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thelinkuptmbls · 6 years ago

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Save Yourself & Your Money

Hey I’m Brittany, a recurring guest of the podcast The Link Up, and I’m ready to blast off in your ear. So without further ado, this is Brittany’s Blast-off.

The latest episode released by The Link Up explores what it means to be a ‘ride or die’ and settles on generational wealth (legacy). On the surface, the two topics seem unrelated because one deals with extreme relationship goals (and expectations) while the other speaks to inheritance. But I don’t think the two are disparate, in fact, I think the two go hand-in-hand.

Let’s go back. Back to 2003. It’s a wild time. Pop punk is running amok in the streets. Triple-X sized t-shirts are selling faster than flip phones, and all the jeans are low rise and boot cut. Whew, chile. The TV is set to BET and a song by Missy Elliot or 50 Cent has just finished playing. Up next, the lovely sounds of Monica. The song starts and you’re immediately drawn in by the wonderful production of Jermaine Dupri & Brian Michael Cox. Monica hits us with the first verse reminding her forlorn lover that he never needed the material gifts to win her loyalty. She continues this right into the hook. “You should’ve known better than to think I would leave, you should’ve known better than to doubt me”, Monica informs. “It don’t matter if you’re up, matter if you’re down, either way I’m gonna be around. You should’ve known that I would stay by your side. You should’ve known your girl was gonna ride or die…”

By this point, Monica already won me. The beat was hitting. Her vocals were on point. I was getting my 13 year old life. Then she said the next line, “…and it just don’t matter if you’re rich or poor, out here doing five to ten…” Girl, what? Five to ten years in JAIL, jail? Federal prison? No, love. If your assumption was that I would ditch you as soon as the cell door clanked, you are absolutely correct. And besides, I looked up what crimes carry a 5-10 year sentence and all of them included use of a firearm with the exception of child pornography. It was at the tender age of 13 that I realized what the prerequisites for being a ride or die were and accepted that I could never be one. The dream was dead.

Now I want to be clear here: I wasn’t saying that I could never be a faithful, loyal, loving companion. Rather, I strive to be all these things to a man who would prefer I walk and live in lieu of riding or dying. And to be completely honest, like the whole concept of, “ride or die”, doesn’t even sound appealing. You mean I gotta stick by you and ride through all of your bull shit or LOSE. MY. LIFE? How does that even begin to sound romantic? What could be strong enough to compel me to gamble my love life or even my very mortality for a broke nigga? And you know the nigga broke because well-paid niggas are never worried about a woman’s fidelity. (Even if she’s cheating, stay woke.) I saw all of this at 13 and knew that walking in my purpose did not include riding and dying.

That was 16 years ago, yet, here we are fresh into the newest year and being a ‘ride or die’ is still a thing. How? How are niggas still able to finesse y’all? How do you still allow niggas to continue with their petty initiations that test the level of your loyalty? In this economy? There is literally no time to waste time. This has to die, once and for all! This is a scam, one of the biggest scams the Broke Nigga Community has ever conceived. Broke niggas worldwide have been able to convince women that it is some virtue or sign of nobility when a woman endures much from a man especially pauperism. It’s always the niggas with the least the demand the very most. Like condom-less sex, for instance. And then science happens and now there’s a baby. Oddly enough, the relationship doesn’t work out and because he was a member of the Broke Nigga Community, your child support payments have you in the grocery store asking the clerk to alert you when the bill gets to $25 and you haven’t even emptied the basket when you hear “um miss, your total is $26.38”. So now you’re pointing to various items on the conveyor belt, checking the price before ultimately telling the clerk to take it out. It’s all too much!

All jokes aside, the person who really gets hit the hardest is the baby. Eventually, things may get better but building means being without for a time which puts your child at a disadvantage. They’re limited in social mobility and opportunities. This isn’t just in the case of a single parent though. If the relationship is still going strong but he’s still broke, that’s a loss. The result remains the same – social disadvantage for the child. But I ain’t tryna run ya life. I just want us to really start prioritizing starting with ourselves. I want women to center themselves as the goal. That way duplicitous broke niggas won’t be able to cast their BNC wool so easily. Their con must be exposed. Ladies, start QUIZZING THEY ASSES! Do their motives create room for you to prosper? No. Then how can it be God’s plan? Just say no, beloved. Your legacy and your child’s future depend on this.

Women must remember that they always have options and if there aren’t any viable options available – wait. Do NOT settle. This includes niggas with potential. Them niggas is the worst! Potential can keep you blinded for years! Beware of those niggas, their niggatry is powerful. Keep those standards high, ladies! Keep doing the Lord’s work because you know until the day He comes, the Lord’s work is never over.

Episode 12 now live!

#thelinkupteam #thelinkupdotca #podcast #urban podcast #why pree #join the conversation #black girl magic #black boy joy #generational wealth #ancestry #legacy

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