The Hood Ain’t Poor — It’s Just Mismanaged

How We Can Reclaim Our Communities Through Collective Wealth

They told us the hood was poor.

But if that were true,

why are outsiders setting up shop on every corner?

The truth is, the hood isn’t broke — it’s valuable.

We just haven’t been the ones benefiting from it.

From beauty supply stores to corner marts,

others have turned our blocks into business opportunities

while we’ve been taught to see them as dead ends.

So what if we changed the story?

What if we invested in each other

instead of outspending one another?

What if we treated collaboration like survival —

because it is?

The hood doesn’t need saving.

It needs strategy.

It needs structure.

It needs unity.

And once we figure that out —

we’ll stop asking for seats at tables

we could’ve built ourselves.