Georgetown, Guyana (Ronald J. Daniels) – So, I grew up as a hustler. I grew up knowing my way on the streets and learning how to make ends meet. The ‘book smarts’ came naturally, by the grace of God. But I prided myself in learning and knowing how to hustle. There is a kind of grittyness and sexiness about being a hustler. But there is a kind of stigma and limitation about it too.
From my observations, ‘hustling’ has largely been associated with the Black community, oftentimes the perceptibly gangster aspects of the Black community. And sadly, this has a spin off effect. I see a lot of the business ventures my Black brothers and sisters are starting up are casually referred to as their ‘hustle’ or ‘side hustle’. Even these lables have an effect. They have a psychological effect, and they oftentimes fuel a certain perception of ‘smallness’, both of which can very well, and in fact do, affect the growth of these ventures.
I submit that it is time we change these labels and even the approach we take to these ventures. Let’s cultivate within our communities entrepreneurs whose quests are to build empires while nurturing other entrepreneurs. The wealth gap is a massive one, and there are twin oceans between those in the Black community and our other counterparts. Forgive me for saying, but ‘hustles’ are not going to bridge that gap, and hustlers are not going to be the architects of the economic changes we need. I am minded of the institutional and other obstacles along this journey. But for what it’s worth, if the Black community is to have the economic base that we most certainly need and have been gravely without for centuries, our new titles and contents must be those of innovators, entrepreneurs and communal social engineers. And these persons are locked away inside the hustlers; and these realisations are stifled by the limitations of hustles and side hustles.
Being street savvy for me is a priceless virtue, the lessons of which I commend to my children. But like my friend today said, ‘I see us teaching our children all kinds of defences- self defence and other forms of physical defences. But I think the best defence I can arm my children with is financial freedom’. More than a priceless virtue, I want to leave my children (and my community) a legacy, a legacy that must include generational financial independence.
(Ronald J. Daniels | April 1, 2021)
