Brown v. Board of Education, 50 Years and Beyond: Promise and Progress

The Emancipation Proclamation did not mean a thing. We as a people are still in slavery today. Now, do not get me wrong-chains and shackles do not enslave us, but we are enslaved economically. We have come a long way as a people, but we still have a long way to go. On May 17, 1954 at 12:52p.m., a monumental decision of the Supreme Court altered the economic, political, and social structure of this nation. The public education system-the playing field equalizer-was ordered integrated. This decision not only affected the equalization of education in America, but it also gave our people the license to free ourselves from the chains that bind us today-economic enslavement.

Economic enslavement-the reason why we as a people are a powerful economic base of over 35 million people with spending power of over $600 billion dollars annually but don't recognize any of that power within our families and communities. The purchasing power of the African-American community would make us the fifthlargest country in the world. Yet black wealth is not necessarily good news. Sadly, even with this enormous economic potential, African-Americans bring 95% of what we earn to businesses outside our community while we only control less than 2% of all the resources and wealth in the United States. How do we spend enough money to be compared to an entire country, yet we only control 2% of the U.S. wealth and resources? The fight that brought integration to education 50 years ago is the same fight that should bring economic empowerment to our people today.