By Tashi McQueen
AFRO Staff Writer
tmcqueen@afro.com
For Black Americans, managing money can be anything but simple. Due to a range of systemic inequalities through the decades in the U.S., including redlining and low income compared to their White counterparts, a number of Black Americans struggle with debt and poor credit.
According to the U.S. Census 2018 Survey of Income and Program Participation, 27.9 percent of Black households faced medical debt, while 17.2 percent of White households.
“The hardest part wasn’t even the debt,” said Lamar Laing, CEO and founder of Copiafy.“It was how I felt like I didn’t have any power, and I didn’t know how to fix it.”
Through Copiafy, an online financial management tool, people can manage their financial goals and track their bills and credit report disputes all in one space.
“For us, Black Americans, getting out of a bad credit situation isn’t just about getting a lower interest rate. It’s about access to capital, access to homes [and] access to freedom,” said Laing. “Fixing your credit is an act of self-determination.”
It can be challenging to overcome bad debt and poor credit, but Laing is an example of how it can be done.
“I got into bad credit and debt pretty early in my adult life,” said Laing. “It wasn’t just one big mistake. It was more like a series of decisions I made without really understanding how credit works and the importance of thinking about my financial situation in the long term.”
How he went about buying his first car was one of his earliest mistakes.
“I was so excited to get approved, but I didn’t fully understand what I was signing up for at the time,” said Laing. “For a while, I was making my monthly payments thinking I was doing everything right but barely making a dent in the loan. I learned that my payments were covering interest and barely bringing down the principal balance.”
Noticing this growing issue, Laing further educated himself on how to better manage loans.
“I started structuring my payments differently,” said Laing. “I made extra payments that went towards my principal balance and that changed everything.”
Laing said the experience taught him how little people can know about borrowing and how expensive that lack of knowledge can be.
He recognized that his decision to improve his financial literacy helped him overcome bad debt and poor credit.
“The key is knowing how your money is being applied,” said Laing.
He acknowledged that many Black people feel stuck in a system not designed for them to win or succeed, but pressed that Black Americans can equip themselves for success through financial education.
“I started researching different credit laws and statutes, looking into my rights as a consumer and figuring out how to advocate for myself,” said Laing. “Eventually, I was able to rebuild and that’s exactly what led me to build Copiafy. I didn’t want other people to have to go through all of that on their own.”
He said Copiafy aims to help people get in control of their financial health by understanding their credit, tracking their progress, creating financial goals and understanding what it takes to achieve them.
Laing also emphasized that Black Americans should create their own tools and platforms to ensure that resources are accessible and relevant for the Black community.
“We can’t just plug into the systems that were not made for us,” said Laing. “We have to create our own. That’s how we reclaim power.”