Melanin Money: Closing The Wealth Gap By 100 Billion Dollars
This past weekend I flew to Atlanta to attend the inaugural Melanin Money Awards.
Think the Oscars or the Grammys but for Black wealth building. The event was complete with a red carpet experience, on site interviews, an open bar, dinner, and of course the awards show. It was truly inspiring to see the room filled with so many elegantly dressed Black wealth builders at one time.
Melanin Money was founded by a dear friend of mine George Acheampong with a mission of providing financial literacy for people of color. Their goal is to decrease the wealth gap by 100 Billion Dollars by helping 100,000 people of color achieve their first million in Net Worth.
While it was exciting to be in a room full of Black millionaires, thought leaders and influencers, it was interesting to see how George was able to gameify wealth building by awarding members of his community with net worth milestones ranging from their first $100k in networth all the way up to their first $5MM in networth.
Despite being nearly a full week ago, the buzz and excitement from the event was overcast in my mind with the news of Navy Federal rejecting more than 50% of Black conventional mortgage applicants last year compared to an approval of more than 75% of White applicants with similar income and debt to income ratios.
Understanding that the wealth gap is as wide as it is because of a systemic lack of access to home ownership in histories past and present day makes news like this frustrating yet not surprising as we’ve seen similar tales with large banks like Bank of America and Wells Fargo occur.
Home equity is a huge portion of networth missing from the equation in Black families often compounded by debt burdens that yield no positive equity.
Still I am hopeful that people like George through his organization Melanin Money and people like myself can continue to combat the wealth gap via education and financial healing that starts with highlighting and unpacking the issue and looking for solutions.
The Melanin Money Awards will have it’s second annual show next July in Atlanta, Georgia and I can’t wait to attend again.
Do you think it’s something you’d want to be part of?
P.S. If you live in the New York, Connecticut, or lower Massachusetts area you don’t want to miss my FREE event next week. Local financial expert Patrina Dixon and I will be hosting “Money and Mental Health” on Wednesday Decemeber 20th at 6pm in West Hartford, Connecticut and I’d love to see you there.
Introducing Financial Therapy is kind of my thing now and I can’t wait to share practical advice on what I’ve learned about navigating the challenges that emerge when we examine the intersection of money and mental health.
Click the registration link below and let me know you’re coming. I hope to see you there!
Check out my latest article for Forbes titled: Expert Advice From 3 Financial Therapists On What Makes A Good Financial Therapist
Grab a copy of my F.L.O.W. workbook just in time for the holidays to set and achieve your financial goals.