The UNC Board of Governors recently announced they were reducing  the budget for NC A&T University by nearly two million dollars because they're having too much success.  This Historical Black College had the audacity to enroll too many out-of-state students.  How dare they?  Who do they think they are?  The Board said the HBCU has a cap of being allowed to enroll 35 percent of students from other states but they went out and registered 41 percent. This was the equivalent to an additional 171 students.  As a result, they must be punished for thinking they co ..read more

  If Brett Farve had not become a successful NFL quarterback, I believe he would've been just another good ol' southern, blue collar country boy.  Some might've even labeled him as "poor white trash."  Favre was born in Gulfport, MS in 1969 and raised in the unincorporated community of Kiln (just outside of Gulfport).  Kiln, with a population of around 2200, once had a reputation for being known as the "moonshine capital of the world." It's also important to note that less than one percent of blacks live there.  One report indicates there were only 2 black residents ..read more

I must admit, TikTok can be filled with a lot of foolishness but every now and then you come across a video that makes you feel the need to do a deeper dive into the information being given.  Recently I saw a video of a young woman talking about all of the black business entrepreneurs who ended up selling their products to white companies. That led me to do further research and I was shocked to discover she was absolutely on point. According to an article in Newsweek,   more than 30 products, which were black-owned at one point, are now controlled by white companies.  The ..read more

  Parenting seems to have changed quite a bit since I was a child.  My parents weren't trying to be my friend.  They were, what you might call, traditional parents.  Traditional parenting is inflexible and rigid and riddled with discipline. The focus is to raise responsible and functional adults with good manners, proper education, and worth ethic.  Today there is something called "modern parenting" where there is more of a focus of nurturing, involvement, and allowing children to express their individuality freely. Today, many parents are much closer to th ..read more

It was the best of times.  It was the worst of times.  That's really how I could sum up 2021.  With the pandemic still in full effect and no REAL income coming in, it would have been easy for me to just give up and wait for everything to blow over.  But I'm not very good at waiting so I decided to reinvent myself via TikTok (@bevspeaks) with the help of my grandson.  And now, 400K followers later, this 60-something-year-old woman has created an Auntie Bev brand and is soaring to new heights.   I refused to listen to the naysayers who told me I was too ol ..read more

The outside world can invite you to become upset and frustrated.  It's up to you to decide whether to accept the invitation.  I posted this quote on my Twitter page today after dealing with some frustration.  I won't go into details but I will say when you are in business for yourself your hardest hustle can still result in a weak or NO return.  The frustration kicks in when you believe you've done all you can to make things happen---but nothing happens and you're left shaking your head.   I spent about 30 minutes on the frustration trail and then realized if I ..read more

  As most of my friends and I come closer to retirement, the questions looms:  Will we run out of money first or die without being able to spend it all? According to a recent survey conducted by the Teachers Insurance Annuity Association of America (TIAA), more than half of all Americans (55 percent) believe they will run out of time before they get to do all of the things on their "bucket list." These people believe they have enough retirement savings to last them another 20-30 years and that's why they say they want to make retiring early a top priority   On the other h ..read more

 When I left the news business, I was in my late forties. Now that I'm over 60  I see that so much has changed and I am having to learn how to adapt. I chose not to return to my chosen career of "established media" because, quite frankly, I no longer had the stomach for "breaking news" that starts out with A LOT of half-truths and stations always trying to out do the competition. Furthermore, I was no longer interested in going toe-to-toe with younger, less-talented journalists who always seem to have the advantage because of their "blondeness" and desire to work no matter how little ..read more

  The news is not looking good if you take stock in a new survey regarding retirement.  According to research conducted by GoBankingRates.Com, 1 in 5 Americans fear they may never be able to stop working because there won't be enough money to live on.  Although the survey doesn't address why these fears exist, is is safe to say lower wage-paying jobs and fewer job opportunities are having a significant impact.  What should also be duly noted here is the fact that, because of a tight job market, you may find Millennials and older adults competing for the same job ..read more

I don't know about you but if I knew then what I know now, I would've been saving like crazy and by now I would be moving rather comfortably into retirement.  Sadly, that is not the case. Back in the 80's I had a retirement savings plan.  I had no real clue of its value so I used it as my personal spending account.  I FAILED to plan for my future life expectancy and even though I pride myself with being smart I was financially illiterate.  I had a lack of knowledge about what it meant to do retirement planning and saving and when you have a LACK OF KNOWLEDGE you have a lack ..read more