Black people in the global future must protect their assets

 President Obama was only able to pay off his Columbia University and Harvard Law School
student loans after publishing two autobiographies.
(Pete Souza, official White House photographer photo)

"...the greatest contributor to family instability among blacks has been the death of the male spouse rather than divorce or desertion..."

---Charles Vert Willie

 

Black people need to face the future with pessimism AND optimism. Assets that must be protected are Black men, and cycle of social injustice must be broken.

Just because Barack and Michelle are living in the White House and Oprah is one of the richest women on the planet doesn't mean all African Americans are in a good place. The number one problem is being able to hold a job and remain alive. Next is inability to amass assets and ability to pay for food, shelter, transportation, and a competitive education without going into debt.

Thirty years a slave is tied to "owning your own home" which is usually mortgaged from banks at rising interest, insurance, and tax rates. If you truly own your own home, no matter how humble, it means not having major debt associated with a roof over our head.

According to some researchers and educators, there are several major issues impeding Black progress, and they all revolve around unemployment, incarceration, education, psychological health, housing, time spent on entertainment and sex, church affiliation, and respect.

Listening to a 1968 MLK, Blacks still need to fight for poor people's rights and declare a war on poverty. Census statistics state that 27 percent of African Americans are poor. In 2010, 12.4 percent of White children were poor compared to 38.2 percent of Black children. Poor people fall victim to payday loan and other personal financial scams that can charge as much as 300 percent interest rates.

Being financially ignorant and desperate can put you in a bad state for life.

According to Dorothy Brown, a professor of tax law at Emory University Law School, the racial wealth gap has hit an all-time high.  "The median net worth of white households is now 20 times that of black households," said Brown in 2012. That is a problem in a capitalist country.

How do we keep from getting further and further behind? How do we survive?

"Any fool can make a fortune; it takes a man of brains to hold onto it."

---Commodore Vanderbilt

Only buy what you really need. Stop trying to "live like the Vanderbilts" when you don't have a guaranteed income. If you can, help those who need it most, and stop giving to non-profits when you can't even save 10% of your own wealth for emergencies.

 

Know what you're up against and work to overcome all barriers that could lead to early morbidity in this world and an uncertain immortality in the next.

Read the following and make plans to combat statistics.
http://www.blackstarproject.org/home/images/facts/deepeningplightblackmeninamerica.pdf