My Response to: Backlash Erupts Over Sean "Diddy" Combs & Jay Z’s Buy Black App

By Gloria Dulan-Wilson

Hello All:

Backlash Erupts Over Sean "Diddy" Combs & Jay Z’s Buy Black App

I was just reading this article on BlackList Pub, and it struck me as rather odd that there should be a "backlash" against Diddy and Jay Z wanting to start a Buy Black App.  I haven't broken an article down in eons, but this one got to me, so I had to respond - of course you know, as always, my comments are in red and all caps:

SO HERE IT GOES:

"Backlash Erupts Over Sean "Diddy" Combs & Jay Z’s Buy Black App"  I COULDN'T BELIEVE THERE WOULD BE SUCH AN UPROAR OVER SUCH A POSITIVE ENDEAVOR.  BUT AFTER READING THE ARTICLE, I WAS A LITTLE ANNOYED AT HOW MISLEADING THE HEADLINES WERE.  GENERALLY SPEAKING A "BACKLASH" IMPLIES MASSES OF PEOPLE RETALIATING AGAINST SOMETHING WE BLACK PEOPLE HAVE DONE, OR TRIED TO DO.) 

(BACKLASH: a strong and adverse reaction by a large number of people, especially to a social or political development. - GOOGLE)

The creator of the cultural shopping app, Spendwith, responds to comments made by Music Mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs, in a recent article, that he and Jay-Z are looking into developing a ‘buy black’ app  (HARDLY A BACKLASH - SINCE IT'S JUST ONE RESPONSE, NOT AN UPROAR FROM A GROUP OR MOB)

In a GQ article titled, "Diddy Opens up About Biggie’s Death and the Secret Project," the hip-hop icon reveals he’s working with Jay-Z on an app that will allow users to look at a given city or neighborhood and see where the black-owned and black-friendly businesses are. (EXCELLENT!!!)

Although Diddy also spoke about Biggie’s death in the article, it was his comments about the app that stirred up a lot of emotions and generated a flood of responses. Many social media users highlighted that there were already several ‘Buy Black’ app solutions. And the latter is true. (THIS NOT TRUE – THE ONLY BUY BLACK APP ON MY iPHONE IS THE "WALL STREET BUYBLACK" APP – DON'T GET FOOLED)

Screen shot of my iPhone App page - no BuyBlack Apps except for
Black Wall Street

iPhone and android users are not short on options in the Google and iTunes stores when it comes to buy black apps, which means that Diddy and Jay-Z’s idea is nothing new(I'M OPEN; I MAY HAVE OVERLOOKED THEM – SHOW ME THE APPS!!!)

In fact, one app that’s already bridging the spending gap for not only Black owned businesses but other minority groups is Spendwith. (SO, THIS IS NOT REALLY A BACKLASH, BUT A SIDE-WAYS COMMERCIAL FOR Spendwith!!!)

Touted as culture-based shopping app, Spendwith empowers users to crowdsource the commerce-related social media posts of businesses and brands, and identify these posts by cultural identity, including black-owed businesses and brands. The app provides a place where users can save these posts to shopping lists, create new posts, share shopping lists and connect with other users. 

Responding to the revelation of the app development by the Hip- Hop icons, CEO and Co-Founder of Spendwith, Jibril Sulaiman, said: “I agree with the critical comments made by many social media users, Diddy and Jay Z should take a look at what Naz has done with Queensbridge Ventures, and use an extension of their celebrity status to galvanize investments in solutions like Spendwith to help support black businesses and brands."

(NAZ HAS DONE A WONDERFUL JOB – AND THERE ARE SO MANY MORE TRAILS BLAZED AS HE PROGRESSES THAT OUR YOUTH AND HIS PEERS CAN NOW FOLLOW; BUT REMEMBER – WE GOT 400+ YEARS OF CATCH UP TO DO – SO THERE IS MORE THAN ENOUGH ROOM FOR OPTIONS – DID VISA TELL MASTER CARD THAT THEY HAD MORE THAN ENOUGH? DID AMERICAN EXPRESS TELL CART BLANCHE THERE WERE TOO MANY? WHAT ABOUT DISCOVER CARD? I THINK IT'S RIDICULOUS TO TELL OTHER BLACK PROGRESSIVE BUSINESSES TO NOT DO SOMETHING BECAUSE YOU HAVE ONE MEASLY CARD APP - SMH)

Diddy’s motivation for wanting to develop the app is to actively move the Black race forward. But Sulaiman has a better idea how the celebrity could use his resources to help Blacks gain economic power through an app. He said, “Don’t build it yourself. Create a seed/pre-seed stage investment firm that invests in that Black tech company that will in turn scale their innovative solution."

Aside from social media users underscoring the fact there were already many buy Black apps (AGAIN, WHERE – SHOW ME!!!). There were also questions. Questions like ‘why not an app for women or Latinos?’ (NO PROBLEM WITH THEIR HAVING AN APP – BUT BUYBLACK APPS SHOULD NOT HAVE TO BE SUBJECTED OR SUBJUGATED TO OTHER HODGE PODGE APPS – NOR, AS MR. SULAIMAN CLAIMED,WOULD HAVING A BUY BLACK APP PROHIBIT OUR AFRICAN BROTHERS AND SISTERS FROM USING OR BENEFITING FROM THE CARD, SINCE THEY ARE BLACK – THINK ABOUT IT)

“I think many people on social media have valid point," said Sulaiman. “I realized during my time working for a local African American chamber of commerce that many groups, not just Black people have initiatives to support businesses and brands based on cultural or demographic identity." 

Spendwith addresses this concern by providing an app {THAT} empowers its users to highlight businesses and brands of many cultures and demographics.(AND THEREIN LIES THE PROBLEM - )

Pointing out the irrelevance of another Buy Black app as well as opportunities to partner with a brand that achieves far much more, Sulaiman said, “Diddy, what if people in Africa wanted to use your app in a largely black continent? They couldn’t, (IRRELEVANCE???!!! AGAIN, THIS IS A STUPID ASSUMPTION, SINCE AFRICANS ARE BLACK AND ARE AUTOMATICALLY INCLUDED IN ANY EFFORT TO BUY OR SPEND OR SUPPORT BLACK BUSINESSS) but they’d be able to use Spendwith because we allow users to identify business and brands by tribe and other region specific identifiers.” 

I THINK WE HAVE THE RIGHT TO NOT ONLY HAVE A FULLY IDENTIFABLE BUYBLACK APP, AND TO MAKE SURE IT'S NOT WATERED DOWN, BUT THAT THE PROCEEDS GO SPECIFICALLY TO BLACK OWNED BUSINESSES – SO THAT THE DOLLARS CIRCULATE IN THE BLACK COMMUNITY – NOT PASSING THROUGH OTHER FILTERS BEFORE IT FINALLY BENEFITS THE COMMUNITY AND THE BUSINESSES IN THE BLACK COMMUNITY.  ADDITIONALLY, NOW THAT AFRICA HAS DECIDED TO DO A UNIFORM TRADE AGREEMENT THAT WOULD INCORPORATE ALL THE REGIONS OF AFRICA, THE ISSUE OF "TRIBAL" DISTINCTION WOULD NO LONGER BE NECESSARY OR DESIRABLE.)

I APPLAUD COMBS AND JAY-Z FOR TAKING THE STAND AND THE STANCE TO FOCUS ON BLACK PEOPLE FIRST – ASIAN AND LATINO BROTHERS ALREADY HAVE IN EFFECT MANY WAYS IN WHICH THE DOLLARS CIRCULATE BACK INTO THEIR COMMUNITIES AND BENEFIT THEIR PEOPLE. BPF= BLACK PEOPLE FIRST!!

The Spendwith App is available for free download in the iTunes and Google Play stores. For further information about Spendwith, or for investment inquiries visit: https://spendwith.in

About Spendwith:

Spendwith is an early stage, pre-revenue startup that’s focused on the success of the thousands of e-commerce shops & physical businesses started by Asian-American, Black, Latino, LGBT, Muslim, Jewish, Veteran & Women business owners. Posts relating to the products and services offered by these businesses and brands occur daily on every social media platform. They curate, organize and categorize these posts into a shoppable format with the help of the crowd. 

(I APPLAUD BROTHER SULAIMAN FOR ALL HE HAS DONE AND ALL HE IS LOOKING TO DO IN THE FUTURE – BUT I THINK THE FOCUS ON BUY BLACK MUST BE A SOLO ACT THAT PUTS BLACK PEOPLE FIRST - BPF!!!  – WE'VE TAKEN THE BACK SEAT OR HAVE BEEN LUMPED IN WITH SO MANY OTHERS FOR FAR TOO LONG.)

JUST SO YOU KNOW, iBUYBLACK, PHILADELPHIA IS ALSO CONSIDERING AN iBUYBLACK DISCOUNT CARD APP.  FOUNDED A YEAR AGO IN PHILADELPHIA TO HELP BLACK BUSINESSES EXPAND AND KEEP THE DOLLARS IN THE COMMUNITY, THE ORGANIZATION HAS SUCCESSFULLY RECRUITED 360 LOCALLY OWNED AND RUN BLACK BUSINESSES THROUGHOUT THE CITY, AND IS LOOKING FORWARD TO EXPANDING TO MORE BUSINESSES AS MORE CONSUMERS SUBSCRIBE TO THE CARD.  FOR $10.00 THE CUSTOMER GETS A DISCOUNT CARD THAT GIVES THEM A 10% DISCOUNT AT PARTICIPATING BUSINESSES AND SERVICES THROUGHOUT THE CITY AND SURROUNDING AREAS. (www.ibuyblack.org 0r on FB iBuyBlackPhila) 

We Are Coming to You!

THE WONDERFUL THING ABOUT THIS OVERALL IS THAT THERE ARE SO MANY BLACK BROTHERS AND SISTERS EMERGING NOW WHO ARE SEEKING TO DO INNOVATIVE AND EMPOWERING THINGS TO HELP BLACK PEOPLE - THERE IS SO MUCH ROOM FOR GROWTH AND IMPROVEMENT, AND WE'RE ON THE LATE SHOW IN SO MANY AREAS, IT WILL BE A LONG TIME BEFORE THE MARKET OR OPPORTUNTIES ARE SATURATED.  

IF WE WORK IT RIGHT WE MIGHT JUST HAVE OUR OWN WAKANDA IN OUR LIFETIME.  

PS:  If you are in Philadelphia and are either a business owner or a consumer and want to be part of the iBuyBlack Movement, you can reach them on FB or on the web for your iBuyBlack Discount Card, or your business membership and decal. They rotate their meetings the second Saturday of each month at different Black owned venues through the different Black community regions of Philadelphia. The next meeting will take place on Saturday, April 14, 2018 at 7401 Limekiln Pike, Philadelphia, PA. 

NOW THAT YOU KNOW

WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?

STAY BLESSED &

ECLECTICALLY BLACK

Gloria