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34 | M R EP O RT FEATURE I n February, we celebrated the contributions of Black Americans and Black Excellence, and LeBron James made headlines for surpass- ing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's all-time high scoring record in the NBA. It was a remarkable achievement in athletics with one Black man surpassing the accomplishments of another Black man. Black excellence is routinely celebrated in professional sports, with Black athletes representing 73% of NBA players and 58% of the NFL. This year's Super Bowl featured two Black quarterbacks, in another example of Black men making athletic history. And while Blacks continue to excel in this capacity, unfortunately, we continue to lag in one critically important arena: homeownership. According to a recent report, the Black homeownership rate continues to trail our white coun- terparts in this country by 30 percentage points. And while it is true that Blacks on average have less annual income than whites, the Black dollar is responsible for a large portion of consumer spending in our country. In fact, a recent study found that in 2021, the Black dollar was responsible for over $1 trillion in spending on consumer goods and services. Furthermore, Black Americans were responsible for 20% of all luxury goods purchases in 2021, even though we only represent 13% of the American population. Wait a minute—we make less money than other races, but spend more on luxury goods and services and have the lowest homeown- ership rate of any other race. Something is not right here … The time has come, that we, as a Black community, make a dynamic shift in our spending patterns and place critical impor- tance on investing in ourselves and our families. Investing in ourselves means prioritizing our dollar spend in ways that directly Op-Ed: Respect the Black Dollar Tai Christensen of Arrive Home explains why now is the time for the Black community to shift their spending and invest in the American Dream of homeownership. By Tai Christensen