FAMILY FUN GAME NIGHT, Jacksonville

Prosperity is an attractive new board game with a commanding presence, over 23” wide and weighing-in at almost 5 pounds. At first glance the game seems familiar, but almost instantly you say to yourself, like the owner of Black Arts Plus in Dayton, Ohio, “this game is for us!” “We acknowledged the positive contributions of those [African American board games] who came before us, focusing on Black history, then we took it to the next level.” said the publisher of Prosperity. “We’re about inspiring action, building solutions, and motivating meaningful progress …” the publisher continued.

A Lake Forest community leader received Prosperity as a gift, she allowed her church’s singles association to experience the game during Game Night; then before the game was sent to her daughter attending college in Arizona, her 13 year old nephew was heard saying “I want to be like him (pointing to the man on the $10,000,000 bill)!” Undoubtedly, that’s exactly what the creator of Prosperity was looking for.

Unlike many games that glorify the destruction of opponents in order to win; Prosperity focuses on progressive principles such as: ‘cooperative economics,’ ‘increasing the pie,’ and ‘win-win negotiations.’ A mortgage consultant, pleasantly surprised at the mature level of the game, said (reading game rules) “hahaha ‘comptroller’, ‘[purchase]options,’ … ‘condemnation,’ mannnnn, I gotta get one! …” The mortgage professional clearly felt Prosperity was an excellent product for his family, but also indicated that it was a suitable house-closing gift idea for many of his clients as well.

Some believe the board game industry is paying close attention to Prosperity; not to its laudable business principles in play, but instead to the high currency value ($1000. to $100,000,000. notes,) and high property values (multi-million dollar). “…people are getting nervous …” Mr. Amitenejah said, then concluded “… expect to see a big difference to old board game favorites real soon.” So don’t be too surprised if you see a brand new million dollar bill in Life, or a shiny billion dollar price tag on Monopoly’s Broadwalk.

Power, Purpose, and Problem 
Prosperity has a multi-layered approach cultural identity, business skills development, and family fun. It starts with the color pattern (red, black, and green) on the box, and the property names (named after US cities with high African American populations), it continues with the game pieces, symbolically extolling the virtues of the African American community: leadership (King), responsibility (Mother of Earth), family (Fertility Doll), intelligence (Pyramid), security (Pet), political power (Crown), and physical strength (Power Fist). As for business, the currency collectively links Africa and America with wisdom and wealth. The family will enjoy the game board’s wide array of vibrant colors, i.e.: proud blues, happy yellows, jolly greens, and pretty purples. And the ever surprising Power Cards will keep the game peppered with intrigue.

A powerful lesson plan centered around Prosperity was recently adopted and featured on www.teachers.net and www.lessonsplanpage.com, the lesson plan is designed to be used by teachers and mentors of children age 8 to 18. It is particularly useful during Black History Month, week of Juneteenth, and/or week of Kwanzaa. “… Prosperity … helps … young entrepreneurs [mature their] consciousness through fun, history and inspiration” said the founder of African American Holiday Association and YEP (Youth Entrepreneur Project).

“Our goal is to inspire real life success everyday from generation to generation,” statement found at a Prosperity’s website: www.funwithwealth.com. “You could really learn how to negotiate real life deals just by playing the game, there is so much that people could learn just by playing the game.” Said the owner of Nefertiti’s Books & Gifts in Jacksonville Florida.

The publishers of Prosperity found themselves humbled by the fact that they were unable to find Black contractors to produce their product. Normally after the electronic files are finished, a project such as this takes about three months to complete with a single contractor. After many production delays, and a few contractor changes the project was finished two long and very hard years later.

The Product, The Creator, and The Company 
Ever since a life-affirming and life-focusing experience that occurred on October 15, 1995 on the mall of our nation’s capitol; Mr. Amitenejah, a native New Yorker, with over 10 years of professional real estate experience, aggressively sought a national product of cultural substance and financial worth.

During a spirited conversation between Mr. Amitenejah and a doctoral-candidate client of his, at his Florida home, the client asked him if he had authored any books. The client inquired because she felt Mr. Amitenejah’s strong opinions needed to be published. That conversation directly motivated Mr. Amitenejah to write the manuscript, Building Black Wealth In America — Prosperity is based on that manuscript. Clearly, both projects fulfilled the national product criteria.

Speaking to the creator of Prosperity, Ms. H. Hussey of Canada said “… Bless you for creating it!” Prosperity was completed on 3/7/05, the company officially started 5/5/05, and the two year trademark registration process finalized on 6/14/05

Let’s Play 
According to the rules, ‘as a group: players set up game board, allot player pieces, determine player-turn order, and appoint a banker (comptroller); the banker distributes $700,000,000. as follows: (5) $100,000,000. bills, (13) $10,000,000. bills, (10) $5,000,000. bills, (18) $1,000,000. bills, (19) $100,000. bills, (9) $10,000. bills, and (10) $1000. bills. All players start at the corner square labeled Port Success, also known as ‘Start Here,’ then ‘progress’ clockwise on the board.’

‘Set a goal, as a group you set a goal to signal the end of the game before it starts, i.e.: the first person with a billion dollars in cash, two hour time limit, or use of half of the power cards.’ Apparently, without a goal, the game could go on aimlessly for days. ‘The very first property purchased must be the Real Estate Development office,’ seems like they hold an exclusive-right-to-sell every property on the board, well at least for the first sale, sweet deal euh? See what can happen when you make the rules?

Players are encouraged to always have a deal in mind, and reminded to keep all negotiations open and limited to one minute. ‘When a player lands on an available property he/she can buy it, not buy it, or sell his/her “right or option” to buy it.’ This rule enables players to create wealth without actual property ownership, this is another real-life learning lesson. More traditional deals involve the purchase of property with a mortgage, in this game ‘the entire loan, plus interest must be paid on or before any of that property’s owners land on the property or foreclosure must take place;’ sorry, no refinancing in Prosperity! Watch out because in Prosperity the government can forcibly take your property when it chooses to do so, although it’s for public purposes not for private gain, unlike what occurred recently in New London, Connecticut.

Back to the game, Prosperity doesn’t mean perfection; at times big problems occur, for example: although the “No Justice No Peace” card indicates a willingness to be incarcerated for a just cause; the ‘Arrested’ card indicates involuntary restraint. The State and Federal political influence (cards) can turn any horrific jail experience into a mere inconvenience. For those without political influence, they must gamble with the justice system, which includes an appeals process if necessary. Another problem card to avoid is ‘Ouch’, if selected you must pay 65% of your cash-on-hand for alimony and child support. Ohhhh, what you really don’t want to do is get the ‘Major Accident’ card and then Action Roll an 11 or a 12; nope, you don’t want that.

An ‘Action Roll is a throw of the dice to determine an action’, action rolls are necessary when multiple options are present (on specific properties, and/or on some power cards). If a player lands on a property such as the Utility Company, he/she must perform an Action Roll to determine the service (cable, phone, gas, oil, electric, etc…) and fee ordered. If a player selects a special Power Card such asTrip to Africa, Charitable Contribution, or Entertainment Contract, the Action Roll in conjunction with the special power card rules will determine the specific action. For example, if a player selects the Entertainment Contract Power Card then Action Rolls a 12, the player will ‘receive $7,000,000. for his/her R&B/Gospel/or Rap contract’.