Image via Chelsea Frazilus

By: Chelsea Frazilus, Staff Writer 

Students of the Atlanta University Center engaged in a panel discussion with Thasunda Brown Duckett, CEO of the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (TIAA), and Earn Your Leisure on Jan. 23 to address disparities in access to generational wealth and retirement savings amongst younger generations.

Following the discussion, Grammy Award winning Haitian rapper and musician, Wyclef Jean, accompanied by American rapper Lola Brooke, promoted their new song titled “Paper Right”. The track, which also features rappers Capella Gray and Flau’jae, was performed at Morehouse College’s Martin Luther King Jr, International Chapel.The single aims to initiate vital conversations among the youth through a popular form of artistic expression: music. Through hosting this event at Morehouse College, TIAA was able to captivate its Atlanta audience, in a city where music culture runs through its veins.

TIAA is partnering with First Generation Investors (FGI), a non-profit whose mission is to equip high school students with knowledge surrounding investing. All proceeds garnered from “Paper Right” will be donated to FGI’s pursuit of instilling financial literacy into young people.

According to TIAA, 40% of Americans will not retire with enough money to live comfortably and those numbers rise in regard to demographics like race, gender, and age. Additionally, 41% of young working Americans, aged 24-35, currently do not contribute to an employer-backed retirement program. The mission of TIAA is to confront this issue.

“We wanted to bring our new initiative, which is speaking to a new generation through the lens of music in order to engage [them in] getting your ‘Paper Right’ and what does that mean? That means ensuring that financial security is a right for many, not a privilege of the few,” Zara Mirza said, Chief Brand Officer of TIAA.

Mirza explains that this track provides a way to pass on generational wealth in communities that are actively passing on generational debt as a byproduct of inequality.

“Through the lens of the people who influence you, like Lola Brooke [and] Wyclef, we feel that we can get to a new generation and do the hard work that we are looking to do which is to retire inequality for good,” Mirza explains.

Jean helped create the Fugees’ album “The Score” in his uncle’s New Jersey basement; the record later became certified six-times platinum. His experience in the music industry allows him to testify to the importance of possessing an understanding of finance and wealth maintenance as an artist.

“He really gets to understand the business of entertainment, the business of culture, the business of music and he wants to pass it on to the next generation which is your Lola Brookes, which is your Capella Grays, which is your Flau’jaes. That part of his mission is always mentoring the next generation of music artists,” Mirza said.

The intergenerational wisdom passed down from Wyclef aligns with the mission of TIAA through serving underserved communities while providing insight on cultivating sustainable financial security.

To learn more about financial literacy, visit TIAA’s retireinequality.com. The site provides a guide to begin saving for retirement and contains numerous chapters on the retirement savings gap.

Copy Edited By: Hunter Bonaparte, Arts & Entertainment Coordinator & Auzzy Byrdsell, Editor in Chief