Today we’d like to introduce you to Jamare Hall.
Hi Jamare, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was born and raised in Jacksonville, FL. I recall residing in several low to middle-class predominantly black neighborhoods as well as a few public housing developments throughout the city. As a child, I never understood why we had little to no access to tools and resources necessary for survival. As a young male, I soon realized that the neighborhoods I resided as a child were the effects of things such as segregation, Jim Crow, The War on Drugs, redlining, and more. Being both, exposed to and deprived of so many things as a child ignited a burning desire in me to do better.
I moved to Miami in 2012 to embark on my journey as a full-time student at Florida International University (FIU). Originally my plans were to become an attorney and represent delinquents (children have always held a special place in my heart). However, after receiving my Bachelors, I began my career in Child Welfare as an Adoption Specialist, helping children committed to the state for legal adoption find safe, permanent, and stable placements. My goals were and remain to break the stereotypes; to help those who lack cultural understanding gain insight on how from the outside looking in, poverty is often mistaken as neglect, but with cultural competency, an open mind, and a willingness to help, families can be provided with the necessary tools and resources to overcome this misconception that separate so many children from their families.
Working with families in the Child Welfare system and growing up in public housing developments, I notice a commonality; that people that looked like me didn’t own their homes, which motivated me to embark on a journey to study wealth. I learned that the cause of today’s wealth gap is due to the lack of ownership and the prevalence of debt. Essentially, this means because people of color don’t own anything and have so much debt, we are economically poorer than our counterparts. Knowing this motivated me to learn more about wealth building via ownership, which led me to real estate. As I became increasingly intrigued with real estate, I learned that it is one of the fastest ways to build wealth and because of that, people of color have been systematically oppressed from being able to do so by way of predatory lending practices and redlining. In short, this essentially means that people of color received unfair, deceptive, or abusive loan terms, which also affected things such as the value of their neighborhoods. Becoming a Real Estate agent was my way of giving back to my community by helping connect minorities to wealth without having abusive, unfair, and deceptive long-terms imposed on them.
My journey on learning more about wealth building caused me to challenge myself. I challenged myself to repay my student loan debt, which I successfully completed in an 8–9-month timeframe. I figured if I was going to attempt to lead others, what better way to do so than speaking from experience. This led me to embark on my journey to spread my knowledge on wealth building. I created a Facebook group titled “The Black Financial Reform,” which creates a safe space for people of color to be vulnerable with their financial situation. Members are able to share and gain knowledge surrounding financial literacy (credit building, debt repayment, homeownership, trademarks, investments and etc…), which ultimately helps their overall financial situation and become homeowners; embarking on their own journey of wealth building, with similar hopes of closing the wealth gaps.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Being a black male in a country that brought and bought us here with one goal in mind, has been the biggest challenge and in ways more than one. As I began to educate myself and navigate through life, I learned earlier own that a black man with an education is more dangerous than a black man with a gun. My mentality now is, never DESPITE being a black man, but BECAUSE I’m a black man, I can accomplish ANYTHING. In knowing that, everything is really peanuts to an elephant, small things to a giant. You know? Life and death is in the power of the tongue!
We’ve been impressed with The Jamare Hall Foundation, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
The Jamare Hall Foundation sets out to assist inner-city residents with overcoming generational instability through education and making available the necessary resources that will assist in overcoming limitations; exclusively for charitable and educational purposes.
In August of 2017, we commenced our first annual back-to-school giveaway, with the intentions to help lighten the financial burden of parents and caregivers as they prepare their child(ren) for the upcoming school year. We believe that each child deserves an equal opportunity in learning despite any barriers that may impede their ability to succeed educationally.
What do you think about luck?
I don’t believe in luck, but what I will say is, nothing is by chance, which leads me to scripture, Romans 8:28
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
Contact Info:
- Website: Realtorhall.com
- Instagram: RealtorHall
Image Credits
Brandon Smith
Kuji Chagulia
