Father Gifts Daughter A House For Her 13th Birthday

A gift she’ll never forget!

On July 4th, a day in America synonymous with freedom from oppression — for some — Avee-Ashanti Shabazz decided to gift his 13-year-old daughter, Ajala, with financial independence for her birthday. He shared this accomplishment with Facebook and explained why he gave her this unique present.

“Today, I gifted my daughter with a house for her 13th B’earthday. This was not random, it was planned,” Shabazz said. “This marks the beginning of a family tradition where every Shabazz will be gifted a house on their 13th B’earthday, and taught to build it into multiple properties before they are legal adults.”

As we’ve previously reported, Black people continue purchasing their own homes and communities to create generational wealth. Despite gentrification and overt systemic racism that often times makes home ownership more elusive or challenging than it should be. According to Zillow, the online real estate marketplace, Black homeownership shows signs of improvement, jumping 2.4 percentage points over the second half of 2019. And at the end of last year, 44% of Black people owned their homes. 

While not new, stories of Black parents setting their children up for success through the gifting of property and businesses continues to spread online. Shabazz said he planned to give his daughter this house to release her from working for others while accumulating debt.

“No more being trained to work 25 of your best years before you can retire and then be free to live how you choose. No more being trained to bury yourself in debt and spend your best years digging out of the hole,” Shabazz said in his Facebook post. “No more being trained to live paying rent or years of mortgages and your home not being secure regardless to what life throws at you. No more being a slave to the Banks and employers.”

As Black households grapple with a wealth gap of 54% compared to white families and the possibility of our collective wealth falling to zero by 2053, Shabazz is setting his family up for success as they grow.

“Let’s put our children in a position to be free to live how they choose while they’re young and full of life,” Shabazz wrote. “Free them as best we can to live out their dreams and desires. Free them to determine for themselves the relationships they may choose to have with banks and employers. Free them so they can be what they are inclined to be.”

We love to see this! Congratulations to the Shabazz clan!