The Newbo’s (Black Multi Millionaires)

The Newbo’s (Black Multi Millionaires).

The Newbo’s (Black Multi Millionaires)

U.S based CNBC has produced a one hour documentary entitled – Newbos. (New Black Overclass) It’s an American success story highlighting Self-made black multimillionaires, many of whom grew up poor, and have made vast fortunes in the sports, entertainment and media industries.

Black Self Made Millionaires

The new moguls have all made their millions under the age of 40, primarily by taking more ownership and control over their brands than their predecessors. Collectively, black athletes in the NFL, NBA, and in Major League Baseball earned nearly $4 billion last year and the nation’s 20 highest-paid hip-hop entrepreneurs brought in more than $500 million. Now, with their newfound wealth come responsibilities to their family, friends, and community.

The documentary is based on Lee Hawkins’ forthcoming book of the same title, NEWBOs: The Rise of America’s New Black Overclass examines the growing responsibilities of black celebrities in the Obama age. The project features personal stories and interviews with some of the biggest names in sports and entertainment. It’s an inside look into how each successful NEWBO surmounted challenges to achieve the American Dream.

   

The programme features the following Black stars.
NBA Star LeBron James
LeBron James is one of the most dominant forces in professional basketball and he’s one of the highest paid pitchmen in sports. A few years ago, he shocked the sports world when he fired his agent and seized control of his own brand. He also recruited trusted childhood friends, all African-American, to help build his own company in partnership with them.

LeBron James speaks about owning your brand.

Major League All-Star Torii Hunter
Torii Hunter is one of the best and highest paid players in baseball. The star centerfielder has a $90 million, five-year contract with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. But, for Hunter, it isn’t fame or lucrative contracts that inspire him. He uses wealth and influence to expose more African-American children to the game of baseball and change the lives of young African-Americans.

Hunter runs an inspiring baseball camp for under-privileged kids.

NFL Star Terrell “T.O.” Owens
Veteran wide receiver Terrell Owens has been overpaid, underpaid, loved and hated during his NFL career. Outspoken and confident, Owens feels a responsibility to black America. He raised funds for Alzheimer’s research and created the “Catch a Dream Foundation” to help families in need.

Owens feels a responsibility to Black America.

The Williams Brothers of Cash Money Records
Cash Money Records, home of recording artist Lil’ Wayne, is one of the most successful labels in the history of hip-hop. Owners Ronald “Slim” and Bryan “Baby” Williams turned a small street-side business into a booming multi-million dollar company. They also helped set new standards for the music industry when the brothers demanded ownership of their masters.

Bryan “Baby” Williams discusses being “hood rich.”

Gospel Artist Kirk Franklin
Kirk Franklin is the best selling recording artist in the history of gospel music. With 14 million albums sold, he’s had a profound commercial impact on the evolution of gospel that took off as the popularity of black churches and televangelism exploded.

Kirk Franklin talks about charitable giving & success.

Entrepreneurs and BET Founder Bob Johnson
Bob Johnson became the first black billionaire in America when he sold his company, Black Entertainment Television, to Viacom in 2000 for an estimated $3 billion. Now, through his RLJ Companies, Johnson is promoting both collaboration and mentorship between blacks.

Bob Johnson mentors aspiring black entrepreneurs.

The documentary is available on DVD and the book is out soon at Amazon.

Do you have an opinion about Black wealth? Do you think the trend will hit the UK? What are the barriers to Black people creating wealth in modern society?

 

Indians control Black Hair and Beauty

It’s fascinating how the Asians in the UK have found a way to make huge profits by opening shops selling black hair and beauty products. In fact, not even say shops. We should say superstores. Some as big as Tesco, all focussed intently on the black woman and her passion for spending money on her hair.

These stores now have an extensive range of wigs made from synthetic fibres, or human hair. The human hair is of course being imported from India, or somewhere in the Far East.

Then there’s the hair care products that number in the thousands. You cannot beat these stores for variety. They stock a hundred types of hair oils, sprays, hair growth ointments and hair accessories. Far more than you can find in Boots or any other beauty store on the high street.

Speaking of Boots – they have missed a trick. Even if they are in black areas, you will find Boots, Superdrug and cosmetic sections of supermarkets NOT catering for the black consumer. Watch a car-park in Brixton, Woodgreen, Walthamstow, Hyson Green, or Radford and see the majority black customers, who are not being serviced by mainstream shops. Recently, those who have felt they are missing a trick have decided to stock black products in certain branches. But its too late. Black people know they can get it in a superstore down the road dedicated solely for them, so that’s where they are going. Supermarkets have just been too slow, and by the time they start, black people do not even look in the hair section, so the gesture is missed.

So back to the Asian owned black hair and beauty shop. Why are they not black owned.
Humm. Now lets see…

• Asians have sewn up the market. They have it on lock down and black business owners are not picking up the niche within their own community?
• The Asian buisnesses control the import of products – mainly from America or India ?
• They control the distribution and wholesale ?
• They work together to open these superstores. Then as one succeeds, they open another – over the road.
• Black people are not known for our retailing prowess – except in food and even then expansion is slow and small – never moving to supermarket status and never working together to expand into stores
• Asians have spotted a niche.  They know they will make money because black people spend more on hair and beauty items than white people or Asians.
• Asians pool together to enhance their buying power. Black communities do not group together, preferring instead to compete.

Although there are about 2000 black hair salons and barbers around the UK, they tend to focus on actual hair care, doing the many hairstyles which are requested.

They do not use their space to sell hair products. Surely, they too are missing a trick.

One has to admire the tenacity of the Asian hair businesses. They saw a niche, and went for it. They cannot be faulted for that.

However, it is upsetting when one is viewed with suspicion on entering one of these shops.  Note there is a man on every aisle, checking to see if you steal anything. There are hardly any women serving in these shops. Note these shops do not hire black people. They are owned and run by Asians.

The biggest of these companies is Pak. See how they describe themselves on their own website.

“Specializing in African and African Caribbean hair and beauty products for today’s Fashion conscious consumer. Established just over 27 years ago, our family run destination icon for millions of African’s and African Caribbean’s all over Africa, Europe and the Caribbean who regularly rely on PAK Cosmetic Center’s for products, specifically developed for Afro consumers.

These products, which are vital for maintaining healthier hair and skin, are generally not available at most high street shops in the U K or Europe, However, thanks the support of millions of consumer like you. We have successfully grown our business, from that small acorn, to Europe’s leading Afro retailer, with seven renowned specialty centers in the UK.”

So the question is when is there going to be a black-owned company to compete with Pak. Dyke and Dryden?

Source: Black economics

‘Cameron’s Crap on Race’

Doreen Lawrence has said David Cameron’s government is not doing enough to tackle racial prejudice, which continues to blight society, and Ms Lawrence has warned that spending cuts will hit working-class and black Britons the hardest.

In a recent interview, Ms Lawrence says the government has huge powers to make a difference in leading the fight against racism, but says: “I’ve not heard them talk about race.”

Earlier this month her 18-year battle for justice saw Gary Dobson and David Norris convicted of the 1993 racist murder of her son Stephen by a white gang in south London. The murder led to a public inquiry that exposed police failings and prejudice in the ranks and in wider society.

In the interview, Doreen Lawrence reveals:

• While the police were failing to catch her son’s murderers, they managed to stop his brother an incredible 20 times as a criminal suspect.

• Police also managed to stop Mrs Lawrence the year after the murder and told her she was suspected of driving a stolen car. She says continuing racist stereotyping by officers explains why African-Caribbean people are more likely to be stopped.

• She was told she should be “ashamed to show our faces” by a police employee, during a visit to Scotland Yard in 2009 to discuss her son’s murder.

• The trust she set up in Stephen’s name to help youngsters from deprived backgrounds to realise their ambitions is in financial trouble.

Ms Lawrence criticised the government’s record on race, saying they are squandering the opportunity to restart the war against prejudice presented by the conviction of two men for her son’s murder.

Doreen Lawrence: The fight must go on…

Stephen Lawrence’s mother recently talked to the ‘Gaurdian’ about her private and public struggles for justice, not just for her murdered son but for all ethnic minorities over the past two decades.

During the recent court case that finally saw two people convicted of Stephen’s murder in April 1993, the adults in the Lawrence family had to be careful what they said about the case in front of their young grand-daughter Mia, and protected her innocence by hiding the fact they were going to court.

 

Ms Lawrence said one decision she and Mia’s parents would have to make was when and how to tell her about the circumstances of her uncle’s violent death at the hands of a gang fuelled by racial hatred.

Injustice

For the two months of the trial she says she could not tell which way the jury was leaning and tried to avoid her emotions overwhelming her: “No one could ever convince me we would get to the point of getting a guilty verdict. It [meant] having that faith in the system, which we never had.”

The bereaved mother says she is often “away with the fairies”, sometimes thinking she has only dreamt that the British criminal justice system has finally found people guilty of her first-born child’s murder.

Doreen Lawrence is trying to move on, but says continuing racial injustice in Britain must be tackled. Wider society must improve its attitudes to British African-Caribbeans, who are still viewed as the face of crime and are near the bottom for jobs and housing despite promises of change after the 1999 Macpherson inquiry into her son’s death and racism in British society.

“They are pretty low down, I don’t think that has shifted much. You have to be better than your [white] contemporaries by three or four times” to get as far, she says.

“Even if you have the qualifications, if their name doesn’t sound English enough then they don’t get an interview, and if they do manage to get an interview they don’t get the job.”

To change society’s negative attitudes to ethnic minorities, educational establishments must do more and the media must tell positive stories, not just negative ones, she says.

Lawrence fears racism may still affect her grandchildren’s life chances and she hopes for, and needs, others to help fight to stop that happening: “There is no such thing as normality for me. I don’t think I’ve got any more to give.”

Read the full interview here

Eastenders is ‘awe-white’

      In 2012 we are witnessing a sudden and long overdue representation of Black people on the long standing soap ‘eastenders’ but what has happened to encourage show bosses to attempt to reflect the ethnic diversity of modern Britain (well to at least start to represent diversity) in a way that has not been associated with the soap before. Many argue that the portrayal of Black people in the soap is still poor, but non-the-less, the show’s producers are going out on a limb and introducing characters that supposedly represent the UK’s Black community.

John Yorke, the BBC’s controller of drama production, said the 26-year-old soap was “very stylised” and “significantly white” compared with the real East End.

“Real life changes much more quickly than representations of it on television. Soaps reach a point where they have a really big decision to make: do they stay true to the original vision or do they throw it away and adapt to a changing world? My own feeling is that the truth lies somewhere in between,” Yorke told the the Radio Times last year.

“EastEnders’ East End and its version of working class life are very stylised. It’s not realistic in that respect, but you look for an emotional truthfulness.”

Yorke admitted to “nerves” about introducing more black and Asian faces to the soap but said it was more diverse than it was five years ago. “EastEnders may be significantly white compared with the real East End but it’s considerably more multicultural than it was even five years ago and is easily the most multicultural show on telly now,” he added.

Yorke said he was particularly proud of the New Year’s Day episode of the soap in which a gay Muslim came out at his own wedding. “That the British population will embrace that and aren’t scared of it is a wonderful thing,” he added.

Boyd Hilton, the TV editor of Heat magazine, said viewers did not mind if the soap, BBC1′s biggest rating show, was not an authentic depiction of East End life.

“EastEnders is at its most entertaining when it has a typically preposterous long-running storyline. When it attempts to be earnest and realistic and look at all sides of an issue, that is where it can go wrong,” he added.

“Viewers want to be entertained by soap operas, rather than be educated by them…..”

Do you think that Eastenders presents a fair representation of other races? do you care? Tell us what you think….

Racist Tram woman remanded for her own safety

The woman who decided to share her drunken racist views on a London tram and declare that ‘her britain’ has been ruined by foreigners! has been remanded ‘for her own safety’ after allegedly recieving death threats.

Interestingly this woman’s verbal outburst has directly created an opportunity for people in britain to collectively voice a unified opinion against racist abuse and prejudice. I took a quick look at the numerous responses on youtube, facebook and other social networks to find that people of all races were disgusted by her choice of words and the way she expressed her opinion. It made me feel good to know that white and black people agreed that this woman was not a representative of the majority in this country.

The British press however, do not seem so sure that this woman was being racist. her rant has been described in popular tabloids as ‘alleged’ racist remarks! wtf – surely it is not merely an allegation when we all saw the visual evidence for ourselves…

What is hard to believe is that this woman was responsible for a minor whilst ’allegedly’ drunk or under the influence of drugs, she has been described in all reports as being under the influence of something – so why has she not been punished for being in this state whilst in charge of a minor? Why was she not charged with a public disorder offence? why was she not charged in relation to causing offence to others and inciting racial hatred?

The media does not seem convinced that this woman’s outburst warrants her being called a racist, she didn’t call anyone a derrogatory name even though she was insulting to those around her – and she is entitled to an opinion – even if she was stupid in the way she expressed it…I would however remind her of the Black community that has contributed greatly to rebuilding ‘her’ Britain after the war, the Black people that fought for ‘her’ Britain during the wars, the hard working Black people that contribute to the economy in ‘her’ Britain and the fact that mass immigration means ’her’ Britain has continued to flourish at home and abroad – I’d also inform her that there is no such place as Niggeragua – my point? this woman is clearly an uneducated fool who does not represent anyone but herself -

This incident does however highlight a real issue and that is that the justice system would rather protect a white racist and even ignore her obvious failings as a parent than admit that she is what she is and Black people get to contribute to the cost of feeding and accomodating this creature whilst on remand. I mean a religious couple could not adopt children because they were deemed to have ‘negative’ views on homosexuality based on the assumption they’d pass on their views to the children they care for.. so should we assume that this woman is teaching her only son about racial equality and respect for others?

Interestingly when she appeared in court her solicitor opposed bail on the grounds that her life would be in more danger in prison – er YEAH there’s disproportianatley more black people in there!

Nothing will happen to this woman – no one will kill her (that is ridiculous!), she will probably not be penalised by the courts for her actions – little more than a slap on the wrist I’d imagine – after all, she’s only on remand for her safety!

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