What does wealth look like? Is it millions of dollars inherited? A trust fund baby? According to an article from the Economic Policy Institute, “ Wealth also provides a buffer of economic security against periods of unemployment, or risk-taking, like starting a business.” When my life changed forever in 2011, I had no idea of the seismic disparities in the racial wealth gap. White families are two times more likely than black families to provide inheritance to next of kin. I knew that my life as a black person growing up in a working to middle class area was privileged but I never looked at it as wealth. My parents work ethic allotted for me to attend and graduate from college debt free (I graduated from CUNY). It also provided me the cushion to stay at home and start my non-profit organization. And when I inherited my childhood home in 2011 I realized more than ever the blessings my parents bestowed me.
Homeownership was always a dream for me, even as a child. When I would play the paper game, MASH ( Mansion, Apartment, Shack, House) with my friends I would land on the space that said I would live in a big mansion and be married and rich. As I got older with the realizations of relationships and understanding the value of a dollar, my dreams changed. My first apartment as an adult was in an affordable housing unit where my rent was based on ⅓ of my income. The apartment had a balcony and a view of the then World Trade Center. I loved my apartment. It’s where I officially became a grown up. Finally adulting and in a serious relationship, my boyfriend and I at the time spoke of marriage. He wanted to buy a ring and save for a wedding. I said let’s not have a wedding and save that $30,000 we’d spend on a party and put it towards a downpayment on a house. I was in graduate school at the time. I told him if we got engaged, I’d move back home to my childhood home in Laurelton and save my rent money I would give for my apartment for a year and he could do the same so we could have the downpayment for a home instead of a reception bill. I was studying to get my MFA and didn’t think I could get engaged until I graduated. Instead of an engagement ring I was given a promise ring. I was happy with the promise ring because I was still in school and had no intentions of getting married anytime soon. My mother called the ring, “shut you up” ring, I said, “Why? I didn’t ask for a ring.” Her reply was, “Exactly, to shut you up!”. A mother always knows. As I approached graduation, my relationship was over and I had grown to be a politically activated person. In the last year of graduate school I dreamt of starting a non-profit that would bridge the digital divide partly inspired by my own experiences being a public school student my entire academic career and working as an office assistant at a foundation that gave grant awards to grassroots organizations in communities of color. My focus had shifted from love and marriage to love of the world and how I could be of service. I did end up moving back home and working two jobs for a year in order to start DIVAS for Social Justice. The idea of homeownership and a possible nuclear family of my own became a dream deferred. In the midst of working jobs and trying to build my organization my mother was diagnosed with stage three ovarian cancer. For almost three years my mother prepared me for her death and her intentions of wanting me to inherit my childhood home. For the first 2 ½ years of my mother’s illness I waited to hear the word remission but it never happened. The cancer was spreading and my mother, now I realize, was preparing me for her death and to be a homeowner. When I would care for her on the weekends she would walk me through the boiler system of the house and I would do it begrudgingly. One day when she felt strong, we drove to the bank and she placed my name on her accounts so I could help pay the bills of the home and the property taxes. A couple days before my mother passed away, she wrote her will in a Palliative Care Unit leaving me 75% percent owner of my childhood home in 2011. My parents bought their home in Laurelton in the early 1970’s for $35,000. My mother became the sole owner of the home after my parents divorced in 1990. After the dust settled and while still stricken with grief , the house was appraised at a little over $450,000. Prior to my mother’s death, she expressed to me she did not want me to sell the house, she wanted it to be my home. In 2011, I was living in Bedford Stuyvesant in a studio brownstone apartment. I contemplated selling my childhood home for a house or condo in Brooklyn. The Tudor home I inherited had three bedrooms, a full attic and basement and 2 bathrooms. What I could buy in Brooklyn would be ⅓ of that property. I knew I wouldn’t be able to buy a house outright with the money from the sale and I would live in a smaller accommodation. I decided not to sell my mother’s home and live in it. With that came a plethora of experiences that would change the direction of my life. After my mother passed there were property taxes owed on the house. Thankfully, there was money to pay them off. Next there were sidewalk violations issued that cost additional money and at the end of the year the boiler decided to break down. In addition to that, I was only 75% owner of the home. I eventually had to buy out my sibling for 25% at the price requested. It did not matter that I had paid the expenses owed at my mother’s passing and continued to maintain the house. I ended up taking out a 30 year mortgage to become the sole owner of my childhood home and I have no regrets. With that comes lots of responsibilities but I am home. The moments I have been most grateful for my home have been during Hurricane Sandy and the COVID -19 lockdown in New York City. I think of parents everyday and the incredible blessing they have provided to me.
In 2021, DIVAS for Social Justice was awarded a grant from the ABNY Foundation to work in partnership with the Center for NYC Neighborhoods to create a multimedia youth led project based on the Center’s initiative The Black Homeownership Project. Youth are taken through a curriculum to learn the path to homeownership and the importance of intergenerational wealth. For the past year, facilitating this program I have reflected on my path to homeownership. It has also been fascinating to see the excitement of youth talking about homeownership. Many of them have expressed goals of flipping houses, helping their families and buying homes in the Caribbean. It was obtained through inheritance and not marriage. It has been full of dramatic circumstances and beautiful surprises. By providing our youth with knowledge through the Black Homeownership Project my hope is that they will inherit the intergenerational wealth I have and be more equipped for their journey.
On December 6, 2022 the 1st part of The Black Homeownership Multimedia Project will launch at The Garden Of Resilience. The 1st multimedia piece will feature the voices of youth explaining, “What Makes My House A Home”. The exhibit features over 70 laser cut houses in partnership with Cooper Union Summer STEM program. Inside each house there is a QR code to hear each individuals view. All of the houses are mounted on an abstract mural pallet designed by Shanice Figeroux. This project is supported by the ABNY Foundation.
