Our Past Can Not Only Teach But Improve Lives
Disclaimer: Good Day, Readers. WealthBuildingPowers blog is a financial literacy/competency blog and does not provide specific investment recommendations.
Today’s Podcast for those who prefer listening.
Giving Thanks to God and Two Parents
As I read a recent FB post by a family member, I wondered if we could only return to the family and Christian values she described. Today, I read about reparation pushes to make up for the evils of slavery. Governments and companies push Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives in their organization. Universities use affirmative action to admit more black students even when they do not qualify, and many will likely drop out or change to lower-paying majors. If only we could bring back the better traditions in which Agnes and I were raised.
While growing up in the South in the 1950s was more racist, somehow, these were better times for many black kids. Agnes was raised in a typical black household with two working parents, as were about 70% of black kids in her era (born in 1955). She grew up in an era where working-class Americans could afford to send or at least help their children attend college. Agnes’ parents sent three children to college. Today, sending three kids to state university could cost up to $500,000.00. A cost beyond most American households.
Agnes’ parents gave her and her siblings an opportunity to reach a middle-class life by following three simple rules.
Three Rules to A Middle-Class Life
1. Graduating from high school.
2. Waiting to get married until after 21 and not having children until after marriage.
3. Having a full-time job.
If you do those three things, you’ll have a 74 percent chance of being in the middle class.
Today, in the black community, less than 30% wait until marriage before having a child, and only ~45% live in a two-parent family. If we could return to our past family values, our race and nation would strengthen, and the existing racial education, health, and wealth gaps would close.
Giving Thanks To My Parents, By Agnes Powers
“I was lucky to have been born in 1955 to happily married, educated, and Christian parents. My mother and father met in college in 1938 and started courting in 1939. When they married in 1942, my mother was a schoolteacher, and my father was still a college student. The early years of my parents’ marriage were difficult because of finances. My father was working, but he was a full-time student. My mother was a schoolteacher who got pregnant twice and had to stop working. {Note: In this era, women teachers in many southern states were mandated not to return to their jobs for three (white teachers) to five years (black teachers) following the birth of a child. It was a financial sacrifice for teachers to have a family.}
Luckily, my mother’s family was close-knit and periodically helped my parents financially. After my father graduated from college, my parents moved from North Carolina to Virginia, and finding employment took longer than expected. My parents lived with my mother’s oldest brother until my parents found jobs. My parents eventually became schoolteachers, plus my father supplemented his income by being a minister and pastoring at small Baptist churches. In the late 1940s, my parents struggled to raise two small children. Yet they still volunteered to raise one of my mother’s teenage relatives because her parents were too sick to raise her. Although my parents didn’t have much money, they took in a teenage family member because it was the Christian thing to do. My parents believed that it was better to give than to receive. Since my mother’s family had been good to his family, my father believed in returning the favor by raising one of my mother’s relatives.
In the early 1950s, my father became an elementary school principal and pastor of two tiny churches. My mother was still working as a schoolteacher. Because of the income, my parents finally joined the middle class. They bought a home in rural Henry County, Virginia. In 1955, my mother discovered that not only did she have diabetes, but she was pregnant with me. The pregnancy was difficult, and my father was terrified that my mother would die. My father was ecstatic when, on the night of September 16, 1955, he received a phone call that my mother had delivered a baby girl and that both my mother and the baby were doing fine. I was the baby that was born in 1955. My birth made my parents’ good marriage even better. They both realized that my mother could have died while she was pregnant with me. Because of my mother’s difficult pregnancy, my parents never took each other for granted. They loved each other and were highly romantic. No marriage is perfect, but my parents had a marriage that was close to perfect.
My parents were black intellectuals who exposed their children to various educational pursuits. My siblings and I learned to read before we started school, and we were advanced readers. My sister and brother were always better students than me, but my parents never compared me to them. When it became apparent that I was struggling in school, my father took a massive pay cut to move from Henry County, Virginia, to Danville, Virginia, so that I could receive a better education. Even though I have always been good at reading and writing, I have difficulty learning new things. Luckily, my parents realized my learning problems. My father had more patience than my mother, so he became my official tutor. My sister and brother tutored me whenever my father couldn’t help me. Occasionally, my father even paid other people to tutor me. Looking back at my time in public schools, I realized that I successfully finished high school because my parents never gave up on me, even when I struggled to make decent grades.
Most people assumed I went to college because my parents pressured me. This is not true. My parents never pressured me to go to college. Since I was little, I wanted to attend college. I was not the best student in high school, but I was good at taking standardized tests. I think it is because I have always been an advanced reader. Despite my mediocre grades, I applied and was accepted to attend Hampton Institute because my SAT scores were good. My weakness was my strength in college because I had weak academic skills, so I had to study. I made better grades in college than my siblings because I learned much more than they did.
After I graduated from college and failed to get a good job, I applied and was accepted to attend Air Force Officer Training School. My parents thought I was crazy when I volunteered for the military, but were very supportive. My mother and father were incredibly proud when they attended, with my siblings, my graduation from Officer Training School. My father considered me a unicorn because the school was primarily white and male. Very few black females graduated with me. Until the day he died, Dad reminded me of how proud he was of me becoming an Air Force officer.
I have always been an eccentric, introverted loner. During my parents’ lifetime, they always gave me unconditional love. They accepted me even when I resigned from my military commission and worked low-paying jobs.
By the time both of my parents died, I was working in low-level government jobs, but my parents treated me the same as family members who made a lot more money. My parents encouraged me to be true to myself.“
“Because of my mother and father, I am a proud, black, 69-year-old woman. I won the lottery with my fantastic parents.“
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ABOUT ME
I am a proud nerd (as my beautiful wife and daughter have told me) investment and finance blogger with an NC. State, Chemical Engineering, University Rutgers, MBA and Harvard University, Advanced Management education.
I left a corporate career because I desired to make a difference as a speaker and writer. I was blessed to be coached and mentored by strong women and men in my family and professional life. It is my time to serve and give back.
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I started my first business at ~13 years of age (a small but brilliantly created plant nursery). I am a successful investor in stocks, options, and real estate and am happy to share my finance and investment lessons. I am NOT a licensed financial advisor. Please do not construe my suggestions on this blog as recommendations for your situation. As an investor, you must establish your risk/loss tolerance. Investment in any asset involves risk, including complete loss.
Please seek your licensed CPA or fiduciary financial advisors for individual financial advice.
I write this weekly blog to make an impact by reaching an audience and demonstrating the need for financial literacy. I will help you get there.
