So the idea was that if Black people spent their money at Black businesses and divested from white institutions, it would help generate Black wealth.
And the idea has been championed by everyone from Booker T. Washington to Marcus Garvey to Malcolm X. Even in Martin Luther King's famous "Been To The Mountaintop" speech - literally the one he gave the day before he was killed - he was urging Black people in Memphis to take their money out of white-run banks and insurance companies and invest that money in those in town that were run by Black folks.
I mean, the calls for people to buy from Black businesses are particularly loud right now.
That's why so many corporations might feel compelled to make statements expressing support for Black lives and Black businesses right now, even if those corporations have, let's say, spotty records on justice and fairness.
And all this thinking about how Black people should be spending their money and investing in Black businesses rests against this notion that Black people individually and collectively don't spend their money wisely or effectively.
