I was expecting the flashing light and siren behind me as soon as I passed the police car. I had an anxious feeling that he would be coming after me. I was passing through a small town in Ohio, a state I have lived my entire life, and I did not see a lot of...
Author: Sheila Lettsome (Sheila Lettsome)
Higher education shouldn’t be a lifetime sentence to debt
Who needs an appreciating asset like homeownership? Who needs to build credit, equity, and wealth to pass on? Who needs tax benefits? Most Americans would love the chance at homeownership, but for so many people of color, the very thing that should have opened the door to wealth has only opened a door to more...
Juneteenth: Learning to Walk in the Shoes of Those Who Had None
I hope you will take the time to read the essays my Black colleagues have written about the significance of Juneteenth to them but also to our nation as a whole. I truly appreciate the effort that have put into producing this series. It’s unfortunate that more Americans don’t know the story behind this holiday;...
The Audacity to Vote!
This is the second in a series of blogs written by Community Solutions staff members of color in honor of the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday and Black History Month. Before my mother passed away in 2018, she accomplished something her parents never did. She voted. Like an excited child on the first day of...
Paying someone else’s mortgage: Many Black Americans struggle to own a home
This is the first in a series of blogs written by Community Solutions staff members of color in honor of the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday and Black History Month. Married one year, my husband and I sat in front of a banker we had been referred to. We were trying to learn more about...