I love the magic of the stock market. And I love justice. Is there space for both?
Can we activate new stock market investors who are already activated in justice work? Environmental justice. Reproductive justice. Immigration justice. Black Lives Matter justice. Abolitionism. Queer feminist leadership.
For this I believe we must remove the toxic male-centric, colonizer language of finance, remove the the gatekeeping practices of number obsession, ego-centeredness, ‘splaining, shouting and pacing, and offer a simple entry point for new and aspiring wealth-builders.
Are there current investors, whether through their own agency or via institutions who invest on their behalf, whose values are moving them toward justice-focused investing? Whose inherited or earned wealth is being catapulted into white colonizers’ visions without their own consent? How can we restore agency to those whose money is growing in tandem with a value system they no longer share?
Welcome to We Hold These Shares.
ABOUT ME
I am Stef (she/her), cis, queer-identifying divorced mother of two. I am the great-granddaughter of Ethel Bell, the granddaughter of Mary Rainey Gaston, the daughter of Lucy Kramer. I hold wealth privilege, white privilege, education and class privilege.
I am a product of, and in recovery from, white male supremacist capitalist America, as the great-granddaughter of AR Gardner, the granddaughter of AH Gardner, and the daughter of DR Gardner.
In the early 2000s, I reached a turning point when I saw my life careening down a path I rejected. I turned to my love of stocks. I had some generational wealth, but I didn’t have agency. Someone else managed my money and I felt powerless and beholden to white men in every direction I turned.
But a new technology pulled me out of my helplessness. Online investing was taking hold, and suddenly ANYONE could buy or sell stocks. I suppose technically we could before, but we had middlemen (stockbrokers) we needed to call and place orders with. Not only am I phone-phobic, but I grew up around a culture of stockbrokers and finance bros being, doing and saying THE WORST. Why would I want to speak to someone who I knew was propagating racist and sexist jokes to their customers, creating a hostile culture that was the opposite of empowering to me? No, I would not be calling a stockbroker.
Online investing allowed me to research, buy, and sell stocks right from home. Once I removed the gatekeepers and had full access to my money, I was ready to dive in. I used a system of my own invention. I bought several companies. I waited several years, adjusting my investments in the interim. I used my whole heart not just my head to make decisions.
Several years later, one of my stocks had increased in value to over 200 times my original investment. So, while I am not an expert or a PhD in this stuff, I have experienced successful wealth-building beyond my greatest imaginings happening during my lifetime! I know it isn’t impossible. I trusted myself. I believe it is possible for others to experience this too.
It’s lonely out here though. The other people who love to buy stocks are douchey. The other people who love justice are not as fluent in the stock market world or not interested in investing. I can’t be the only one, though.
I know you’re out there. I just need to find y’all.
We Hold These Shares 