aaaaaaaand so expensive.
I identify as poor. I’m defining poor, here, as not having any freaking money lmao. Generationally. Generational poverty. Just that. Because duh I encounter abundance of infinite resources, support, and blazing love in every millisecond of every day, but on this material cream get the money dolla dolla bill level, it’s a coooonstant struggle. Yall hear me or nah? I KNOW YALL DO
Anyway, so after week 1 of buying black, I realized as a poor black person, buying black is very hard. Because I don’t have the actual dollars to spend, dummies. And the dollars I do have, end up being sucked into systems that are built to keep me, us, poor. Wait, but not only keep us poor, but to literally make money off of us being poor.
*cough* colonialism *coughcough*
You know, the whole idea that being poor is actually expensive AF?? Read this:
mmhm.
and this, very unfortunately, falls more so on the shoulders of women. and even more so on women of color. and even more so on black women. I say very unfortunately because we be the ones killin it! Planting seeds for entire communities and nations and futures and shit. get offff of ussss
Right, so what does buying poor and black look like? It’s been a lot of redefining, not only what black is, but what buying is. How as a poor black person, do I support and invest in black economics that go beyond spending so much of my actual dollars. And go much further into my liberation and the conscious, intelligent design of new systems? Buying black has to be so conscious, so subversive, and so imaginative. It’s gotta look like us.
My recommendations and highlights during this challenge are gonna be places where our money and/or support is going directly into our wellness, sense of worth, and creating new systems. i.e…
- cheap, convenient, and healthy black owned spots
- free events where we can just be
- revolutionary spaces that use alternative methods of business and resource sharing
- tapping into slash stealing from slash it could never be stealing from… non-black people, institutions, or spaces that have lots of money and resources who wanna invest in liberation WITH NO STRINGS. allowing people with money and resources to contribute their money and resources, exactly. nothing more, nothing less. specifically nothing more lmao
- DIY individuals who are KILLIN it and spreading straight up innovation that we need to support with our presence, prayers, and dollars, if we have them
- places that may cost money and may be inconvenient in other ways but make you feel soooooo goooood liiiiike…Sugar Bar !! Check the video/rating I put up on it here.
I’ll be compiling lists under each of these categories to be shared at the end, with some specific highlights here and there! Let me know if you’re poor and black….which…is maaaaaad of us….and in what cheap, alternative ways do you buy black?