Connecting the fight for financial freedom to the fight for true equality
David is from Smyrna, Tennessee heading to Rice University to study Finance. His parents moved from the Bahamas to Nashville for a better life, and his work as an ambassador centers on the intersection of racial discrimination, cost of living, and financial health — especially in the Southern communities he knows firsthand.
"Financial health is more important than I initially realized, and it drives so many of people's actions. What financial health means to me is having the legroom to not worry daily about being crushed by the systems that should be providing you with the flexibility and ability to maintain a manageable financial life. A lack of financial health leads to poor decisions."
Financial stress has always been a concern in my family. Lack of job opportunities for immigrants, raised barriers for jobs, and the inflation rate's rapid rise has caused my parents to switch jobs and sometimes go unemployed for months. I love Black history and racial studies, but we are at such a disadvantage that it sometimes pains me physically. Unpacking the state of my people's financial health can lead down a long way: why so many in low-income housing are forced to sell drugs; the 'basketball, football, or bust' epidemic among boys who look just like me.
A financial health barrier in my community is cost of living. Hands down, that has to be the number one barrier. People have been coming here from the West and North at such a rapid rate that it's skyrocketed. Gentrification has also crippled financial health. I get so angry at the intersection of racial discrimination with cost of living. Whenever we pass by the area in Nashville where we used to live, and see the new, expensive apartments, there isn't much else to say but, 'Gentrification.'
I think community events and student organizations is where I'll thrive. A passion of mine has been to connect the fight for financial freedom to the fight for true equality. I always look to the Black Panther Party as sort of a standard: truly helping the surrounding African American community to unpack their financial trauma and supporting their wellbeing along the way. Texas is pretty expensive, too, just like Tennessee has become, and there are so many barriers in the South for people of color, especially. I would just want to advocate for both issues, and write articles about the intersection of those two subjects.
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