Hang 'Em High Productions Presents

The Streets of Nashville...through My Eyes

By: DJ Infamous

What's up Nashville? This is your boy DJ Infamous holding it down in the heart of north Nashville....Jefferson St. I'm among the transformation from self-employed "black" store owners, to the big buck "white" corporate giants. It's not the young, saggy pants, gold teeth, pistol toting youth I have to worry about on Jefferson St. It's the briefcase, suit & tie, middle age white-collar businessmen I have to watch.

They're sweeping through north Nashville like a tornado, building million dollar complexes, for franchises, leaving minority businesses in buildings built back in the stone ages.

The reason minorities are finding it hard to adapt to these new structures is simple.... It’s unaffordable.

Jefferson Street is losing good black businesses like Jerue's Fashions (black owned & operated), and gaining (corporate) stores like Athlete's Foot. It's not that Jerue's didn't have the hottest fashions, or knew that Athlete's Foot was coming, but the community stopped supporting them.

During their last month of business, traffic slowed from 50-100 people a day to under 20. This shouldn't happen, cause he gives so much back to the community.

But the community would rather buy their products from a Footlocker, Dillard's or an Athlete's Foot. We are living in a day and time where blacks would rather drive miles to a mall, instead of spending the dollars in their own community.

It's true the prices are cheaper at malls (sometimes), but the money spent with black businesses goes back in "your" community. Most (if not all) black business owners, are in touch with their community, because they survive off of it.

We need the community to function, and want the area around us (black business) to be beautiful, safe, and easy to access. Items at the mall may be a couple dollars cheaper, but just think, if minority stores could sell the same product for the same price, they would.

The reason they can't is because mall shops are corporate owned, and when your buying for 300+ stores the price is cheaper as opposed to a small business ordering for one. We (black people) fail to see the big picture, small business owners use those extra dollars to pay bills (stay open), provide for their family (put kids through college), etc.

But the money spent in corporate businesses goes to stockholders who in turn buy expensive items like yachts, mansions, etc. Jefferson Street, as well as other minority communities are in trouble. Support your black businesses...It's the only way we can live, as a self-sufficient community.

Shout out to Robert of Jerue's Fashions. Click back to find out what’s next for Robert! Go to the message board and let us know what you think on the subject!