Tired of being `hood rich - For Brothers Only

Ebony, August, 2002 by Kevin Chappell

WELL, after much thought, I did it. I went out the other day and bought $1,000 worth of CDs. That's right, I dropped a grand in a matter of minutes. After seeing so much new material out there, I figured it wouldn't hurt if I splurged a bit, treated myself right.

In the past, I would have eagerly showed off these CDs to my buddies, bragging to them about what I had that they didn't have. But this time I didn't. Because these CDs are not compact disks released by artists who will be has-beens a year from now. They're Certificates of Deposit released by Fortune 500 companies, investments that will bring a new kind of music to my ears when they mature in 12 months.

You see, that's how I'm rolling nowadays. I no longer need the latest material stuff. I no longer need the latest music, the latest kicks, the latest model ride, the best clothes. Now I'm more interested in saving than spending, investing not splurging, receiving interest instead of paying interest.

Don't get me wrong. There's nothing wrong with living lavishly ever so often. There's nothing wrong with indulging yourself every once in a while. Pay yourself first, that's what all of the psychologists say. But too many of us pay ourselves first, second, third and last. Heck, we even pay ourselves with money we don't have, with somebody else's money.

I call it being `hood rich, ghetto fabulous. It's a "bling-bling" mentality that has many of us needlessly living paycheck to paycheck, week to week. On the outside, we look like a million bucks. But on the inside, we are never able to exhale, never able to move to the next level. Inside, we are never able to enjoy life, I mean really enjoy life, the kind of enjoyment you get when don't have bills and notes and payments hanging over your head.

For Brothers caught up in this `hood-rich mentality, many times it becomes a vicious cycle, a way of life that sucks them in and quickly sucks them dry. Once you're in, you have to keep up, you have to keep maintaining, you have to keep representing. Because once you roll up in a $50,000 automobile, it's hard to go economy a few years later. Once you bust out with the $200 sneakers, it's hard to downgrade to the $50 variety.

And it's not just some of us Brothers caught up in the perpetration. Some Sisters are rolling the same way. And there are some White folks out there who are blinging with the best of them. (I saw a White guy the other day with a mouth full of gold teeth.)

In fact, I don't think race and gender play any role in how we roll. Much of our mentality is picked up from who we roll with, family and friends and co-workers and complete strangers. Most of us want to be like the people who look like they have it going on. Those people, or rather their material possessions, become our standard, our goal.

The problem lies in the fact that while we can see the car, see the clothes, see the jewelry, the crib and the cash of the `hood-rich Brother, we can't see the bonds the Brother who really has it going on. We can't see the property he owns. We can't see his 401k, his IRA, his MBA. We can't see the inner peace he feels because he knows his well-laid plans are working to perfection, his sacrifices are paying off. We can't see the inner peace his family feels because his children's education is already paid for, his elderly parents are being taking care of, and his wife is working because she wants to, not because she has to.

You see, I want to have a plan, a master plan for the next decade and beyond. I want to lay a solid foundation for my future before I begin investing in the pretty wall-paper and expensive paintings to cover it. And starting out, I know my master plan won't include the top-of-the-line luxury car, the platinum and diamond watch, the designer Italian suits. Wish it did. But it won't. I know it won't. And you know what? I'm okay with that.

Because greater than my desire to have those things (and we all have a desire to have nice things) is my fear of not taking it to the next level, of not using my money, my mind and my available resources to move myself, and my family, to a more financially secure status. Life is all about choices, making good choices now to give you more--and better--choices later.

I don't want to have to write these columns when I'm an old man because back in the day, I lived for the day and never gave much thought about the future. I don't to be sitting behind a computer 50 years from now writing something like: "Brother, I remember when I was young, I used to be the cleanest Brother around."

That's it. Slumped over my keyboard. I'm gone. Finished. History. "Get him out of here," they would say. "That deadbeat couldn't even finish his column."

That's not the way I want to go out. When I'm an old man, I want to be sitting on a beach somewhere, counting my ggggggggs in-between getting some zzzzzzzzs. When I'm an old man, I want to be cruising around town, bling-blinging with the best of them. That's when I want to be the epitome of 'hood rich, ghetto fabulous.