ATLANTA—When Dr. Ken Harris, president and CEO of The National Business League, called businessman and author Dr. Boyce Watkins about working together and doing something that would make history, Dr. Watkins accepted.
That marked the beginning of a partnership that formed the 125th anniversary of the National Business League Conference and the 10th anniversary of Dr. Watkins’ All Black National Convention.
“It was really divine alignment,” Dr. Watkins, a businessman, author and speaker, said to The Final Call. This was the first time the All Black National Convention partnered with another organization.
“We’re most proud of the fact that in a year where all the DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) programs are being taken away, a lot of the Black conferences are really being muted because of that. We were bigger and stronger than ever, and I think that’s a reminder of the importance of economic sovereignty when it comes to us being who we really want to be,” Dr. Watkins said.
The convention took place on Aug. 23-24 at the Hilton Atlanta Hotel. Sessions covered the “DEI recession,” Black relationships, Black men in America, the Black family, technology and artificial intelligence, generational wealth and wisdom, land and real estate, Black education and reparations.
In his opening remarks, Dr. Watkins described America as a sinking ship and argued that Black people need to learn to defend against economic warfare.
The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, National Representative of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad, has taught Black people for decades that “business is warfare.”
“The enemy has never wanted to see us economically powerful, and every effort that we have made to become economically strong, the architect of that economic strength was always labeled as anti-Semitic.
Booker T. Washington wanted us to be economically free,” Minister Farrakhan said in a message titled, “Our Unity and Pooling Resources for Economic Strength,” delivered on May 21, 2016, at the Benton Convention Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
“What is the mission of the entrepreneur? It is not just to make money to fatten the pockets of an individual or a family, but the entrepreneur is the bellwether.
They are the ones who signal to the people ‘we are present to supply our people’s needs,’” Minister Farrakhan added. “If you’re not a soldier in the economic battle for justice and freedom, then we’re going to lose.”
Dr. Watkins described to The Final Call the landscape in which many Black people find themselves today.
“You have those who are really suffering because opportunities were taken away from them. Financial security was evaporated. Black women lost hundreds of thousands of jobs.
Anything related to DEI was pretty much eliminated. So to some extent, in that space, it was a bit of an economic genocide. And government contracts were taken away. And that’s not fair. That’s not right,” he said.
“But at the same time, as Minister Farrakhan has said … is really pushing us to do for self and to really understand the importance of economic independence,” Dr. Wakins said.
He explained that the current time is a learning experience for Black people, teaching them to realize they must save themselves. “If we do not save ourselves, nobody else is going to do it. The same people that you give the power to feed you also have the power to starve you.
So it’s going to be temporary pain for long-term progress,” he said. “This is not a loss, this is an investment, and I believe at the end of the day we’re going to be so much stronger because of it.”
Panelists at the All Black National Convention discussed the importance of Black people having their own and sustaining themselves.
An excerpt from a message from the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan addressing “scared-to-death negroes” set the tone for the Aug. 24 panel discussions.
Dr. Watkins held a fireside chat with Brother Salahuddin, father of NFL star Ezekiel Elliott and president of the NFL Fathers’ Association. Bro. Salahuddin discussed how guidance from Minister Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam helped shape his role as a father, especially in an industry like the NFL, where he witnessed the breakup of Black families.
The day ended with a panel of Black women discussing real estate, insurance and entrepreneurship.
Overall, Dr. Watkins described the All Black National Convention as a gathering space and think tank for Black people to be their best selves. “It’s not one person that’s saving and lifting the whole community; it’s all of us lifting the community.
In order to lift the masses, the masses must lift ourselves,” he said. “We must have solutions. The beautiful part of it is that everything we need is already there.
To some extent, you can think of the convention as an excavation, where we’re digging and we’re pulling the gold that’s already in our backyard. That’s the purpose.”
In his May 21, 2016, message in Winston-Salem, Minister Farrakhan emphasized the importance of knowing Allah (God) even in business.
“When you know God, now you’re able to do real business, because there’s not a businessman greater than the God who created all of this and made every creature to be able to find food and build a little nest, or home, or hole for itself.
But here we are made in the image and likeness of God and we’ve become a nation of beggars. That’s disgraceful,” he said. “When you know who you are, and when you know whose you are, you don’t let any human make you feel less than what God made you.
God didn’t make n—–s. N—–s are a product made in America. God makes man and woman. And as a man and a woman, we must stand up like men and women and command our future,” Minister Farrakhan said.