Dollars and Sense

I recently saw the preview for a new movie coming out later this summer, entitled Lottery Ticket. The premise for the movie is that a family in the projects wins the lottery, while the entire neighborhood finds out. There are comedic points, trials and lessons along the way. I think my mind went into thinking mode as to what I would do if I hit the lottery. My thoughts began to divert to a different place and I gained a more comprehensive understanding of the impact of the question. I think that the way a person would answer this questions, invariably tells you alot about their methodology relative to money and even life. There are many people of non-African American decent who would suggests that when people of color come into significant amounts of money, they spend it frivolously and wastefully. I'll take it a step further and highlight a sketch produced by Comedian Dave Chappelle of the acclaimed Chappelle Show, when he poked fun at what Black folks would do if given reparations for slavery. While the sketches were extremely entertaining, they were concerning as well.

The sketches depicted African Americans as the ultimate consumers above all else. Throughout the years, African Americans have been more distinctly linked to being a people that desired riches over wealth. The concept of being rich has a temporary undertone, whereas those who understand wealth know that it is long term and diverse. I was left asking myself why my people have been tagged in such a light. I think that for the larger balance of the black community we have never had significant finances or resources, thus there is an inevitable desire to gain money. That desire is not necessarily connected with the distinct knowledge of how to manage and develop those resources, as to turn those riches into wealth.

I also came to the conclusion that this concept of being rich, flashy, gaudy and arrogant to an extent with respect to how we view substantial resources and money is rooted back to a lack of understanding in self. How you might ask? I would venture to say that in the black community there has been an identity crisis which has directly contributed to how we view certain things. Moreover, I believe that based on socio-economic disparities, a decline in the emergence of black leadership, and the development of blacks in the entertainment industry, our communities are now looking up to and into athletes and entertainers as the ultimate role models and figures of financial assimilation into lifestyles of the wealthy. In a day and age where education is no longer highly touted as a key component to a better life and conduit/component to be attached to wealth in the long term, the black community has become enamored with the sensationalism of celebrity. No longer do our children aspire to be lawyers, doctors, teachers, accountants, etc., but rather, when you ask black boys in impoverished areas what they hope to be when they grow up, often times you will be greeted the what is becoming a common response: a rapper or pro athlete.

While I have no problem with our young people desiring careers in athletics and entertainment, I do have concern with this paradigm in the black community which links financial affluence and Ascension with careers in music , sports and entertainment. I was once greeted by a young man in a very urban section of the city of Pittsburgh, PA who shared with me that the ONLY way out of the hood was sports, music or selling drugs. When will we have an identity makeover as a people? When will we begin to see that our greatest assets to offer this world are found in our triumphs and our resilient spirit. We must indulge and engage in the concept of manufacturing our greatness. There is a significant talent pool in the black community but until we indulge in it in the right way and utilize our resources and skill set, we continue to be misguided in our view on success. I live in the city of Atlanta, which, while it encompasses a bevy of successful and affluent African Americans from all walks of life, it is also a city which is described as "materialistic." It is a city wherein many of it's inhabitants are obsessed with designer clothes, luxury cars, big homes and the VIP lifestyle.

Based on the current lack of substantive personalities within our community, which we had 50 years ago, our young people and others in the community have latched on to lifestyles of the rich and famous. In the age of reality TV, we have been granted greater access to our athletes and entertainers with lavish lifestyles that working class people could only dream of. I believe that when we begin to truly view the ghetto as a gold mine, we will begin to amass wealth at an increasingly enormous rate. How is the ghetto a gold mine? I am not referencing the buildings, the property value, the aesthetic beauty, etc, but the riches mineral within that community: the people. African Americans are a dynamic people with a rich and wealthy spirit, which, if utilized, positioned and accessed accordingly, will in fact, reap wealth. Black folks must begin to define what we want and what we expect. We must understand the difference between driving a Bentley while living in an apartment (Subsequently owning no real property) and digging and grinding with long standing financial plans and business interest as to send our grandchildren and great grandchildren to college, while also leaving land and tangible assets for our loved one's.

My desire and hope for our community is that we would be able to manifest a greater tomorrow with the resources of today. We must do this in our own way and we must see the value in ourselves as individuals. As you move forward with your week, do so with the pride and enthusiasm of a greater tomorrow. Let us stay focused about wealth and truly understand what it means. We serve an unrelenting God who always meets our needs according to his will. We must now use the natural gifts which he gives us in order to build a community full of all of the awesome things that this world has to offer.

Be kind, Be real and Be you,

Donrich L. Young