Broke-ish®

On this payday, Amber and Erika discuss the concept of "model minorities" and how it relates to the expectations placed upon Black descendants of enslaved people to use tools like financial literacy to "pull themselves up by the bootstraps". They highlight the challenges faced by Black Americans compared to other ethnic minorities and immigrants. Dr. Patrice Sims, a sociologist, joins the discussi...

On this New Year's Payday, Amber and Erika are busting another myth from our interview with John Hope Bryant. Bryant casually remarked, "If you go to the computer at midnight, the computer doesn't know what race you are." The evidence, however, suggests that that is false, and technology and AI is laden with the same biases and racism present within our society. Our guest, Memme Onwudiwe, a Harvar...

On this payday, Amber and Erika are continuing the "Myth Busters" series, debunking the erroneous statement that banks are race neutral and "don't care about color". Dr. Justene Hill-Edwards, University of Virginia professor and author of "Savings and Trust: The Rise and Betrayal of the Freedman's Bank", joins us to discuss the first bank in American history created for Black Americans. Not only d...

Amber and Erika are back on this payday debunking another one of John Hope Bryant's false statements. During his interview, Bryant contended that slavery as an institution was race neutral and existed long before the colonized iteration primarily rooted in anti-Blackness. Dr. Kehinde Andrews, renowned author, scholar, and historian joins us to unpack why this statement is misleading and erroneousl...

Amber and Erika promised to spend the remainder of Season 10 debunking the financial literacy myths you heard in Episode 1. Well, we're making good on that promise by interrogating John Hope Bryant's claim that "financial literacy is the civil rights issue of this generation"…whatever that means. Broke-ish All-Star and our Black Liberation Media comrade, Dr. Jared Ball, joins us to unpack the fall...

Whew, chile! Broke-ish is starting Season 10 with a bang - literally and figuratively. John Hope Bryant, chairman and CEO of Operation Hope, the nation's largest nonprofit provider of financial literacy resources, joins us to discuss the ins and outs of financial literacy. But the conversation gets interesting when Amber and Erika push back on Bryant's belief in a colorblind and race neutral econo...

Broke-ish is ten and officially a preteen! And like most prepubescent knuckleheads, we're still a (mostly) delightful mix of unserious, curious, determined, and ever-evolving. We open Season 10 by recapping some of the notable shenanigans that occurred during our break, including Diddy being remanded without bail, Eric Adams's indictment, and CBS Morning's interview of Ta-Nehisi Coates. Then we di...

And just like that, it's a wrap on Season 9! Amber and Erika pause to look back on the highs, lows, and in-betweens of Season 9 and muse about what we've learned, our hopes for the future, and what you can expect in Season 10! America is still Broke-ish, but we are we resolved, determined, and excited about creating a better future for us and by us. Tune in to hear our reflections on this season!

In this episode, Amber and Erika pause to reflect on the horrific murder of Sonya Massey and the ascendance of Kamala Harris to the Democratic presidential nominee - all in the same week. We discuss how both women reflect different, yet ugly truths, about the unjust American police state. And we also reflect on the unique emotional impact of both events on Black women. Can we truly mourn Sonya Mas...

On this payday, Amber and Erika are examining America's third branch of government, the judiciary, and its often overlooked role in upholding the unjust systems at the base of this country. We examine three recent rulings - the Supreme Court's decision to overturn the Chevron Doctrine and expand presidential immunity and the Eleventh Circuit's ruling dismantling the Fearless Fund - that reveal how...

On this payday, Amber and Erika are throwing it back to an oldie but goodie: Civics 101! So many of us are disturbed, angered, and concerned about the state of our current political affairs - especially after the first presidential debate. But this episode reminds us that our focus needs to go beyond the pageantry of it all to the structural and systemic ways that our government conspires to disem...

On this payday, Amber and Erika discuss America's hijacking of Jesus and the church's complicity with inequity, exploitative capitalism, and anti-blackness. We are joined by Stephanie M. House-Niamke, a sociologist whose work centers on power, access, and choice, across the areas of race, gender, and religion. Stephanie helps us see how problematic theological frameworks like the prosperity gospel...

On this payday, Amber and Erika are talking about the unprecedented attack on America's public schools by conservative Republicans seeking to ban DEI efforts and replace fact-based curricula with ideological propaganda. Joined by Mike Hixenbaugh, investigative journalist behind the podcast series "Southlake" and author of the New York Times bestselling book "They Came for the Schools." We look at...

On this payday, Amber and Erika deep dive into anti-blackness propagated by other Black people. Although we usually focus on whiteness and white agents of anti-blackness, this episode looks at the unique harms to our community when Black leaders and influencers peddle in anti-blackness. From pathologizing Black people to blaming and shaming us for problems directly caused by white supremacist syst...

On this payday, Amber and Erika are debunking millionaire myths. Despite what we see on social media and television, most people will never ascend to the status of millionaire. But even for those who do, it doesn't always equate to a life flush with cash and no financial worries. And this is, of course, especially true for Black people. We get back to the basics by first explaining how to calculat...

On this payday, Amber and Erika are "celebrating" Financial Literacy Awareness Month. We discuss what financial literacy looks like and how it is distinct from and related to financial education. Although, the Brokers know that financial literacy is not the antidote to the racism and inequitable capitalism that conspires against Black people, we look at the role of understanding money and economic...

On this payday, Amber and Erika discuss "Secure DC", the new crime bill recently enacted in the nation's capital that harkens back to the "tough on crime" approach of the 80s and 90s. Despite history and data overwhelmingly demonstrating that increased policing and carcareal punishment do not reduce crime, we attempt to unpack the reasons why our policy makers constantly revert to this losing stra...

On this payday, Amber and Erika are talking housing insecurity, poverty, and how a lack of access to affordable housing disproportionately impacts Black people. Joined by Bill Holston, the Chief Operations Officer of the Dallas Eviction Advocacy Center, we discuss the nationwide inconsistency in tenants' rights against landlords, the historical and legal events that created systemic inequity, and...

Broke-ish is back for Season 9!! Amber and Erika are so excited to kick off a new season. We start off by catching up and pouring the tea on what we've been up to during the break. Next, we recap the hottest current events, a sobering reminder that Earth is still really ghetto and there's so much broken "ish" that needs fixing. From Donald Trump's pending civil and criminal cases to morally bankru...

On the final episode of this season, Amber and Erika grapple with the quandary of Black billionaires. Can we root for those who have found success at the highest levels while still calling out their harm? Is it ever acceptable to publicly call out Black elites in front of the White gaze? Is it "hateration" to not support Black elites on the basis that their actions are harmful to our community by...

On this Payday, Amber and Erika are discussing the explosive sexual misconduct lawsuits against some of today's most iconic celebrities, including Diddy, Jamie Foxx, Jimmy Iovine, Russell Simmons and Aaron Hall. Cassie, a singer and Diddy's former girlfriend, seemingly opened the floodgates with her lawsuit against Diddy and his related entities, alleging among other things, that she was repeatedl...

On this episode, Amber and Erika are joined by platinum-selling R&B diva Nicci Gilbert of the iconic trio Brownstone. Nicci is a singer, songwriter, and film and stage producer who created the stage play "Soul Kittens Cabaret" in 2003. Nicci subsequently filed suit against the Starz network and others alleging that the hit show "P-Valley" uses the same plot line and wrongly infringes upon copyrigh...

On this episode, Amber and Erika are joined by Maggie Parker, the founder and CEO of Innovan Neighborhoods to discuss a new, more equitable way of creating affordable housing: through community development. Maggie walks us through the process, which includes putting the voices of community members at the forefront of the development conversation, empowering marginalized developers committed to equ...

On this episode, Amber and Erika discuss the current war between Israel and Palestine, diving into the complexities on both sides. We explore the creation of modern Israel against the backdrop of historical atrocities committed against the Jews and the Palestinian resistance to apartheid and for self-determination. Like most of the broken "ish" around us, this crisis has everything to do with prop...

This week Amber and Erika have a personal and heartfelt conversation about how we as Black people have to navigate our relationships with each other against the backdrop of a system that actively conspires to break us down. While we are all in this struggle to varying degrees, some of us are more broken than others - by generational trauma, financial insecurity, mental illness, and all the ish tha...