07/05/2018
One of the most important things for our people to understand in the 21st century is that there is no power if you don't have economic power. As a Finance PhD and someone who has taught college students on this topic for the last 25 years, I've concluded that almost nothing is more important for our community than to make wealth-building into one of the leading priorities for our famlies and our children.
Here are a few facts about wealth that you should know that will help those who are seeking solutions:
1) Those who invest in the stock market consistently, on average, have more wealth than those who do not. Just investing the same amount that we've spent on fast food and entertainment over the last 40 years would have increased our collective family wealth by trillions of dollars.
2) Those who study the basics of home ownership tend to get ahead. Studies show that home ownership is what helps people go from lower to middle class. There are FHA loans you can get with very low credit scores. Andre Hatchett has solutions at TheBlackRealEstateSchool.com. Unlike those $40,000 a year universities many of us attended, you can try his programs out for free.
3) I suggest that every black child be taught how to start a business by the age of 10. There are thousands of black business owners who've created strong companies by coming together with relatives, pooling their money and creatively figuring out how to get a business started. One of our challenges as black people is that we are trained heavily to become workers for white-owned businesses, and this leaves us behind.
Yes, we certainly deserve reparations and we should keep fighting for them (Dr Anderson agrees I believe). But I have not seen much evidence that waiting for those in government to work on behalf of black folks is ever going to work. I propose that we also ensure that we are efficient and collectivist when it comes to working together with the money we have in our pocket.
Our people can do anything when we put our minds to it. It is my hope that we can find ways to work together.
You can take a free class on wealth-building in The Black Business School by visiting FinancialJuneteenthUniversity.com.
