Posted on January 21, 2011

David Minott Urges Black Community to Flex Its Economic Power

Kevin L. Clark, Black Enterprise, January 21, 2011

According to a July 2010 poll, 46% of African Americans mostly use their phones to access the Internet, 41% for e-mails, and 33% for Facebook. Despite the breadth of information accessible online, these numbers suggest that members of the Black community are more concerned with entertainment. World music artist David Minott aims to change that by calling millions of African Americans to action in an effort to show them how they’ve been underusing the power at their disposal.

With today marking Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the Jamaican born-and-bred musician announced the launch of his “Our Silence Speaks Volumes: The Black Out” campaign. Over the course of the next two weeks, Minott will urge people of color to turn off their cell phones for 24 hours starting on the first day of Black History Month, Feb. 1. According to the US Bureau of Census, the black community has an excess of $800 billion in expendable income annually, but still lacks the power of ownership.

“The silence campaign speaks on what’s missing in the black community,” says Minott, who performs under the name David M. “Blacks are the largest users of tech, cell phones, text messaging, and have a strong Internet presence as a group.”

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