Navigating the Black Economic Blackout With Integrity & Transparency

When Conviction Meets Calling: Navigating the Black Economic Blackout as a Soul-Led Creator & Amazon Affiliate

A soulful reflection on the Black economic blackout and my Amazon affiliate store — honoring the movement while empowering ethical, agency-filled choices.

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We are in a moment where consciousness, economics, and community conviction are merging into a powerful wave. The Black economic blackout has become more than a trending phrase — it’s a collective declaration, a spiritual stance, and a reminder that financial pressure is one of the loudest languages of protest. And as someone who is the people — a Black woman, a creative, and a soul-led entrepreneur — I feel this moment deeply.

But I’m also an Amazon Affiliate, and this is where conviction and calling collide.
This article is my honest reflection and my sacred stance — steady, transparent, and rooted in respect for you.

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THE WEIGHT OF THIS MOMENT: WHY THE BLACK ECONOMIC BLACKOUT MATTERS

The Weight of This Moment — Why The Black Economic Blackout Is Bigger Than a Protest

We are not witnessing a trend.
We are witnessing a tectonic shift — a spiritual, cultural, and economic awakening that is rising simultaneously.

The Black economic blackout is not simply about withholding dollars from corporations. It is about confronting centuries of structural inequity with collective clarity and telling the truth about why Black wealth has been systematically suffocated long before Amazon ever existed.

In 2020, the Brookings Institution released a groundbreaking study titled “The Devaluation of Black Assets,” which found that if Black-owned businesses had equal access to capital, they could generate over 1 million new jobs in the United States. (Source: Brookings Institution – The Devaluation of Black Assets)

This statistic alone reveals the heartbeat of this movement — not anger but awakening. Not hopelessness, but holy discontent. Not mere frustration, but strategic power.

And the numbers go deeper. According to federal labor data reported by the Chicago Crusader:

As of March 2025, the unemployment reality in America remains painfully unequal:

• White unemployment: 3.7%
• Black unemployment: 6.2% — nearly twice that of white workers
• Hispanic/Latino unemployment: 5.1%
• Asian unemployment: 3.5%
• Black youth unemployment: 12.3% (vs. 8.5% for white teens)

(Source: Chicago Crusader — “Debunking the Trillion Dollar Myth”)

These numbers are not accidental. These numbers expose the truth. Black economic inequality is not a mindset problem — it is a policy problem. They are engineered by systems that were never designed for our flourishing.

So when Black people choose to withhold dollars, that is not pettiness. That is pattern recognition.

When Black people say, “We’re done spending without being valued,” that is not rebellion — that is restoration. When we choose to redirect economic energy, that is not anger — that is agency.

But the truth is more profound than individual or collective spending choices. The truth is systemic.

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Understanding “Blackout the System” — And Why This Post Speaks Directly to Black America

It’s important to understand something clearly:
The current wave of economic boycotts did not begin as a Black-only movement.

According to the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder, organizers of the “Blackout the System” campaign issued a nationwide call urging Americans of all races, genders, and backgrounds to withhold spending during the peak holiday shopping week. Their mission is broader — pushing back against corporate exploitation, price gouging, political corruption, and economic injustice affecting all consumers.
(Source: Spokesman Recorder)

The Independent also reported on the rising “Mass Blackout” planned for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, noting that major retailers are preparing for large-scale declines in foot traffic and consumer spending as part of a coordinated protest. (Source: The Independent)

These movements are bigger than any single community. They represent the collective frustration of a nation that has been pushed past its breaking point.

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But let me be clear about why this article centers Black people:

Because while everyone feels economic pressure, Black communities feel it first, hardest, and longest.
Because the racial wealth gap is not imagined — it is engineered.
Because the unemployment numbers hitting Black households are not random — they are generational.

Black-owned businesses have been structurally denied capital for decades.
Because Black youth unemployment is still nearly double that of white teens.
Because our buying power has been exploited while our wealth remains suppressed.

The term “Black Economic Blackout” is not meant to divide. It is intended to diagnose who is disproportionately impacted accurately — and who has the most to gain from awakening to economic power.

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Solidarity matters.

But specificity matters too.

Yes, this movement encompasses all who share the objectives.
Yes, economic injustice affects everyone.
Yes, systemic greed targets the nation as a whole.

But race still shapes:

• wealth
• opportunity
• access
• employment
• capital
• policy
• political power
• and economic survival

And ignoring that would not be very ethical.

So this article speaks directly and unapologetically to Black Americans —

while honoring every person standing with us in this moment.

Because justice is for everyone, but liberation must begin with those who have been denied the most.

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“Buying Black” Is Beautiful — But It Is Not Enough

Political scientist Dr. Jared Ball (quoted in the Chicago Crusader article) said something that struck me right between the ribs:

“This idea that the Black community can grow wealth solely on the backs of small businesses… will only continue to deny us our real power.”

Let that settle. That sentence cuts deep because it’s true.

Because the movement cannot heal, the system continues to bleed.

Between 1992 and 2012, Black Americans established more than two million businesses.
Yet national sales revenue dropped from 1% of the U.S. economy to less than half a percent.

That means:

✔️ We’re creating businesses

✔️ We are hustling harder
✔️ We are innovating more
✔️ But the ecosystem to support them is broken
✔️ And access to capital, contracts, and policy protection is still denied

Bottom Line:

❌ The system does not reward our effort equally

Why?

Because business growth requires:

• Capital
• Distribution channels
• Federal protections
• Contracts
• Loans
• Grants
• Access

…all areas where Black entrepreneurs continue to face discrimination.

No amount of “circulating the Black dollar” can replace federal policy that protects Black financial survival.

No amount of “buying Black” can replace:

• equitable access to capital
• fair credit systems
• public policy
• legislation that enforces economic protection
• anti-discrimination laws that actually get teeth
• redistribution of resources on a structural level

Black entrepreneurship is powerful.

But entrepreneurship without policy is like planting gardens in soil that is poisoned.

This is the weight of the moment.

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We Need More Than Dollars — We Need Power

Ball argues that Black America must rethink political power altogether:

We cannot keep voting the same way in the same system and expect the system to love us back in the end.

We need:

• Consolidate voting power
• independent organizing
• We need Candidates beyond the two-party system
• Elect candidates who will enforce economic protections
• policy architects who actually understand racialized economics and Advocate for wealth redistribution policies
• unified voting blocs
• political movements built on participation, and that don’t require billionaire donors
• public policies that redistribute wealth on a federal level — not “grants” with strings attached

Because, as Ball says:

“Voting in and of itself is not the answer.
The solution is in public policy that redistributes wealth.”

This is where the conversation moves from protest to power. Therefore, the moment demands a transition from economic symbolism → economic strategy → political power.

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We Need Policy — Not Clichés

The reality is simple:

• Black-owned businesses cannot thrive without access to capital.
• Black families cannot build wealth without policy protection.
• Black youth cannot rise without structural investment.
• Black workers cannot close the income gap without federal enforcement.

You can start a business.
You can learn financial literacy.
You can buy Black.
You can be disciplined, gifted, spiritual, and brilliant…

…but if you’re playing on a rigged field, brilliance alone cannot overcome the policy barriers that keep whole communities poor.

That’s the truth this moment forces us to face.
And that’s why the Black economic blackout is not just:

• A trend
• A boycott
• A hashtag
• A Protest
• A Rebellion

It’s a mirror.

A mirror showing us the need to evolve beyond symbolic gestures into a structural strategy.

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A New Blueprint for Real Power: Economic Blackout → Policy Organizing → Political Independence

According to Ball, Black America needs to:

✔️ Continue acquiring assets

Land. Intellectual property. Digital real estate. Businesses.

✔️ Build and own manufacturing + distribution

Not just selling products — owning the pipelines.

✔️ Reevaluate what political power actually means

Voting without a strategy is noise.
Voting with unified leverage is negotiation.

✔️ Consolidate voting power outside the two-party system
✔️ Organizing independent voting blocs
✔️ Demanding wealth redistribution

✔️ Advocate for federal policy protections that redistribute power, not just dollars

This includes:

• Guaranteed employment
• Free education
• Debt relief
• Access to capital
• Free health care
• Mandated federal protections for minority-owned businesses
• Anti-discrimination oversight with real enforcement

✔️ Organize movements that rely on participation — not money

Because power is not about dollars.
Power is about numbers.
Power is about unity.
Power is about clarity.
Power is about refusing to be divided or distracted.

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This Is Why the Black Economic Blackout Hits So Deep

Because this moment is not just about:

• “Should I buy from Amazon?”
• or “Should I boycott Target?”
• or “Should I pause online shopping?”

This moment is about:

“What is the long-term strategy for Black survival, stability, and sovereignty?”

This moment forces us to ask the fundamental questions:

• Who protects Black workers?
• Who protects Black businesses?
• Who mandates capital access?
• Who enforces fair lending?
• Who ensures wealth redistribution?
• Who ensures Black families aren’t left behind?
• Who ensures we aren’t performing consciousness without gaining power?

This is not about guilt. This is not about shaming anyone’s purchase choices.

This is about awakening.

This is about strategy.

This is about realizing:

Collective spending is a tool.
Collective voting is a weapon.
Collective policy negotiation is power.

This is the moment where we stop thinking empowerment = individual success
and start understanding empowerment = structural change.

He states:

“We’re a 70 percent consumer-based economy.
Our consumption should be rewarded by redistributing that $27 trillion GDP to benefit us through free health care, guaranteed employment, free education, debt relief, and so on.” (Source: Chicago Crusader)

This is the heart of the blackout:
Not boycotting for boycotting’s sake — but awakening to our collective leverage.

So let me say this clearly:

I honor the blackout.
I understand the blackout.
I respect the blackout.
And I stand with anyone participating in it.

As I build a business, I cannot—and will not—silence the voice of my community.

THE CONFLICT: WHEN YOUR PURPOSE RELIES ON THE PLATFORM, THE PEOPLE ARE PAUSING

Here’s the truth I’m not ashamed to admit:

I am an Amazon Affiliate, and affiliate income is one of the streams that fund:

• The writing I pour my soul into
• the guides and journals I create
• the YouTube videos and coaching resources
• the weekly content that helps people heal, grow, and rise
• The consistency it takes to build a business after losing everything
• and the bigger mission God entrusted me with

Affiliate income is not a luxury.
It’s not a gimmick.
It’s not an afterthought.

It is part of the architecture of my calling as an online creator.

So I felt torn.
Not because I fear losing clicks — but because I value the integrity of my voice more than the earnings from my link.

But the deeper I prayed and reflected, the clearer the answer became:

This is not a moment to choose sides.
This is a moment to choose truth.

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THE TRUTH: BOTH THINGS CAN BE TRUE AT THE SAME TIME

✔️ You can honor the Black economic blackout.

✔️ You can honor your financial boundaries.

✔️ You can stand with the people.

✔️ And you can still support a Black woman building a business.

This is not hypocrisy.
This is nuance — something our generation desperately needs more of.

The conversation isn’t:

“Don’t buy from Amazon.”
versus
“Ignore the movement.”

The real conversation is:

How do we make economically conscious decisions while still supporting the people we believe in?

Because many of the same voices are saying:

“Stop supporting major corporations.”

They are also saying:

“Support Black businesses. Support Black creators. Support Black entrepreneurs.”

And that includes me.

It includes every Black writer, coach, singer, digital creator, and mission-led entrepreneur who has built income streams outside the system — which is precisely what the movement is calling for.

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IF YOU’RE PARTICIPATING IN THE BLACK ECONOMIC BLACKOUT — I STAND WITH YOU

Let me say this plainly, without hesitation:

If you choose not to purchase from Amazon as a form of protest, I honor your conviction and fully support your decision.

This is your agency.
Your protest.
Your strategy.
Your spiritual boundary.
Your personal leadership.

You never owe me an explanation for following your conscience.

You will never be guilted here.
You will never be pressured.
You will never be made to feel “wrong” for taking a righteous stand.

This community is built on respect — not coercion.

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IF YOU ARE ALREADY BUYING FROM AMAZON — HERE’S HOW YOU CAN SUPPORT

Here’s the other truth, equally valid:

If you are already purchasing something from Amazon — not as defiance, not as rebellion, but because that’s what your household requires —
Then using my affiliate link is a way to sow into a creator whose mission is to pour back into you.

👉🏽 Amazon Store:
https://www.amazon.com/shop/jamieladisoulclay

Using my link incurs no additional cost for you.
It simply allows Amazon to share a commission with me for referring the purchase.

Ethical support is still support.

And support without guilt is still sacred.

This is not about coercion.
This is about community care and transparency.

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THE CALLING: WHY I STILL SHARE MY AMAZON LINKS

I share my links because:

• This is part of my revenue strategy
• This is part of my online business model
• This is one of the ways I buy time to write, film, create, and serve
• This is one of the streams building my financial freedom
• And this is one of the systems helping me rebuild my life after loss

Affiliate income is not exploitation.
It’s empowerment — the kind we need more of in Black communities.

Through Wealthy Affiliate and my entrepreneurial journey, I’ve learned how essential it is for Black creators to:

• monetize their work
• diversify income
• leverage digital platforms
• earn commissions
• and build wealth outside traditional pathways

So, yes — I will continue to share my links.
But I will share them with integrity, not pressure.
With transparency, not manipulation.
With respect, not expectation.

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If you’re already shopping on Amazon and want to support a Black woman building a spiritually soul-led business, here is my store link:

👉 Amazon Store:
https://www.amazon.com/shop/jamieladisoulclay

Your action matters.
Your conviction matters.
Your support — in whatever form — matters.

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THE SPIRITUAL SIDE: GOD DOES NOT REQUIRE GUILT TO BLESS A DECISION

This part is essential.

God does not require guilt for change to happen.
God does not require shame for you to follow conviction.
God does not require fear for protest to be effective.

Grace and discernment can sit at the same table.
Conviction and compassion can walk hand in hand.
Protest and provision can coexist.

The Kingdom way has always been:

Move in truth.
Move in love.
Move in wisdom.
Move with integrity.

And let the Spirit sort the rest.

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THE ECONOMIC REALITY: BLACK CREATORS DESERVE MULTIPLE STREAMS OF INCOME

The movement is not anti-creator.
It is not anti-entrepreneurship.
It is not anti-income.

The movement is anti-exploitation — and so am I.

Here’s what the data shows:

According to Pew Research, 61% of Black Americans say economic protest is an essential form of political expression. Still, the majority also agree that Black businesses need increased support, not decreased purchasing. (Source: Pew Research)

So, the question becomes:

How do we protest systems without starving the creators who serve our community?

It’s not one-size-fits-all.
It’s not either-or.
It’s both-and.

This is why I honor your choice either way.

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HOW TO SUPPORT WITHOUT BUYING FROM AMAZON

If you want to support my work outside of Amazon, here are meaningful alternatives:

1. Buy a digital product directly from my site

Journals, ebooks, guides, wall art — all created with intention:
https://jamielondonclay.com/shop/

2. Enroll in a coaching experience

A sacred space for growth, clarity, confidence, and purpose.

3. Buy Me a Coffee

Support directly:
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/jamielondonclay

4. Share my posts, YouTube videos, or blog articles

Visibility is currency.

5. Pray for my expansion, strength, and provision

Never underestimate the power of intercession.

Every form of support is felt.
Every seed is honored.

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FINAL REFLECTION: I’M NOT CHOOSING SIDES — I’M CHOOSING TRUTH

Both things can be true.
Both things can be holy.
Both things can be aligned.

✔️ I stand with the Black Economic Blackout.
✔️ I support economic justice.
✔️ I respect your conviction.
✔️ I will not shame your decisions.
✔️ And I will continue building wealth through the streams God placed in my hands.

This is not a contradiction.
It is a new model of integrity-driven entrepreneurship.

One that allows you to walk in your values
and allows me to walk in my calling
without forcing either of us into guilt or scarcity.

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If you are already purchasing from Amazon and want to support my work:

👉🏽 Amazon Store:
https://www.amazon.com/shop/jamieladisoulclay

Your choice is always yours.
Your voice is continually respected.
Your presence is always honored here.

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FINAL CALL TO ACTION

If this conversation resonated with you — if it stirred something, clarified something, or permitted you to breathe.

Subscribe to my YouTube channel for more soulful empowerment, Kingdom clarity, and honest conversations about purpose, power, creativity, and community.

You’re not just growing.
You’re rising.