Boston, revealed that "of the group in the employment population in the United States over the past few years, nearly all can be attributed to recently arrived ethnic immigrants." Notably, however, there have been no government assistance programs directed to correct the protracted unemployment, poverty or systemic burdens on Blacks that cause them to have a low quality of life. The needs of the Black community remain ignored and unmet. They are a majority population in Detroit, treated like a non-entitled minority.

Detroit's racial, ethnic and economic disparities are a mirror of other urban areas. The conditions are challenging, but the Detroit City Council has shown unusual courage and commitment by its willingness to seek new ways to solve the problems of their city. They have taken a huge first step, and are in the process of taking steps to implement the Plan. PowerNomics is optimistic and assumes that although time is short, the majority population can become economically self-sufficient and competitive. It can build a thriving business community, and therefore a stronger Detroit.

The fate of the majority population is ultimately the fate of the city. If Detroit can turn around and reclaim the city for the benefit of its Black majority, then it will be a model for other urban communities. If Detroit is not successful, it will be a distress signal to other Black dominated cities that are struggling to become self-sufficient and competitive."


Event:
Dr. Claud Anderson will be in Los Angeles, California on Tuesday, December 14, 2004, at the Power of Love Hall, which is located at 1430 West Manchester, Los Angeles, CA, at 7:00 p.m. Please attend. This is a VERY important conference concerning the creation of economic wealth for Black America...PowerNomics.


Author: Patricia McAllister