The Challenge of Our Lifetime is To Acquire Generational Wealth
With Our Lives Already at Stake, Life Insurance is The First Step for Black Millennials
American slavery began 400 years ago and ‘ended’ nearly 200 years ago, but why is the racial wealth to poverty gap is widening? The New York Times published an article by Tremaine Lee, stating that the wealth gap is “driven by segregation, redlining, evictions, and exclusion.”
I just call it racism and move on to the next space.
Creating a new generation of Black philanthropists.
The goal of our lifetime is to acquire enough money to last for generations.
We have one shared goal in life. The goal is to acquire as much money as possible now, in order to live and leave something behind for our children. The goal of our lifetime is to acquire enough money to last for generations. Life insurance is generational wealth made easy for Black Millennials. However, it is a heavy topic. No one wants to think about death or when they will die. The high instances of COVID, police brutality, health insecurity, job insecurity, the school-to-prison pipeline, and lack of resources in the black community have forced me to look at death in its face. Many other individuals young and old have also been faced with the hard truth that the human body expires.
‘I don’t want to die.’
Black millennials have been placed in a very shitty situation. We are plagued by the emotional trauma of the past. We are trying to figure out how to survive in America despite the robust social engineering, local and abroad.
Then, if matters are not bad enough, we are magically supposed to figure out how to navigate life through all of the poison poured into our communities. Racism completely works against us, so what can work in our favor?
New strategies for change!
The video above gives full detail as to why I put Morehouse College on my life insurance and the general message behind this innovative approach to community support. I have created #thechallengeofalifetime to highlight the opportunity for Black millennials to create a new legacy of philanthropists in our community.
The content below is the written form of the video (Part 1). Enjoy!
Generational Wealth: The Challenge of A Lifetime (Part 1) (original version)
September 2020
Hello Friends, Hello Family.
My name is Frank Lawrence, Jr. I’m from the inner-city, the southside of Chicago Illinois. And, in 2019, I graduated from Morehouse College. Two life-altering events occurred on that day. The first is that a billionaire paid off my student loans. The second is that Angela Bassett spoke at my graduation.
*chuckles* Let me rephrase that:
The first is that Robert F. Smith, the trailblazer in tech and finance, climbed mountains to reach the peak — of a billion dollars, not only paid off the student loans for my entire class. He acknowledged our existence.
The second is that Angela Bassett, someone who has become existence itself! Over and over, and over again on screen, a pioneer in the field of theatre for black actresses, black women, and black entertainment, in general, spoke at my graduation.
This video is a salute to you both for the massive impact that you have had on my development and the community abroad.
Aside from the salute, this video is a challenge to my peers. Specifically, the Black millennial. How will we pave the way? I ask you. I know a way. I tell you. In August of 2020, I made the deliberate decision to put Morehouse College on my life insurance as a beneficiary. This is a way to support the next generation and innovate our approach to protesting. This is a small but crucial way to acquire generational wealth while using something that has kept us alive since 1619, generational faith.
I give more details in my speech (part 2). It is dramatic, but I had to depict it that way. It was my soul.
Either way, it is my hope that you see the meaning behind this move. You do not have to pick a school. BUT! You can and should pick someone you love. It’s important to note that everyone will not have the same insured amount. Your life value is not based on how much insurance you get. This is simply a way to establish financial grounding for yourself and those around you.
Honestly, you don’t have to let anyone know.
Just consider this. We are deep in a pandemic and deep in a fight for our lives! It feels like we are losing each other and ourselves more and more each day.
But this is chess. Let’s put ourselves *wink* in the best position to win.
Will you join me? (in this challenge)
