The pandemic has not always been kind to some Black millennials still reeling from financial fallouts including job loss, a shaky economy, and all while juggling multiple responsibilities with the pandemic still running the background as death tolls are still on the rise.
The pandemic, however, didn’t touch the whole demographic (ages 26 to 41 in 2022) entirely in the same way.
According to pewresearch.org, the impact of COVID-19 hit Black Americans differently based on their education level, and age group as older individuals fared a bit better off than those with lower levels of education and younger Black adults.
However, almost half of Black adults said in the article that the economic result of the pandemic will still cause setbacks in reaching their financial goals down the road, especially after four-in-10 Black adults live in households that have lost jobs or wages since March 2020.
Where the Rubber Meets the Road
For local Black millennials like Roland ‘Ro Spit’ Coit, the pandemic actually shined upon him and his business favorably.
As a business leader looking to change the game as a wealth builder, Coit is growing his empire one shoe store at a time, which customers have influenced through the massive support of his business.
Coit, owner of Burn Rubber Sneaker Boutique in Royal Oak, opened its sister store, Two18, 1400 Fisher Fwy in Detroit, on February 18 and is calls Eastern Market its new home.
Two18 (a culmination of 15 years of growth) continues the legacy of the Burn Rubber brand and will feature a similar concept as its predecessor.
“We’re looking forward, looking into the future. What you know about Burn Rubber, we’re leaving that as nostalgia for our customers and supporters,” said Coit in a press release.
Coit, 42, told the Michigan Chronicle that while the pandemic impacted his business positively and allowed him to open his second store and expand on online sale options. He still keeps pushing, however, because his mindset revolves around being in a position to help others and building on a legacy that was not always chartered out for him and his fellow Black peers.
“My friends – we’ve had these in-depth conversations recently and … I feel like our generation is breaking the cycle,” Coit, a father of two daughters, said, adding that Black children, for the most part, did not grow up with a mapped-out plan of how to become successful. “(We’re just trying) to make it a little bit easier for them to get things going when it is their time.”
Everyone’s time might look different when it comes to readying themselves for greater financial wealth, but according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, some things look the same. By 2019, millennial White families had accumulated a total wealth of about $88,000, in comparison with $22,000 for millennial Hispanic families and $5,000 for millennial Black families.
“Black families were a staggering 52% below wealth expectations,” St. Louis Fed senior researcher Ana Kent Hernández said in her data analysis.
Ebony reported, though, not surprisingly that debt “plays a huge factor” in the wealth-building department and Black college graduates owe about $25,000 more in student debt than their White counterparts. Also, 48% of Black students owe 12.5% more than the original amount of their borrowed loans due to interest rates.
“The wealth gap between young African Americans and whites is abysmal, and clearly shows that things really haven’t changed when it comes to the segregation of race and economics in the United States,” Carl H. Joseph-Black, J.D. is the founder of The Dime and The Blacklist Social Club, said in the Ebony article.
Many know that wealth-building starts at home, but economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (who looked into how Black, Hispanic and White millennial families secured their wealth between 2007 and 2019) showed that from material goods to debt — Black millennials are lagging.
While playing catch up might look different for everyone, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, some things look abysmally the same. By 2019, millennial White families had accumulated a total wealth of about $88,000, in comparison with $22,000 for millennial Hispanic families and $5,000 for millennial Black families.
“Black families were a staggering 52% below wealth expectations,” St. Louis Fed senior researcher Ana Kent Hernández said in her data analysis.
Ebony reported, though, not surprisingly that debt “plays a huge factor” in the wealth-building department and Black college graduates owe about $25,000 more in student debt than their White counterparts. Also, 48% of Black students owe 12.5% more than the original amount of their borrowed loans due to interest rates.
“The wealth gap between young African Americans and whites is abysmal, and clearly shows that things really haven’t changed when it comes to the segregation of race and economics in the United States,” Carl H. Joseph-Black, J.D. is the founder of The Dime and The Blacklist Social Club, said in the Ebony article.
Delivering on a Promise
Amazon Delivery Partner Jaren Kirkland, a 23-year-old Brownstown native, is making waves in his own lane as a young entrepreneur that’s making history and establishing his legacy as one of the youngest business owners in history to partner with Amazon.
As the owner of his own transportation business, Duality Ventures (since 21 years old) graduated from high school at the tender age of 16 years old and followed in the footsteps of his entrepreneurial father by establishing his own transportation business via Amazon’s Delivery Service Partner (DSP) program. His father is a DSP that currently operates in Southeast Michigan. As a DSP, Jaren delivers packages on behalf of Amazon throughout Washington D.C. and surrounding areas, where he moved shortly after graduation.
Over the last two years, Jaren has grown his business from employing 12 drivers to 80 drivers. He has coached employees that have been with him since day one and promoted them to management, all while creating a sustainable and profitable business.
“What I value most about being a DSP is that I have an opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives through employment. There are those who may consider it daunting for someone at my age, but I’m honored to be able to lead a team of 80 and demonstrate that Generation Z has so much to offer,” Kirkland said.
Kirkland, who lives in Marilyn, told the Michigan Chronicle that his mother gave him an early “push” to strive for success starting in elementary school and encouraged him to do his homework before playing, which helped him to skip a grade.
“That put me in a trajectory of (being the) youngest person in the room,” he said adding that being young and “unapologetically Black” is allowing him to live out his dreams now. “To my peers, I would say, with all respect to the older generations, we as a people get better with time.”
Kirkland said that he is upping the ante on his dreams now to incorporate even bigger dreams and push onto what’s next while holding onto his authentic self.
“I think that helps me stand out and makes a difference and attracts people that work with me and alongside of me,” Kirkland said. “We owe that to ourselves and people looking up to us and coming after us so we can open the door for them as well.”
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