Yatta Kiazolu is a young, Ph.D. student at the University of Southern California who has a big red question mark over her future. Here are 8 things we need to know about Yatta Kiazolu:
Yatta Kiazolu is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Southern California (who got accepted without cheating), she is 28 years old and is set to receive her doctorate in History this fall.
She has been threatened with deportation to Liberia due to President Trump end the DED program.
Kiazolu was born in Botswana and her parents are Liberian. She’s been in the United States since she was 7 years old under the DED program. Her parents sent her to live with her grandmother in 1997 in Decatur, Georgia.
She has applied for citizenship twice. Even her grandmother, who was a U.S. Citizen, applied on her behalf, but her grandmother passed away for they could process the application.
DED (Deferred Enforced Departure) means she can study and work in the United States. It allows immigrants to stay within a nation for a designated period of time and Liberia has been under designation since 1991.
President Trump has decided to end the DED designation on March 31st; he began dismantling DED last spring because he believes Liberians don’t need protection from the U.S. any longer.
Kiazolu spoke in front of the House Judiciary Committee on March 6, 2019, as a plaintiff fighting for her right to live in the U.S.
In a statement to the House she said these words:
“My grandmother use to say, ‘When you do good, you don’t do it for yourself – you do it for God.’ And with that philosophy as my personal mantra, though the majority of my family are not permanent residents and U.S. citizents, I’m here for all working-class immigrants on DED, TPS and who are also Dream-eligible. I’m here for all young people like myself who have anxiety about their futures.”
They are photos of Renty and his daughter, Delia. They are slave photos taken in South Carolina, and they were posed shirtless and were photographed from varying angles. These images have been identified as some of the earliest photos of American slaves, and Harvard University has been profiting from the display of these photos and ignoring requests from descendants to turn over the images to family members. Tamara Lanier believes these images are of two of her ancestors. She grew up hearing stories from her mom about Renty teaching himself to read and having a secret bible while on a plantation in Columbia, South Carolina. Renty was described as “small in stature but towering in the minds of those who knew him.” Lanier has verified her genealogical connection to Renty, and says this is her great-great-great-grandfather.
Tamera Lanier has sent requests to Harvard University twice, for the images to be turned over to her, and Harvard has ignored her requests. Now, Lanier is suing this “prestigious” university for “wrongful seizure, possession and expropriation” that she says depicts her family. In her lawsuit, she is demanding that Harvard turn over these photos, acknowledge her ancestry, and pay damages of an unspecified sum. Spokesperson for Harvard, Jonathan Swain, said in a statement, “the University has not yet been served, and with that is in no position to comment on this complaint.”
These 1850 daguerreotypes, which is defined as an early type of photo, were commissioned by biologist Louis Agassiz, a Harvard biologist. In the lawsuit, it states:
“Agassiz came across these photos while touring plantations in search of racially “pure” slaves born in Africa. To Agassiz, Renty and Delia were nothing more than research specimens. The violence of compelling them to participate in a degrading exercise designed to prove their own subhuman status would not have occurred to him, let alone mattered.”
Lanier believes her ancestors have been exploited by Harvard University. They have used these photos at conferences and they require what has been called a “hefty” licensing fee, to reproduce these images. Renty’s photo can also be found in a book sold by Harvard University. In Lanier’s suit, she is also demanding that Harvard acknowledge its responsibility of humiliating Renty and Delia, and that they are “complicit in perpetuating and justifying the institution of slavery.” The suit also says that Harvard cannot legally own these photos because Agassiz didn’t have his subjects’ consent and had no right to give them to Harvard; the photos should have been given to Renty and Delia’s next of kin.
Most importantly, Lanier believes that Harvard University violates the 13th amendment which abolished slavery. Why? Because Renty would be considered a 169 year slave according to civil rights attorney, Benjamin Crump. By ignoring the descendant’s requests and making a profit from Renty and Delia, Harvard is still profiting from the free labor of slavery. Attorney Crump asks, “how long will it be before Harvard finally frees Renty?“
Lanier hopes to have the photos of her ancestors, and she wants to tell the real story of who her great-great-great-grandfather was. She also hopes this sparks a discussion on race and history. “This case is important because it will test the moral climate of this country, and force htis coutnry to reckon with its long history of racism”, Lanier said during a news conference. By ignoring Lanier’s numerous requests, Harvard is continuing to capitalize on slavery.
How do women of color, feel about investing in the stock market? For many of us, it isn’t easy because investing simply isn’t something we’ve taken to time to quite rap our arms around. If we are being honest, many of us have 401Ks and we simply let it sit there without any real understanding of what’s happening with our own money. This is why Brown Girls Do Invest is such an important organization.
We were able to make it to the Brown Girls Do Invest session held in Atlanta, Georgia. Brown Girls Do Invest is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization for African American women. Their goal is to educate and invest in stocks, bonds, real estate, and multiple incomes. The organization was launched by wealth expert and economist, Bahiyah Shabazz. What we loved most about this event is that she brought together a group of expert black women who are actually at the top of their fields. We follow many of them on social media, so it was great to sit down and have a talk with them in person.
Danielle PierceTela Holcomb
Daniele Pierce is the founder of Women, Wealth, and Real Estate . Courtney Richardson, ESQ is the founder of The Ivy Investor, and a former investment adviser. Joanna Jane is a Change Agent, and Tela Holcomb is a six-figure stock options trader, and the creator of Trade Your 9 to 5.
Women of
Courtney Richardson, ESQJoana Jane
Color Can Invest By Simply… Starting
Here are some of the biggest lessons I learned at the Brown Girls Do Invest Event: The one
thing that stops most brown girls from actually investing is that we simply never start! Perhaps it’s out of fear, perhaps we believe that we don’t actually make enough money. At the event we learned for as little as $5 on some apps, you can start investing at any time. Many of us are great talkers, or great starters, but the hardest part is – the finish. In order to get our feet wet in the investment game, we simply just have to start. By starting, we are also on our way to learning.
I also learned how to focus on my primary goal. Do I want to invest for a long-term or the short-term? How do I decide which investments are for long-term investing-instead of short-term investing. Tela Holcolm advised that we should think about the items we would still use even during a recession. Items like toilet tissue, soap, and clothing detergents are items we would buy even if we were in a recession and trying to save money. She said these are the best options for a long-term investment. You also need to determine if you are a trader or an investor. Trading is buying and selling frequently, same day, ie Day Trading or Swing Trading. Investing means that you are in it for the long haul. These are all things you need to think about.
Also, if you’re beginner like most of us at this meet-up, one of the best apps to download for beginners is the Robinhood app. It’s easy to use and its free; you also get one free stock. Another good tidbit is that Youtube is a good place to learn. Many investment gurus have their own channel; find one guru you like on Youtube who knows what they’re talking about and has receipts, and follow them. Finance.yahoo.com and planet resolution are also great resources to learn about investing. Again the important step is simply to start. As suggested by Courtney Richardson ESQ, start with the top 10 products you use. Then research those products: who makes them, who’s the president of the company, look at ancillary companies, and are they even traded on the stock exchange. Then look at what the cost is to purchase stock, and if you can afford it.
We also learned the importance of deciding if we would prefer Class A Stock – pays the fee up front, Class B Stock- you pay over time. We discussed Mutual Funds and talked about real estate investing.
Daniel Pierce, real-estate investor who runs a popular Facebook group called, Women, Wealth, and Real Estate w/ Daniel Pierce suggested, if you are flipping houses or if you know someone that flips houses and they don’t know what their ARV is, you’re doing it all wrong. She asked that we have a clear understanding of what the After Repair Value (ARV), in order to ensure that we are actually making money on a project. If you want to know all about real estate, flipping houses tax liens, join Women Wealth and Real Estate on Facebook. She also suggested these tips:
Find out where you want to invest
How much do you want to invest
Do you want to be a landlord or a flipper
learn the neighborhood
Pierce, who is probably also an expert in Tax Lien Sales offered great advice discussing some of the ins and outs of the Tax Sale game, and how we needed to be careful because just because you win a bid, in some states the property may not be yours for up to another 2 years. Meaning owners have a certain amount of time after the bid to pay their taxes and get their land back. She suggested looking for tax liens that are a year and under, and to know the rules before you bid.
It was so much we learned, and so many terms and resources! Nerd Wallet, Financial Need Analysis, SEP IRA / SIMPLE IRA, Budget Expenses and Income, BIGAUDACIOUSGOAL, Life Insurance is NOT an Investment, need a Tax specialist, Financial Advisor, Real Estate specialist, 529, annuities-variable/fixed! It was enough info for everyone to go out and do the research we need to do in order to get our financial and investment lives on track.
It was truly a great discussion and these gurus are still on the Brown Girls Do Invest tour. Check them out in a city near you, and focus on getting your coins together!
So how many of you are trying diligently to get rid of your student debt? How many of you have simply given up at trying to ever get rid of that thing? Now, how many of you have decided to take advantage of the various government incentives that allow you to get rid of some, if not all of your student debt? If you’ve raised your hands to any of these questions, then Trump’s latest attempt at getting rid of student loan forgiveness may cause you to worry.
Trump’s 2020 budget is looking grim for middle and working class people. Student loans plague this country, and it’s been this way for decades. As of 2018, 42.2 million Americans owed $1.41 trillion in outstanding federal student loans. Students and former students in the U.S. have taken on loans for more then they can bare, just to simply get a regular career which very often doesn’t allow room to pay off student loan debt in a timely manner. With the 2020 Budget Proposal, paying off debt may become harder to accomplish in the future.
For 2020, there is a 10% decline in funding compared to 2019. One of the main goals for the budget is to, “strike a balance between students’ needs and taxpayer interests” and to “reduce student loan debt“; they are also looking to make higher education more affordable, and “reduce government role for the Federal government in education.”
Specifically, one proposal is to end the “Public Service Loan Foregiveness” program. This is a frequently used incentive created by George W. Bush that forgives federal student loans for borrowers who are employed full time in a state/local public service job or 501(c)(3), and who also make 120 eligible/timely payments over a 10 year period. This would only impact people borrowing money starting July 1, 2020; this does not include anyone eligible under and older loan. Yes this will save the Federal government money, however this will not save students. This could actually prevent students from going into any of these service-related fields.
The next proposal is to change the Federal Student Loan Repayment program. Instead of a varying array of income-driven repayment plans, Trump proposes one simple repayment plan, capped at 12.5% of your income. After 15 years of payments, any additional payment would be forgiven on undergrad and after 30 years of payments, graduate loans would be forgiven. This plan would reduce confusion on current loan choices. This choice would help undergrad students sooner, which could be a good thing if they are able to keep up with their payments.
Trump would also end Subsidized Student Loans. Subsidized loans are loans where the federal government pays the interest cost on federal student loans, while the student is enrolled in school. This will save the government a large sum of money. However, if they end the government subsidy program, costs to attend college will become more expensive because students will now be responsible for that interest.
How close are we to having this bill passed? No one can be sure, it us under review and will not automatically become a law. The President has proposed this bill, however only Congress can pass the bill, so stay tuned.
There’s a weird thing going on within the World Wide Web right now, and it’s sort of disturbing. People have often discussed how music, television, and movies and influenced the behaviors and personalities of young people. However, has anyone noticed how young people are working hard to try to act, speak, and simply be like the people they see in memes and on Instagram. In a world where it may be difficult to simply navigate figuring out who you are and where you stand, it can become easy to not only be influenced, but start to mimic the people and images you see regularly online. However, if you are creating your personality based on social media influencers and memes that you see online, just stop; and here’s why.
Now, this isn’t Imposter Syndrome, which is a fear that you will be exposed as a fraud. This is simply people trying hard to create a persona that isn’t authentic in order to get likes, views, and shares; most of the time, they aren’t even doing it for money! For example, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with posting about twerking, right? However, are you posting this type of content because this is who you really are, or are you posting this because you’ve seen the attention other people receive, and you’re trying to get the same type of attention? Are you really the successful entrepreneur that you claim to be online, or are you posting because you’re trying to mimic the account of some social media influencer? Are you really bout that life, or are you just a gangsta on social media, but not particularly that way if someone were to approach you on the street in “real life”. Is the advice you give a reflection of the lifestyle you lead, or are you trying to give advice when you don’t really even have your own life together? Are you really who you POST?
Stop Trying to be Cardi, and Be YOU
Here’s a fun fact. People like Cardi B, who went from being an Instagram/Twitter sensation, to an actual mega star was able to become who she is by simply being her authentic self online. People like Charlemagne tha god took what he already had, a big personality, and stayed his authentic self; which led to them having successful careers. Even Supa Cent, who gathered an online following by being herself, telling personal stories, and gaining followers who had no problem spending much coin when she decided to launch her successful makeup company. The key here is that these people were AUTHENTIC. The fun fact is that authenticity and fake both show up through your social media posts; and people are smart enough to tell the difference.
That’s right, if you are not really being your true self – it shows; even if no one is telling you. You are not fooling anyone; you are simply and slowly playing yourself. No, no one is asking you to reveal every detail of your life online, but if what you’re sharing is not really you, but really a person you wish you were, eventually that persona is going to come crashing down. Which is why it pays to simply be yourself.
Be yourself. Of course it sounds cliche’, but in the madness of this social media era, it’s more important than ever to find your true voice and make sure that shines beyond anything else. You may not believe it, but once you start to develop your authentic voice, people will find you more trusting and more relatable. So please, ditch the fake persona – it’s not working.
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