Empowering Black America through Holistic Engagement
 
The Odyssey Project

SOBPE Investment Group

The Basic Business Plan Outline for the Society of Black Professionals & Entrepreneurs Investment Group

 

The Society of Black Professionals and Entrepreneurs (SOBPE) Investment Group is a business organization that is designed to facilitate black group economics practiced vertically. This business organization is being launched with the understanding that there must be a coherent, cohesive and strategic plan in place in order to provide the platform on which blacks will collectively find their voice and power to stand alone. The SOBPE Investment Group has adopted the general strategy put forth by Dr. Claud Anderson in his book “Powernomics” — a strategy furthered by Dr. Rick Wallace.

The five steps of absolute empowerment are:

  1. Building an economic floor and collective economic system of empowerment through the practice of black group economics
  2. Political empowerment gained by using the aggregate economic strength that we create through the practice of group economics
  3. Use our increasing political clout to influence local police and court policy as well as impacting local government
  4. Acquire media outlets to use to influence our image, and to serve as a countermeasure for negative propaganda campaigns
  5. Create our own educational system for your youth

What Lies Ahead:

  1. Economic Empowerment through Group Economics
  2. The practice of group economics is essential; however, it must be clear that basic group economics will not be sufficient. Group economics must be practiced vertically, meaning that we must dominate the complete industry of businesses that we dominate spending in. Vertical group economics call for ownership at every level in a given industry, retail, distribution and manufacturing. We must first focus on industries in which blacks dominate the spending, such as beauty supply and seafood.
  3. Developing and Supporting Black-Owned Businesses
  4. One of the first things that we must understand is the fact that there is a difference between a black-owned business and a business that is owned by a black person. This business organization is designed to offer support to Black Owned Businesses — businesses that are not only being patronized by the black community but are also reinvesting in the black community. The simple definition of a Black Owned Business is a business that has black ownership and an Afro-centric focus on how it reinvests in proceeds.
  5. In order for a business to be a part of this organization and to be endorsed by this organization, it must qualify as a black-owned
  6. We must develop a systematic method through which the black dollar will bounce in the black community a minimum of 12 to 15 times during the initial stages of building, and as the black economy grows, this number must increase in correspondence.
  7. Each business will be required to reinvest a specific amount of their profit into specific areas in the community, based on immediate need. Some of the areas in which we will be asking Black-Owned Businesses to invest are:
  8. Business Development
  9. Financial Development through creating our own banks.
  10. Residential Development
  11. Infrastructure Expansion
  12. Education & Youth Development
  13. Care for the Homeless and Disabled
  14. Leadership Development
  15. Private Funding
  16. Black Collectivism
  17. It is essential that a concerted effort is made to condition the black mind to think collectively, instead of individually. A great deal of the psychological warfare that has been waged against blacks over the past 350 to 400 years has been centered on creating a paradigm through which blacks instinctively view life through the lens of individualism.
  18. As author, Tom Burrell has stated, the propaganda machine has done an unbelievable job in creating an inferiority complex in blacks, and it has also been extremely effective in perpetuating divisiveness, which is essential to facilitate the constant oppression of blacks.
  19. We must use the economic power that is created through black group economics to develop media outlets and strategies that serve to counter the impact of negative propaganda. We must consistently send messages that are positive and uplifting to our people. At current, we are extremely limited in the reach that we have in the black community. Our children and adults are being bombarded with negative messages, via TV, movies, radio, music, educational curriculum, etc. We must engage this issue effectively.
  20. We must create a code of conduct similar to the one that is attached in order to establish what is acceptable and what is absolutely not acceptable. The vernacular that is used in presenting these codes must be highly lucid, so that there is no misunderstanding of what the expectation of those who will participate in this process will be, regardless of position or function.
  21. Develop highly specific think tanks to address all of the enigmatic issues that are plaguing the black community

Support Services — The SOBPE will provide the following services to ensure that black businesses are prepared and equipped to compete in the global economy. Just because Black Owned Businesses are expected to have an Afro-centric or black focus does not mean that many of the businesses that are planted and cultivated through this process should be equipped to compete on a global level against non-black owned businesses. Some of the key services that are being offered are:

  1. General Business Support
  2. Promotional Support (marketing and branding)
  3. General Business Advice
  4. Legal Counsel (Including assistance is setting up corporations and chains)
  5. Financial Support — providing the economic floor to ensure that a business has the necessary support to give it time to become profitable.
  6. General and specific training for owners and employees
  7. Seminars and conferences to help enhance the general business acumen of all owners involved
  8. Political support, which is designed to help owners understand how to use the political system to protect their business interests — physically and financially.
  9. Military support — One of the reasons that it was so easy for the destruction of black communities in the past is that there were laws that made it easy for whites to come in and destroy black communities without consequence. The existence of the internet and social media makes it slightly more difficult; however, it is vital that blacks understand the importance of political and military science, so that black businesses, communities, and educational systems can have physical and political protection from assault, and this all begins with economic empowerment.
  10. National Chapters
  11. It will be important to establish national chapters in every major city that will function independently but remain connected to all other national chapters that will be able to provide additional support in any area when necessary. This independence will allow each chapter to function expeditiously in addressing issues without having to deal with the slow process of getting approval from one centralized headquartered operation. The entire network is accountable to the whole while functioning independently based on its geographical and political needs.

The enigmatic issues that the black community faces are highly complex, and there are no quick fixes available. In fact, it is our belief that far too many black leaders have attempted to apply the quick fix to these complex issues, and the results have been non-efficacious. Actually, the use of quick fixes to stabilize issues that have been more than three centuries in the making only frustrates the problem. Black leaders who are serious about making a difference must first come to the realization that the change that is needed will not take place overnight.

First of all, you cannot undo centuries of negative conditioning overnight. It will take time to convince the black collective that they are not inferior — to give them permission to tell their own story and celebrate their own brilliance. This will require a committed long-term plan in which negative messages are replaced with positive and empowering ones. It will require a shift in paradigms in which education is viewed as much more than the acquisition of academic skills — seeing education as a holistic experience in which black youth are given the aggregate knowledge that is necessary for them to be certain of their identity, purpose, and worth. This knowledge must also equip them to compete in the world that encapsulates them — not as employees, but as young entrepreneurs who a fight to compete with their white, Asian and Arab counterparts.

This type of plan requires black leadership that is less concerned about the pat on the back they can receive now, and more fixed on leaving behind and unshakable legacy. This company and organization are committed to creating a paradigmatic shift that breathes life into the whole of the black race, convincing our youth that all things are possible and that there is a genius inside each one of them. This shift in paradigms will also empower each individual in the black community to take control of their own destiny as they establish their own worth.

We understand that if done right, this process has the power to deal a fatal blow to white supremacy as it currently exists, simply through focus and disciplined spending as we shift from being primarily consumers to becoming predominately producers. We must promote ownership and diminish materialism. White supremacy has absolutely no power in the absence of black compliance, and the primary goal of this company is to provide the economic support for blacks to stand completely on their own. As we become an autonomous race in America, we will find our voice. It is so much easier to speak up and speak out when our livelihood is not dependent on the one we must speak out against.

We also believe that the time has come to move away from the social media discussions in order to take immediate action. There will never be a perfect time to undertake vehement endeavor; therefore, we must simply come together and take the first step.

 

Ramonica Caldwell

Cofounder

 

Dr. Rick Wallace, Ph.D.

Cofounder

 

*View preliminary Code of Conduct here: http://www.theodysseyproject21.com/code-conduct/


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