Jump Start: A Black Economic Power Development Primer
(Original Post Date: June 2016)
Real talk, our money is funny. To keep it short and simple: we not saving enough, we are not investing enough and our money doesn’t circulate in our community long enough. Our freedom is tied directly to our ability to maintain an in-group economic powerhouse. The American way is about cashing in. Appeals to recognize our humanity will continue to fall on deaf ears until those appeals are accompanied by economic consequences that allow us to cash in on our labor and intellectual property not others. In order to levy them we must have out financial house in order. This guide provides practical methods to begin educating ourselves, advocating for ourselves and building greater wealth and economic power in the black community.
Step 1. Adopt the Black Enterprise Black Wealth Pledge as a Working Economic Mantra
Read the mantra and begin to implement the strategies:
I, from this day forward, declare my vigilant and lifelong commitment to financial empowerment. I pledge the following:
To save and invest 10% to 15% of my after tax income
To be a proactive and informed investor
To be a disciplined and knowledgeable consumer
To measure my personal wealth by net worth, not income
To engage in sound budget, credit and tax management practices
To teach business and financial principles to my children
To use a portion of my personal wealth to strengthen my community
To support the creation and growth of profitable, competitive black owned enterprises
To maximize my earning power through a commitment to career development, technological literacy and professional excellence
To ensure that my wealth is passed on to future generations
I have committed to this unwavering, personal covenant as a means of bolstering myself, my family and my community. In adopting this resolution, I intend to use all available resources, wisdom and power to achieve these goals.
Step 2. Develop a Working Knowledge of Economic (or closely coupled) topics
Research the following topics:
Personal Finance
Budgeting
Savings
Investment
Estate planning
Homeownership
Debt Management
Emotional Spending
Mutual Benefit Societies
Savings and Investment Clubs (Sou Sous)
Business
Entrepreneurship
Advertising and Marketing
Economic Impact of slavery
Predatory Lending
Real Estate Investing
Venture Capital
Micro Lending
Political
Private /Public partnerships
Tax Incrementing Finance
Monetary Policy
Community Development
Legislation and Policy Making
Lobbying
Step 3. Support the Reparations Movement
Review the National African American Reparations Commission Preliminary Reparations Program via the Institute for the Black World website. Make a financial contribution to the continuation of this work via the website. Read H.R. 40, Commission to Study Reparation Proposals for African Americans. Document your support for this bill and your demand that your congressional representative to support it. Draft letter provided below:
Good Evening,
As my congressional representative I request that you vote for HR 40 when it comes to the floor again. America will never reach its full potential if the injustices of slavery, institutionalized racism and the economic disenfranchisement of African Americans are not righted. For it is not enough to simply stop enslaving, discriminating, segregating, using public policy and the criminal justice system to terrorize citizens. While acknowledging that in some form often subversively, these insidious acts still exist today; some substantive restitution must be paid to compensate those victimized by such acts, if there is to be justice. In order to advance the march toward restorative justice an in depth study of the damage done to African Americans as a result of the aforementioned acts is necessary. This is the central purpose of HR 40.
If you need more context on this issue, please read The Case for Reparations written by Ta-Nehisi Coates, if you haven't already. The article focuses on how racism in housing policy cost African Americans more time, effort and money to purchase homes. These extra cost can be quantified economically though the emotional toll is mostly immeasurable.
Feel free to contact me to discuss this matter further. Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Name
Address
State/Congressional District
Step 4. Develop and document a financial plan to include estate plans
Compile a working folder containing the following documents:
A signed copy of the BE -Black Wealth Pledge
A monthly budget
A savings and investment strategy
Enlist a financial planner if you need to but watch out for fees, they can diminish the growth of your investments
The documents should be reviewed regularly and revised when appropriate.
Compile an Estate Plan folder containing the following documents:
A living will
A will
Registered it with the Register of Wills or related Municipal Authority
A copy of insurance policies or bank statement for the account that holds funds to be
used for your burial
A list of your assets and debts
A Durable Power of Attorney
The documents should be review yearly and updated when there is a major life changing event (birth, marriage death, career change, diagnosis). This folder should be secured in a fire resistant location that your personal representative and alternate are able to access should the need arise.
Step 5. Join a Local Black Bank
Use the HBCU Money's 2013 African American Owned Bank Directory to identify the most local Black bank to you. Open an account at that bank and commit to depositing $50 per month into that account.
Why? - Greater deposits translate into more funds available for the bank to lend. Click here to read more about The Fed's Reserve Requirements. Then when you open the open the account give the bank representative the following letter:
Good Afternoon,
I am opening an account with [Bank Name] primarily as a part of my financial plan and commitment to save and invest 10% to 15% of my after tax income. Additionally, this account is being open to support the legacy of Black Banking in the United States. The existence and service of black banks has been key in the march toward freedom and wealth reestablishment for black people. In the last 50 years there has been decline in the number of black banks and in the economic conditions of the black community. These occurrences are linked. In order to stop more black bank closures and to increase personal savings I am committing to depositing at least $50 per month to this account. It is my expectation that [ Bank Name] will increase its lending and outreach to small, local, green, community based and black owned businesses.
Thank you for your time. I am looking forward to a fruitful banking relationship. Please feel free to contact me with questions or for comment.
Sincerely,
Name
Account Number
Phone or Email Address
Step 6. Recycle, Repurpose and Reuse
Emotional spending fueled by the desire to look good, fit it and achieve the American dream have each contributed to excess spending and accumulation of excess belongings in our community. As we work to address the underlying causes of emotional spending, adopting the practices of recycling, repurposing and reusing will aid us in correcting the impact of racism on our self esteem and help us discipline our spending. In a strict economic since, the resulting increase in recycling could potentially produce additional municipal employment and contract opportunities which are needed to advance the our economic progress. A decrease in purchases because items are being reemployed leaves additional funds for savings. Also, repurposing is provides an opportunity to craft and sell the “new” products for profit.
Step 7. Support Black People and Businesses with Targeted Spending and Investment*
Circulating money in the back community is an important element of economic development. Implement as many of these as are feasible based on your financial plan:
Attend or organize, BlackMobs, spending events with a minimum to patronize a restaurant, lounge, store or shop
Select a product class (i.e. personal care items) find products you like and purchase from them exclusively
Join a product subscription services ( i.e. Ujimaa Box, kweliTv)
Join or form a buyers co-op (i.e. APPEAL's Black Saturday Co-Op )
Provide Venture Capital or Micro-lending
Purchase Art
Purchase Real Estate
Not just to live in but to rent as residential, commercial and/or industrial
* Disclaimer: In investing and lending there are no guarantees, past performance does not guarantee future performance, invest and lend at your own risk.
Let's get started. Let's get free..... Financially!
Reading and Resources List
People
Don’t forget to talk to others. For far too long money and finances has been a taboo subject in the black community. In order to grow wealthy we must share our economic experiences and knowledge with one another. Reach out to folks particular elders, thought leaders and change agents in your community and ask them how we can strength our economic situation. Talk to family members (especially children) and friends about getting and keeping our financial matters in order.
Books
Living in the Village
Black Labor, White Wealth
Black Bourgeoisie: The Book That Brought the Shock of Self Revelation to Middle Class Blacks in America
Secret History of the American Empire
Winner Take All Politics
Intelligent Investor
Black Titan: A.G Gaston and the Making of a Black Millionaire
Not In My Neighborhood
Slavery By Another Name
History of Black Business: Capitalism, Race and Entrepreneurship
The Debt
The Covenant
The Covenant in Action
In the Black: A History of African Americans on Wall Street
The 21 Day Financial Fast
Our Black Year
Brown in Baltimore
Medical Apartheid
Our Kind of People
40 Million Dollar Slave
A Framework for Understand Poverty
How We Know What Isnt's So
Think and Grow Rich
Family Wealth: Keeping It In the Family
dFree: Breaking Free from Financial Slavery
Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture
Brainwashed: Challenging the Myth of Black Inferiority
Articles/Papers :
A Case of Reparations
Cultivating Conscious Entrepreneurs to Rescue and Restore the Race
Down to the Wire: Displacement and Disinvestment in Baltimore City
Down in the Dumps
The Messy Link Between Slave Owners and Modern Management
Greater Baltimore Commitment: A Study of Urban Minority Economic Development
Profit or Pleasure? Exploring the Motivations Behind Treasure Trends
Why Black Americans Should Invest in Art Pieces
75 Most Powerful Blacks on Wall Street
Lecture/Documentaries:
A Great and Mighty Walk
Banished
American Casino
Vanishing Pearls
Waiting on Superman
Hidden Colors
How Black People In USA Can Become RICH & POWERFUL NOW
Moving Beyond White Supremacy Civil Rights Toward Revolution
Slavery By Another Name
The Black Power Mixtape
Organizations:
APPEAL, Inc.
Institute of the Black World
Association of African American Financial Advisors
