The Great Recession carried special pain for black women like Jane Ladson.

She had always been the one her family turned to when they needed help, and she didn't hesitate to give it. She helped pay for weddings and rent. She made room for her nephew when her brother died of AIDS. And even now in her 50s, she took in a baby that wasn't her own.

But help was easier to give when the economy was booming and Ladson was bringing home $4,000 a month as a mechanic at Amtrak. Even an injury on the job turned into a blessing in disguise when she collected a $700,000 settlement that allowed her to build her dream home in Clinton and help her longtime partner start her own hair salon.

Then the recession hit, and fate twisted the other way. A slip on the stairs of her home has kept her out of work since the spring. The hair salon struggled to keep customers. Ladson was forced to sell her car and fell behind on her mortgage. Foreclosure notices began replacing dinner invitations.

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Kim went to jail in 2005 on perjury charges and served a year and a day. Upon being released, she was reportedly taken home in the back of a $350,000 Rolls Royce Phantom.

Lil' Kim, whose given name is Kimberly Jones, released a statement saying that she "hired professional attorneys to handle this matter" and she "along with her team of legal experts, are working cooperatively and diligently with the IRS and federal authorities to amicably resolve the situation."

She is one of many black stars who have run into tax trouble recently. It was reported just recently that Bow Wow owes the IRS over $100,000 and Vanessa and Angela Simmons are on the hook for nearly $450,000.

We'll gain insight on trade with the December international trade report. In November the trade deficit grew to nearly 48 billion dollars -- the widest trade gap since June 2011... As imports of autos and oil increased and U.S. exports declined by nearly 1 percent.

WATCH THE LATEST GRIO MARKET UPDATE HERE

We'll gain insight on consumer finances with the December consumer credit report -- which tracks credit card, auto and student loans. In November consumer credit surged by more than $20 billion dollars -- this was the biggest increase in 11 years -- boosted by strong auto sales and credit card use.

Are you feeling better about the economy? We'll find out with the preliminary consumer sentiment report for February. In January sentiment rose to a to a 75 reading -- as consumers' outlook improved... consumer sentiment is a gauge of consumer spending...
And that's your CNBC market look ahead for the Grio dot com..I'm Shartia Brantley.

But the proposed action of one Mississippi lawmaker has led some to believe politicians have gone too far by attempting to regulate what people eat.

Senator Bill Stone (D-MS) went public with his idea this week when he presented Senate Bill 2293, a bill that would prohibit recipients of SNAP benefits from buying candy, sugary drinks and unhealthy foods with their EBT card.

theGrio: Congress bans welfare recipients from using funds at strip clubs

This would greatly affect the black populace in Mississippi where state officials confirmed that more than 630,000 people receive monthly benefits to purchase food items.

According to a study compiled by the Mississippi Department of Human Services (MDHS), in September 2011, 21 percent of Mississippians were receiving monthly food stamp or SNAP benefits. Of that ratio, 2.39 percent were Asian/Hispanic/Other, 31.53 percent where white and 66.08 percent were black.

Stone said the purpose of the bill is not to force healthy eating on SNAP recipients, necessarily, but to promote healthy eating for the benefit of the children.

"I know a lot of people have picked up on this bill and they dub it as politicians abusing the system," Stone said. "But this is about what's healthy for the children. That's it in a nutshell."

This was Stone's first time introducing the bill to the legislature and he said it stemmed from what he saw while standing in a checkout line in December 2011.

"I was behind this lady with a shopping basket loaded with sugary drinks, potato chips, cookies and candy," Stone said. "She had nothing of any nutritional value in her cart and when it came time for her to pay, she pulled out her EBT card and paid for it. There was no breakfast cereal, no meats, nothing but pure junk. And I thought to myself, 'we should not be paying for this junk.' We should be providing nutrition to sustain children. She's an adult. What she puts in her own body is her own business. But it's not acceptable for the children."

Johnny, the assistant manager of a grocery store in Grenada, Miss., disagreed.

"I think what he saw was probably a person, not buying food for the family, but probably a person that had a 'Mom and Pop' store,'" he said. "And yes, you do have people that abuse the system. They abuse the benefits. But my opinion on that is, once you give somebody something, you give it to them. You can't dictate what you want them to do with it. This is America. And only in America do you have freedom of speech - freedom of everything. When you start dictating that - you take that freedom away."

Charlie Smith, the Legislative Liaison for MDHS, said the food stamp/SNAP program is federally funded, but ultimately the money comes from taxpayers, and based on MDHS guidelines, SNAP recipients can use their monthly benefits to purchase most food items with the exception of hot foods, such as those in the deli or those that can be eaten in the store.

Other states, such as Illinois, have similar SNAP stipulations, and they allow recipients to use their EBT cards to purchase seeds and plants to grow foods in a home garden environment - as does Mississippi.

But Smith said to his knowledge, no other states prohibit SNAP recipients from purchasing junk food. But past efforts by MDHS officials to restrict SNAP recipients in Mississippi to buying fresh fruits and vegetables, has failed before Congress.

"A lot of people have said you should just have healthy food with SNAP benefits and people shouldn't be able to buy all this junk food," he said. "So we put our two-cents worth in, and if the bill tried to pass, it didn't, or I don't even know if they tried to put in."

Stone, one of the state's few democrats in office, said his decision was largely influenced by first lady Michelle Obama and her efforts for healthier eating and fighting childhood obesity. In fact, one of the "Five Simple Steps To Success" in Mrs. Obama's "Let's Move!" campaign is for parents to "cut down on sugary drinks."

"I'm not trying to be punitive to these recipients," Stone said. "But my intent is to keep families from wasting their benefits. I'm going after foods that are obviously detrimental to children's health."

Proponents of Stone's measure said Stone is on the right track because for the last eight years, Mississippi has consistently held the title as the nation's 'fattest state'. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said in 2010, 34 percent of Mississippians were overweight, while a staggering 44.5 percent of children in the state were considered obese. Again, the highest ranking in the nation.

"We can't spell out everything in the law," Stone said. "When we see parents buying all of this junk food, you wonder what their children are eating. They're going without bacon and eggs, good food that's nutritious."

"It wouldn't bother me at all," said Peggy Lemon, a Mississippi grandmother raising her five grandchildren using SNAP benefits. "I never did buy a lot of candy for my grandkids, so it wouldn't make me a difference one way or another."

Opponents to Stone's bill, however, believe if the bill passes, it may increase crime rates or limit how much a household can buy due to the inflated costs of healthier food options such as fresh fruits and vegetables versus cheaper less healthier options.

"We don't want [vendors] to raise their costs and keep recipients from buying healthy food," Stone said. "But this is one of the things in the bill we'll have to work on."

"You have some people out there who do what they have to do to live," Johnny, mentioned earlier, said. "And I'd rather for someone to spend the benefits the way they want than to be out here robbing, stealing and that kind of thing. The crime rate here is already high. And I feel like if they try to control that, the crime rate is only going to go up."

Charlie Smith, of MDHS, said that while healthier eating is something state officials would like to see with SNAP recipients, he said a mandate to do so would have to be on a congressional level.

"SNAP benefits are a federal program," he said. "We can't take a state law and supersede a federal law. Stone may think it's a state program, but he doesn't have the authority to change it. I think it's a good idea. We'd be for it if we could, but we just can't do it."

Stone said if the bill passes, it would include a revision that MDHS request a waiver from the federal government to change the law. If it passes, he said it would then go to the senate floor for a vote and eventually to Mississippi's governor to veto or sign.

Stone said the deadline for revisions on the bill is the first week of March, and if signed by the governor, the law would go into effect on July 1.

By a 395-27 vote, the House approved legislation that would prevent welfare recipients from accessing their payments in strip clubs, casinos and liquor stores, a proposal Republicans back as a way to reduce waste and abuse of federal payments.

Republicans called up the bill under a suspension of House rules, which required a two-thirds majority vote. While some Democrats grumbled that the bill demeans people who need help, others indicated support for the bill as a common-sense way to reduce waste and ensure that payments go to help families.

The bill, H.R. 3567, was opposed by just one Republican and only 26 Democrats, making it easy for Republicans to reach the two-thirds majority.

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Birdman sat down with theGrio to talk about his new book company, Cash Money's legacy in music and the importance of education when building a brand.

What is your mindset when investing into untested business opportunities?

First thing I do is study the field. Get the knowledge needed so I can be extremely hands-on. When we launched Cash Money Content, our book publishing company, I hired an agent who's been in the game for 30 years and we made it real.

Did you ever go to college?

I've never been to college. I've always been interested in going back to school to finish and to also advance myself as a person. I'd do anything to grow intellectually and to improve my brand.

Does a college education translate into being able to run a successful business?

School is necessary. I would never take nothing away from that. I was just one of the fortunate ones. That's rare for a business of this magnitude. I'd tell anyone to get as much school as possible because education is key.

Seventeen years ago, did you imagine Cash Money would be this successful?

Well, you envision trying to be the best but when live that reality it's totally different. We work hard every day. When we first got in the game we were just excited to be here. Time and experience has kept us focus when it came to handling our business.

Some of the rap labels that Cash Money have competed against are no longer with us, what has kept Cash Money around?

God and us being focused and dedicated to music. Cash Money is a brand that has always had talent to push. With my son, Wayne, Drake, and Nicki Minaj, we're continuing to be trendsetters in this field.

You mention your brand; a young woman is currently holding you and Cash Money responsible for a sexual assault that occurred in a studio rented by the label. Would you like to comment on that?

I can't really say anything on that. I don't know you get caught into things like that and I had nothing to do with that.

For your fans that believe in Cash Money is there anything you want to tell them?

In no kind of way my brother and I had nothing to do with that situation. We're positive people who are about making money and helping people make money. That type of activity we don't indulge in or care to indulge in. I hope the best for the young lady. Whatever happened to her, life's not meant to be that way.

Hip-hop moguls like Jay-Z and Diddy, are entrepreneurs who have diversified whatever industries they've touched. Does Birdman belong in this category?

I feel I definitely belong with them. They both run great companies, but I want Cash Money to do better than our competitors. We're a brand that dominates rap, and I'd like to continue to spread to other genres. There has never been a billion dollar rap label and my goal is to be the first.

Follow Birdman here on Twitter.

Follow Kyle Harvey on Twitter at @HarveyWins

The Gingrich campaign planned to send a letter to the Republican Party of Florida asking that it "enforce existing rules" that say delegates should be awarded proportionally, a campaign spokesman said Thursday.

It was the second time the Gingrich campaign complained about primary rules after suffering a setback. When the campaign failed to meet the requirements of getting on the primary ballot in Virginia, it went to court with other candidates to have the requirements annulled. A federal judge declined to do so.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The move came as Gingrich lost the endorsement of real estate tycoon Donald Trump, which his campaign had thought was in the bag. Trump threw his support behind Romney on Thursday.

Earlier in the day, Gingrich took a jab at Romney for saying he is focused on helping the middle class because poor people have a safety net.

"I really believe that we should care about the very poor, unlike Gov. Romney," Gingrich said.

Gingrich said both Romney and Democratic President Barack Obama think poverty can be solved with a safety net.

"What the poor need is a trampoline so they can spring up," he said. "So I want to replace a safety net with a trampoline."

Romney spokeswoman Amanda Henneberg responded that Gingrich was joining Democrats in "distorting Mitt Romney's comments."

Gingrich campaigned in Nevada as the state prepared for Saturday's caucuses. He toured a Las Vegas forklift manufacturing plant and held a roundtable with Hispanic leaders before ducking into a fundraiser.

Romney is favored in the state, which he won when he sought the GOP nomination in 2008.

Gingrich campaign officials see their second-place finish in Florida as translating into 16 delegates if they were awarded proportionally.

A statement from Lenny Curry, chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, said the 38 members of the party's executive board unanimously passed a rule last year authorizing the change.

"It is a shame when the loser of a contest agrees to the rules before and then cries foul after losing," Curry said.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

WATCH CHRIS ROCK EXPLAIN WHY HE WOULD PAY HIGHER TAXES

Actor Chris Rock doesn't mind paying more in taxes. The way he sees it -- in the end he'll have to spend the money anyway.

"I'll pay higher taxes. I look at it this way I can pay higher taxes and people can have jobs or I can pay lower taxes and I have my kid's teacher asking me for a loan, which is true," said Rock to The Associated Press.

"So I'm going to lose the money no matter what."

Rock also told the AP that as president of the United States, President Obama is like...

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All eyes will be on the January employment report. In December the unemployment rate fell to 8.5 percent as 200-thousand jobs were created. Transportation and retail saw the biggest gains... But African American unemployment rose to 15.8 percent. Black teen unemployment jumped to 42.1 percent, remaining the highest of any group.

WATCH THE LATEST GRIO MARKET UPDATE HERE

Speaking of jobs, we will get a read on manufacturing with the January report from the Institute for Supply Management. In December, production rose to a 53.9 reading -- it's fastest pace since June -- due to an increase in new orders with a reading above 50 signals expansion

We'll get a read on housing with the November Case-Shiller home price index report. In October home prices fell 6 tenths of 1 percent, signaling home prices have not bottomed yet. Atlanta, Chicago and Las Vegas posted some of the biggest losses.

Tithing, or giving 10 percent of your income to support the ministries of your church, is vulnerable during the slow economic recovery. As the national unemployment rate trends downward, currently at 8.5 percent, the opposite is true for African-Americans. Since October 2011, black unemployment has increased from 15 percent to 15.8 percent in December, according to Bureau for Labor Statistics.

The jobs crisis has impacted giving. The non-profit, Faith Communities Today, says 80 percent of congregations in a recent survey said they took a financial hit during the recession.

SHARTIA BRANTLEY REPORTS: TO TITHE OR NOT TO TITHE?

Dr. Thomas Johnson, Sr., Senior Pastor of Canaan Baptist Church of Christ in Harlem says many of his members were impacted by cuts on Wall Street, public education and public transportation. "We see a difference in our tallies on Sunday when we count our tithes and offerings that there has been some decline," he says.

Some of the funds from tithing and offerings are used for building maintenance and infrastructure. But despite the dip in giving he says members expect the type of ministries they are accustomed to. "People still expect the same level of passion, and energy and resources and opportunities in worship." Dr. Johnson says.

Giving by the numbers

According to Giving USA, religious charitable giving accounted for 35 percent of the $290.89 billion in charitable contributions in 2010 or about $100.63 billion. Approximately 87 percent of donations came from individuals and family foundations or an estimated $87.5 billion. This includes contributions to houses of worship, national offices of denominations and faith groups, ministries, and religious communities.

Overall, giving was up 0.8 percent from 2009 to 2010, but if you adjust for inflation giving was down 0.8 percent. 2010 was the 56th year religion received the largest share of charitable dollars, but giving to religion has been decreasing as a share of total contributions since the 1986 to 1990 period, according to the Giving USA report.

Houses of worship are feeling the pinch.

According to non-profit Empty Tomb which gathers data from thousands of houses of worship in the U.S., per member giving as a percent of income was 2.38 percent in 2009, this is the lowest since data tracking began in 1968. Sylvia Ronsvalle, Vice President at Empty Tomb, says contributions have been declining whether the economy is good or bad. "Church giving is close to the family, it's not the first place people will cut," Ronsvalle says.

Per member giving in dollars was $854.25 in 2009 after peaking at $863.81 in 2007, according to Empty Tomb. It declined for the first time in 2008, since tracking began in 1968. "As we become richer are we not giving more to the church, if that happens over time, it can weaken commitment," Ronsvalle explains.

"Church giving may have been more vulnerable during the last economic downturn, versus in the 1970s when people were still more committed and resisted decreasing giving until they had to," she says. "I wouldn't say it's only the economy, it's also that commitment to church."

The Home Affordable Modification Program will also be extended through 2013.

The government will triple the financial incentives for private lenders to reduce the principal amount of mortgages for homeowners at risk of losing their homes. And for the first time, the government will offer incentives for principal reductions to government-controlled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The three-year old program has strived to help those at risk of foreclosure lower their monthly payments. But it has failed to help more than half of those who have applied lower their payments on a permanent basis. Many have complained that the program is a bureaucratic nightmare.

The government has tried several different approaches to help struggling homeowners.

In his State of the Union address Tuesday, President Barack Obama said many Americans have suffered steep losses because of the housing crisis. And while he didn't address the criticism of his administration's efforts, Obama suggested the government could do a better job.

"While government can't fix the problem on its own, responsible homeowners shouldn't have to sit and wait for the housing market to hit bottom to get some relief," Obama said in his speech.

His administration has promised to unveil new legislation in the coming days to allow more homeowners to refinance their mortgages under a separate program, the Home Affordable Refinance Program.

Throughout the history of the $29 billion mortgage modification program, homeowners have complained that they were disqualified after banks lost their documents and failed to return phone calls. Banks have blamed homeowners for failing to submit needed paperwork.

Homeowners who are accepted into the program receive interest rates as low as 2 percent for five years. They can repay their loans over a longer period. The average savings for those who remain in the program is about $500 per month.

More than 1.7 million troubled homeowners received trial modifications over the past two years. Less than half of those who applied, or more than 900,000, have had their mortgage permanently lowered. A majority of the applicants have dropped out of the program altogether.

The Obama administration has blamed some of the nation's biggest mortgage lenders for not doing enough to help Americans avoid foreclosures. In June, the Treasury Department criticized four lenders -- JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Ocwen Loan Servicing -- and began withholding financial incentives of up to $1,000 per modification.

Wells Fargo, Ocwen and Bank of America got off the list in September and December. JPMorgan Chase has still been cited for rejecting people who were eligible for mortgage modifications.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

Penney said Wednesday that it is getting rid of the hundreds of sales it offers each year in favor of a simpler approach to pricing. Starting on Feb. 1, the retailer is rolling out an "Every Day" pricing strategy with much fewer sales throughout the year.

The plan, the first major move by Apple executive Ron Johnson since he became Penney's CEO in November, is different from Wal-Mart's iconic everyday low pricing. Unlike Wal-Mart, Penney's goal isn't to undercut competitors, but rather to offer customers more predictable pricing.

"Pricing is actually a pretty simple and straightforward thing," Johnson told the Associated Press during an interview ahead of the announcement at the company's Plano, Tex. headquarters. "Customers will not pay literally a penny more than the true value of the product."

Penney's plan comes as stores are struggling to wean Americans off of the profit-busting bargains that they have come to expect in the weak economy. The move is risky, though, because shoppers who love to bargain-hunt may be turned off by the absence of sales.

"The big question on investors' minds will be: 'How customers will react to a single price point versus a perceived discount under the old strategy?'" says Citi Investment Research analyst Deborah L. Weinswig.

Here's how Penney's pricing strategy will work:

-- Sale prices become everyday prices. The company will use sales data from last year to slash prices on all merchandise at least 40 percent or lower than the previous year's prices. So, a woman's St. John's Bay blouse regularly priced at $14.99 could have the "Every Day" price of $7.

-- Fewer sales. The retailer will pick items to go on sale each month for a "Month-Long Value." For instance, jewelry and Valentine's Day gifts would go on sale in February, while Christmas decorations would be discounted in November. Items that don't sell well would go on clearance during the first and third Friday of every month when many Americans get paid. Those items will be tagged "Best Prices," signaling to customers that's the cheapest price.

-- New tags. The retailer used to pile stickers on price tags to indicate each time an item was marked down. But now each time an item gets a new price, it gets a new tag too. A red tag indicates an "Every Day" price, a white tag a "Month-Long Value" and a blue tag a "Best Price."

-- Simpler pricing. Penney will use whole figures when pricing items. In other words, you won't see jeans with a price tag of $19.99, but rather $19 or $20.

-- New advertising. Ads began airing Wednesday with a shopper screaming "No" to discounts as they look in their mailboxes, a pile of coupons and big sales signs. The company also has a new spokeswoman (talk show host Ellen DeGeneres) and logo (a red outline of a box that features JCP in the corner.) And a 96-page catalog will be mailed each month to 14 million customers, along with other promotional efforts.

The strategy, unveiled at Penney's investor meeting on Wednesday, comes as the retailer tries to turn around its business. Heavy discounting has hurt department stores like Penney. The group generates an average of about $200 per square foot, less than half the $550 or $600 stores like Victoria's Secret and Lululemon make per square foot, according to John Bemis, head of Jones Lang LaSalle Inc.'s retail leasing team.

But Penney has been a laggard even among department stores as its core middle-class customers have been among the hardest hit by the weak economy. It's also failed to attract younger customers even though its added hip brands like Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen's teen clothing collection called Olsenboye. The stores also have been by Johnson himself describes as "tired."

For the 11 months through December, Penney's revenue at stores opened at least a year -- an indicator of a retailer's health -- rose 0.7 percent, while competitors like Macy's Inc. rose 5.4 percent, and Kohl's was up 1.1 percent. Penney posted a loss in the third quarter and cut its fourth-quarter earnings outlook after a disappointing holiday season when it had to heavily discount to attract consumers.

The new pricing caps months of speculation about what Penney's future might look like under the leadership of Johnson, a former Target Corp executive and the mastermind behind the success at Apple Inc.'s stores.

Johnson, who joined the company's board in August, already has put his stamp on the retailer. He has tapped former colleagues at Apple and Target to join him at Penney. That includes Target's top marketing executive Michael Francis to be Penney's president.

Johnson also is borrowing from the playbook of Apple, which shuns discounting and focuses on selling products and offering services.

In December, Penney said it will have homemaker doyenne Martha Stewart develop mini-shops starting next year. And during Wednesday's meeting, Penney executives outlined plans to in the next two years add Main Street, a series of 80 to 100 brand shops in stores similar to the Martha Stewart ones. It also plans to open areas in all stores called Town Square, a place that will offer services and expert advice, similar to Apple's Genius bars.

Perhaps the biggest challenge for Penney is to sell shoppers on its new pricing. For years, Penney, like many other stores, has propped up price. The intent: to make it look like shoppers are getting great discounts when items go on sale.

Penney has been an especially big promoter. Last year, the company, which offered 590 sales events last year, nearly three-quarters of its revenue come from merchandise that was discounted by 50 percent or more.

That's more than double the retail industry average. According to an estimate by management consultant firm A.T. Kearney, a typical retailer sells between 40 and 45 percent of its inventory at a promotional price, up from 15 to 20 percent a decade ago.

The increased discounting has been a vicious cycle that only feeds into shoppers' insatiable appetite for bigger and better discounts. In fact, whereas it took 38 percent off to get shoppers to buy 10 years ago, it now takes discounts of 60 percent, Johnson says.

At Penney, the regular price on an item that costs $10 to make rose 43 percent, from $28 in 2002 to $40 in 2011. But because of all of its sales and other promotions, what it actually ended up selling for rose only 15 cents, from $15.80 to $15.95 during that same period.

"I have been struck by the extraordinary amount of promotional activity, which to me, didn't feel like it was appropriate for a department store," Johnson says. "Once you start to promote, the only way to beat a promotion was to make it bigger."

Walter Loeb, a New York-based retail consultant, says Penney's new pricing is "visionary" and revolutionary."

But Charles Grom, a retail analyst at Deutsche Bank, says it will be difficult for Johnson to change shoppers' buying habits. Macy's, for example, cut back on coupons a few years ago, only to reverse courses after sales fell.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

Attorney General Eric Holder told a news conference the team will benefit from existing probes and disclosed that investigators have issued civil subpoenas to 11 financial institutions in recent days, with the prospect that "more will follow." He said bringing full enforcement resources to bear will help expose abuses and hold violators accountable.

Residential mortgage-backed securities are the huge investment packages of what turned out to be near-worthless mortgages that bankrupted many investors and contributed to the nation's financial crisis.

Appearing with Holder, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, a co-chair of the initiative, held out the prospect that information sharing between federal and state investigators will produce more far-reaching results. He pointed out that New York state securities law is more flexible than federal securities law, which can make it easier to assemble cases.

As for those who engaged in misconduct in the financial industry, "we know what they did, they know what they did and, we know they know we know what they did," said Schneiderman.

"Mortgage products were in many ways ground zero for the financial crisis," said Robert Khuzami, director of the enforcement division at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The collapse in value of mortgage-backed securities resulted in unprecedented losses, and "all of us" in law enforcement are dedicated to holding accountable financial institutions that lied and cheated and misled investors, said Khuzami.

President Barack Obama disclosed the new effort in his State of the Union address Tuesday night.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

For many Americans, it's the American dream. Imagine not only buying a home and putting down a down payment with a 30-year mortgage, but actually one day owning your home free and clear.

In other words, your home is paid off; no mortgage, no bank, no finance company, no-nobody, but you. Hallelujah! Free at last, the American dream! In your heart and soul, you feel you've insured as well as secured yourself from the thought of ever one day becoming homeless in America. What an accomplishment!

Now imagine losing it, and not because you didn't pay the mortgage.

Although you've achieved the so-called American dream, let me share with you some truths that often turn your dream into a nightmare, especially for African-Americans.

You see, in America, even though you somehow manage to pay off your mortgage, the truth is, you'll never own your home and be free from added taxes. You might pay the mortgage off, but you never stop paying property tax on it. That's right. And guess what? If you don't pay your property taxes, the government has the right to take your home from you, and it's all legal.

Every year African-Americans lose millions of dollars in real estate simply by not paying their property taxes. From farmland to commercial property to multi-family units right down to personal residences. This has got to stop.

The current recession has only added to this growing nightmare. Personally, I've never liked the idea of paying property taxes each and every year on your personal residence, especially after you've satisfied the mortgage debt and are living on a fixed income from retirement and social security. It's really a bad deal for the homeowner. It's not fair.

WATCH: Professor Henry Levin outlines the report findings in an interview with CNBC

The lifetime cost, or burden, that falls on taxpayers for one member of the 'Opportunity Youth' group is an estimated $750,000, with a combined social burden of nearly $5 trillion in missed wealth creation opportunities and other losses. Professor Levin outlines ways to reduce drop outs, listing the implementation of high school reforms, reductions in class sizes, and early childhood education intervention as the most vital.