The Ground Truth

violence

The physical cost.

Homicide has been the leading cause of death for Black men ages 15–44 for more than half a century. More than 87% of homicides in Black communities involve a firearm. In 2024, more Black men ages 15–24 died in gun homicides than from any other leading cause.

Giffords Law Center, Gun Violence in Black Communities, citing CDC WONDER 2024 data.

The difference between motion and ownership.

Black America has almost

2 trillion

in annual after-tax spending power. That is money flowing through the community rather than wealth held. Median white household wealth is about

versus about

for the median Black household.

Selig Center for Economic Growth / NielsenIQ; Federal Reserve 2022 Survey of Consumer Finances.

The strain on love.

About

of Black adults are married, compared with 48% of Americans overall. Half of Black adults have never married, compared with about a third of the country.

U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey and Marriage Prevalence for Black Adults Varies by State.

The floor.

of Black Americans live in poverty, 2.4 times the white rate, even after the Black poverty rate reached a record low in 2022.

U.S. Census Bureau, Poverty in the United States: 2024.

The health burden.

of Black adults have been diagnosed with diabetes, compared with about 7% of white adults.

CDC National Health Interview Survey; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Minority Health.

business

The builders.

There are about

Black-owned employer firms (2023 data) and about

4.1 million

Black-owned nonemployer businesses (2021 data).

U.S. Census Bureau 2024 Annual Business Survey and Nonemployer Statistics by Demographics.

The Ground Truth

Our Community.

To change a reality, we first have to agree on what that reality is. These are not opinions, estimations, or theories.

This is the math of where we stand right now.

We look at the numbers directly, without flinching, because we are the generation capable of bending them in a different direction.

Source:

The response

The gap is profound, and the violence is real. But the builders are real, too. We move two trillion dollars, and we own millions of businesses.

This is why we walk. This is why we practice.

To direct that spending intentionally. To protect what we build. To speak love into the people next to us, so they have the strength to learn, to move, and to endure.

We meet reality with habit.