"Bitcoin is still really new… look at the reality of what’s going on, it makes perfect sense for there to be an unregulated peer-to-peer currency that people can exchange goods and services, without it being linked to a central bank. It’s no ulterior motive. It’s honest, between the two parties and the transaction is transparent. So, where is the flaw in that?”

Rapper Ermias “Nipsey Hussle” Asghedom said that a few years before he was gunned down in 2019. He took 10 shots to his chest and abdomen. His vision to bring bitcoin into the Black community was never fully realized.

Not until now.

“Bitcoin & Black America” is a book by cryptocurrency enthusiast Isaiah Jackson.

Jackson explores bitcoin through the angle of the Black community and how they could meaningfully benefit from it. Moreover, how bitcoin is the ticket to financial literacy that Black America desperately needs right now.

Speaking as a relatively new crypto investor, learning about bitcoin over the last year taught me more about technology, cryptography, financial systems, economics and politics than I’ve ever learned in my entire life, let alone four years of college. I’m sure many of you can relate.

The reason this ticket to financial literacy is so important for the Black community, however, is because we’ve consistently been burned by banks and bad financial habits.

Pawns in the financial game

“I told America’s Black community to load up on Bitcoin in 2011. If they had, they’d be able to buy the white community by now.” — Max Keiser, host of the Keiser Report

Financial success doesn’t come easy to a Black person. We can blame discrimination and racism, but we also have to self-reflect.

Malcolm X and Martin Luther King’s dream of developing a self-sustaining Black community is dead. Welfare and affirmative action killed it.

As Jackson points out in his book, the circulation of the Black dollar is almost non-existent compared to other communities. The Asian dollar is estimated to circulate 120 times more than the Black dollar which stays in our community an average of 6 hours.

Little Italy, Koreatown, and Chinatown are all neighborhoods I frequent in New York City. They’re always booming. However, over in Harlem — once a Black mecca filled with parties, clubs, and food so good you’d slap your momma — has eroded completely. “It isn’t what it used to be,” as my 84-year-old grandmother mournfully quips.

Here’s what Jackson points out about the Black community:

• Poverty: Black households have the lowest median wealth amongst races in America. Our median wealth has stayed the same since the 1960s.
• Corruption: In July 2012, Wells Fargo was found guilty for making more than 30,000 Black and Latino applicants pay a higher mortgage or accept subprime loans despite even qualifications with their white counterparts.
• More Corruption: Bank of America did the same, and was found guilty of it in 2011. Additionally, two years later, they were found guilty of rejecting and discriminating against Black people in the workforce. (Sadly enough, when Googling similar cases all you have to do is replace the names of the bank and you’ll find more examples).
• Self-Responsibility: Only 36% of Black Americans participate in the stock market, which includes a 401k, compared to 60% for those of a white racial background.

Bitcoin bailout

My roommate saw “Bitcoin & Black America” on my desk and didn’t understand the connection.

“What do the two have in common?” he asked.

For me, it seemed obvious before I even opened the book. Black America needs a bailout. Not from the government. Not through stimulus checks, not through welfare nor affirmative action. Bitcoin is our bailout.

Bitcoin is a fundamental philosophical change to money. Price predictions aside, bitcoin gives power back to people. This is why I’m always over the moon to talk about it. I’ve never been so optimistic about technology nor economics in my entire life!

Bitcoin is a ticket to financial literacy which, in turn, is a ticket to financial freedom.

Learning and investing in bitcoin and ethereum will enable you to live a financially comfortable life. I truly do believe that.

Steps to take now

“I also accept Bitcoin.”

Saying this is the first major step to take. Whether you run an online business, thrift store, pizzeria, pastor a church, write listicles, or are a pornstar; let the world know you accept bitcoin.

Not only do you get paid in a digital currency that is bound to multiply in price — as the world deals with inflation, money printing, and corruption — you have the added benefit of educating others.

When someone sees that you accept bitcoin, they’ll ask you what it’s all about. If you explain its most basic concepts with enough clarity and fervor you just might convince them to buy some.

Then, they might tell someone else. Maybe their entire family; maybe a group of friends. They’ll also tell someone, and that person will tell 10 people. Little by little they’ll tell the entire world. The fascination for bitcoin hits hard. It happened to me. It happened to you. There are many more people like us out there.

Today, meanwhile, less than 2% of the world owns bitcoin. Let’s not let the privilege that we know about it this early go to waste, especially if you’re a part of a disenfranchised minority.

I implore you to read Isaiah Jackson’s book. Never did I imagine it would become the Bitcoin 101 that I’d lend to everyone. But I’m glad it did.