PowerNomics : The National Plan to Empower Black America

Absolutely mind altering. This is helpful and dangerous it is not an exaggeration to say that my perspective does not exist as it did once before. Dr. Anderson was truly ahead of his time. It almost feels like a person that made this work after visiting the future. All people need to read this book regardless of race or gender. This was truly an incredible intellectual piece of work.

Great book with practical solutions to black people's problems. There is a lot we can do to determine where we end up. It is not easy to organize, but necessary if we are ever to truly be free.

Classic economic reader as a serious reference for study.

BLACK PEOPLE GET THIS BOOK. IT HELPS YOU TO REALIZE LIKE OTHER PEOPLE IN THE WORLD WHO CONTROL THEIR ECONOMY WE NEED TO LEARN GROUP ECONOMICS. We need to quit buying into the "MINORITY" AND "PEOPLE OF COLOR GAME." AFFIRMATIVE ACTION WAS CREATED FOR BLACKS TO GET QUALITY POSITIONS IN THE WORKFORCE, BUT APPARENTLY PEOPLE HAVE TAKEN THAT OUT OF CONTEXT AS WELL AS THE 14TH AMENDMENT. We don't own or control nothing! And more other groups of people have bought this book than Black folks. Be aware anyone can claim to be an African-American if they have connections to Africa. It has happened already. People have won lawsuits for claiming to be African-American and true Black folks are being handed the short end of the stick because we don't control Public Policy. We don't own land which means we get stuck in "URBAN" but don't own anything Urban. We have been duped to believe we can only live in a city instead of abroad, in the country, suburbs. We don't even believe we can own URBAN, SUBURBS,etc. YOU GOT TO GET THIS BOOK. WHAT HAS BEEN SAID IN THIS BOOK FAR AS STATISTICS IS CONCERNED HAS COME TO PAST. THIS BOOK ALOUD MANY BLACKS TO GO OVERSEAS TO EUROPE TO CLAIM REPARATIONS A COUPLE OF DECADES AGO. READ THE BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm Ph.D. candidate doing research into entrepreneurship. I stubbled upon this book and thought I would good aid to help further flesh some concepts and ideas in my dissertation. I was not disappointed. This book should be viewed as bible for economic empowerment. It lays out a path to financial and political independence that looks at multiple facets of black society. It was refreshing to see that many of the ideas presented by Dr. Anderson very much echo my own. We should not be asking for a seat at their table. We should be building our own.

Modern day Joseph. There's so much truth in here, it's a wonder why churches don't preach from it. Wasn't it the church that taught us tell the truth and shame the devil? Dr. Anderson really had me questioning: Why are we afraid to demand reparations, respect, and government resources? Why is it okay for other groups, but not for us? Why aren't our spiritual leaders healing us from the trauma of slavery, Jim Crow, and government mandated ignorance and poverty and brainwashing? Why aren't black educators teaching the truth about how slavery drove the industrial revolution and the debt America refuses to acknowledge it still owes its black citizens. I love how he proves his point with illustrations. I had to pause and reflect many times on the truth made known to me by reading this book. I realized how just how brainwashed I was. Before this book, I had little idea of how responsible (culpable really) government was for the present and past plight of black people. I believed that racism was prejudice. And I never considered that black people have a good reason (damn good reason) to be prejudiced against white people, for example, the hispanics taking over black music and trying to replace blacks as the majority minority; how many times have blacks been pushed to the bottom of the ladder? I have to admit that reading the book made me not want to be black. Who wants to be on a team that won't play or plays to just play, not win? I'm mad I have to sit out and lose by default because my team is brainwashed to not play together. And I have kids that need a community that loves them enough to protect them. I feel like being black means I'm unprotected, and who's helping me protect my kids? I believe Dr. Anderson's assessment of our social and economic situation. I'd have real hope if our churches believed it too. But I'm still going to do my part to empower the next generation.

The thing that strikes me most regarding Powernomics by Dr. Anderson is his insight into politics, of which he played a integral role,is one often not expressed to the Black constituency. His basic premise for much of the book is: 1)Pool Black resources; allow the Black dollar to "bounce" a number of times in the Black community before it exits. He uses other ethnic groups that don't by from Black businesses nor hire Black employees as an example of how they pool retain the power of their money. 2)The original intent of Affirmative action programs were initiated to undo the social/economic inequalities created by chattel slavery; creating a permanent underclass. After the various programs were introduce, other "minorities" who have not received the structural inequalities to the extent of African americans, and who were considered white when immigrating to the US edged out the AA and monies. This effectively put them on the bottom of receiving programs that were initially intended for them. 3)African Americans/Blacks must look out for Blacks and not be afraid to requires quid pro quo of politicians for their vote like every other constituency except according to Anderson, Blacks; they are just happy to vote. 4)Refuse to treat any other group better than they treat you as a group. I agree with Dr. Anderson on most things, but a few things to mention where I think he missed it in Powernomics. 1)His critique of Booker T Washington, seems misplaced. Washington, advocated for exactly what Powernomics proclaims; entrepreneurship and economic development. He was Garvey's mentor, though not directly, inspiring him to come to the US. The historical Booker T. would have been better than the gossip Booker T. of what people thought of him. 2)I would have expected a more cited book. Some of the things mentioned don't mention a citation, especially when they are controversial and thought to be wrong. There are some citations, but with the numerous claims made, more are definitely warranted. 3)He mentions routinely the Willie Lynch Letter which has been proven to be a forged letter of the 20th century. This is problematic in that some of the conclusions that people may make according to this letter may provide a false state of the condition of Black America. This is a good book and I am glad to have purchased it. I will re read it, put it together with some other books for my own communities liberation. Another book that does some of Powernomics with a 1/4 less is Black Economics: Solutions for Economic and Community Empowerment by Jawanza Kunjufu. Also Blueprint for Black Power by Amos Wilson, which goes in the other direction in terms of pages(800+). In all this is a good book and it is definitely great to start you off in Black Economics/pooling your resources. The political bloc portion may be a little difficult in that we seemed to be in bed with the whole of all minorites, but it seems necessary to start acting as "group" to have our needs addressed. It will be interesting to see how he implements his plans, inspite of the backlash from other groups and the various betrayals associated with embarking upon such a monumental task.

Great book heavy stuff