An Important Time to Be Alive
We are at a critical point in time. As a type, the Presidents of the United States has been on a war path attempting to “cut the fat” in the federal machine. Putting a pause to all financial aid and federal grants risking the stoppage of $3 Trillion dollars of necessary funding that goes to providing a safety net to the most vulnerable of us through WIC Payments, Free School Lunch, Social Security Payments, Community Development Block Grant, Section 8 Housing Vouchers, and so many other programs. His war on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and what has been seen as “woke” policies geared towards creating instability has resulted in the firing and removal of programs that sought, if in theory alone, to create equity in the workplace and in the market. Companies like Target scaling back a program that in the height of COVID and the wake of George Floyd attempted to provide an opportunity for Black/African American/FBA peoples a larger platform to sell goods and services. Planes seemingly falling out of the sky due to an attack on DEI and the FAA, and some would say the list goes on. But what does this mean for African Americans, the Black Economy, and Housing…
In Detroit, which is where Springboard Holdings Detroit (SBH) is based, the time has always been now. In a state where childhood poverty is the real poverty affecting 50% of children, where the number of high school drop outs is equivalent to the number of people with Bachelors or higher, where having a job doesn’t exactly mean making a living, African Americans in Detroit despite the programs still seem fundamentally locked out of the American Dream. Where the City of Detroit quotes a stat that Black Households saw an increase of $3B in housing value but are locked out of the instruments needed to capitalize on said wealth.
Now is a time to begin to take stock and come together as a community! We listen to Martin Luther King’s I Have a Dream Speech and wish for a day that everything will work out and yet 62 years later, our City, our neighborhoods, our schools, are worse than they were before integration.
So what do we do:
The first step is always a game plan. - What is the plan? What is the direction? Where are you going? Who is going with you?
Take an inventory - In real estate, we call this a Capital Needs Assessment. What do you have today to get you where you are going? What are the limiting items and factors that are holding you back?
Start - Once you’ve created the plan and you know what you need and what you don’t have, begin to take steady action to move one step forward.
Are financial obligations and debt holding you back? Restructure.
Do you have a budget that is conducive to your REAL lifestyle? If not, create a budget and reorganize.
What programs are available for free to help give you a better financial/foundational standing? Ex. Clean Slate, Federal, state, local funded educational/training programs, Utility and Tax Discounts, etc
Build a small pot for investing and saving.
Find like minded individuals who are on your level or higher and lock in. - One of the most detrimental elements to our growth is our inability to connect with and find circles that are on higher levels than what we are on now. Circles in which we are average are ultimately circles we can never grow in. But a circle where we are on the bottom is a circle with individuals who can help you reach higher levels of attainment.
Stick to the Plan. - The plan can take one year or three years; are you committed to that vision to see it through?
The greatest thing we can do in tough times is rely on and build self-sufficiency. As Black Americans we have become to comfortable relying on a society that ultimately has stated that we are not welcomed DESPITE the many injustices done against us and our greater contribution to the society. The current presidents actions while it feels deliberate towards us are not directed towards us but speaks to the fear and hate this country has always had towards it’s lower class and it’s marginalized peoples. While Republicans may be open with their hatred, the Democrats have just as much blame as well. Not passing the George Floyd Bill, not investing in our schools and communities, not investing in vital infrastructure that would lower our expenses (i.e better roads and better transit), not clearing barriers to the financial/capital markets, not putting us first and yet relying on us to carry the vote. We are all we have!
We have to ban together in these times and rely on self, live within our means, pay our debts to family and friends, and build our own communities…grow from within. Now is an important time to be alive for the sake of our grandchildren and their children and that can only be done by the hard work we put in today.