Working on my master’s degree in Business Administration I took a class called “Money and Banking”.
I tuned in an assignment that traced a $1.00 deposited at a local bank. I traced how it weaved its way through the community finally working its way back to the bank.
What started out as a $1.00 deposit came back to the bank at $32.00. The light bulb in my head came on. I realized the ripple effect money has on our economic system. I walked out of class thinking no one in my community ever talked about this. That’s when I drafted “My 1st Investments Coloring Book”.
I was raised in the small college town. You may have heard it: A City called Berkeley.
I did not know I lived in a red-line community where most African Americans were discriminately directed to live. The only thing I knew was I lived in a village that was predominantly Black. My elementary school, 90% Black. My junior high was 95% Black. I didn’t see real integration until I got to Berkeley High. It was 48%, white, 48% Black, and 4% other interracial ethnic groups.
At home, we were taught to graduate from high school, get a job, move out of the house, start a family, and lived life as best we can.
No one ever talked about a college. No one ever asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. Before me, only two people in my family tree graduated from college. My grandmother’s brother Joseph graduated from Xavier University (90+ years ago) and a cousin who graduated in a two-year nursing school program.
At 19 years old, I moved to Los Angeles. For three years I worked odd jobs as a janitor and a baker. Everyone I talked to thought I was really smart, so I enrolled in LA City College while dodging the poison plaguing the Black urban ghetto (drugs, gangs, all sorts of crime, and poverty among the hard-working blue-collar class of people).
At 22 years old I realized my life was going in the wrong direction I was walking the wrong path. I came to the conclusion I need to do something with my life. I moved back to Berkeley and attended Merritt Community College.
Most of my relatives and gang-banging friends laughed at me. When I was elected Vice-President of the Associated Students of Merritt College (I became acting President for nine months), the laughter began to subside. I transferred to U.C. Davis and became President of the Black Student Union (UJIMA). I graduated with a B.A. Degree in Psychology.
My first job after college was with the State of California. After 28 years (16 years as an Investment Officer II for the CA State Teachers Retirement System) I retired.
I stayed active on campus for 20 years creating Fiscal Fitness Programs for the Black Studies Department. I was elected President of the U.C. Davis Black Alumni Association.
One Sunday I went to Unity Church with my wife. It was my spiritual awaking. Rev. Ross introduced his “The Dream Series”. I attended the workshops. He called me on the stage and asked me about my dreams. I explained my desire to write and teach financial literacy that is not being taught in the K-12 educational system. I kept thinking about the money and banking course and how it could change the African American Community.
I told him about a book I created 12 years ago. It sat dormant in a box in my garage. He asked me the magic question: What are you waiting for? What is holding you back?
Two months after the workshop I published it. My 1st Investments Coloring Book is the ABC’s of investments. It is an alphabet book featuring a host of characters that explains; A stands for Account, B stands for Bank, C stands for Cash, D stands for Debt, and…
That publication led to two other books: A Beginners Guide to Wealth Building – Defined Contribution Plans and a novel, Never Judge a Book…
My coloring book gets more attention than my other books combined. This is the book we are talking about today. On my drawing board are 14 different titles toward financial literacy. They will be reference books, novels, and short stories.
I am inspired to write books and stories about my education, my life, and my work experiences to improve the quality of life in my community. My goal is to write about financial literacy at the primary school level, so finance becomes a family breakfast, lunch, and dinner time discussion in our underserved communities.
My life goal is to leave a financial legacy for those behind me.
My motto: Each One Teach One.
Publication Date: November 24, 2015
My 1st Investment Coloring Book (the ABC’s of Investments) is dedicated to children and their families who foster a desire to develop financial knowledge. It is a beginner’s guide to developing knowledge critical to their prosperity which is not taught in elementary schools during a child’s formative years. It is the groundwork and the beginning of a foundation for learning financial literacy. Designed as a resource guide it is a keepsake for future reference.
Learning to read this book plants the seed for financial success and provides knowledge that can never be taken away.
A. Degree from UC Davis and an MBA in Finance and Investments from Golden Gate University with 44 years of finance and investment experience.
Honey Savoy
A. Degree from the University of Phoenix and author of What Time is It?, a children’s book on how to tell time, published in 2007.
Khaliah T Ingram
B. A. Degree in Art Studio from the California State University, Sacramento. She is a digital art/freelance artist since 2005. Gallery online at: www.envyskort.deviantart.com
Thanks Dayna
You’re most welcome, Paulette!