One of the most historic (and controversial) figures in the Black experience is Booker T. Washington,
founder of Hampton Institute an historically Black college. Washington
advocated Blacks "picking themselves up from their bootstraps" meaning
be self-reliant. With Black male unemployment in New York City
hovering around 50%, it would seem that Washington's mantra might be
useful and timely. As we enter the second decade of the new millenium,
Black males may need to discard the long-favored strategy of being
"employable" and replace it with a new-millenium strategy that
concentrates on being "entrepreneurial." From Bootstraps to Laces
is a series dedicated to reawakening the entrepreneurial disposition
and providing concrete measures for becoming providers of products and
services (i.e., entrepreneurs). The term "Bootstraps" is an hommage of
sorts to Washington's philosophy; however, metaphorically speaking,
we've gone from the "boot" to the "shoe" and therefore, we've moved
from the "strap" to the "lace."
The first forum is entitled: Recession Proofing Ourselves by Re-energizing Our Entrepreneurial Spirit: The Self-Sufficiency Reclamation Initiative which
will examine:
- the historic underpinnings of Washington's
philosophy;
- integration's impact on Black-owned businesses and
patronage;
- how the college degree
became to be viewed and used as a vehicle for employment, not
entrepreneurship; and
- returning to pre-integration strategies for
economic empowerment (e.g., Black Wall Street).
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