“I have never seen a broke successful person,” Minister Donald Muhammad said at Shalom Church’s third installment of “If I Ruled the World: The Business, The Benjamins and the Bling,” held on Friday.
“We live in America, and we can’t do anything without money or the acquisition of wealth. I’ve never had a problem that money can’t solve.”
It was priceless to watch the faces of the people who heard him say so candidly that money and success go hand and hand.
Muhammad was most provocative among a sizable and impressive group of panelists – including Michael V. Roberts, Eric C. Rhone, Mary “One” Johnson, Dr. E. Hammond Oglesby, the Rev. Muriel Johnson and Willie Moore Jr. – who addressed a crowd of at least 1,000.
Throughout, the discussion moderated by Shalom’s pastor Dr. James Clark was charged with the direction to embrace economics and how focusing on the bottom line will strengthen every aspect of life for African Americans.
“Part of the education we are lacking in the African-American community is how to accumulate wealth,” said Muriel Johnson.
“We need to learn how to get out of debt, stop giving our money to everybody else and be mindful of how to be successful – but without being a detriment to our community.”
Muhammad agreed and continued to wow the crowd with his matter-of-fact statements of blacks’ failures in the world of capitalism.
“Capitalism works differently for black people than it does for everybody else because we are totally the consumer,” Muhammad said. “We nourish everybody else’s economic health but ourselves.”
Discussions ranged from what we don’t have, to what we we’re doing wrong, to what behaviors we need to adopt in order to become a financially independent community.
“Most capitalists, most entrepreneurs and most business people are organized, and that’s something that we need to do in the community,” Rhone said.
“We have the vision, we have the people who are willing to take the risk, what we don’t have is organization.”
Everyone had his or her own formula for what it will take for African Americans to succeed.
“For me, the only way to be successful is to follow the word of God,” Willie Moore Jr. said.
“The first step is education, education and education,” Dr. E. Hammond Oglesby said.
“What would your life be like if you eliminated the fear of failure?” Roberts asked the audience.
“You don’t drive a car looking through a rear view mirror – and you can’t live like that, either.”
Clark brought up the notion of the “hookup” and used MC Hammer as an example of what happens when it goes too far.
“I know him personally,” Rhone said of Hammer.
“And he says, ‘I blew all of my money, but I made my money.’ He had a whole team of parasitical people who were getting hooked up and they were not worthy.”
“You can get a hookup, but you have to put something in to get something out,” Mary “One” Johnson said. “Put money into black businesses, because it is going back into you.”
Clark’s question became prophetic as he opened the floor for questions, and nearly all of them involved some request for a hookup in professional ventures ranging from jewelry-making to producing a gospel play.
Despite the self-serving nature of the questions, the panelists managed to illustrate the importance of independence, progressive thinking and fearlessness in achieving success.
“There are always emerging ideas and concepts,” Roberts said. “Today it’s not brick by brick, it’s click by click.”
“Every institution has failed us as a people,” Muhammad said. “And because the institutions have failed us, then we have to have the foresight to create new ones for ourselves.”
