Black business is black wealth.

Principle No. 8 of the BLACK ENTERPRISE Black Wealth Initiative's Declaration of Financial Empowerment is to support the creation and growth of profitable, competitive black-owned enterprises. This principle is the foundation upon which BE was launched 35 years ago. Each June, BE illustrates the sheer impact and raw potential of this wealth-building principle by producing our annual report on the BE 100S, the nation's largest black-owned companies.

The BE INDUSTRIAL/SERVICE 100 and the BE AUTO DEALER 100 generated more than $23.2 billion in revenues in 2004. Along with the largest black-owned advertising agencies, banks, insurance companies, asset management firms, private equity firms, and investment banks that make up our lists, the BE 100s employ nearly 87,000 people. But to truly appreciate the role black-owned enterprises play as we pursue our crusade for multigenerational wealth for black Americans, you have to go beyond mere numbers to the very fabric of our nation's economy and quality of life.

Gone are the days when black-owned companies were limited to providing employment primarily to African Americans and marketing products and services exclusively to the black consumer market. Over the past three decades, black-owned businesses have fought their way from the sideshows to the main stages--and increasingly, the center stage--of American industry. Today, there's more to "buying black" than heading to a retail outlet in a black neighborhood and looking for the product with the black-is-beautiful model, red-black-and-green label, or kente cloth motif on the package.

Let's say you woke up this morning in Lexington, Kentucky, preparing for a business trip to Washington, D.C., with a connecting flight in Atlanta. You flip on CNN to check for Rally Caparas' report on airport delays around the country. The tracking system used by Caparas to display flight patterns is Flight Explorer, a product of Alexandria, Virginia-based Dimensions International, this year's BE Company of the Year. Bags packed, you hop into the new Escalade you purchased from Martin Oldsmobile/Cadillac in Bowling Green, Kentucky, which happens to be the third largest black-owned auto dealership in the country. As you head to the airport, you are blissfully unaware that many of the components in your luxury SUV were manufactured by BE 100s auto suppliers such as Detroit's Bridgewater Interiors.

You leave Lexington and land in Atlanta with just enough time to grab a meal before catching your connecting flight to D.C. You hurry through Hartsfield/Jackson International Airport to the Paschal's restaurant concession, a joint venture between the legendary Atlanta eatery and Concessions International Inc., a division of BE 100S mainstay H.J. Russell & Co. By the way, H.J. Russell, the nation's largest black-owned construction firm, also built Hartsfield/Jackson's main terminal.

Upon landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport, you grab your bags and head over to the rental car counter. Minutes later, you do what all business travelers do when they pick up their rental car--search for a radio station to listen to while you're driving. You settle on WKYS-93.9 on your FM dial, a station owned by Radio One Inc., another BE 100S company. Finally, you check into your home away from home in D.C., the upscale, residential-style Homewood Suites by Hilton. This 175-suite property is owned by RLJ Development L.L.C., a BE 100S hotel development and investment concern.

I could go on, but you get the idea. Most of us, regardless of race, buy black every day as the nation's largest black-owned companies deliver products and services that positively impact the lives of all Americans, as well as consumers the world over. This is proof of the tremendous progress made by black business over the past 40 years. However, if we are to close the wealth gap in black America, we cannot afford to be satisfied. In fact, to create multigenerational wealth, we must continue to build, support, and reinvest in building bigger, better, and more profitable companies.

Why? Because black entrepreneurs, while providing potential employment to all qualified job candidates, have proven to be far more effective than non-minority companies at creating job opportunities for African Americans. In addition to the tens of thousands of people these companies employ directly, the BE 100S create jobs for hundreds of thousands of others by subcontracting to smaller black-owned concerns and hiring freelance professionals and contract workers. In so doing, BE 100S companies enable more African Americans to generate the income necessary to buy their own homes and save for retirement, identified by the BE Board of Economists as the top two priorities we must address in order to close the black wealth gap. The creation and growth of more large black-owned companies also means providing more black families with access to healthcare coverage and the ability to provide for their children's education.

Take a moment now to recommit to DOFE Principle No. 8. Make a conscious effort to patronize quality black-owned companies, helping them gain a greater share of the more than $723 billion in after-tax dollars African Americans earn each year. Read BE to learn about successful black entrepreneurs thriving in just about every industry. It is up to us to make the effort to seek them out and refer them to others. That's why we showcase and celebrate the BE Companies of the Year as well as our nominees for the BE Small Business Awards each year at the Black Enterprise Entrepreneurs Conference, which attracts nearly two thousand black business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs annually.

Be an advocate for black businesses by learning as much as you can about the procurement needs and policies of your employer, helping to identify contracting opportunities, and recommending qualified black firms that can provide the goods and services sought. Make it a point to invest in publicly traded black-owned companies (such as Radio One) and black-owned mutual funds. (You'll find the BE Black Stock Index and black-owned mutual funds at www.blackenterprise.com/InvestingTab.asp.) Finally, let the example set by the BE 100S inspire your own entrepreneurial endeavors.

The bottom line: Supporting the growth of profitable black-owned companies means increasing the wealth-building capacity of all African Americans. Successful businesses are tremendous assets that contribute to the individual and collective positive net worth needed to close the black wealth gap and create a legacy of prosperity for generations to come.