An investment model known as community wealth building is a relatively new approach to closing the racial wealth gap, which aims for democratic ownership and puts control in the hands of people of color.
According to research from the Federal Reserve, Black and Hispanic or Latino households own only about 15 to 20 percent net wealth as the average white household. As an inclusive model of investment, community wealth building is a broad term that covers several ways in which residents can come together to invest their money, time and talent to build equity in their neighborhoods. It includes models such as community land trusts and public banks, which sit in contrast with economic models that concentrate wealth at the top.
Now, cities across the country are following successful models by designing initiatives and steering funding toward communities to move into pandemic recovery and create economic prosperity for communities of color.
"We have to own our businesses, we have to own our communities, you know, homeownership," said Teri Williams, president and chief operating officer of OneUnited Bank, and board chair of the Black Economic Council of Massachusetts. "That is really the way that we have to build wealth that builds community wealth, and that ownership provides us with a sense of control."
Watch: Basic Black "Building Community Wealth"
Local cooperatives and organizations, such as the Boston Ujima Project, are helping to provide this feeling of ownership by investing in business and arts to grow an ecosystem that confronts systemic barriers.
Nia Evans, executive director of the Boston Ujima Project, said Black and brown communities have been historically disinvested as their wealth and assets have been taken away.
"It's important that we look to models that center our needs, that center our expertise, that center our experiences, and that also acknowledge the wealth that we have created, and that acknowledge that we should have control over the wealth," Evans said.
In addition to models that center on community needs and experiences, they also need to generate consensus in a neighborhood, according to Turahn Dorsey, co-founder of the Jazz Urbane Cafe development in the historic Bolling Building, and a member of the GBH Board of Advisors.
"That consensus is much richer," Dorsey said, "and I think has a lot more work than just the dollars because now that we got a community of folks who have said to us, 'Jazz Urbane Cafe has our stamp of approval,' we know that folks are going to come through the door when it opens."
One leader in the Boston business space who also has plenty of people coming through the door is Nia Grace, owner of Darryl’s Corner Bar & Kitchen, The Underground Café + Lounge, and co-founder of the Boston Black Hospitality Coalition.
Grace's advice to others looking to own a business in Boston is to invest in what makes you happy and brings richness to the community, which is what she did with her business ventures.
"It's about something that I'm really passionate about and what I feel my community needed and provided a bright spot for it," said Grace.
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