Follow the Paper Trail
A Black Star Project study on the racial wealth gap calculates that a dollar circulates six hours in the Black community, 20 days in the Jewish community and 30 days in the Asian community.
Generational Wealth – City of Detroit
This is an alarming study any way you slice it. Take a moment to read the report from the city of Detroit. Though these are Detroit’s findings, you will find through further research that these numbers are similar throughout the US. At this point, we know that the median income of black households is projected to be Zero by the time we reach 2053. Through this first series of blogs I want to focus on how we can work together to eradicate the predictions of this study. There is time for change if we act now.
Think about your spending habits. I am going to send you through a typical month’s expenses and as you look through, ask yourself: “How can I circulate this money in the community?”. Ours only lasts 6 hours. I will show you the number one reason why.
Expenses
Mortgage/Rent- The first and typically largest expense from your paycheck is the homing expense. If your mortgage/rent isn’t from a black owned lender/landlord, then on day one, your money has left the community. That’s why I believe it’s only 6 hours the money hits the community.
Water/Gas/Light- these are pretty universal bills. The vast majority of these institutions are not owned by black people in the US.
Phone- weather landline or cell, these are not owned by black people.
Streaming/Cable/Internet- There are very few if any owned by the black community
Car insurance/note – So you may have gotten your car from a black owned dealership, but was the lending institution also owned by a black person or the manufacturer of the vehicle black?
Groceries/Restaurants- There are more black farmers, ranchers, and butchers coming together to form co-ops and farmer’s markets to get the food to the people. There is a fresh wind pushing us to know where our food comes from.
Household goods- More and more each day, a new brand of cleaner, cologne, or fashion etc. comes out that is not only owned by a black person but is manufactured in the US by black hands.
I know these are not the totality of anyones’ expenses, but did you take the time and ask yourself, “How can I circulate this money in the community?” I’m not saying you need to open a power plant to provide your hometown with electricity (but if you want to do that, please do and give us a call so we can learn more about it.) I’m not saying you need to break your lease or refinance your home with a black financial institution. In that short list I gave you, how can you personally divert funds to spend your money with a black person in your community?
We will be expounding upon this concept as we go on because we have to explain how we can work together to facilitate such change.