Self-Funded Freedom: Using What We Know to Build What We Need

By Germar Reed

When we talk about freedom in our community, we often dream of it in grand, distant terms—policy changes, reparations, institutional shifts. And while those are valid pursuits, we forget the power we already possess: the skills, tools, and knowledge many of us have gained navigating systems not built for us.

I’m a data scientist. I’ve used analytics to help billion-dollar companies make decisions, optimize performance, and grow. But here’s the thing, I didn’t just learn how to help businesses thrive. I learned how systems work. And more importantly, I learned how we can use those same tools to build for ourselves.

The Tools Are Already in Our Hands
Every one of us has a gift, a trade, a skillset forged in boardrooms, break rooms, or side hustles. The question is: are we using those tools to build freedom, or just to survive? True freedom is self-funded. And that starts with shifting our mindset, from consumers of opportunity to architects of it.

We Don’t Need Permission to Build
Too many of us are waiting. Waiting for the job title, the grant, the green light. But every movement of liberation has started with people who used what they had, where they were. The skill you use to make someone else rich can also be used to reclaim your time, teach your children, serve your people, and build something that outlives you.

Three Shifts That Change Everything

From Career to Calling
What if your job was just training for your purpose? Take stock of your skillset and ask, “How can this serve my community, not just my company?”
From Side Hustles to Sacred Work
It’s not just a gig. It’s a seed. Treat your creative and professional pursuits like assets, ones that can grow, compound, and sustain a legacy.
From Scarcity to Strategy
We often think we lack resources. What we really lack is clarity. Use data, planning, and discipline to turn what you know into what your family owns.

We’ve Been the Strategy All Along
I’m no different than you. I’ve sat in rooms where I was the only one. I’ve learned to read what wasn’t said in meetings and built models that move millions. And now, I’m taking that knowledge and pointing it inward, toward my daughters, toward my community, toward the future I want to fund.

Freedom isn’t something we wait for. It’s something we build. And the blueprints are already in our hands.

Call to Action:
This week, take 30 minutes to write down every skill you’ve used to make money for someone else. Then ask yourself: how can I use this same knowledge to build something I own? That’s the first step toward self-funded freedom.