The Journey Continues … Life After Private Equity
It’s June 2005. This young man was a bright-eyed 26 year old who had reached a pinnacle of academic achievement not seen in my family. I received an MBA from a fancy Ivy League institution. I believed that this fancy education and a little hard work would be the key to financial freedom, prosperity, and that it would move us one step closer to racial equity. I thought capital and business was going to liberate Blacks.
15 years later, I’ve become wiser and realized that this accomplishment was but a mere drop in the ocean of what’s necessary to achieve true racial equity. I’ve learned there are not enough degrees available to wipe away a 400 year atrocity that has extracted value and denied opportunity to Blacks in this country. I realize that our current form of capitalism provided the justification for slavery, Jim Crow, Redlining, the Prison Industrial complex, and countless other policies and structures designed to limit Blacks from making progress and achieving an equitable existence in this country.
We are told to just try harder, yet on the other side, there are those still trying to prevent our advancement. It’s like we are swimming in place caught in a rip current, expending tremendous amounts of energy to go nowhere as a collective. Sure a few of us “make it” but that’s not enough. We’re still seeing “firsts” in too many areas. After the first, what about being the ONLY. What about when the institution says “we have enough Blacks now!”
I am very thankful my parents encouraged a solid education. I still think education is important. However, I now realize that while my success is an example of what’s POSSIBLE, it is in no way representative of what’s PROBABLE!
On Friday, November 20, 2020, I embark on a new journey where I’m leaving the comfort of a steady (and substantial) paycheck in an industry that has continued to shun Blacks and other people of color (jobs, leadership roles, allocations of capital, limited VC funding for entrepreneurs, etc).
I encourage you all to challenge what you’ve been told about the keys to addressing these issues. There is no one perfect answer, but I’ve come to the conclusion that simply making as much money as possible is NOT the solution for me. I want to say a tremendous thank you to all who’ve reached out to chat and discuss further. I also want to thank everyone who refuses to accept things as they are and is doing the work to challenge these systems!
#RacialEquity #SharecroppertoShareholder #PossibilityVsProbability #OwnershipMatters
