Black-Owned Businesses (BOBs), African American Spending Habits, Race Matters, and Wealth Inequality

Update 11/15/2018: Child Support Expenditures for 2013: The average child support in 2013 was $224.28. For Asians they spent $93.53, African Americans spent $227.54, Hispanics spent $211.78, and Non-Hispanic whites and other spent $226.44. – Source: The New Strategist Editors, Who’s Buying by Race and Hispanic Origin, 9th Edition (2015)   Individual who had a…

Part Two: The Black Marriage – Power, Media, the Black Church, and Solutions

The elite groups with the power to control definitions of marriage were, it may seem to go without saying, not just men, but White men. The “authority to define societal values” associated with marriage “is a major expression of upper class white male power” (Collins, 1990, p. 76). Thus, the roles of husband and wife that were created, and the…

Part One: The Black Marriage – Truths about the Role of the Black Woman and Wife

Much of the writings about the challenges of marriage and the role of wife have been single lens studies about White (middle-class) women (e.g., Kingston, 2006; Maushart, 2001), even though they are not always marked as such. I came across a great article that speaks on black marriages. I’m not married, but I belong to…

Bert Williams: The Funniest Man We Never Saw, the Saddest Man We Never Knew

“The Funniest Man We Never Saw, The Saddest Man We Never Knew” – W.C. Fields Known during his lifetime as “the funniest man in America,” Egbert “Bert” Austin Williams enjoyed fame as the straight man and ballad singer of the African American comedy team of Williams and Walker. Together, the two men became one of…

Journal Article: Felon Disenfranchisement Laws and the Feedback Loop of Political Exclusion: the Case of Florida

I love journal articles!!  I am a fanatic when to comes to providing sources and believe that you can learn a lot from academics and professors.  If it were up to me, I would be reading different peer-reviewed and scholarly journals for life.  I will list from time to time certain articles that are of…

What am I Willing to Struggle For?

“Happiness Requires Struggle” – Mark Mason I know the ordinary, “I want to be secure, happy, stable, in love, and buy a house” is the normal response from people. But looking at this article and this question he posed got me to thinking.  What am I willing to struggle for?  What have I struggled for…

My Autodidact Book list of January 2016

These are a few books that I have been reading for a couple of months.  I am an autodidact so my hunger for knowledge and information can be a little overwhelming, but I love it.  These are books that I hope to finish by the end of the month, so that I can work on…

Social Invisibility: Can a Black Woman’s “hoeness” be Deleted? Stereotypes, Rumors, and Titles of Shame

“Black women emerged from slavery enshrined in the consciousness of white America as “mammy” and “bad black woman.” –  Cherly Gilkes According to a society that has condemned black women for her erotic….no!!!!…our “hoeness” can not be deleted.  It seems as though we forget how and why these labels against our women came from in…

Julian Frances Abele, African American Architect

Born in 1881, Philadelphia native Julian Frances Abele was the unknown black architect that is finally receiving recognition for his architectural accomplishments in this country.  He graduated from Philadelphia High School and matriculated to UPenn’s School of Architecture. Abele’s graduation in 1902 was historic for, not only was he at the top of his class, but he…