NFL
By: Mark T. Wilson
At some point, either in high school or at our HBCUs, we need to implement a curriculum that includes how to survive in this world. To be clear, we have to teach our youth the importance of financial literacy. Teach them how to create, maintain, and pass down generational wealth to our African American youth.
Back in my day, the big push was just getting kids out of the inner-city and letting them know there were other options. For most, it was either college, the Armed Forces, or a trade. The internet was not popular, and the choices were slim.
Shows like The Cosby Show and A Different World came along and changed the perception for much of our youth. But there was something else happening that was not being talked about or even taught in the black community—The Stock Market. Where was that at?
Think about what our parents could have left us if they possessed general information on the stock market. Taking a week’s paycheck and investing in companies like Amazon, Pepsi, or even Apple. This is what we need to be teaching our youth today.
Back in the late 80s and early 90s, it was about the youth seeing rappers on TV with big chains or watching the street guys in their neighborhood make a come-up with illegal activity. The allure of the sports life was also still strong. If schools can do courses on Hip Hop and American History, why not courses on 401K, stocks/bonds?
Most inner city kids can go off to college or even still be in high school and see a kid with a different skin tone driving a BMW and label them as spoiled. But so what if they are? These are the same things we would do for our kids if we had the means. But who says we can’t?
We’re in an era now of everything being digital. While brokers still exist, the trading of stocks is done through a mobile device now. Hell, CashApp has a section dedicated just to stock trading. If you can request $20 from a friend or parent, why can’t you read up on the top 10 rising stocks of the day?
Kids nowadays hear it but don’t really pay attention to the horror stories of rappers and sports figures who explain how they lost their money in 5-10 years. As easy as it comes, it can and will go just as easily.
Financial Literacy or Generational Wealth is not just for people who don’t look like us. We can easily be involved in all of this if we take the time and study it. Schools should invest more time and money in teaching this. A Financial class would be so much fun. No disrespect to Algebra or Calculus, but I have yet to use them frequently in the real world. Please don’t teach me something I will never use; teach me how to live in a world that still labels me as a statistic and one to survive check to check.
Imagine a teacher in front of a class talking about Tesla. What kid walking this earth doesn’t know about the popular electric car? What about the growth of Netflix? Show them how, when their IPO dropped, Netflix was trading for $10 a share.
If you want them to learn about it, you have to be visual. They have to see what the money looks like. Despite what people will tell you, money is important. But what’s also just as important is learning how to keep it and make it grow not only for you, but for those coming after you. If there is no need to, why would we as parents and grandparents put our kids and others in a position where they have to struggle?
If schools can sit me down and drill the importance of Christopher Columbus, how to carry the 9, and who signed the Declaration of Independence into my memory, they can also teach me the importance of being financially literate. Teach me about a retirement plan, HSA, Tax Brackets, how to write a check, and things of that nature.
Our youth is failing at some of the simple things in life because the adults are just learning themselves. Teach what you learn, pass down the wisdom so the cycle does not repeat itself.
