When we think about our financial lives, we rarely frame them in terms of colonization. Yet many of us are unknowingly participating in our own economic erosion, unable to recognize that the way we consume and why we consume has a direct and profound connection to our mental health.
John Hope Bryant, Founder of Operation Hope, once said, “Consumerism is the new colonizer.” That statement struck me deeply. It gave language to something I had witnessed for years: the way our behaviors, habits, and emotional wounds shape the lifestyles we live and the financial realities we experience.
When I launched The Melanin Project in 2019, I knew the work had to go far beyond teaching people how to budget. A budget is essential it’s the roadmap for managing your financial house but it only accounts for about 20% of financial success. The other 80% is rooted in mental health, mindset, and the emotional patterns that drive our decisions. I see this truth in every budget I review and, in the lifestyles, so many of us are trying to maintain, even when our bank accounts tell a very different story.
I recognized this pattern because I lived it. I spent years trapped in the cycle of paycheck to paycheck living, juggling late bills, paying 23% interest on a car note, drowning in payday loans, and carrying a mountain of student loan debt. All of this was layered on top of anxiety and depression. I convinced myself that my financial struggles existed because I simply didn’t make enough money.
Yes, income matters. Yes, systemic barriers exist. But those were factors I couldn’t control. What I could control was how I responded to those barriers. I had to learn to reclaim my power by identifying solutions instead of surrendering to my circumstances. And I had to confront the truth: I was not going to reclaim my power while participating in unhealthy coping mechanisms like shopping for relief, clubbing every weekend, or taking trips I couldn’t afford.
These behaviors weren’t about enjoyment they were about escape. And many of us are living this same pattern today. We are trying to soothe emotional wounds with consumption, even when our bank accounts resemble poverty, even when we have no emergency fund, even when we know the math doesn’t add up. Beneath these habits are deep rooted traumas and unaddressed stressors that shape our choices long before we ever swipe a card.
The data reflects this reality. According to Moneyzine, 57.4% of Americans have less than $1,000 in savings. Sports Illustrated reports that over 60% of NFL and NBA players go broke, despite earning more in a year than many people earn in a lifetime. And according to World Metrics, 70% of lottery winners who receive $1 million or more go bankrupt within three to five years.
These numbers shatter the myth that making more money will save you. If wealth were only about income, more people would have it. But wealth is about healing, alignment, discipline, and choosing yourself over and over again. Income alone cannot compensate for an unhealed nervous system or an unmanaged emotional life.
As a financial coach, I remind my clients that financial wellness and mental wellness are deeply intertwined. You cannot separate the two. You cannot out earn chronic stress, unresolved trauma, or emotional spending patterns. You must be intentional about focusing on what you can control your habits, your mindset, your boundaries, and your relationship with money.
The evidence is especially clear within the Black community. According to Afro.com, “nearly 72% of Black adults identify money as a major source of stress. Financial strain is strongly associated with higher levels of stress and depressive symptoms, which in turn affect day to day budgeting, spending decisions, and long term financial planning. These aren’t just logistical challenges they are emotional ones.”
This is why information is powerful. Not to scare us, but to empower us. When we understand the psychological roots of our financial behaviors, we can begin to break cycles that have held us hostage for generations. Personal empowerment and self agency are the keys to liberating ourselves from financial bondage.
We must recognize that many of our consumption habits are attempts to temporarily relieve stress, to feel worthy, to feel seen, or to feel in control. But instant gratification is a trap. It offers relief in the moment while cultivating long term harm financially, emotionally, and mentally.
Healing our relationship with money requires honesty, courage, and a willingness to confront the stories we’ve inherited and the coping mechanisms we’ve normalized. It requires us to shift from consumption to intention, from avoidance to awareness, from survival to strategy.
And most importantly, it requires community. None of us can unlearn generations of financial trauma alone. We need spaces where we can be educated, supported, and empowered without judgment.
This is the heart behind the Wealth Empowerment Conference, a space designed to bring financial education and emotional healing together, where community and strategy meet, and where we can collectively reclaim our power from the systems and habits that have shaped our financial lives.
