Hustlers are everywhere and when I say everywhere I mean everywhere you can possibly imagine. Those of you who have tuned into More Content Talk before know my very negative opinion of groups, but you may not know that that negative opinion is also an informed opinion. I have been involved in political and social movement, both on the left and on the right, and there is one thing that these movements always have in common: the potential to attract scammers. This does not necessarily happen because the movements are bad, nor does it happen because most people are bad; it happens because when a group of believers get together, they tend to be more trusting of others. Trust is important in relationships with people you know well, but it is a liability in political and social movements, which criminals are always trying to exploit for profit. This harsh reality is always exacerbated during times of great crisis because when people are suffering financially they are more likely to seek out get rich schemes; this cannot really be blamed on the consumer because the temptation of being able to pay off your rent instead of getting evicted is quite strong during traumatic events. The impending sense of doom that people are feeling is quite justified, considering there are no plans set in motion to prevent the massive evictions that will likely occur. The only state to make such a commitment thus far has been California, which is now saying that they will forgive renters who cannot make their payments on time. But I do not expect many states to follow suit. Newsom has a unique motivation to do so because he is facing a recall. I am not calling anyone stupid for falling for these sophisticated hustles. These are professional criminals we are talking about here; deception is their game and they play it well. However, I cannot sit idly by with this knowledge and allow innocent black people who just want to save their homes to be duped into going to jail instead. You read that right. If you participate in a pyramid scheme, you can be jailed for it, even if you are not in on the conspiracy to deceive others. If you profit from these scams at all, in any way, and do no report your earnings to the IRS you could do jail time for tax evasion. The people who operate these "blessing circle" and "sous-sous" hustles often tell their victims that they will not be taxed for their income because it is a "gift". The problem with that is that all forms of income, unless specifically exempted by the IRS (generally cash donations by approved charities or nonprofits) are, in fact, taxable. They reason they tell this lie is to avoid having to pay any taxes at all, something that only criminals do by the way. Am I saying that all people who try to put money back into the black community are hustlers? No, but I am saying that there is a through point with supposedly pro black business people always saying that they are going to build up our communities, but then turning around and stealing from us instead. The bible teaches that we should forgive our enemies, not that we should be willing fools in their various array of get rich quick schemes. I understand that, now more than ever, black people want to help each other. But who says you need to give strangers money to do that? Do you want to create jobs for black people? Start a business and hire black people. Do you want to support black entertainment? Search for black social media influencers and help share or like their accounts or attend showings for black artists. Do you want to help out a single parent in need in your community? Offer to help them with child care from time to time until they get back on their feet? Do you want to help get black homeless people? Go down to your local homeless shelter; they are always looking for extra help. Hell, I'm black. If you want to help me out then tell people to listen to my podcast. One thing that will never help is giving money to crooks.