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Smart Investment Property Decisions Are Helping Build Black Wealth

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Many Black investors are in both residential and commercial investing, such as the likes of R. Donahue Peebles. He’s the founder and CEO of The Peebles Corporation, one of the largest Black-owned real estate investment firms in the U.S., whose developments have a total investment value of over $8 billion.
The post Smart Investment Property Decisions Are Helping Build Black Wealth appeared first on BlackPressUSA.

Published

2 months ago

June 22, 2026

Oakland Post

By Dax Janel Valencia

Smart investment property decisions are helping Black Americans build wealth by creating an additional source of cash flow, usually through monthly rental payments. They also create long-term financial well-being by allowing those in the Black community to generate property equity.

Making smart real estate investing decisions remains crucial to Black Americans, as huge gaps in racial wealth and homeownership still exist. As the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) reports, compared to the median Black family, the median white family has 6.5 times more wealth.

What Constitutes an Investment Property?

An investment property is real estate bought and managed with the primary purpose of being a rental property and generating financial returns. They help property owners earn income through rental payments and build wealth through appreciation and equity in real estate.

Some specific examples of investment properties are residential properties like:

Single-family homes
Multi-family apartment buildings
Vacation rentals
Condominium units
Townhomes

Commercial properties, such as office buildings and retail spaces (e.g., restaurants and storefronts), are also popular investment properties.

Many Black investors are in both residential and commercial investing, such as the likes of R. Donahue Peebles. He’s the founder and CEO of The Peebles Corporation, one of the largest Black-owned real estate investment firms in the U.S., whose developments have a total investment value of over $8 billion.

There are also industrial properties that can serve as investments, such as warehouses and storage facilities. Alternative properties, like undeveloped raw land and fix-and-flip projects, are other examples.

What Are the 1% and 2% Rules for Investment Property?

The 1% and 2% rules are more like real estate investment strategies designed as quick screening tools for investors.

The 1% rule states that the monthly rent of a property should be at least 1% of its overall purchase and repair cost. The 2% rule is a variation, stating that the monthly rent should be no less than 2% of the property’s purchase and repair cost.

Another 1% rule in real estate applies to its maintenance. Investopedia explains that this budgeting approach states owners should set aside at least 1% to 4% of their property’s value in cash each year.

The money will then go toward potential repairs or replacements, both expected and unexpected.

How Are Smart Investment Property Decisions Helping Build Black Wealth?

When Black investors make savvy investment property decisions, they’re taking steps to achieve financial freedom by creating extra sources of income. They also build stronger financial frameworks for their family’s future (and future family members), as smart property investments allow for equity building.

Generating Short and Long-Term Income

One example of a smart investment property decision that helps build Black wealth through stable short- and long-term rental income generation is purchasing properties in areas with:

Robust job markets
Exceptional schools
Growing populations
Good safety and family-friendly ratings
Low crime rates

Properties in such locations are more likely to attract quality tenants. Quality tenants, in turn, often have a high likelihood of staying in the long run and always paying rent on time.

They respect rental properties like they’re their own, taking good care of their landlord’s assets.

Transforming Real Estate Assets Into Passive Income Generators and Wealth Builders

Some people, particularly first-time investors, mistakenly believe that investing in real estate automatically means passive income. In most cases, it’s not, particularly for property owners who also serve as property managers.

Being a self-managing property owner and landlord can be, in some cases, a 24/7 job. Tenants may encounter late-night property maintenance emergencies, such as a burst plumbing pipe or busted furnace in the middle of a winter night.

A smart property investment decision that Black investors should consider is to delegate most of their landlord responsibilities to a full-service property manager. With one on board, property owners can enjoy the following perks, as explained by this guide exploring Cerritos property management solutions:

Professional property marketing
Thorough but compliant tenant screening
On-time rent collection
Regular in-person property inspections
Handling of property maintenance requests
Coordination of necessary property repairs
Monthly accounting and financial reporting
Legal processing of evictions

With a full-service rental property management partner, Black investors can turn their real estate assets into a passive income generator. They can reclaim their time and focus on other crucial tasks, such as exploring more investment avenues and further growing their portfolio.

Building Generational Wealth Through Equity

Equity in real estate means the portion of a property that an owner has direct ownership of (the property’s current market value minus outstanding mortgage debt). The bigger a Black investor’s equity, the greater their net worth, and the bigger the profits they can make if they sell the property.

Equity grows over time, primarily through appreciation and property upgrades. Black investors who therefore make smart investment decisions, such as focusing on value-boosting, functional improvements (e.g., energy efficiency remodels and mechanical updates), can build more generational wealth.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are Rental Properties the Only Way to Invest in Real Estate?

No, rental properties are just one way to invest in real estate. Black investors, particularly those new to the industry and who have lower budget thresholds, can get started in real estate investing via real estate investment trusts (REITs).

REITs are companies that own, finance, or manage income-producing properties, such as apartment buildings, shopping malls, and warehouses. They allow investors to invest in large-scale real estate properties with minimal capital by only requiring them to buy “shares” of the company.

Is Real Estate Ever a High-Risk Investment?

All types of investments, including real estate ones, carry some degree of risk. In many cases, real estate investments are on the lower end of the risk threshold.

Still, some ventures are riskier, such as house-flipping. With house-flipping, the “danger” is that unexpected structural problems or process delays can wipe out profits.

It’s for this reason that flipping houses is best for highly experienced, veteran investors with significant cash reserves.

Generate Income and Wealth With Savvy Investment Property Decisions

Savvy investment property decisions include focusing on properties in the right locations, partnering with professional rental managers, and staying on top of value-boosting upgrades. Black investors who make these decisions can generate passive income and build wealth in both the short and long run.

Check out the rest of our news platform for more insightful guides like this and the latest happenings and events in the Black community.

The post Smart Investment Property Decisions Are Helping Build Black Wealth appeared first on BlackPressUSA.

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COMMENTARY: Jim Crow 2.0 at the Pentagon

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — The American people are expected to believe that one extraordinary officer after another suddenly fails to meet some undefined standard of excellence. We are expected to ignore impeccable service records while accepting that political appointees alone possess the wisdom to determine who is worthy of advancement.

Published

5 days ago

August 3, 2026

bpusa-syndication

Pete Hegseth insists that he is restoring “merit” to the United States military. But after months of dismissals, blocked promotions, and ideological purges, the evidence tells a different story. His campaign against so-called “diversity, equity, and inclusion” has become something far more dangerous: an assault on equal opportunity that falls with particular force on African Americans, while also targeting women, Latinos, gay Americans, and transgender service members.

The latest example is both troubling and infuriating.

Once again, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has reportedly blocked the promotion of an exceptionally qualified woman—Rear Admiral Amy Bauernschmidt. Bauernschmidt is no ordinary officer. She became the Navy’s first woman to command a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, one of the most demanding leadership assignments in the world. Her career reflects decades of exemplary performance, operational excellence, and leadership under extraordinary pressure.

Yet once again, a distinguished military career appears to have been subordinated to an ideological agenda masquerading as “merit.”

I call BS!

The American people are expected to believe that one extraordinary officer after another suddenly fails to meet some undefined standard of excellence. We are expected to ignore impeccable service records while accepting that political appointees alone possess the wisdom to determine who is worthy of advancement.

The pattern has become impossible to ignore.

General Charles Q. Brown Jr., only the second African American to serve as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was dismissed despite a career that placed him among the most accomplished military leaders of his generation.

Admiral Lisa Franchetti, the first woman ever to serve as Chief of Naval Operations, was removed despite decades of distinguished command experience.

Reports have documented interventions that blocked or delayed the promotions of Black officers and women selected through the military’s rigorous promotion system.

Now Rear Admiral Amy Bauernschmidt joins the growing list of highly accomplished officers whose careers have been derailed for reasons that have never been persuasively explained.

Where is Congress?

Its silence has become deafening.

Congress has an independent constitutional responsibility to oversee the armed forces. Instead, too many lawmakers have watched silently while one of the nation’s most respected institutions is subjected to ideological litmus tests and political interference.

This is not military reform. It is testosterone-fueled performative masculinity disguised as a philosophy of military excellence.

The irony is impossible to miss. Hegseth repeatedly invokes “merit,” yet his rhetoric begins with the assumption that Black officers, women, and other historically excluded Americans must somehow justify their achievements in ways that white male officers are rarely required to do.

That is not meritocracy. It is prejudice wrapped in patriotic language.

No one is asking that anyone be promoted because of race or gender. Americans simply expect that promotions be based on demonstrated competence, leadership, integrity, and service. The officers being targeted have already proven themselves repeatedly under one of the world’s most demanding evaluation systems.

Their records speak for themselves.

The attack on African American military leadership has been especially pernicious.

For generations, Black Americans fought in segregated units, earned decorations while denied equal treatment, and repeatedly demonstrated loyalty to a nation that often failed to extend them full citizenship. They broke barriers not because standards were lowered but because excellence finally overcame institutional discrimination.

Today’s campaign against “diversity” threatens to revive old assumptions under new slogans.

The implication that Black generals and admirals somehow owe their success to affirmative action rather than extraordinary performance echoes some of the ugliest stereotypes of the Jim Crow era. Yesterday’s segregationists claimed Black Americans were inherently less qualified. Today’s culture warriors simply employ more politically acceptable language while inviting the same suspicion about Black achievement.

That is why Hegseth’s campaign increasingly resembles Jim Crow 2.0.

The targets may now wear stars on their shoulders instead of military patches on segregated uniforms, but the underlying message is hauntingly familiar: Black excellence is presumed suspect, while white excellence is presumed earned.

America’s military became the finest fighting force in history because it opened its doors to talent wherever it could be found. It grew stronger after President Truman desegregated the armed forces. It became stronger when women assumed greater command responsibilities. It became stronger when every qualified American was given the opportunity to serve to the fullest extent of their abilities.

Diversity is not a concession. It is a strategic advantage.

The nation’s adversaries do not fear an American military because it is racially homogeneous. They fear it because it draws upon the talents of more than 340 million Americans whose diverse experiences, perspectives, and abilities make our armed forces unmatched anywhere in the world.

Every politically motivated dismissal of a distinguished officer sends a chilling message throughout the ranks: excellence alone may no longer be enough if you belong to the wrong demographic group.

That weakens morale. It weakens recruitment. It weakens retention.

And ultimately, it weakens national security.

Pete Hegseth has every right to pursue military readiness. He has no right to redefine merit in ways that repeatedly cast suspicion upon the accomplishments of Black officers, women, and others who have devoted their lives to defending this nation.

America deserves better. The men and women who wear the uniform deserve better. The Constitution deserves better.

And unless Congress finds the courage to exercise meaningful oversight, history may well remember this period not as a restoration of military excellence, but as the moment political ideology attempted to resurrect, in modern form, the old poison of exclusion.

Jim Crow did not strengthen America. Jim Crow 2.0 will not strengthen America’s military. It will only diminish it

Wade Henderson
Strategic Advisor
Civil and Human Rights
wade@wadejhenderson.com

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New Judge Could Decide if Karmelo Anthony Gets a New Trial

By Emilie St. John (Contributor) Karmelo Anthony will return to court next month in his first step to overturn his murder conviction. Anthony was found guilty last month in the stabbing death of Austin Metcalf and sentenced to 35 years in prison. His new legal team has filed motions seeking the recusal of State District […]
The post New Judge Could Decide if Karmelo Anthony Gets a New Trial appeared first on BlackPressUSA.

Published

1 week ago

July 31, 2026

Oakland Post

By Emilie St. John
(Contributor)

Karmelo Anthony will return to court next month in his first step to overturn his murder conviction.

Anthony was found guilty last month in the stabbing death of Austin Metcalf and sentenced to 35 years in prison. His new legal team has filed motions seeking the recusal of State District Judge John Roach Jr. from overseeing the appeals process.

Two hearings have been scheduled on the motion for Aug. 9 and 10 in the Collin County Courthouse in McKinney, Texas, according to Fox4 News.

On July 14, Senior Judge Sid L. Harle of the 226th District Court was assigned to preside over the defense’s motion to recuse Collin County Judge John Roach. The assignment took effect immediately and authorized Harle to handle all matters related to the recusal request, the filing read.

The Collin County District Attorney’s Office continues to defend its handling of the case by issuing a statement to NBC 5 DFW.

“The defendant’s new lawyers have filed a motion containing several inaccurate characterizations of the trial proceedings. The entire prosecution team and I conducted this trial ethically and in full compliance with the Court’s rulings and any agreements with defense counsel. We look forward to addressing these claims thoroughly in a Court of law in the coming weeks. The jury heard extensive evidence over the course of the trial and returned a unanimous verdict. We remain confident in that verdict and the fairness of the proceedings.”

Anthony’s new legal team, made up of appellate, civil rights, and criminal defense attorneys, was retained following Anthony’s conviction.

“Our responsibility is to determine whether a legal error occurred and to ensure that every issue supported by the record is fully and vigorously presented on appeal,” the team said in a statement.

“We recognize the profound loss suffered by one young man’s family and the uncertainty facing another, and we extend our respect to everyone whose lives have been forever changed by these events,” the release reads.

Anthony was charged with the stabbing death of Austin Metcalf during a track meet in Frisco, Texas, April 2, 2025. Anthony has long maintained it was an act of self-defense.

The attorneys are representing Anthony pro bono. The nearly 200-page notice of appeal seeks a new trial because his Sixth Amendment right to a public trial was violated.

“The cumulative and practical effect of these provisions was to exclude members of the public from proceedings at every stage,” the filing reads.

The filing also focused on an alleged “handshake deal” that kept Anthony from taking the stand in his defense.

The defense filing said the agreement was that the jury would not hear that Metcalf and his twin brother had been accused of racism and bullying in the past. In exchange, they also would not see Anthony’s cellphone records or his school disciplinary record, according to court documents reported by the Dallas Morning News.

Anthony’s former defense attorney, Mike Howard, said the defense relied heavily on that deal. The team chose not to ask certain questions of witnesses or call on a separate expert witness based on that agreement. It also abandoned plans to introduce testimony and evidence about the allegations against Metcalf and his brother.

Appellate attorney Russell Wilson is now handling post-trial proceedings and Anthony’s appeal. He recently sat down for an interview, stating, “The court committed multiple errors during the June murder trial, preventing him from receiving a fair trial.”

“You know, we file motions that we expect to prevail on, but we understand that there’s two sides to every story. And at the end of the day, it’ll be a judge that has to make these decisions, but we feel confident in the positions that we’re taking,” Wilson said during an interview with WFAA. “There were substantial issues that we thought a reviewing court needed to look at. We thought these were constitutional irregularities, and we could have them addressed now. And so, we put them into a motion for a new trial.”

Bree West, a former Dallas County Assistant District Attorney, found it startling that so little time was given to Anthony’s team for such a serious “life or death” situation.

“I do think that it’s really challenging that potentially a court decided that you have 10 minutes to make that level of decision when it has the potential of being life-altering,” said West during an interview with Fox 4 News.

Judge Harle is no stranger to high-profile cases, having presided over the prosecution of a police officer charged in connection with the 2022 mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde.

Anthony was convicted on June 9 of the murder of Austin Metcalf and sentenced to 35 years in prison.

The post New Judge Could Decide if Karmelo Anthony Gets a New Trial appeared first on BlackPressUSA.

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COMMENTARY: LSMFT! Lord Save Me from Trump!

WESTSIDE GAZETTE — The author criticizes Donald Trump’s rhetoric, noting his use of terms like “Dumbocrats” and “Communist” to describe Democrats and democracy. The column asserts that Trump’s current strategy involves creating doubt about midterm elections due to a lack of Republican agenda.
The post COMMENTARY: LSMFT! Lord Save Me from Trump! appeared first on BlackPressUSA.

Published

1 week ago

July 31, 2026

Oakland Post

Frankly Speaking

Wow! Wow! Wow! The swamp drainers have truly stepped down to new levels of stupidity. You remember Weapons of Mass Destruction? We now have Weapons of Mass Distraction. Trump has introduced Dumbocrats and Communists into the conversation about Democrats and Democracy.

Trump lies so much, and his current strategy is to set up doubt about midterm elections because he and Republicans have no agenda!

He has no “Trump “ card, but Iran has a strait! He called it a skirmish; it’s now a War. He said five days; now it’s five months. He said few casualties; now it’s 18 deaths. He knew nothing about Project 2025 but hired its architects! Trump lies about the lies and often forgets these little inventions called cameras and phones

We see and hear and then see and hear the inconsistencies.

I didn’t like 45 and dislike 47 even more!

The post LSMFT! Lord Save Me From Trump! appeared first on The Westside Gazette.

Based on reporting by Westside Gazette.

The post COMMENTARY: LSMFT! Lord Save Me from Trump! appeared first on BlackPressUSA.