As black people, we know that C.R.E.A.M. is a timeless mantra within our community. But what are we doing with the cash that we have? Some favorable options include real estate and black-owned businesses, while a not-so-favorable option is f’in up some commas. What I do know is that as African Americans, we lack presence in the stock market. The crazy part is, we are great investors innately. Here are six reasons why no one should ever tell us otherwise.

Hip-hop music

From fashion to phrases, musicians have cultivated the way we walk, talk, and influence this nation. But one of the main components in their music has the greatest financial influence of all — wordplay. J. Cole made us think when he said, “What’s the price for a black man’s life?/I check the toe tag, not one zero in sight.” However, the investment lyrics skip our thought processes all together. With a war going on between #BlackLivesMatter and the police, Ohio rapper Stalley might be giving a hint that Smith & Wesson’s (listed on Nasdaq as SWHC) stock could be a potential buy when he says, “I’m going to war, rifles with the stock options.” Better yet, Kendrick Lamar suggest an investment strategy when he says, “401(k), make sure it’s low risk.” There are many other examples as to how hip-hop music improves our investment IQ; we just have to make sure we don’t gloss over the stocks and bonds for a pair of Gucci flip-flops. #StayWoke

Trendsetters

Tristan Walker, Founder and CEO of Walker and Company (you may know their flagship product: Bevel), once said in an interview that blacks shape the culture nationally and globally. Think about it. How many times are we going to see Tom Cruise crank dat Soulja Boy or watch Hillary Clinton whip, then nae nae? WE are global shapers and trendsetters whether we want to be or not. When we apply that power to investing, we can dictate asset movement and financial markets. I bet Michael Kors (listed on NYSE as KORS) was loving Nicki Minaj when she made every sista want the premium handbags after she shouted them out on Big Sean’s “Dance.” If we aren’t afraid to decide what designers are poppin’, then we shouldn’t be afraid when deciding to invest.

Ability to handle tough situations

Let’s be honest, no group of people can handle hard times like black folks. We damn near laugh at the face of adversity because we’ve been dealing with it for so long. As black people, we all know or have heard about the blocks of “gubment” cheese and powdered milk that was shared amongst brothers, sisters, cousins and play cousins. Nowadays, we have to deal with massive student loan debt and being stopped by the police. If we can continue to stay strong through all of that, we can develop into great investors even in down market times.

Natural born hustlers

This is a given. We were all born to “get it.” As kids we sold candy, teens we sold CD’s (compact discs, not certificates of deposit), and now as young millennials we’re entrepreneurs selling everything from social media marketing tactics to financial education and planning. If we can succeed in getting 10,000 followers on the ‘gram, I’m pretty sure we can figure out how to manage a brokerage account and index funds.

We are “in the black”…literally

You might think this is being funny, but it’s an actual financial phrase. According to Investopedia, the term “in the black” refers to a company being in good financial standing and making a profit. Therefore, we all want to be “in the black” with our finances. Our skin is rich in color so we for sure can use investing to be rich in cash.

We built Wall Street

Gregory S. Bell wrote a book in conjunction with Black Enterprise called “In the Black: A History of African Americans on Wall Street.” Within this piece, Bell depicts how New York City (then New Amsterdam) in the 1600s began to thrive as an economy and the Dutch started to fear that word would travel through the grapevine back to New England prompting them to come get their piece of the action. To stop this, slaves were forced to build a wall to protect NY from outside attacks. The wall didn’t withstand the invasion, but what was left is now known in present day as Wall Street. Yes, black people physically built Wall Street just like we built the White House. We truly built this country and Black Wall Street lives on in our ancestry and today.

I’m the Hip-Hop Stock Doc spittin’ ill rhymes that pad your pockets. Howard U’s very Own. Slide in my DM’s @black_market_exchange (IG) | @BMEX_ (Twitter) | Facebook.

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