A friend of mine, shortly after Kanye West’s performance on Saturday Night Live, started getting all indignant on Facebook about Kanye’s new material. Too angry, too dark, too cynical. Too critical of a world that had given him so much. He argued that Kanye’s early work had the most appeal. I felt I had to…

One of the most common questions I receive from African American men deals with razor bumps. It is estimated that up to 80% of African American men suffer from razor bumps at some point during their lives. Razor bumps, also called Pseudofollicultis Barbae , can occur in any area that hair is temporarily removed by…

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Linda I. Gibbs, Young Men’s Initiative Director Jahmani Hylton and Ashoka Changemakers President Diana Wellshave launched “My Voice, Our City: What Will You Do?,” an online competition encouraging black and Latino young men to offer ideas that could help reduce racial and ethnic disparities in New York City. “The…

Are you one of 3.5 million people (according to the Center for the Study of Long Distance Relationships) involved in a long-distance relationship? If so, is the relationship squeezing you financially? As you may know, relationships are challenging enough without the added issue of proximity. The issues many couples deal with in their day-to-day local…

When Teen Vogue hired Elaine Welteroth as their beauty editor, the magazine created a major buzz in the beauty and publishing industries, as she became the first woman of color to hold such a position. The hiring was landmark in providing an indication that women of color would be represented more in an industry that…

Will and Jaden Smith, in a new interview with New York Magazine to promote their new film After Earth, addressed Will’s past money mistakes, how he educates his children on money — and Jaden talks about some of his rather expensive tastes. Will Smith says he’s met with, the author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad,…

If you’ve had the chance to see the movie 42, which is in theaters now starring Harrison Ford, Chadwick Boseman and Nicole Beharie, you know a little about Jackie Robinson, the first African-American to play major league baseball. Robinson broke the baseball color line with the Brooklyn Dodgers, who started him at first base on…

I love speaking to and relating with youth. From adolescents still finding their way to teens heading to college to 20-somethings looking to spark career and entrepreneurial revolutions, I find myself very passionate about being a resource to them. I’m happy that I’ve had a platform via media to do so and am always looking…

The 2013-2014 African American Financial Experience study is out. Commissioned by Prudential Financial, this is the second bi-annual study measuring financial attitudes and trends in the African American community, and is part of a series of signature research by the company examining financial trends in America’s multicultural communities. The survey was released to media on…

How do you keep track of your financial life? When I was just starting out, it was a combination of sticky notes, highlighted pages of a notebook, Excel spreadsheets and an unbalanced checkbook. I would make a transaction and then tell myself that I’d record it later, but of course later never came. In fact,…