October 20, 2020
These Fraternity Brothers Are Buying Back Their Neighborhood To Stop The Spread Of Gentrification
Gentrification has changed the face of many Black neighborhoods across the country. Two members of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity decided to make some money and buy back their neighborhood to help locals stay in their homes.
Timothy Webb Jr. founded his lifestyle brand, More Than A 9 To 5, inspired by his drive to create generational wealth for his family and motivate others to do the same. The movement started for Webb when he worked with his fraternity brother, Rashae Bey, to purchase close to two acres of land in his hometown of Columbia, South Carolina for a total of 26 rental units between the two.
“There is a lot of gentrification by those who don’t look like us, and I believe if we want to see change, we need to be the change we want to see,” Webb said to Because Of Them We Can. “Our goal is to get our hands onto as much real estate in the South Carolina area as possible.”
“I want to change the mindset of people to expand into the unknown of what they may not have been taught,” Webb added. “I want to change the generational curses that have been handed down to us and build generational wealth for our bloodlines.”
Webb hopes that the brand pushes a new mindset to create more generational wealth and buying back our communities so we can keep them. “The world doesn’t move without Black creativity, all of us are creative people, and we have to make a decision if our God-given talent is something we can use in entrepreneurship or just a hobby. We are too creative not to use our gifts,” he said.
“What I’ve seen is that you can be a full-blown entrepreneur, do a mix of 9-5 and entrepreneurship, or work so hard in your career that you can build yourself up. My Black is creative, always!”
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Black ownership x @morethana9to5 Black Collection #buybacktheblock morethana9to5.com