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People in the African-American community love to talk about “buying Black” and with the increasing push to keep funds circulating within our own neighborhoods, many have found that more funds exit the Black community than stay in.

According to author Brooke Stephens’ book, Talking Dollars and Making Sense: A Wealth Building Guide for African-Americans, the lifespan of a dollar in the Asian community is 28 days, in the Jewish community the lifespan of a dollar is 19 days, and shockingly, the lifespan in the African-American community is approximately 6 hours.

“Buying Black” expert Maggie Anderson, Founder of the Empowerment Experiment, and Eugene Mitchell, Founder of the $50 Billion Empowerment Plan, joined Roland Martin on NewsOne Now to discuss how we can keep funds in our community, empower entrepreneurs, and grow up to one million jobs through business development within the African-American community.

According to TheEmpowermentTour.com, the movement involves “expansion and evolution of The Empowerment Experiment – the Anderson family’s historic stand and study living off Black businesses and professionals for an entire year” chronicled in the book Our Black Year.

The Tour leverages Maggie’s national network of community, faith, professional, civic, media, university and corporate partners, and unites with the $50 Billion Community Empowerment Plan, the financial literacy and empowerment campaign created by Eugene Mitchell, Corporate Vice President at New York Life, which has created and tracked over $33 Billion in tax-free wealth for Black families and empowered over 1200 Black insurance entrepreneurs.

Together, Mitchell’s and Anderson’s stories and successes have made them the experts and evangels of the only financial and economic empowerment movement of its kind. They deliver a call to action with an inspirational, compelling, heart-rending intensity reminiscent of the marches and rallies of the Civil Rights movement. Equally educational, Maggie and Eugene use these forums to introduce practical tools and solutions and powerful truths and businesses the community needs.

Anderson told Martin she uses her platform and story to get people to have the “buying Black” conversation: “Take personal stock and think about what you are doing in your life to support our community.”

“We can vote Black, go to church Black, go be members of all these wonderful Black institutions, but unless you are spending Black and buying Black — that’s the best way to demonstrate your love and pride for the community,” Anderson said.

She added, “So don’t just say I don’t have a Black dry cleaner — you might, and most of us do, but we’re not looking for that Black dry cleaner.” To find Black-owned businesses, Anderson suggested viewers take a little time and search them out via Google.

Eugene Mitchell, Corporate Vice President – Field Director at New York Life Insurance Company, told Martin the Empowerment Tour and $50 Billion Empowerment Plan is critical because we can “increase our success and our employment” through redirecting “$1 trillion dollars in earned income” back into the African-American community by supporting Black businesses.

Mitchell believes the result from reinvesting those funds into Black businesses would allow those businesses to expand and offer them the ability to employ others.

He also told Martin, “We could redirect some of our spending back into financial tools and strategies that other folks have been using for hundreds of years and could build, protect, leverage and pass on wealth for ourselves.”

According to TheEmpowermentTour.com, the $50 Billion Empowerment Plan, created by Mitchell, “promises to create $50 Billion in inter-generational, tax-free wealth for the Black community, financial legacies for struggling families, businesses and institutions, and support for 1100 top quality business owners who serve as role models and financial stewards for the community. This will happen if 200,000 families were to invest $250,000 in life insurance.”

Watch Roland Martin, Maggie Anderson, and Eugene Mitchell discuss the Empowerment Tour and the $50 Billion Empowerment Plan in the video clip above.

For more information about The Empowerment Tour, visit www.theempowermenttour.com.

TV One’s NewsOne Now has moved to 7 A.M. ET, be sure to watch “NewsOne Now” with Roland Martin, in its new time slot on TV One.

Subscribe to the “NewsOne Now” Audio Podcast on iTunes.

SEE ALSO: 

Roland Martin Offers “Open Invitation” To Black Pastors To Talk Specifics, Policy, & What Was Discussed During Meeting With Donald Trump

Buying Black: The Lifespan Of A Dollar In African-American Communities Is 6 Hours  was originally published on newsone.com