Funding Our Own Education, Identity, and Future Without Outsourcing It
In the Jewish community, children’s education and cultural identity aren’t just priorities, they’re sacred responsibilities, self-funded by the community itself. Through institutions like yeshivas, federations, interest-free loans, and giving circles, Jewish families have built a self-sustaining ecosystem that ensures their values, identity, and economic power are preserved for generations.
What if the Black community did the same?
This isn’t just about schools. It’s about ownership, leverage, and identity. If Black America adopted a similar model of self-funded education and internal investment, we could radically reshape our future.
Jewish day schools often cost between $18,000 and $24,000 per year. Families receive layered support from schools, local Jewish federations, and targeted scholarships. No child is left behind due to inability to pay, and the funding remains within the community.
Federations establish school endowment funds that provide schools with a per-student stipend. Giving circles pool small monthly donations into large education grants. Millions are raised by engaging donors directly in the classroom experience.
The Hebrew Free Loan Society has provided more than $26 million in interest-free loans for education, emergency needs, and small business development. These are not credit-based but trust-based, built on community relationships and repayment culture.
Young Jewish adults are sent on fully funded heritage trips to Israel through the Birthright program. The trips are paid for by over 40,000 private donors and the Israeli government. This experience is more than travel it is a cultural anchor and future donor pipeline.
In 2019, Ivy League schools received $5.5 billion in foundation funding. All 99 HBCUs combined received just $45 million — a 178-to-1 gap. Public schools in Black communities are often underfunded, politicized, and neglected. Afrocentric education is routinely filtered through narratives that do not reflect Black values, history, or future.
Our culture drives global trends in music, sports, style, and entertainment. Yet our educational systems are often reactive, not proactive. That needs to change.
A pooled education fund, supported by member dues, donors, entertainers, and community partners, would provide every Afrocentric school with direct financial support. No more dependency on city budgets or outside grants. The community becomes its own foundation.
A community-operated loan fund could offer 0 percent interest loans to help families cover tuition, start schools, or develop education programs. Inspired by the Hebrew Free Loan model, this system would build economic independence and community capital.
Donor-funded trips to historically significant African locations, or historically significant U.S. cities could become identity-building milestones for young Black adults. These trips could reshape how we view our origin stories and inspire deeper connection to legacy and purpose.
Community giving circles, pooling $50 to $100 monthly from members, could fund after-school programs, tutoring centers, or Afrocentric private schools. These circles give everyday families the power to fund transformational change.
Vendors who work with Black-led schools and educational institutions could contribute 1 percent of their revenue back into the education endowment. This creates a circular economy where support flows back into the institutions that need it most.
We don’t need to reinvent the wheel. The mechanisms already exist. The Jewish community has spent over a century building a culture of internal investment. The Black community has long had a tradition of mutual aid, but we have rarely had the infrastructure to scale it.
This is our moment to change that.
Start with a single city. Build a pilot education endowment. Recruit high-profile donors. Launch giving circles. Institutionalize governance with transparent, rotating leadership. Scale across chapters through churches, sororities, and fraternities. Lobby for matching support once impact is proven.
The Black community has never lacked talent, ideas, or culture. What we’ve lacked is unified funding power, long-term strategy, and protected control over our education.
Adopting the Yeshiva model is not about imitation. It’s about inspiration. We must take responsibility for funding our own future, just as others have done.
Yeshiva is more than a school system. It is a mindset.
And it’s time we make it our own.
Interested in joining a community intent on adopting this and other wealth building strategies, reach out to the TUEPAC Team to get involved.
