Op-Ed

Beyond the Rhetoric: Big Green Hustle (Part 1)

Published

10 years ago

February 23, 2015

By Harry C. Alford
NNPA Columnist

I have seen from time to time organized, polished scams that present themselves as a positive contribution to society via improved economics, safety or quality of life. Since we formed the National Black Chamber of Commerce ® in 1993, we have noticed two big scams that have taken our whole nation by storm. One is over and the other is in mid-session.

The scam that has been put to rest is the “dot.com era.” When high technology started to come of age, the general population had a fascination with the new gadgets, speed of communication, office disciplines being controlled by reasonably priced machines. IBM, Microsoft, Xerox, etc. were moving forward with innovation after innovation. Cell phones, email, websites started entering corporate America and would soon arrive into our sub-divisions and apartment buildings. Within five years, the hustlers would start to arrive.

People who could speak the next “tech-speak” would perpetrate that they were developing new technology that will save governments, companies and the general public billions of dollars. Therefore, their new technology was also worth billions. The smooth ones would start a company and do the necessary paperwork with the Security Exchange Commission (SEC) and eventually apply for an Initial Public Offering – IPO. They would become publicly owned and traded on Wall Street as stock. Some IPO’s would start off at an asking price less than a quarter. The possibilities were endless, depending on the public relations, marketing and hype (be it true or not). The buyers could drive the cost up and those who bought the stock for less than a quarter could soon be selling it for more than $30 a share.

One such company was PurchasePro.com. This was proclaimed as an e-commerce system that could help corporations and governments buy goods at the best possible price and with the highest quality. The CEO came by our office one day and asked us to show support for his company. Frankly, none of us understood it at all but figured it must be good since the government and stock brokerages were having a love affair with it.

The CEO later claimed that when they started their IPO he was going to give the NBCC a $2 million contribution. Their IPO started at an asking price of $14 and within a couple of weeks it was approaching $100. They split the stock and it still kept growing. I said to myself, this guy is making billions of dollars and nobody knows what the company can do. I called him one day and demanded the $2 million he publicly pledged. The phone call ended with a lot of curse words from both of us. However, he wired $500, 000 the next day. That shut me up.

In the end, the public found out that PurchasePro.com was actually nothing. The CEO, some of his partners and some executives from AOL went to prison. It sounds amazing that a Las Vegas gambler could run this scheme and fool thousands, including executives of AOL. This is a perfect example of what the dot.com hustle was about.

One of the principles in the beginning of the dot.com hustle was Al Gore. While vice president he pushed for the support and super funding for high technology, especially with the Internet. He has claimed to have invented the Internet from time to time. Al is just amazing. Because he didn’t rest on his laurels with the dot.com hustle, he went right to work on the next big hustle. He proclaimed the world was dying because of “global warming.” Yes, he said we were all going to die unless we start addressing the issue. This was taken from a similar hustle in the 1950s known as global cooling. Back then, they said we were returning to the Ice Age. That didn’t take, so it was reversed and the claims of us turning into a huge dry dessert starting popping up big time.

Blacks are being used in this Big Green Hustle. Terms such as “environmental racism,” and “environmental justice” are popping up with no substance or proof. Young activist groups are being recruited to stir up our communities. Sometimes we can get whipped up into hysteria. Let me make this perfectly clear: I believe that our global climate is unpredictable and, so far, beyond our understanding. The term climate change seems to be a much more accurate term. As I write this, our whole nation is going through one of the coldest winters, replete with snow, in history. Right now, global warming could be laughable to many common sense thinkers.

The similarities between the two hustles are striking. There are some big time hustlers, including Wall Street players, who are concocting their big schemes of fraud and deceit. They are doing it with the government’s blessing and right before our eyes. It’s time to call them out in next week’s column.

Harry C. Alford is the Co-Founder, President/CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce®. Website: www.nationalbcc.org Email:halford@nationalbcc.org.

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Actor, Philanthropist Blair Underwood Visits Bay Area, Kicks Off Literacy Program in ‘New Oakland’ Initiative

These community activations were coordinated with the San Francisco-based non-profit program “Room to Read.” Ray said he is also donating his time to read and take pictures with students to encourage their engagement and to inspire them to read more. The inspirational book “Clifford Ray Saves the Day” highlights Clifford Ray’s true story of saving a dolphin.

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3 weeks ago

February 18, 2025

Oakland Post

Blair Underwood (left) and Barbara Lee (right). Courtesy photo.

By Paul Cobb
New Oakland Series
Opinion Part 3

The Post mentioned three weeks ago that a number of our local luminaries were coming together to support the “New Oakland” movement. As this current national administration continues to eliminate our “legacy” institutional policies and programs left and right, most communities find themselves beyond “frozen” in fear.

Well, esteemed actor, long-time Bay Area supporter, and philanthropist Blair Underwood returned to Oakland this week to speak with city leaders, community trust agents, students, the Oakland Post, and local celebrities alike to continue his “New Oakland” initiative.

This week, he kicked off his “Guess Who’s Coming to Read” literacy program in some of Oakland’s middle schools. Clifford Ray, who played the center position of the 1975 World Champion Golden State Warriors, donated close to 1,000 books. Ray’s fellow teammate Charles “The Hopper” Dudley also gave Converse sneakers to students.

Underwood also spent quality time with the Oakland Ballers ownership group and visited the amazing Raimondi Park West Oakland community revitalization site. In the 1996 TV film Soul of the Game, Underwood played the role of the legendary first Black Major League Baseball player Jackie Robinson and commended the Ballers owners.

“This group of sports enthusiasts/ philanthropists needs to be applauded for their human capital investment and their financial capital investment,” Underwood said. “Truly putting their money and passion to work,” Underwood said.

Underwood was also inspired by mayoral candidate Barbara Lee’s open-minded invitation to bring public-private partnership opportunities to Oakland.

Underwood said he wants to “reinforce the importance of ‘collaborative activism’ among those most marginalized by non-empathic leadership. We must ‘act out’ our discomfort with passionate intentions to create healthy change.”

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Activism

Councilmembers Ramachandran, Kaplan, Unger Identify Funds to Save Oakland Fire Stations

Our budget crisis – one of the worst in Oakland’s history – is compounded by the fact that people do not feel safe coming to Oakland due to our public safety crisis. By investing in our fundamental public safety resources today, we can send a signal to the world that Oakland is open for business. We have such a rich and vibrant culture, arts, and food scene that is worth celebrating – but we can only showcase this if we are able to keep our neighborhoods safe. Having fully functioning fire stations are absolutely essential to these efforts.

Published

3 weeks ago

February 18, 2025

Oakland Post

Councilmember Janani Ramachandran. Courtesy photo.

By Janani Ramachandran

There is no greater concern to the people of Oakland today than public safety. Fire stations are the bread and butter of essential city services – and every day that we have stations shuttered, we imperil the lives of our community members. In response to widespread outcry over the current and planned closure of stations, myself, along with Councilmembers Kaplan and Unger, have painstakingly worked to identify millions of dollars of new funding to save our stations. The legislation we introduced on Thursday, February 13th, will amend our budget to prevent the closure of four fire stations that are currently on the chopping block due to our budget crisis and will re-open two closed stations that have already been closed – Station 25 and 28 – in the near future. The resolution that will provide the funding to keep our stations open will go before the full City Council for a vote at our meeting on Tuesday, March 4^th at 3:30 PM – and we invite you to join us at City Hall to share your perspective on the topic.

With the devastating Los Angeles fire at the top of people’s minds, terrible memories of Oakland’s own wildfires are re-surfacing from the 1991 Oakland Hills Firestorm to the Keller fire just a few months ago – and how essential fire stations are to mitigating these catastrophes. But in Oakland, our fire stations don’t just fight wildfires – they also provide emergency medical services to our most vulnerable constituents, put out structural fires and encampment fires, and much more.

We recognize that there are a number of competing interests and important initiatives fighting for sparse City resources. But from my perspective, core safety services are the most pivotal functions that a City must spend its resources on – especially given the outcry we have heard around fire stations.

The fight to save our stations is not over. The resolution we introduced is a critical first step, and there are hurdles to overcome. If you support keeping our fire stations open, we invite you to be a part of the solution by making your voice heard at the March 4^th City Council meeting at 3:30 pm.

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Activism

NNPA Launches National Public Education and Selective Buying Campaign

“We are the trusted voice of Black America, and we will not be silent or nonresponsive to the rapid rise of renewed Jim Crow racist policies in corporate America,” stated NNPA Chairman Bobby R. Henry Sr. “The Black Press of America continues to remain on the frontline keeping our families and communities informed and engaged on all the issues that impact our quality of life.”

Published

3 weeks ago

February 18, 2025

Oakland Post

iStock.

Washington, DC: The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), representing the Black Press of America, has announced the planning and implementation of a national public education and selective buying campaign across the nation in direct response to those corporate entities that have dismantled their respective Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) commitments, programs and staffing. NNPA Chairman Emeritus Danny Bakewell Sr. explained, “Now is the time for the Black Press of America once again to emphatically speak and publish truth to power.”

At a recent convening of NNPA member publishers and editors, a united resolve was reached that each member publication of the NNPA will begin a national public education campaign coupled with the release of research data on those American companies that are engaging in efforts to sanction racial injustice, inequitable polices, divisive leadership, and economic apartheid in America.

“We note forthrightly that Black Americans spend $2 trillion dollars annually as consumers of products and services throughout the United States,” NNPA President and CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. emphasized. “We now must evaluate and realign to question why we continue to spend our money with companies that do not respect us,” Chavis continued. “This now must come to an end. These contradictions will not go unchallenged by 50 million Black Americans who have struggled for centuries to ensure equality, fairness and inclusion in our nation’s democracy.”

A selective buying campaign involves exercising the right to select what we spend our money on and who we spend our money with. We are starting with targeting TARGET.

The following are some of the major American companies that have publicly retreated from Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: