AN ECONOMIC BLUEPRINT FOR BLACK POWER

FROM MOURNING TO MOVEMENT:

A Black History Month Declaration
Authored by Tyrone Thomas, Dimitry Saint-Pierre, and Gina Davis of Blaqsbi.com
February 2026

"We must recognize that a revolution based on love and justice is not a dream—it is a necessity. And that necessity demands not only moral clarity but economic power."
— In the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., 1968

PREFACE: WHY WE WRITE THIS NOW

This Black History Month, we honor more than memories. We honor the unfinished work.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was not assassinated because he dreamed of integration. He was targeted because he was organizing a Poor People's Campaign that demanded economic human rights: guaranteed income, land redistribution, and an end to the triple evils of racism, poverty, and militarism. He was moving from civil rights to economic power—and that threatened the foundation of the system.

Today, in 2026, we witness a global power grab unfolding in plain sight. The playbook is not hidden: concentrate wealth, dismantle safeguards, control narrative, fragment unity, and keep the masses focused on symbolic victories while the architecture of ownership remains untouched.

We have been programmed to believe:

That protest alone is power
That visibility equals victory
That the system can be reformed from the outside
That we, as individuals, lack the capacity to build alternatives

Half of that is true. Individual action is necessary—but insufficient. What the system fears most is not our anger. It is our unity + our economics + our ownership.

This document is our response. Not just to history. To now.

I. THE LIE WE'VE BEEN SOLD

"Change the Law, Change the World"

For generations, we have been taught that civil rights legislation equals liberation. But laws can be:

Defunded ✗
Overturned by courts ✗
Ignored in practice ✗
Reversed by the next administration ✗

What cannot be easily reversed?

✓ Land owned by our community
✓ Capital controlled by our institutions
✓ Businesses that employ and circulate wealth within our neighborhoods
✓ Technology platforms we build, own, and govern
✓ Intergenerational wealth transferred through trusts, equity, and education

Dr. King understood this. In his final year, he said:

"What does it profit a man to be able to eat at an integrated lunch counter if he doesn't have enough money to buy a hamburger?"

We are still asking that question.

II. THE CURRENT REALITY: POWER IN PLAIN SIGHT

The Global Playbook (It's Not a Conspiracy—It's Strategy)

What we are witnessing under the current administration—and entrenched in systems long before it—is not an anomaly. It is the logical endpoint of a centuries-old design:

Tactic	Purpose	Impact on Black Communities
Concentrate capital	Ensure wealth flows upward	Widens racial wealth gap; limits community investment
Control narrative	Shape what is "possible" or "reasonable"	Marginalizes radical economic visions as "unrealistic"
Fragment solidarity	Divide by class, region, ideology, generation	Prevents unified economic action
Co-opt language	Turn "equity," "justice," "empowerment" into branding	Dilutes demands into performative gestures
Criminalize dissent	Disrupt organizing through surveillance, policy, force	Creates fear, burnout, legal vulnerability

This is not hidden. It is staring us in the face.

What is hidden is our own power to counter it—not through individual hustle, but through collective economic architecture.

III. WHAT DR. KING WAS BUILDING TOWARD (AND WHY IT WAS DANGEROUS)

The Poor People's Campaign: Economic Human Rights, 1968

Dr. King's final initiative was not a march. It was a multiracial coalition demanding:

A guaranteed annual income
Full employment
Massive investment in affordable housing
Redistribution of land and resources
An end to the war economy

This was not "reform." This was reconstruction.

And it was dangerous because it threatened the economic foundation of white supremacy and capitalist exploitation.

We pick up where he was forced to stop.

IV. THE BLACK POWER ECONOMIC FRAMEWORK

Power Is Not Given. It Is Built.

Black Power has always been about more than pride. It is about self-determination through ownership. This framework centers three pillars:

Pillar 1: UNITY → Collective Action with Economic Intent

Unity without strategy is sentiment. Unity with economic intent is power.

We must:

Coordinate spending, saving, and investing through trusted Black-owned ecosystems (e.g., Blaqsbi.com, Cashback Invest Global)
Pool capital through rotating savings associations, investment clubs, and community endowments
Align our labor, talent, and consumption behind community-owned enterprises

"Alone we can do so little; together we can own so much."

Pillar 2: ECONOMIC SOVEREIGNTY → Ownership, Control, Circulation

Sovereignty means we control the resources that shape our lives.

We build:

Financial Infrastructure: Community banks, credit unions, microinvestment platforms that keep capital circulating within Black communities 5-10x longer
Productive Infrastructure: Worker cooperatives, Black-owned tech platforms, agricultural collectives, manufacturing hubs
Digital Infrastructure: Secure, community-governed platforms (like Blaqsbi.com) for communication, commerce, and content—free from extraction and surveillance
Land & Housing: Community land trusts, cooperative housing, equitable development models that prevent displacement

We demand:

Equity stakes in industries that have profited from our exploitation
Reparations structured as community endowments, not one-time payments
Public investment in Black-owned cooperative enterprises
Policy that supports, not criminalizes, community wealth-building

Pillar 3: LEGACY & LIBERATION → Beyond Our Lifetime

Liberation is not a moment. It is a multigenerational project.

We measure success by:

✓ Wealth retained and grown across generations
✓ Institutions that outlive individual leaders
✓ Children who inherit ownership, not just opportunity
✓ Communities that are resilient because they are self-reliant

"We are not building for applause. We are building for ancestry."

V. WHY ECONOMIC BLACKOUTS MUST EVOLVE

From Disruption to Construction

Nationwide economic blackouts raise awareness. But awareness without architecture is temporary.

We propose a new model: The Blackout + Buildout

Phase	Action	Outcome
BLACKOUT	Withhold spending from exploitative systems for a defined period	Disrupt revenue, demonstrate collective power, create leverage
BUILDOUT	Redirect those same resources into Black-owned, community-controlled institutions	Build permanent economic infrastructure, create ownership, circulate wealth
SCALE	Replicate and connect local Buildouts into a national/global network	Create a parallel economy that can negotiate from strength, not supplication

Example:
During a 72-hour economic blackout, participants:

Pause spending at corporate chains
Move funds to a Black community investment pool
Purchase from Black-owned cooperatives
Enroll in a community land trust
Join a digital platform owned by the people (e.g., Blaqsbi.com)

Result: The protest doesn't end when the news cycle fades. It becomes capital. It becomes ownership. It becomes power.

VI. THE BLAQSBi.COM PRINCIPLE: DIGITAL SOVEREIGNTY AS ECONOMIC POWER

In the 21st century, economic power is digital.

Platforms control:

Who is seen
Who is paid
Who owns data
Who sets the rules

If we do not own the digital infrastructure, we do not own our future.

Blaqsbi.com is built on a simple premise:
Black people deserve secure, sovereign digital spaces where our communication, commerce, creativity, and capital remain under our control.

This is not separatism. It is strategic self-determination.

When we:

Communicate on platforms we own → our strategies cannot be monitored or manipulated
Transact through systems we govern → our wealth cannot be extracted or devalued
Create content on networks we control → our culture cannot be commodified without consent

...we build the foundation for lasting liberation.

VII. OUR CALL: A BLACK HISTORY MONTH COVENANT

We, the undersigned and aligned, commit to:

1. SEE CLEARLY
We reject the programming that tells us we are powerless. We study the playbook. We name the tactics. We refuse to be distracted by spectacle while structure remains unchanged.

2. UNITE INTENTIONALLY
We prioritize collective action over individual clout. We build bridges across class, region, faith, and generation—anchored in shared economic vision.

3. BUILD CONCRETELY
We move beyond demands to construction. Every protest, every boycott, every blackout is paired with a Buildout: a cooperative, a fund, a platform, a land trust.

4. OWN RELENTLESSLY
We measure progress not by headlines, but by assets: businesses launched, equity acquired, land secured, capital pooled, data protected.

5. TRANSFER GENERATIONALLY
We design every initiative with legacy in mind. Wealth is not for consumption—it is for continuation.

VIII. IMMEDIATE ACTIONS: STARTING NOW

For Individuals:

☐ Move your banking to a Black-owned credit union or community bank
☐ Redirect 10% of your monthly spending to Black-owned cooperatives
☐ Join or start an investment club focused on community enterprises
☐ Enroll in Blaqsbi.com and invite 5 others to build the network
☐ Document your family's economic history—and plan your legacy

For Organizers:

☐ Integrate economic power goals into every campaign
☐ Partner with community financial institutions and platform cooperatives
☐ Make wealth transfer and ownership central demands
☐ Create "Buildout" infrastructure alongside every "Blackout" action

For Institutions & Funders:

☐ Provide patient, non-extractive capital to Black-owned cooperatives
☐ Support reparations structured as community endowments
☐ Fund digital sovereignty projects that center Black governance
☐ Measure impact in ownership transferred, not just programs launched

IX. CLOSING: THE WORLD IS WATCHING. LET'S GIVE THEM SOMETHING TO LEARN FROM.

They expect us to protest.
They do not expect us to build.

They expect us to demand.
They do not expect us to own.

They expect us to react.
They do not expect us to design the future.

This Black History Month, we honor Dr. King not by repeating his words, but by completing his work.

We are not asking for a seat at the table.
We are building our own table—on our own land, with our own capital, governed by our own values.

And when the next generation asks, "What did you do when the world tried to erase us again?"
We will answer:
"We saw the playbook. We united. We built. We owned. We passed it on."

BUILD. OWN. TRANSFER. REPEAT.
— Tyrone Thomas, Dimitry Saint-Pierre, Gina Davis | Blaqsbi.com
Black History Month 2026

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