DIVA ON A DIME – Wealth isn’t characterized by Income and Spending Alone

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Last February, I posted a blog, “Meet Miss Recessionista.”

It spoke to how women are “holding it down” – surviving the economic crunch, shifting priorities and doing the same (and in some cases, more) with less.

One year later, surviving in a tough economic climate is still prevalent among all consumers, but especially African-Americans.

While unemployment declined to 8.5%, African-American unemployment rose to 15.8%.

Taking nothing away from my brothers, it is fact that sisters are more actively involved and engaged in the shopping process.

To that point, there is an article, “Living Large On Less,” in the February issue of ESSENCE Magazine.

The cover “tease” boasts DIVA ON A DIME – How You Can Do More With Less.

Part of an on-going series, the article examines

“…how women are spending and saving in these uncertain times. Three ESSENCE readers – a teacher, an accountant and an entrepreneur – give up the goods on how to afford the the things you love.”

Check it out.

The Promise of Prosperity

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For as far back as I can recall, black-eyed peas and collard greens have been an essential part of every New Year’s celebration.

Some eat them on New Year’s Eve.

Others, New Year’s Day.

I do both.

And I know that I am not alone.

It is a tradition.

A southern tradition with tentacles that reach every corner.

Eating collards and black-eyed peas on the first day of the year invites a prosperous year ahead.

The “greens” represent dollar bills.

The swelling of the cooking peas symbolizes prosperity.

In full disclosure, I will honor the tradition welcoming 2012.

I will take shortcuts…with the help of Goya and Wegman’s, but I will honor the tradition.

Happy New Year.

I wish you good health, the love and support of family, good friends, dollar bills and prosperity.

The Lipstick Index

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Those who know me are aware of the correlation I continually draw between the economy and the use of lipstick.

In an economic downturn, lipstick becomes an affordable indulgence and luxury that many women rely on, not only to look good, but to empower and alleviate, if only temporarily, economic pressure and despair.

Turns out lipstick is just the beginning. Nails and hair are also a part of the equation!

Halfway around the world, in Spain, the Lipstick Effect is in full effect- Click this link for the full article, “The Salon index as Spain’s Economic Indicator”

Avoiding the Cracks…

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There was a frighteningly sobering editorial in the November 23, 2011 New York Times.

The Poor, The Near Poor and You.

As my friend Scott Manning eloquently points out:

“In the good old days, no one would give a second look at folks making $50,000/year with two cars…and, if something happened, they would fall through the cracks, and that would be that, and no one would notice. The reality is that today there are a whole lot more folks standing over the crack about to fall in and, finally, we are all starting to notice.”

The History of the African-American Funeral Director and the Fight for Civil Rights and Racial Intregration

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“To Serve the Living: Funeral Directors & the African American Way of Death” is not merely a book about the history of death.

It is much more.

It is a history of African-American entrepreneurship.

At its core, “To Serve the Living” is about African-American funeral directors.

They were pioneering entrepreneurs in a largely segregated trade, economically independent and not beholden to the local white power structure.

More importantly, their financial freedom gave them the ability to support the struggle for civil rights and to serve the living as well as bury the dead.

“These entrepreneurs had both the financial resources and the prestige as leaders of their respetive communities to stand at the forefront of the formative campaigns for civil rights…”

The financial and political clout of African-American funeral directors provided them with a stature that could coalesce the community on points of relevance ranging from voter registration to community empowerment. This is a testament to their resilience, fortitude and pioneering spirit in times when such qualities in African-Americans were challenged and often times resulted in bodily harm or death.

In a September 2011 C-Span interview, the book’s author Dr. Suzanne E. Smith points out the impact, viability and prominence of the African-American funeral director, from antebellum slavery to today

“…[P]rimarily, barber shops, beauty shops and funeral homes have remained largely segregated…[F]or the most part there is a loyalty in the African-American community to the African-American funeral director.”

Click here for the C-Span interview