Last week, Bob Johnson, the founder of Black Entertainment Television (BET), sent an open letter to the “leaders and supporters” of the Black Lives Matter movement calling for them to consider establishing “a formal independent political party.”

In the letter, the 74-year-old businessman, dubbed “America’s first Black billionaire,” also laid the framework for the party by suggesting what its foundational principle might be.

According to Johnson, an independent Black political party would act as a vehicle to advance the “permanent interests” of Black Americans in the United States.

Johnson, who acknowledged that the idea of Black people forming an independent party is not new, challenged the assumption that these independent parties can’t gain substantial power, leverage and influence.

In the June 17 letter he also praised the Black Lives Matter movement for its success in motivating and mobilizing people across the world to fight racial injustice in a way “not seen since the Civil Rights movement.”