White Compromises and American Prosperity

The development and protection of American Prosperity was contingent upon Northern and Southern white men making compromises that allowed the continuance of slavery. These white compromises in 1787, 1820, 1850, and 1877 not only protected white supremacy, but also unity of the settler’s economy. The Federal government invaded the Southern states not to abolish slavery, but to preserve the union. After the War, during Reconstruction, Blacks started schools, farmed the land, and were elected to local, state, and national offices. This period of Black empowerment was cut short when Northern and Southern states compromised again to allow the establishment of the Jim Crow regime, the terrorism of lynching, and the re-establishment of the Ku Klux Klan. This compromise was disrupted with the 1960s civil rights movements, which has left us today without the unity necessary to create a climate of justice.

Introduction

The introduction posits essentialisms associated with African culture as fundamental to an understanding of how black people imagine their African heritage in the diaspora. Ryan Coogler’s blockbuster Black Panther is used to illustrate how members of the diaspora select, reify, or challenge romanticized notions about Africa while portraying images and sounds of black empowerment. The introduction locates this book’s study within the fields of African, African diasporic, and Afro-Brazilian, and Bahian studies emphasizing that the approach here taken differs from that of most others in that it engages musical and discourse analysis, as opposed to discourse analysis only. The methods of data collection and the author’s subject position are also presented. Finally, the interlocutors, along with the criteria for their inclusion, are introduced.

Conceptualizing Black Political Disillusionment

This article explores the impact of increased political disillusion on support for a Black regime within a city shaped by Black empowerment. Building on findings from previous research on the 2010 mayoral election in New Orleans, Louisiana (NOLA), we examine how the intersection of race and economic stratification influences political disillusion in a Black community. W.E.B. Du Bois’s double consciousness guides our examination of the Black political sphere relative to the election of Mayor Mitch Landrieu in 2010. We conduct a quantitative content analysis to illuminate the communicative elements resulting from Black empowerment and the political incorporation of Black residents of New Orleans in relation to political disillusion. All participants (n=22) in this sample are Black New Orleanians who were eligible to vote in the 2010 New Orleans mayoral election. Our findings convey a Black electorate both disillusioned by post-Katrina economic and political developments and yet pragmatic about the possibilities for greater success with a white mayor. Also, the findings suggest that government disillusion influences why Black voters are willing to elect a white mayor. Lastly, we assert that participants, while being seen as outsiders to their community, develop a second-sight. This second-sight is generated by intra-racial political considerations that take on cultural, as well as political, form.

Zimbabwe’s Indigenous SME policy Framework, a tool for black empowerment

Small to Medium Enterprise (SMEs) play a pivotal role in growing the economy as well as alleviating poverty across the marginalised citizens, especially in an economy such has Zimbabwe, which has experienced indiscriminate closure of large corporates to advance the indigenisation thrust of the government. In response to the closure of large corporates, Zimbabwe focused on SMEs as an alternative to close the gap. The Zimbabwe Industrial Development Policy (IDP) and the Indigenisation and Empowerment Policy (IEP) were put in place as the vehicles of economic transformation. This article analyses the impact of these two policies on the performance Zimbabwean SMEs. The article contributes knowledge on how African governments respond to economic crisis through the policies that they enact targeting the enterprises of the local citizens. Methodologically, the study critically analyses the literature on SME policies and performance in Zimbabwe. The article drew insights from both the IDP and IEP as well as form findings from other secondary studies.

Zimbabwe’s Indigenous SME policy Framework, a tool for black empowerment

Zimbabwe embarked on the policy to empower its local people through enacting into law a policy that targeted the empowerment of its citizens. The ‘Indigenisation and Empowerment Act’ (IEP) of Zimbabwe was made into law when the state President, Robert Mugabe signed the Act on March 7, 2008. It is stated in the (IEP) that the foreign-owned companies should offer at least 51 percent of their shares to indigenous Zimbabweans, and also provide for the creation of an empowerment fund to finance the acquisition of working capital, shares, and other forms of finance for indigenous people. The indigenisation process mainly focus on Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) as the key drivers of the new economic dispensation hence their performance is of great significance to this cause. This development was viewed by the citizens as the best strategy to implement in order to empower the nation to participate in the economic development of the country. Methodologically, the study critically analysed the literature of indigenisation policies that were applied by some regions of the world and how they impacted on the disadvantaged groups. The researcher went on to analyse the Zimbabwean indigenous policies and how they impacted the SMEs and drew insights from the findings of other researchers.

Zimbabwe’s Indigenous SME policy Framework, a tool for black empowerment

Zimbabwe embarked on the policy to empower its local people through enacting into law a policy that targeted the empowerment of its citizens. The ‘Indigenisation and Empowerment Act’ (IEP) of Zimbabwe was made into law when the state President, Robert Mugabe signed the Act on March 7, 2008. It is stated in the (IEP) that the foreign-owned companies should offer at least 51 percent of their shares to indigenous Zimbabweans, and also provide for the creation of an empowerment fund to finance the acquisition of working capital, shares, and other forms of finance for indigenous people. The indigenisation process mainly focus on Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) as the key drivers of the new economic dispensation hence their performance is of great significance to this cause. This development was viewed by the citizens as the best strategy to implement in order to empower the nation to participate in the economic development of the country. Methodologically, the study critically analysed the literature of indigenization policies that were applied by some regions of the world and how they impacted on the disadvantaged groups. The researcher went on to analyse the Zimbabwean indigenous policies and how they impacted the SMEs and drew insights from the findings of other researchers.

Have you heard?

A poem about my great grandmother, Marie. Marie, half Black, half Narragansett, married Frank, member of the local NAACP chapter, and built a legacy of Black empowerment in a small Connecticut town.