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(Originally published at AfroDaddy.com - The Black Man Survival Guide )

How come politics never changes?  The vast majority of Americans believe that the rich don't pay enough taxes and that corporations are seizing too much financial and political power in America.  Most Americans also believe that oil companies should not get tax breaks, everyone has the right to vote and women have the right to choose what they do with their bodies.  The masses know that it is wrong for 2% of Americans to control 40% of the wealth in America. 

The Democratic Party supports fair taxation of the rich,

(Originally publsihed at AfroDaddy.com - The Black Man Survival Guide)

 The Basics: 

78% of NFL Players are bankrupt within 2 years of their retirement. 60% of NBA players are broke within 5 years of ending their career. 

Although these statistics are disturbing, they don't tell the whole story. Certainly there is the overspending and mismanagement that goes along with being a professional athlete, but these are just some of the reasons why athletes go broke. 

To see some of the other factors, keep reading.

People see the big million dollar contracts on TV and think that athletes are unbelievably rich.  Some are, but here are the real facts about getting paid in the

Being a parent is one of the most difficult jobs you will ever have and unfortunately it does not come with a handbook.  Fortunately there are many resources to help young mothers through online support networks, blogs and websites, community groups and programs.  There are resources out there for fathers too, but certainly not in the same numbers and definitely not as easy to find. Of course as men we often don't even look for them, and if we do our searches are not always successful.

Since Mohammad does not always go to the mountain we have decided to create this article and share

Technically these 5 things can destroy the future of any young person trying to have financial success in America, but since we are writing for The Black Man Survival Guide we want to focus particularly on the obstacles as they relate to our young black men.  We already know that as African Americans we face many inequities in the US to include police harassment, institutional racism and in the case of the Trayvon Martin shooting, death at the hands of vigilante (in)justice.  We recently wrote a piece on  10 Corporate and Government Policies that Unfairly Punish Black Men that focuses

Three weeks ago 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was walking down the street in his Florida gated community not knowing that in minutes he would lose his life. 

As Trayvon walked home from the local store neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman spotted young Trayvon.  He deemed the young black man suspicious as he was a black youth wearing a hoodie and decided to follow him, even though he was told by the 911 dispatcher not to follow the youth.  An altercation ensued and Zimmerman ended up shooting and fatally wounding Martin who was unarmed.  Another young black man dead apparently

The Black Man Survival Guide is not just about staying alive it’s about having the things you need and want.  The best way to get these things is to work damn hard for them.  When it comes to this work you have 2 choices:

a) Work for a boss where you have limited control of your destiny; or

b) Start your own business and drive your ship to success or straight to the bottom of the sea

The sarcasm in Option “b” is intentional.  Becoming an entrepreneur is the way to riches, but it is a hard path that is fraught with disaster.  Know this going in and you have a chance to succeed.

If you

All women are beautiful in their own way, but black women are definitely some of the most beautiful women in the world.  If you hear the media tell it, you might not think so.  Billboards display ads showing a light skinned (or white), long-haired woman as the standard of beauty.  TV continues to create shows that depict black women in a negative light (think "Basketball Wives of WTF").  Black rappers continue to create songs and videos dissing dark women in favor of light-skinned, long-haired women. 

Commercials bombard women every day with images of them not being pretty enough, thin