Washington Informer

Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. Prophetic Genius of Gil Scott Heron

Gil Scott Heron (1949-2011) was more than a legendary entertainer.  He was a social and political visionary that helped to inspire generations of young gifted and talent poets, spoken word artists, rappers, and a global cadre of musical and cultural satirists that have contributed to the irreversible, progressive transformations of the mindsets of hundreds of millions of young people from Harlem, New York to Soweto, South Africa; and from the Delta in Mississippi and the bayous of Louisiana to Trench Town in Jamaica to the barrios of Brazil and deep into the crucible neighborhoods of  the South Bronx and South Central LA as well as throughout what is culturally referred today as the “Dirty South.”

"Occupiers" Have More Courage than Blacks

During a brief conversation at an event last week two apparently well-educated African Americans tried to carefully "explain" to me that President Barack Obama has no choice other than to ignore Black political issues because he wants of course to be re-elected and "there are more white voters than Black voters."

Wilhelmina Leigh, Ph.D.It's not your parents' retirement—especially if your parents retired with a pension and a gold watch after 25 years on the job. For today's working adults, retirement is more likely to be based on the safety-net level of benefits from Social Security, supplemented with personal savings and investment. The catch is, however, that too many African Americans are saving too little for retirement. The fact that 70 percent of African-American workers had saved less than $25,000 for retirement (according to a 2007 survey by the Employment Benefit Research Institute) suggests there will be little "gold" in our golden years.

Traditionally, retirement income has come from three sources (Social Security, employer pensions, and personal savings and investment) and, thus, has been characterized as a three-legged stool. The ongoing, gradual disappearance of employer-sponsored defined benefit pensions (that provide a monthly payout based on years worked and salary level) and their replacement by employer-sponsored defined contribution retirement plans (that provide retirement income based on the amount of employee contributions while working) suggests, however, that the retirement income stool will soon have only two legs. One leg will be Social Security, and the other will be personal savings and investment (both through an employer and independent of employment).

Don’t Allow a Seasonal Splurge to Ruin Your New Year

In 2010, many consumers will likely find that the traditions of the annual holiday season may be difficult – if not impossible - to observe this year. According to the Urban Institute’s National Survey of Homeless Assistance Providers, more than 500,000 people in this country do not have a place to call home each night and half of these people are also without shelter. Moreover according to HUD, an estimated 2,000,000 people experienced homelessness at some time during the year.

If you are one of the nearly one in four homeowners with a mortgage owing more on your home than it is now worth, count your blessings and remember that you are not alone.

The most recent survey by the Mortgage Bankers Association found that as of the end of the third quarter this year, approximately 7 million homeowners were 60 days or more delinquent on their mortgage. Although California, the nation’s most populous state, has the dubious distinction of being home to the largest number of delinquent mortgages – over 600,000, the highest average mortgage debt per borrower is in the District of Columbia with $342,695.
Despite deep and widespread indebtedness, the holidays will still tempt many to use credit to help make their celebrations merry.

And, although access to credit is a long-standing concern for minority businesses and consumers alike, seasonal celebrations should not become an excuse to worsen already strained personal finances.

As many lenders, especially those offering mortgage loans, raise credit standards to qualify for a range of financial products, the cold and hard factor in reaching a decision on approving or rejecting a credit application will be determined by how well consumers have already managed their credit in this deepening recession. Troubled homeowners who have suffered foreclosure, a short sale or bankruptcy, should be mindful that those developments have likely already dropped your personal credit score.

Similarly, for those who are entering trial periods for loan modifications or are 30-days delinquent on a mortgage, think seriously before taking out a credit application to take advantage of a limited discount for new credit accounts. How often new credit applications are filed is one of the factors that determine credit scores.

The other factors in determining a credit score are payment history, outstanding debt, credit history length, and credit mix. Two of these factors - payment history and outstanding debt - account for 65 percent of the total score.

If you are considering whether to purchase a home in the New Year, be mindful that your credit score will be far more important than a seasonal extravagance. As many prospective homebuyers consider applying for mortgage loans, applicants with a credit score less than 700 will likely find credit approval a dicey process.

Among the largest banks, 90 percent use Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO) scores to make decisions. For example, if a consumer had a FICO score of 680 and then missed a monthly debt payment that one failure could lower their score by 60-80 points.