Taking into account the historical role of the Black Church in our communities, any sensible and practical action plan for nurturing and growing an accountable Black business community must accord a place of prominence to its ministries.  Hence the Atlanta Black Agenda BRC has fashioned itself into an instrument that advances the ongoing business ministries of the Black Church. 

The BRC is a bridge, a network of bridges that tie these far-flung ministries and their participants and the larger African American business community together for the benefit of our entire people.Scripture enjoins us to mutual aid and self-help.  As a practical matter, we believe we are called upon to ensure that the largest portion of dollars, both wages and wealth which are injected into our communities remain in circulation there as long as possible.  Only in this way, can we maximize the viability of our community services, can we preserve our human and material infrastructure.  Only when this condition is met can we say we are working effectively to strengthen our capital and human investments, and providing the broadest possible access to opportunity and prosperity to all segments of our African American communities.

Recirculating Black Dollars in Black Communities

We are convinced that among the foundations of collective self-help and community economic development is a commitment to do equitable and honorable business among and with ourselves, to recirculate black dollars in black communities, building social as well as fiscal capital. 

Toward that end, the BRC and the Overground RailRoad maintain this web site along with an array of communications and related projects to put black consumers in touch with black businesses, to arbitrate disputes that arise between our business partners and their customers, to boost the social conscience of the black business community, and to assist the Black Church in the deployment of its considerable pools of social capital for the betterment of our families, our communities, our people.  

Kitchen Table Affirmative Action

"Kitchen table affirmative action" is social consciousness.  It is collective self help.  It is the mobilization of social and business cooperation --- social and fiscal capital --- in the cause of bettering our businesses, our families, and our African American communities.  We emphatically believe that self-help starts with helping each other --- looking out for each other, doing business with each other, amicably resolving disputes and working to uplift all of our people.

The term "affirmative action" was originally coined to denote public policies which took positive or "affirmative" action to remedy pre-existing conditions of want, deprivation and lack of opportunity in our black communities.  While public policies of affirmative action will remain vitally necessary for some time to come, we are also obligated take private, small scale and collective affirmative actions in our own lives, around our kitchen tables with the conscious aim of remedying the social, economic and spiritual state of affairs in our African American communities.

The Overground Railroad exists to promote kitchen table affirmative action, to advance the historic mission of the African American business community and the Black Church.  Our objective is to mobilize and expand the vast stores of social capital, of of mutual self-help and cooperation that have been nurtured and built up by the Black Church to the benefit of our communities.