“BHAM TO THE MAX” B-Metro Magazine Column
From 2018-2020, I wrote a monthly column for B-Metro Magazine called "Bham to the Max", addressing local issues and highlighting individuals and organizations doing important work throughout the Birmingham Metropolitan Area.
Supporting Black-Owned Business in Birmingham, Alabama
This month, I’d like to start off with a hybrid philosophical/rhetorical question: what would happen to a community if every service or product that was available at the nearest WalMart was provided by a number of locally-owned businesses. That would be...exceptional! Phenomenal! The mark of a healthy small business ecosystem! Imagine--all those profits staying within the local community, instead of being metaphorically shipped off to the mansion of a gajillionaire in Arkansas. Some may say that such a vision is overly nostalgic, impractical in the modern world, and inconvenient to our innate sense of instant gratification-fueled rabid consumerism. Those people are probably WalMart shareholders, and their opinions on these matters should be taken with a grain of individually-wrapped and discounted salt. So how can Birmingham build a healthy small business ecosystem, one in which money is cycling through local companies, empowering individual owners, and creating pride and vibrancy in our communities? First, it’s important to understand some basic facts about our current situation. Birmingham proper is about 75% black, with the entire metro area being around 30% black. However, black-owned businesses, metro area-wide, generate less than 1% of the total ~$100 Billion of business revenue annually. How can we alleviate this massive disparity?
Public Transportation in the State of Alabama
Alabama is one of only five states that provides no state funding for public transit. In 1952, one of those amendments to our state’s absurdly long constitution decreed that gas tax revenues could not be used for anything but road and bridge construction, maintenance, law enforcement, and highway-related debt payment. In 2018 Alabama received $430 Million from its gas tax. According to Alabama Arise, an organization working to help alleviate poverty in the state, $7 of every $100 of Alabama’s state budget goes to transportation, but none to public transit. Investment in public transit could help the Birmingham Jefferson County Transit Authority operate its buses 7 days a week, rather than its current 6, and keep the buses running past 7pm. Countless studies have concluded that investment in public transportation has significant catalytic impact on economies. Investing in public transit not only gets people to jobs, it helps create jobs.
Developing Community through Urban Agriculture
The establishment of a Community Land Trust (CLT) is critical to preserving the history and culture of Smithfield. Community Land Trusts are nonprofit, community-based organizations designed to ensure community stewardship of land. Community Land Trusts can be used for many types of development (including commercial and retail), but are primarily used to ensure long-term housing affordability. To do so, the trust acquires land and maintains ownership of it permanently. This, in effect, protects the area from gentrification and outside interests taking control.