The Kyle Rittenhouse “team” raised over $2 million CASH in order to get him released on bail - a domestic terrorist that was determined to kill protesters for Black Lives Matter aka black people or people who like black people. This wasn’t surprising to many of us but it further clarifies the point that many black folks need to really pay attention to, WEALTH. It’s necessary in order for us to change this racist society aka America.
Why is Wealth Needed?
We need to make something very clear. Wealth is different from “having money”. Many of us, contrary to what reports say, make enough money to support ourselves and our immediate family. Wealth, by definition, is “an abundance of valuable possessions or money, the state of being rich; material prosperity; plentiful supplies of a particular resource”. While the old adage is that Black people are wealthy in other areas such as love, natural talent, knowledge, etc; THOSE resources don’t help us get the right people in elected positions, change our education system or post bail for OUR people. We need MONETARY wealth to create the changes in society that we truly need.
Let me elaborate further. The wealth we have in love and family is what helps us sustain the mental stick-to-itiveness we need to survive this oppressive society but it does nothing for actual gains and tangible change. We need WEALTH, not just a “few dollars”, to have the officials we know will work for our betterment, to change our school districts and pay our teachers what they deserve, to increase medical centers in our communities, to help with bail programs and making sure our justice system reflects our community. MONEY is required for all of those things, not prayers and well wishes (and I love a good prayer but faith without works is dead so sayeth the LORD)
How Do We Achieve Wealth?
I briefly discussed the what behind wealth. The next thing we need to unpack is the how. This is a layered conversation so let’s start with what you have to do for self, first.
Self-Wealth Steps:
1. Accumulate – Listen... this is the most difficult part. As someone who has had wealth and lost it SEVERAL times due to life situations or poor spending; I feel comfortable talking to you about it. To accumulate wealth means that you are earning income AND saving a good portion of it. This means you must save MORE than you spend and in a society that is based on THINGS, that is a hard thing to do. This is an area I am STILL working on but I’m determined to get better EACH month.
2. Distribute – Once you’ve accumulated a certain amount of wealth you need to distribute it appropriately so that you can continue to make money on the money you have. In other words, INVEST. I am NOT a financial advisor so I won’t make any suggestions on what your investment portfolio should look like but you MUST invest in order to continue to make money on the money you have saved. This is a key step in wealth building.
3. Sustain – Sustaining is the combination of accumulation & distribution, in my opinion. We are only here for a period of time. To create the generational wealth we frequently speak about, we have to sustain our wealth. Limiting our debt, ensuring that legal documents such as wills & life insurance policies are in place, investing in a significant way are all steps that help us sustain the wealth we have.
Creating Wealth for Others…
Wealth is not something that should be exclusive to a few. It should be something that we work towards creating for everyone. Why should someone who isn’t wealthy help someone else become wealthy? Heck, we do it every day. When you purchase gas, groceries, pay for your electricity; you are contributing to the wealth of someone who is already wealthy!
We need to make a concerted effort to do that in our own communities. STOP PREVENTING OTHER FOLKS FROM BEING WEALTHY BECAUSE YOU ARENT…. YET! I say “yet” because we can/will all get there but it requires us to do the aforementioned steps. Let’s get into how we can
1. Buy Small & Black Often – This is much easier to do than people believe. I just conducted a Trese Speaks live with my good sis Alicia, follow her here, and we discussed what is required to buy black. Sometimes it’s planning, other times it’s being intentional. Instead of grabbing that big chain fast food, hit up a local food truck or other small restaurant. It can be done, be committed to doing it.
2. Donate to Black Causes – How can donation help create generational wealth? Welp, just take HBCU’s for example. Donating to a HBCU allows them to offer more scholarships to incoming freshmen. As a mom of a Senior with a desire to attend a HBCU, we have had to be intentional about saving for her college tuition as there are not a lot of full ride scholarships at HBCU’s. That’s just fact. There’s not a lot of “meet full needs” happening at HBCU’s. Creating educational opportunities for Black students has a direct impact to them being able to generate wealth.
3. Share Transparently – A major way to help someone else create wealth for themselves is to share the woes you experienced in creating yours. THIS is where knowledge is beneficial to the next person. As an entrepreneur I speak to people weekly, sometimes daily, about the things I have endured to get to where I am today and I am not BIG business at all. If I can help someone else not go into debt as much as I did; I am always willing to help!
End Game…
When, not if, we create wealth for ourselves and our community; real change can happen. YES, I absolutely believe that we need reparations to jump start this. We are owed it but once we get it, we cannot run to the Gucci store. We cannot give MOST of it back to BIG white business. We must keep it in our community. We need to INVEST in ourselves. We need to INVEST in our communities. We need to CREATE bail funds. We need to BUY our politicians (I mean support their campaigns). We need to FUND medical centers. WE NEED TO DO IT FOR US!
Create your plan to wealth today!
Love & Light,
Trese, Unapologetically