Gospel

(ThyBlackMan.com) Emotional spending rarely announces itself as an emotional decision. It often looks practical in the moment. You had a difficult day, so ordering dinner feels reasonable. You feel bored, so browsing for a new outfit seems harmless. You are disappointed, so buying something for yourself feels like a small form of comfort. A review of common budget categories can show where your money went, but categories alone cannot explain […]

(ThyBlackMan.com) I remember the night in November 2008 when grown Black men in my circle wept without any shame at all. One of our own stood before the world as our incoming president, and a thing we had been raised to believe impossible suddenly breathed. That moment mattered. It still does. Yet somewhere down the road, something crept into our thinking. We began measuring our whole worth against one man […]

(ThyBlackMan.com) The Philadelphia Eagles have a notable history of Black quarterbacks for their franchise. A generation before Jalen Hurts won a Super Bowl as the starting QB, Donovan McNabb was the face of the franchise during the 2000s, and the Eagles have even had two of the most unique QB talents in both Randall Cunningham and Michael Vick. This summer, the city of Philadelphia hosted another former NFL Black quarterback, […]

(ThyBlackMan.com) There is a moment on election night when the winner steps to the microphone and tells you, without saying it plainly, how he wants to be understood. Byron Donalds had his moment this week. He stood on that Orlando stage with his wife and three sons behind him, and he never once mentioned that a candidate built like him had never sat in the governor’s mansion up in Tallahassee. […]

(ThyBlackMan.com) Risk Is the Price of Staying in the Game A lot of people hear the phrase “spread your risk” and picture a strategy built around caution, retreat, or playing defense. But that is not really what diversification does. It does not remove uncertainty from life, investing, or even everyday money decisions. What it does is make uncertainty survivable. That distinction matters, because the goal is not to avoid every […]

(ThyBlackMan.com) Come the eleventh of August, Gary lost power, and for thousands of households the lights still had not flickered back on more than a week down the line. A derecho came barreling through Northwest Indiana that night. Winds got up near 100 miles an hour, and they snapped utility poles and dumped century old trees onto people’s roofs. Seven people died across Indiana as the storms and flooding unfolded. […]

(ThyBlackMan.com) Say the words Martha’s Vineyard to somebody who came up when I did, and watch what their mind conjures. Old money. Doctors and lawyers with summer homes handed down like heirlooms. The Obamas strolling near the water. For decades that picture held, and there was truth in it. Oak Bluffs earned its reputation as a refuge for the accomplished and the well connected, a stretch of shore where our […]

(ThyBlackMan.com) When a government agency comes to an internet service provider demanding information about Americans because of what they have said on social media, the provider should discard the demand, close the door or hang up the phone. The government is not entitled to rummage through the political opinions, associations, criticisms and angry rhetoric of anyone merely because a government official finds those opinions offensive, threatening to an agency’s reputation […]

(ThyBlackMan.com) There’s an old saying: Those who can, do; those who can’t, teach. A similar idea underscores the debate over wealth taxes in California and elsewhere: Those who can, build companies. Those who can’t, devise ways for the government to take shares in what others have built. This new version might sound unfair until you listen to Rep. Ro Khanna’s (D-Calif.) pitch for an allegedly onetime, 5% wealth tax on […]