About
two years ago, I was having a conversation with a brotha who let me
know he was a freemason.
Well, let me clarify this statement. The brotha asked me, “Are you are traveling man?” This is how freemasons identify themselves in casual conversations. Now, the reason the brotha broached this question to me, is during the course of our discussion, I started waxing philosophic on a couple of political issues; and I guess the brotha was impressed enough to let me know who he really was.
Anyway, during our talk, we spoke on which cities we were born in. He said he was born and raised in D.C. Then he began telling me how he had a chance to buy one of the 'row-houses' in his old neighborhood, but he passed it up. He then told me, post-gentrification, how that row-house is literally worth a million dollars. Then he quoted a line he was famous for, saying Black people 'don't think' about these types of issues, until it's too late.
I also remember a couple of times where the Black male blogger who inspired me to write this Blog, said in regards to the gentrification of our neighborhoods, that we Black folks 'screwed up' our chances to buy abandoned properties in our communities. He then went on to say, that our being bought out of our residences was essentially our fault.
And a video I saw of a Black man named 'Javonne M. Clark', had him sharing an anecdote about how some mexicans bought an abandoned property next to his, and how they 'rebuilt' the house seemingly overnight. Javonne said the property had been abandoned for years...then he started crying. Now, people commenting on this vid wondered why he was bawling. They waxed philosophic on his possibly having emotional problems or baggage leading him to be that emotional. But I knew Javonne was envious over the amount of unity he saw displayed in these spanish people, and he wondered why our people didn't have that same kind of unity. And seeing this vid, more than anything, is why I'm writing this post.
Also, just a couple of days ago, another brotha I spoke to, said that in regards to our being pushed out of our neighborhoods, that if the situation gets too dire, educated Black folks would intervene and basically save us.
Now, before I discuss anything psychological, let me bring up a socio-political fact.
In an analysis of every home purchase loan application processed in 2011 and 2012 in the states of Virginia and Maryland; 300,00 filings by banks and other lending institutions under the 'Home Mortgage Disclosure Act' found that African-americans were twice as likely than whites to be denied a home mortgage loan.
Now, you're probably thinking, well, there's gotta' be differentiating credit scores, income, educational achievements, etc. to consider between these whites and their Black counter-parts. Well, if those are your thoughts, then check out what else this study found...
Among Virginia home loan applicants, both Black and white, with incomes between $100,000 and $125,000 and similar credit scores, the denial rates were more than 15 percent for African-americans and 7 percent for whites.
Well, let me clarify this statement. The brotha asked me, “Are you are traveling man?” This is how freemasons identify themselves in casual conversations. Now, the reason the brotha broached this question to me, is during the course of our discussion, I started waxing philosophic on a couple of political issues; and I guess the brotha was impressed enough to let me know who he really was.
Anyway, during our talk, we spoke on which cities we were born in. He said he was born and raised in D.C. Then he began telling me how he had a chance to buy one of the 'row-houses' in his old neighborhood, but he passed it up. He then told me, post-gentrification, how that row-house is literally worth a million dollars. Then he quoted a line he was famous for, saying Black people 'don't think' about these types of issues, until it's too late.
I also remember a couple of times where the Black male blogger who inspired me to write this Blog, said in regards to the gentrification of our neighborhoods, that we Black folks 'screwed up' our chances to buy abandoned properties in our communities. He then went on to say, that our being bought out of our residences was essentially our fault.
And a video I saw of a Black man named 'Javonne M. Clark', had him sharing an anecdote about how some mexicans bought an abandoned property next to his, and how they 'rebuilt' the house seemingly overnight. Javonne said the property had been abandoned for years...then he started crying. Now, people commenting on this vid wondered why he was bawling. They waxed philosophic on his possibly having emotional problems or baggage leading him to be that emotional. But I knew Javonne was envious over the amount of unity he saw displayed in these spanish people, and he wondered why our people didn't have that same kind of unity. And seeing this vid, more than anything, is why I'm writing this post.
Also, just a couple of days ago, another brotha I spoke to, said that in regards to our being pushed out of our neighborhoods, that if the situation gets too dire, educated Black folks would intervene and basically save us.
Now, before I discuss anything psychological, let me bring up a socio-political fact.
In an analysis of every home purchase loan application processed in 2011 and 2012 in the states of Virginia and Maryland; 300,00 filings by banks and other lending institutions under the 'Home Mortgage Disclosure Act' found that African-americans were twice as likely than whites to be denied a home mortgage loan.
Now, you're probably thinking, well, there's gotta' be differentiating credit scores, income, educational achievements, etc. to consider between these whites and their Black counter-parts. Well, if those are your thoughts, then check out what else this study found...
Among Virginia home loan applicants, both Black and white, with incomes between $100,000 and $125,000 and similar credit scores, the denial rates were more than 15 percent for African-americans and 7 percent for whites.
For applicants with the same income bracket and credit scores in the Richmond metro area, the denial rates were more than 14 percent for Blacks and less than 5 percent for whites.
For Virginians making $75,000 to $100,000 a year, the denial rates were 19 percent for African-americans and 9 percent for caucasians.
In Maryland, among loan applicants with incomes between $50,000 and $75,000, the denial rates were 23 percent for African-americans and 10 percent for whites.
Among Maryland loan applicants making $100,000 to $125,000, the denial rates were 19 percent for Blacks and 7 percent for caucasians.
So right outta' the gate, if you wanna' purchase a home mortgage, or invest in some abandoned properties in your neighborhood, if you're Black, the chips are stacked against you. Now, if you're a Black man or woman reading this, I'm not trying to dissuade you from buying a home, I'm just letting you know what the real deal is with the majority of the bankers and brokers you'll be talking to. Forewarned is forearmed. But more than this, I wanna' answer the question of what might be stopping Black people en masse from purchasing vacant properties in the 'hood.
With that said, the bigger, or biggest hurdle to our purchasing these properties, starts with what Black men and women learn in the american educational system. Now let me explain what I'm talkin' about...
If you've been looking at this Blog for a hot minute, you know I talk, ad nauseam sometimes, about what transpires in the american educational system apropos to Black americans.
With that said, let me just blurt out the fact that within the confines of the american educational system, Black men and women are conditioned to hate themselves more than any other type of person on the planet, because we have the most genetic power to breed our oppressors, i.e. white people, out of existence.
This is why we get taught that our ancestors were slaves, while no other ethnic group does, and why the 'cross-hairs' of white fascism are on our backs, literally, more than anyone else.
Now, you might be thinking, so what's that gotta' do with reasons why our people don't buy up vacant properties in our communities? Here's the answer: if you as a Black person are taught that EVERYTHING to do with you and your people is worthless...then why the hell would you invest any money in a community full of your people?
I'm a 'realist', so I'm gonna' keep it all the way real; if the average Black person living in an impoverished area gets some money, the last thing they're gonna' think about is buying some property in that community. The first thing they're gonna' think about doing, is getting the hell out of the 'hood. And even if they're not living in an impoverished Black community, they'd never think about buying up properties in an impoverished Black neighborhood, 'cause again, they've been taught by white fascists that anything to do with their people and these areas are worthless.
That's until whites, or some other type of non-Black persons, start buying up these properties. Then, the average Black person will say, Oh, now I see the worth in these structures.
And that's what I relayed to the brotha who was a freemason. That the reason he didn't jump at buying that 'row-house' was because he'd been conditioned to believe his people, his neighborhood, and ultimately he himself, was worthless in comparison to white and non-Black folks. Of course I used different words, but that's the message I imparted to him. And this is what I'd relay to Javonne M. Clark about why our people don't have the same type of unity that he saw displayed in the actions of those mexicans. And let me add, if you don't know what's been done to our people, in regards to america's white fascist social order conditioning us to hate ourselves more than anyone else, you as a Black person will be doomed to hating yourself and everyone who looks like you 'til the day you die. And this is the truest goal of white fascism in regards to our Diaspora.
Now, in regards to another brotha telling me that educated Black folks would essentially save us if this wave of gentrification got too dire; I'd like to tell you about an impoverished Black neighborhood and what happened when an educated Black person became its mayor.
Cory Booker became the mayor of Newark, New Jersey in 2006. Shortly thereafter, he introduced several initiatives to both reduce crime and get more jobs for Newarkers who needed them.
In 2007 Cory approved funding to build the 'Prudential Center', a massive entertainment arena, in Newark. As a result, a Hilton Hotel was built right next to it. A short time later, a Starbucks was built close to both these structures. This automatically tripled rents around that area, and almost overnight what was once a predominately poor/working class Black neighborhood,
became an exclusive community for white 'yuppies'. Point being, that it's the educated token negroes, like Cory Booker, who not only won't save us, but who are actually perpetrating this wave of gentrification against us.
And you can witness the same thing happening in every major city in this country (Jay-Z and Brooklyn, New York's 'Barclays Center').
So what's the solution?
First, I think our biggest salvation lies in our young people, if for no other reason than they're showing us they're not afraid to revolt against white fascism (Ferguson, Missouri/Baltimore, Maryland). Second, we older Black folks need to provide them with an educational system that teaches them reading, writing and 'rithmatic, without the self-hating messages given to them in the american educational system. This is why I'm such an advocate of building a Black Nationalist 'Home-schooling' system. We may not be able to get the results we want out of whitey's P.S. whatever school, but what we can have more control over is our own home-schooling 'co-operatives' that teach our children the greatness of our history, and our contemporary culture(s).
Our children minus the american educational system's agenda of teaching them to hate themselves, equals a generation of Black folks that will have infinitely less problems uniting and working with each other.
Now, you may say, I don't have time to do start one of these organizations, I understand that too...and what we can do in that case is donate our time and money to an existing one. Whatever you can contribute to one of these co-operatives will not go in vain, even if it's a couple of notebooks for our children. Myself and some brothas have contributed both money and time to one of these local organizations, and trust me, what we've gotten back in terms of watching these kids flourish and grow in a truly loving and nurturing learning environment, is beyond satisfying.
So now that we've identified the problem and the solution, the only thing left to do is to get to work. And the sooner, the better. 'Cause if you're a Black man or woman reading this and one day you see a Starbucks being built in your neighborhood, I hope you know what, or who's coming right after.
Later...
MontUHURU Mimia
P.S.
Here's the Javonne M. Clark video that inspired this post.
Warning: this video contains harsh profanity, viewer discretion is advised.
