When I was in public school, I remember the history teacher teaching us about the Atlantic slave trade and Middle Passage but don’t remember all the details. It is possible that the teachers didn’t know the complex history or could only teach part of the truth. It is also possible that I blocked some of …
I didn’t learn the true history of black Americans when I was in school. I grew up in poverty in the segregated South during the civil rights era. I lived some of the history but was curious about the beginning. Black history month was dedicated to honoring a few well known black Americans. There were …
I grew up in poverty in the segregated South. My family and I lived with daily racism. There were legal laws in place that told black people what to do, where to go and where to live, to name a few. Individual and systemic racism were common practices and originated from belief systems. We went …
Voting is a right and a privilege for every person eighteen years old and older. I grew up in the South during the Civil Rights era. Segregationist Jim Crow Laws made it impossible for most Black and some poor white people to vote. Many Southern white people continued to resist change and instituted voting laws …
I lived in poverty but poverty did not live in me. I learned not to have a poverty mentality. I am not defined by my circumstances. Marcus Garvey said that we must emancipate ourselves from mental slavery. It’s very challenging to change someone’s mindset if they have a closed mind. I spent over a year …
A belief in a higher power can reframe our mindset and help us prevail over poverty. There are so many people who are not able to effectively deal with the hurdles in life. A common reason for falling into a pattern of abuse is an inability to cope with theturmoil’s. In desperation people may look …
Everyone has different learning styles. Most schools focus on standardized learning yet we are unique. I took many standardized tests that did not reflect how I learned. By society’s learning standards, I thought that I wouldn’t understand business acumen and allowed doubt to creep into my mind. It was not until years later that began …
There are too many children living in poverty. The majority lives in one parent households, with grandparents, other relatives, or in foster care. According to Pew Research Center, children make up a large percentage of America’s impoverished than the population as a whole. Children younger than 18 make up about a quarter of the total …
Author James Baldwin is quoted as saying “Anyone who has ever struggled with poverty knows how extremely expensive it is to be poor.” It’s also hard to be frugal when you’re poor. As a person who lived in poverty, I can think of many ways that low income Americans pay more and have less. People …
Two of my favorite authors are James Baldwin and Richard Wright. I grew up reading their enlightening books. These literary trailblazers wrote about living black in America. They were both world renowned authors who wrote about the plight of black Americans. They disagreed on some issues but both wrote about memorable and liberating moments in …