5 Financial Lessons Taught By Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

In memory of one of America’s most pre-eminent heroes, here are five financial lessons we can all learn from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s life and legacy.

Lesson No. 1: Don’t wait for economic change—create it.

How many times have you complained about your workplace, your low pay or something unfair that happened to you economically? Maybe a company denied you a job, some insurer rejected your insurance claim or a bank turned you down for a much-needed loan, and you’re convinced your misfortune was racially motivated.

Maybe you’re right, maybe you’re wrong. Either way, how do you plan to fix your circumstances and move forward positively?

Or perhaps you’re simply longing for better pay and more career success, but you’re stuck in a cubicle waiting to be recognized for your hard work while others are promoted left and right all around you.

Well, Dr. King didn’t just moan about social and economic injustice. He worked hard to change such wrongdoing. He protested. He lobbied. He went to jail. He sacrificed.

In his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” in April 1963, King wrote:

“Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.”

What are you willing to do to create the economic realities you desire?

Lesson  No. 2: Financial freedom is worth fighting for.

One of my favorite sayings from Martin Luther King, Jr. is this:

“There is nothing in all the world greater than freedom. It is worth paying for; it is worth losing a job for; it is worth going to jail for. I would rather be a free pauper than a rich slave. I would rather die in abject poverty with my convictions than live in inordinate riches with the lack of self-respect.”

Those are powerful words. And I like to think that King meant “freedom” in every sense of the word—including financial freedom.

In my opinion, though—and I really hate to say this—too many African-Americans who want financial freedom aren’t willing to seriously fight for it, nor take enough risks to get it.

We’ll fight for all sorts of things–just turn on The Real Housewives of Atlanta to see crazy fights over a bunch of nothing. But how come more of us aren’t out there fighting to teach our kids to be financially literate; fighting to help more Black men graduate from college, or fighting against poverty—even though we live in the richest country on the planet?

Winning these battles will promote generational and national economic security.

Lesson No. 3: Sometimes you need to step out on faith and take a risk.

One of Martin Luther King Jr.’s most memorable quotes was when he said,

“Faith is taking the first step even when you can’t see the whole staircase.”

Having faith and taking risks are necessary components to building wealth and managing one’s finances. So what are some ways to take prudent risks and achieve financial freedom?

You could start by doing something as simple as tuning out all the noise, the commercialism and (…continue reading at Ebony.com)