An Open Letter To The Black Community…
RE: Where Did All the Money Go?
Have you as a Black Parent ever
wondered where all the household funds are going? Do you often have the sinking
feeling that your children are just there to act as a vacuum cleaner [s] for
Five Dollar Bills and One Dollar Bills?
This short article is designed to
let you know where some of the money you give your children goes ad how it is
spent. If you read onward, you will also
learn how to stem some of the flow of money and turn that might financial river
around and put some of those dollars back into the household and back into your
pocket.
If you are a typical Low to
Middle-income household in the inner city—Black family with either 2.3 children
and either one parent, two parents or a guardian watching the children such as
a grandparent—the children probably goes to the corner store or the
neighborhood store about two or three times a week.
The typical things they might buy
will include: A 16 Oz. Pepsi soda [$1.50.];
Herrs BBQ Potato Chips [Large Bag for $4.29 each]; A cheese and turkey Hoagie—[$7.49
each]; three cream-filled cupcakes from Tasty cake or Drake [one pack of 3 is
$1.69]; A small bag of powered-sugar donuts
[$4.78 a bag]; Tasty Cake Pie [$1.]on special.
That sounds like a lot of food
for one setting, but taken over a week, a month, or a year and you get to
relate to just how much this food, often called junk food, is costing the
average American Black Family. If you have two or three children you can
multiply some of these amounts by two or three [I will do this for you.]
An average male or female in the
8th, 9th, 10th, or 11th grade has
plenty of money for snacks before and especially after school. [Now some of that money they get hold of
themselves and make it honestly at a job or by doing work around the house and
getting an allowance. This is where the family discussion of good and proper
values comes in. One value we all need
to teach our children, nieces, nephews, young cousins and grandchildren, etc.,
is NOT to eat so much junk food!!! But
we need to come to them with facts and statistics about high blood pressure
when they get older; about heart ailments when they get older; and about
obesity they may be dealing with right now or when they get a bit older. This is crucial and we have to explain to our
young ones the importance of listening.
We also need to take the time to listen to them as well and write a hand
written or typed letter to our pastors about good and better foods and nutrition
and how we think our churches can help in this process. This is important and can be worked into the
day late at night before you go to bed or really early in the morning before
you go to work. If you don’t think this
is important, just read some of the facts and figures on nutrition in the Black
community and you will see what I’m talking about.
``On the Flip side, fat in the
midsection is usually quite responsive to diet and exercise, and losing weight
reverses the health risks,’’ from Ebony Magazine, January 1990.
I have literally seen at least
one youngster with a $50. Bill and I have seen plenty of $20. Bills; $10. Bills
and $5. Bills. A typical male or female child or youth might buy a hoagie, two
bags of chips, or one large bag, and a soda at least twice a week. Each trip to
the corner store for those three items Will cost about $13.28!! Twice a week, That’s $26,56 a week. Over a
month That’s $106.24 if your child goes and gets those items… Twice a week for
a month, over a year time that’s $1,274.88—One Thousand, Two Hundred and
Seventy Four Dollars and Eighty Eight cents a year!! That is just for one child or youth over one
year. [If You have two children or young
people around the house, that’s
$2,549.76.]
Money shortages in Poor or even
Middle-income Black households is at the apex of the reasons for arguments,
conflicts and disagreements between parents, guardians and grandparents and
children, teen or young adults. There
just never seems to be enough money, especially during the hard times of high
unemployment and the flood of foreign-made goods [including large and expensive
items such as cars] coming into the U.S. economy that we are currently faced
with.
Many heads of Poor Black Families
think if they could just win the lottery or get that windfall or make a big
gain in some other way, such as a stock option, they would really be living the
high life. Everything would be fine.
But the control is actually in
the parents and the children’s hands each week or every other week or every month
when the get paid and the money comes in.
The Parent—with a little
knowledge and community or church education—can make some badly-needed change
that can have a significant, lasting, and positive impact on Black families and
eventually whole Black Communities!!!
If a parent; grandparent or
guardian sits down with the children He or She has responsibility for the
parent can take the positive opportunity to take Positive action and change the
situation. Parents can put the fattening
hoagies, chips and sodas down and make other choices. Such foods as sodas,
cakes and hoagies are not healthy at all and have real and present links to
diabetes, obesity heart disease and high blood pressure. They contain a high level of unhealthy
saturated fat, salt, sugar and corn syrup—all foods and chemicals linked to
health difficulties. Coupled with a sedentary lifestyle and a lack of positive
physical activity such as exercise, this becomes a great danger to our Black
Families.
A grandparent, Mom or Dad can
help the child or youngster by instructing them to take slices of cucumber,
celery, radishes and carrots to school in a plastic container. The child can take a small container of
hummus or Balsamic vinegar to school with the fresh vegetables and have a really
healthy snack instead of all that fat, salt and sugar that can threaten life
lines, especially later in life. The child can take a bottle of Spring Water
pre-bought from the super market or just cool tap water. This will save more than half that $1,274.99
a year!!
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