The Religious Disservice
Inspired by Bluesky user Fingerwh0
Our parents religiously misled us. They gave us a map of Mars & coupled it with instructions on how to survive there knowing we dwell on Earth. I’m not saying religion is a bad thing; but the levels we force it onto our community is cultish, dangerous & highly irresponsible. Conditioning our kids to turn the other cheek when attacked while praying for our attackers is the highest level of lunacy. It’s super foolish to handout road maps about the “afterlife” but neglect to teach our community the way to navigate the terrain we are currently on. By pushing religion harder than we push financial literacy we conditioning our children & young adults to fall blindly to the rat race & becoming financially broken slaves awaiting on Jesus to come save us.
Our Sad Financial Reality
Take a trip into any Black or poverty stricken area & you will find liquor stores, dollar stores, check cashing places & payday loan offices that offer 100% interest. It’s not rocket science to understand how we are products of our environment. It takes money & financial knowledge to make money. Our sad financial reality is without financal literacy, our communities are being swallowed up & gentrified while we get poked fun of for being in a situation our oppressors dropped us head first in. I actually stopped into a dollar store to buy a soda one day & I noticed this elderly Black American lady smiling because she found a roll of toilet paper for a dollar. Thinking she was “sticking it to the man” she happily purchased 12 rolls for $12. 🥺 It took everything in me not to educate her that she could get a 12 pack of toilet paper from a real store for $5.
I also recall as a child, my mother around tax time would pay almost $500 per year for a Rapid Refund service. That $500 could have EASILY been invested back into the household as improvements to the house, a nice starter for a savings account or even purchase healthier option for dinner. It’s little lessons like these we should be force feeding to our communities.
Black Finances 101 Sylibus
I missed that opportunity to educate that sweet old lady so I hope this post will be used as a gateway into understanding why financial freedom is desperately needed for Black Americans. I listed a few areas for improvements that should be implemented into our homes & communities.
Understanding Value Over Price
Budgeting and Financial Planning
Saving and Emergency Funds
Credit and Debt Management
Banking and Financial Services
Investing Basics
Taxes and Tax Planning
Retirement Planning
Insurance and Risk Management
Consumer Rights and Fraud Protection
Homeownership and Real Estate Basics
The Credit Card Misconception 💳
A firearm in the wrong hands could cause accidental, self inflicting injuries. In the possession of a well trained individual, a firearm could be a lifesaver. I have the same energy when it comes to credit cards. Financial guru, Dave Ramsey aggressively voices his disdained hatred for credit cards. I advise everyone to conduct their own research on any topic. While doing so, I’ve found that advice from Dave Ramsey doesn’t benefit Black Americans; but I’ll let you determine what works for your lifestyle.
My credit cards have helped me out in a crunch from buying lunches, groceries or even gas between pay checks. If you do not have a credit card, your only remedy may be a huge interest pay day loan. A credit card can be a 0% interest loan as long as you pay it back before the next billing cycle instead of the next pay day like a payday loan. A preach that you should NEVER slide your card unless you are 💯 percent sure you can afford the transaction. The average American does NOT have $400 in savings to aid them in the event of an emergency. Having a credit card & an emergency fund will turn a huge emergency into a mere inconvenience. If the tread fell off one of your tires today, do you have a replacement warranty on the tire or something set aside to pay for a new one. Being prepared for such an event may inconvenience you but you won’t have to call around trying to borrow funds to get your card back on the road.
May Credit Cards Unlock Your Financial Locks
I don’t get too wrapped up in credit repair but I will die on the hill of credit preservation. Roughly 6 years ago I was on the phone with a customer. She requested if I could delay her delivery because she was taking her family on an international getaway. My response to her way, “ Wow, I wish I had money to treat my family is such a fashion!” Her response blew my mind. She told me that she got free trips every year with the use of her travel credit card. A top tier card will give you miles or cash back on the purchases you were already going to slide your card for anyways. Once a month, I pay my utility bill with my credit card & once that transaction posts, I take my utility bill money & pay off the card. Depending on the funding bank & style of the card, you will get 1, 2, 3 or 5% cash back.
On average, a utility bill is $300 per month. Even on the lower end of the spectrum with 2%, you are getting $6 back that month off that one transaction alone. Now follow suit & cover your cell phone, car insurance & any other expense you may have in that fashion & watch your miles or cash back credit grow. Some may argue that that 1-5% is pocket change. Well, if you focus on the amount; it is. But when you focus on the value, you’ll discover that playing the credit card game is more lucrative than allowing your money to sit in a low yield savings account that accumulates at 1% per month.
I Thought Somebody Broke Said Something!
It’s no secret that we have a lot of broke & uninformed people in our community so its vital to your survival to do your own research. Broke people tend to find joy in pocket watching you instead of honing their focus & energy into your own financial situation. While doing your due diligence, be mindful that what works for your income bracket & discipline level may be detrimental to the next one. If the church was so concerned about us, they would offer financial literacy gathering. Putting so much emphasis on someone who could walk on water & literally own everything is a communal poison when 97% of us have nothing. So it’s ok to praise yourself & engage in healthy financial conversations. Focus on fixing our homes 1 penny at a time so each home can come together as a collective & repair our communities.
🤎🖤Black Love ✊🏿 Black Power ☮️ Black Peace to my 🌡 Community.
