Our lives should not be totally dominated by money as this can corrupt the mind and soul but let us not "kid" ourselves, we need money to survive and thrive. Almost gone are the days when we could simply barter a bag of potatoes for a few pounds of fish from our neighbours.
That being said, it is great to see two widely known black people (there are a total of 11) on the current Forbes Billionaire List 2015, Oprah Winfrey and Michael Jordan, and note I am not benefiting monetarily from their situations. It is simply a great inspirational reality and sort of pedestal which other black people can look on for re-assurance that we can get somewhere with hard-work and dedication. Once again, I am not naive enough to think that the world is a bed of roses. I do know racism is still alive and showing its ugly head but I refuse to paint everyone with the same brush.
It is sometimes difficult to understand why we don't have more black people being represented in this "tax bracket". I think in a lot of the cases it comes down to a lack of unity/ togetherness. We have been divided so many times over the centuries and motivated by greed and self fulfilment that we fail to see that if we pool together we can achieve way more.
I think we are sometimes happy to be marginalised and to not be given credit for our accomplishments; whether due to what we think others may say about us ("Oh she thinks she's better than us now") or simply through thinking on such a small scale that we let opportunities pass us by. We need to start supporting each other more; every other race sticks together because they understand that the sum of the parts is greater than the whole (SYNERGY). We act too much like "crabs in a barrel", just pulling each other down when one starts climbing.
Two perfect cases (I know they have their flaws) are Flloyd Mayweather and Kanye West. Very influential guys making waves and defying the power that be but we choose to not try and understand their struggles or see things from their points of view; which sometimes is a reflection of our own struggles... and please don't say "they have money, what problems do they have". Jay-Z said it best; paraphrasing: "You're not best suited to help the poor if you're poor". If no one gives them their praises for their additions to their sectors then why should they not make it known and speak out? (that is a genuine question).
Once again, I am not saying those two are the cream of the crop of black society. When it comes to music and general consciousness, I prefer to listen to guys like Akala (British lyricist and philosopher), etc.
This is NOT about Flloyd and Kanye so don't get stuck on the last paragraph... see the big picture.
Out of over 1,000 billionaires, we have only 11 black people:
- Aliko Dangote (Nigeria) - $15.7 billion
- Mohammed Al-Amoudi (Saudi Arabia) - $10.9 billion
- Mike Adenuga (Nigeria) - $4 billion
- Isabel Dos Santos (Angola) - $3.3 billion
- Oprah Winfrey (America) - $2.9 billion
- Patrice Motsepe (South Africa) - $2.1 billion
- Folorunsho Alakija (Nigeria) - $1.9 billion
- Mohammed Ibrahim (British) - $1.1 billion
- Michael Jordan (America) - $1 billion
- Femi Otedola (Nigeria) - $1 billion
- Abdulsamad Rabiu (Nigeria) - $1 billion
Side note: some of these billionaires reside in countries with some of the poorest people on the planet. (food for thought)
Everywhere we live, we are quick to sell out what we have to the short term rewards rather helping out the next generation. Go to most "black" countries and you can purchase their lands and then kick them out of it whereas any other country you go to, predominantly of a different race, the most you can do is rent and even then, you are heavily taxed, etc. Unfortunately, we need to amass way more resources to make major differences in this world; if we are seen as more than just athletes, musicians, thugs and criminals, we can then make a true change.
Question: Why are we not investing more in our ideas, businesses and other resources instead of helping everyone else accomplish their dreams?
Looking forward to hearing from you... OH, and YES, I do believe Caribbean islands deserved repatriation for
robbery of resources over the decades. Before you go against this, think of the child who comes from a poor background and the one from a rich; which one gets on their feet, in life, faster? :)
