BlackEconomics.org®
Analysis Brief
By Brooks B. Robinson, Ph.D.
Introduction
A Long-Term Strategic Plan (LTSP) Panel assembled in early 2022 to prepare for the first time a Long-Term Strategic Plan for Black America (LTSPFBA).i As part of the plan, the LTSP Panel considered readily available plans that were already prepared for Black Americans’ (Afrodescendants’) future and incorporated relevant features of those plans to produce a more comprehensive plan. Having completed the LTSPFBA in July 2023, and now more than two years beyond that point, we revisited the preparation of the LTSPFBA along with old and new plans for Black America to determine through categorical and analytical/statistical reasoning which plans are likely to be most efficacious for Black Americans’ (Afrodescendants’) long-term growth and development.ii
Revisiting the LTSPFBA was performed as a meta-analysis. During LTSPFBA preparation, Ms. Yaa Simpson consumed a considerable portion of an LTSP Panel meeting to describe a meta-analysis of Black American agendas or plans that she had helped prepare as part of a “Big Mamas” consortium in Chicago, Illinois.iii
The “Big Mamas” consortium meta-analysis is qualitative in nature, employs a thematic approach, seeks to determine whether the agendas include discussions of themes that are important to Black Americans, but makes no attempt to rank the agendas or plans. The meta-analysis presented here builds on the “Big Mamas” consortium’s work. It is categorical and statistical in nature, it incorporates additional Black American (Afrodescendant) plans, and it relies on categorical statistics to rank the various plans and reveal the most efficacious plans for Black Americans (Afrodescendants) to consider.
It is important to emphasize that the Black American plans considered herein have a common feature: They are designed with an extended horizon in mind. That is, we made no effort to account for short-term, even medium-term Black American (Afrodescendant) plans because the LTSP Panel concluded that it will take scores of years to achieve a level of development that is sustainable and that will facilitate our long-term, even extended-term, proper and successful growth and development. We recognize that some Black American organizations and institutions (“legacy” and otherwise) prepare “long-term” plans, but do not release them to the public. However, these entities produce on a regular basis short- and medium-term plans or outlooks for Black America.
A Contemplation
The text of this meta-analysis is accompanied by a rank-ordering of the various plans for Black America. As a “bottom line up front” statement, our ranking of Black American (Afrodescendant) plans that were reviewed for this meta-analysis assigns first rank to the Long-Term Strategic Plan of Black America (LTSPFBA). An a priori response might be that this is a contrived outcome, that those who produced the ranking produced the LTSPFBA and prefer such an outcome, and that the producers of this meta-analysis stand to benefit because of the ranking. All three points are true. But these truths should not hinder interested parties to go further and ask: What was the methodology that produced the ranking? Was the ranking methodology objective or subjective? Are the computations that produced the ranking sound? We answer the foregoing three questions and others concerning the results of this meta-analysis after completing this contemplation.
This new and expanded meta-analysis of plans for Black America is important because it offers guidance concerning how Black Americans (Afrodescendants) might approach efforts to decide which plan or plans to review as they seek to identify a future path or decide to develop their own independent plan.
Importantly, from the perspective of one who participated in the development of the LTSPFBA volume, who helped develop this meta-analysis, and who has observed global developments over the past two years, it appears that the world has arrived at a clearer vision concerning paths that are likely to lead to Black America’s long-term success. This clearer vision has the following features. First, it recognizes that, if the status quo is problematic and results from a particular operational environment, then the probability of resolving the “problem” in the context of that environment—employing existing ideas, methods, and tools from that environment—is likely to be small and the entire effort ineffectual.
Second, given the first point, it is not only important to consider the “problem” but also the environment. A thorough analysis of the environment (its ideas, methods, and tools) should enable realization about the root causes of the problem and shine a light on how to exit it and identify a new environment that will facilitate identification of a solution to the problem using new ideas, methods, tools.
As the third and final point—and somewhat of a final solution—is the recognition that we (Black Americans) view ourselves as enmeshed in a problematic situation, and we are. However, we believe that the root cause of the problem is our state of mind that is anchored in, and caused by, our existing environment. Our current environment is permeated with a mentality of materialism that existed before the Western World rose to power and prominence, but materialism became an all-consuming mindset for Westerners as they enjoyed rolling successes while subduing the known world. That materialistic mindset precipitated an ever-increasing shift toward artificiality—something alien to non-Western thought. Western World cultures are marked by greed (“Greed is good”), socieconomies with strict hierarchical class- or ethnicity-based structures; and rankings have resulted from a preoccupation with materialism—the hunger and thirst for “things” and the essentiality of producing them. This says nothing about the fact that our environment is also permeated with an endless stream of overt and subliminal media and other messages that are designed to maintain the status quo.
Consequently, the plans that we review for this meta-analysis reflect features that are designed to enable Black America’s rise in a material world consistent with Western thought. However, there are two important related questions that are worthy of consideration before we proceed to the mechanics and results of this Analysis Brief: (1) Will Black America’s rise be so transformative that it takes us completely away from our desired and natural end goals? and (2) knowing all the foregoing, are we willing to undergo the mental transformation that will return us to our most favorable state that is non-artificial and naturally occurring? These are the questions that we must answer to set the stage for planning for our most favorable future. Our answers are likely to yield nearly automatically a plan that will enable us to achieve our end goals. We arrive at the just stated conclusion because, when we return to our most natural state of mind/spirit, body, and environment, then we will realize immediately all that we need for that most favorable future.
Methodology
The methodology used to produce this meta-analysis is straight forward, and it is presented transparently in accompanying Tables 1 through 3 that appear at the end of this report:
- We reviewed the meta-analysis of Black American agendas/plans that was prepared by the “Big Mamas” consortium in Chicago, Illinois; and LTSP Panel records of Ms. Yaa Simpson’s presentation of the just-mentioned meta-analysis.
- We collected the agendas/plans accounted for in the “Big Mamas” consortium meta-analysis; the LTSPFBA volume; other known Black American (Afrodescendant) plans known to the LTSP Panel and cited in the endnote that appears on page 119 of the LTSPFBA volume; and sought to identify other, more recently produced, plans. This methodological step yielded 11 plans. Table 1 presents the titles of these plans and provides URLs where they can be accessed.
- We identified 13 (“A” through “M”) categories that served as the framework for ranking the plans. Many of these categories were considered when the LTSP Panel was preparing the LTSPFBA volume. Table 2 identifies and provides a “definition” for each of these 13 categories. Importantly, categories beyond the 13 identified were considered for use. However, they were not selected and included in the methodology, inter alia, because they were viewed as too complex, posed difficulty in their assessment, and it was determined that they might cause significant delays in completing this meta-analysis. Also, categories beyond the 13 used in this meta-analysis were deemed to be closely associated with the 13 categories that were selected.
- We assessed each of the 11 plans reflected in this meta-analysis by examining the 13 categories that were just discussed and made every effort to adhere strictly to the definitions associated with categories and the implied valuations of the categories inherent in the definitions.
- Table 3, which presents the plans, and the assessment categories (the ranking framework) reveals how each plan was assessed or rated. It turned out that we were unable to assign a value (quantify) to only one category for one of the 11 plans. This unassigned value (quantity) is reflected as a uniquely colored empty cell in Table 3. The left-most column of Table 3 (line numbers) reflects the original order of the plans that were reviewed for this meta-analysis, and the second column form the left reflects each plans’ rank.
- Having completed the work just described, this meta-analysis in the form of a BlackEconomics.org Analysis Brief was prepared.
Results
Table 3 is transparent and, in concert with Tables 1 and 2, provides a systematic explanation for the results that are presented. Therefore, only a few salient results are highlighted below—without much elaboration.
- The top five ranked plans are: (1) The Long-Term Strategic Plan for Black America; (2) Agenda for Black American Restoration and Self Determination; (3) National Black Agenda; (4) Black Futures Lab: Black Agenda 2020; and (5) Powernomics.
- The top-ranked plan’s point total was 26.09, which represents 89.34 percent of the highest possible point total of 29.20.
- Powernomics, a work by Dr. Claud Anderson, may be the most popular of the top five plans possibly because of its extended tenure in the public domain. Also, given Powernomics’ point total that is absent a value for one category (discussed above), it could very well replace the fourth ranked plan. Only 0.01 percentage point separates the fourth ranked plan (Black Futures Lab: Black Agenda 2020) and the fifth ranked plan (Powernomics).
- Two plans, Blueprint for Black Power and The African-American National Plan, reflect the same point total (15.05) and they are ranked eighth.
Conclusion
Closely associated with the LTSP Panel and serving as the Rapporteur for the Panel and the ongoing LTSPFBA Implementation Team (IT), BlackEconomics.org undertook the preparation of this “Expanded Meta-Analysis of Black American (Afrodescendant) Plans. Given today’s state of Black America, conditions nationally and globally, and the rapid evolution of developments across nearly all aspects of life, “People” without a plan place themselves in a precarious situation. Perhaps more problematic for a “People” is to have many plans, a few sound plans, or one sound plan, but there is an inability to unify and operationalize a plan that can produce improvements in their wellbeing.
Certain experts or leaders may contend that Black Americans (Afrodescendants) have a plan that is fully operational and successful. However, this is not a transparent reality. It is the latter condition that motivated the LTSP Panel and the remaining ten developers of the plans reviewed as part of this meta-analysis to produce plans designed to improve future outcomes for Black Americans.
Whatever the “truth” of our reality, the LTSPFBA IT and BlackEconomics.org agreed that this meta-analysis should be produced to serve as guidance for Black Americans (Afrodescendants). This report ranks 11 Black American plans and uses systematic statistical methods to rank the plans. The goal was to point to the most efficacious plans so that Black Americans, who decide to proactively plan their individual or collective futures, could do so efficiently and effectively. Today, there is no doubt that the amount of time remaining to act to protect and improve Black America’s future is evaporating rapidly. We hope that this BlackEconomics.org Analysis Brief satisfies its goals and can serve Black Americans (Afrodescendants) and others well, and help ensure a favorable future for us all.
End Notes
i Consider the “About” webpage at www.LTSPFBA.org for more information about the work of the Long-Term Strategic Plan (LTSP) Panel. Also, see the five-page Executive Summary of the LTSPFBA volume (https://www.ltspfba.org/LTSP/fin_ltspfba_071223.pdf, 1.5 MB) that commences on page vi of the volume.
ii The LTSPFBA IT agreed early on during our second fiscal year (2025: October 1, 2024 – September 30, 2025) to undertake preparation of this meta-analysis.
iii On June 9, 2022, Ms. Yaa Simpson presented to the LTSP Panel a “Meta-Analysis of Black Agendas,” which she co-authored on behalf of a group known as “Big Mamas” in Chicago, Illinois. The meta-analysis considers five “Black Agendas” (plans) that were in vogue during 2016-2020: (1) “The National Black Agenda;” (2) “Black Futures Lab, Black Agenda 2020;” (3) “Contract with Black America” (Ice Cube); (4) “Power Economics” or “Powernomics” from Dr. Claud Anderson; and (5) “Agenda for Black American Restoration and Self-Determination.” The LTSP Panel recognizes that there have been other plans for Black America prepared by Black Americans. Two of the most well-known plans are: The Nation of Islam’s “Muslim Plan” from the organization’s leader, the late Elijah Muhammad, which is presented in his book: Message to the BlackMan in America; and a “Master Plan” developed by Prof. Chancellor Williams that appears in his book: The Destruction of Black Civilizations: Great Issues of a Race from 4500 B.C. to 2000 A.D. Probably the most comprehensive work that charts a path to Black liberation is Dr. Amos N. Wilson’s 1998 book, BluePrint for Black Power: A Moral, Political and Economic Imperative for the Twenty-First Century. [This endnote appears on page 119 of the LTSPFBA volume.]