‘Hood Conservatives’ Plan To Take Back Inner Cities

Hood Conservatives is a volunteer organization planning to begin their inner city cleanup mission later this month. Members live in urban areas and have grown tired of watching their neighborhoods fall into dens of crime where residents have lost a sense of personal responsibility, according to releases about the launch of the group’s revitalization efforts. Conservative values will reportedly be utilized to foster changer.

Inner city group founder Cecilia S. Johnson had this to say about creating Hood Conservatives:

“I grew up and live in an urban area, in the hood – I’ve seen my friends and even family become trapped in a cycle of government dependence and broken family units. “I started Hood Conservatives because traditional values and conservative principles will assist these communities in establishing healthier and more prosperous lives.”

Johnson went on to note that her group will “empower inner city voters through the conservative system” by electing to focus on the topics of financial independence, education, rebuilding the family, gun education, and entrepreneurship. The in person approach to restoring inner cities will also focus on engaging black Americans, according to a statement released by Hood Conservatives.

Perhaps the most encouraging and refreshing aspect of the Hood Conservative movement revolves around a sentence which was ironically uttered by a Democratic president, “Ask not what your country can do for your, but what you can do for your country,” – John F. Kennedy. Johnson and supporters of the movement are not waiting nor wanting the government to swoop in and save their towns, they want to residents to take responsibility for themselves, their families, and their neighborhoods. The problems and solutions noted by the group sound like excerpts from a Charles Murray book. The rebirth of the inner cities will begin on an individual level and then grow outward until the new self-reliant and personal responsibility mindset permeates first an entire town and ultimately a connected string of cities across the country, if the voiced goals by the group become a reality.

The urban group is hosting a launch party on January 16 in Kansas City. Featured speakers Missouri Republican State Representative Paul Curtman, the Missouri Club for Growth Chair Bev Randles, and other notable conservatives. Featured speaker Brittney Morrett, a LIBRE Initiative staffer, told The Blaze that the urban group is going to market conservative ideas in a new way. “Organizations like Hood Conservatives strive to promote conservatives principles in a culturally relevant way to diverse demographics and should be supported by the broader conservative movement,” Morrett said.

An excerpt from the Hood Conservatives website detailing the history of the organization:

“It all started as a joke. While laughing about the Republican Party’s numerous failed attempts to reach out to the black community, jokingly said ‘Well since they can’t do it, I’ll do it. I’m going to start my own organization and I’m gonna call it’ Hood Conservatives!’ My friend stopped laughing and said, ‘You know that’s a good idea.’ And Hood Conservatives was born.

We believe that we must SHOW black people what we believe in. We spend so much time talking about history and telling black people how they really are conservatives yet no one has bothered to show them what we mean. We strongly believe in the old saying ‘I can show you better than I can tell you.’ We have identified 5 key issues that we feel can help strengthen the black community over time and translate that into support for conservative candidates. Hood Conservatives will be the link to the urban area that the conservative movement needs.”

In 2008 Cecilia Johnson read an article entitled “Why I’m a Black Republican” and her life was forever changed. Johnson became heavily involved with politics at the local level and then reached out to others to make a difference in inner cities across the country.

The Hood Conservative Plan:

1. Gun Education and Training – Gun education and training will be our wedge issue. This is an issue that we have failed to capitalize on as conservatives. We need to frame this debate and there’s no better place to do that than the inner where violence/crime rates are the highest. Those living in the inner city are desperate for ways to lower crime rates and we, as conservatives, always hold the argument that gun education and training can lower crime rates, so why not take this message to the hood? Why are we not putting in work where it’s needed the most? By going into the inner city showing them that this is what we believe in and how it can benefit them and their families, you are building the much needed relationship and bridging a gap between two worlds.

2. Entrepreneurship – If there’s anything proven to improve one’s personal economic situation as well as the economic status of their community, it’s entrepreneurship. We all know the history of entrepreneurship in the black community (Black Wall Street for example) but it seems as if that is forgotten history, There are a large number of black businesses closing their doors every year and that number continues to increase. A lot of that has to do with a lack of entrepreneurship training, money management, marketing and proper, realistic planning. I live in the community that harbors the ONLY black owned grocery store in the REGION. That’s a sad fact considering Black Wall Street boosted 30 black owned grocery stores. Clearly there’s something wrong with this picture.

3. Education – Perhaps the biggest part of our plan, education is the heart of HC. We realize that in order for the black community to succeed, education truly is key. While there is something for everybody, our education services are aimed more so at the youth. These kids are suffering greatly. They are in schools that are unaccredited, they can’t find jobs, and most of all they have no hope. Imagine looking around and seeing what they see every day. It’s enough to make even the most optimist lose faith. These kids are greatly undereducated and are told they only have 3 options: sports, music or drugs but HC seeks to change that.

4. Financial Independence – According to recent reports, the average net worth of an African American family is $4,955. What is for white people? $110,729. That is an astounding gap. As an African American from the inner city, I can attest that you are not taught the proper skills for money management, financial planning, etc. Nobody sits you down and has a real, honest conversation with you about money therefore you misuse and abuse it and wonder why you’re always broke. If you’re not taught the skills, how can you use them?

5. Rebuilding/Strengthening of the Family Structure – This is by far the hardest issue that HC will have to face in order to improve our urban areas. Realistically, there’s only so much that HC can do pertaining to this issue. HOW does one fix a broken home? 73 percent of black babies are born out of wedlock. That number was 5.3 percent in 1960. Only 30 percent of black couples are married, less than half the rate of 1960. The breakdown of the family structure has destroyed the black community. It was the domino that was the first to fall leaving everything else to follow.

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