BUILDING BLACK DYNASTIES: HOW BLACK FAMILIES CAN CREATE BETTER ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE NEXT THREE GENERATIONS

Dr. LaTanya White

Research shows that America’s wealth gap was established and continues to widen through structural racism, legal segregation, and systemic oppression, leaving the average Black household with 1/10 the wealth of the average white American household. It has also been found that entrepreneurship provides an accelerated pathway to wealth building. It is important to note that neither the difference in the number of Black entrepreneurs compared to other ethnic groups nor the amount of income that Black-owned bus- inesses generate compared to other groups is what contributes to the huge gap in household wealth between Black and white America. It is the transfer of wealth that does so.

Most people think that generational wealth is going to be the game changer for Black entrepreneurs and their families. The truth is, our high-net worth (HNW) and ultra-high-net worth (UHNW) counterparts are not focused on transferring financial wealth to the next generation they are building entrepreneurial dynasties. They are building dynasties that focus on transferring FIVE forms of wealth in FOUR different directions for THREE consecutive generations...it's time for Black and Hispanic families to do the same.

A family reaches dynastic status once the business or the wealth has been controlled in the family for three consecutive generations. It is impossible to plan for the next three generations without talking about money and death two things that the average Black family does not talk about until it is too late. Dynastic Wealth™ is a model for wealth-building that situates the Black experience in the context and in conversations about providing for our grandchildren’s grandchildren.

It encompasses the lived experience and ancestral narrative of Black and African American entrepreneurs, including structural racism and the everyday cost of being Black in America. It takes our culture beyond generational wealth and prompts us to establish Financial Wealth, envision Spiritual Wealth, record the Wealth of Knowledge, invest in Intellectual Wealth, and develop Relational Wealth.

By building Black dynasties, we not only preserve the family recipes, but we also package the family history and protect the family’s assets. We develop family identity and create family constitutions to govern our family trust vehicles. We transfer wealth down to our children, across to our siblings and cousins and, most importantly, we can transfer five different forms of wealth up to our parents, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. We go from family reunions to Family Retreats. We don’t just create legacies, we teach future generations how to Build Black Dynasties.