Organizational History
The Black Man's Think Tank, Inc. (BMTT) was incorporated on February 11, 2008 and is a tax-exempt, non-partisan, non-sectarian organization. The idea for its conception arose out of discussions that were had at the Black Man's Think Tank Conference at Sinclair Community College in Dayton, OH. Since 2000, we have illuminated issues pertaining to the Black community and Black men in particular. It was evident that we needed to involve ourselves in the community on an on-going basis in order to facilitate growth and development on all levels especially in the areas of education and economic development. To that end, the BMTT was founded.
We owe our sincere gratitude to Omar Powell for his leadership in originating the BMTT conference in Dayton and in his tireless efforts to educate, inform, and inspire us to excel.
Mission
Our mission is to develop and support industry between Black organizations and professionals.
Our mission priorities are working with organizations and professionals in the areas of education, economic development, health and wellness, and criminal justice.
Vision
We will develop and strengthen Black organizations and institutions because we believe that they have the greatest potential to allay negative environmental factors that disproportionately affect Black people. We believe that they have the greatest potential to ensure prosperity for them via greater employment, greater access to health care, and greater access to educational opportunities. Ultimately, we work with them so that together they become more organized, more productive, more resourceful, more interdependent, and more responsive to the needs of Black people at home and abroad.
We aim to affect our mission and vision by the systematic use of research, strategic alliances, solid business practices, and the pragmatic use of technology.
Values
We value team work, collaboration, integrity, strategic planning, and professionalism in all our organizational activities.
BMTT Initiatives
Strategic Alliances and Partnerships
Purpose: To create synergy among Black organizations and professionals by better organizing their collective and individual assets, i.e., cognitive, behavioral, social, cultural, economic, political, etc.
Vision: Unity and interdependence versus disunity and strict independence.
Goals:
- Build our membership by tailoring it to the needs of the community. Membership areas fall under strategic alliances and partnerships.
- Build relationships and cooperative programs that allow Black organizations to become more successful when accessing mainstream programs (i.e., capital, certification, licensure, insurance, bonding, etc.) or to operate in a global economy independently of them (our main focus). Note: It is proper for us to target markets outside of the Black community.
- Develop cooperative programs (i.e., new businesses, resources, joint policies and procedures, protocols, association or member constitutions, networks, etc.).
Public Policy, Advocacy, and Research
Purpose: To reform, counter, or eliminate policies and practices that are detrimental to the mental, spiritual, behavioral, emotional, familial, financial, and physical health of Black people and to advance scientific research and its practical applications.
Vision: A world adapted to our purpose where our mental, spiritual, behavioral, emotional, familial, financial, and physical health are optimal and in which scientific inquiry is a commonly accepted value and practice.
Goals:
- To transform the penal justice system to counter its deliberate effects of family disintegration; diminished physical and mental health; and loss of civil, political, employment, and property rights.
- To eliminate disparate health and wellness issues by advocating for effective policies, supporting research, helping to create health care solutions, and helping to institute best practice health care models based on African-centered values and principles.
- To increase the educational output of the Black community by advocating for coursework and educational practices based on the psychology of Black children and on African-centered values and principles; promoting historically Black colleges and universities; and creating knowledge sharing, research, and mentoring opportunities for Black students, educators researchers, etc.
- To create a new value system where the practice and use of scientific inquiry within the Black community is second to none.
- To measure our progress by documenting and reporting our successes and failures using quantitative and qualitative methodologies.
Business Services
Purpose: To provide additional revenue streams which sustain our organization and which provide valuable products and services to our members and the general public.
Vision: Sustainability, member value, and donor confidence.
Goals:
- To support member organizations with business support services, client referrals, and other business opportunities.
- To develop revenue-generating affiliations and for profit entities that contribute back to the BMTT.
- To create member value by providing volunteer and networking opportunities, business opportunities, advocacy, referrals, newsletters and reports, conferences and symposiums, and discounted products and services.
- To create donor confidence by being transparent, accountable, and effective.
The success or failure of our initiatives and programs will hinge on our ability to execute our strategic plans in coordination with other institutions; our ability to support them with financial resources, information technology resources, and other resources; our ability to understand and utilize best practices; and more importantly, our ability to win the hearts and minds of the public.
On the last point—to win the hearts and minds of the public—our organization will be transparent by providing consistent media and public relations campaigns that provide information on our operations and programs.
Message from the Founding President
Contemporary Black thought focuses on solving societal level problems within Black communities by making appeals to personal responsibility and demanding public and private assistance from large institutions. Despite the myriad of research, funding, and different programs, systemic problems within our communities such as lack of educational attainment, criminality, high unemployment, and poor health care still persist and worsen. This mindset must change because it has not worked. Therefore, the BMTT resolves to affect societal level problems with more appropriate solutions based on reasoning, creativity, organization, and cooperation among like-minded institutions. For us, this means transforming all our social institutions so that they are better informed, interdependent, and highly organized to address these problems.
We are not disillusioned or unrealistic and know that our work will be tough and at times disappointing, but we also know that if we do not adapt in an optimal way, the situation will only worsen. Can anyone deny that this is not the case?
If you believe as we do, we would love to have you work with us to affect progress within our communities.
Marlon R. Aldridge, Sr.
President & CEO