LaTanya White

Beyond Generational Wealth: Black Women in the U.S. Building Wealth Dynasties

LaTanya White, Ph.D., M.B.A.

CEO & Founder, Concept Creative Group LLC

 

The largest transfer of wealth in American history is looming ahead, further concentrating economic power into fewer and fewer hands. Unless Black women have the tools to take drastically different measures that will result in wealth equality, the importance of Black communities—especially those in key states throughout the U.S.— will continue to be squeezed into the slimmest margins of the global economy. 

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Generational wealth is celebrated as an economic game changer at the same time that research shows that our high net worth (HNW) and ultra-high-net worth (UHNW) counterparts are not focused merely on transferring financial wealth to the next generation. They are building, transferring, and inheriting wealth dynasties (Collins & Hoxie, 2018). 

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By academic definition, a family reaches dynastic status after three consecutive generations of control of their wealth and assets (Jaffe & Lane, 2004). These families are known to cultivate five forms of wealth, not just financial wealth. To be sure though, without Financial Wealth, there will never be a dynasty. Black wealth creation through building (Quadrini, 1999) or buying a business, the strategic use of cash-value life insurance, long-term stock investing, or through other proven means is the basis of rewriting Black history and owning our power. What most of our communities understand as generational wealth is the equivalent of only one form of wealth in building Dynastic WealthTM (White, n.d.). 

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The next most salient form of wealth that Black women must lead our families in creating is Spiritual Wealth. While not necessarily couched in religion, Spiritual Wealth is the idea that the work that Black women are doing—this generative work—is for something greater than ourselves: The future of our families, the improvement of our communities, and the betterment of the Black lived experience. 

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Through Spiritual Wealth, we understand that there is a greater purpose to be served than merely financial gain. Envisioning Spiritual Wealth requires that the family come together to discuss and document the Family Identity, Family Values, and Family Vision for Wealth. This heavy and heart-centered work will be futile unless it is properly packaged, protected, and passed down. Dynastic families translate these ideas into their family constitutions which become the governing language of their Family Trust that is reinforced during their annual Family Retreat. 

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At a Dynastic Wealth™ Family Retreat, each generation has a designated role. The youngest generation ceremoniously opens the Family Retreat by reading the Family Constitution. This reinforces for that generation from whence they came (King James Version, Hebrews 11.15). 

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This is identity construction. It provides those youngest members of the family (possibly Generation Alpha and Generation Z) a deep sense of belonging that they do not need to seek from social media or popular culture. In the next generation up, Millennials and Generation X family members are likely to lead the family’s investment portfolio analysis posing questions like “What did we earn this year? What did we lose and what did we learn?” 

The Baby Boomers of the family are most likely going to be reviewing requests for distributions from the family trust, which for many of us first-generation Black wealth creators might take anywhere between 5-10 years to mature. While every member has equal access to the trust funds, equal opportunity is not implied. These fiduciary agents of the family are objectively assessing how the requested funds will be used, how the trust and the family will experience recompense —through quantitative and qualitative returns—and how active the family member has been in contributing to the success of the family overall. 

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For those of us that are blessed to have four or five living generations in our families, these “great” grandparents are members of the Silent Generation. They were born between 1928 and 1945 and were children of the Great Depression and World War II. This generation will likely be standing aside literally enjoying the fruits of their labor. 

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Imagine the Wealth of Knowledge coursing through your veins and flowing through the room when we elevate and amplify the rich wisdom and insight from the lived experience of our family members. Knowing where everyone’s passion, skills, and abilities creates pathways for the family to invest in Intellectual Wealth. This is where, collectively, the family helps each member to self-actualize through a literal investment in each other. Whether it be a financial or emotional investment, it is a concerted effort to aid others in the family developing themselves and reaching self-mastery in areas that are important to them. 

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Finally, there is the development of Relational Wealth, where the strength of relationships within one’s family and community advances economic mobility. Building Relational Wealth creates social capital, provides entrepreneurial exposure, facilitates leadership development and introduces service and philanthropy—all within the safe and healthy confines of the family. Figure 1 provides a visual model of the evidence-based framework for Building Dynastic Wealth. 

 

 

Figure 1. White’s framework for building Black dynasties through Dynastic WealthTM (2021). 

The model for Dynastic WealthTM cries out to honor Black ancestors, the pain they felt being ripped from their families, and the fear, doubt, and insecurity that often plague Black wealth creators today as vestiges of racialized trauma (Degruy-Leary, 2017). It is contrary to the idea that generational wealth and financial assets are the only thing that Black women, Black families, and Black communities need to focus on to level the economic playing field. 

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The model for Dynastic WealthTM truly gives us the tools for owning our power. From research on the impact of structural racism on the Black entrepreneurial experience (White, 2022), we learn why entrepreneurial equity is essential. Applying the evidence-based framework of Dynastic WealthTM, we know that we will not be erased but we must go beyond generational wealth: It is time that we begin building Black dynasties. 

 

References:

Collins, C., & Hoxie, J. (2018). Billionaire Bonanza: Inherited Wealth Dynasties of the United 

States. Institute for Policy Studies. https://ips-dc.org/wpcontent/uploads/2018/11/Billionaire-Bonanza-2018-Report-October-2018-1.pdf  

 

Degruy-Leary, J. (2017). Post-traumatic Slave Syndrome: America’s Legacy of Enduring Injury. Portland, OR: Joy DeGruy Publications Inc.
 

Jaffe, D. T., & Lane, S. H. (2004). Sustaining a family dynasty: Key issues facing complex multigenerational business‐and investment‐owning families. Family Business Review, 17(1), 81-98. 

 

Quadrini, V. (1999). The importance of entrepreneurship for wealth concentration and mobility. Review of income and Wealth, 45(1), 1-19.

 

White, L. (2022). Dynastic and Generative Intent for First-Generation Black Wealth Creators in a Modern Racial Enclave Economy (Doctoral dissertation, Antioch University). https://aura.antioch.edu/etds/758  

 

White, L., (n.d.) Dynastic Wealth Research. https://meetdrwhite.com/research