Broke-ish®

On this episode of Broke-ish, Delina and Erika explore ideas that we need to shed in order to move forward.  Delina answers the question everyone has been asking, "why don't you like Dave Ramsey?" Though personal financial literacy is necessary, often times the thinking behind our strategies is shaky. It promotes individualism, meritocracy, judgment of others and judgment of ourselves. The co-hosts encourage Brokers to begin thinking more about us in terms of community vs. our individualistic pursuits and begin working for policy changes to close the racial wealth gap. Ain’t No Fun (If the Homies Can’t Have None)

On this episode of Broke-ish, Delina and Erika discuss the fake Black Middle Class. But why is it fake? What factors determine if you are in the middle class? Discover all the reasons why today, we’re living under a middle-class illusion.

Homework

• Middle Class Calculator – Pew Research
• The 3Ms:
  • Money (economic resources)
  • Milestones (education, career, etc.)
  • Mama’nem (culture, social access, etc.)

The Receipts (Show Notes)

The Road to Zero Wealth: How the Racial Wealth Divide is Hollowing Out America’s Middle Class

Authors: Dedrick Asante-Muhammad, Chuck Collins, Josh Hoxie, Emanuel Nieves

Date: September 2017

• Median household wealth for Black families = $1,700
• Median household wealth for white families = $116,000
• The median black family is estimated to have $0 in wealth by the year 2053

Everybody Thinks They’re Middle Class (Bloomberg)

Author: Sam Grobart

Date: September 15, 2016

Why Americans All Believe They Are 'Middle Class' (The Atlantic)

Author: Anat Shenker-Osorio

Date: August 1, 2013

The American Middle Class Is Losing Ground (Pew Research Center)

Author: Pew Research Center

Date: December 9, 2015

Are you in the American middle class? Find out with our income calculator (Pew Research Center)

Authors: Richard Fry and Rakesh Kochhar

Date: September 6, 2018

The richest 1 percent now owns more of the country’s wealth than at any time in the past 50 years (The Washington Post)

Author: Christopher Ingraham

Date: December 6, 2017

Defining the middle class: Cash, credentials, or culture? (Brookings Institute)

Authors: Richard V. Reeves, Katherine Guyot and Eleanor Krause

Date: Monday, May 7, 2018

• Cash (what’s in your bank account)
• Credentials (what’s on your resume)
• Culture (what’s inside your head)

African Americans and the New Deal

New Deal Programs

Unions Helped Build the Black Middle Class. The Wealthy's Political Lackeys Are Out to Gut It. (Colorlines)

Author: Rashad Robinson

Date: March 2, 2018

The Warmth of Other Suns

Author: Isabel Wilkerson

Date: 2010

How much you have to earn to be considered middle class in every US state (Business Insider)

Author: Libby Kane

Date: April 2, 2015

Which Income Class Are You? (Investopedia)

Author: Jake Frankenfield

Date: October 5, 2018

Against All Odds: The Fight for a Black Middle Class (PBS)

Black Women's Equal Pay Day

equalpaytoday.org

What is Broke-ish? In this episode we meet our co-hosts, Delina and Erika.  The whole idea of Broke-ish is that even though your financial choices matter, what has made a more significant impact are the systems and structures that are in place that specifically target black folks and keep us from being able to achieve the American dream. America has sold us this bill of goods that makes us think that because we have a career and we might have been able to buy a house and financially, as far as our salaries are concerned, we might seem to be doing well.  The part that they haven't told us is that we don't have the level of security and stability that it really takes to thrive in America. We're talking about it in this debut episode of Broke-ish. Visit Brokeish.com for more.