By James Clingman, NNPA Newswire
One of the post-election highlights for me was the meeting between Donald Trump and
Bob Johnson. Billionaire to billionaire, Democrat to Republican, black to white, businessman-to-
businessman, capitalist-to-capitalist, meeting on a relatively even playing field to discuss some
of the “what now” issues was intriguing to say the least. After the meeting, Mr. Johnson wrote a
press release and did several interviews to disclose the particulars of that meeting.
While the press summed up Mr. Johnson’s comments in one sentence (“Let’s give Trump
a shot.”), there was much more to the meeting than that. How do I know that? Because I
interviewed Johnson after his meeting with Trump. During our nearly one-hour conversation, he
spoke openly about his political position vis-à- vis the election of Donald Trump, and his
thoughts, recommendations, and reflections on a black strategy moving forward.
One of the main things Johnson discussed is our penchant to vote as a bloc for one party,
in this case the Democrats, without reciprocity. His words brought to mind similar words by
Carter G. Woodson and Malcolm X on that same point. Mr. Johnson recommended that black
folks should be independent and bloc-vote only for candidates who support our interests, locally
and nationally, regardless of their party affiliation. Let the church say, “Amen!”
Bob Johnson, based upon what he called a “seismic shift” in our politics, said we must
follow what former U.S. Rep. William “Bill” Clay Sr. told us: “Your political philosophy must
be selfish and pragmatic. You must start with the premise that you have no permanent friends, no
permanent enemies, just permanent interests.”
My follow-up question was, “Then would you recommend that black voters register as
‘Non Party Affiliated’ at their local Boards of Elections?”
His answer: “Absolutely, yes.” Bingo!
Remember when Donald Trump was asking Black folks, “What do you have to lose?”
My immediate answer to his question was another question: “What do we have to gain?”
Without my leading Mr. Johnson in any way, during their conversation Johnson shared his
message to Trump on that question by saying, “You should be telling black people what they
have to gain by voting for you.”
Mr. Johnson cited some very basic business principles, which he has put into play via his
conglomerate of ventures. For instance, an equity fund to assist mid-level businesses. I asked if
he thought blacks should form a similar collective fund for start-ups and micro businesses, and
why we don’t have such a fund now. He agreed that we should have a fund, but on why we don’t
have one, he simply said, “That’s a head, problem, Jim.” In other words, the only thing stopping
us from doing that is our lack of consciousness and willingness to sacrifice for and support one
another. Again, that’s much of what I have written and spoken about for 20 years: psychological
enslavement.
By that time in our interview, I was on cloud nine because Robert L. Johnson, owner of
numerous businesses and donor of millions of dollars to political campaigns, was confirming the
work and philosophy of The One Million Conscious and Conscientious Black Contributors and
Voters (OMCCBCV). I never mentioned our movement to him during our conversation, but his
answers to my inquiries definitely substantiated the direction The One Million is taking to move
black people from our current status to our highest potential.
There was so much we discussed, and Mr. Johnson’s responses, insights, and directions
are just what we need to do NOW. We cannot afford to wait, to analyze, to meet, to hold a
convention, or continue to theorize the future and lament the past. We can shape our future; we
can determine our destiny simply by doing what not only Bob Johnson said, but what many of
our elders have said over the years. We simply need to act.
My entire Q&A with Mr. Johnson will be published soon, but I wanted to let my readers
know about it now, so that we can start moving immediately to leverage our dollars and our
votes against the two systems that run this nation and the world: economics and politics. The
OMCCBCV has already planned to kick off one part of that strategy in February 2017. Stay
tuned.
Please watch for my entire interview with Mr. Johnson and start planning for major
changes in the way we play politics and the way we use our economic clout to build a strong
foundation for our children and grandchildren. What Mr. Johnson shared with me is not esoteric
or proprietary, and it’s certainly not new. However, sometimes with our people, the same
message can come from different sources and, depending on the messenger, our people will
follow it. I am grateful that Mr. Johnson chose to speak out on these issues. More to come.
For more from James Clingman is the nation’s most prolific writer on economic empowerment for Black
people. His latest book, “Black Dollars Matter! Teach Your Dollars How to Make More Sense,” is available on his website, Blackonomics.com.
