I am a driven thinking person by nature. That said, I must admit one one end that what I am about to say was difficult to write and I know for some it will be difficult to read as well. We have to remember that good relationships are built on honest communication and constructive criticism.  And so, the driving force in me says let’s go to the deep end of this collective thought and give progress a green light.

But first, let me say…

Racism just doesn’t matter anymore. Yes, I said it. 

But “doesn’t matter,” is different from “doesn’t exist.”

Am I saying that racism doesn’t exist anymore? No

Am I saying that racism and discrimination are no longer terminal cancers on society?  No

Or that racism and discrimination have somehow been miraculously eradicated from society?  Absolutely not.

Or maybe that somehow mankind has succeeded in getting out of its own collective way, and has instead been reborn anew; unfailingly fair, reasoned, and compassionate?  Of course not.

No. Absolutely not.  And it is “no” I might add precisely because we are all, well, very human. Imperfect. Making matters worse, people today are what I would call spiritually lazy too; and thus prone to accept either a backwards dogma they grew up around or simply one laid out before them and presented as Truth.

To this day, racism and discrimination seem to impact and effect almost every facet of life for the average African-American in this country. But racism is not just an African-American phenomenon. 

For example,Japanese Americans were discriminated against, in this country, in the early 1940’s during World War II, and stripped of their rights as American citizens; simply because of their race.  As we have subsequently learned many of them were great American patriots.  6 million Jews met a deplorable fate at the hands of the Nazi’s, again because of Adolph Hitler wanted a “pure” Aryan race. This was hatred at its best. For centuries “the lighter and brighter” have, on the whole, achieved more and done better than their darker complexion brethren, in almost every country around the world.  The “Masteso” in Mexico, a darker ethnic mixture of the native Indian and the Spaniard, are locked within a century old class-based system of structural poverty – both economically and educationally – while their Spanish bred brothers and sisters, arguably the ruling class in Mexico, own more than 90% of the shops and businesses, run industry and lead the political power structure. Ever notice what the typical Mexican immigrant looks like that’s risking life and limb and placing almost unbearable pressure on our borders in their attempt to enter the United States for a better life for their families? A little Indian maybe? A little…well, “darker” than their Spanish brethren?

Sounds like how the Chaldeans control 90% of the economics here in the City of Detroit while 80% of the city is Black.

In this day and age, racism will increasingly rear its head in the form of an economic class structure, and indifference.  Increasingly, the problem is not a matter of love or hate, but indifference. And indifference is the death nail of the soul. Period.

Today in 2007 our wealth, defined by your level of education, will be your access to cutting edge information resources, and your ability to manipulate and manage this information, will define the quality of your life and the future lives of your family, much more than race and place ever did. Racism in the 21^st century will be defined by class and poverty.

Increasingly in this day and age, people’s response to urban poverty and crime, the widening gap of the rich and the poor, families breaking up due to the lack of communciation and support, and the AIDS pandemic in Africa is not our problem.

As we are preparing for the upcoming Genesis Project we are not seeking to force people to love each other.  That will happen on its own when we sit down and gain an understanding about the importance of building families will help decease poverty in our community. Our Project is simply about creating real opportunity so that poverty and wealth do not symbolize threats to one another. 

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  talked about “the check that remains unpaid.”  Dr. King and his generation fought for the right to vote.  Equal opportunities in housing and the workplace.  Removing restrictive covenants from trust deeds, overturning oppressive laws, and eliminating separate but unequal facilities.  The basic civil rights Americans need simply to exist, to function in society.

20th century racism in the old South was in many ways much easier to identify and deal with than 21st century racism will be in the new North.  Because the greatest threat in the new era of racism is not hate, which identifies itself, but indifference, which doesn’t care enough to.

In the world that Dr. King faced, it was easy to figure out who the evil person was.  It’s the guy with the Klan robe on.  The guy who spits on you.  The guy holding the dogs that are attacking you.  The sheriffs with the fire hoses drenching you with water.  It’s easy to fight that enemy, to make war against that devil. But how do you fight in this kind of struggle?  Where’s the enemy?  How do you fight this war?  The amazing answer is this: You can’t fight it by fighting it.

You can’t win this war by protesting from the outside.  You’ve got to go inside, into the banks, into the corporations, into the government offices.  You’ve got to massage.  You’ve got to negotiate.  It’s not about coercing people to change.  It’s about convincing people to change. 

In this day and age it will take a different perspective on the battle.  It means changing the way somebody sees what’s happening in their world – our world – so that we are ultimately creating fundamental change through a change in fundamental perspective; a paradigm shift.  There is no room for laziness and excuses.

My job in urban communities is to change the way people see themselves and see their community.  My job as an educator is to change the way we conduct business and see their own responsibilities. 

It’s a different kind of a battle today.  You can’t picket this thing into reality.  It’s much more amorphous, because the kind of work we need to do today requires hard work ad dedication.It’s much more subtle to affect a bank’s lending policy, or the decision-making process of a supermarket chain or a “big box” chain store like a Wal-Mart’s, when they’re considering whether or not  to build in the inner city.  It’s not flashy, and it doesn’t necessarily attract mass public attention – at first….  To use and invert the meaning of the popular catch phrase from the civil rights era — the whole world isn’t watching.

To affect the thinking of corporate America in this manner, to change the way that people who run banks view the inner city and the under-served and the wealthless, to move government towards compassionate yet useful, results oriented action, is kind of like, well,roaming dogs.  You can’t easily get your hands around it.  No good deed shall go unpunished.

But at the end of the day I am not trying to convince individuals, corporations and our government to invest in urban communites because it’s the right thing to do, even though it is that in spades.  Rather, it’s the only thing to do, if we want to create true future Michigan prosperity, and if we want to grow this great state economy of ours even further.  If we want additional efficiency, and new, emerging markets in this country, we can only get them in the future from under-served, urban inner city and low-wealth communities. 

It’s not about whether you love Black folks or Hispanic folks.  I mean, I’d like you to, but if you don’t, that’s fine too. It’s okay if you don’t love me – because I love me. God has no grandchildren; you have to have your own relationship with him. 

America is the richest nation in the world. We can do better than a simplistic and uninspiring model where the rich seem to be getting richer, the poor definitely seem to be getting poorer, and the middle class is struggling simply to stay that way. Middle.

I tell people all the time, “it’s okay if you don’t like me, because I like me…” When you have yourself together, and you are comfortable in your own skin, problems that other people have about race and ignorance simply begin to solve themselves… and they carry less importance to us and our respective lives. “It’s okay if you don’t like me, because I like me…. And to argue with a fool, only proves that there are two!”

At the end of the day, the “White man,” the boogieman, or any other man, is just a distraction.  The main attraction – the problem and the solution – is staring us all in the mirror.  This of course includes me.

I believe that the meaning to life, managing life, and success in life, is well within our understanding, and our grasp. 

·         The purpose of life is to become transparent to God’s will.

·         The key to managing life, is managing pain; both your own and the pain brought to you from others.

·         And the key to success in life is simply “getting out of your own darn way.”

A   African-Americans in particular are a religious and spiritual people, but we must also come to better understand and appreciate that faith without works is dead.

O   One cannot say “let go and let God,” and then grab the steering wheel halfway through a turn in life because you have decided you want to help God drive!  Put another way, “If you’re going to pray, why worry, and if you are going to worry, then why pray!”

 O  One would that the shackles are no longer on our hands, feet and body, but our mind, heart and spirit.  John Hope Bryant of Operation Hope says, “there is a difference between being broke and being poor. To be broke is an economic condition, and to be poor is a disabling frame of mind and a depressed condition of your spirit. …And we must vow never to be poor again.”

R    Racism and discrimination are alive and well in society today, and for that reason I am very thankful that organizations such as the NAACP and are working full-time to identify it where it rears its ugly head, and to eradicate it.  I do not always agree with the NAACP but at least they attack the problem the very best they can in an organized manner.

   The greatest threat to African-Americans and other ethnic minorities and the under-served today is not racism and discrimination, but poverty.  Spiritual poverty.

The Greek word for poor, as used by Jesus Christ, is poucos, which means productivity. To be poor doesn’t mean you don’t have anything, it means you aren’t DOING ANYTHING! 

Poverty is cured by hard work, for Proverbs 10-4 states, “lazy hands makes a man poor.”

    Proverbs 6-10/11 asks, “how long will you lie there you sluggard?  When will you get up from your sleep?  A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come on you like a bandit, and scarcity like an armed man.”

      When families begin takes responsibility for their own life, and begins to enrich themselves and their life with love, wisdom and knowledge, a marketable skill, economic education, economic empowerment and ultimately ownership… self esteem will soon follow.  And with a healthy self-esteem poverty dissipates and falls away, and is replaced with wealth and the understanding of owning oneself.

At this critical stage in one’s life, life changes because what you see depends on where you sit. 

  When we do this as a team…

A  And when we decide to truly love, respect and value ourselves, our wives and husband, boyfriends and girlfriends, and most importantly our children… 

…the problem called racism simply solves itself.

The Beginning Path

Our children are in dire need of strong male figures in the home. While public policy has been created to keep familes intact we are still suffering at the hands of the enemy as men.

However, I have to admit, we know right from wrong. Yes, we, as men, face obstacles every day in our lives but it is up to us to stay strong in the eye of the storm.

When we look at the role of husbands in our family structure we can clearly see how this role has been placed out of order. For those of us who believe in the Word of God the position of the husband in the home and his related responsibilities are quite clearly defined in principle in Ephesians 5:22, 28-31. “Wives submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, even as Christ is head of the church; and he is the savior of the body. Therefore as the church is subject to Christ, so let wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wife as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it . . . So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church . . . For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and shal.1 be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh”.

For those brothers who are married or are thinking about being in a committed relationship for the long haul we need to start with some scriptures that deal with the husband as head of the house.

Genesis 3:16, says in part “her desire shall be to man”. That debunks the whole homosexual debate right there.

Then Ephisians 5:23, “husband is head of the wife”; then I Tim. 2:11-12, “She shall have no dominion over a man”. Now don’t stop at these verses and think that the only responsibility of the husband (or man)  is to be HEAD of the house. By the way, head does not mean master as in a master-slave relationship, nor does it mean a relationship like a general to a private in the army. It is a loving partnership where one is the leader, guide, director. Now consider this. Can you think of any decision that a man should make WITHOUT consulting or considering his woman and her wishes? On a pesonal note I cannot. Trust me, in the past I have tried and when I did the woman bit my head off. I move as a unit. Period.

Now let us consider some other responsibilities. The man is to love a woman above all other human beings. Consider Eph. 5:25 and 28; and Col. 3:19. These passages teach that the man in the relationship is to be considerate and tender. The verses in Ephesians 5 teach that the man is to cherish his woman. This means that she is to be treated with tenderness and affection. This would mean that since love must be fed, there is to be a warm demonstrative love relationship. The man (if you are married the husband) has the responsibility of not only demonstrating his love and concern, but telling her. He should not sit in such self-absorption that he does not talk with her and communicate with her socially, mentally, verbally and physically. The husband will demonstrate his love for his woman in other ways, rather than just at the time of sexual relationship. If this is the only time that affection and consideration is shown, then a woman will get the idea that all a man is interested in is her body and that she is merely a sex object.

I Peter 3:7, teaches that the man is to honor his woman. In marriage, she gave up her name to take yours. Honor means that you should show her respect and this involves courtesy, consideration and emotional support. Again in marriage, be sure that as her husband that you do not hold her up to ridicule in public by the cutting remarks that you make. She wears YOUR name and is to viewed as part of your body. She is not perfect and you are aware of this. Do not expect perfection, but as Ephesians 4:32 teaches, “forbear one another”. This means to be gentle toward her. Control of temper, abstaining from physical violence and restraining a sharp tongue that makes one feel so inferior – are ways by which you can exhibit forbearance.

Another responsibility of the man is to be active in the area of the discipline and rearing of the children. When the Apostle Paul was giving the qualifications for elders and deacons, he included this statement that is certainly applicable to all men: I Timothy 3:3-5, and he speaks of ruling your own house. Now this discipline should be with love. Many times discipline is administered without love. The Book says in Ephesians 6:4, “Fathers provoke not your children to wrath”, and again in Colossians 3:21, “Fathers provoke not your children to anger lest they be discouraged”. The man therefore does not leave all the discipline up to his woman, but shares in the molding and direction of your children. It is not a proper division of responsibility to say that as the man I will provide the living and the woman is to take care of the house and children. The man has duties even after his days work is done by which lie is earning a living to support his family.

If there are children involved the father should set an example for his family as he earns a living, directs the household with concern for each member, and as he fulfills his role as head of the house. He should see to their spiritual development by the life he lives and the direction in which he leads his family. Together, with his woman by his side and walking together in the Spirit of the Lord, we can begin to see the transformation process take place in the home.

A strong male figure in our homes and children’s lives will make a huge difference and impact on the home. Men should get into the habit of learning about financial literacy to educate the family. The purpose of educating the family on finances is to show that everyone understand their role in wealth creation just in case something happens to the man or woman in the home. Sharing the wealth and blessings are the key to a happy home and a greater future. 

If a man is in love with a woman she is a part of your body – you are a part of each other. As you love her, you love yourself and are fulfilling the role that the Lord wanted you to have.

Politicians have dropped the ball on this issue of character building. Especially Republicans who cry about family values and then get caught in the bathroom like Sen. Larry Craig and others who have on one end talked about how immoral Democrats are and then practice the exact same behavior as the Democrats. It’s not about race or politics when we are trying to build our men up in our homes.

It is all about what God has set aside as our role as fathers, boyfriends, husbands, and even caregivers to balance our women, our children, our homes and families.

The Beginning Path

We will never overcome the obstacles in our community if we do not begin to love one another. Love is the greatest commandment given to us by the Most High. However, we confuse love for sex and other material items that is irrelevant with our accomplishments as a community.

In the first Book of Corinthians 13:4-7 it states the following:

4. Love is patient. Love is kind. Love isn’t jealous. It doesn’t sing its own praises. It isn’t arrogant. 5 It isn’t rude. It doesn’t think about itself. It isn’t irritable. It doesn’t keep track of wrongs. 6 It isn’t happy when injustice is done, but it is happy with the truth. 7 Love never stops being patient, never stops believing, never stops hoping, never gives up.

The Holy Scripture speaks about how love is patient and love is kind. Of course, when we go outside our doors everyday and go to work people are concentrating on fear and hate. Not just hate but spreading gossip and rumors about you to tear you down. It is almost like they are children on the playground picking on you because you choose to be successful and you choose to strive for excellence.

In I Corithinans 13:11 we read this:

11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, thought like a child, and reasoned like a child. When I became an adult, I no longer used childish ways.

Ok, have we really put our childish ways behind us in our community? We have older men and women into their late 40s and early 50s acting like they are still teenagers. Still living paycheck to paycheck, living in their mother’s basement, no car and no ambition. This is called fear my brothers and sisters because they refuse to acknowledge that God loves them so much that he has placed everything for them to succeed in life. We have to let go of the fear because if we do not it will destroy us.

We talk about love but are we practicing love? Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick talked about building Detroit Love. What he meant by this statement was rebuilding Detroit by uniting communities and looking out for one another without fear and intimidation. I can agree with him on this because oftentimes we leave our communities because the love is not there.

Our children should be loved each and every day. When they act out in school or church, we should take the time to discipline them and let them know about why their actions were inappropriate and tell them you did this out of love.

I have launched the Genesis Project. This is a project that is directed to rebuilding families in our urban communities. We promote relationship building, making sure people are staying together for the right reasons and promoting marriages in our urban communities. Some may joke with me and say that this is the Nigerian coming out of me because traditionally African people are big on building solid relationships to keep the family moving. Whatever it is I want to contribute and show my own child that relationships do work if it is based on love.

80% of our homes are ran by a single parent (the mother). When I ask my brothers about marrying their child’s mother they tell me they cannot deal with her. My next question is how come she cannot deal with you? After all you are the reflection of her so what gives?

Guys, marry your women or at the bare minimum be committed to her. Fear is a trap and the faith of the Devil. We know the Devil is a liar and the truth does not exist in him, however, when you are afraid to love and commit to your woman you are giving the demon unlimited power. The only way you are going to prevent that is to start being unselfish and understand that the relationship is much larger than the two adults involved.

Brothers and sisters must begin to reach out and touch someone in need. Relationships often fail because of the lack of communication and in many cases, finances. Instead of having walls being built between the two of you have you ever thought about learning more about fianacial literacy and helping each other out when times are rough financially? I often tell my brothers to help your woman when a bill needs to be paid and do not look for anything in return. The reason? If you are in tune God will bless you abundantly.  Hold your woman’s hand and vice versa. When she neds space to breathe you, as a man, should always be thinking about her and asking God to protect her from negative energy. Take the lead and build up your own character filled with love. The relationship will go further than you even anticipated. All because of love and patience.

I do not have a problem with people being single but show me in the Bible where it says being single is a completion of the family that God has set aside. I am also not advocating rushing into marriage because if you did not take the time to nurture one another to begin with that path will fail as well. Have fun learning about each other through love and patience.

Both men and women must open the doors of opportunites for each other for true love to flow. There should be a balance and when one person is weak the other must be able to give life and strength to the other. The days of running away from our problems are gone. The reason? The next generation of leaders are living with us right in our homes. We must provide a better example for our children if we are preparing to leave a legacy that will last over 100 years. My concern is always the children. We cannot be scared of the storms that lies ahead. That is why it takes two to build a kingdom here on Earth with God’s grace and mercy.

I always say hold on to a good brother or sister because even if that person has faults always seek the good in them. There is always good in someone, even when that person does not know it. Love them unconditioanlly and abundantly. Do not hate that person but love that person because love is greater than hate.

Have you called or e-mailed someone today to tell them you love them for caring and being patient with you? Have you told your children or family members you loved them? Have you made a serious commitment to transform your life because love is flowing through your spirit? Have you invited your loved one to church service lately to worship together? These simple things are going to help transform our community. It does not matter if you are a Democrat, Republican or Independent we all need love when times are rough and when times are peaceful. We cannot be scared when God is moving us in the right direction. There is no room for individualism. Move together in the relationship as a team on love and respect.

Make an effort and tell someone you care and love them for who they are and what they stand for in life. That person on the receiving end will feel empowered and feel better about you and themselves.

The Beginning Path

Former UCLA Basketball coach, John Wooden, defined success as  a peace of mind, which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best you are capable of becoming.

This is crucial if we are serious about the transformation process. Oftentimes, we become stagnant in our way of thinking and therefore develop a comfort zone. Nothing is more constant than change in the universe. We hear so many of us preaching this but are we practicing this concept?

Our people in our community must begin to change our way if thinking if we are going to be successful in our everday lives.

Change begins with the individul who is striving for the best.

When we are talking about financial freedom in our community we have to begin to first change the way we view money and finances. Most of us do not set up a budget, let alone have the discipline to follow the budget through. We waste our money on things that we do not need and therefore we remain broke and in some extreme cases poor.

This is why it is necessary for us to change the way we think. If we want real political power then we need to understand economic power first. I believe in converting check-cashing customers into banking customers. Renters into homeowners.

In fact, we have Get-Out-The Vote (GOTV) efforts all wrong. Instead of registering people to vote for a candidate the will deliver false promises and lies we need to increase homeownership so taxpayers will have a voice at the table.

I believe in converting small business dreamers into small business owners. I strongly believe in success. I believe in transforming those who have a desire to lead into coaches. Therefore, they too, can teach others to lead.

The Beginning Path

The world is bigger than Mack and Bewick. Bigger than Schoolcraft and Evergreen. Bigger than the City of Detroit. It is time for our people who are living in the city to fully understand that we will remain slaves forever unless we begin to change our thinking.

Which means learning about self-control, loyalty, competiveness, mastering the skills needed to compete and having confidence in yourself and your family.

Oftentimes, we fall from the path of righteousness and fall into a trap of fear, intimidation and corruption. This is why the group process and not indivdualism is vital in recreating new ideas, new realities and cleaning our hearts to restore God’s love in our lives.

The game has to be played correctly if we are able to fix what is broken in our community. Churches must play a vital role in transforming our communities by helping to heal broken families as well as providing guidance to keep those families intact.  This includes restoring marriages and two parent homes. Gone are the days of hoe hopping in relationships. It is time that we open the lines of communication and deal with our problems head on and come up with solutions to keep families intact. With the advent of many sexually transmitted diseases as well as unfaithful partners we need to promote relationship building more than ever in this day and age.

This is part of the Genesis. We need a new beginning in our lives. We can no longer run away from our problems.

Our people need to understand how economics, not just politics, is the main key to freedom in our community. It is bad enough that we do not understand politics, thanks to the unions here in Detroit. The entire city is Democratic. Yet, we suffer the same results over and over again and because GOTV efforts are outdated we continue electing the same people in office so they can do the same thing.

If people in Detroit would vote BOTH Democratic and Republican we would see progress. Again, we do not know the game.

Young African-Americans place relatively more emphasis on spending than on investing. While this is true of Americans in general, it appears to be somewhat more pronounced among African-Americans. Indicators include higher relative scores in questions related to spending rather than investing as well as higher use of credit and debit cards and lower use of saving and investing vehicles.

A major problem may be due to the schools where our children are less likely than Whites to receive education in money management or be given the opportunity to play a stock market game, which is very useful. What about the problem that may occur at home where fewer African-American students report learning from their parents and a higher proportion report receiving a regular (no chores required) allowance which is associated with lower financial literacy scores. Also, fewer African-American students report having a part-time or summer job in high school, depriving them of an additional opportunity to develop valuable financial literacy skills.

Sounds problematic?

In order for us to understand the game we must begin to fully understand how free market economics work in our community. In the past I have spoken on this issue. However, what I am realizing is the fact that we cannot compete in free market economics if we are not financially literate. It is no wonder our community spends close to $700 billion a year and we are still living in poverty. Not just physical poverty but both mental and spiritual poverty.

The game has nothing to do with hand outs. It has something to do with hand ups. For example, if you desire to start your own business what steps are you taking to make this a reality? Have you crafted a business plan? Have you contacted people who can help you get started? What about power networking?

Our children and future generation are watching us. Are we going to just continue to perpetuate the cycle of ignorance by wasting our mental energy on foolishness or are we going to engage in the game to elevate our awareness of financial literacy to free our minds and families from the traps of poverty?

The Beginning Path

I have returned. In the beginning there were those who desired change.

On my recent hibernation I have come to realize that we need to elevate our way of thinking. Brothers and Sisters are mad around these neck of the woods. Our relationships are in a dire state. Our finances are in shambles. Our children are lost.

Our community need to understand the importance of family values through education that will generate wealth creation.

John Hope Bryant, Chariman and CEO of Operation Hope, teaches that there is a difference between broke and being poor. Being broke is a temporary economic condition, but being poor is a disabling frame of mind and a depressed condition of your spirit, and we must vow to never, ever be poor again.

I can agree 100% because in order for us to get out of the condition we are in we must declare who our real enemy is.

Poverty.

Spiritual poverty have ravaged our community is alarming rates. There is a church on every corner in our community, yet, our community is suffering from poverty. Only 4% of our children in our immediate community believe in God. Adults have not led the way to teach spiritual values to our children and now our children are growing up in the same negative cycle as the adults.

Mental poverty is occuring in our community because we do not take the time to read, meditate and even stimulate our minds to higher levels. We are stuck in a carnal mindstate that has brought us down from heaven to hell.

Physical poverty is caused by the lack of understanding financial literacy. People in our community must become financial literate if we are trying to free ourselves from the traps of dependency and poverty.

We are a race of excuses. Economics is the key to free ourselves from the traps that have been set aside for us out here in the community. We would rather build socio-political power than build economic power. Other races of people have built economic power first. It’s time that we change our culture by changing our thinking. The main problem with us in our community is the fact that we refuse to change our thinking. When you remain stubborn or stagnant mentally you will not increase spiritually.

This is the beginning of an new era in our lives. Notice I said OUR lives. There is no more room for individualism in my heart. That is a tool of the Devil. Fear is the faith of the Devil.

Education is the ultimate poverty eradication tool, and when you know better, you tend to do better. That is a fact. It is time that we not only integrate the schools but we intergrate our wealth.

When I was on the scene last time I spoke on Urban Regional Networks. Communities like Inkster, Benton Harbor, Melvindale, and Ypsilanti are future emerging markets waiting to be born. However, if 90% of high school graduates receive no personal finance education the market will be doomed from the start.

One-fifth of teenagers have debit cards. That’s 4% of students 12 to 15 years old that have cards, compared with 57% of 18 and 19 year olds (USA Today).

The Bible says, “where there is no vision, the people perish.” Our vision in our community is extremely limited. I can see why we have been perishing mentally, spiritually and physically. When do we start giving our children vision? Again, if we do not change our way of thinking then our children are doomed.

Why must we concentrate on economic power? Public policy in Michigan is principally designed around Mcihigan’s first priority; economics and ownership. Individual property rights. Think about what I am teaching here  – from tax breaks and other protections for homeowners, to incentives for the working class, to incentives for small businesses and major corporations alike.. it’s all about owners and producers.

It is important that  financial literacy inour homes and schools should link itself to viable strategies for true economic empowerment, conversion (converting a check cashing mentality into a bank account mentality, a renters mentality into a homeownership mentality, etc.) and ownership in our communities.

As we begin our Genesis I predict the debate in our community will switch from race and the color line, to issues of class and poverty.  Our people need to make sure we are ready. Blacks needs to push itself to be ready; to begin to do things differently. Very differently. There is no room for the comfort zone anymore.

I love people who do things that are not comfortable. I love people who push and who stretch in order to do extraordinary things. These are the only type of people I am willing to build with in this day and time because our children lives are at stake.  There are no room for excuses.

If our plan is to truly move forward, fulfill our destiny, and to truly live the American dream for our families and ourselves, then in the 21st century Black folks in Detroit are going to have to learn to be a little, well, uncomfortable.

No one has a lock on the truth except God. Not Democrats, not Republicans. From what I have seen this year, we are all born broken. Whether you believe Jesus Christ was the Son of God, as I do, or not, does not matter. There is a universal lesson in his saying, “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.” None of us is without sin.

If we are serious about eradicating poverty, if we truly want to create social change, if we truly want to make a difference in our community, we cannot do it on a partisan political basis. Sorry, but Democrats and Republicans have dropped the ball too many times. If anyone who can change our community we should be looking towards moral leadership. Look at the social movers of our times — Gandhi, King, Cesar Chavez, Mother Teresa — respectfully, none were politicians. They were moral leaders who had the vision and a passion to make a difference in the communities they represent.

I am not saying that political leadership is not important, but frankly, just the opposite. Not JUST political leadership, and surely more than just partisan political leadership, is needed for our true emergence as a group of people. Having strong spirit-centered leadership throughout the Black community, starting in our homes and in our individual lives, helps and strengthens our political leadership in Lansing and beyond.

The road ahead is not easy. Nobody promised that life would be anything but difficult. You cannot have a rainbow without a storm first. To have hope is the first step in having opportunity, because life is how you see it, and what you can make of it. Life is ten percent what circumstances do to you and ninety percent how you choose to respond to them.

Welcome to Genesis, my vision for empowerment in our community. I promised myself to do less talk and more action. My A-Train is an educational and financial movement that will help to empower those in need. Are you on the train with me? Are you ready to claim the victory?

We will see who is faithful and who is not. Welcome aboard.