Black Culture Discussion Thread

[bad lieutenant]

Why I Left The U.S. 20 Years Ago... And Why I Won't Be Coming Back | HuffPost
https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_5adf7407e4b07be4d4c57b26?ncid=applenews00001

South of France

 

[seasoned vet]

 

[illwill8710]

I think those verbalizing slavery was a choice on social platforms such as twitter and instagram are being very moronic right now. No **** that it was a choice. The choice most often was slavery or death and to simply put it, that it is very disrespectful to the ancestors of those of African decent that were enslaved to marginalize their sacrifice to choose slavery for the sake preservation. I don't think we live in a time of free thought but rather reactionary statements. The sentiment of slavery being an option has been expressed through black history since it has been documented. Just because someone expresses that sentiment on social media does not make them a free thinker. It gives the perception of absence of any scholarship on the topic and basic knowledge of how social perception works in 2018. It baits the idea to the uneducated on the topic that the black community that was birthed from slavery is in this condition due to the choice to accept slavery. That simply isn't true nor is the assumption that black people are born with a choice other than death in 2018 to accept the conditions that were a result of slavery. Sure a Boyce Watkins can work hard to set financial freedom for himself and others however, a black man from the hood birth in poverty, single parent household, and working at a young age within this country can put in 10x as much work a him and still not be able to make it to financial freedom. That's a marginalized reality for some people in the black community. I hold Boyce Watkins just as socially accountable for making rash statements on social media critiquing the black community as I would Kanye. It has no place within the community and at this point it is as useful as **** talking because it also doesn't provide a solution to the conditions that resulted from our ancestors choosing preservation or slavery.

 

[DCAllAfrican]

Zora Neale Hurston ‘Barracoon’ Excerpt http://www.vulture.com/2018/04/zora...e=tw&utm_medium=s3&utm_campaign=sharebutton-t

 

[hand2handking]

Successful African-American Silicon Valley Entrepreneur Feels 'Like A Black Unicorn'

https://www.forbes.com/sites/devint...neur-feels-like-a-black-unicorn/#73bbc60229ab

Originally from inner-city Baltimore, Maryland, successful tech entrepreneur Clarence Wooten, 46, got into tech and computers through video games as a kid. He played on the old Atari, ColecoVision and Commodore platforms.

From those modest beginnings, a career blossomed. As a youth, Wooten looked up to people like Bill Gates and Reginald Lewis as role models. Lewis, the richest African American in the 1980s was born and raised in Baltimore. He died in 1993 after taking control of and subsequently growing Beatrice—the first African American-ownedbillion-dollar company. The power of role models would stay with Wooten throughout his career.

Still in Baltimore in the late 90s, Wooten founded Image Cafe, a startup that provided website templates for small businesses, something like what Wix and Square space do today.


“We were getting ready to raise a big venture round when Network Solutions, who was the GoDaddy of that time, swooped in and acquired us,” Wooten says. The deal was concluded for $23 million at the end of 1999, near the top of the dot com boom. “Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good.”

While the deal price didn’t start with a “B," the success and capital launched Wooten’s career. He moved to Silicon Valley and has started several companies since.

“I'm this guy who takes wacky ideas and turns them into things,” Wooten quips.

To ignore race in the context of Wooten’s success would be toignore one of the glaring issues facing Silicon Valley today. Thetreatment of women and minorities became the hot-button topic of 2017.

Wooten moved around a lot as a kid. Starting out in the inner city, virtually all his friends were black. Later he moved to a virtually all-white school. “I felt like I had a pretty diverse social upbringing and as a result you know I wasnever uncomfortable around anyone.”

Wooten’s personal philosophydoesn’t allow him to blame others for the challenges in his life. “You know you really can't think about how you may be being held back for reasons thatare beyond your control because if that enters your mind and stays in your mind you will not be successful because it will weigh you down.”

He has no apparent resentment toward the Silicon Valley culture—why should he? He’s been successful there. He says he’streated about the same there as elsewhere. Still, he acknowledges the challenges. “I mean, beingbased in Palo Alto as an African-American entrepreneur who has had some success in tech and in Silicon Valley, you know, to some degree is like a black unicorn,which is unfortunate.”

“So, my dream is to see more success for African-Americans in tech.”


Wooten’s latest startup, STEAM Role, is his effort to fulfill that dream.

The name is first a reference to Silicon Valley’s areas of focus—science, technology, engineering, arts and math. He points out that Apple proved the value of adding the arts to STEM. The name also provides a clue to the secret sauce: role models.

“We aim to provide companies with a platform to inspire, track and hire diverse STEAM talent by leveraging their existing employees as role models to attract future hires,” he says.

Flipping the lens, he adds, “We aim to provide a roadmap for anyone to acquire their dream career by following and learning from rolemodels that they can relate to.”

Ryan Scott, CEO of Causecast andan advisor to STEAM Role, says, “STEAM Role solves a gigantic issue for corporations. How to attract and retain a STEAM educated, diverse talent pool. As a corporate tool it allows employees to be rolemodels and clearly helps steamers to get the exact skills the employee has to get the position they are in.”

To build an audience for theenterprise clients, STEAM Role is partnering with middle through high school guidance counselors and the startup has created abrand ambassador program across colleges and universities.

“You can learn anything you want to know on-line and virtually forfree. Information is widely available; however, inspiration is not,” Wooten says.

How STEAM Role Works

“Think Tinder,” Wooten says of how the mobile app works. “But instead of swiping through your potential dates we're showcasing role models that you can relate to. We show you their company, their job title, a one sentence description of what they do and we pull from Glassdoor their salary range.”

Don’t confuse role models with mentors. “Mentorship doesn’t really scale because it’s one to one,” he says. One role model can influence thousands of aspiringprofessionals on STEAM Role.

“So, if there's an African-American, teenage female in Baltimore, we will try to show her African-American women who are STEAM professionals—successful.” Ultimately, the app will show her role models based on her interests, regardless of gender and ethnicity.

When she clicks on a role model, she can see all the skills that person acquired to get that position. She can also see whereshe can learn those skills and ultimately get someone to endorseher for having the skill.

Wooten says the design was inspired by watching his daughters use SnapChat and Instagram. The idea is to create a sense of intimacy and authenticity that today’syoung people—who grew up with super computers in their pockets connected to all the world’s information—crave.

Scott, believes STEAM Role will create wins for everyone involved, from the sponsoring enterprises, to the role models and ultimately for the “steamers,” the aspiringprofessionals.

Wooten hopes that the startup will allow him to fulfill a mission.

A Purpose-Driven Life

“In the last ten years, I came to the realization that the first third of your life you learn, the second third you earn and in the last third you return.” This philosophy guided his thinking, allowing him to focus on giving back in the future. More recently, however, he concluded that “that the ultimate startup is when you can learn, earn and return all in the same company.”

“And so, we built a mission driven company. My entire team they're here because they believe in the mission. They think the world needs this,” Wooten says. “It's a calling to me as much as it is a company.”

 

[DCAllAfrican]

via @youtube

 

[DCAllAfrican]

DC Product

 

[leavemeglazzies]

Let me get this straight: "Slavery was a choice" is actually being debated now? Like a statement that stupid is actually being validated as a subject for discussion, with various people voicing their opinions on it?

 

[pmpdaddyrobford]

Let me get this straight: "Slavery was a choice" is actually being debated now? Like a statement that stupid is actually being validated as a subject for discussion, with various people voicing their opinions on it?

Kids were eating detergent pods... People think the world is flat.... You really shocked?

 

[MalcolmNewton]

North Carolina Teen Gets Accepted to Over 100 Colleges and $4.5 Million in Scholarships

A North Carolina high school senior has been accepted to over 100 colleges and offered about $4.5 million in scholarships. She spent only $135 and was able to apply to so many colleges with the help of her mom and school.

17-year-old Jasmine Harrison finished off her final year at The Academy at Smith high school with a perfect 4.0 GPA. Harrison was shocked to receive such a high number of acceptance letters. “When I got the first couple in the mail, I was like, “OK, this is really happening. I didn’t really think I’d be able to do that,” she told WFMY-TV.

 

[Coromanti]

I just read Lupita's account of her experiences with Harvey Weinstein.

I really empathized with her. In a way I did not with the other white victims. I feel bad about that for some reason.

 

[MalcolmNewton]

I just read Lupita's account of her experiences with Harvey Weinstein.

I really empathized with her. In a way I did not with the other white victims. I feel bad about that for some reason.

No not Lupita, I'll personally kick Weinsteins aszs for laying hands on the goddess.

 

[MalcolmNewton]

 

[Coromanti]

No not Lupita, I'll personally kick Weinsteins aszs for laying hands on the goddess.

Nothing happened but he tried multiple times.

 

[hand2handking]

Wale speaks his mind about his place in the rap game.

Wale has never shied away from introspection, especially when it comes to his Twitter feed. It seems that Wale doesn't think his career is in the place it should be, and during an impromptu Twitter Q&A session, he offered a potential reason why.

When asked by a fan whether his "expressive passion for the music hurt/prevented you from being mentioned with the rest of your class?," Wale handily agreed. He also mentions that "being a dark skinned (not half white) rapper direct decent from Africa" also hurt him greatly in his career.

Wale is clearly referring to the ever expanding group of bi-racial or light skinned rappers who have been taking over the rap game, with obvious examples being Drake, J. Cole, or Logic, who have all found incredible amounts of success in the rap game. The amount of successful white rappers has increased as well, with artists like Post Malone dominating the rap and Billboard charts, and others like Iggy Azalea who have to be taught about white privilege.

That being said, there are still plenty of dark skinned rap artists who have found a place in the rap game, historically and currently. Wale's MMG label mates Rick Ross and Meek Mill are both perfect examples.

Wale may just be over the rap game in general, as during his Q&A he also suggested going back to school, finding a new job, and crowd sourcing the promotion for his new music.

What do you think about Wale's comments about skin color in rap?

https://www.hotnewhiphop.com/wale-says-being-dark-skinned-hurt-his-rap-career-news.49398.html?_amp

 

[Coromanti]

Skin color thing was certainly a reach.

 

[hand2handking]

he mighta had a point about being of african descent tho

 

[Mark Antony]

I don't think it's a reach considering the push white/lighter artists get for the same music in general. It hasn't fully permeated rap as yet like it did r&b.

 

[Coromanti]

he mighta had a point about being of african descent tho

Explain? Nobody around me referenced that point when speaking about him.

 

[hand2handking]

well what do they reference? it could be a case of indirect shade thrown at his ancenstry?

black americans and africans havent always had the utmost of support for each other

 

[Coromanti]

well what do they reference? it could be a case of indirect shade thrown at his ancenstry?

black americans and africans havent always had the utmost of support for each other

My circle is mainly caribbean and african with some asians and whites sprinkled in. His Africanness never came up while he was relevant except the occassional 'he should do more songs with nigerian artists'

 

[hand2handking]

maybe its not so much vocalized as inherent bias

like the saying says it goes without saying

and maybe it affected his ability to go mainstream

 

[hand2handking]

 

[pmpdaddyrobford]

maybe its not so much vocalized as inherent bias

like the saying says it goes without saying

and maybe it affected his ability to go mainstream

his music not being that good the 2nd half of his career didn't help

 

[hand2handking]

the mmg half?