May 30, 2024 • 59 mins
This week on the Black Perspective, Doug Davis talks with Black financial literacy expert John Hope Bryant; we shine a spotlight on the homeownership programs available at the Ohio Housing Finance Agency and Morgyn Wood shares her conversation with the editor and chief of In-Club magazine.
Listen now!
Listen now!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
The largest civil rights conference is comingto New Orleans this summer, the National
Urban League Conference July twenty fourth throughthe twenty seventh at the Highest Regency,
New Orleans. Register today at nulconferencedot org. Don't miss the nation's leading
business, political and community leaders,influencers and celebrities as they all meet up
from the twenty fourth through the twentyseventh downtown at the Hyde Regency, New
(00:23):
Orleans. Don't wait. Register todayat nulconference dot org. It's Sunday,
May nineteenth, and today Doug Davistalks with black financial literacy expert John Hope
Bryant. We shine a spotlight onthe home ownership programs available at the Ohio
Housing Finance Agency, and Morgan Woodshares her conversation with the editor in chief
(00:43):
of n Club Magazine. All thatmore are coming your way. Next.
Welcome to the Black Perspective. I'myour host, Mike Island. Welcome to
the Black Perspective, a weekly communityaffairs program on the Black Information Network featuring
interviews and discussions on issues important tothe Black comp Good Sunday to everyone,
and welcome to another edition of theBlack Perspective. We kick off today's program
(01:06):
with News anchor Morgan Wood's conversation withthe editor in chief of n Club Magazine,
a new online and app based publicationthat covers black pop culture and soul
much more. Can black media thrivewithout drama and celebrity gossip. I'd like
to think so, because I thinkthat's what we're doing here at the Black
Information Network. But here to talkmore about it is Dianona Ringold, the
(01:26):
founder and CEO of Different by Choiceand the editor in chief of INN Club
Magazine, a national publication aimed atcovering the intersections of purpose and pop culture.
Deon, thank you so much forjoining me. Thank you so much.
I mean, when you say itlike that, it's like, ooh,
it feels like such a big dauntingthing, at least for me to
talk to me about why you thinkit's a dauncing thing, you know.
(01:48):
So it's funny. So the wholereason why I started Different my Choice and
Club Magazines because I hated the media. I hated the way the media portrayed
Black people, hated the way themedia of portrayed millennials, and we're quite
honest, I hated the way mediaperpetually it just really ill informed picture or
a narrative of Christians in the church. So I remember, you know,
seeing those things, I can neverreally relate. I always felt like I
(02:10):
was outside rather I was in predominantlyblack circles or pro I was a predominantly
non black or white circles, andit just never felt like it messed or
made sense for me. So amentor of minds he said, well,
what are you gonna do about it? And I kind of took that person
and I take that literally. Itwas like, yeah, you know,
the best way to change anything tokind of be on the inside of it,
(02:30):
to change it from the inside out. I think when you look at
black media in general, and notjust news, but mainly kind of the
entertainment space, it perpetuates this notionthat there's only about three boxes that we
can take off at any time.And I don't think we've got very far
from that, you know, fromits entertainment, sports, athletes, whatever
(02:52):
the case it be, or justmusic, we dominate and that's great,
But when you think about when Ihear the term the culture, this is
for the culture, for the culture, and I feel like we've used that
for everything, but we only needa few things on we say it.
So for me, black media needsto be so much bigger than just a
few boxes. So when we sayfor the culture, we need to be
talking about activists, we need tobe talking about people that's climate warriors.
(03:13):
We need to be talking about peoplethat are, you know, in these
spaces actually making change happen, notjust benefiting off of the audience and the
dollar of the Black American that weunderstand is very valuable. But if you
only benefit off of it but youdon't actually move it forward, is it
really for the culture? You're soright? The black experience is extremely dynamic.
In your release, it says thepublication has been obsessed with widening the
(03:37):
representation of black culture and Black Americans. Can you continue to elaborate on what
that looks like? Yeah, absolutelyso, I think it looks like a
little bit of what we do hereat in Clude. We're very intentional about
even the type of people that wewant to feature on our covers. Right.
We are not click bit We're notI Got you journalism, right,
So we've never really like us tryingto insert ourselves into the conversation, but
(03:58):
just to tell the story as itis in the most authentic way. So
it's not like, oh, itneeds to be just positive news. It's
not that, but it's there's layersand there's so much more to this,
and we are we are infiltrating inso many more areas. So I think,
for me, it's really important forus to invade spaces where Black people
are not typically targeted or not typicallywhole a resonance in those spaces, in
places of authority and voices of authority. Right, we start to see a
(04:21):
little bit of that now is kindof starting to matriculate just a little bit,
but it's only a little bit.When you look at the biggest outlets
that are garnishing on the Black Americanattention, they're not touching on anything outside
of mainly entertainment, celebrity gossipslaciousness,drama, and you know, and maybe
maybe some black history when it's whenit's appropriate. Right, So we're really
(04:43):
intentional, you know. I thinkone of the narratives that I see a
lot of times in black media ortargeted black media, but there's companies that
benefit off of it that's not blackowned as well. It's this extended adolescent
like there's never just point of actuallygrowing up, right, So the idea
of even talking about being parents ortalking about having older parents and what is
that part of your life with likebeing able to speak to those things.
(05:04):
I think it's just so important totalk about moving the culture. It has
to be experiences that are that arealso included and not just unique, but
also included in a Black American experiencethat I think we just don't see in
interest, right, it's our experiencesin our interest. The publication has had
tremendous success, reaching more than amillion people through an app, an app
(05:27):
having one hundred and fifty six thousandcirculations a month, and there's a print
version available in Barnes and Noble.Who don't like to pull up on the
bookstore based on where you started?What do you make of this growth and
what advice would you give to thenext person looking to scale their passion project
in the same way? Yeah,Oh my goodness, when you say those
numbers, it blows me away becausefor two reasons. One like, you
(05:48):
know, when God gives you something, you know I'm not an agriculture,
so he hands me a seat andall I know to do is the plant
it. I don't know what's goingto produce. I don't know what is
hap a trie or plant it's goingto produce. So when you see it
produces this for you like, ohwow, okay, right. And one
of the things that I'm really particularabout is making sure we do the things
that other people can't do. Beingsmaller, being independent, we get to
(06:08):
pivot, you know, we getto fail forward. We get to do
a lot of things without having overlordsor overseas saying nope, you got to
do it this way. You gotto stick to this message. Oh this
is with work and keep doing that. Right, we don't have to do
that. We can actually pivot.So I think being able to do the
things that only we can do hashelped with the growth. Right. We
have this mondra that perfection is thegoal, but excellence is perceptive. I
(06:29):
believe that people see the excellence,they see the growth, and I think
a lot of people have just beenwilling to come along that journey with us,
especially to people that say yes tous when we want to feature them.
I mean, when people see that, there's a level of credibility and
reputability that says, oh, theseguys know what they're doing, right,
so you know, check with us, you know, stick with us a
little longer. It's only it's onlygoing to go further. And I think
to answer the latter party of yourquestion, what advice would I give to
(06:51):
people have something to say? Ithink social media has had this weird dichotomy
of we make stupid people famous,but at the same time we open up
more lanes to get BRIDI of gatekeepers. So it's kind of like a necessary
evil, right Not everyone has togo through the same traditional path of journalistsm
hey, let me go into thenewsroom. That's only I'm gonna be taken
(07:12):
serious. Okay, let me goright if you don't actually have to do
that anymore. But at the sametime, we have this level of entitlement.
I believe media is more about aresponsibility than a level of entitlement.
We have a responsibility to have somethingto say, right So I think if
anyone who wants to get to mediaand you want to have you want to
have purposeful media and meaningful conversations,you know there's another road that's very luclear.
(07:32):
Just go blogging in neal city.I mean, any ball like rush
right now, like they're they're biggerthan your favorite magazine right now, However,
when you think about what's going tolast and what matters specifically to you
and the stories you want to tell, you have to ask yourself what you
know? Where do I want tobe? You know, because I would
say anybody ask yourself, what doyou care about? What do you want
(07:53):
people to care about? What doyou have to say? Speaking with Dion
Ringold, the founder and CEO ofDifferent by Choice and the editor in chief
of Club Magazine, congratulations to you. You recently won five thousand dollars.
You and the money got a coinfrom AT and T for their Dream in
Black sweepstakes for a Black History Month. What do you plan to do with
that money? That's a great question. I think I really want to do
(08:16):
it to my manager editor. Sothe funny thing about that I knew nothing
about this. So when I gotthe email, I was like, you
know something, like it's real,Like what is this? Give you money
for nothing? But it was funnybecause AT and T the official page actually
in box me first, at DMVfirst from their verified page. I was
like, okay, that's really ATand T. So then when I got
the email, I was like,this is wild. You know, it's
(08:39):
funny. Five thousand dollars Freeze.I feel like I should just give it
away, but I haven't decided yet. The check has been clear in cash
for people don't want to know itwas real. He got a coin.
Yeah, you mentioned the Empower onehundred initiative. Talk to me more about
that. What's that? Yeah.So in twenty twenty one, we had
crazy news rush around the idea thatright after COVID happened, we wanted to
(09:03):
find out what was the way thatwe could help small businesses, particularly black
businesses. So for our Black Historyand Month issue that fintured Super Bowl champion
Malcolm Jenkins, we said, hey, we're going to allow black, black
small companies that were effected by COVIDto get free adveratars. And in this
issue, we knew it was goingto be a big deal. Our issue
before that had reached over a millionimpressions. So we were like, okay,
(09:24):
we got the momentum, blessed.Now leveraged this for them. And
you know, we were picked upand covered by NBC and a few other
networks that we were able to talkabout this. And when I say that
same day, I think we hadover like our website traffic went up a
number thirty two thousand business We hadso many people emailing us about this,
and I think it was great.A lot of those companies have benefited from
(09:46):
that and still followed, so it'scool to see their journey how they've grown.
So this time we want to openit up to over one hundred small
businesses, so not just black businesses, just small businesses in general that we
think can benefit from. This isso just scaling it. I think we
had maybe twenty five to thirty thefirst time we realized this could be something
special, and whoever applies to there'llbe an application process. You know,
(10:09):
we're anticipating it's probably be a coupleof thousand that apply that there still gets
some type of benefit with the peoplethat we're going to be partnering with to
be able to do this, Sowe're really really excited about that. Sounds
amazing, Yeah, yeah, Soplease please follow in Club Magazine everywhere,
not just Instagram. We're on TikTokhilariously, we're on Twitter a little bit,
(10:30):
threads, Facebook, all those things, but more importantly, like visit
our website. A bunch of greatcontent, a bunch of great writers and
contributors and download our apples. That'sDr Ringold, the founder and CEO of
Different by Choice and the editor andchief of In Club magazine. I Morgan
would on the Black Information Network.Thanks Morgan. Today, like any other
day of the week, millions ofBlack Americans woke up hungry. Food insecurity
(10:54):
is a major issue in our community. While recently working on a series of
reports on the topic the Black InformationNetworks, Andrea Colman spoke with a pastor
in Charlotte, North Carolina who knowsthe issue firsthand, Mike. Reverend Doctor
Evan Willis serves as lead pastor theNortheast Seventh day Adventist Church in Charlotte.
While the position requires him to bemindful of the needs of his congregation,
(11:15):
his heart for issues relating to theBlack community extends beyond the pulpit. This
published author, who has a PhDin Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in
urban education, is also certified inanti racism and urban education, and as
you will hear, he is verymuch aware and studied on how race factors
into the food and security issue inAmerica. Pastor Willis, thank you so
(11:39):
much for joining us on the BlackInformation Network. We truly appreciate your time
and we appreciate your service. Thanksmuch for having me. I'm so glad
to be here with you all.How large an issue is food and security
in the Charlotte area, well inTrailer area, food and security is a
growing issue. I mean, it'sas much as housing and homelessness, right,
So imagine if you have a largehomeless population, there's going to be
a large food community in need.And I think particularly in the African American
(12:01):
community we're situated in the Hindumaliy neighborhoodright off the Scare Creek Corridor, We're
seeing a massive need for people forfood, and not necessarily the residents as
much as just in general. Peopleare suffering. So I think it is
a crisis that needs addressing in anyway that can be done. And I
believe that there are agencies out therethat we partner with a network with,
(12:22):
such as the Food Bank and theFood Pantry and other organizations that are doing
the best they can to meet thatneed and miliorate that suffering. So do
you think the general public understand howlarge an issue food insecurity is not only
in Charlotte but across the country.I think they understands a serious issue.
I don't know they understand the extentthat which it is affecting people. I
heard a study that suggested that creditcards are on the rise in terms of
(12:46):
credit card not rates, but creditcard limits and amounts on credit card d
it's demonstrating that the American people areexperiencing financial hardship. We watch as in
twenty twenty two and twenty twenty three, as inflation was rising and food prices
are arising, and all things likeeggs go to insurmountable prices, and so
yeah, I think people are feelingit personally, even those with means.
And so the question is how muchare they thinking about the other, the
(13:09):
person who isn't in their neighborhood,in their text bracket, who are going
through need. So I think thereis understanding, but I think there's always
need for more understanding. Now,what all do you and your congregation at
Northeast Seventh day Adventist Church and Charlottedo to help food insecure residents in your
community. So one, we haveour ministry called Disciples of Christ that goes
and feeds the homeless on Saturday evenings, and that is large. Gleb bar
(13:31):
seniors, but our youth participate andjoin and I'll join with them going out
on occasion. We have worked withan organization that is a mobile food pantry
that will come and bring fresh produceon our lawn to ensure that people are
receiving goods. Well. Used tohave a food pantry on our facility,
(13:52):
but lately they have enough facilities,they said, so we're not a hope
site for them anymore. And duringthe pandemic, we wear a mobile food
pantry or people will come drive andget food. And then obviously as well,
people will come off the street inneed. And what will supply are
maybe a gift car to Walmart orbuy meals as we can. I look
at that sugar record, or weare in a food aser. There's no
(14:13):
grocery store near us, but wetry to do what we can. What
do the people that you're helping sayto you about the aid that you're giving
them? Oh, there's really appreciable. They're thankful and because they experience so
much, and I think sometimes peopledon't take their hurts and they're concerned seriously,
and so I think this overwhelming gratitudeand just thinking us that we have
made ourselves available to help them aswe're able that human touch and just the
(14:37):
thoughts of concern seems like a considerationand go a long way. Huh Yeah.
Yeah, So how does your roleas a pastor pastor willis position you
to more effectively or more rapidly addressproblems of hunger and food and security that
you come across, since there's acharitable component to the church work that you
do. Yeah, So I liketo think of us as the hands and
(14:58):
feet of Jesus, like in forus as boots on the ground, and
so we're the easiest point of contactfor people who find themselves in need.
And I think the great thing withchurches just in general is because there's a
charitable component, oftentimes when we're helpingpeople, we're not making people jump through
hoops. Like if someone needs foodright now, we're able to provide at
least I mean, if we can'tdo more, at least a meal right
now, right while they're still searching. So we're boots on the ground.
(15:22):
But I think also another very importantcomponent with churches, particularly African American congregations,
is in your congregation you have entrepreneursare nonprofit executive directors who have access
to other resources right and so we'reable to also collaborate with other organizations and
institutions such as Charlotte areafund who aredoing things to help people who are experiencing
(15:43):
financial and economic need. And soI believe that the benefit of the local
churches. We're boots on the groundone. Two. There aren't a bunch
of hoops you have to jump through. There's not like a long waiting period.
If we can help, we will. If we can't, we were
able to at least try to connectyou with another organization, give you a
number to call who make sure itgets you food to you right away.
That's very good. How do corporatepartnerships and sponsorships for food programs like the
(16:07):
food pantries and food banks impact effortsto address food insecurity? So with us
locally, we aren't connected with anycorporations, but I know that they do
a major work. We do workwith food banks and other organizations like that,
and they do a major work.Because when you're addressing issues such as
food insecurity and food deserts, itrequires multiple handle that there's no silver book
(16:30):
that's going to solve the problem rightaway. I know that the University of
North Carolina Charlotte is looking to addresssome things in West Charlotte. I know
that these partnerships matter, but ultimately, but we have to realize about ourselves.
We cannot solve all the world's problems, and we can't solve all the
food insecurity issues. And I findthat the most important thing, as well
(16:51):
as churches and nonprofits and corporations,is government infrastructure and government support. We
know that Charlotte is leading the nationin terms of any score which is inequality.
So if you're born economically disadvantage,you're more likely to remain socio economical
disadvantage in Charlotte, especially as wesee the rise in house prices and moving
industries here. But with that beingthe case, government supports help make it
(17:15):
possible to move from one class toanother, and with making sure there's food
available to people who find themselves inneed. So I think they are essential,
and government partnerships are indispensable, andgovernment plan and strategies and dispensable.
You're saying that from a perspective too. I take it that comes not only
from your advocation but also from youreducation. You are a PhD and have
(17:40):
studied anti racism in urban education.So how do you feel personally, socially,
and academically that race plays a rolein food insecurity. Well, even
before we get to the credentials,right, I've experienced food and security as
the young man going through grad schoolat a family of six. We were
in graduate school in Michigan, andmy wife and I are both finishing our
master's degrees and expert going through thewhole process. We're depending upon food stamps
(18:04):
in the process, right, Andthere's certain ways that our social worker tried
to treat us based upon our economics, our finances, right, what we
brought in. But what she didn'tunderstand is we both were a college degree.
We both were educated. My fatherwas a dentist, my mother a
school principal. My wife's mother wasa social worker. Like, we may
be living in a state of economicdeprivation, but our minds on economically deprived,
(18:27):
and so we had the ability,you know, to read critically to
know the policies in place, becausethey tried to take advantage or treat us
as if we were trying to getover on them on certain situations, by
them not you know, reading thefine line on some information. So I
remember we had food stamps and welost it for three months because they accused
us of having a separate bank becausethe person who was paying me Reference I
(18:49):
was with lost Fargo at the time. In terms of that, my bank
Reference First Union and First Union havemerged into as Fargo, but they thought
there was a whole different account.It's a whole thing. I had to
jump through hoops just to prove that. But there are people who may not
have the literacy ability, people whomay not have ease of access to Internet,
people who may not be able toknow the policies and issues such as
(19:11):
that that are being denied access althoughthey're qualified and in need. Coupled with
the fact that we're seeing immigration cominginto Charlotte, we're again a lot of
people who come to our church whoare coming in from other countries and limited
English ability, don't know how toget quite on their feet. They're here
on jobs, they're here working ina network. So race plays a major
component in that. Because of qualitiveeducation that many African American and LATINX people
(19:37):
receive more often than not, weare in Title I schools highly economically disadvantaged.
Many students are on free and reducedlunch, which means as well,
like during the summer, they're probablynot getting access to food the same way
that people who have a strong accessto money and capital are able to And
so I think it plays a majorcomponent. I was looking at policy today
on North Carolina. Thankfully they haverepealed what was once a what I believe
(20:00):
with discriminatory practice, which was ifyou had a drug related charge, and
we know those rug related charge areoftentimes things that really should have been misdemeanors
because they were, according to theNDUGEN pro by Nicole Alexander, really were
minor drug offenses that were labeled highoffense right from marijuana as opposed to cocaine
access right and so they used tonot allow you to get food stance.
(20:22):
But now if you come out ofprison on the family charge for drugs,
you have to wait a year,and I think that still in itself is
a little problematic, but at leastthey're looking to address that issue. So
race plays a role in education,literacy, ability to advocate for oneself,
plays a role in how one maybe penalized or charged criminally. It plays
a role based on economic mobility inCharlotte and just how hard is becoming for
(20:44):
these upcome generations to get ahead,especially with these insane house prices. So
it's full circle. It's full circle. There's there's more need to be done.
So race plays I think a veryprominent role in creating food and security.
I believe. I was looking statisticthat said one in every three African
American families, one in every threeafric American families experiences food insecure. That
ratio is two out of thirty threepercent are experienced food and security out of
(21:07):
a lack of economic mobility, economicliability in the household. That's a lot
and it seems too that it wouldbe very difficult. I've heard this before
that a child going into a classroomthat's hungry's going to have a very hard
time learning and being able to payattention. And I would imagine it's the
same for parents who are having togo out and work diligently but worrying constantly
(21:29):
about how they're going to feed theirfamily. Yes, yes, So what
are three quick things pastor willis thatanyone can do to help themselves not become
food insecure? Are they help someonewho has already food insecure overcome that situation?
So one I think that you shouldgo to the social working agencies and
CLID social worker because they'll have accessto all agencies that are working to affect
(21:51):
various felt human need. Right,That's one I think. Two, if
you're an emergency, contact a localcongregation. They may not be able to
pay all your bills, but theone thing I think most church will try
to do is put food in yourstomach if at all possible. Three,
I would say do whatever you canto connect and collaborate with organizations such as
(22:14):
in the summer months, organizations thathave free summer lunch programs at least make
sure kids get lunch and probably goingto walk away with something. I think
talking to your local school about ifthere's a take program where that can take
lunch home for the weekends, backpackfull of food for the weekends. I
think those are the big things someonecan do that's very good. And what
are some of the other projects thatyou and the Northeast Church are doing to
(22:36):
elevate the people in the community whereyour church is located. One, we
are doing a blood dry June twenty. Second, because African Americans are more
likely to stuff from sickle step,but also African Americans and some for good
reason based on distrust with the medicalindustry, are less likely to donate blood
misinformation disinformation. That's one. InOctober, we're having a special giveaway called
(22:59):
Compassion Project for a week October twentyseventh through November two. In October as
well, in partnership with our otherCharlotte area churches, having a mental health
mental wellness summit that's gonna be threedays. I don't have the date for
that at the time, but ifyou follow us on our social media platforms
and others, you'll know what's comingup. Please let us know how we
can follow you and your projects online. Our website is Northeast SDA dot org
(23:23):
Northeast SDA dot org and then oursocial media instagram a count Facebook count where
I think it gets your most upto date. Access by the Instagram is
the highest. It's Northeast SDA byInstagram account. And then personally, if
you want to follow me, Iam this is based on my nickname from
high school, so please don't,but it's rev Ill Will PhD. Rev
Ill Will PhD. You'll see thevarious things I get myself involved with,
(23:45):
various projects we have going on,and even get to see my wife and
my beautiful children. Oh that's beautiful, that's wonderful. Well, Pastor Willis,
thank you so much for your time, for your insight, for your
expertise. We truly appreciate it,and we really appreciate what you and the
Northeast just doing there in Charlotte,the Shoalty area. So please keep post
on your activities. We do aswell. Thank you, Thank you,
(24:07):
Andrea. The Black Information Network hasan amazing team of commentators who bring their
unique perspectives and opinions on stories impactingthe black community. Today, we check
in with news commentator Moe Kelly.I'm Mo Kelly on the bi N with
your two minute warning, Black folksjust like my mother are in mourning,
maybe mourning all across the complete diaspora. Hold on to your cheddar biscuits.
(24:29):
But Red Lobster has filed for bankruptcyand the closing up locations left and right
as we speak. You got tail, wait those potatoes shot channels. Nearly
one hundred Red Lobster locations across eightstates have already been closed. I feel
like a relative of mine just passedaway. Where else are young black men
(24:52):
going to take young Black women ontheir first date. You got tail.
Wait those potatoes shot channel bish.Where else can black people eat lobster and
biscuits of a Cheddar variety on abudget? Once upon a time there was
Sizzler and red lobster. Now thereis just sizzler, shimp ladas potato,
(25:14):
shim ladas potatoes too, shampoo,shampoo. Life will never be the same.
Semi fine dining will never be thesame. Black dating will never be
the same. Shirley Caesar's career willnever be the same. Cottail simp lateras
potatoes, lettail simp ladas potatoes.Gentlemen, shimp ladas potato, ship ladas
(25:48):
potatoes too, shimpo shampoo. Poura little bit out for the homies,
and eat a Cheddar biscuit while youcan r I p red lobster. I'm
Mo Kelly at mister Kelly on socialmedia, and that's your two minute warning
on the Black Information Network. Besure to catch Mo Kelly, Roland Martin,
and James T. Harris for theirdaily commentaries on the Black Information Network.
(26:11):
If you're a resident of the stateof Ohio and looking to purchase a
home, the Ohio Housing Finance Agencyis an amazing resource you should consider to
learn more about their programs. Let'smeet one of their home buying experts,
and we are with John Dewey,the single family relations manager with the Ohio
Housing Finance Agency. How are youdoing today, and thanks for your time,
(26:32):
great, Thank you for having me. I appreciate it. You're welcome.
And before we take our deep diveinto it, let's start off with
an overview of the programs and servicesof the Ohio Housing Finance Agency. If
you would please absolutely so. Ouragency, the Ohio Housing Findance Agency,
offers financial assistance programs to help homebuyers get into a house. And our
programs have a variety of different featureslike down payment assistance, lower interest rates
(26:59):
for recent college graduates in those inpublic service careers. And how long have
you been providing a service like this? So our agency has been helping home
buyers get into a house since nineteeneighty three, so quite a while that
our agency has been helping home buyerswith primarily down payment assistance that I'll tell
you about here in just a minute, to help them get into a house.
(27:22):
Over four decades of that kind ofservice to the community. That's awesome.
A big question probably one of thefirst for any prospective home buyers what
is the minimum credit score and incomeamount needed to purchase a home? So
there's no minimum income. It's moredependent on the house that you're looking to
buy. So if you were buying, for example, one hundred thousand dollars
(27:42):
house or a two hundred thousand dollarshouse or a three hundred thousand dollars house,
you just need to have the necessaryincome to be able to afford those
that purchase price. That depend onwhich house you were buying. And then
the credit scores of the minimum creditscore is six forty for conventional USBA and
VA alone and then it would besix fifty for sah loan, a ten
(28:06):
point difference there. Correct, Yeah, there's difference between the conventional USDMVA and
then theay HLAN. There are alot of moving parts to what you provide
for people who want to buy ahome, and they all point to suite.
Please tell us more about your closingcost and down payment assistance. So
our most popular program is the fivepercent your Choice down payment Assistance, which
(28:29):
helps home buyers with down payment andclosing costs. For example, somebody who's
buying a two hundred thousand dollars houseand they're getting our five percent down payment
assistance. That two hundred thousand timesfive percent, that would be ten thousand
dollars towards their down payment and closingcosts. So it's a significant amount of
money to help a home buyer getinto a house. And of course that
(28:51):
assistance varies with the price of thehome. Yeah, and it's just dependent
on the purchase price. So forexample, if they're buying a three hundred
thousand dollars house and they're getting ourfive percent down payment assistance, that'd be
fifteen grand towards the down payment andclosing costs. That's a lot of great
help. We're talking with John Dewey. He is the single family relations manager
at the Ohio Housing Finance Agency.We're talking about buying home, the ins
(29:14):
and outs, the credit scores needed, the amount of income, and the
kind of assistance you get. What'sthe most important thing that you want listeners
to know about OHFA. So theeasiest way to see if you qualify is
to visit our website my Ohio homedot org. Again, that's my Ohio
home dot org. And you're goingto find an also approved mortgage under on
our website, and that mortgage lundercan pre qualify the home buyer for our
(29:38):
home buyer programs and down payment assistant. What is the biggest misperception about home
ownership? You know, one timemy daughter got mad because something broke in
her house and she goes, homeownership is overrated, So what is so?
She was just mad because of thecost and the sudden breakdown in the
home. I think it was apipe or something. So's that's the biggest
(30:00):
misconception about home ownership? Well,I think definitely on the buying side,
a lot of home buyers think thatyou need to have twenty percent down payment
to purchase a house, and that'snot true. For example, with our
loans, our conventional loans, theminimum down payment is only three percent of
the purchase price, so significantly lessthan a lot of people would think to
(30:21):
get into a house. And ifyou're using our five percent down payment assistance,
they could actually cover that three percentdown payment requirement with our five percent
down payment assistance. You're listening tothe Black Perspective on Mike Island and we're
talking with John Dewey. He's thesingle family relations manager with the Ohio Housing
Finance Agency where you're talking about what'sneeded to purchase a home, the closing
(30:44):
costs and down payment assistance the OhioHousing Finance Agency provides and more. And
you have other programs available as well. Yeah, we actually have two other
programs and that is called our fivepercent Grants for grants, So it's similar
to our other down payment a program, but this is specifically for recent college
graduates, those that have graduated collegewithin the last four years with an associatesators,
(31:07):
masters, or doctorate degree. Theycan get a five percent down payment
assistance grant to help them get intoa house. And then the other program
is called the Ohio Heroes Program,and this is for those that work in
critical occupations. They get a slightlylower interest rate. And this think of
veterans after douting military, police officers, firefighters, emtms, paramedics, doctors,
(31:32):
nurses, and teachers, those typesof occupations, they get a slightly
lower interest rate than our standard mortgageinterest rates. What a great benefit you
think of our veterans active duty inmilitary and police officers, firefighters, EMTs,
paramedics, doctors, nurses, manyof our first responders and are very
valuable educators too. Yes, yeah, that's a huge benefit. You know,
(31:52):
a recent college graduate and then youcan get this five percent down payment
assistance grant and get you on thatpath to home ownership in building long term.
Well, how can people listening findout more about the programs and services
of the Ohio Housing Finance Agency.They would go to our website, my
Ohio home dot org and their firststep along the path to home ownership would
(32:14):
be to reach out again to oneof our opoproof mortgage lenners and they can
prequalify them and let them know ifthey qualify for our home buyer programs and
down payment assystem. The place togo for more information is my Ohio home
dot org. That's my Ohio homedot org. Thanks again to John Dewey
of the Ohio Housing Finance Agency.We have all had to start somewhere to
(32:35):
get to our final destination. Oneblack entrepreneur sharing how he overcame obstacles to
grow not one, but two businesses. That's the focus of this week's The
Color between the Lines. I'm AsterDillard on the Black Information Network chatting with
writers and authors who offer an addedperspective for our listeners. This is The
(33:00):
Color Between the Lines. In thisedition of The Color Between the Lines,
we're talking about how black women protectthemselves and help themselves mentally, especially in
challenging circumstances. And today my guestis a returning best selling author, Elizabeth
(33:21):
Lva, who has released a gemof a book called Protecting My Piece,
and this is a follow up inmany ways to her first book, I'm
Not Yelling. Welcome Elizabeth Lva tothe BIM. Thank you, esther,
so happy to be back. Thanksfor having me. Your first book was
awesome, and this one is evenmore awesome. It has a lot of
(33:42):
wonderful descriptions and things in it thatmade me want to go deeper. I
want you to please kind of explainto the audience how you shifted the focus
of Protecting My Piece and how it'sdifferent than I'm Not Yelling. Absolutely,
I'm not Yelling, I wrote intwenty twenty one. So I think I
was at the very beginning of whenblack women were starting to get frustrated with
(34:07):
the workplace environment and the idea ofDEI as a concept and how it really
was not working and did not applyto us. So I'm Not Yelling was
more of a deep dive for meinto why do black women feel so dissatisfied
in corporate America? Why is theequity, the pay gap, the promotions,
the microaggressions, all the things thatblack women were telling me as I
(34:29):
was networking and meeting women through socialmedia. That's really what I'm Not Yelling
was about. I call it mylove letter to black women, but it
was really kind of like, look, it's not useless. I kept hearing
the same stories again and again,and I wanted to get clarity because I
was like, Oh, I thoughtit was just me, but again and
again I heard black women saying thatthey were experiencing these microaggressions and the code
(34:51):
switching and exhaustion and mental health.So I'm Not Yelling really dove into what
was happening and why, using manyhistorical context but also statistics and studies that
are out there that we all probablyseen and scrolling through our news feed.
But when I put it all together, I was like, Wow, there's
a mountain of evidence here to showwhy Black women are so stressed out in
(35:12):
the workplace, and I wanted tooffer some solutions about how we can approach
the workplace in a different way thatdoesn't demand it to change because it has
not changed so far since the civilrights movement, which DEI basically was an
outgrowth of, and we're not gettingthe results that we need and we're leaving
corporate American record numbers. So Iwanted to provide this the actual validation for
(35:35):
that and give strategy for how todo a mindset shift while you're there so
you can be stronger. So insteadof you saying it's me, beat yourself
up, go back to school toget another degree, you actually realize you're
being gas lit sis or the environmentreally was not designed for you and actually
is pushback against you trying to succeedeverything that you're trying to succeed. Where
there's a glass ceiling, whether it'sthe glass cliff, there's all these different
(35:59):
things that are impeding your progress andit's really not your fault. So that
was really the premise behind I'm notyelling. But as I started to get
through twenty twenty two, I startedto feel as though we were reaching kind
of like that tipping point where blackwomen were like, look, we are
like seriously, now we are tiredand we're checking out. And black women
were telling me that they were takingtime off work, they were going on
(36:21):
extended leave. They really didn't feellike their mental health was prioritized. Now
that I know, Liz, thatall these things are true, I have
to unpack this. I have tofigure out how I've been actually navigating the
world in the workplace and it's nothealthy. So protecting my Piece, the
premise of that was self care.It was about being authentic. It was
about rediscovering your voice. It wasabout leaning into your ancestral knowledge and wisdom.
(36:45):
A lot of us have instincts aboutwhat's happening. We'll get like a
red flag, and we a lotof times, I think, buy into
this idea that if you feel somethingsis, you're making that up. Maybe
you just need to push through.So protecting my Piece was more of a
value that a lot of times werein these spaces, and we don't belong
these spaces. How do we reallyreflect on our experience in a way that
(37:07):
will help us to heal, prioritizeself care, prioritize emotional community, everything
that is really connected to the Africandiaspora. When we think about mental health,
we've always done that as a collective. So how do we lean back
into that so I call it mycontinuation of the love letter, like more
focusing on how we heal in ourinner self and not so much focused on
(37:30):
the external, which I'm not yellingwas you know? It's when you were
talking about that, it reminded mea part of your book where you were
talking about self care and how sayingno is part of self care, and
particularly for black women, this iskind of difficult to do sometimes because of
what you were talking about, whichwe're concerned about you know that everybody else,
(37:52):
and that we can't say no becausethat's going to make us look weak.
What I guess in your research,do are women now doing when it
comes to that problem in terms ofsaying no? Are they Are they saying
no or more? Or what's happening? I think black women are saying no
(38:13):
more. I think that we're seeingand this is a lot of the media
attention on this, a lot ofthe awareness that we're gathering on social media.
A lot of us are taken tothe internet and we have communities to
support and we're starting to understand theimportance of mental health and seeking therapy and
understanding that no being a full sentence, no being really how you express your
(38:35):
boundaries. And in therapy I've discoveredand this is something I talk to my
therapist about, this idea that whenyou set a boundary, the boundary is
for you, it's not for theother person. And I think a lot
of times we don't think about that, we don't think about the fact that
when we set our boundary, it'sreally not up for discussion. But we
tend to as Black women, someof those stereotypes do have some amount of
truth in them that we do tendto be very empathetic, we do tend
(38:55):
to nurture, we do tend tolook at the good of the collective.
Is why you see a lot oftimes black women on the front lines of
the civil rights movement and a lotof things that have actually brought great change
to this country. And I talkabout that in the book as well,
this idea that black women have beenthe matriarchs of our societies across the African
diaspora. That's another thing that historicallya lot of us don't understand how different
(39:17):
colonialism has shaped the way that weas Black folk navigate across the diaspora.
So we came from matrilineal societies wherewomen actually held equal power, and it
was a collective decision making. Nowwe're in a patriarchy where as a black
woman, if you're standing up andyou're saying no, you're looked at us.
Hey, why are you saying no? You're being difficult, You're being
(39:38):
upity, or whatever that language is, which I think a lot of us
now are saying, you know what, that's fine. You're going to have
to think whatever you think about me, but I'm going to set my boundary.
Just what my therapist said, Youset your boundary, then whatever the
other person does, that's their business. You already know that you're not going
to step outside that. So alot of us are reclaiming our power that
way. I love the how youtalked about, you know, in a
(40:00):
section of your book, talking aboutyour own thoughts about yourself and how it
came from childhood, your obsession withBarbie as a kid, that doll and
dislike of the other doll that youmentioned the golliwog. I had never personally
(40:20):
seen a golliwog until I was grown, so I didn't know what you were
talking about. And I looked atit and I was like, oh,
yeah, I remember that. Butthat was later in my life. I
had seen that, just because myparents were so very adamant about keeping things
that were very racist out of ourhouse, so they I didn't ever see
that. I didn't even know itexisted, these small things in your childhood,
(40:45):
I guess, I imagine, anda lot of other girl, little
girls. It kind of creates kindof a self hatred. I think we
should probably explain what a golliwog is. I'll let you explain that. And
when did you start seeing that inyourself and what did you do to change
that? Oh, what a greatquestion. I don't think anyone's ever asked
me that, And I've never reallytalked about this idea of Barbie versus the
(41:07):
golliwog, this idea that I grewup in UK, in London, so
I didn't have a lot of Therewas not a lot of representation of black
women. I think the only blackwomen that I really saw with it was
like shaw Day that you didn't seeblack women on TV. You saw maybe
The Cosby Show. So we didn'thave a lot of options or opportunity to
really embrace what blackness looked like ona screen or in media. So we
(41:30):
didn't have black dolls at all,and the Golliwog really was a doll that
you see. It sold a lotin Europe, and it's a very racist
caricature. It looks like a minstrel. So it's a very black doll.
Really the color black lot of you, not even brown, and it has
like very wide, bright white eyes. If you've ever seen like those menstrul
shows with the red lips, andthey actually used to sell them, and
(41:50):
they probably still do across Europe.You see them in the stores, you
might see them at a convenience storm. People buy them and put them in
their homes because the decoration it's almostlike when you see those old plantation homes
and you see these racist caricatures withlike the watermelon babies and things like that.
It was something like that that peoplewould actually buy. And I remember
being called that when I was likein primary school in London and kids chasing
(42:12):
us and calling us that, andbeing one of very few black and brown
children because there were a lot ofchildren from India and Africa. And I
think that also does when we thinkabout identity the beginning of your life in
childhood. James Baldwin talked about thiswhen he was watching Cowboys and Indians and
cheering for Gary Cooper and then realizing, wait a minute, Gary Cooper is
(42:35):
a cowboy. I would be theIndian. So I think there was a
really, I think for me,a mindset shift really when I probably got
to high school started to see myhigh school teachers embracing Africana and teaching us
about Black history and culture. It'sreally why I'm so big on learning about
Black history and culture. I thinkthat self hatred does come from the fact
that you don't see yourself represented,and if society hates you and you don't
(42:59):
really have adequate way to understand whythat's happening, you do start to look
in the mirror and say, well, maybe I'm not lovable. And I
think this is really a hard questionfor a lot of us to look in
the mirror and say, why wasI taught that? I think Malcolm X
talked about this idea. You weretalkt to hate your skin, to hate
your hair, and society does embracethat, and society actually perpetuates that.
(43:19):
And I wanted to talk about identityin a really raw way, the idea
that our identity has been formed overnot just a few years, over centuries
of being degraded, of being minimized, of being made fun of and hurt
and even you could be killed overyour identity and what you look like and
how you wore your hair, andall the rules and laws that have always
been in place to really control theway that black women looked, whether it
(43:43):
was our hair being natural, Alot of times we had to cover our
hair, and a lot of peopledon't know that that we had to wrap
our hair because it was seen assomething that was overtly sexualized. So over
sexualization and adultification and identity and howwe as black women are able to reclaim
our estine was a big theme inthe book, and I think for me
it was really going back to thesource again, motherhood and the matriarchy and
(44:07):
ancestry and in Africa, we werealways revered in our society and that history
was not told. Mary mckiva said, the conquer came. They they're the
ones that wrote the history. They'renot going to tell you the truth about
yourself, and they didn't. SoI feel like it's my responsibility to talk
about how beauty in the African diasporawas something that black women always exhibited,
(44:29):
but not just beauty on the outsidebeauty on the inside. That's what our
culture is known for. HUBUNTU wassomething that we really believed in as a
collective. We bring beauty by howwe nurture our community, and I really
wanted to explore that awesome. Thisbook has many exercises at the end of
chapters. Can you talk a littlebit about what you were hoping that people
will get from those the ends ofthe chapters, because I think that that's
(44:52):
very important. Yeah, every chapter, I really wanted to ask some of
the questions, like the questions thatyou're asking me, because there are questions
that I ask myself, and I'mreally big because I come from a higher
education background and have taught college fordecades. I really wanted to make sure
that every chapter had some reflection questions. When was the first time that you
(45:14):
remember what your identity was, Howdid you grow up thinking about identity?
What are your things that you thinkare most important for you to focus on
for self care? All those thingsthat sometimes we don't have time to think
about or we've never really unpacked.So sometimes it's painful to think about a
lot of those things because it bringsup triggering memories. I really wanted to
do a lot of the exercises thathave helped me in my journey to heal,
(45:37):
which is really unpacking and looking atwhere I got these ideas from.
And if you look at it likeyou can't fix it until you acknowledge it.
So I'm really big on that theexercises. A lot of people women
that have read the book told methat they would go back and take their
time and go through them just becausethey brought up a lot of memories.
But it's important for us to knowthat. Again, a refrain that I
(45:59):
repeat in both books is it's notour fault. We did not shape the
society the way that it is.We have to function in it. It
doesn't mean we have to be foreverstrong, we have to put the water
on back. But what it doesmean, if we're going to try to
fix it within our own selves,we have to look at what happened and
then look at healthy ways to replacesome of that behavior. I affirm myself
all the time, and it's aconstant battle. It's a journey, and
(46:21):
I don't think there really is afinite and to when we unpack this.
Most of us have been carrying thisand dealing with this since we were maybe
worn or since we were able tothink. And this is generational trauma we're
talking about. So our mothers hadto deal with that, our grandmothers.
So it's going to take some time, but at least if we have the
lessons, we can begin to impartthose lessons to our daughters and to our
(46:42):
granddaughters and really uplift them and letthem see how beautiful they are. I'm
so excited when I look at likecollege basketball and I see girls playing and
their hair is natural, and Isee just how embracing they are of their
natural beauty, and they're not afraidto express themselves and be vibrant in the
cars that they wear, and notfeel ashamed to be their natural self.
(47:02):
So I feel like this next generationis going to have a lot more tools.
But I just wanted to add tothat, and especially for the women
like myself that didn't grow up withthose those role models or didn't have that
positive validation maybe from social media otherplaces, finding a way for us to
gain that that same level of confidencethat we see sometimes in the younger generations.
(47:23):
Well, thank you, Elizabeth Bliba. You have been very, very
busy and in an inspiration. Thankyou for joining us on the BIMs.
Thank you so much. I appreciatethis. Well, that's it for this
edition of The Color Between the Lines. The book is protecting my piece.
I'm Ester Dillard on the Blast InformationNetwork. Thanks Esther. Doug Davis's back,
(47:51):
the man who has the blueprint toget our community out of debt and
into home ownership and building assets insteadof simply spending our way into oblivion.
Doug the Mike my friend is allyours. Thanks Mike. My name is
Doug Davis, and welcome to YourBlack Business, where we feature inspiring stories
of Black entrepreneurs, organizations, andperspectives surrounding Black business. John Hope Bryant
(48:12):
stands out as a distinguished entrepreneur,author, and champion for financial literacy and
economic empowerment. Celebrated by Time magazineas one of the eighteen influential Black leaders
striving to bridge the racial wealth divide. His initiatives are designed to tackle the
disparities in wealth and elevate the economicstatus of Black communities. Welcome back to
the bi IN and Your Black Business, mister John Hope Brian. I'm here
(48:36):
honored and reporting for duty. Youguys are doing great work. In the
country for our people. I appreciateyou, and we certainly appreciate you as
well. So your new book entitledFinancial Literacy is out available for purchase on
Amazon, Barnes and Noble, andWalmart. It's aimed at empowering the economic
progress of Black Americans. You saythat financial literacy for all unlocks there map
(49:00):
to financial success and cultivate the mindsetthat leads to prosperity and struggle. Tell
us more about the book and whyyou wrote it. By the way,
it's number one on economics in theworld on Amazon, number one congratulation,
management, and a few other categories. And it's not a small feet for
a person of color. It's nota small feet for anybody. But it
almost never happens with an author ofcolor, black author and a black man
(49:23):
on economics and business. It's notin social studies, or in health,
or in civil rights all good bythe way categories. This is business and
economics, which says something about wherepeople. You know, how far how
much progress we've made in the midstof pushback in this country and around the
world. I think it's like fortysix million books on Amazon, and we're
number one on this topic, andit's been that way for weeks. And
(49:45):
so you know, we're natural hustlers, and I mean that the most positive
sense. We're super smart. Whenthe rules are published and the playing fielders
level, we absolutely kill it.We're not lazy. We just need to
rule book hardworking capitalism. There areno rules published. As you and I
(50:05):
talked before. The Freedman's Bank wascreated in eighteen sixty five by Abraham Lincoln
to teach free slaves about money,and Frederick Douglass ran the bank effort also
to underscore important this. But Lincolnwas assassinated a month after creating this bank
and promising blacks the right to vote, and Booth said, that's a bridge
(50:28):
too far. You'll never give anotherspeech. And the bank failed soon after,
and no one picked up the mantlefor one hundred years. And doctor
King, a preacher now, nota banker, not a financier, you
know, not a successful capitalist,a successful pastor of the man of the
cloth, picked this issue up apart of the civil rights movie someim Here
(50:51):
to redeem the soul of America fromthe triple evils of war, racism,
and poverty. He was such athreat, talk about a redistribution of wealth,
but theology which made sense as apastor. And here you go,
the second reconstruction, the second attemptin economics thwarted the dreamer slave. The
only person who fulfilled doctor King's dreampolitically went on to become Congressman. Mayor,
(51:15):
you ambassador used the ambassadorship clout tobring the Olympics relationship capital back to
Atlanta. What is Atlanta today?The biggest economy in the South, the
most diverse place in the South,the largest, the only international city in
the South, the home of thelargest the business airport in the world.
It's all here because he got thebusiness plan work right based on what doctor
(51:35):
King had articulated. But we neverfinished the dream on economics, Yes,
sir, yes, So what aresome of the common financial hurdles that you
know you've observed in our community andhow does this book address them? Oh?
My god, I know, right, loaded question. Well, look,
you know, I wrote a piececalled the Business Plan for America.
(51:58):
By the way, I when togive Mayor andres Hear a lot of love
because he is really doing a greatjob of growing the green for everybody here
in Atlanta. Why what was thisbook? This piece called the Business Plan
for America. People can search itand I say that, you know,
we're at one point six one pointseventy trillion dollars consumer spending for US,
but ninety one percent of that's consumptionthat by twenty fifty three, it is
(52:20):
estimated that black people have a networth of zero uh. Forty percent of
US own a home. Forty oneto forty three percent of us own a
home. Was the easiest way tobuild wealth home ownership. So if you
have a chance of wrinting uptown andBuckhead or wherever you happen to be written
a property you don't own to presspeople you don't know with money you don't
have, then your assets are onyour ass. You need to go buy
(52:42):
a house in the hood or theworking class neighborhood near jobs and new economic
activity, buy it, rehabit andlive in it. And this book helps
give the blueprint to that. Imean, oh, you have the book
lays it out, and then andthen you want to build a me and
dollar network. Buy use the equityfrom that first house. Wait two years,
buy another house in a working classneighborhood, buy, rehabit and rent
it at work. Along with havinga will insurance policy, a term insurance
(53:07):
policy for a million dollars, whichmeans you're you know you you won't sell
with your family with debt of whenyou pass, and you actually give them
some assets a generation wealth when youpass on, so on and so forth.
When we last spoke, we talkedabout reinvesting in the black community,
right, the importance of it.So I'm really glad you brought that up.
I recently had a discussion regarding what'shappening in Atlanta right now with a
(53:30):
lot of big corporate real estate entitiesthat are buying up homes in our community
and reselling them at exorbitant prices.So they're really kind of pricing us out
per se, and it looks likethey're trying to gentrify a lot of our
neighborhoods. How can we, asblack entrepreneurs and black business people try to
fight these big corporate companies. Yeah, so I don't fight them, copy
(53:54):
them, right, I mean,when you're being run out of town,
get in front of the crowd likea parade. Look, I mean jutrifrication
literally dictionary definition is a movement tomiddle class values. That's all it is.
It's nothing to do with race.We should want an area that has
moved to middle class values. Wejust would like to see it diverse.
(54:15):
We'd like to see it include thosewho look like people who lived there in
the first place. So look,no one came in with a clan road
and with hand tortures and forced peopleout of these neighborhoods. In order for
somebody to buy it, somebody elsehas to sell it, and a lot
of us are doing tax defaults.Man, our grandmother or mother you know,
had a property and gave it andpassed it down to us, and
(54:35):
we like we've whatever we do itfloss and not paying attention whatever, we
let the property go into disrepair.I've seen properties. I've seen sixty properties
on the west side of Atlanta aboutten years ago go for I think it
was eighteen thousand dollars on a taxdefault sale. It was probably I don't
even want to tell you how manyhow many tens of millions of dollars those
properties were worth then and now itwas a tax default. So one we
(54:58):
got us just stopped the making sillymistakes too. We gotta you know,
you've got to actually do what I'msaying, which is to buy in your
own neighborhood, and if you buyit and hold it, the one can
buy it from you. You can'tbe upset with somebody because they were smarter
than you on the economics. Ifsome white people want to come move in
your neighborhood, what do I callthat? I call that smart, right?
(55:21):
I mean Atlanta is an inner city, Well, Paris is an inner
city. London is an inner city. Only in America. If we put
strolling people for fifty years and letthem sit there, now people are tied
of traffic. They realized that theseareas are valuable, and now folks who
have financial literacy and some capital aremoving in to buy them up. So
(55:44):
I don't mean we should become thefat cats. Actually don't resent them.
People say, oh, I haterich people. No, you don't.
You hate rich people until you becomerich. Right, Exactly what you hate
is a game system. What youhate is a system that is not designed
to help you prosper. Look,I hope to become one of those fat
(56:07):
cats you talked about. I ownseven. I'm the largest Operation Hope Aside,
which is the largest financial literacy andfinancial coaching organization in America. Three
hundred offices, teaching financial literacy,raising credit scores, louring dead increasing savings
so that you can get qualified tobuy the house, or started business.
We're responsible for twelve percent of allblack businesses in America. By the way,
(56:27):
four hundred and forty thousand business westart, forty to twenty thousand businesses
we've started through one MBB. Congratulationson that too, thank you brother.
But with our partnership Shopify. Buton the business side, I'm the largest
minority owner of single family rental homesin America. I own seven hundred give
or take homes in Atlanta, inFlorida, so in some neighborhoods, in
some areas, I am that fatcat exactly, and I'm proud of it
(56:52):
right and we need to be doingBut by the way, seven hundred holls,
it sounds impressive. Most of thesecompanies own ten thousand homes, twenty
thousand homes, Like I'm really asmall player in the institutional landscape. I
want to own and I will ownten thousand homes. But my commitment will
be to get you financial literacy.When you rent for me, my commitment
(57:14):
will be to keep rents affordable,give you a path to home ownership by
being able to buy the home thatyou rent from me. My commitment is
to make sure that half of thosehomes, sorry that half of all maintenance
on those homes contracts are set asidefor minorities and women. Plumbing, heating,
electrical, landscaping, roofing. Theseare wealth creation contracts and living wage
(57:35):
jobs. I think we need toflip the script and saying we want to
be the fat cats. We needto create jobs in our communities. We
want to create wealth in our communities. We want to own in our communities.
Why isn't every church buying up theirblock? Why are where every fraternity
and sorority putting a capital fund offund that side professionally managed real estate fund
or stock market fund? Why areis only eighty percent of black people invested
(57:59):
in the stock market it? Imean, these are basic things I'm talking
about you, and so we can'tget upset with folks who figured this thing
out and we have it is rightin front of us. We need to
use our smarts for alling to besmart. That's right, that's right,
mister Bryant. We are running outof time, and like before, I
got to bring you back man parttwo of the conversation with John ho'briant,
(58:19):
financial literacy entrepreneur and author of thenew Amazon bestselling book entitled Financial Literacy for
All. Coming up next week,I want to talk to you about reparations
and the fact that a number ofblack economists that I respect believe we will
never reach racial parody in this countrywithout it. I'm Doug Davis. You're
listening to the Black Perspective and yourBlack Business on the Black Information Network.
(58:39):
Thanks Doug, and that's our programfor this week. For more on these
stories, listen to the Black InformationNetwork on the free iHeartRadio app orlong onto
binnews dot com where you can hearthis program and the latest news impacting the
black community. And be sure tofollow us on social media at Black Information
Network and on x Black Net onbehalf of the entire team at the Black
(59:02):
Information Network. I'm Mike Island,wishing everyone a wonderful Sunday and thanks for
listening, and be sure to joinus next week at this time for another
edition of the Black Perspective right hereon the Black Information Network. The Black
Information Network and six time Emmy nominatednews anchor Vanessa Tyler welcome you. To
black Land, a podcast about theground on which the Black community stands right
(59:25):
now. From stories about salvation andloss, I love the person who had
an ah hrvy diagnosis, the dreamsachieved or yet unfulfilled from people who have
made it. I sat down witha therapist and I begin my journey to
those left behind. Listen to blackLand on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you
get your podcasts.
The largest civil rights conference is comingto New Orleans this summer, the National
Urban League Conference July twenty fourth throughthe twenty seventh at the Highest Regency,
New Orleans. Register today at nulconferencedot org. Don't miss the nation's leading
business, political and community leaders,influencers and celebrities as they all meet up
from the twenty fourth through the twentyseventh downtown at the Hyde Regency, New
(00:23):
Orleans. Don't wait. Register todayat nulconference dot org. It's Sunday,
May nineteenth, and today Doug Davistalks with black financial literacy expert John Hope
Bryant. We shine a spotlight onthe home ownership programs available at the Ohio
Housing Finance Agency, and Morgan Woodshares her conversation with the editor in chief
(00:43):
of n Club Magazine. All thatmore are coming your way. Next.
Welcome to the Black Perspective. I'myour host, Mike Island. Welcome to
the Black Perspective, a weekly communityaffairs program on the Black Information Network featuring
interviews and discussions on issues important tothe Black comp Good Sunday to everyone,
and welcome to another edition of theBlack Perspective. We kick off today's program
(01:06):
with News anchor Morgan Wood's conversation withthe editor in chief of n Club Magazine,
a new online and app based publicationthat covers black pop culture and soul
much more. Can black media thrivewithout drama and celebrity gossip. I'd like
to think so, because I thinkthat's what we're doing here at the Black
Information Network. But here to talkmore about it is Dianona Ringold, the
(01:26):
founder and CEO of Different by Choiceand the editor in chief of INN Club
Magazine, a national publication aimed atcovering the intersections of purpose and pop culture.
Deon, thank you so much forjoining me. Thank you so much.
I mean, when you say itlike that, it's like, ooh,
it feels like such a big dauntingthing, at least for me to
talk to me about why you thinkit's a dauncing thing, you know.
(01:48):
So it's funny. So the wholereason why I started Different my Choice and
Club Magazines because I hated the media. I hated the way the media portrayed
Black people, hated the way themedia of portrayed millennials, and we're quite
honest, I hated the way mediaperpetually it just really ill informed picture or
a narrative of Christians in the church. So I remember, you know,
seeing those things, I can neverreally relate. I always felt like I
(02:10):
was outside rather I was in predominantlyblack circles or pro I was a predominantly
non black or white circles, andit just never felt like it messed or
made sense for me. So amentor of minds he said, well,
what are you gonna do about it? And I kind of took that person
and I take that literally. Itwas like, yeah, you know,
the best way to change anything tokind of be on the inside of it,
(02:30):
to change it from the inside out. I think when you look at
black media in general, and notjust news, but mainly kind of the
entertainment space, it perpetuates this notionthat there's only about three boxes that we
can take off at any time.And I don't think we've got very far
from that, you know, fromits entertainment, sports, athletes, whatever
(02:52):
the case it be, or justmusic, we dominate and that's great,
But when you think about when Ihear the term the culture, this is
for the culture, for the culture, and I feel like we've used that
for everything, but we only needa few things on we say it.
So for me, black media needsto be so much bigger than just a
few boxes. So when we sayfor the culture, we need to be
talking about activists, we need tobe talking about people that's climate warriors.
(03:13):
We need to be talking about peoplethat are, you know, in these
spaces actually making change happen, notjust benefiting off of the audience and the
dollar of the Black American that weunderstand is very valuable. But if you
only benefit off of it but youdon't actually move it forward, is it
really for the culture? You're soright? The black experience is extremely dynamic.
In your release, it says thepublication has been obsessed with widening the
(03:37):
representation of black culture and Black Americans. Can you continue to elaborate on what
that looks like? Yeah, absolutelyso, I think it looks like a
little bit of what we do hereat in Clude. We're very intentional about
even the type of people that wewant to feature on our covers. Right.
We are not click bit We're notI Got you journalism, right,
So we've never really like us tryingto insert ourselves into the conversation, but
(03:58):
just to tell the story as itis in the most authentic way. So
it's not like, oh, itneeds to be just positive news. It's
not that, but it's there's layersand there's so much more to this,
and we are we are infiltrating inso many more areas. So I think,
for me, it's really important forus to invade spaces where Black people
are not typically targeted or not typicallywhole a resonance in those spaces, in
places of authority and voices of authority. Right, we start to see a
(04:21):
little bit of that now is kindof starting to matriculate just a little bit,
but it's only a little bit.When you look at the biggest outlets
that are garnishing on the Black Americanattention, they're not touching on anything outside
of mainly entertainment, celebrity gossipslaciousness,drama, and you know, and maybe
maybe some black history when it's whenit's appropriate. Right, So we're really
(04:43):
intentional, you know. I thinkone of the narratives that I see a
lot of times in black media ortargeted black media, but there's companies that
benefit off of it that's not blackowned as well. It's this extended adolescent
like there's never just point of actuallygrowing up, right, So the idea
of even talking about being parents ortalking about having older parents and what is
that part of your life with likebeing able to speak to those things.
(05:04):
I think it's just so important totalk about moving the culture. It has
to be experiences that are that arealso included and not just unique, but
also included in a Black American experiencethat I think we just don't see in
interest, right, it's our experiencesin our interest. The publication has had
tremendous success, reaching more than amillion people through an app, an app
(05:27):
having one hundred and fifty six thousandcirculations a month, and there's a print
version available in Barnes and Noble.Who don't like to pull up on the
bookstore based on where you started?What do you make of this growth and
what advice would you give to thenext person looking to scale their passion project
in the same way? Yeah,Oh my goodness, when you say those
numbers, it blows me away becausefor two reasons. One like, you
(05:48):
know, when God gives you something, you know I'm not an agriculture,
so he hands me a seat andall I know to do is the plant
it. I don't know what's goingto produce. I don't know what is
hap a trie or plant it's goingto produce. So when you see it
produces this for you like, ohwow, okay, right. And one
of the things that I'm really particularabout is making sure we do the things
that other people can't do. Beingsmaller, being independent, we get to
(06:08):
pivot, you know, we getto fail forward. We get to do
a lot of things without having overlordsor overseas saying nope, you got to
do it this way. You gotto stick to this message. Oh this
is with work and keep doing that. Right, we don't have to do
that. We can actually pivot.So I think being able to do the
things that only we can do hashelped with the growth. Right. We
have this mondra that perfection is thegoal, but excellence is perceptive. I
(06:29):
believe that people see the excellence,they see the growth, and I think
a lot of people have just beenwilling to come along that journey with us,
especially to people that say yes tous when we want to feature them.
I mean, when people see that, there's a level of credibility and
reputability that says, oh, theseguys know what they're doing, right,
so you know, check with us, you know, stick with us a
little longer. It's only it's onlygoing to go further. And I think
to answer the latter party of yourquestion, what advice would I give to
(06:51):
people have something to say? Ithink social media has had this weird dichotomy
of we make stupid people famous,but at the same time we open up
more lanes to get BRIDI of gatekeepers. So it's kind of like a necessary
evil, right Not everyone has togo through the same traditional path of journalistsm
hey, let me go into thenewsroom. That's only I'm gonna be taken
(07:12):
serious. Okay, let me goright if you don't actually have to do
that anymore. But at the sametime, we have this level of entitlement.
I believe media is more about aresponsibility than a level of entitlement.
We have a responsibility to have somethingto say, right So I think if
anyone who wants to get to mediaand you want to have you want to
have purposeful media and meaningful conversations,you know there's another road that's very luclear.
(07:32):
Just go blogging in neal city.I mean, any ball like rush
right now, like they're they're biggerthan your favorite magazine right now, However,
when you think about what's going tolast and what matters specifically to you
and the stories you want to tell, you have to ask yourself what you
know? Where do I want tobe? You know, because I would
say anybody ask yourself, what doyou care about? What do you want
(07:53):
people to care about? What doyou have to say? Speaking with Dion
Ringold, the founder and CEO ofDifferent by Choice and the editor in chief
of Club Magazine, congratulations to you. You recently won five thousand dollars.
You and the money got a coinfrom AT and T for their Dream in
Black sweepstakes for a Black History Month. What do you plan to do with
that money? That's a great question. I think I really want to do
(08:16):
it to my manager editor. Sothe funny thing about that I knew nothing
about this. So when I gotthe email, I was like, you
know something, like it's real,Like what is this? Give you money
for nothing? But it was funnybecause AT and T the official page actually
in box me first, at DMVfirst from their verified page. I was
like, okay, that's really ATand T. So then when I got
the email, I was like,this is wild. You know, it's
(08:39):
funny. Five thousand dollars Freeze.I feel like I should just give it
away, but I haven't decided yet. The check has been clear in cash
for people don't want to know itwas real. He got a coin.
Yeah, you mentioned the Empower onehundred initiative. Talk to me more about
that. What's that? Yeah.So in twenty twenty one, we had
crazy news rush around the idea thatright after COVID happened, we wanted to
(09:03):
find out what was the way thatwe could help small businesses, particularly black
businesses. So for our Black Historyand Month issue that fintured Super Bowl champion
Malcolm Jenkins, we said, hey, we're going to allow black, black
small companies that were effected by COVIDto get free adveratars. And in this
issue, we knew it was goingto be a big deal. Our issue
before that had reached over a millionimpressions. So we were like, okay,
(09:24):
we got the momentum, blessed.Now leveraged this for them. And
you know, we were picked upand covered by NBC and a few other
networks that we were able to talkabout this. And when I say that
same day, I think we hadover like our website traffic went up a
number thirty two thousand business We hadso many people emailing us about this,
and I think it was great.A lot of those companies have benefited from
(09:46):
that and still followed, so it'scool to see their journey how they've grown.
So this time we want to openit up to over one hundred small
businesses, so not just black businesses, just small businesses in general that we
think can benefit from. This isso just scaling it. I think we
had maybe twenty five to thirty thefirst time we realized this could be something
special, and whoever applies to there'llbe an application process. You know,
(10:09):
we're anticipating it's probably be a coupleof thousand that apply that there still gets
some type of benefit with the peoplethat we're going to be partnering with to
be able to do this, Sowe're really really excited about that. Sounds
amazing, Yeah, yeah, Soplease please follow in Club Magazine everywhere,
not just Instagram. We're on TikTokhilariously, we're on Twitter a little bit,
(10:30):
threads, Facebook, all those things, but more importantly, like visit
our website. A bunch of greatcontent, a bunch of great writers and
contributors and download our apples. That'sDr Ringold, the founder and CEO of
Different by Choice and the editor andchief of In Club magazine. I Morgan
would on the Black Information Network.Thanks Morgan. Today, like any other
day of the week, millions ofBlack Americans woke up hungry. Food insecurity
(10:54):
is a major issue in our community. While recently working on a series of
reports on the topic the Black InformationNetworks, Andrea Colman spoke with a pastor
in Charlotte, North Carolina who knowsthe issue firsthand, Mike. Reverend Doctor
Evan Willis serves as lead pastor theNortheast Seventh day Adventist Church in Charlotte.
While the position requires him to bemindful of the needs of his congregation,
(11:15):
his heart for issues relating to theBlack community extends beyond the pulpit. This
published author, who has a PhDin Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in
urban education, is also certified inanti racism and urban education, and as
you will hear, he is verymuch aware and studied on how race factors
into the food and security issue inAmerica. Pastor Willis, thank you so
(11:39):
much for joining us on the BlackInformation Network. We truly appreciate your time
and we appreciate your service. Thanksmuch for having me. I'm so glad
to be here with you all.How large an issue is food and security
in the Charlotte area, well inTrailer area, food and security is a
growing issue. I mean, it'sas much as housing and homelessness, right,
So imagine if you have a largehomeless population, there's going to be
a large food community in need.And I think particularly in the African American
(12:01):
community we're situated in the Hindumaliy neighborhoodright off the Scare Creek Corridor, We're
seeing a massive need for people forfood, and not necessarily the residents as
much as just in general. Peopleare suffering. So I think it is
a crisis that needs addressing in anyway that can be done. And I
believe that there are agencies out therethat we partner with a network with,
(12:22):
such as the Food Bank and theFood Pantry and other organizations that are doing
the best they can to meet thatneed and miliorate that suffering. So do
you think the general public understand howlarge an issue food insecurity is not only
in Charlotte but across the country.I think they understands a serious issue.
I don't know they understand the extentthat which it is affecting people. I
heard a study that suggested that creditcards are on the rise in terms of
(12:46):
credit card not rates, but creditcard limits and amounts on credit card d
it's demonstrating that the American people areexperiencing financial hardship. We watch as in
twenty twenty two and twenty twenty three, as inflation was rising and food prices
are arising, and all things likeeggs go to insurmountable prices, and so
yeah, I think people are feelingit personally, even those with means.
And so the question is how muchare they thinking about the other, the
(13:09):
person who isn't in their neighborhood,in their text bracket, who are going
through need. So I think thereis understanding, but I think there's always
need for more understanding. Now,what all do you and your congregation at
Northeast Seventh day Adventist Church and Charlottedo to help food insecure residents in your
community. So one, we haveour ministry called Disciples of Christ that goes
and feeds the homeless on Saturday evenings, and that is large. Gleb bar
(13:31):
seniors, but our youth participate andjoin and I'll join with them going out
on occasion. We have worked withan organization that is a mobile food pantry
that will come and bring fresh produceon our lawn to ensure that people are
receiving goods. Well. Used tohave a food pantry on our facility,
(13:52):
but lately they have enough facilities,they said, so we're not a hope
site for them anymore. And duringthe pandemic, we wear a mobile food
pantry or people will come drive andget food. And then obviously as well,
people will come off the street inneed. And what will supply are
maybe a gift car to Walmart orbuy meals as we can. I look
at that sugar record, or weare in a food aser. There's no
(14:13):
grocery store near us, but wetry to do what we can. What
do the people that you're helping sayto you about the aid that you're giving
them? Oh, there's really appreciable. They're thankful and because they experience so
much, and I think sometimes peopledon't take their hurts and they're concerned seriously,
and so I think this overwhelming gratitudeand just thinking us that we have
made ourselves available to help them aswe're able that human touch and just the
(14:37):
thoughts of concern seems like a considerationand go a long way. Huh Yeah.
Yeah, So how does your roleas a pastor pastor willis position you
to more effectively or more rapidly addressproblems of hunger and food and security that
you come across, since there's acharitable component to the church work that you
do. Yeah, So I liketo think of us as the hands and
(14:58):
feet of Jesus, like in forus as boots on the ground, and
so we're the easiest point of contactfor people who find themselves in need.
And I think the great thing withchurches just in general is because there's a
charitable component, oftentimes when we're helpingpeople, we're not making people jump through
hoops. Like if someone needs foodright now, we're able to provide at
least I mean, if we can'tdo more, at least a meal right
now, right while they're still searching. So we're boots on the ground.
(15:22):
But I think also another very importantcomponent with churches, particularly African American congregations,
is in your congregation you have entrepreneursare nonprofit executive directors who have access
to other resources right and so we'reable to also collaborate with other organizations and
institutions such as Charlotte areafund who aredoing things to help people who are experiencing
(15:43):
financial and economic need. And soI believe that the benefit of the local
churches. We're boots on the groundone. Two. There aren't a bunch
of hoops you have to jump through. There's not like a long waiting period.
If we can help, we will. If we can't, we were
able to at least try to connectyou with another organization, give you a
number to call who make sure itgets you food to you right away.
That's very good. How do corporatepartnerships and sponsorships for food programs like the
(16:07):
food pantries and food banks impact effortsto address food insecurity? So with us
locally, we aren't connected with anycorporations, but I know that they do
a major work. We do workwith food banks and other organizations like that,
and they do a major work.Because when you're addressing issues such as
food insecurity and food deserts, itrequires multiple handle that there's no silver book
(16:30):
that's going to solve the problem rightaway. I know that the University of
North Carolina Charlotte is looking to addresssome things in West Charlotte. I know
that these partnerships matter, but ultimately, but we have to realize about ourselves.
We cannot solve all the world's problems, and we can't solve all the
food insecurity issues. And I findthat the most important thing, as well
(16:51):
as churches and nonprofits and corporations,is government infrastructure and government support. We
know that Charlotte is leading the nationin terms of any score which is inequality.
So if you're born economically disadvantage,you're more likely to remain socio economical
disadvantage in Charlotte, especially as wesee the rise in house prices and moving
industries here. But with that beingthe case, government supports help make it
(17:15):
possible to move from one class toanother, and with making sure there's food
available to people who find themselves inneed. So I think they are essential,
and government partnerships are indispensable, andgovernment plan and strategies and dispensable.
You're saying that from a perspective too. I take it that comes not only
from your advocation but also from youreducation. You are a PhD and have
(17:40):
studied anti racism in urban education.So how do you feel personally, socially,
and academically that race plays a rolein food insecurity. Well, even
before we get to the credentials,right, I've experienced food and security as
the young man going through grad schoolat a family of six. We were
in graduate school in Michigan, andmy wife and I are both finishing our
master's degrees and expert going through thewhole process. We're depending upon food stamps
(18:04):
in the process, right, Andthere's certain ways that our social worker tried
to treat us based upon our economics, our finances, right, what we
brought in. But what she didn'tunderstand is we both were a college degree.
We both were educated. My fatherwas a dentist, my mother a
school principal. My wife's mother wasa social worker. Like, we may
be living in a state of economicdeprivation, but our minds on economically deprived,
(18:27):
and so we had the ability,you know, to read critically to
know the policies in place, becausethey tried to take advantage or treat us
as if we were trying to getover on them on certain situations, by
them not you know, reading thefine line on some information. So I
remember we had food stamps and welost it for three months because they accused
us of having a separate bank becausethe person who was paying me Reference I
(18:49):
was with lost Fargo at the time. In terms of that, my bank
Reference First Union and First Union havemerged into as Fargo, but they thought
there was a whole different account.It's a whole thing. I had to
jump through hoops just to prove that. But there are people who may not
have the literacy ability, people whomay not have ease of access to Internet,
people who may not be able toknow the policies and issues such as
(19:11):
that that are being denied access althoughthey're qualified and in need. Coupled with
the fact that we're seeing immigration cominginto Charlotte, we're again a lot of
people who come to our church whoare coming in from other countries and limited
English ability, don't know how toget quite on their feet. They're here
on jobs, they're here working ina network. So race plays a major
component in that. Because of qualitiveeducation that many African American and LATINX people
(19:37):
receive more often than not, weare in Title I schools highly economically disadvantaged.
Many students are on free and reducedlunch, which means as well,
like during the summer, they're probablynot getting access to food the same way
that people who have a strong accessto money and capital are able to And
so I think it plays a majorcomponent. I was looking at policy today
on North Carolina. Thankfully they haverepealed what was once a what I believe
(20:00):
with discriminatory practice, which was ifyou had a drug related charge, and
we know those rug related charge areoftentimes things that really should have been misdemeanors
because they were, according to theNDUGEN pro by Nicole Alexander, really were
minor drug offenses that were labeled highoffense right from marijuana as opposed to cocaine
access right and so they used tonot allow you to get food stance.
(20:22):
But now if you come out ofprison on the family charge for drugs,
you have to wait a year,and I think that still in itself is
a little problematic, but at leastthey're looking to address that issue. So
race plays a role in education,literacy, ability to advocate for oneself,
plays a role in how one maybe penalized or charged criminally. It plays
a role based on economic mobility inCharlotte and just how hard is becoming for
(20:44):
these upcome generations to get ahead,especially with these insane house prices. So
it's full circle. It's full circle. There's there's more need to be done.
So race plays I think a veryprominent role in creating food and security.
I believe. I was looking statisticthat said one in every three African
American families, one in every threeafric American families experiences food insecure. That
ratio is two out of thirty threepercent are experienced food and security out of
(21:07):
a lack of economic mobility, economicliability in the household. That's a lot
and it seems too that it wouldbe very difficult. I've heard this before
that a child going into a classroomthat's hungry's going to have a very hard
time learning and being able to payattention. And I would imagine it's the
same for parents who are having togo out and work diligently but worrying constantly
(21:29):
about how they're going to feed theirfamily. Yes, yes, So what
are three quick things pastor willis thatanyone can do to help themselves not become
food insecure? Are they help someonewho has already food insecure overcome that situation?
So one I think that you shouldgo to the social working agencies and
CLID social worker because they'll have accessto all agencies that are working to affect
(21:51):
various felt human need. Right,That's one I think. Two, if
you're an emergency, contact a localcongregation. They may not be able to
pay all your bills, but theone thing I think most church will try
to do is put food in yourstomach if at all possible. Three,
I would say do whatever you canto connect and collaborate with organizations such as
(22:14):
in the summer months, organizations thathave free summer lunch programs at least make
sure kids get lunch and probably goingto walk away with something. I think
talking to your local school about ifthere's a take program where that can take
lunch home for the weekends, backpackfull of food for the weekends. I
think those are the big things someonecan do that's very good. And what
are some of the other projects thatyou and the Northeast Church are doing to
(22:36):
elevate the people in the community whereyour church is located. One, we
are doing a blood dry June twenty. Second, because African Americans are more
likely to stuff from sickle step,but also African Americans and some for good
reason based on distrust with the medicalindustry, are less likely to donate blood
misinformation disinformation. That's one. InOctober, we're having a special giveaway called
(22:59):
Compassion Project for a week October twentyseventh through November two. In October as
well, in partnership with our otherCharlotte area churches, having a mental health
mental wellness summit that's gonna be threedays. I don't have the date for
that at the time, but ifyou follow us on our social media platforms
and others, you'll know what's comingup. Please let us know how we
can follow you and your projects online. Our website is Northeast SDA dot org
(23:23):
Northeast SDA dot org and then oursocial media instagram a count Facebook count where
I think it gets your most upto date. Access by the Instagram is
the highest. It's Northeast SDA byInstagram account. And then personally, if
you want to follow me, Iam this is based on my nickname from
high school, so please don't,but it's rev Ill Will PhD. Rev
Ill Will PhD. You'll see thevarious things I get myself involved with,
(23:45):
various projects we have going on,and even get to see my wife and
my beautiful children. Oh that's beautiful, that's wonderful. Well, Pastor Willis,
thank you so much for your time, for your insight, for your
expertise. We truly appreciate it,and we really appreciate what you and the
Northeast just doing there in Charlotte,the Shoalty area. So please keep post
on your activities. We do aswell. Thank you, Thank you,
(24:07):
Andrea. The Black Information Network hasan amazing team of commentators who bring their
unique perspectives and opinions on stories impactingthe black community. Today, we check
in with news commentator Moe Kelly.I'm Mo Kelly on the bi N with
your two minute warning, Black folksjust like my mother are in mourning,
maybe mourning all across the complete diaspora. Hold on to your cheddar biscuits.
(24:29):
But Red Lobster has filed for bankruptcyand the closing up locations left and right
as we speak. You got tail, wait those potatoes shot channels. Nearly
one hundred Red Lobster locations across eightstates have already been closed. I feel
like a relative of mine just passedaway. Where else are young black men
(24:52):
going to take young Black women ontheir first date. You got tail.
Wait those potatoes shot channel bish.Where else can black people eat lobster and
biscuits of a Cheddar variety on abudget? Once upon a time there was
Sizzler and red lobster. Now thereis just sizzler, shimp ladas potato,
(25:14):
shim ladas potatoes too, shampoo,shampoo. Life will never be the same.
Semi fine dining will never be thesame. Black dating will never be
the same. Shirley Caesar's career willnever be the same. Cottail simp lateras
potatoes, lettail simp ladas potatoes.Gentlemen, shimp ladas potato, ship ladas
(25:48):
potatoes too, shimpo shampoo. Poura little bit out for the homies,
and eat a Cheddar biscuit while youcan r I p red lobster. I'm
Mo Kelly at mister Kelly on socialmedia, and that's your two minute warning
on the Black Information Network. Besure to catch Mo Kelly, Roland Martin,
and James T. Harris for theirdaily commentaries on the Black Information Network.
(26:11):
If you're a resident of the stateof Ohio and looking to purchase a
home, the Ohio Housing Finance Agencyis an amazing resource you should consider to
learn more about their programs. Let'smeet one of their home buying experts,
and we are with John Dewey,the single family relations manager with the Ohio
Housing Finance Agency. How are youdoing today, and thanks for your time,
(26:32):
great, Thank you for having me. I appreciate it. You're welcome.
And before we take our deep diveinto it, let's start off with
an overview of the programs and servicesof the Ohio Housing Finance Agency. If
you would please absolutely so. Ouragency, the Ohio Housing Findance Agency,
offers financial assistance programs to help homebuyers get into a house. And our
programs have a variety of different featureslike down payment assistance, lower interest rates
(26:59):
for recent college graduates in those inpublic service careers. And how long have
you been providing a service like this? So our agency has been helping home
buyers get into a house since nineteeneighty three, so quite a while that
our agency has been helping home buyerswith primarily down payment assistance that I'll tell
you about here in just a minute, to help them get into a house.
(27:22):
Over four decades of that kind ofservice to the community. That's awesome.
A big question probably one of thefirst for any prospective home buyers what
is the minimum credit score and incomeamount needed to purchase a home? So
there's no minimum income. It's moredependent on the house that you're looking to
buy. So if you were buying, for example, one hundred thousand dollars
(27:42):
house or a two hundred thousand dollarshouse or a three hundred thousand dollars house,
you just need to have the necessaryincome to be able to afford those
that purchase price. That depend onwhich house you were buying. And then
the credit scores of the minimum creditscore is six forty for conventional USBA and
VA alone and then it would besix fifty for sah loan, a ten
(28:06):
point difference there. Correct, Yeah, there's difference between the conventional USDMVA and
then theay HLAN. There are alot of moving parts to what you provide
for people who want to buy ahome, and they all point to suite.
Please tell us more about your closingcost and down payment assistance. So
our most popular program is the fivepercent your Choice down payment Assistance, which
(28:29):
helps home buyers with down payment andclosing costs. For example, somebody who's
buying a two hundred thousand dollars houseand they're getting our five percent down payment
assistance. That two hundred thousand timesfive percent, that would be ten thousand
dollars towards their down payment and closingcosts. So it's a significant amount of
money to help a home buyer getinto a house. And of course that
(28:51):
assistance varies with the price of thehome. Yeah, and it's just dependent
on the purchase price. So forexample, if they're buying a three hundred
thousand dollars house and they're getting ourfive percent down payment assistance, that'd be
fifteen grand towards the down payment andclosing costs. That's a lot of great
help. We're talking with John Dewey. He is the single family relations manager
at the Ohio Housing Finance Agency.We're talking about buying home, the ins
(29:14):
and outs, the credit scores needed, the amount of income, and the
kind of assistance you get. What'sthe most important thing that you want listeners
to know about OHFA. So theeasiest way to see if you qualify is
to visit our website my Ohio homedot org. Again, that's my Ohio
home dot org. And you're goingto find an also approved mortgage under on
our website, and that mortgage lundercan pre qualify the home buyer for our
(29:38):
home buyer programs and down payment assistant. What is the biggest misperception about home
ownership? You know, one timemy daughter got mad because something broke in
her house and she goes, homeownership is overrated, So what is so?
She was just mad because of thecost and the sudden breakdown in the
home. I think it was apipe or something. So's that's the biggest
(30:00):
misconception about home ownership? Well,I think definitely on the buying side,
a lot of home buyers think thatyou need to have twenty percent down payment
to purchase a house, and that'snot true. For example, with our
loans, our conventional loans, theminimum down payment is only three percent of
the purchase price, so significantly lessthan a lot of people would think to
(30:21):
get into a house. And ifyou're using our five percent down payment assistance,
they could actually cover that three percentdown payment requirement with our five percent
down payment assistance. You're listening tothe Black Perspective on Mike Island and we're
talking with John Dewey. He's thesingle family relations manager with the Ohio Housing
Finance Agency where you're talking about what'sneeded to purchase a home, the closing
(30:44):
costs and down payment assistance the OhioHousing Finance Agency provides and more. And
you have other programs available as well. Yeah, we actually have two other
programs and that is called our fivepercent Grants for grants, So it's similar
to our other down payment a program, but this is specifically for recent college
graduates, those that have graduated collegewithin the last four years with an associatesators,
(31:07):
masters, or doctorate degree. Theycan get a five percent down payment
assistance grant to help them get intoa house. And then the other program
is called the Ohio Heroes Program,and this is for those that work in
critical occupations. They get a slightlylower interest rate. And this think of
veterans after douting military, police officers, firefighters, emtms, paramedics, doctors,
(31:32):
nurses, and teachers, those typesof occupations, they get a slightly
lower interest rate than our standard mortgageinterest rates. What a great benefit you
think of our veterans active duty inmilitary and police officers, firefighters, EMTs,
paramedics, doctors, nurses, manyof our first responders and are very
valuable educators too. Yes, yeah, that's a huge benefit. You know,
(31:52):
a recent college graduate and then youcan get this five percent down payment
assistance grant and get you on thatpath to home ownership in building long term.
Well, how can people listening findout more about the programs and services
of the Ohio Housing Finance Agency.They would go to our website, my
Ohio home dot org and their firststep along the path to home ownership would
(32:14):
be to reach out again to oneof our opoproof mortgage lenners and they can
prequalify them and let them know ifthey qualify for our home buyer programs and
down payment assystem. The place togo for more information is my Ohio home
dot org. That's my Ohio homedot org. Thanks again to John Dewey
of the Ohio Housing Finance Agency.We have all had to start somewhere to
(32:35):
get to our final destination. Oneblack entrepreneur sharing how he overcame obstacles to
grow not one, but two businesses. That's the focus of this week's The
Color between the Lines. I'm AsterDillard on the Black Information Network chatting with
writers and authors who offer an addedperspective for our listeners. This is The
(33:00):
Color Between the Lines. In thisedition of The Color Between the Lines,
we're talking about how black women protectthemselves and help themselves mentally, especially in
challenging circumstances. And today my guestis a returning best selling author, Elizabeth
(33:21):
Lva, who has released a gemof a book called Protecting My Piece,
and this is a follow up inmany ways to her first book, I'm
Not Yelling. Welcome Elizabeth Lva tothe BIM. Thank you, esther,
so happy to be back. Thanksfor having me. Your first book was
awesome, and this one is evenmore awesome. It has a lot of
(33:42):
wonderful descriptions and things in it thatmade me want to go deeper. I
want you to please kind of explainto the audience how you shifted the focus
of Protecting My Piece and how it'sdifferent than I'm Not Yelling. Absolutely,
I'm not Yelling, I wrote intwenty twenty one. So I think I
was at the very beginning of whenblack women were starting to get frustrated with
(34:07):
the workplace environment and the idea ofDEI as a concept and how it really
was not working and did not applyto us. So I'm Not Yelling was
more of a deep dive for meinto why do black women feel so dissatisfied
in corporate America? Why is theequity, the pay gap, the promotions,
the microaggressions, all the things thatblack women were telling me as I
(34:29):
was networking and meeting women through socialmedia. That's really what I'm Not Yelling
was about. I call it mylove letter to black women, but it
was really kind of like, look, it's not useless. I kept hearing
the same stories again and again,and I wanted to get clarity because I
was like, Oh, I thoughtit was just me, but again and
again I heard black women saying thatthey were experiencing these microaggressions and the code
(34:51):
switching and exhaustion and mental health.So I'm Not Yelling really dove into what
was happening and why, using manyhistorical context but also statistics and studies that
are out there that we all probablyseen and scrolling through our news feed.
But when I put it all together, I was like, Wow, there's
a mountain of evidence here to showwhy Black women are so stressed out in
(35:12):
the workplace, and I wanted tooffer some solutions about how we can approach
the workplace in a different way thatdoesn't demand it to change because it has
not changed so far since the civilrights movement, which DEI basically was an
outgrowth of, and we're not gettingthe results that we need and we're leaving
corporate American record numbers. So Iwanted to provide this the actual validation for
(35:35):
that and give strategy for how todo a mindset shift while you're there so
you can be stronger. So insteadof you saying it's me, beat yourself
up, go back to school toget another degree, you actually realize you're
being gas lit sis or the environmentreally was not designed for you and actually
is pushback against you trying to succeedeverything that you're trying to succeed. Where
there's a glass ceiling, whether it'sthe glass cliff, there's all these different
(35:59):
things that are impeding your progress andit's really not your fault. So that
was really the premise behind I'm notyelling. But as I started to get
through twenty twenty two, I startedto feel as though we were reaching kind
of like that tipping point where blackwomen were like, look, we are
like seriously, now we are tiredand we're checking out. And black women
were telling me that they were takingtime off work, they were going on
(36:21):
extended leave. They really didn't feellike their mental health was prioritized. Now
that I know, Liz, thatall these things are true, I have
to unpack this. I have tofigure out how I've been actually navigating the
world in the workplace and it's nothealthy. So protecting my Piece, the
premise of that was self care.It was about being authentic. It was
about rediscovering your voice. It wasabout leaning into your ancestral knowledge and wisdom.
(36:45):
A lot of us have instincts aboutwhat's happening. We'll get like a
red flag, and we a lotof times, I think, buy into
this idea that if you feel somethingsis, you're making that up. Maybe
you just need to push through.So protecting my Piece was more of a
value that a lot of times werein these spaces, and we don't belong
these spaces. How do we reallyreflect on our experience in a way that
(37:07):
will help us to heal, prioritizeself care, prioritize emotional community, everything
that is really connected to the Africandiaspora. When we think about mental health,
we've always done that as a collective. So how do we lean back
into that so I call it mycontinuation of the love letter, like more
focusing on how we heal in ourinner self and not so much focused on
(37:30):
the external, which I'm not yellingwas you know? It's when you were
talking about that, it reminded mea part of your book where you were
talking about self care and how sayingno is part of self care, and
particularly for black women, this iskind of difficult to do sometimes because of
what you were talking about, whichwe're concerned about you know that everybody else,
(37:52):
and that we can't say no becausethat's going to make us look weak.
What I guess in your research,do are women now doing when it
comes to that problem in terms ofsaying no? Are they Are they saying
no or more? Or what's happening? I think black women are saying no
(38:13):
more. I think that we're seeingand this is a lot of the media
attention on this, a lot ofthe awareness that we're gathering on social media.
A lot of us are taken tothe internet and we have communities to
support and we're starting to understand theimportance of mental health and seeking therapy and
understanding that no being a full sentence, no being really how you express your
(38:35):
boundaries. And in therapy I've discoveredand this is something I talk to my
therapist about, this idea that whenyou set a boundary, the boundary is
for you, it's not for theother person. And I think a lot
of times we don't think about that, we don't think about the fact that
when we set our boundary, it'sreally not up for discussion. But we
tend to as Black women, someof those stereotypes do have some amount of
truth in them that we do tendto be very empathetic, we do tend
(38:55):
to nurture, we do tend tolook at the good of the collective.
Is why you see a lot oftimes black women on the front lines of
the civil rights movement and a lotof things that have actually brought great change
to this country. And I talkabout that in the book as well,
this idea that black women have beenthe matriarchs of our societies across the African
diaspora. That's another thing that historicallya lot of us don't understand how different
(39:17):
colonialism has shaped the way that weas Black folk navigate across the diaspora.
So we came from matrilineal societies wherewomen actually held equal power, and it
was a collective decision making. Nowwe're in a patriarchy where as a black
woman, if you're standing up andyou're saying no, you're looked at us.
Hey, why are you saying no? You're being difficult, You're being
(39:38):
upity, or whatever that language is, which I think a lot of us
now are saying, you know what, that's fine. You're going to have
to think whatever you think about me, but I'm going to set my boundary.
Just what my therapist said, Youset your boundary, then whatever the
other person does, that's their business. You already know that you're not going
to step outside that. So alot of us are reclaiming our power that
way. I love the how youtalked about, you know, in a
(40:00):
section of your book, talking aboutyour own thoughts about yourself and how it
came from childhood, your obsession withBarbie as a kid, that doll and
dislike of the other doll that youmentioned the golliwog. I had never personally
(40:20):
seen a golliwog until I was grown, so I didn't know what you were
talking about. And I looked atit and I was like, oh,
yeah, I remember that. Butthat was later in my life. I
had seen that, just because myparents were so very adamant about keeping things
that were very racist out of ourhouse, so they I didn't ever see
that. I didn't even know itexisted, these small things in your childhood,
(40:45):
I guess, I imagine, anda lot of other girl, little
girls. It kind of creates kindof a self hatred. I think we
should probably explain what a golliwog is. I'll let you explain that. And
when did you start seeing that inyourself and what did you do to change
that? Oh, what a greatquestion. I don't think anyone's ever asked
me that, And I've never reallytalked about this idea of Barbie versus the
(41:07):
golliwog, this idea that I grewup in UK, in London, so
I didn't have a lot of Therewas not a lot of representation of black
women. I think the only blackwomen that I really saw with it was
like shaw Day that you didn't seeblack women on TV. You saw maybe
The Cosby Show. So we didn'thave a lot of options or opportunity to
really embrace what blackness looked like ona screen or in media. So we
(41:30):
didn't have black dolls at all,and the Golliwog really was a doll that
you see. It sold a lotin Europe, and it's a very racist
caricature. It looks like a minstrel. So it's a very black doll.
Really the color black lot of you, not even brown, and it has
like very wide, bright white eyes. If you've ever seen like those menstrul
shows with the red lips, andthey actually used to sell them, and
(41:50):
they probably still do across Europe.You see them in the stores, you
might see them at a convenience storm. People buy them and put them in
their homes because the decoration it's almostlike when you see those old plantation homes
and you see these racist caricatures withlike the watermelon babies and things like that.
It was something like that that peoplewould actually buy. And I remember
being called that when I was likein primary school in London and kids chasing
(42:12):
us and calling us that, andbeing one of very few black and brown
children because there were a lot ofchildren from India and Africa. And I
think that also does when we thinkabout identity the beginning of your life in
childhood. James Baldwin talked about thiswhen he was watching Cowboys and Indians and
cheering for Gary Cooper and then realizing, wait a minute, Gary Cooper is
(42:35):
a cowboy. I would be theIndian. So I think there was a
really, I think for me,a mindset shift really when I probably got
to high school started to see myhigh school teachers embracing Africana and teaching us
about Black history and culture. It'sreally why I'm so big on learning about
Black history and culture. I thinkthat self hatred does come from the fact
that you don't see yourself represented,and if society hates you and you don't
(42:59):
really have adequate way to understand whythat's happening, you do start to look
in the mirror and say, well, maybe I'm not lovable. And I
think this is really a hard questionfor a lot of us to look in
the mirror and say, why wasI taught that? I think Malcolm X
talked about this idea. You weretalkt to hate your skin, to hate
your hair, and society does embracethat, and society actually perpetuates that.
(43:19):
And I wanted to talk about identityin a really raw way, the idea
that our identity has been formed overnot just a few years, over centuries
of being degraded, of being minimized, of being made fun of and hurt
and even you could be killed overyour identity and what you look like and
how you wore your hair, andall the rules and laws that have always
been in place to really control theway that black women looked, whether it
(43:43):
was our hair being natural, Alot of times we had to cover our
hair, and a lot of peopledon't know that that we had to wrap
our hair because it was seen assomething that was overtly sexualized. So over
sexualization and adultification and identity and howwe as black women are able to reclaim
our estine was a big theme inthe book, and I think for me
it was really going back to thesource again, motherhood and the matriarchy and
(44:07):
ancestry and in Africa, we werealways revered in our society and that history
was not told. Mary mckiva said, the conquer came. They they're the
ones that wrote the history. They'renot going to tell you the truth about
yourself, and they didn't. SoI feel like it's my responsibility to talk
about how beauty in the African diasporawas something that black women always exhibited,
(44:29):
but not just beauty on the outsidebeauty on the inside. That's what our
culture is known for. HUBUNTU wassomething that we really believed in as a
collective. We bring beauty by howwe nurture our community, and I really
wanted to explore that awesome. Thisbook has many exercises at the end of
chapters. Can you talk a littlebit about what you were hoping that people
will get from those the ends ofthe chapters, because I think that that's
(44:52):
very important. Yeah, every chapter, I really wanted to ask some of
the questions, like the questions thatyou're asking me, because there are questions
that I ask myself, and I'mreally big because I come from a higher
education background and have taught college fordecades. I really wanted to make sure
that every chapter had some reflection questions. When was the first time that you
(45:14):
remember what your identity was, Howdid you grow up thinking about identity?
What are your things that you thinkare most important for you to focus on
for self care? All those thingsthat sometimes we don't have time to think
about or we've never really unpacked.So sometimes it's painful to think about a
lot of those things because it bringsup triggering memories. I really wanted to
do a lot of the exercises thathave helped me in my journey to heal,
(45:37):
which is really unpacking and looking atwhere I got these ideas from.
And if you look at it likeyou can't fix it until you acknowledge it.
So I'm really big on that theexercises. A lot of people women
that have read the book told methat they would go back and take their
time and go through them just becausethey brought up a lot of memories.
But it's important for us to knowthat. Again, a refrain that I
(45:59):
repeat in both books is it's notour fault. We did not shape the
society the way that it is.We have to function in it. It
doesn't mean we have to be foreverstrong, we have to put the water
on back. But what it doesmean, if we're going to try to
fix it within our own selves,we have to look at what happened and
then look at healthy ways to replacesome of that behavior. I affirm myself
all the time, and it's aconstant battle. It's a journey, and
(46:21):
I don't think there really is afinite and to when we unpack this.
Most of us have been carrying thisand dealing with this since we were maybe
worn or since we were able tothink. And this is generational trauma we're
talking about. So our mothers hadto deal with that, our grandmothers.
So it's going to take some time, but at least if we have the
lessons, we can begin to impartthose lessons to our daughters and to our
(46:42):
granddaughters and really uplift them and letthem see how beautiful they are. I'm
so excited when I look at likecollege basketball and I see girls playing and
their hair is natural, and Isee just how embracing they are of their
natural beauty, and they're not afraidto express themselves and be vibrant in the
cars that they wear, and notfeel ashamed to be their natural self.
(47:02):
So I feel like this next generationis going to have a lot more tools.
But I just wanted to add tothat, and especially for the women
like myself that didn't grow up withthose those role models or didn't have that
positive validation maybe from social media otherplaces, finding a way for us to
gain that that same level of confidencethat we see sometimes in the younger generations.
(47:23):
Well, thank you, Elizabeth Bliba. You have been very, very
busy and in an inspiration. Thankyou for joining us on the BIMs.
Thank you so much. I appreciatethis. Well, that's it for this
edition of The Color Between the Lines. The book is protecting my piece.
I'm Ester Dillard on the Blast InformationNetwork. Thanks Esther. Doug Davis's back,
(47:51):
the man who has the blueprint toget our community out of debt and
into home ownership and building assets insteadof simply spending our way into oblivion.
Doug the Mike my friend is allyours. Thanks Mike. My name is
Doug Davis, and welcome to YourBlack Business, where we feature inspiring stories
of Black entrepreneurs, organizations, andperspectives surrounding Black business. John Hope Bryant
(48:12):
stands out as a distinguished entrepreneur,author, and champion for financial literacy and
economic empowerment. Celebrated by Time magazineas one of the eighteen influential Black leaders
striving to bridge the racial wealth divide. His initiatives are designed to tackle the
disparities in wealth and elevate the economicstatus of Black communities. Welcome back to
the bi IN and Your Black Business, mister John Hope Brian. I'm here
(48:36):
honored and reporting for duty. Youguys are doing great work. In the
country for our people. I appreciateyou, and we certainly appreciate you as
well. So your new book entitledFinancial Literacy is out available for purchase on
Amazon, Barnes and Noble, andWalmart. It's aimed at empowering the economic
progress of Black Americans. You saythat financial literacy for all unlocks there map
(49:00):
to financial success and cultivate the mindsetthat leads to prosperity and struggle. Tell
us more about the book and whyyou wrote it. By the way,
it's number one on economics in theworld on Amazon, number one congratulation,
management, and a few other categories. And it's not a small feet for
a person of color. It's nota small feet for anybody. But it
almost never happens with an author ofcolor, black author and a black man
(49:23):
on economics and business. It's notin social studies, or in health,
or in civil rights all good bythe way categories. This is business and
economics, which says something about wherepeople. You know, how far how
much progress we've made in the midstof pushback in this country and around the
world. I think it's like fortysix million books on Amazon, and we're
number one on this topic, andit's been that way for weeks. And
(49:45):
so you know, we're natural hustlers, and I mean that the most positive
sense. We're super smart. Whenthe rules are published and the playing fielders
level, we absolutely kill it.We're not lazy. We just need to
rule book hardworking capitalism. There areno rules published. As you and I
(50:05):
talked before. The Freedman's Bank wascreated in eighteen sixty five by Abraham Lincoln
to teach free slaves about money,and Frederick Douglass ran the bank effort also
to underscore important this. But Lincolnwas assassinated a month after creating this bank
and promising blacks the right to vote, and Booth said, that's a bridge
(50:28):
too far. You'll never give anotherspeech. And the bank failed soon after,
and no one picked up the mantlefor one hundred years. And doctor
King, a preacher now, nota banker, not a financier, you
know, not a successful capitalist,a successful pastor of the man of the
cloth, picked this issue up apart of the civil rights movie someim Here
(50:51):
to redeem the soul of America fromthe triple evils of war, racism,
and poverty. He was such athreat, talk about a redistribution of wealth,
but theology which made sense as apastor. And here you go,
the second reconstruction, the second attemptin economics thwarted the dreamer slave. The
only person who fulfilled doctor King's dreampolitically went on to become Congressman. Mayor,
(51:15):
you ambassador used the ambassadorship clout tobring the Olympics relationship capital back to
Atlanta. What is Atlanta today?The biggest economy in the South, the
most diverse place in the South,the largest, the only international city in
the South, the home of thelargest the business airport in the world.
It's all here because he got thebusiness plan work right based on what doctor
(51:35):
King had articulated. But we neverfinished the dream on economics, Yes,
sir, yes, So what aresome of the common financial hurdles that you
know you've observed in our community andhow does this book address them? Oh?
My god, I know, right, loaded question. Well, look,
you know, I wrote a piececalled the Business Plan for America.
(51:58):
By the way, I when togive Mayor andres Hear a lot of love
because he is really doing a greatjob of growing the green for everybody here
in Atlanta. Why what was thisbook? This piece called the Business Plan
for America. People can search itand I say that, you know,
we're at one point six one pointseventy trillion dollars consumer spending for US,
but ninety one percent of that's consumptionthat by twenty fifty three, it is
(52:20):
estimated that black people have a networth of zero uh. Forty percent of
US own a home. Forty oneto forty three percent of us own a
home. Was the easiest way tobuild wealth home ownership. So if you
have a chance of wrinting uptown andBuckhead or wherever you happen to be written
a property you don't own to presspeople you don't know with money you don't
have, then your assets are onyour ass. You need to go buy
(52:42):
a house in the hood or theworking class neighborhood near jobs and new economic
activity, buy it, rehabit andlive in it. And this book helps
give the blueprint to that. Imean, oh, you have the book
lays it out, and then andthen you want to build a me and
dollar network. Buy use the equityfrom that first house. Wait two years,
buy another house in a working classneighborhood, buy, rehabit and rent
it at work. Along with havinga will insurance policy, a term insurance
(53:07):
policy for a million dollars, whichmeans you're you know you you won't sell
with your family with debt of whenyou pass, and you actually give them
some assets a generation wealth when youpass on, so on and so forth.
When we last spoke, we talkedabout reinvesting in the black community,
right, the importance of it.So I'm really glad you brought that up.
I recently had a discussion regarding what'shappening in Atlanta right now with a
(53:30):
lot of big corporate real estate entitiesthat are buying up homes in our community
and reselling them at exorbitant prices.So they're really kind of pricing us out
per se, and it looks likethey're trying to gentrify a lot of our
neighborhoods. How can we, asblack entrepreneurs and black business people try to
fight these big corporate companies. Yeah, so I don't fight them, copy
(53:54):
them, right, I mean,when you're being run out of town,
get in front of the crowd likea parade. Look, I mean jutrifrication
literally dictionary definition is a movement tomiddle class values. That's all it is.
It's nothing to do with race.We should want an area that has
moved to middle class values. Wejust would like to see it diverse.
(54:15):
We'd like to see it include thosewho look like people who lived there in
the first place. So look,no one came in with a clan road
and with hand tortures and forced peopleout of these neighborhoods. In order for
somebody to buy it, somebody elsehas to sell it, and a lot
of us are doing tax defaults.Man, our grandmother or mother you know,
had a property and gave it andpassed it down to us, and
(54:35):
we like we've whatever we do itfloss and not paying attention whatever, we
let the property go into disrepair.I've seen properties. I've seen sixty properties
on the west side of Atlanta aboutten years ago go for I think it
was eighteen thousand dollars on a taxdefault sale. It was probably I don't
even want to tell you how manyhow many tens of millions of dollars those
properties were worth then and now itwas a tax default. So one we
(54:58):
got us just stopped the making sillymistakes too. We gotta you know,
you've got to actually do what I'msaying, which is to buy in your
own neighborhood, and if you buyit and hold it, the one can
buy it from you. You can'tbe upset with somebody because they were smarter
than you on the economics. Ifsome white people want to come move in
your neighborhood, what do I callthat? I call that smart, right?
(55:21):
I mean Atlanta is an inner city, Well, Paris is an inner
city. London is an inner city. Only in America. If we put
strolling people for fifty years and letthem sit there, now people are tied
of traffic. They realized that theseareas are valuable, and now folks who
have financial literacy and some capital aremoving in to buy them up. So
(55:44):
I don't mean we should become thefat cats. Actually don't resent them.
People say, oh, I haterich people. No, you don't.
You hate rich people until you becomerich. Right, Exactly what you hate
is a game system. What youhate is a system that is not designed
to help you prosper. Look,I hope to become one of those fat
(56:07):
cats you talked about. I ownseven. I'm the largest Operation Hope Aside,
which is the largest financial literacy andfinancial coaching organization in America. Three
hundred offices, teaching financial literacy,raising credit scores, louring dead increasing savings
so that you can get qualified tobuy the house, or started business.
We're responsible for twelve percent of allblack businesses in America. By the way,
(56:27):
four hundred and forty thousand business westart, forty to twenty thousand businesses
we've started through one MBB. Congratulationson that too, thank you brother.
But with our partnership Shopify. Buton the business side, I'm the largest
minority owner of single family rental homesin America. I own seven hundred give
or take homes in Atlanta, inFlorida, so in some neighborhoods, in
some areas, I am that fatcat exactly, and I'm proud of it
(56:52):
right and we need to be doingBut by the way, seven hundred holls,
it sounds impressive. Most of thesecompanies own ten thousand homes, twenty
thousand homes, Like I'm really asmall player in the institutional landscape. I
want to own and I will ownten thousand homes. But my commitment will
be to get you financial literacy.When you rent for me, my commitment
(57:14):
will be to keep rents affordable,give you a path to home ownership by
being able to buy the home thatyou rent from me. My commitment is
to make sure that half of thosehomes, sorry that half of all maintenance
on those homes contracts are set asidefor minorities and women. Plumbing, heating,
electrical, landscaping, roofing. Theseare wealth creation contracts and living wage
(57:35):
jobs. I think we need toflip the script and saying we want to
be the fat cats. We needto create jobs in our communities. We
want to create wealth in our communities. We want to own in our communities.
Why isn't every church buying up theirblock? Why are where every fraternity
and sorority putting a capital fund offund that side professionally managed real estate fund
or stock market fund? Why areis only eighty percent of black people invested
(57:59):
in the stock market it? Imean, these are basic things I'm talking
about you, and so we can'tget upset with folks who figured this thing
out and we have it is rightin front of us. We need to
use our smarts for alling to besmart. That's right, that's right,
mister Bryant. We are running outof time, and like before, I
got to bring you back man parttwo of the conversation with John ho'briant,
(58:19):
financial literacy entrepreneur and author of thenew Amazon bestselling book entitled Financial Literacy for
All. Coming up next week,I want to talk to you about reparations
and the fact that a number ofblack economists that I respect believe we will
never reach racial parody in this countrywithout it. I'm Doug Davis. You're
listening to the Black Perspective and yourBlack Business on the Black Information Network.
(58:39):
Thanks Doug, and that's our programfor this week. For more on these
stories, listen to the Black InformationNetwork on the free iHeartRadio app orlong onto
binnews dot com where you can hearthis program and the latest news impacting the
black community. And be sure tofollow us on social media at Black Information
Network and on x Black Net onbehalf of the entire team at the Black
(59:02):
Information Network. I'm Mike Island,wishing everyone a wonderful Sunday and thanks for
listening, and be sure to joinus next week at this time for another
edition of the Black Perspective right hereon the Black Information Network. The Black
Information Network and six time Emmy nominatednews anchor Vanessa Tyler welcome you. To
black Land, a podcast about theground on which the Black community stands right
(59:25):
now. From stories about salvation andloss, I love the person who had
an ah hrvy diagnosis, the dreamsachieved or yet unfulfilled from people who have
made it. I sat down witha therapist and I begin my journey to
those left behind. Listen to blackLand on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you
get your podcasts.
Popular Podcasts
1. Stuff You Missed in History Class
Join Holly and Tracy as they bring you the greatest and strangest Stuff You Missed In History Class in this podcast by iHeartRadio.
2. Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.
3. Crime Junkie
If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people.