Business

Providing Match Makers Throughout the Black Diaspora – Way Cool!

NNPA NEWSWIRE — One of the biggest thrills is the fact that we Afro Americans in the United States have so much in common with the Afro Americans of South and Central America. Our roots are Western Africa. Our passages to the new world are similar via the utmost horrific human bondage, rape, and atrocities history has recorded. Some of our DNA may be directly related for all that we know. But the separation by centuries cannot keep us apart here in the 21st century.

Published

7 years ago

February 23, 2019

Oakland Post

By Harry C. Alford & Kay DeBow

During the mid-1990’s we began sponsoring exploratory or fact-finding trips to nations in the Caribbean and West Africa. Then we expanded to East Africa and South America, i.e.: Brazil. After getting comfortable and understanding the “Export/Import” challenges, we dared to start doing formal Trade Missions.

During Thanksgiving week in the year 2000, we took 84 Black-owned businesses to Rio de Janeiro for an aggressive Match Making event. In the end, we documented over $30 million in sales from the activities that began during that week. The equivalent to the Rio de Janeiro Chamber of Commerce gave us a certificate for promoting the most successful Trade Mission to ever visit the city.

The above experience was typical of our ambition. We didn’t really know if we were doing things correctly. However, we had the courage to explore and succeed — whatever it took, we did it.

We miss those days and have decided to return to that big “Bravado.” Win or lose, we will proceed with a vengeance. As they say, “Shoot for the moon. You may miss and fall among the stars.”

We have completed many successful Match Makers. It’s a can’t lose proposition. You go to explore and make business allies. The new relationships are a beginning and they develop like new crops sprouting up in the springtime. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Explore, educate and grow. Those are the options!

We go to Cali, Columbia next month for a much-anticipated Match Making/Fact Finding event to last almost a week in time. The Cali region of Columbia is along the Pacific Coast. One of the towns we will visit is named San Buena Ventura. Coincidentally, Harry’s birthplace is Ventura, California (formerly San Buena Ventura when settled by Spanish Explorers).

One of the biggest thrills is the fact that we Afro Americans in the United States have so much in common with the Afro Americans of South and Central America. Our roots are Western Africa. Our passages to the new world are similar via the utmost horrific human bondage, rape, and atrocities history has recorded. Some of our DNA may be directly related for all that we know. But the separation by centuries cannot keep us apart here in the 21^st century.

That’s what Afro Americans have in common regardless of current geographies. What does not kill us makes us stronger. This is a testament to our upcoming trade successes.

We must be the envy of the rest of the world. We do not die. We multiply.

Native Americans and Europeans must look at us and marvel. No one runs faster. No one jumps higher. No one is stronger. All that and beautiful too. We have SOUL! And STYLE!

You could say that we are strangers from other parts of the world, meeting for the first time. However, it can also be considered a family reunion of long lost cousins separated at youth and now joined together through common struggles and compulsory toils.

We are trailblazers and we must never forget that as we interact during our journeys. Our nations are depending on us to represent and make economic progress that will be mutual to both sides of the business table.

Afro Americans in the United States account for over 47 million people. How many in Central and South America? That gets tricky. The governments of most nations in Latin America will only count those with 100% African blood as Black. The rest are “mixed.”

That is deceitful as “one drop will do you” by the general standard and social status. The reality is that over 150 million people from Mexico to Argentina have significant Black African blood flowing through their veins. They are our relatives people!

The more we visit and interact with our “cousins,” the better it will be for our daily lives and prospects for our future. To date, we have had historical trips to Costa Rica, Brazil, Columbia, Surinam and all over the Caribbean with future trips lining up for the rest of the Western Hemisphere.

Get on board! The opportunities to connect with your blood relatives are numerous in numbers. Don’t sit idly by. For information on the upcoming Columbia Trade Mission go here: https://bit.ly/2V0JLnc

Mr. Alford is the Co-Founder, President/CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce ®. Ms. DeBow is the Co-Founder, Executive Vice President of the Chamber. Website: www.nationalbcc.org Emails: halford@nationalbcc.org kdebow@nationalbcc.org

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Oakland Post: Week of February 25 – March 3, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of – February 25 – March 3, 2026

Published

3 days ago

March 1, 2026

Oakland Post

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Chase Oakland Community Center Hosts Alley-Oop Accelerator Building Community and Opportunity for Bay Area Entrepreneurs

Over the past three years, the Alley-Oop Accelerator has helped more than 20 Bay Area businesses grow, connect, and gain meaningful exposure. The program combines hands-on training, mentorship, and community-building to help participants navigate the legal, financial, and marketing challenges of small business ownership.

Published

2 weeks ago

February 21, 2026

Oakland Post

Bay Area entrepreneurs attend the Alley-Oop Accelerator, a small business incubation program at Chase Oakland Community Center. Photo by Carla Thomas.

By Carla Thomas

The Golden State Warriors and Chase bank hosted the third annual Alley-Oop Accelerator this month, an empowering eight-week program designed to help Bay Area entrepreneurs bring their visions for business to life.

The initiative kicked off on Feb. 12 at Chase’s Oakland Community Center on Broadway Street, welcoming 15 small business owners who joined a growing network of local innovators working to strengthen the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

At its core, the accelerator is designed to create an ecosystem of collaboration, where local entrepreneurs can learn from one another while accessing the resources of a global financial institution.

“This is our third year in a row working with the Golden State Warriors on the Alley-Oop Accelerator,” said Jaime Garcia, executive director of Chase’s Coaching for Impact team for the West Division. “We’ve already had 20-plus businesses graduate from the program, and we have 15 enrolled this year. The biggest thing about the program is really the community that’s built amongst the business owners — plus the exposure they’re able to get through Chase and the Golden State Warriors.”

According to Garcia, several graduates have gone on to receive vendor contracts with the Warriors and have gained broader recognition through collaborations with JPMorgan Chase.

“A lot of what Chase is trying to do,” Garcia added, “is bring businesses together because what they’ve asked for is an ecosystem, a network where they can connect, grow, and thrive organically.”

This year’s Alley-Oop Accelerator reflects that vision through its comprehensive curriculum and emphasis on practical learning. Participants explore the full spectrum of business essentials including financial management, marketing strategy, and legal compliance, while also preparing for real-world experiences such as pop-up market events.

Each entrepreneur benefits from one-on-one mentoring sessions through Chase’s Coaching for Impact program, which provides complimentary, personalized business consulting.

Garcia described the impact this hands-on approach has had on local small business owners. He recalled one candlemaker, who, after participating in the program, was invited to provide candles as gifts at Chase events.

“We were able to help give that business exposure,” he explained. “But then our team also worked with them on how to access capital to buy inventory and manage operations once those orders started coming in. It’s about preparation. When a hiccup happens, are you ready to handle it?”

The Coaching for Impact initiative, which launched in 2020 in just four cities, has since expanded to 46 nationwide.

“Every business is different,” Garcia said. “That’s why personal coaching matters so much. It’s life-changing.”

Participants in the 2026 program will each receive a $2,500 stipend, funding that Garcia said can make an outsized difference. “It’s amazing what some people can do with just $2,500,” he noted. “It sounds small, but it goes a long way when you have a plan for how to use it.”

For Chase and the Warriors, the Alley-Oop Accelerator represents more than an educational initiative, it’s a pathway to empowerment and economic inclusion. The program continues to foster lasting relationships among the entrepreneurs who, as Garcia put it, “build each other up” through shared growth and opportunity.

“Starting a business is never easy, but with the right support, it becomes possible, and even exhilarating,” said Oscar Lopez, the senior business consultant for Chase in Oakland.