Employed but homeless: How Dee Barnes’ situation highlights the struggles of Black professionals.

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This week, when legendary hip-hop journalist Dee Barnes came forward to announce that she was going through financial hardships and about to get evicted from her home, many of us felt her pain.

“Standing in our own truth not the definitions or the expectations is powerful, and this is my TRUTH,” Barnes wrote on her GoFundMe campaign page.

Barnes, the former host of Fox’s weekly hip-hop television series, “Pump It Up,” paved the way for many music artists who enjoy thriving careers today. In revealing her current situation, Barnes took off the mask of bourgeois “professionalism” to reveal that talent, connections and hustle don’t always insulate you from financial hardship.

And in doing so, she put a spotlight on the many ways Black professionals (in particular Black women), working at every level, still battle racial inequality, gender related pay gaps, and the realities of harsh industries. (Barnes is unfortunately also famous for being viciously assaulted by Dr. Dre in 1991. The case was settled out of court and many suggest, she was blackballed for years as a result.)

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According to a 2018 Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) report, homelessness in the United State rose by 2 percent over the past year and for the second year in a row. The New York Times called it “a crisis driven by gentrification and the lack of affordable apartments for poor and working-class city dwellers.”

Despite only being 13 percent of the population, Black Americans make up 40 percent of the homeless population. The reasons for the racial inequality in homelessness include housing discrimination, high rates of incarceration (which make background checks another hurdle), mental health issues and poverty.

Barnes also highlighted that being Black and homeless, doesn’t always mean you’re living in a cardboard box. Many Black middle class and poverty level working professionals are a step away from homelessness, or part of what some identify as a “hidden homeless” population. This includes those who couch-surf, live in tents, their cars or hotels to get by.

Finding a way out 

Celebrity DJ Olivia Dope knows this all too well.

Before she was spinning beats for clientele like Janet Jackson, Lil Kim and Saweetie, Dope was struggling to make ends meet working in retail, staying with her family while raising a toddler. In trying to pursue her dreams, Dope said she found herself at odds with her family, who kicked her out of their home. Her daughter went to live with her father while Dope tried to figure out her next steps and find steady housing.

Dope faced a two-week period of homelessness, in which she shuffled between a Brooklyn women’s shelter and slept on NYC subway trains.

“That wasn’t the safest environment and I don’t even mean the people that go in and out of there,” she told theGrio, noting that security guards at the shelter treated women as if they were incarcerated.

Dope says she met a fellow mom who woke up every day at 5:00 a.m. to go to work, only to return each night to the shelter. That woman worked as a nurse.

“These are real women but when we’re in those kind of situations we’re automatically seen as criminal or something like that,” Dope explained.

READ MORE: Dee Barnes, journalist who was brutally assaulted by Dr. Dre, faces homelessness and posts fundraiser

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As the aspiring DJ began to plot her next steps, she used Starbucks during the day as her makeshift office to set a course.

“I [would] go back in Starbucks, get on my laptop and get to work building a website trying to obtain gigs, intern, deejay for free for certain events where it would be a good place to network and build a resumé,” she said.

After hearing about her situation, Dope said a friend stepped in and offered up a couch. She ended up sleeping on that couch for two years, all the while, working to make a name for herself.

Shaking the Shame

A recent analysis of data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, revealed there are 9.5 million people who work at least 27 weeks a year and still live in poverty.

Dee Barnes broke this down for all the haters who used her GoFundMe as an opportunity to ridicule her or pass judgement on her situation:

“For all those that keep saying “Get a JOB” I had two min wage jobs. I needed both jobs to support myself and my teenage daughter, as we lived check to check I lost one of the jobs which put me behind in rent which lead to EVICTION. Those who struggle with poverty know as do I,” she posted.

As Barnes pointed out, losing “one paycheck” can literally throw off your entire budget and snowball into disaster. Considering that the median net worth of Black Americans is expected to be $0 by 2053 (that’s only 34 years away), we should all have open conversations about how to avert financial hardships in the wake of personal disasters.

“I feel like people saw it and were just like ‘Nah, that don’t even make no sense,'” said Dope as she reflected on Barnes’ story.

“You can’t believe that somebody who had such a flourishing career at one point to be in a position like that. It was a reality check. It’s very relatable,” she continued.

READ MORE: Cook County prosecutor Kim Foxx defends decision to drop charges in Jussie Smollett case

“A lot of us, Black women, go through these trials and tribulations and I feel like it’s something similar to when Black women go to a doctor and say that they’re in pain and nobody really believes them.”

Olivia Dope says she eventually bought an LLC and has lived full-time off her DJ income over the past four years. She recently tweeted about the victory:

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Barnes has also experienced a victory of her own. After setting a mere $5,000 goal, as of recently, she has received more than $29,000 to handle her eviction and other living costs.

READ MORE: NBA, FIBA set to launch league in Africa — with assist from Obama

The takeaway is not to go and create a GoFundMe and poof, watch all your problems disappear. It’s about the power of Black working-professionals asking for help, defying the shame and reaching out to others who are willing to support the request in a loving and community building way.

Whether it’s to find a job, find decent housing, manage a budget or figuring out how to invest in your future, needing supporting does not make you less of person.

As Barnes wrote:

“Even though I am facing extreme financial hardship, I keep my head up. I know who I am, I know my worth and I know I’m not alone.”

Do you have a real-life story of #StrugglingWhileWorking?  Share how you overcame homelessness or financial hardship in the comments below.

Natasha S. Alford is Deputy Editor of theGrio and a digital host. You can follow her for news and updates at @NatashaSAlford on Twitter and on Instagram using her hashtag #ThePeoplesJournalist.