Dr. Julianne Malveaux wears many hats, among them president of Bennett College for Women, media commentator and NorthStar News contributor. Foremost though, Dr. Malveaux is an MIT trained economist who understands the economic cycle and its effect on the poor and Black Americans. At the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Annual Legislative Conference, currently underway, Dr. Malveaux is pre-releasing her new book, Surviving and Thriving: 365 Facts in Black Economic History. Cathy Hughes, chairperson of media giant Radio One, wrote the book’s foreword.
The book chronicles Black economic achievements in calendar format. Dr. Malveaux set out to demonstrate the economic prowess of African Americans, a group with $913 billion annual purchasing power, and illustrate how Blacks have played a major role in the economic health of the nation. "When people say that African Americans don't "do" economics, or don't "do" finance, I want to tell them about Free Frank McWhorter, about Maggie Lena Walker, about Madame CJ Walker, about Dr. Sadie TM Alexander, about Robert S. Browne, the founder of the Black Economic Research Center, contemporary business, finance, labor and reparations mavens," Dr. Malveaux said.
Surviving and Thriving: 365 Facts in Black Economic History touches on seminal events that shaped Black America, including the burning of Tulsa’s “Black Wall Street” and racial conflicts in post-slavery Wilmington, North Carolina, once an enclave of some of the wealthiest Blacks in the nation. In her introduction, Dr. Malveaux notes, “History is a story of both surviving and thriving, of a people who have been determined to participate in a game that was skewed against them. The playing field has never been level for African-Americans, yet even with the slant, we have been players and often winners. We have also been integral parts of the economic history of our nation, contributing to economic growth and development in ways that are rarely acknowledged."
Dr. Malveaux’s book has already received advanced praise and she is presenting excerpts from the book at the ALC today at 5 pm at the Washington Convention Center during a panel titled “Preserving Cultural Memory through Literature.” On Saturday, she will appear at 11:30 am with other authors and publishers to promote literacy and education of youth. At 2:00 pm, she will participate in a panel as part of the Shirley Chisholm Presidential Accountability Commission convened by the Institute for the Black World 21st Century (IBW). The afternoon panel will focus on the IBW “Report Card on Obama: Year Two.”
Surviving and Thriving: 365 Facts in Black Economic History (ISBN # 978-0-165-34278-8) is available for purchase at the ALC and at www.juliannemalveaux.com. The book is $14.95 with additional charges for shipping and handling. For special shipping needs, send requests to lastwordprod@aol.com. Dr. Malveaux’s column can be read weekly on www.NorthStarNews.com.
