Black Wealth is expected to drop to zero for half of all black families by the year 2053. This means that half of our community will be in the negative, and the other half will be positive. Those who embrace economic education will be the ones who are on the positive side of this statistic, largely because they've avoided the economic traps that exist in our society.The traps consist of but are not limited to: Ridiculous amounts of student loan debt, marketing that continuously reinforces the message of extensive consumption, a culture built on job seeking rather than job creation, a lack of interest in stock/bond investing, renting rather than ownership, inadequate life insurance with virtually no estate planning, and much, much more.While I work hard to sound the warning bell for the entire black community, our voices are often drowned out by messages coming from corporate media, problematic politicians, and a broken educational system which is determined to keep our people in the midst of economic slavery.I have taught Finance to college students for 25 years at several major universities. I've spent thousands of hours studying the problems that are specific to black people and believe that I have developed solutions that you can implement right now, TODAY, within your own family. These are not get-rich-quick or fly-by-night solutions. Instead, they are long-term wealth-building prototypes that will yield results over several decades of continuous activity.Those who embrace financial literacy in their households will not be on the negative side of the statistic that I mentioned above. Those who save and invest won't have the same financial problems as many others. Those who make long-term plans for their children rarely watch their kids struggle. The future is owned by those who prepare for it today.

One of the greatest challenges for the African American community is a severe lack of power. Like caged animals in the zoo, millions of black people in America and across the world often feel that our lives are controlled by other people or that opportunities only enter our lives when they are created by our oppressors. This debilitating mindset can lead to hopelessness, depression and decision-making that is driven by fear rather than desire. Instead of believing that we possess the ability to improve our lives, we simply wait and hope that White Americans will one day have a change of heart. Black American Money is written to kill the victim mentality and help us to see the world for what it really is. There is no power for the victim, the beggar, or the one who simply prays, hopes and waits for their oppressor to give them what they need. According to Finance PhD and noted scholar Dr Boyce Watkins, the world is never going to be nicer to black people and whites are never going to give us enough opportunity to sustain the masses. Instead, they will only volunteer enough crumbs to keep us under control and offer superficial congratulations for meaningless accomplishments within the pre-approved context of white supremacist institutions. It is only through proactive positioning, extensive preparation and institution building that black people can ever have any true power in America and beyond. Through a series of compelling essays and thought-provoking analysis, Dr Watkins hits the nail on the head in ways that only he can do. This book will shape your thinking, rivet your mindset and lead you to a whole new way of seeing racial inequality in America and beyond. This book will make you a champion.

The history of African American studies is often told as a heroic tale, with compelling images of black power and passionate African American students who refused to take no for an answer. Noliwe M. Rooks argues for the recognition of another story, which proves that many of the programs that survived actually began as a result of white philanthropy. With unflinching honesty, Rooks shows that the only way to create a stable future for African American studies is by confronting its complex past.

“Read this book. It explains so much about the moment...Beautiful, heartbreaking work.” —Ta-Nehisi Coates “A deep accounting of how America got to a point where a median white family has 13 times more wealth than the median black family.” —The Atlantic “Extraordinary...Baradaran focuses on a part of the American story that’s often ignored: the way African Americans were locked out of the financial engines that create wealth in America.” —Ezra Klein When the Emancipation Proclamation was signed in 1863, the black community owned less than 1 percent of the total wealth in America. More than 150 years later, that number has barely budged. The Color of Money seeks to explain the stubborn persistence of this racial wealth gap by focusing on the generators of wealth in the black community: black banks. With the civil rights movement in full swing, President Nixon promoted “black capitalism,” a plan to support black banks and minority-owned businesses. But the catch-22 of black banking is that the very institutions needed to help communities escape the deep poverty caused by discrimination and segregation inevitably became victims of that same poverty. In this timely and eye-opening account, Baradaran challenges the long-standing belief that black communities could ever really hope to accumulate wealth in a segregated economy. “Black capitalism has not improved the economic lives of black people, and Baradaran deftly explains the reasons why.” —Los Angeles Review of Books “A must read for anyone interested in closing America’s racial wealth gap.” —Black Perspectives

Shapiro, the author of "Black Wealth/White Wealth," blends personal stories, interviews, empirical data, and analysis to illuminate how family assets produce dramatic consequences in the everyday lives of ordinary citizens.

Changing perceptions about the worth of African Americans and their communities Know Your Price establishes new means of determining value of Black communities. The deliberate devaluation of Blacks and their communities, stemming from America's centuries-old history of slavery, racism, and other state-sanctioned policies like redlining have tangible, far-reaching, and negative economic and social impacts. Rejecting policies shaped by flawed perspectives, the book gives fresh insights on these impacts and provides a new value paradigm to limit them. In the book, noted educator, journalist, and scholar Andre Perry takes readers on a guided tour of five Black-majority cities whose assets and strengths are undervalued. Perry begins the tour in his hometown of Wilkinsburg, a small city east of Pittsburgh that, unlike its much larger neighbor, is struggling and failing to attract new jobs and industry. Perry gives an overview of Black-majority cities and spotlights four where he has a deep connection to--Detroit, New Orleans, Birmingham and Washington, D.C.--providing an intimate look at the assets residents should demand greater value from. Know Your Price demonstrates through rigorous research and thorough analysis the worth of Black people's intrinsic strengths, real property, and traditional institutions. All of these assets are means of empowerment, as Perry argues for shifting away from simplified notions of equality and moving towards maximizing equity.

BLACK ENTERPRISE is the ultimate source for wealth creation for African American professionals, entrepreneurs and corporate executives. Every month, BLACK ENTERPRISE delivers timely, useful information on careers, small business and personal finance.