{"id":4025,"date":"2025-07-03T17:52:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-03T17:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/?p=4025"},"modified":"2026-07-16T18:48:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T18:48:09","slug":"legacy-and-liberation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/2025\/07\/03\/legacy-and-liberation\/","title":{"rendered":"Legacy and liberation:"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When we think of legacy, it\u2019s easy to default to houses or bank accounts. But deeper than dollars, legacy is the stories we pass on, the values we hold, and the tangible roots we grow for future generations. In a community conversation grounded in Minnesota realities, attorney Ivory Umanah<\/a> and Greater Twin Cities United Way leader Shannon Smith Jones<\/a> delivered a sobering message: for Black families especially, avoiding conversations about wealth, death, and planning has a generational cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLegacy is a lot,\u201d said Smith Jones, Senior Vice President of Community Impact at United Way. \u201cWe\u2019re talking about money, but we\u2019re also talking about what we left behind for our community to build upon\u2026 It is cultural practices, ritual.\u201d For her, legacy isn\u2019t theoretical. It\u2019s lived. Her uncle Dr. Richard Green, was the first Black superintendent of Minneapolis Public Schools<\/a>, and later, superintendent of New York City Public Schools. Her mother, Terryann Pettiford Hunter, was a churchwoman. Her aunt, Gladys Randle,worked at Phyllis Wheatley<\/a> Community Center.. \u201cThere is a way of giving into community\u2026 that\u2019s what I grew up with.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But what happens when no one plans?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ivory Umanah<\/a> has seen it firsthand as an estate attorney. \u201cIf you don\u2019t know, you don\u2019t know,\u201d he said. \u201cYou assume that if you die, your spouse just gets everything. But legally, it doesn\u2019t work that way.\u201d Without a will or legal plan, assets, like a house, don\u2019t automatically go to family. Instead, they go into probate, a lengthy, expensive court process that can drain thousands from estates,\u201d Umanah said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Minnesota, probate court fees can range from $350 to $400 just to start. \u201cYou pay attorneys, filing fees, appraisers\u2026 and by the end, your kids are selling the home just to pay the court,\u201d said. \u201cThis isn\u2019t just about inconvenience; it\u2019s about loss. Financial, emotional, and sometimes cultural.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jones sees it too often. \u201cThere\u2019s usually somebody that\u2019s pulling from their own wealth to give grandma that service\u2026 because there wasn\u2019t insurance, or because we weren\u2019t prepared.\u201d Even when the family believes they own a home, titles might not be transferred. In some cases, she added, \u201cgrandma didn\u2019t own the house, and we thought she did.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the most painful consequence, they said, is silence. \u201cSilence always keeps us sick,\u201d Smith Jones explained. \u201cThat silencing or that muting of our story also feels like a tool that has been used against us. When families don\u2019t talk about money, death, or plans, they pass down chaos, not wealth. \u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Umanah<\/a> urged families to start with the basics: designate beneficiaries, update deeds, consider transfer-on-death designations. Even a basic life insurance policy can change the future for the next generation. \u201cPeople think insurance is expensive,\u201d he said. \u201cBut insuring a child early locks in that premium. And it can build cash value over time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jones shared the story of a church deacon who left his home to his congregation. \u201cThe church built a youth center from that,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s helping people do in death what they\u2019ve always done in life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not about being wealthy. It\u2019s about being intentional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou start the process, and it may seem slow,\u201d  Umanah<\/a> said, \u201cbut it\u2019s a process.\u201d He\u2019s seeing a shift: more people now send their children in to meet him. They want to talk. They want to prepare, he said<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This shift needs to grow. Smith Jones encouraged churches, families, nonprofits, and schools to normalize these conversations. \u201cWe have to demystify the myth,\u201d she said. \u201cTalk about what you want to happen when you\u2019re not here anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked why this conversation is important to GTCUW\u2019s work, Smith jones said, \u201cGreater Twin Cities United Way is committed to building a community where all people thrive \u2013 including expanding access to the tools and resources essential for financial stability. This conversation plays a vital role in that mission by building community, fostering the exchange of knowledge, and empowering individuals to build and pass on their legacy.\u201d \u2013 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Planning is a form of love. It is an act of protection, of memory, and of liberation. As Jones put it: \u201cKnowledge is power. And we want to help people participate in a way that is beyond just the dollar.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watch the full conversation on Insight News\u2019 YouTube channel: https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=9maXsueHdsw<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When we think of legacy, it\u2019s easy to default to houses or bank accounts. But deeper than dollars, legacy is the stories we pass on, the values we hold, and the tangible roots we grow for future generations. In a community conversation grounded in Minnesota realities, attorney Ivory Umanah and Greater Twin Cities United Way leader Shannon Smith […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4026,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[2614,2613,29,2615],"class_list":["post-4025","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","tag-greater-twin-cities-united-way","tag-ivory-umanah","tag-minnesota","tag-shannon-smith-jones","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Insight-News-Website-Images-4-4.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4025","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4025"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4025\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4027,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4025\/revisions\/4027"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4025"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}