To: Aunkh Aakhu
From: Amefika Geuka
Subject: POBA Campaign Assessment
Date: February 14, 2008
#1 – How would you describe this campaign?
It is a strongly marketing-oriented initiative, the intent of which is to enable Conscious Blacks to compete for and win the dominant ideological position among Black people in America. Just as Democrats/Liberals compete with Conservatives/Republicans for the presidency of the United States, and through that person, gain the dominant position in matters of national governance, so too must Black Nationalists compete with and subdue their quasi-political opposites, “Integrationists/Assimilationists” within the Black community, win the hearts and minds, and assume leadership and the spokespersons’ role for our people.
#2-a) – What are the key strengths of our campaign?
The number one strength of our campaign is that we have ‘right’ on our side; we are the “good-guys.” Secondly, leaders and spokespersons for our opponents have disqualified themselves by insisting that they not be referred to or viewed as “merely black leaders,” but as “leaders who only happen to be black.” Thirdly, the timing is perfect. We have a candidate for the Democratic Party’s nomination for President of the United States who is increasingly seen as being the first knowingly “mixed-race” person to have a legitimate chance of gaining his party’s nomination and winning the presidency. However, as a condition of that consideration, he must at all costs avoid making or allowing race to be a feature of his campaign. Consequently, no one competing for the office with either party sees fit to address any issues of specific or particular interest and importance to Black people! We will be the only ones playing on that field!!
#2-b) – Do we have a unique selling point that separates us from our competition?
YES: This means that our campaign will be the “only game in town” as far as focusing on and advocating for issues of particular interest to the black electorate. We will be the only ones valuing Black people; speaking to and about our people, their needs, and their aspirations.
#3 – What are the weaknesses or challenges of our campaign?
The fact that Black people have been ‘Willie-Lynchenized’ and demoralized to the extent that very few of them hold out any hope that the quality of their lives will be made any better in the foreseeable future….if ever! They’ve been “down so long, that getting up just don’t never cross their minds no more.” As a direct result of this mental conditioning, our campaign cannot realistically expect an overwhelmingly favorable response from our people at the outset.
The second most important weakness is the lack of financial resources with which to wage such a potentially massive campaign; and our people’s notorious reputation for not giving money to any black organizational effort other than the church.
#4 – Where would we like to see our campaign in the next six (6) months?
By the end of August, 2008 we should have held rallies in support of establishing an official President Of Black America (POBA) in at least six (6) locations around the country. If rallies in the first three cities visited are as successful as we intend, we could conduct rallies in as many as fourteen (14) communities. Even this number could double or triple if we succeed in building momentum for the initiative, more communities seek to host rallies, and multiple advocates emerge to share the workload of satisfying the demand.
By the end of the six month period in question, we expect the subject of a President Of Black America to compete with the Barack Obama candidacy as the hottest topic of conversation, debate, and discussion among Black people throughout America!
#5 – What obstacles might get in the way of achieving these results?
The most formidable obstacle is extant within the Black Conscious community itself. We are disorganized and discordant; we lack a singular, unifying focus. We are more inclined to engage in rhetoric about our condition, than take action to change it for the better. We are well intended in our discourse on the subject, but patently ineffectual when it comes to organizing to produce desired change.
Even among the would-be “leaders” of our movement to date, there is little evidence of the willfulness and resolve required to accomplish our stated goals and objectives for our people.
The euphoria enveloping black people in the wake of Barack Obama’s successes on the mainstream partisan political trail is sure to be problematical. Pro-Obama blacks will see our campaign as hurting their candidates’ chances of keeping and building on his lead over his chief rival for the nomination. Our people have shown a willingness to allow our own racial interests to be ignored for the presumed “greater good” to come if Mr. Obama is elected President of the entire USA. This naïveté is deeply ingrained in the psyche of our people as a result of the process used to convert us from the humans we were when first brought to these shores from Africa, to the slaves we were changed into.
#6 – What might get in the way of getting Blacks to join and support our campaign?
All of what has been stated in the foregoing responses, especially the “Obama-mania!” The need to maximize our campaign’s access to black-oriented media outlets is another obstacle which must be overcome.
#7 – What will be most passionately reflected in our campaign?
The unabashed, unapologetic, non-negotiable nature, depth, and extent of the LOVE we have for our Black people!
#8 – What marketing strategies do we plan to use?
Any and all that are likely to help us achieve our goal and objectives. Because we lack financial resources to buy advertising, we have determined to use what is referred to as “guerilla” marketing strategies. We need to maximize creative use of the Internet and its ability to reach millions of people.
#9-a) – What is the most profitable aspect of our campaign?
The most profitable aspect is likely to be our membership recruitment and development of chapters for our new organization, the NATIONALIST Black Leadership Coalition (NBLC). We will recruit members at each succeeding rally, and membership recruitment will be the number one priority of each newly formed chapter.
#9-b) – What is the least profitable aspect of our campaign?
It would be unwise to predict that any aspect of our campaign is likely to be unprofitable; however, it is reasonable to presume that any aspect that we do not take seriously enough to give a serious effort to, will be unprofitable. Therefore, we will limit our focus to those aspects that we have good reason to believe we have or can readily generate resources to undertake. Others will be put on a “to do” list for consideration when available resources allow.
#10 – Do we have a specific strategy for following up with people we contact?
Yes. Follow-up will be the responsibility of the organizers of rallies in each locale and the leadership which emerges in each new chapter. People who we reach in cities where no chapter of the NBLC has yet been established will be able to keep in contact with us through our Internet radio program, our web site, and links to Coalition partners to be found there. Our objective will be to build a mass-based membership organization of at least 2 million paid members by October, 2010.
#11 – Do we have a marketing calendar?
Such a calendar will be produced by April 5, 2008 when our Council Of Elders and Steering Committee meets in Atlanta, Georgia, at which time our campaign will be officially announced and launched. The basis for the calendar will be the outline of activities delineated in our Bring Back Black Strategic Plan document, available on our web site: www.bringbackblack.org.
#12 – What specific results do we want to obtain from this campaign?
First and foremost, we intend to firmly and permanently establish the official position of President Of Black America (POBA); Secondly, a Black Nationalist MUST be declared the natural incumbent for the position. Third, we want to have made a solid start toward recruiting members in mass numbers by or before our First Annual Convention of the NBLC in October of this year (2008); and we want to establish at least fifty (50) chapters of the NBLC by the end of this calendar year.
Success in these endeavors will enable our organization to build a revenue stream which will allow us to begin hiring full-time staff for key positions following our convention. We will then be the only self-sustaining, Black Nationalist organization in the country, working for which becomes the “day job” of persons working on behalf of the Black Collective! Nationalists will at last become EMPLOYERS; joining the ranks of those entities which enable employees to feed, clothe, and shelter their dependents and loved ones.
We will at last have arrived!
Submitted by Baba Amefika D. Geuka
West Palm Beach, Florida, USA
[email protected]
561-689-1536 – Home/Office
561-801-6082 – Cellular
