When do you think the financial equality of queer black folk will be normalized? When will systems of finance and senior/C-level leadership of blue chip corporations truly include black and brown folks in the LGBTQIA+ community as equals? When will it be normal to see folks that look and sound like me as chief something or other of ‘name a company we all know and use daily’ or me and my future wife purchase property from a major bank without eyebrows raised and extra hurdles to jump?
I’m speaking of true equality within a true normalcy, like the type of normalcy that perpetually carrying a cell phone became over time. As in, it was not the norm in 1973 but it is normal now, so much so that it is abnormal when you don’t - because everybody does.
THAT level of normal and equal is the equality normalcy that queer black folks are still struggling to experience within our current (2023) financial systems. Things have changed, but not nearly enough. Discriminatory practices are more normal than inclusion…still.
HERE IS A LGBTQIA EXPERIENCE 2022 REFERENCE POLL
True financial equality is still a dream.
Speaking of dreams, there is a clip of Dr. Martin L. King Jr. speaking about land grants and farming and the American government’s legacy of providing grants, agents, and financial aid in the way of millions to white families and farmers, but historically sending the message to black Americans to ‘pull themselves up by their bootstraps’. The ‘bootstrap’ message still echoes within the financial services industry to black people and if you are black and queer, the messaging turns to discriminatory microaggressions on the best of days, then to outright hatred in lots of cases on the worst.
Queer persons of color experience challenges still (2023) while trying to get access to credit and mortgages, to financial interest proof during the underwriting of insurance policies, rental applications for housing in safe urban and suburban areas of metro-American cities, higher education…the list goes on.
This occurs even in the resigned effort to ‘bootstrapping’ our lives around the American ideals, such as they are.
But sadly, financial equality still eludes many queer black folks today. And it’s not our fault. It’s clearly due to the system that was never built to include us and continually fixes it structures to never let us in.
We often pay more, as this (2015) study shows: PAYING AN UNFAIR PRICE.
After acknowledging all of this, we are still told that unless we conform to the financial system as it exists today, a system that never intended to include blacks and openly hates queer people, we can never build wealth WITHOUT the system that exists.
What confounds me most after working within finance for over twenty years is the way that theories some white folks swear are conspiracies and lies hold true in our daily financial lives. Thoughts behind the unverified and academically nullified Willie Lynch letter and it’s supposed effect, Jim Crow laws and its effects and essays like ‘The master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house’ by Audre Lourde and white feminism’s effect on black lesbians are still realities for us that white people tend to deny.
We keep collectively shouting about what we go through, what queer black financial realities actually are for us, over-explaining what we need and want financially, always having to show TWICE the proof of our white ‘equals’ for any of the same things, only to be rejected, shut out and silenced.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve tried to get ‘approved’ for something that some white processor denied and then tried convincing me out of what I needed or wanted, even redirecting me to work harder in some unfathomable way to prove things I couldn’t to soothe a financier’s concerns about my ‘worthiness’…something that financier’s blonde haired, blue eyed cis-hetero Christian daughter would never have to do.
So I work even harder for more overtime hours and more benefits, for the perfect credit score, savings amounts, needs-based insurance policies and I even research around the house I prefer for the house I might get ‘approved’ to have, just to show them that yes, I can do the same thing you’d expect of the white straight person applying for the same thing that I am. I will always have spent the equivalent of a part time job of hours each week of my life doing all of this extra shit she’d never have to do for the same financial items.
Why?
Well, if you are black and queer, you are a financial risk to the financial system we are all subject to, simply due to your being different from the white cis-hetero Christian ideal.
We have to work harder and prove worthiness more and make more and have more than requirements may state. Let’s not even attempt to travel down the rabbit hole of the systemic racism when applying for the job that pays you enough money to have enough savings and keep bills paid and maintain enough credit that COULD HAVE helped you but, alas, we present as a risk there as well and are thereby setup to fail from the start. I could spiral from here, but I’d digress too far.
And here we are, yet again doing exactly what Audre stated in that essay, continuing to:
“…educate men {substitute: present ourselves as ‘worthy’ to white financial systems} as to our existence and our needs. This is an old and primary tool of all oppressors, to keep the oppressed occupied with the master’s concerns.”
The internet had this to say…
Queer Black Financial Equality: An Imperative for Social Justice and Economic Prosperity
In the pursuit of a just and equitable society, it is essential to prioritize the financial equality of all marginalized communities – including queer Black individuals. Queer Black financial equality is not just a moral imperative; it is critical for fostering economic growth and social progress. By dismantling systemic barriers and promoting equitable financial opportunities, we can empower queer Black individuals to thrive economically, bring forth meaningful contributions to society, and create a more inclusive and prosperous future for all.
The Intersection of Queerness and Blackness
Queer Black individuals face a unique set of challenges resulting from the intersectionality of their identities. These individuals often experience discrimination, prejudice, and marginalization on multiple fronts, limiting their access to financial resources and opportunities. Addressing these disparities is crucial, as the success and empowerment of queer Black individuals have a direct impact on the overall well-being and progress of our society.
Breaking Systemic Barriers
Historical injustices, systemic discrimination, and socio-economic disparities have hindered queer Black individuals from reaching their full potential and attaining financial security. To achieve financial equality, we must tackle these systemic barriers head-on. This involves reforming discriminatory practices in employment, housing, and lending, enhancing access to quality education and professional development opportunities, and promoting anti-discrimination policies that protect queer Black individuals in all spheres of life. By eliminating these barriers, we can create an environment where queer Black individuals can fully participate in the economy and achieve economic mobility.
Fostering Economic Empowerment
Queer Black financial equality is not merely a matter of providing equal access to resources; it also involves fostering economic empowerment and self-sufficiency. This can be achieved through targeted programs that provide financial literacy education, entrepreneurship support, and access to capital for queer Black individuals. By equipping them with the necessary knowledge and resources, we can strengthen their ability to build businesses, generate wealth, and support the growth and development of their communities. By investing in queer Black economic empowerment, we unlock a vast pool of untapped potential that benefits society at large.
Promoting Representation and Inclusion
Representation and inclusion are crucial elements in achieving financial equality for queer Black individuals. They provide not only role models who inspire and motivate others but also access to networks and opportunities that would otherwise remain inaccessible. Promoting diverse representation in all sectors – including finance, business, and policymaking – ensures that the unique perspectives and opportunities are available for all.
Sigh.
Well, AI robot…while I appreciate your telling me repetitive crap I’ve heard and seen touted before, I have my own thoughts on this.
I submit that we divert our energies to our differences as strengths, not disadvantages, regardless of the challenges we will still face. We will only keep facing them until we don’t, meaning we have to start seeing other aspects of ourselves as financially worthier than the ones our financial system currently holds as requirements for depictions and proof of financial worthiness.
We, therefore, invert financial worthiness. Ultimately, queer black wealth, success, and financial worthiness would then only be defined and created by us. By looking at this (2021) study, CONSTRUCTING THE YELLOW BRICK ROAD, and considering other practical means, such as what is revealed within it, to learn some practical ways to deal with and overcome the discriminatory challenges we face on our path to stability, we can begin having hope toward building wealth and security.
Here’s what I mean by this…to begin the process of inverting a processed and conditioned vision of yourself as a disadvantaged, incomplete borrowing risk as the current system tries to paint us all, you have to exercise your mind to create a new vision. We must start with a new idea of ourselves and create a new queer black picture of financial success. For a start, we must value having physical energy to whatever level we can most, a clear mind to focus, regular rest, clutter-free order and worthy goals that serve the community we hold dear, and a sense of peace, beauty, joy, and agency.
Outside of the patriarchal, colonialist, and capitalist model of wealth we all are accustomed to, as the financial service industry has conditioned us all to believe is the only wealth truth, we begin justifiably living in a new wealth truth that we get to construct based on our values.
This has already started. If you have been noticing more and more folks asking if a business is owned by black women or LGBTQ persons because that is where some of us prefer spending our money, then you are seeing people support another version of financial success than America has tried to impose. People are even getting wiser about corporations and their diversity marketing, cutting through corporate messaging about equity and inclusion and digging deeper to find out if it’s true.
Other means of this are seen through efforts around self-sufficiency, urban farming, homesteading, tiny house living and alternative domestics, earlier retirement movements, speaking out against worker exploitations, working during off hours, forcing work culture expectations to work while sick, and other rebellions against the old white man’s plans for us all.
Innovations against the status quo abound! And it is through innovation, creativity, and community collaborations that equality, in its truest sense, will materialize financially for queer black people. It will not happen in the way we’ve been taught to look for it.
The equality we achieve will need to be created by us.
What we create will make the world around us HAVE to change.
Think of it not so much as ‘meet me where I am,’ but more ‘see where I put myself. See how free I am? Wealth includes this now.’
The way we see the world and use the things in it, read: money, will always be shaped by our fears and fantasies. The financial industry fears us and makes us see ourselves as small. But, with clearer heads and rested minds to focus, we can declare a reclamation of what financial success looks like and revamp a wealth plan from a soulful place instead of surrendering to a system that denies us at a soul level.
What would a Queer Black Wealthy Soul look like to you? Start your financial planning there.
A New Path for Us.
To learn more about my Queer Black Wealth Journey and the things I create for LGBTQIA+ persons of color with 25 years of experience as a financial professional, you can click here to see that side of my world.