The myth of black buying power – that black people collectively hold trillions of dollars in wealth and that they could improve their economic status if only they ‘spent their money more wisely’ – has been used for more than a century to take the focus off the systemic racism and uphold capitalism. Dr. Jared Ball, author of “The Myth and Propaganda of Black Buying Power,” explains what is behind this myth and why it is still actively embraced today despite evidence to the contrary. He talks about what power is and what we must do to build it.
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Guest:
Dr. Jared Ball is a father and husband. After that, he is a Professor of Communication and Africana Studies at Morgan State University in Baltimore, MD. and is founder/curator of imixwhatilike.org a multimedia hub of emancipatory journalism and revolutionary beat reporting. Ball is also author of The Myth and Propaganda of Black Buying Power (Palgrave, 2020).