Yes, I quoted a Puff Daddy title in this blog. Talk about privilege...

I’ve grown up in two very different worlds, which has made me think A LOT about privilege. Until I was 16, I lived in poverty. For much of my childhood and early adolescence, the poverty that I grew up in was directly related to the instability of the adults in my life. Had it not been for my grandparents, my childhood would have been even more uneasy. The relationship with and proximity to my grandparents was, undoubtedly, a privilege. It was also easier for my parents growing up to access help from various support programs in the city, whether through knowledge or other industrious capabilities. Frankly, if my parents growing up had other obstacles, specifically a language barrier, I doubt that it would have been as easy for them to access the support that they were able to attain.

In high school, the family of a friend of mine adopted me. These are the people that I speak of when I talk about my family today. They are a family of privilege, financially and relationally. It has taken me a long time to learn about money, and the ways that money can affect your relationships and perspectives. My parents have never has to struggle in the ways that I was used to struggling when I was a child. The experiences with my family now juxtapose the experiences I had as child, creating a dichotomy in my thoughts about privilege, specifically relating to money.

On one side, I feel as though, the more money the more problems (likes Puff Daddy and Family). Now that I have conscious about money, financial planning, savings and student loans, I have a lot to consider about choices and responsibility. However, if I were living according to the standards of my childhood, I would also have burdens, but they would be much different. My younger sister (from my family growing up) is an example of these challenges. She has a 7-month-old baby (the most handsome boy on the face of the planet), is a single parent and just started working as an auto-parts driver a few weeks ago. She seems to have it all figured out, but I can’t help but think that I have more financial freedom and money to deal with then she does (albeit, I’m not talking copious amount more). We just think about money very differently based primarily on our very different upbringings.

Because money/economics has played such a major role in my development, I can’t help but think of it as the most poignant point in the power/privilege conversation, from my personal experience. My mom is a county health nurse. She works with mothers of children prenatal to 5 years who live in the low poverty bracket. She struggles a lot with reconciling her privileges in her home life, and the depravation she see at work. We have many discussions comparing our experiences with children. She sees economic/class as playing a huge role of segregation among the privileged, and the unprivileged. I couldn’t agree more.