Double-duty dollar
Encyclopedia
The term "double duty dollar" was used during the early and middle 1900’s in the context of the economic plight of the African American
community. Those in the pulpit as well as social activists such as Booker T. Washington
and Marcus Garvey
preached the message of community empowerment through economic means. The “double duty dollar” served a greater purpose than being the means by which to purchase an item; it was a unifying force. People would bond as they shopped, bargained, talked, and laughed with each other. Community connections would have been made as they continued to see each other on daily, weekly, or monthly basis. That cycle of communication would have helped to uplift the community.
The term has outgrown its original meaning and gone over oceans and infiltrated the ranks of the wealthy. This term and its meaning is now being embraced around the world.
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
community. Those in the pulpit as well as social activists such as Booker T. Washington
Booker T. Washington
Booker Taliaferro Washington was an American educator, author, orator, and political leader. He was the dominant figure in the African-American community in the United States from 1890 to 1915...
and Marcus Garvey
Marcus Garvey
Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Jr., ONH was a Jamaican publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, and orator who was a staunch proponent of the Black Nationalism and Pan-Africanism movements, to which end he founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League...
preached the message of community empowerment through economic means. The “double duty dollar” served a greater purpose than being the means by which to purchase an item; it was a unifying force. People would bond as they shopped, bargained, talked, and laughed with each other. Community connections would have been made as they continued to see each other on daily, weekly, or monthly basis. That cycle of communication would have helped to uplift the community.
The term has outgrown its original meaning and gone over oceans and infiltrated the ranks of the wealthy. This term and its meaning is now being embraced around the world.