“The Only Color of Freedom is Green” Presented this week on TonyBrownsJournal.com
Throughout the history of Black America the focus of self-help through economic development has peeked and declined. Presently, it is on life support, as a result of a strong focus on electoral politics. But it was not always that way. The "Color of Freedom" four-part series’ leaders of the past explain why economic growth linked to progress in education is the key to achieving the goals of any people: Madame CJ Walker, Marcus Garvey, Dr. Carter G. Woodson and Booker T. Washington.
I teach that “the only Color of Freedom is green” because green (self-empowerment) equals power in the United States and throughout the world. What we think of ourselves is our true wealth and value; the esteem in which we hold our own people is the true key to the kingdom of knowledge and wisdom – which is the gateway to eternal life. Start with pride in the character of Blackness and you will end up at the gateway of understanding.
Our universal pursuit of a path out of the dark desperation humanity suffers from must start with a knowledge of past truths. The knowledge of the past achievements of a people is the ultimate index for the determination of their potential for their future and success.
My call to action is taken from one of the greatest believers in personal achievement that America has ever known. Marcus Mosiah Garvey urged the Black population to “Rise Up You Mighty People. Accomplish What Your Will -- ” in other words, study, earn and demand equality, but based on your will to succeed at the table of success.
THIS WEEK ON TonyBrownsJournal.com
WED., JULY 18 – TBJ #904 -- Ethnic Nationalism – Part 1: – No one else is going to do it for you. Why did other cultural groups make it across the finish line of economic sufficiency and Blacks did not? This question is discussed and answered by various thought leaders, such as Rev. Leon Sullivan, Percy Sutton, Dr. Naim Akbar, just to name a few.
THURS., JULY 19 – TBJ #905 -- the Gospel of Wealth -- Part 2: This segment discusses the philosophies of great Black economic thinkers: Booker T. Washington, Frederick Douglass, W. E. B DuBois, Marcus Garvey and Father Divine.
FRI., JULY 20 – TBJ #906 -- Economic Racism – Part 3: African Americans were the only group physically and psychologically enslaved in America. And that fact created not only a unique American experience but a unique and often unequal economic outcome as well. What were the economic ramifications of slavery? And how did the African-American experience differ from other immigrant groups that came to America. What is the basis of racism in America? Is it prejudice or a profit-motive -- or both? How did racism shape the economic development of Black America? These and many other questions are discussed on this program.
MON., JULY 22 -- TBJ #907-- From The Streets to the Suites – Part 4: At the close of the Civil War, the annual income of Black America was $20 million. By 1984, a little more than 100 years later, that figure had grown to $200 billion. But in spite of the steady growth of Black earning power, the Black family income is well below the national average and the Black community is suffering from chronic and social economic instability.
Black America’s inability to recycle dollars in its own community as efficiently as other ethnic groups who perform this economic ritual anywhere from 5 to 12 times has been given as the reason for the Black community’s economic inefficiency. Blacks recycle their wealth with one another less than once.
Why haven’t Blacks been able to take advantage of their tremendous wealth? Have African Americans been more concerned with integration, political or social acceptance than with economic independence? Has their crumbling status in society forced a new thrust toward economic development or more government dependency?
These questions beg for answers that may lie in past events.
- Coordinator of the “Walk To Freedom with Martin Luther King, Jr. March” in Detroit (1963), according to the July 29, 1963 edition of Business Week magazine, “the largest civil rights march in history.”
- WINNER of the prestigious silver circle award from the national academy of television arts & sciences
- Dean Emeritus and Professor, Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications, Hampton University
- First and Founding Dean and Professor, School of Communications, Howard University
- 2015-2016 National Association of Black Journalists Hall of Fame Inductee
- Black Emmy Nominee – 1989 Special Recognition Award Winner
- “Tony Brown’s Journal” (TV series): “The Most Complete and Thoughtful Record of African-American Opinion.”
