The Critical Need to Move beyond Black Girl Magic toward Real Wealth

The overwhelming pressure placed on Black girls

“May this day (and every day) bring you rest and peace.”

Cheslie Kryst

Just hours after an Instagram post, former Miss USA, Cheslie Kryst died from an apparent suicide.

She was just 30 years old, an accomplished and renowned Lawyer MBA, a teacher, and an entertainment personality.

Cheslie has crowned Miss USA in 2019 and became part of the first group of Black women to hold titles in a single year, along with Nia Imani Franklin (Miss America), Kaliegh Garris (Miss Teen USA), and Zozibini Tunzi (Miss Universe).

Friends and family were hit by the news early Sunday, January 29, 2022. According to NY Post, sources said Kryst left behind a note stating she wanted to leave everything to her mother.

In an essay, written for Allure in March 2021, Kryst said that she “cringed” at the thought of turning 30. “Society has never been kind to those growing old, especially women… Turning 30 feels like a cold reminder that I’m running out of time to matter in society’s eyes – and it’s infuriating.”

The Wealth and Wellness Tax on Black Girls

I chose to start this blog post by acknowledging the pursuit of perfection while baring the weight of the world. Too often, we are inundated with perfect social media branding, altered physics, and the prostitution of a woman’s form while also taxing them with traditional societal norms.

What does it serve to be loved by likes and lonely when the app closes?

To get on social media and commit to the gig economy, demand equal pay, and respect while craving comfort and protection. As a black man, watching my sisters go through this, is excruciating.

“Black Girl Magic” popularized by CaShawn Thompson in 2013 was an idea, born as a way to celebrate the beauty, power, and resilience of Black women. It served as a double edge sword of impossible standards for those characterized as Basic.

This created the endless barrage of perfect measurements, clear skin, and the battle of showing enough or too much skin to be desired or to be profitable. It’s no wonder why Body Dysmorphia is on the rise in the Black community.

Additionally, Black women on the road to scholastic success ended up picking up the lion’s share of student loans while burdened with caring for aging parents. The worst part is that many Black Boomers are indebted and tapped out, which adds even more pressure on the daughters.

Unfortunately, Black Does Crack and Atlas was merely a victim of their own resilience

America continues to fail Black women, particularly in opportunities to advance our economic standing. Although black women have held the vote for the moral core of this union, on average, Black women in the US are paid 38% less than white men and 21% less than white women.

Our families continue to fail Black girls, wherein cries for help are muffled by neglect. Furthermore, Black women are enslaved by a pseudo caregivers’ life debt – a form of Hippocratic Oath to take care of mom, dad, siblings, and cousins.

Consequently, as Black women continue to endure, we need to encourage ownership of their time, their minds, and their future. Be confident in being as different as the Awkward Black Girl. Along the way sit and engage in Table Talks that matter. Directing the energy of the day around your goals, dreams, aspiration, and community.

Moreover, do not become Atlas, instead, strive to approach life with the courage of Nubia. Let us take ownership of our joy outside the constraint of whiteness and the other.

Always opt to embrace each other in kindness without the hashtag of goals. And avoid the excessive focus on Shade as an overactive verb in our community.

Reset, Re-center and Re-calibrate Black Girl Financial Magic

While we engage in the necessary Deep Work to recenter with our purpose, find ways to build sustained wealth as a means of disciplining the mind and body. It’s important to take real-time to heal versus rushing toward the healed caption. Engage even when it’s difficult to do so.

While you find that mental wealth balance, don’t forget to build those automatic financial cushions.

Here are tips to activate wealth:

• SMART+ER Objectives and Vision. Establish joyful visions of the future that aligns you with purpose over luxury.
• Create a Black Girl Wealth team consisting of at least four people. Image a squad that has a Lawyer, a Doctor, a Dentist, an Entrepreneur, a Community Advocate, a Chef, a therapist, an Accountant, and a Wealth Planner.
• Ensure your Checking account is up to par. Have enough to cover the cost of one month’s expenses, plus the cost of one unexpected expense ($1,500 minimum).
• Build a Savings account: Build up to six months of living expenses or up to a year if you want to start a business.
• Invest in your future. Look at each paycheck as an opportunity; $100 today is worth over $400 in 30 Years. It is imperative that you build up your long-term income-producing assets. You can live off the interest and dividends during retirement. Pay zero or low capital gain rates when you sell your appreciated investments.
• Don’t miss out on employer-based retirement accounts. Take advantage of contributing the maximum amount allowed by the IRS each year ($20,500 in 2022). If you’re age 50 or older, add an additional $6,500. Decide if you will contribute tax-deferred (traditional) or after-tax (Roth) or a combination of both.
• Remember to continue investing with an Individual retirement account: If you fall under the IRS’s adjusted gross income levels for IRAs, you can also sock away up to $6,000 or $7,000 if you are 50 or older.
• Learn and Use the Benefits of a Health Savings Account: You can contribute either $3,650 or $7,200 (family) tax-free annually.
• And, finally to establish yourself in a space where you are spiritually, physically, mentally, and creatively free.

Beyond the labels, the goals, and the Hashtags

It is critically important that we stop labeling Black girls, “princesses” and “queens.” The crown is unnecessary and heavy. It takes a toll on the bearer.

Let’s do away with the hashtags. In addition, let us generate authentically flawed conversations where we can be vulnerable. The Obstacle is the way.

Let us address the challenges, accept shortcomings and work on our strengths. When that is not enough and it will not be, lean into the person next to you. That’s real wealth – the ability to exist without social pressures.

To those who seek it, remember that a connection is one phone call away.

In writing this, I considered if the message is too soon… Unfortunately, it’s too late. It’s better to have the hard discussions now to save the next person. I leave you with her words, as her parting gift to the world.

My instagram is my highlight reel… but that’s all it is. A fine-tuned glimpse into a moment in time. Don’t allow what you see on here make you forget that I’m incredibly flawed; I simply chose not to share those flaws in a photo.

Cheslie Kryst

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