Being serious for a second, if we are to accept her vid as truth (I'm hard pressed to do so because I'd wonder which part of town she is in in the first place and the simple fact is that a lot of black men do build and have businesses), having worked with young black kids, it's not hard to see why they aren't building stores and such in the black community as grown adults. Part of it is the perception that the black community is something that one is meant to escape from rather than build in. Crime makes it hard but one's mindset makes it harder. The same way 3rd world countries suffer brain drain and suffer from the best and brightest leaving (this surpasses race) so too does certain parts of the black community. Even more, between media and so on broadcasting subtle or overt anti-blackness and teaching us to hate ourselves, it is no wonder why some black men would be content with building elsewhere or succeeding elsewhere. In many ways, between the programming done on some of us by racism and, in some ways less self-hate but more "self-caution" - a fear of someone else's self-hate or foolishness- an idea amplified by situations like the issue with the women shopping at the racist beauty supply store or the situation where the women were twerking on the tables at a guy's establishment or criminal acts by some dudes, are indeed to blame as well and creates a vicious cycle. Discounting any of this is foolish and doing so further amplifies the distrust one would have for their fellow black kin because it indicates to those that would build that their concerns are either ignored or not taken seriously by the very people they are supposed to be entrusting in helping their business grow. That's damning.
Furthermore, there isn't enough positive reinforcement in regards to black males in this society in terms of builders in the community. Many black kids do not think they can build or aspire to because the idea is never put to them. We do a great deal of this empowerment with black girls which is good but we fail to do this with our boys. All communities that we claim as builders make a point to empower their boys yet little of that is done in this part of the world for them. I feel that this is the most important issue.
Finally, I think it is reckless to ignore the power racist and overly biased many policies are. The amount of capital required to create one's own business as well as the risk is a deterrent for even the most strait-laced and financially assured. The burden would be softened by pooling resources with other brehs but such would also require a level of oneness in regards to not only goals but, based entirely on experience, views on many issues as well. This board, let alone this thread shows how much disparity between views that a lot of black men hold. So the possibilities are teams slips further.
In any case, I would say that more can be done but much of how some are hoping to spur men to do it is terrible and counterproductive. It baffles me this much has to be said then again, I feel some of it goes back to self-hate or some disdain for black men. I also find the sudden surge of certain talking points and even more, terms makes much of this seem more and more disingenuous with each passing instance.
