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Join us on the Disruption Now podcast as we challenge the status quo and advocate for digital equity, ownership, and responsible technology.
We have to learn to really identify
our gems and our amazing people,
and we all need to start working together.
And then,
I think that once we start doing that
and start really sharing knowledge,
looking at how we can move together
and not really be competition
with each other.
If you believe
we can change the narrative,
if you believe
we can change our communities,
if you believe we can change the outcomes,
then we can change the world.
I'm Rob Richardson,
welcome to disruption. Now.
All right.
Welcome to disruption now I'm your host,
a moderator, Rob Richardson.
So with me is Lamar Wright
is the, founder of, Black Wealth Events
and is all about empowering,
you know, black wealth and making
sure that we are in the new wave
of building in technology and also
that we're building generational wealth.
And that's what he's all about in Lamar.
It's pleasure to have you on the
on the broadcast, brother.
Thank you for having me.
Excited to be able to have a conversation
with you and the audience
and seeing how we can continue
to move things forward.
All right.
So tell me so black wealth events
like what inspired you
to create this, this platform
and what is the purpose behind it?
I would say, black Wealth event is
really to aggregate
the idea of economic competitiveness
within black America.
We use Martin Luther King's
economic strategy as our cornerstone.
And then we do overlays of the principles
of circular economics.
All of this
kind of come about from my pivot
into the client relations
aspect of what my company does.
We are a lifestyle and branding firm
that specializes
in image
consulting, creative direction and,
client relations.
So over the pandemic,
we had to kind of pivot into the client
relations aspect of what we did.
And I was pulled into the family
office space.
And for our audience
that probably doesn't know family office.
A family office is basically a private
organization
set up to manage the wealth, investments
and personal, affairs
of a wealthy family and basically,
I always say they're so rich,
they're their own bank, you know, trying,
in that world,
I saw that they don't not
look at each other as competitive.
Their colleagues, they share rings,
they share deals, they commune together.
And I'm like, wow, you know,
this is something that
is a little different approach to a
collaborative experience for my community.
And so that is how Black Wealth Office
was created.
Now, it's fascinating
because it's something that I've,
both struggle
with and work towards. Right.
Because I've,
worked to align and still do,
with black folks as much as possible.
Right.
How are you breaking this down?
Because there are barriers.
We know institutionally that,
you know, we are we put in our brain
that's been passed on like this,
nobody else that's now
we kind of carry this, I think,
reservation or
seeing each other as competition
rather than collaborators.
How are you really addressing
that through your events
or through your platform?
So we focus on information,
creating infrastructure and given access.
And what I do know about our community
is that
if you want to be a,
a voice, you have to demonstrate.
So what we've been doing through,
our flagship,
event series called The Wealth we get,
we have, had,
socials and conversations
and discussions about certain topics,
but after everything we have had
call to actions and demonstrated
what collective mindset, collective unison
and partnerships really can,
we really can create.
So that's how I'm going at it
as a demonstration of how it can be done.
And I do it on a high level.
Right? No, it makes sense.
I mean, you you you learn, you teach,
and you connect by actually doing.
Right. So you've worked.
So I know you had the wealth weekend.
You had one this year.
So what was the biggest takeaways and
what's the what's the hope for the future.
Because I'm assuming
we're going to do 1 in 2025.
Well the wealth weekend is three part
right.
So this year we did two parts.
We did the Wealth Week and Kentucky Derby.
And we did
well for weekend Juneteenth, NYC.
So we did two two series this year
and 2025.
They will be doing the whole three part
series.
I would say the take away this year,
which is fantastic.
We have created a public
private partnership with to HBCUs.
So the first HBCU,
which is a private is, Simmons College
and the next is Kentucky State
University, which is a public university.
And they're doing a joint venture
to create a curriculum
of, circular economics with our partner,
the Circular Economy Alliance of Europe.
So that's one thing
that was you talked about
what is circular economics
for people like, what is that?
Yeah.
Sometimes I have to break it down.
Yes, I have to spend. Excuse me.
I would say circular.
How would I put it?
Circular economics
for the black community.
I would say it's keeping
wealth within the community.
So whereas moneys earned by individuals,
it's reinvested
in black owned businesses and services.
And we're creating
a loop of economic empowerment.
So I'm looking at this is,
how do we build resilient
and sustainable communities
and what we're doing,
that is what's modernizing Martin
Luther King's economic strategy for today.
Now, that's, no,
I think one of my favorite quotes
by a doctor, Martin Luther King,
which is never really talked about,
is when he discusses love and power.
He said he said power
without love is reckless and abusive,
but love without power is sentimental
and anemic.
Right? We need health.
And, yeah, I think it was mortgaged
to bind us at this.
Like, you know, black folks are obsessed
with profit.
Like, everything is, is a nonprofit
and everything is about that versus
how do you actually make money
off of this, right.
So like, we like reframing the mindset
and not seeing it as a dirty thing
or an evil thing.
It is a necessary thing for you
to be able to even have the, social impact
you want to have.
So I think some of it is like a reframing
of our almost psychology.
I say like, right, right is right.
So how do you talk about this with
because I found this and you know, of
when my own family and other folks
as you, as you, as you,
as you start to generate
some wealth, you know, people are,
their goal is
just to hold on to that
and not necessarily invest it
because they think they're going
to lose everything that they've gained
and that fear, as you know,
obviously prevents opportunity for growth.
How do you get past that first mindset,
that one like in terms of that, like,
do you have any type of specific advice
when it comes to that?
Well, I always consider it a lack mindset.
Right.
And I think due
to the fact that I'm, spiritual,
I kind of pull from those, universal
principles, understanding that,
we're not here for lack.
We're here to live in abundance. Right.
And you have to have some type
of strategy and and engagement and learn,
like continuously learning to be able
to take the money that you save,
put it somewhere
so that it grows and create some type of,
some, some type of,
investment for yourself.
Like your money needs to work. Well.
So the I tell people all the time
like this is what they don't understand
is that you save money and you just park
it, you're actually losing money.
You're losing money in all types of ways.
Like you're losing money
for inflation, minimum 2%, you know.
But lately it's been six, seven, 8%.
But like minimum 2 or 3% a year that's
you're so you're you're losing the value.
That dollar becomes $0.98. Right.
And then if you're not thinking ahead on
this is when you start
making any type of money,
how are you making sure
that you are keeping your
in a legal way, your tax burden low
because then you're also losing money.
This is what people,
what I've learned, very wealthy people.
And I hope to be there one day.
They have a strategy to get that way.
It's a strategy. It's not like,
people think that there's luck involved.
It's probably some luck involved
if you get to $1 billion.
But in terms of like in terms
of getting to that level over time,
but to get to the levels of,
of most people's goal to get to millions,
that's a strategy usually
that people don't really think about.
And it does say collaboration
in the black community.
So if you had to say one takeaway,
then I want to talk about
I one most important thing,
one should do to position themselves
for general wealth.
What's the one thing they should do
that's the most important?
If you had to say,
I would say maybe the
learn
to teach yourself,
because it is an educational process.
We have to learn the different avenues.
There's not one way to create wealth.
And depending on your own personal need,
is the route
that you're going to need to take.
Even when you speak to asset management
firms and and things of that nature,
they have to sit down with you and create
a plan specifically for you and your goals
and what
you have already. So,
the more that you learn, I
think you need to learn about insurance,
like life insurance and,
dividend and diversification
of a portfolio and budget go budget.
The these are all terms that I think
that we try to over overlook,
but we need to take the time to really,
educate ourselves on them.
Yeah, I agree,
I just felt like the most important thing
I think that I've done in that area
is just just create the habit
of actually saying
decide and investing in yourself
and saving first and putting stuff away,
like not thinking about it.
That has been the most important thing.
That's the most important way to start.
And then you see it and you see it grow.
It changes your mindset.
You're like, yeah, okay.
Yeah, I just had you look at it
five years.
You're like,
oh yeah, I said this five years earlier.
But anyway, that's is what it is.
Technology
obviously is, is is playing a huge role
within wealth creation and opportunity.
Like how do you see I reshaping
the opportunities for black wealth
in the black community and, and how people
will be thinking about that?
Well, I'm
glad that you mentioned that, during our,
Wealth Weekend Juneteenth NYC event, we,
strategic speak about,
tech, blacks and tech from
the aspect of us not being involved
into it, the the avenues
and which is not mentioned or mainstream.
I think that tech has an opportunity
to really create new millionaires,
new billionaires.
I also think it's a way for our community
to, gain some ground in the playing field.
But it also has the ability
to be weaponized against us.
And we need to create our own tech
companies.
We need to understand that
equity is ownership.
So we need to start
developing these things ourselves.
And just for a quick
example is if you're looking at
how tech is being used against that,
facial
recognition,
it doesn't have enough of us, a part of it
so that it cannot diversify
and distinguish our, our features.
And there's not really many black people
that in the engineering
aspect of it, they're saying, hey,
you know, this isn't right.
That isn't here to the left.
And then you're getting, marked
as someone else,
which is which, by the way, it's not, it's
not it's not a theoretical thing.
This is already happened.
Right.
There's there's a case in Louisiana
where that happened, where it identified,
a black man wrongly.
And he was in jail,
a misidentified black woman.
These things are not, like, theoretical.
They are actually happening. And,
you know, and this is why I tell people,
if you want to really be involved in
social impact, in civil rights,
the best, the best place to do
that is with the technology now,
and to become a builder
and to become intentional
and to challenge the status quo.
That way.
I'm not against protesting.
I'm not anti that.
I just think there is a limit to that.
I mean, it's, you know,
I'm not going to go to political,
but if you look and see what happened
this last election, that was, that was now
that was algorithms versus old school.
I just tell people, would you want to?
We are all interconnected.
So when you want to, tackle
a project or problem,
you have to take a holistic approach.
So there's not
one way to do something. Yep.
So it's going to take multiple avenues.
You know,
I don't think that what we're doing
with black wealth advance in the wealth of
weekend is going to solve every problem.
No, but I'm hoping that what it does is
bring leaders together
and create some type of,
pathway for us to move.
One of the things that really shook me to
my core was when you look at what,
black America contributes to the, GDP,
we are basically hope, close to 1%.
So we have 3.2
million businesses
or some something like that,
and we're only contributing basically
a point to the national GDP.
The best,
ethnic group, I would say
that's out there, which is the Asian,
as far as that, they're only doing 4%,
but 1% is what we were doing
when we're out of slavery.
So there is something missing in
and what I am hoping to do
is be the intermediary between, act
well and focus and purpose.
Yeah. All right.
What's the best case?
I say, what's the worst case scenario
for black wealth inequality?
Without some intervention,
what's the worst case?
And what's the best case?
And how do we make the best case happen?
So the best case of the worst case? Both.
So what's the worst case? Right.
The worst case is let's continue
with the best case.
And how do we try to envision
that, happening.
Well, to me
the worst case scenario is us doing what
we've been doing because, you see,
it hasn't moved the needle.
I would say the
best case scenario is that
we really understand
that we have all of these affinity
groups, and and black America has,
We've been there, we've done things.
We've been part of, you know,
we've been part of all aspects of business
and health care and industry and finance.
We have to learn to really identify
our gems and our amazing people.
And we all need to start working together.
And then,
I think that once we start doing that
and start really sharing knowledge,
looking at how we can move together
and not really be competition
with each other,
I think that we'll start
seeing a lot more movement
and then really like loving on ourselves,
like our businesses,
our talent, our thought process.
Yeah, I do understand that.
That's the American export.
Our culture is Americans export.
So we need to understand that
we are a value,
but we need to understand that
the value is together and to monetize.
And we need to really support each other
and protect each other
because they'll come in and say,
I'll give you this amount of money
so you can give me what y'all doing.
And then they do it.
And then now we don't have any ownership.
Look at we can just look at hip hop.
We can, you know, maybe get a hip hop.
And then if you take how good algorithms
are getting and, you know,
the biggest debate is who owns the data.
That's a whole
nother question that we can get into.
But we, you know, needs it.
That's exciting now. And things
that I tell you, it's,
I mean, algorithms pull from information
and, you know, it's like you
we have to be, like,
involved in this process
to in order in order
to make sure that we might have ties
and we have to move quickly.
So what are some final takeaways?
I guess, like, that you would want
to give people like what?
When it comes to black wealth events,
how can people get involved?
What do they need to do in order to,
in order to learn more?
Well,
I would say a black wealth event.
There's black wealth events.com.
It actually, is a place where you can
go, you can register.
We'll be sending out information.
We'll be creating, seminars.
We'll be engaging different
podcasts, like your own,
newsletters and things
where we'll be sending out information
and we'll be bringing on experts
in their field.
We'll be having white papers done for
cities and economic development groups.
And we'll be actually creating
opportunities for black
American businesses
and founders to actually source capital.
So now we are looking
just to be a resource for the community,
a safe place
for allies and supporters to come.
Because the this black America.
But we do understand that we have others
that actually can support
and be allies of us.
That's where collaboration and partnership
comes.
So black wealth events.com and,
black wealth events on Instagram
and Facebook and LinkedIn.
Yeah. Lamar it's a it's a pleasure.
Let us know how we can help you.
We appreciate you being a disruptor
and coming on the show.
Thank you Rob I appreciate you having me.
And let's continue to define absolutely.