I learned a long time ago that a thing called ignorance fosters poverty. In the midst of the impoverished times I grew up in in South Central Los Angeles in the 1970s and 1980s, many times I would ask myself: "how come Black people have it so hard and bad?" "Why do Black people struggle so much?"
After becoming a knowledge fiend and junkie I soon found out why pertaining to my question supra. Black people collectively were just simply ignorant on many levels and this ignorance was keeping the race back as a collective. Yes, there was systematic racism at play, but the ignorance was grander and more profound than the racism from what I discovered.
"The only true poverty is ignorance and the only true wealth is intelligence!"
There are many within the Black community who call themselves Poor Righteous Teachers but yet claim to have knowledge, wisdom, and understanding. You cannot truly have wisdom, understanding, and knowledge and call yourself a Poor Righteous Teacher. This makes a horrible statement! 
Basically, when you refer to yourself as a Poor Righteous Teacher you are telling people, especially young people, that if you become righteous and teach others of the righteous way of life that you will not make any money and will struggle as a consequence. This is the statement that you are making and that registers in the minds of the youth whether you know it or not when you use the term or phrase Poor Righteous Teacher.
Just perform a break down of the words: POOR, RIGHTEOUS, and TEACHER!
You are in essence saying that you are POOR, number one; (poor) because you are RIGHTEOUS, number two; and a TEACHER lastly.
You are indirectly and unconsciously saying that there is no incentive in being righteous and a teacher (or a righteous teacher or teacher of righteousness). This is what you are saying in effect and subliminally!
This is why young people don't jock Poor Righteous Teachers like they do rap stars, professional B-ball players, entertainers, or the local street hustlers, pimps, ballers, high rollers, and players.
There is no material incentive in being a Poor Righteous Teacher. Basically, if you live righteous, you will be POOR! This is the statement being made with that phrase!
The phrase states: If you teach people of the righteous way, you will be POOR! No wonder so many Black youth and a few inner city youth of other races and nationalities don't waste their time in finishing school and going to college to obtain a higher education so as to become teachers in the Hood. Why should they? After all, who wants to struggle through life, and for the most basic bare necessities? Who wants to struggle for food, shelter, and clothing? Why must I struggle when I'm standing for good or a good cause?
There is nothing noble in or about poverty. Straight up and out, poverty is a sin, a self-inflicted sin based upon thoughts and attitude.
A Poor Righteous Teacher is one who has knowledge but cannot use that knowledge to amass material wealth for self, family, and others so as to compliment their spiritual, mental, and intellectual wealth as well as to ease his or her life so as to be more effective in what they do: teach or educate others!
This is why so many inner city gurus struggle in life and have difficulty in getting 'the Word' out, whatever that word (message) may be. Wicked men who are rich get their nefarious plans out because they have plenty of money to do so. They buy up commercial airtime on television, radio spot time for radio broadcasts, print up professional books, create think tanks, and a host of other things.
Poor community and social activists lack the financial means to do all of the above. They are reduced to begging for charity and love offerings for their hard work, hoping they'll receive enough money to help offset the airfare or hotel accommodation (if they are visiting another city) or even perhaps to pay some personal bills.
Poor Righteous Teachers cannot afford to rent luxury hotel ballrooms for purposes of holding lectures like wealthy thought ministers and so-called New Age philosophers can.
They are reduced to begging due to their lack of knowledge - knowledge of prosperity and wealth consciousness. This shows to me that many Poor Righteous Teachers, despite their claim of being free from the so-called shackles of Christianity or perhaps Islam or Judaism - Western religions, unconsciously or consciously, they still embrace the poverty consciousness associated with these religions due to prosperity rejection complex by way of misrepresentation of certain teachings within the religious texts of these faiths.
Many believe that to be "down for the Cause" or "down for the Struggle," that one must be down financially or have to struggle financially.
The word "struggle" itself handicaps the user of it. Nothing in life struggles, well, except for man (through successful mental programming and conditioning), but man is a fool. As Stuart Wilde states in one of his published works, "life was never meant to be a struggle." I agree!
Man only struggles because of ignorance which is due largely in part to his mental programming and conditioning either by society, schooling, religion, and/or family, or a combination of all of them.
 Look at many great Black leaders and their financial condition at the time of their death, usually premature due to being murdered (assassinated) due to threatening the status quo, i.e. Malcolm X, Medgar Evers, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, Fred Hampton, Sr., and Huey P. Newton!
I mean no disrespect to these great men and their legacies, great men who are responsible for so much social advancement and positive change in American society due to their great words and actions, especially Dr. King and Malcolm X - my two main men! However, I'm just making a point!
These men sacrificed so much for their people, their beliefs, and their causes but financially they struggled which made matters harsh and difficult for their family members, especially their wives, after they died. Malcolm X caught a lot of hell from Betty Shabazz due to lack of finances and for serving the people (being on the road more than being at home spending quality family time). Malcolm himself admitted in a letter that this was the reason he preferred to stay gone, on the road, than at home - a nagging wife who had her legitimate claims as a mother and wife. Women are simply going to be women and Betty Shabazz was no different. Why did she and her girls have to do without so Malcolm could serve other people, and really not be properly compensated by those whom he was serving?
The people whom these men stood up for did not think much about the sacrifices of these men because trust funds were not set up for their families, at least on the scale of how the wealthy set up and leave behind trust funds for their loved ones.
When you collect $5 or $10 from a few hundred thousand or a few million people, that's a lot of money and a nice trust fund can be established to make sure the deceased leader's family is financially provided for in his absence.
Malcolm X toiled like a slave for the Nation of Islam for 12 long years and because he came to grips with his moral conscience pertaining to Elijah Muhammad and his uncontrollable sexual lust for younger women (his teenage secretaries) Malcolm X was reduced to survival mode by the Nation of Islam and struggled financially to the point he had to borrow money from other people such as his sister Ella.
While Elijah Muhammad lived like a king off the money of his followers that he obtained through charity (which was more like tribute under a condition for believing or being allowed to 'practice' Islam, his variation of Islam), Malcolm, who had really done all the hard work had no means of income after his departure from the Nation of Islam and was financially reduced to a pauper, being technical.
Malcolm had to get a financial advancement on his autobiography just to have money at that particular time in his life.
It was alleged that Huey P. Newton was attempting to sell cocaine on the streets of Oakland, California just to raise money at the time he was killed by a man whom he knew and who was a notorious drug dealer.
A well-known former Los Angeles gang banger turned community activist who was partly responsible for the 1992 Los Angeles street gang peace treaty, Tony Bogard, was killed in similar fashion to Newton simply to raise money allegedly to handle financial responsibilities for his organization. Regardless of the truth of the matter, one thing is for sure and that is money was needed and sought at the time of death.
Many Black leaders had to resort to thieving and scheming just to obtain money. Many White religious heads and politicians did and do the same thing. Race or skin color provides no exemptions whatsoever.
This is why I am loudly saying that money is needed for any and all causes. I am a firm believer that in our material world, money does answer all things!
"... but money answers all things." - Ecclesiastes 10:19
Now on the higher and spiritual plane, in my opinion it is wisdom that answers all things. Money answers all things on the material plane and it is a great defense and security measure as well, but to really benefit a person and the person's life, it must be balanced with wisdom, especially spiritual wisdom. 
"For wisdom is a defense, and money is a defense: but the excellency of knowledge is, that wisdom gives life to them that have it." Ecclesiastes 7:12
"The only true poverty is ignorance and the only true wealth is intelligence."
I have learned that there is a direct correlation to how much money a person makes and how much intelligence they have in their head (mind). There are a few exceptions to the rule such as a lot of entertainers and professional athletes making millions of dollars but also having the comprehension level of 2nd graders just like the majority of Americans; in addition to the fact that there are thousands of inner city drug dealers who are illiterate but who have amassed financial wealth through drug dealing and other criminal enterprises.
My life began to change personally when I begin to really get into the dictionary, any dictionary of the English language, and started learning the meaning of many words. I learned from "Verbal Advantage" (an audiotape vocabulary builder program) that there is a direct correlation to how much money you make in life and how well you speak, so I began to build my vocabulary, work on my speech, articulation of speech, and choice use of words to express myself.
I'll never forget that first "Verbal Advantage" commercial I heard on the radio one day as I was 'driving' (not in the commercial and legal sense of the word) one day within the scope of my employment at the Stein Investigation Agency in Los Angeles.
The ad stated: "A good vocabulary is used by people to determine your level of intelligence." Those words really resonated with me.
Despite the $400 cost of the 20-tape series back then (mid-1990s), I purchased it. I had just received one of my few settlement checks from my father's death due to a class action lawsuit pertaining to asbestos that played a role in my father's development of lung cancer and his ultimate succumbing to the dreaded disease.
I'll never forget the hell I caught from my siblings at the time for the purchase of "Verbal Advantage".
"Earnest, $400 on some audio tapes?" My older brother asked me this with great disbelief on his face. My family must have really thought I lost it.
Funny thing is, when I spent my money on trivial and superficial things, i.e. clothes, equalizers and amplifiers for my car (which I used to buy almost every 6-12 months to bump my sounds or "music"), expensive tennis shoes, gold chains, etc. they never said a peep.
I guess the problem was that I spent $400 on some audiotapes that didn't feature rap music or any music for that matter but was totally educational in nature.
Sadly, most people stop thinking on educational terms once they finish college and this is a big mistake because learning doesn't end when you graduate from an institution. We will be learning lessons until our last days in the flesh in our present lifetimes on this planet. We should always be seeking to learn, especially new things.
The things we learn in man-made institutions only prepare us for the Matrix. This education (actually its inculcation) only prepares us for "making a living" and not "living our making." There's a big difference!
We need knowledge and education in regards to both worlds: the material world and the spiritual world, especially if we want to be balanced in life. You can't live in one world without simultaneously living in the other and if you unwisely attempt to do so, you will injure yourself; you will create imbalance and imbalance is disease!
We are here to grow, to evolve, and to expand!
All growth begins with change - doing something different because you can't improve your life with the same mindset, thought patterns, and attitude that held you back in life and that kept you vibrating at and on a lower vibration.
I could also add diet and lifestyle in the mix or equation. In my great change for the better, I also changed my diet and my lifestyle. Being technical, diet is part of lifestyle.
I changed my thinking, attitude, diet, lifestyle, and my environment. My life change was radical but being radical accelerated my new advancement and progress in life.
I lost (or perceived a loss) of many would-be friends and even family members. This will naturally happen when your frequency changes. My former best friend and neighborhood buddy of 17-years, Adham Gordon, became jealous of my personal development, growth and success and we parted ways in 2002 (I decided to cut him off as he was too negative for me at a time I had decided to grow and only reflect on positivity and positive things).
Adham and I both attended Locke High School in South Central Los Angeles and after graduation we both lived the street life until we joined the Nation of Islam, which Adham introduced me to as he joined first.
Adham and I both eventually left the Nation of Islam, well, at least physically-speaking as Adham still considers himself a member of the cult under the leadership of Minister Kevin Ali of Charlotte, North Carolina.
While I made a conscious choice to become autodidactic, Adham made a choice to attend Howard University in Washington, D.C. as if that was going to ensure him success in the world (Matrix) and subsequently he ended up right back in California (Victorville and Los Angeles) as the head of a small security firm he started, Gordon Securities, which struggles financially to stay afloat. Security firms exist because of fear and poverty consciousness. These firms support negative energy. You'd need no security whatsoever if you felt secure. 
Despite that college degree from Howard University, my old buddy is still struggling financially and always will because he does not operate on prosperity consciousness. He still operates off the Nation of Islam paradigm. He invested in man (man-made institution) and I invested in my mind and that's why we ended up going different routes in life and our personal financial circumstances being greatly different.
He just recently shared the following account with a Black Muslim Inter-net community forum (under his alias "Ghettomessiah", a name he stole from a friend of mine who is the original "Geto-Messiah") on how he was robbed of $455 by Bank of America:
"BANK OF AMERICA IS A CRIMINAL ORGANIZATION. I HAD $2,000 IN THE BANK ON THE 1ST OF THIS MONTH. 15 GAS TRANSACTIONS CAME THROUGH, AND WERE APPROVED ON THE 2ND, TOTALING $400. THEY REVERSED THE CHARGES AND HELD THEM BECAUSE THE SYSTEM NOTICED A $1,900 CHECK WAS CASHED AGAINST MY ACCOUNT ON THE 9TH. (A WEEK LATER) SO, THEY APPROVED THE $1,900 FIRST (EVEN THOUGH THE SMALLER AMOUNTS WENT THROUGH WAY BACK ON THE 2ND), THEN CHARGED ME $35.00 FOR EVERY CHECK THAT DID NOT CLEAR AFTER THAT. INSTEAD OF CLEARING THE GAS FEES WAY BACK ON THE SECOND, THEY HELD THEM, APPROVED THE $1,900 FIRST, AND ALLOWED TWO ATM TRANSACTIONS OF $100 TO PROCESS.
AFTER THAT, THEY BOUNCED 13 TRANSACTIONS AND CHARGED ME $35 FOR EACH ONE. THAT'S AN EXTRA $455 THAT THEY STOLE FROM ME. ANY FOOL WITH HALF A BRAIN WOULD KNOW THAT BANK OF AMERICA IS DOING DIRTY BUSINESS. I HAD $2,000 IN THE BANK WHEN $400 IN GAS CAME THROUGH. NOW THAT LEAVES ME WITH $1600. WHEN THE CHECK FOR $1,900 CAME THROUGH ON THE 9TH, THEY SHOULD HAVE DECLINED IT THEN, AND MY ONLY FINE WOULD HAVE BEEN $35.00 INSTEAD OF $455.
I WENT INSIDE THE BANK AND THE LYING BIITCH AT THE HELP DESK TOLD ME, "I CAN'T DO NOTHING ABOUT IT....THE MANAGER ISN'T HERE." THEY ALWAYS TELL THAT LIE...THEN SHE TOLD ME, "IT IS BANK OF AMERICA'S POLICY TO APPROVE THE LARGEST CHECK FIRST...IT DOESN'T MATTER IF THE SMALLER CHECKS WENT THROUGH A WEEK BEFORE....SO BASICALLY, THEIR POLICY IS TO BOUNCE AS MANY CHECKS AS THEY POSSIBLY CAN...EVEN IF YOU HAD THE FUNDS IN YOUR ACCOUNT; THERE SYSTEM IS DESIGNED TO SNATCH BACK THE SMALLER TRANSACTIONS AND FORCE THE LARGER ONE THROUGH SO THEY CAN STEAL....
I ASKED HER THE FOLLOWING: "DO YOU KNOW THAT BANK OF AMERICA WAS SUED FOR THIS IN THE PAST?" SHE DIDN'T GIVE A SHIT!!! SHE JUST SAID, "WELL THEY KEEP ON DOING IT." I CUSSED HER OUT AND LEFT THE BANK. I'M WRITING A LETTER TO THE COMP-CONTROLLER. TIMES IS HARD, I'M TIRED OF MO FUGGAZ STEALING FROM ME...ITS HARD TO GET AHEAD WHEN MOFUGGAZ LIE IN THEIR BEDS AT NIGHT AND SCHEME AND PLOT ON HOW THEY ARE GOING TO SQUEEZE MONEY OUT OF YO AZZ THAT THEY DON'T DESERVE. PHUCK BANK OF AMERICA. I RECENTLY SCORED A RECORD DEAL, AND ONE OF THE SONGS ON MY CD WILL BE CALLED, "PHUCK BANK OF AMERIKKKA." - Adham Gordon
Now what Mr. Gordon doesn't know is that if he had true wealth as he was claiming (he actually was claiming he made $200,000.00 profit for the previous year), to prevent this fiasco all he had to do was make sure he had enough money in his bank account. Simple as that!
I don't doubt what he's saying about Bank of America because I too used to experience what he described about Bank of America years ago when I used to bank there and was not operating on wealth, prosperity, abundance, affluence, and money consciousness at the time.
There's truth to his statement but it was so easy for me to defeat Bank of America's mechanics by simply making more money and having more money in the bank.
My solution was not to advise people to not bank at Bank of America. My solution was to make sure I had more money in the bank (before I ultimately switched to Great Western Bank and now Wachovia).
I took matters into my own hands as a personally responsible individual and resolved the issue of costly overdraft fees. I didn't ask Bank of America to do anything for me (during my inquiry with the B of A), though I must admit that when I spoke to a B of A representative over the phone, the rep kindly removed all four of my overdraft fees which made my day.
Clearly, the difference in Adham's situation and my situation with Bank of America was attitude predicated upon energy. My attitude made the difference in Bank of America removing overdraft charges from my account whereas Adham's, clearly evidenced by his attitude from his words supra, caused him to lose $455.00 which I know had to sting him financially.
But this is what happens when you don't devise or create your own personal and mental economy that is not tied into the nation's and world's economy and also believe that times are hard, as Adham said supra.
He acknowledges, thinks, and believes times are hard (due to a perceived economic recession in the nation) so he emits via energy into the Universe that times are hard so the Universe gives him more of "times are hard" experiences. He unwisely believes people robs and will rob him so that's what he attracts and that's why he was robbed (from an unlikely robber, of course). It's all energy! As I explained and elucidated in "The Mental Science Manual" a great simple secret of the Universe is "your thoughts create your reality."
It's so ironic to me that Adham specializes in professional security, prevention of robberies and theft, yet he himself was robbed and could not prevent it or do anything about it. He couldn't protect his money due to his ignorance of the laws of money.
Adham created the situation with Bank of America (robbing him) via his thinking just as I did in the past, which I'm not ashamed to share openly. I was unconscious in regards to prosperity consciousness back then but all that began to change back in late 2004. I learned some very valuable things which I am now sharing with people so as to help people improve their lives in all areas where change is needed.
When on a higher frequency, you cannot attract things on a lower frequency. The Law of Attraction is at work here. Law of Attraction says: "that which is like unto itself is drawn."
I eventually learned that the old makes way for the new, so all the old friends that are lost are simply removed to make room for all the new wonderful friends that are to come into your life that serve you based upon where your frequency and focus is and that's a wonderful and beautiful thing.
Through this radical change (that occurred in my life back in 1993) I would end up meeting my very best friend for life - Odis Wilson. Odis and I automatically clicked upon meeting one another. Odis had heard me speak one night at the Nation of Islam's Monday night Fruit of Islam class whereby I had taken my uncle Larry Maxwell for moral support as he was just released from prison in Mississippi for a crime he didn't commit and was about to be executed for.
Odis would later tell me that something resonated with him in hearing me speak. It's like that - being at the right place at the right place pursuant to the Law of Synchronicity.
After the meeting at the old mosque on Western and Vernon in South Central Los Angeles, as I was walking to my car, Odis stopped me and my small entourage of my little brother Mike and my uncle Larry, and we talked for a few minutes and exchanged phone numbers. It was a wrap after that.
Odis would be very instrumental in my personal development because Odis was a fisherman. He was a people person (he's Aquarius which coincides or correlates to the astrological 11th House of Friends) and Odis was a magnet for attracting people, males and females equally.
Odis helped to give me the venue I was never given in the Nation of Islam (of which I am very thankful and glad today for I could have never grown to the proportions of growth, development, and personal success of where I am today and experiencing had I stayed in that religious-political organization).
Odis resided in North Hollywood and I would make visits to the valley (San Fernando Valley) almost monthly to come speak to people whom Odis had gathered in his apartment. It's always been like that between Odis and myself upon contact. He'd fish them in and I'd talk to them. However, Odis too would also give clarifying words in addition to my words that enhanced anything I said or was saying. We were a team - a tag team of sorts!
Clearly Odis and I were (and are) old soul buddies. I never had a good or best friend like Odis and I had quite a few, in this succession: Rodney Mazes (my childhood very best friend until 1979-1980), Jerry Schieb (from 1980-1981), Joe Thomas and Donte Connors (1981-1982), Larry Hart (1982-1985), Adham Gordon (1985-2002), Terrance Potter (1990-1994), and my man Sheldon Staggers (1995-present).
Odis and Sheldon are my very best and loyal friends and that's why today I've made sure that they are both financially taken care of in life by bringing them on board as a part of my lecture crew and team that travels around the nation giving lectures. They too now get paid for doing what they love to do. Adham Gordon (and even his wife, Detra) would have also been on board too because that's just how I am and how I do. I'm a true Taurus, loyal to the very end.
These individuals supra also stand out pertaining to close friendship because of their ability to really make me laugh; I'm talking about laughing from the 2nd chakra - laughing so hard I'd fall on my back, even in the street. It didn't matter to me for when it came to laughing, I expressed and it didn't matter were I was at (and it still doesn't). One thing about me - if a thing is funny, I'm going to laugh and by any means necessary. You can't beat a good laugh! Laughter truly is good for the heart and soul. Laughter is one of my favorite pastimes!
The best is truly saved for last because I feel now that I have the most quintessential friends in my life at this present time: Odis, Sheldon, Ahman, Forrest, Jason C., Brooks, Lomax, Jamelle, et al.
My ultimate best friend though is undoubtedly my wife. I feel the best indemnification for a solid marriage is a solid friendship with your mate. My wife has the ability to make me feel like no other. She has no competition whatsoever. She's challenging for me at times (due to her Virgo-based mutability) and we do go through our ups and down, but I learn so much from this process that she is a part of. I love her dearly!
My above words are simply a testimony to my radical change in life. When one door closes, another one opens. Always remember this! This is applicable to all human beings too. We can even call it the Law of the Closed Door.
Never feel sad when things change. Change is not loss, but growth. You can never lose the memories of your past. They are permanently sealed in your heart. Hold on to the memories of the past as you travel anew in the present.
Getting back on track (as I go off track a lot and you do this when you are a free soul and have so much to convey): "Verbal Advantage" really resonated with me and one of their statements, i.e. "The price you pay for Verbal Advantage will pay off in dividends a hundredfold" was so true for me. I made that program work for me. I really developed a command of the English language and improved my ability to communicate to and with other people.
 This company spoke many truths in their advertising. Consider some of the following:
"People Judge You By The Words You Use!"
"Studies over many decades have proven that a strong command of the English vocabulary is directly linked to career advancement, to the money you make and even to social success."
"To move ahead in your career, your business vocabulary level must at least equal the average level of the members of your profession. To excel, your vocabulary must surpass that of your colleagues."
"Every day, people judge you by the words you use. Rightly or wrongly, they make assumptions about your intelligence, your education and your capabilities. Nothing makes a better impression than a solid mastery of the English language."
I receive no compensation from Verbal Advantage whatsoever nor do I have an endorsement deal with this company. I only recommend this company because it truly helped me to improve my life by helping me to build and improve my vocabulary.
"Put A $ In Front Of Each Word You Learn."
More than 250,000 people have already benefited from Verbal Advantage©. And companies ranging from Aetna to Microsoft to Xerox have purchased the program.
Wouldn't you like to command a vocabulary so rich, so dynamic that people will be absolutely riveted by every word you speak, every phrase you write? Listen to Verbal Advantage in the privacy of your own home or car. Prove to yourself how in just one month you can add thousands of new words to your vocabulary and attain a level that EQUALS THE TOP 5% OF ALL ADULTS!
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Thank you for reading!
This article is compliments Dherbs.com.
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