kenneth harris – the high road to success
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photo by steed media service
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President & CEO, International Detroit Black Expo
As
president and CEO of the International Detroit Black Expo, Kenneth
Harris has been cultivating prosperity among African-American
businesses and organizations through cultural, entrepreneurial, social,
educational and business opportunities that will further enhance the
quality of life for the City of Detroit and surrounding communities.
His goal is to uplift black businesses by presenting them with the
tools and resources to build economically.
“We’ve been [fighting for] civil rights for so long that we haven’t
been able to move economically and put ourselves on an even playing
field. This is a statement for African American businesses to come
together so that we can have economic empowerment and let it be our
number one agenda,” says Harris, explaining that we must shift the
focus. “Once you have economic rights, civil rights are easy, so
[economic rights needs to be] the first goal.
” With the IDBE being an opportunity for many corporate partners to
reach a targeted market through exposure, branding and marketing, the
tax-exempt, nonprofit organization prides itself on being mission-based
and market driven, giving insight for strategic building.
“We’ve always said a three-problem solution has always been to make
sure that we mobilize ourselves. When we mobilize ourselves, then [we]
can start the education process. Once [we] have the education intact,
then we can empower each other. At the end of the day, once [we] take
care of those three things (mobilization, education and empowerment),
then we’re on our way! The revolution has begun,” finishes Harris. – jason thompson
