Susu Is Risky? Or Is It the Key to Circulating Our Wealth

That’s What They Say.

They say susu is informal.
They say it’s unsafe, unregulated, unreliable.
They say it’s old-fashioned—something people do when they don’t understand real finance.
They warn about trust. About someone disappearing with the pot. About no legal protections.

They say, “Why don’t you just use a bank?”

But banks have disappeared with far more of our money than susu ever has.
Banks redlined us.
Banks denied us loans, then charged us interest once exclusion became illegal.

So let’s tell the truth.

The criticism of susu isn’t really about risk.
It’s about control.

What Susu Really Is

Susu is not a loophole.
It’s not desperation finance.
It’s community intelligence.

At its core, susu is agreement economics:

• I contribute because you contribute
• I receive because I’ve already invested
• The group survives because the group circulates

No algorithms deciding worth.
No credit scores designed to exclude.
No fine print written in another language.

Just trust, timing, and accountability.

And historically?
Communities using susu didn’t just survive.
They thrived.

Communities That Built With Susu

Across Africa, the Caribbean, Harlem, Brooklyn, Atlanta, New Orleans—susu built:

• Homes when banks said no
• Businesses when loans were denied
• Emergency funds when institutions vanished
• Social glue when systems fractured

Corner stores.
Barbershops.
Beauty salons.
Record labels.
Family legacies.

Susu didn’t just move money.
It moved confidence.

Everyone knew their turn was coming.
Everyone knew the circle remembered them.

That’s not primitive.
That’s precise.

Where It Went Sideways

The problem didn’t start with susu.
The problem started when we kept playing it inside other people’s economies.

We pooled our money—
Then spent it outside the circle.

We saved together—
Then invested elsewhere.

We trusted each other—
But built no structures to own what we funded.

So the money left the community…
And never came back.

That’s not a flaw in susu.
That’s a flaw in strategy.

The Endless Loop We’re Still In

Today, we repeat the cycle at scale.

Our dollars fund:

• Music industries we don’t own
• Fashion houses that remix our identity
• Tech platforms that monetize our creativity
• Neighborhoods that rebrand us out

Our ideas become IP for someone else.
Our culture becomes inventory.
Our genius earns interest—for others.

We are running a susu for everyone but ourselves.

$1.8 Trillion Without a Return

People of color wield over $1.8 trillion in annual spending power.

That’s not consumer power.
That’s nation power.

Yet we treat it like allowance money:

• Spent daily
• Tracked poorly
• Owned by no one

A nation without circulation is just a market.
And markets exist to be harvested.

The Closing: Remembering Ubuntu

Here is what must return to the center.

Before spreadsheets.
Before banks.
Before borders.

There was Ubuntu.

I am because we are.
We rise because we rise together.

Susu was never just about money.
It was Ubuntu in action—
a living agreement that said no one eats alone,
no one builds alone,
no one is forgotten.

The mistake wasn’t trusting each other.
The mistake was forgetting to protect what we build together.

Ubuntu without ownership becomes generosity without legacy.
Ubuntu with structure becomes nationhood.

So the real question isn’t when we’ll have enough money.

The question is when we’ll remember who we are.

Because once we align our spending with Ubuntu—
our circulation with intention—
our culture with ownership—

The cycle breaks.

The wealth stays.

And the village finally keeps what the village creates.

Period.

Peace.
Love.
Light.