Leading the way: how African American businesses can help alleviate unemployment for blacks.

How African American business can help alleviate unemployment for blacks

Last month, BLACK ENTERPRISE Board of Economist member, Thomas Boston proposed a plan that would allow Black-owned businesses to begin making a noticeable impact on the employment outlook of African Americans. This month, he presents his strategy: "Twenty by Ten."

The idea behind "Twenty by Ten" comes from the premise that if the government and private sector pursue policies to increase the number of African American-owned firms, then by 2010, these businesses would employ 20% of the African American labor force.

This is not an unrealistic goal. In fact, if we could simply …