Breaking Down
BLACK MOMS CAN.
Often during the frustrating journey of researching and writing the manuscript Black Moms Can (BMC), my first book, I was constantly asked: What is BMC? What do they do? What problem do they solve? When the questions started, I was probably deep into the 3rd or 4th draft of the manuscript.
As I began writing I was able to think through the process of establishing BMC’s purpose, objectives, and goals. But after all these months of researching the problems faced by Black families, and listening to the feedback, criticism, and input from the people I consulted with while writing, I had to ask myself what will BMC actually do?
What I discovered was that BMC represents an adaptation of programs and movements that have existed in this country. The Black Moms Can Initiative is curating content, disrupting White privilege, and transforming the economic mind-set of grass-roots Black families ─ the chronically poor most often referred to as “underserved” ─ to a wealth-building mode. We are empowering them during the greatest technological revolution called E-commerce, during the worst pandemic the planet has experienced.
One must consider the burden that systemic racism has rendered on Black Americans which has caused many disenfranchised Blacks to commit acts of desperation. The reality is that major media outlets, social media platforms, popular video games, and movies, primarily created by companies owned and managed by Whites, reinforce the illusion that Blacks are destined for incarceration, premature death, and poverty.
The Black Moms Can Initiative wants to dispel and curate misinformation, challenge the ills of White privilege, and transform/monetize internet technology and connectivity to the economic benefit of Black families. It’s time that social programs and other ‘handouts’ no longer be the way White America “helps” the marginalized Black community. It is time WE create a solution to get Black Moms and their children informed of what they can achieve, trained on the Ecommerce platform, earning income and profits thereby creating economic sustainability for themselves and their families.