The Front Porch : My Name is Umar

Umar H. Soaries is this your REAL name?:(

It's the name both my daddy and the people who once owned my ancestors gave me. Why would I need to use a fake one? The feds dropped those charges (I had an alibi), the Mob decided to let that little loan go (You feed those guys enough pasta and they too tired to break anything), and I was aquitted of that other thingie (I just "fit the description", you know how it is), so i can be me again. (Well, there's still that CIA thing but they can't even find WMD's on a missile ranch, so I think I'm good there too.)
:qqb003:

Umar H. Soaries
overexposedinc(dot)com
 
Oh and if you're one of those mates who expect great grammar or even half-way decent spelling on a mesage board, chat room or Social Network post, unless you are grading my paper or deciding the disposition of my grant, you'll be barking at the cat in the wrong tree with me. (I used to have an editor but she left me for a guy with a great spellcheck app. **** YOU APPLE!!!!!)

Umar H. Soaries
overexposedinc(dot)com
 
In fact she was. But hey, look on the bright side - the polka-dots were black.

Oh an being as I gave up my meth habit just a couple of days ago, it is not lost on me how you did not point out the Sistah who runs a website where she works hard to advice young girls on the real deal behind modeling (her name is Dania Denise and she's AWESOME), nor did you point out the Sistah who was the first featured model (Cute and really interesting name on that one). Went straight for the hot white chick.

As my father used to say, "Surely there is a lesson in this for those who understand."

OMG, this is going to be way more fun than I originally thought.
:lol:

Umar H. Soaries
 
I'd be more the happy to reply. I mean all woman, anyone a monthly visitor or an XX chromosome or who ever just looks better in a dress. (I'm in New York so that last one could get a bit dodgey.)

Interesting. It always amazes me how bruthas can come to a site of overwhelmingly black folk and say they are for ALL women, that in their world, black women are nobody special.

I've had four businesses in my life time. Two of them were decidedly Black oriented, geared towards the on-again/off-again "buy black" ideal. Know what happenned? No one Black bought Black. Okay, let's be fair about thta one: Not enough people of African decent purchased or created a customer based to sustain the businesses.

And yet John E. Johnson, Ebony, built an empire on black customers, as well as the other Chicago Johnson who peddled Soft Sheen.... to black people. :huh:

I was selling artwork at one time - artwork of Black heroes then an now. Me and two artists invested money and time creating original works of Black heroes and figured we could sell them at events, online, demonstrations, and Black organization. Do you know who my direct competition was? Koreans. (I am not even joking about that one - at the time, which was 1996, it shocked the hell out of me too.)

While I was losing my investment bit by bit and the other guys went from enthusiastic to feeling like they were over a dead horse working the whip (and they were quite justified), the Koreans who were selling African artwork, pictures of our Black heroes (that were not original at all - you could find the same pictures all over New York City) where growing while we were going broke. Do you know who was buying from these Koreans? Black people. (I am Jack's complete lack of surprise.)
Are black folk in NYC just stupid, or was there a reason they preferred the Korean b.s.-black art to yours?

Another business i was in was selling hair. Now that one did pretty good. Once we were up and running we were turning a decent profit. Apparently if you say the magic words "Indian Remi" it's like a siren's song to the sistahs. However, that too was a fickled business and stuff just happened that I won't go over.
And yet, the brothers of the Koreans you wrote of in NYC are prolly sending their kids to college selling that same hair. Go figure.

I'm 51 years old and did the "Black Power" thing for years - my father who was one of the few Black men who actually participated in things of the 1960's many others lie that butts off about would never let us forget.

So when I say "women" I mean all woman. No race, country of origin nor adult age gets left behind on this. And after my experience I am making absolutely no apologies for it. Indeedy.

Haki Madhubutti (nee Don Lee) was a part of that era. He's now a millionaire selling Third World Press books to black people.... almost exclusively. Perhaps he still thrives because the concept of Black Power was not a "thing" to him, rather a way of life?

Do not get me wrong. I understand your frustration. I think something like 9 out every 10 new businesses fail within 2 years. But to lay the blame for your business failures at the feet of blacks, and black women, especially, is not only insulting on a forum chockful of black women but, well, it's not nice. It was true when it was first said, and it's true today: "Build a better mousetrap and they WILL buy!"

"Better" meaning price, packaging, quality, desirability, as well as presentation and salesmanship.
 

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