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EE converts one family's pledge into a positive, powerful movement.      The EE Foundation needs funds to pay for website development, research, staff, supplies, travel and ongoing technological support.   EE is not charging businesses to be on this site.  EE is pure! To keep EE alive, donate (click below) or become a sponsor. 


WE DID IT!


 2009 was a very special year for us, living off Black businesses, promoting and defending our right and need to support our entrepreneurs and empower our underserved communities.  Please peruse our recently updated website for more national media coverage, to support the

EE Foundation, and to officially join EE, if you have not already. 

 

In a couple of weeks, we will send you a report on our journey, an update on our upcoming star-studded EE Victory Party, and our plans for a national campaign later this year.  The campaign will feature more events, more media, highlight quality businesses from all over the country, and facilitate and track your pledges to support them. 

 

In 2010, it will be all of us, supporting Black business and talent… and showcasing the money we spend, the businesses we grow, and the communities we enhance.

 

We are just waiting on you.  We will do this right, united, and organized - or not at all.

 


WHAT HAPPENED DURING OUR YEAR LIVING OFF BLACK BUSINESS? SEE THE EE VIDEO HERE.

See that living off of Black business is not that much of sacrifice and has nothing to do with  exclusion... it is about love, pride and enlightenment. During our EE journey, we've supported dozens of quality Black businesses, professionals, and Black-made products that we would not have even known existed had it not been for our pledge.  We have compromised nothing in terms of quality, service, or price.  We've gained much in terms or knowledge and power.  We now live a powerful life!  We spent and will continue spend our money in places and in ways that can contribute to our community's improvement. We have brought the issues facing Black business and the economic crises caused by the lack of Black-owned businesses in Black communities back into the national dialogue. This was our journey. This is OUR movement.     Click here for the video.

HAPPY MLK DAY!

Dr. King asked us to support our businesses...


EE TV - Positive, Intelligent, Family-Based. 

CBS NEWS
      Click here or the picture for the CBS story and video of the interview.

BET
BET News examines what EE means and can mean to the Black community.  BET explores whether it's possible and logical to engage in self-help economics.  Correspondent Samson Styles conducted interviews with the Andersons to understand how and why they conduct their pledge.  The news briefs air Thursdays, 5:20-5:30  during "106th & Park". Click here for the video from Thursday, June 4th. 

First Business Morning News
EE can make lasting and tangible impacts for Black business and economically deprived Black communities.  In this two-part segment, First Business Morning News shows how EE affects unemployment, incarceration, and failure rates of Black businesses.  It also discusses the "Is this racism?" issue.  Hear from John, Maggie and the business owners impacted by their pledge. Suhmeke Rainey reports. Click here for Part 1, and here for Part 2. 

TIME
When was the last time TIME talked about buying Black?  Or interviewed Black small business owners from the South Side of Chicago?  Or discussed economic empowerment in the Black community? The Empowerment Experiment is working!  EE is elevating the issues facing Black business and underserved minority communities into the national dialogue.  In this 'day in the life' of EE, TIME talks to the Andersons and some of the business owners they now support everyday through EE.  Meet Joslyn Slaughter, the owner of Jordan's Closets where Maggie Anderson shops for herself and her daughters.   See Karriem Beyah, the owner of the farmers market, Farmers Best, where the Andersons get their groceries.  Steven Gray, Time.com correspondent, conducts the interview.        Click here to see the video.

CNN
In this live interview with CNN's Don Lemon, the Andersons explain why they embarked on this special experiment, and how they believe they can, through their journey, help dispel negative stereotypes about Black business.  They also explain why empowering the historically underserved Black community is good for all of America - not just the Black community.       Click here to see the video.

FOX BUSINESS
John and Maggie Anderson, EE Founders, were guests on Neil Cavuto's show, The Cavuto Business Report. Here, the Andersons had the opportunity to explain the larger purpose of EE, to empower underserved communities by putting Black businesses "on equal footing" (as expressed by Cavuto) in America. This interview also highlights that as EE is primarily a case study on the efficacy of self-help economics, it is not as controversial as some make it out to be.  Click here to see the video.

 CNN's "The Situation Room" with Wolf Blitzer
Wolf Blitzer invited The Empowerment Experiment into CNN's The Situation Room.  This segment shows highlights of a day in the life of EE, with narration by award-winning journalist, Susan Roesgen.  EE is about uplifting quality Black businesses and proving that supporting them leads to stronger Black communities.  This piece brings the world into the Anderson home and their life in The Empowerment Experiment. Click here to see the video.

Chicago Urban League and Fox 32's "Next TV"
Chicago Urban League's Next TV series covered the Andersons when they first set out on their EE journey.  Here is a "day in the life" of The Empowerment Experiment as the Andersons live off of Black businesses.  CUL President, Cheryle Jackson narrates.  Click here for video.


Chicago Urban League and Fox 32's "Next TV" - Part 2
At four months, it was apparent that EE was much more than  the Andersons. It is the businesses they patronize, the entrepreneurs they support, the communities they help, and the millions of consumers,  businesspeople,  civic leaders, journalists  and investors out there who are starting to talk about economic empowerment for Black people in America. In this follow-up segment,  Next TV  checks in on the  Andersons to explore how their  experiment is doing. Are they making a difference? Will others start to EE too?  Click here to see the video.


For more EE TV, visit The Press page.
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Support the EE Foundation and EE's 'What If?'  Campaign Today!

The Empowerment Experiment Foundation’s (EEF) focus is research and development concerning economic empowerment in underserved communities. EEF's research is based on the Andersons' pledge and experiences finding and supporting specifically Black businesses, professionals and products created by Black manufacturers, as the Black community is a historically underserved community, does not practice self-help economics and disproportionately suffers in every measure of social and economic progress. EEF will also study the impacts of What If?.  What If? is the national economic development campaign aimed at promoting and stimulating enhanced entrepreneurship and self-help economics in the underserved Black community. EEF will collect data from this campaign to create a new body of knowledge about the power of self-help economics for revitalizing underserved communities. The purpose of the research, the national campaign, and the resultant study is to measure the economic impact of self-help economics and increased entrepreneurship in economically deprived communities. EE needs your help.  The Andersons can not create a movement by themselves!! To support the EEF's research and study of the What If? campaign,  click the 'Donate' button below, email support@empowermentexperiment.org or mail your contribution to:                                        The Empowerment Experiment Foundation, Inc., P.O. Box 464, Berwyn, IL 60402.