AMES, Iowa -- When Maggie Anderson and her family pledged to patronize only black-owned companies for a year, the successful African-American professional from a tony Chicago suburb uncovered significant issues about why the black economy continues to suffer.
Anderson will discuss her experiences in a talk at Iowa State University. "Our Black Year in America's Racially Divided Economy" will be at 8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 8, in the Memorial Union Sun Room. Her presentation, which is part of the National Affairs Series, is free and open to the public.
Anderson tells the story about her experiment in conscious consumerism in her book, "Our Black Year: One Family's Quest to Buy Black in America's Racially Divided Economy." She discovered that black businesses lag behind businesses of all other racial and ethnic groups in every measure of success. She found that black consumers — unlike consumers of other ethnicities — did not support black-owned businesses. And most businesses in their communities are owned by outsiders. Drawing on economic research and social history as well as her personal story, Anderson will talk about why the black economy continues to suffer.
Anderson's presentation is cosponsored by the Black Graduate Student Association, National Affairs Series and the University Committee on Lectures, which is funded by the Government of the Student Body. More information on ISU lectures is available online at http://www.lectures.iastate.edu, or by calling 515-294-9935.
