Why I'm Poor

The 2025 Edition

Feb 16, 2025

Income from this Substack helps me survive as I attempt to write my way out of poverty in this trash ass capitalist society. If you have the means, please consider upgrading to a paid subscription.

I wrote this last September.

I decided to reshare it because 1) it continues to hold true and 2) I’m too damn exhausted to write lately.

Coherent thoughts? Don’t know her.

Chronic financial stress has deeply impacted my ability to function.

But that’s not why I’m here.

Let’s talk about poverty facts that suck!

Did you know that poverty is the 4th leading cause of death in the US? And that according to the Poor People’s Campaign, there were 295,000 deaths that resulted from long-term poverty in 2024?

My friend Lori Yearwood was one of those deaths in 2023.

We are not numbers, we are humans who deserve to live full lives. I don’t want my own life to be a statistic in 2025. However, my chances feel bleak.

As a person who lives in chronic poverty, it annoys the hell outta me when people make assumptions about our situations.

For example, they assume we’re poor because:

We aren’t intelligent
We’re bad with money
We need to spend less
We’ve made bad life choices
We’re lazy and need to work harder

The way y’all hate us, damn…

But fine, let’s discuss.

- We aren’t intelligent.

Do you know how resourceful you have to be to survive in a society that wasn’t built for you and that only values your labor, not your life? Please be serious

Resourced people couldn’t last a week below the poverty line.

What did you say, you could?

Prove it. Play SPENT.

Did you make it to the end or did capitalism take you out?

Either way (if you have the means) contribute to a Mutual Aid fund.

- We’re bad with money.

I’m fantastic with money. My problem with money is that I don’t have any.

We need to spend less

Ok, let’s take a ride…

My credit is trash.

(Credit scores are racist as hell but lemme stay focused)

5 years ago my car broke down. I was an Uber driver and had to replace it immediately since that was my income. Only one place approved a loan. I purchased a 2013 Honda Civic (which I still drive.)

Bluebook value: $6,000

The predatory details:

Car payment: $450/month
Interest rate: 26%
Total paid: $21,600

And I have 2 years of payments left, fun!

At the end of the loan I will have paid over $40,000 for a 10+ year old Honda.

*It’s worth maybe $5,000*

This should be illegal.

But I just have to budget better? lol, ok Jan.

Being poor is expensive.

We’ve made bad choices

We absolutely have! People with terrible options make terrible choices.

*Please see above*

We’re lazy and need to work harder

Here’s a quick overview of my “lazy” work history.

-In high school I worked two jobs.

-During undergrad I worked three jobs every single year.

-After college I worked in corporate for 10 years. (I regret every second.)

I attempted to find another job but, my brain felt broken. I wasn’t able to process information and I couldn’t comprehend basic instructions.

My cognitive ability was in decline.

Unhealed childhood wounds, poverty trauma and untreated c-ptsd had started to impact my ability to function. My entire life has been lived in survival mode. As a result, I’ve never had the resources, time or support to recover.

Trauma doesn’t just disappear.

Anyway, I ended up homeless and lived in my car for several months.

It really sucked.

I had to be resourceful if I wanted to survive.

Here are ideas I’ve created to help me not die:

Choose Happiness (an online community)

I created inspirational posts, merchandise and self-published a (terrible) book.

Your Divine Driver

When the pandemic hit, there were folks who needed rides but wanted extra safety precautions. Since I was already an Uber driver, I created a business as a personal driver for high risk individuals that served the community and covered my expenses.

Easy Writers Course

I hosted writer retreats and created a program for authors on how to self-publish.

Black People Trip (An online space for the Black Psychedelic community)

I curated melanated playlists that featured psychedelic music by Black and African artists, I created an “ad campaign” to normalize psychedelic use in the Black community and started The Black Psychedelic Equity Fund to cover costs for psychedelic therapy and education.

And here’s the thing about my ideas: they’re good.

Every single one had potential.

But thanks to poverty, I’m not afforded the luxury of time. A life of urgency doesn’t let me nurture my creativity.

Rent is due NOW.

That bill is due NOW.

Find a way or make one NOW.

If an idea isn’t monetarily successful kinda quickly, then I have to move on.

My latest idea is 2025 Black Business Guides.

I’ve worked on these for months and even though sales are dismal, I’ma stay at it.

Which is scary because I need money. Quickly.

(Especially now that I live in expensive ass Atlanta.)

But this idea feels special, it just needs space to flourish.

And nah, I didn’t create these solely for profit. Money makes life easier but it’s never motivated me. My goal isn’t extreme wealth. I just want to create ideas I care about, comfortably pay my bills and have money for mutual aid.

These are useful resources that can help us be conscious consumers and, my creative contributions deserve to be compensated.

(My bad for the unintended alliteration)

As the organization Intentionalist says “spend like it matters.”

And check out their “Buy Black Card” initiative - I’m in love with it.

I didn’t finish the Valentine’s Day edition because the majority of my energy was spent stressed the fuck out about how to pay rent this month.

Poverty is a thief of creativity.

What did you say, you want to shop local Black owned businesses but don’t know where to start? Say less. Hire me to curate a custom Black Business Guide with 100+ businesses tailored to your specific interests. ($250)

Why order a custom guide?