The Buy in Matters

Ujamma – Cooperative Economics- To build and maintain our own stores, shops, and other businesses, and to profit from them together.

In Swahili the word “Ujamma” means extended family and brotherhood; it asserts that a person becomes a person through the people or the community. The spirit of others or communities bring about family units that foster cohesion, love and service. The practice of shared wealth and the work necessary to achieve it is the core foundation of Ujamma.

Taking time to reflect on the Willie Lynch Letter helps to put Ujamma in more perspective. This speech was said to have been delivered by Willie Lynch on the bank of the James River in the colony of Virginia in 1712. Lynch was a British slave owner in the West Indies, it was in the colony that he was summoned to teach his methods on how to make a slave to the various slave owners that seemed to be struggling with sustaining their product which equated to bad economics. During the greeting of his speech Lynch stated that his method of controlling slaves would guarantee the control of salves for 300 hundred years. Willie Lynch, stated “It was necessary that your slaves depend on us, they must respect and trust us only, for distrust is bigger than trust.” Lynch told the slave owners that it was most important that their wives and children to use his methodologies intensively for one year and in return the slaves would remain perpetually distrustful; this would be the framework to begin to make a slave.

I chose to outline the Willie Lynch Speech because it is most important for us as Africans in American to understand the amount of buy-in that occurred to put us at a disadvantage today. The amount of teamwork that went into the manipulation of the black mind was unprecedented. Many slave owners, families and communities bought into this slave ideology and made sure to pass it on from generation to generation which consequently paved the way to generational wealth and a heightened white economy.

One of many favorite sayings is “When we know better, we do better”. Knowing this little bit of information makes it even more important to understand the meaning of the “Buy In” and the amount of discipline it takes. We must exert the same amount of energy of those that bought into the disenfranchisement of African Americans to develop a more rich black economy. When we think about our college studies, careers, business establishments we must not just think of the money that it will make us, but we must think of how it will benefit our people. As an African American Gerontologist, it was important for me to think about how I would offer services to my people first. As a Cosmetologist I had to think about how I would reach my people first, and as an upcoming Licensed Masters Addiction Counselor, I must think about how my services will benefit my people first. The measurement of a nation is based on its upward mobility as a collective not as individual, therefore if I want my people to be better, I must create opportunities for them to do so, after all ,I am my brother’s keeper. When we create services and business for our people, we strengthen the black economy. When we create jobs for our people, we build trust and positive relationships. When we purchase from our people and build in our communities, we develop stronger environments conducive for our overall well being.

Ujamma teaches us the importance of building and strengthening our own economy by working together. Just as they studied us, we must apply the same principals to our business practices today. We must learn how to TRUST again so that we can begin building enterprises and community networks that engage in cooperative economics for the common good of the community.

Ujamma also highlights the importance of generosity especially as it relates to the poor and vulnerable. It is my opinion that you don’t always have to give by the way of a tangible necessity. Far too often are services or goods given without a buy in to whom which you are giving. At times this leads right back to distrust. If you are a business, use a giving opportunity to highlight your services, serve as a teaching moment or require some sort of pay forward in return for your grace. This is where having your neighbor’s business card can come in handy, in return making you an avenue for someone else’s service and helps express the concepts of shared social wealth.

Ask yourself:

A I’m working collectively?

Have I made connections with others outside of the comfort of my circle?

Am I operating in the gaps?

Does my business or efforts meet the needs of my people and if now how can I expand my reach?

When was the last time I worked as a team or participated in a team building activity in my community?