The Gospel Truth

"If we were as good at saving money as we are at saving souls many of  African Americans problems would be solved."  this is a paraphrase from the 'wealth choice' by Dennis Kimbro.

      I just left church this Sunday June the 2nd 2013. My preacher just announced that the church will be purchasing the former JCPenney building that was an anchor store at the  once prominent Northland Mall in Southfield, Michigan. I had mixed feelings concerning the announcement. On 1 hand I was happy and proud that the JCPenney building was going to be under African-American control. On the other hand, I was a little disappointed that no African-american private sector funding team was involved in the deal. And yes, I was a little upset that me and my team did not get a chance to place a bid on the property. But beyond my own personal interest the deal made me do some thinking and some counting. In the detroit area there over 10 new churches with development cost over 10 million dollars. Simple math says that 10 properties at 10 million dollars each equal 100 million how can ten new churches be built in less than a decade at a cost of over a tenth of a billion dollars in a city that has filed for bankruptcy? The answer is the only time African American pool their money on a regular basis is on Sunday mornings.
       The rise of so many mega million dollar churches pays testament to the power of the black dollar when it is pooled together for a common goal. The problem is Detroit has grand churches but crumbling schools. Dan Gilbert the owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Quicken Loans has bought over 25 buildings in Downtown Detroit for under 100 million. I salute Mr. Gilbert on his vision to invest in Detroit.  That said the fact that black churches build multi-million dollar buildings with money from the black community, yet the black community has not pooled any funds together to buy any of the prime real estate.  This phenomenon goes on all over the nation. African Americans have all the resources needed to redevelop our neighborhoods and cities all that is lacking is the understanding of how many people with a little money equals a lot of money.

     As always this is some food for thought from the good people at Big Boss Filmworks and High Exposure Consulting the proud sponsors of the Gittin' Off Zero project.  Join the movement like us on facebook for more information.