Best Posts in Forum: Career, Work, Finances and Education

Darnell Ferguson, 29, has had one heck of a journey to becoming the man he is today. He's gone from being homeless and incarcerated, to owning 3 restaurants. He knows exactly what his purpose is and has persevered through it all to make his dreams come true.

His journey started his junior year of high school when he transferred from his high school to a local vocational school in Columbus, Ohio that offered culinary arts courses: “I was failing out of high school, then I ended up switching high schools to a vocational school. So I went to vocational school for culinary arts and thought that if I don’t like it, at least I’ll be able to eat good… That was also at the time when Emeril [TV celebrity chef] was huge and I liked what he was doing, so that was one thing that really caught my eye… I liked the uniforms, the professionalism, I liked everything that wasn’t like what I was used to.”


Photo Source:Insider Louisville

After graduating, he studied at Sullivan University in Louisville, Kentucky. Ferguson arrived at school eager to start, but learned that he could only get partial aid. As a result, he was only able to enroll in a few evening courses and considered dropping out. However, he decided to push forward and excelled. He did so well that he was one of 22 chefs (only two of which were black) chosen out of thousands to be a part of the 2008 Olympic Team in Beijing, China.


Although things were going well for Ferguson, he still needed money to survive and turned to selling drugs to support himself. Upon graduation, he instead chose to continue selling drugs rather than pursue a career in culinary arts. He wound up being arrested eight times in three months. As a result, he lost all of his possessions and was evicted from his home.

“The last time getting locked up, I remembered being in class and them talking about being a statistic and how once you get in the system you can’t get out… I started thinking that now I’m the guy that I didn’t want to be… That’s when I told myself that I was going to get serious about something I know that I can do, which is cooking…”


Photo Source: Southeast Outlook

Darnell abandoned selling drugs and started taking jobs at local restaurants around Louisville. This experience led him to learn something new about himself – he had a bad temper. Things became so bad at his job that he and his boss had one argument that almost became physical. That's when he knew something had to give.

“I had anger issues… The big issue was that I was controlled by it… You could say one little thing to me and I would snap because I didn’t have control over myself… So therefore we would get into it all the time… I became so tired that I asked someone if there was a church around here that I could go to. I went to Southeast Christian and ever since then everything changed for me. I started going to church, starting reading about God because for me, I didn’t know God was real… So that for me was a shock… I wish I would have known this a long time ago but I wouldn’t have listened then, even if you told me… That’s just the truth about it.”

Darnell lost his job, but he found God. Unemployed for a year, he focused on church and opening his own restaurants. He eventually found two investors, but one canceled before he could secure his investment capital, causing him to lose hope. A few months later he ran into a friend who owned a restaurant that only served lunch and dinner. He offered Ferguson to lease the space for breakfast – a practice called “Pop-Up”. For his skill throughout his cooking career and during the Beijing Olympics, Ferguson was titled a “Super-Chef,” which became the inspiration for the name of the “Pop-Up” - SuperChefs.

He quickly became known for his work and within months, other restaurant owners were were reaching out to him about opening “Pop-Ups” in their restaurants – one being the same boss that fired him.

In 2015, Darnell decided to expand and open his own full-service restaurant. After partnering with a friend from college and securing an investor, his dream became a reality on July 9, 2015. Since then, Ferguson has added two more restaurants and four “Pop-Up” locations.



Image Credit: http://www.breakfastwithnick.c...

Ferguson prides himself in serving “high-end” food for an affordable price. The menu items are also centered around comic book themes to make things casual and fun.


Image Credit: http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos...



Image Credit: http://www.columbusunderground...

Darnell has been through a lot in his young life and is proud of the man he is, but he never forgets where he came from. He always gives honor to God and gives back to his community, giving motivational speeches in his spare time and bringing kids from the West End of Louisville to SuperChefs to tour the restaurant.

“The journey is the success. Most people think the destination is the success. Don’t let today be taken for granted… Enjoy the journey… Everyone is so focused on the destination… You have to enjoy what’s happening because the growth is the best part.”

 

100 Percent Of Seniors At Chicago School Admitted To College For 7th Year In A Row

These young men at Urban Prep Charter Academy are what black excellence looks like

Taryn Finley
Black Voices Associate Editor, The Huffington Post


For the seventh consecutive year, Urban Prep Charter Academy is keeping it one hundred.

Every senior at the predominantly black, all-boys charter school in Chicago

has committed to a four-year college or university.

At the school’s three campuses combined,

the class of 2016 has been admitted to more than 220 schools.

“It’s a great day,” Rudolph Long, who’s attending Hampton University,

told CBS Chicago on Urban Prep’s college signing day on Tuesday.

“I feel great. We all made it.

We all come from good environments so to see us all going to college is nice.”

Overall, the senior class has received more than 1,500 college admissions

and has been offered more than $15 million in scholarships and grants,

according to CBS Chicago. Founder and CEO of Urban Prep Tim King said

the students have been admitted to schools all over the country,

including Georgetown University, Yale University, Morehouse College,

among other schools. King tweeted a photo of some of the seniors at signing day.

Since 2010, every senior class has had 100 percent of their students admitted to college,

the school’s website says. The school’s motto is “We Believe,” which serves as a reminder

“that Urban Prep students will not fall into the trap of negative stereotypes and low expectations,”

the school’s website says.

“Every year, I’m just wowed by these young men, by what they are doing,” King told CBS Chicago.

“We started Urban Prep with the goal of moving the needle when it comes to black male achievement

and these guys proved to me, the city and the world every year,

that we did the right thing when we founded Urban Prep ten years ago.”

Bravo to these young men!

 

• Chinese for Beginners from Peking University
• Children Acquiring Literacy Naturally from University of California, Santa Cruz
• Age of Jefferson from University of Virginia
• Creative Writing: The Craft of Plot from Wesleyan University
• Job Success: Get Hired or Promoted in 3 Steps from State University of New York
• Corruption from University of Pennsylvania
• Improving Communication Skills from University of Pennsylvania
  
• Confronting The Big Questions: Highlights of Modern Astronomy from University of Rochester
• Guitar for Beginners from Berklee College of Music
• Ruby on Rails: An Introduction from Johns Hopkins University
• Sharpened Visions: A Poetry Workshop from California Institute of the Arts
• Script Writing: Write a Pilot Episode for a TV or Web Series (Project-Centered Course) from Michigan State University
• Bonds & Stocks from University of Michigan
• Major Depression in the Population: A Public Health Approach from Johns Hopkins University
• How To Create a Website in a Weekend! (Project-Centered Course) from State University of New York

 

In Harlem, a Shelter That Gives Young Men the Tools to Succeed

Nestled on a residential block in Harlem, Create Young Adult Residenceslooks like any other apartment building. A fire escape snakes up its rust-colored facade.

Throughout the day, young men who live in the building, on West 128th Street, come and go, heading to and from school, jobs and neighborhood restaurants like Red Rooster Harlem and Sylvia’s.

Create, a 50-bed transitional housing program, serves men 18 to 25, many of whom have recently aged out of the foster care system. Its residents are encouraged to study or to work, and to find permanent housing within nine months. The support system has proved invaluable to many.

Residents playing video games at the shelter, which has 50 beds and is usually full.CreditEdu Bayer for The New York Times
After being in foster care and enduring a tumultuous life with his adoptive family, Rymale Benjamin, 21, came to Create after spending three weeks at the 30th Street Men’s Shelter in Manhattan.

“At first, I looked around and thought someone had invited me to their house,” he said. “I thought, This place is nice; it’s in a good area. I was shocked it was a shelter.”

Before it became Create, the building had been abandoned. Benedict Taylor, a Franciscan friar at St. Francis of Assisi Church in Midtown Manhattan, and Ralph Perez, a lay member, took over the building in 1984, making it one of three residential housing facilities in the city associated with Create Inc., a nonprofit organization that includes a drug-treatment center and a food pantry.

The men had been serving the neighborhood since the 1960s, when Mr. Perez was still in college. They began their first residential drug-addiction recovery program there in 1973, during the heroin epidemic that was ravaging New York City.


Ralph Perez, a lay member of St. Francis of Assisi Church in Manhattan, and Benedict Taylor, a Franciscan friar, took over the building that is now Create in 1984. CreditEdu Bayer for The New York Times
“There were a lot of people coming to our doors who didn’t necessarily have drug problems,” Mr. Perez said recently. “But they were still homeless and had nowhere to go.”

In 1983, Mr. Perez and Father Taylor expanded their operation, taking over a three-story tenement building across the street from the rehabilitation center. They converted it into a 19-bed shelter for homeless men, the city’s first such community-based and -operated shelter financed with city and state funds, according to a news release at the time.

Photo

Father Taylor holding a photo of himself and Mr. Perez from the 1970s, when they began their first residential drug-addiction recovery program in Harlem. CreditEdu Bayer for The New York Times
In 1984, Father Taylor and Mr. Perez took over another abandoned four-story building, this one on West 128th Street. Working with a group of architects, Mr. Perez helped design the dormitory space. He wanted the residents to feel at home in their rooms, he said, so each door got its own doorbell.

“It was about being more than ‘a hot and a cot,’” Mr. Perez said, referring to the standard warm meal and bed. “We wanted to help transition them into independent living. That’s what we thought was most important.”

Photo

Oumar Camara, 19, left, and Mr. Benjamin. Mr. Benjamin said that when he first came to Create, he found it so nice that he “looked around and thought someone had invited me to their house.” CreditEdu Bayer for The New York Times
Today, that shelter is usually at full capacity. Brian Bailey, the director, says he receives five to 10 requests for a bed each day.

Since 2009, Create, which is affiliated with Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New York, one of the eight organizations supported by The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund, has been home to nine recipients profiled over the years during the fund’s annual campaign. Combined, they have received almost $3,000.

Photo

Mr. Benjamin in his room. The uniform he wears for his job as a security guard is on the wall.CreditEdu Bayer for The New York Times.
One recipient this year, Moussa Konate, 21, a college student, shares a third-floor room that overlooks the back garden. Mr. Konate, who is Muslim, keeps an aqua-and-yellow prayer mat, a parting gift from his mother when he left Mali, at the head of his bed.

“This is the only shelter where I feel like I am home,” said Mr. Konate, who has stayed in two other city shelters. “I leave for work and come back to sleep. And when I’m back, I feel like I’m home.”

Photo

Moussa Konate, 21, in his room at Create. “This is the only shelter where I feel like I am home,” he said.CreditHarrison Hill for The New York Times
Create provides tenants with services like job-skills training, educational support and the opportunity to gain work experience. “Without that, it’s a revolving door,” Mr. Perez said, “winding right back to homelessness.”

Father Taylor added: “The program gives people the time and space to recover at their own pace. It’s not rushed.”

Photo

Idi Diallo in the back yard of Create last year. He is now studying business accounting in California.CreditEmon Hassan for The New York Times
Mayor Bill de Blasio has said that he was slow to recognize New York’s homelessness crisis and that a “blood-and-guts war strategy” is necessary to address it. The city provides shelter to about 60,000 people nightly, through 290 shelters and 185 so-called cluster sites, which are private buildings with apartments reserved for homeless families with children. Commercial hotels fill the gap.

After toddler sisters died last year from severe burns caused by radiator steam at a South Bronx cluster site, Mr. de Blasio announced in February a plan to close all cluster sites by 2021 and end all commercial hotel use two years after that, while allocating $300 million to open 90 new shelters.

Photo

Mr. Camara with his science books in his room. He plans to graduate high school in June.CreditEdu Bayer for The New York Times
Since the announcement, about 350 apartments have been closed, and four new shelters for families with children have opened with 291 total units, according to the Department of Social Services. Mr. de Blasio announced on Tuesday that the city would convert 800 apartments at cluster sites, mostly in the Bronx, into affordable housing. The change could place about 3,000 people into permanent housing.

The mayor’s plan from February also includes five additional “purpose-built shelter projects,” which, much like Create, would be tailored to residents’ needs. Today, Create is the only transitional housing program in the city designed specifically for young men.

Photo

G. Stephanie Ali, the vocation coordinator at Create, and Brian Bailey, its director. CreditEdu Bayer for The New York Times
G. Stephanie Ali, the vocation coordinator at Create, says the program provides a unique space to enable young men to gain their footing and transition into a permanent setting. Aspiring painters, novelists, basketball players, engineers, rap artists and producers have passed through the halls over the years, she said.

“Oftentimes at this age, young men feel they should be doing more,” Ms. Ali said, adding that overwhelming possibilities can hinder residents from focusing on goals. “So we’re there to help them see the broader scope of what’s out there and get them engaged in education and employment to meet that ultimate goal of housing.”

Photo

A line for a Create Inc. food pantry last month. CreditEdu Bayer for The New York Times
Soon after Idi Diallo, 21, a soccer player from Ivory Coast moved to New York, he found himself sleeping in the prayer hall of a mosque. After coming to Create, he later moved into his own apartment in the Bronx. He is now enrolled at Long Beach City College in California, studying business accounting.

“I can’t even describe how much Create and all the wonderful people there have helped me,” Mr. Diallo said recently. “Today, I look back on it as my new start. Moving there was the beginning of my success.”

Photo

Lunchtime at Create. The shelter is “about being more than ‘a hot and a cot,’” said Mr. Perez, one of the founders, referring to the standard warm meal and bed. CreditEdu Bayer for The New York Times
Oumar Camara, 19, seeks a similar happy ending. He came to the city from Mali’s capital, Bamako, four years ago. At the time, he had an hour between the end of high school and the start of his full-time cleaning and dishwashing job. Often, he did not return to the room he shared in Harlem until 4 a.m., just a few hours before school began.

He moved to Create in March. A burden was lifted when he no longer had to pay $500 a month in rent and utilities, which allowed him to quit his job and focus on school. He is now on track to graduate in June.

“Now I want to go to college, get a career and have a better life,” Mr. Camara said, adding that he plans to pursue a degree in structural engineering.

On Tuesday, Mr. Camara and Mr. Konate received keys to a two-bedroom apartment in Irvington, N.J. They will move into their new home as early as Friday.

 

If you have a job, likely you have some work place drama. Especially if you're a black male working with females or gay men. Either people trying to get in your business or trying you. Well this is a thread you can vent some of that out.



I will start off with out a lot of backstory for this incident. We are just gonna get right to it.

The one female in my department is black and we don't really interact for... Reasons. I figured out a while ago when she realized I her eye batting and chick high pitched whining had no affect on me that she stopped really dealing with me. I like realness in the ladies I am around.

Our company has had a lot of changes and there were a few people let go. I thought it would be cool to introduce a little pick me up where one person each month would bring in treats for the office. I pitched it to my cube bro and they were cool with it. I go over to, we'll call her "Sasha" 's desk. She had on headphones and I don't the she was fully understanding what I said but I asked her if she would be interested in this idea. She said yes. But to her understanding it was her thinking I was bringing in treats for the hell of it. Upon correcting her misunderstanding, she hesitantly said yes but under the condition she'd be last. Thinking in her head, I assume, she could put it off for a year. I said that's fine because I haven't posed this to the rest of the department yet and I can just put her at the end if we get enough interest. She thought about it for 5 seconds and then said that she'd rather not. Saying that her finances were not set up for that.



Pause.


I have been working here over a year longer than she so I know pretty much what she's bringing in. She's not poor like that where she can't find 25 bucks or so a year to bring in donuts or bagels one time.

Play.

So I say that's cool. And walk off to my desk.

At this point I'm convinced that she's a mooch now more than than ever. It was all good before hand but if she didn't want to participate she didn't have to lie. I guess that was her trying to save face after she was initially all for this 30 seconds earlier. But still.... I am not a woman hater at all but chicks like this get on my nerves. She's always trying to get other people to bring shit in but not offering to do so herself.

So now I'm just not gonna ask her about anything that involves office team chip money in because "oh! well you said your finances were not where you wanted them so..." just keeping it

I just know if she reaches for donuts on my day, she's gonna get the petty stare of judgment.



Also i am totally out of fucks at work so I couldn't care less about playing nice with the team. I don't plan on being in that department long and my bosses love me.

 

Obama Urges Howard Graduates To ‘Be Confident In Your Blackness’
“Passion is vital but you have to have a strategy. And your plan better include voting.”

I agree with 9/10 his message to the graduates.
President Barack Obama urged graduates to continue the work of improving the lives of African Americans during his commencement address at Howard University on Saturday.

President Barack Obama urged Howard University’s class of 2016 on Saturday to “be confident in [their] blackness” and continue past generations’ work to improve the lives of African Americans in the U.S.

After opening his address on the progress African Americans have made, Obama spent a good portion of his speech discussing the importance of being black and the challenges facing graduates of Howard, one the country’s historically black universities.

Obama, who wrote about being black while raised by a white mother and grandparents, told the graduates the notion of what it meant to be black in America had changed since he graduated college.

“Be confident in your heritage, be confident in your blackness,” the president said. “One of the great changes that’s occurred in the country since I was your age is the realization there’s no one way to be black, take it from someone who’s seen both sides of the debate about whether I’m black or not.”

“The past couple of months I’ve had lunch with the Queen of England and hosted Kendrick Lamar in the Oval Office,” he continued. “There’s no straightjacket, there’s no constraint, there’s no litmus test for authenticity.”

But being black also comes with a responsibility to address injustice in the world, Obama said.

Remember the tie that does bind us as African Americans and that is our particular awareness of injustice and unfairness and struggle.
“Even as we each embrace our own beautiful and unique and valid versions of our blackness, remember the tie that does bind us as African Americans and that is our particular awareness of injustice and unfairness and struggle,” Obama told the students. “That means we cannot sleepwalk through life. We cannot be ignorant of history. We can’t meet the world with a sense of entitlement.

“That’s a pet peeve of mine, people who’ve been successful and don’t realize they’ve been lucky, that God may have blessed them,” he added. “It wasn’t nothing you did, so don’t have an attitude.”

The president noted that the unemployment rate remains higher among African Americans than their white counterparts and there was still a racial achievement gap in schools. The Treasury Department has announced that Harriet Tubman would appear on the $20 bill, but Obama noted that black women continue to be paid significantly less than white men.

“Harriet Tubman may be going on the 20, but we’ve still got a gender gap when a black woman working full time still earns just 66 percent of what a white man gets paid,” he said.

Obama called on activists to vote in order to fix these problems. He noted there were still too many barriers to voting and said there was a “legacy” of blocking people from voting and a reason why some officials had an interest in blocking voters from the ballot box. But the president also expressed frustration that voter turnout in the 2014 midterm elections was so low.

“Passion is vital but you have to have a strategy,” he said. “And your plan better include voting. Not just some of the time, but all of the time.”
Obama implored graduates to vote not just for their president, but in their local elections as well. He framed the importance of voting through the legacy of previous generations of African Americans, who were subject to poll taxes and literacy tests in order to vote.

“You don’t have to risk your life to cast a ballot, other people already did that for you,” the president said.

Beyond voting, Obama said activists had to be willing to compromise if they wanted to achieve change, echoing comments he made last month while traveling in London.

“Change requires more than just speaking out, it requires listening as well. In particular it requires listening to those with whom you disagree and being prepared to compromise,” he said. “”Even when you are 100 percent right, this is hard to explain sometimes, you can be completely right and you are still going to engage folks who disagree with you.”

Obama, who often speaks about how change is slow and incremental, also said that refusing to compromise with those who disagree would lead activists to feel good about themselves, but not change.

The president told the students that listening also means that activists shouldn’t interrupt politicians’ rallies — a tactic the Black Lives Matter movement frequently uses — and that controversial speakers shouldn’t be disinvited from speaking on college campuses.

“As my grandmother used to tell me, every time a fool speaks, they are just advertising their own ignorance,” he said.

 

I just came out at work earlier this year. My plan from the beginning was to attain some level of success and job security before I outed myself. It took 10 years to do that. Appearantly being black in coorprate America and in the construction industry comes with its own challenges.

I'm not the type to lie, so I got really good at deflecting questions about my personal life and keeping everything professional. However, those more personal relationships are needed to move up corporate ladders. For example, if I never bring my mate to any office functions it looks like I don't like the job or Ive got something to hide. How can I be put in positions of confidentiality and trust if I appear shady with parts of my life? Plus after so long the only person I would be fooling is myself.

I came out in casual conversation to my boss and several coworkers I'm cool with. No big speech, no awkwardness, just a matter of fact. I've become so much closer and relaxed with everyone since. I even brought a date to a company dinner.

 

But 7 weeks of no pay. That's almost two months. If I'm applying for an entry level position, what makes you think I have 7 weeks worth of funds while yall foo la la with me.

MAYBE a month but damn.

 

This is what i've come to learn. PPl love to hear them and make them feel good. Sometimes I even get happy when I hear how a black person beat the odds and got out to get into the ives.

But then I think what about the ones who did not get out. Where did they go. If not Harvard did they get into Morehouse or Hampton? Or what about their own parents they also worked hard why were they not able to get out before they had kids? Then I think about our ancestors. What about them? I know damn well they work really hard. Why did they not get to see the fruit of their hard work--SLAVERY.

Theses stories sometime ignore the institutional hurdles we face trying to make it. I have a problem w/ this because this should be the norm not the exception. It also feeds into the mentality that poor people are poor because their lazy don't want to work. "If they only would work hard they could be rich". All the poor ppl I know have at least 2 jobs with a college degree.

 

Everyone doesn't have access to the tools needed to get ahead,as addressed above.Some people won't get too far because they won't qualify.if your high school is a level 2,you most likely aren't even aware of how unprepared you are for college.

And really any job is based on an employer's sense of you.They have the discretion to choose or pass over you with no explanation.Any success anyone has ever had is owed,on some level,to someone giving them a break.Hard Work will (hopefully) get you in the position to be noticed by anyone who can open doors for the next level.

 

I think it depends on your career and work environment.

 

To each his own...

I just don't think that it is necessary. For all jobs I've had, I keep it professional and then go home. I don't bring my outside life to work with me. One masculine Latino dude just casually let it roll off his tongue that he was gay and I was shocked. I didn't see that coming then one co-worker of ours started going around asking all us other guys if we were gay since she felt like these days you cannot tell who is and who is not anymore.

 

Library Attendance Is Declining. Here’s Why

Quick aside, Librarians and Veterinarians are just two careers in extremely high demand for people of color and if you're still undecided or know someone who is looking towards the future, these are are both rewarding and well paying options.

For centuries, libraries have simply been places that house books. This meaning of the word is embedded right within it; the Old French librairie, used in the 14th century, means “collection of books.” An image of dusty stacks comes to mind, but, of course, the form a book can take is changing, and the ways we learn are changing along with it.

A new Pew study highlighting who uses libraries, how frequently they use them, and what they use them for, reflects these developments.

The takeaway highlighted by Pew: People who go to libraries identify as “lifelong learners,” and people who identify as “lifelong learners” are more likely to visit a library than people who do not. A smattering of stats elucidate this point. Library users, for example, are “more likely to pursue personal learning activities,” and “more likely to cite positive impacts from personal learning.”

Learning doesn’t necessarily mean reading books anymore, however. Educational courses, talks and videos are all methods that appeal to a variety of learning types, and reading is only one way to to acquire new knowledge or a new skill. A kinesthetic learner may benefit from a performance, an auditory learner from a talk, a visual learner from a film or book.

To accommodate these different needs — as well as visitors’ range of income levels — libraries have expanded their purpose to include community events and free Internet use; however, according to the Pew study, many visitors aren’t aware that these services are available. The survey notes that while 62 percent of libraries offer online career and job-related resources, 38 percent of adults don’t know whether their library offers them. Likewise, 35 percent of libraries offer high school equivalency classes, and nearly half of adults don’t know whether their libraries offer them. The numbers are similar for programs on starting a new business, online programs that certify people who’ve mastered a new skill, and ebook borrowing.

The latter is an especially glaring example of the dissonance between services provided and knowledge of those services. While 90 percent of libraries offer ebook lending, 22 percent of adults say they don’t know whether their library offers ebooks, and 16 percent say their library does not offer ebooks.

This disparity could be due to the fact that ebook reading isn’t quite as popular as predicted; strain from reading on a screen is proven to hinder learning, and print books are actually preferred, even among digital natives.

Still, librarians who’ve poured resources — and scant funding — into new initiatives may wince at these numbers. As The Atlantic suggested in a response to the Pew study, it could be that more funding may help librarians attract more attendees, as attendance has declined by 9 percent since 2012. This figure is bolstered by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, which reported an 8.2 percent decrease in in-person visits since a peak in 2009. But, the study notes, virtual visits aren’t logged as carefully, so it could be that library-goers — who statistically are a tech-savvy set — are more likely to conduct their visits online.

Still, many of the services provided by libraries are only available in-person, and advertising those services costs money. The Atlantic writer Robinson Meyer observed, “In other words, there’s empirical evidence that usage tracks investment. If libraries receive more public funds, more people use them.”

This makes sense. If libraries are providing the services that visitors want — learning resources that can be read, viewed, and experienced — then upping attendance is a matter of getting the word out about exactly what is available.

Libraries have evolved into much more than houses of books, but their original purpose remains intact, and sacred to attendees (in a 2014 study, 55 percent of respondents said losing a library would be a blow to their community). To preserve reading materials, and to promote new ways of learning, would-be visitors must first learn just what a library can be for.

 

If you look or know the history of Cypher Ave, you would know that I 've on occasion pushed investing vs. just having money sit in a savings account. I'm no expert but know the importance financial diversification. I know investing scares some people but the basics are not that complicated. Anywho I wanted to share a screen shot of my limited portfolio to show you don't have to be a baller (I'm far from it) to invest in something.

Qty is the number of shares I purchased way back when.
Avg Price is the cost per share.
Cost Basis is the total of my purchase of that stock at that time.
Total G/L is the amount of gain($) made.
Market Value is the current amount/value of the stock if I were to sell.

Notice how 'Total G/L' is green, that means I made money by doing nothing. Also notice how Jetblue was only $4.44 per share. Keep in mind these stocks were not purchased in one sitting but over months when I had funds available. The sooner you start the sooner you can grow your money.

 

As many of you know, I work in the International Relations / Foreign Policy field and have a few advanced credential to match but I have never actually worked in the field of my credentials because I have been recruiting people and convincing people that the Foreign Service might be the job for them. I have the title of diplomat but I have never actually worked in that capacity, I have mostly been a teacher and spokesman. Well that is all about to change, I received my first political officer orders. I am preparing to move me and my entire life to a foreign country for the next few years and have been receiving these professional development sessions where my "mentor" basically told me to FAKE IT UNTIL I MAKE IT. Is it me or is that some bullshit ass advice?

Have any of you faked it until you made it?

 

What It's Like To Be Gay At A Historically Black University
What It's Like To Be Gay At A Historically Black University

 

Additional Locations: Boston, MA; Charlotte, NC; Chicago, IL; Dallas/Ft Worth, TX; Los Angeles, CA; Miami, FL; New York, NY; Philadelphia, PA; Phoenix, AZ; Raleigh/Durham, NC; San Francisco, CA; St Louis, MO; Washington, DC

This is def for people who either currently live in these markets or have the funds to temporarily move there while training.

Still a good opportunity, IMO, considering you’ll get free training and then have the skills to work for any airline.

 

I have to agree with what others have said it depends on what carrier field you're in whether or not you have protections at work or even what state you live in. In many states it's still legal for a company to fire you if they dislike your sexual orientation. So it would be wise to check state and local laws as well as company policy. It also depends on if you're a public figure or not. If you're in politics, pro-sports, acting, or some other high profile field coming out is going to negatively impact your career no matter what stage you come out if you're black. If you're white you're whiteness will provide a degree of insulation from any blowback from homophobes. That said I think being successful in your career provide you with some protection because people may overlook the fact they find your sexuality objectionable because you're good at what you do. On the other hand it may not. You may actually have more too loose if you do become successful then come out. This is one of those things where you gotta go with your gut. There is no right or wrong answer.

 

But you know us black people have known since forever that this is a lie too.

 

Well I think its common knowledge I can't stand many of my co-workers.

I don't mix well with ghetto unprofessionalism in the work place.

 

My company is very gay friendly but I don't think my local branch actually is. There's videos talking about it and anti harassment policies and sign offs that are required across the board. However I'm not going to blab it out.

I don't see any point in me talking about it now. I hope to get married but even after that I probably won't talk about my husband and my vacations much at work.

It'll be something that casually rolls out of my mouth and I'll keep it moving. I'm not going to be hiding it forever but I don't see talking about it without context or relevance.

 

Black Boys’ Need for Black Male Mentorship
My Man Blue by Nikki Grimes is a compilation of poems that tell the story of Damon’s need for a positive Black male role model in his life. With Blue’s mentorship, Damon believes that he can accomplish almost anything.


Black Boys on the Move
The exciting book Brothers of the Knight written by Debbie Allen was adapted from the fairytale The Twelve Dancing Princesses. The Rev. Knight has 12 energetic sons who love to dance all night without him knowing. When he sees them in the mornings, he finds that their sneakers are torn, and it is a complete mystery to him what his sons are up to. Perhaps the nanny he hires will find out.

 

They went from serving time to serving customers in their own restaurant.

Wrongfully convicted New Yorkers Derrick Hamilton and Shabaka Shakur met in prison while serving time for murders they didn’t commit — now they’re dishing out tuna tartare, crab cake and sirloins at their new restaurant and bar, Brownstone, in Downtown Brooklyn.

“I had somebody tell me they thought I would be in the restaurant business and I told them they were crazy,” Hamilton, who like Shakur, is now exonerated, tells the Daily News.

He and Shakur became self-taught lawyers at Auburn Correctional Facility in Central New York where they worked tirelessly toward their release. Both were victims of disgraced former NYPD detective Louis Scarcella who allegedly coerced witnesses, fabricated evidence and concealed proof of defendants’ innocence.

Hamilton, now 51, was convicted for murder in 1992 after being charged with shooting a man named Nathaniel Cash in Bedford-Stuyvesant. He spent 20 years behind bars, and was released in 2011, before being exonerated last year.Shakur, now 52, spent 27 years in jail after a jury found him guilty in 1989 of a double homicide. He was also freed last year.

The men spent most of their lives fighting for survival in jail, relentlessly writing letters to lawyers and just about anyone who would read them. Despite the grave injustice they faced, the pair show no bitterness.

“I believe in people,” says Shakur. “I knew it was a matter of time before someone who really cared about the justice system would do something about it. It was a waiting game.”

Their restaurant is a nod to Brooklyn, the same borough they were falsely charged in. There’s a massive mural of the Brooklyn bridge leading into the dining room with the welcoming words: “Come in as a stranger, leave as a friend.”

They wanted the sprawling space to feel like the neighborhood bar from the sitcom “Cheers.”

“We never ran away from Brooklyn because of what happened,” says Hamilton. “You’re either part of the problem or part of the solution.”

That means a commitment to helping ex-cons get jobs. Three are currently employed at the eatery.

“We want to give these guys an opportunity. They’ve been our hardest workers,” says Hamilton.

Before jail, Hamilton worked as a mechanic’s assistant prior to opening a unisex hair salon in New Haven, Connecticut where he was arrested. Shakur worked registering deeds and mortgages.

The only experience they had in food service was working in a prison commissary.

“I never got past the serving line,” Hamilton, who says he spent most of his time in the library with legal books, admits.



Shakur started off scrubbing pots and pans and worked his way up to cooking quick meals like burgers and chili in the kitchen.

“You can imagine how many pots and pans I was scrubbing with burnt food,” Shakur says. “It’s the most messy and worst job in the mess hall, but they usually start you as that and then you move up until you get a better position.”

They both agree that freedom tastes delicious.

The first meal Hamilton ate as a free man was Red Lobster’s “Ultimate Feast” — a seafood medley of lobster, crab legs and shrimp scampi.

Shakur’s was a humble turkey sandwich from a deli near the jail.

“I didn’t get nothing fancy,” he says. “I still had prison clothes on. I went into a restaurant to change.”

Now they’re feasting on menu delights at Brownstone such as the teriyaki ginger chili chicken wings ($10), fried calamari ($12) and pan-seared salmon ($20).

“I feel like Jay Z when he brought Barclays to Brooklyn,” says Shakur.

While he may feel like a big shot, Shakur says he and Hamilton are getting their hands dirty too.

“Even as owners we have washed dishes, we carried plates out here, we swept and mopped. We’ve done everything,” he says.

Hamilton chimes in: “When the party is over, we’re the cleaning crew.”

There’s a DJ on weekends and a Happy Hour menu with drinks under $5. They hire security guards on weekends to ensure safety.

“It’s a work in progress,” says Hamilton. “You gotta work hard. Nobody’s given us anything. Every struggle you go through is a lesson learned.”

 

I don't think it needs to be known at all. At the same time, I don't think that you need to go above and beyond to hide it either. At my job people may have suspicions, but I never actually have that conversation with anyone because I don't work with anyone who I'm close with like that. I go to work, mind my business, and then go home. My work persona is pretty private and my interactions are very surfaced anyway.

 

The stock market has been doing unusually awesome in the past few years. if you dont know what to buy look up ETFs. also if you have more than $5,000 to "play" with look up trading on margin. Personally I like TD Ameritrade because their mobile software is better than anything else ive seen.

 

My dating life doesn't really come up at work so it's never been an issue. But when I've befriended coworkers I usually let them know at some point, so long as it comes organically in conversation. There've been a couple of awkward moments when I ran into one of my students (I was a registrar) at a local club or bar, but it was less about them knowing my sexuality and more about maintaining the proper boundaries for my job. They respected that and I took them on as mentees.

 

Venting here because the thread exists, LOL.

The unattractive older fem gay Black dude at my job throws playful shade left and right... until someone throws it back at him. Then suddenly the “jokes” are fighting words. SMH.



Not to mention the constant fishing for details on my personal life...both in private and in front of the entire team.

This isn’t the most unprofessional work place, but it def gets a nomination.

Same gay dude told the Project Manager something I said to him privately about me getting extra last minute work due to a co-worker getting injured. The work isn’t that hard and normally I wouldn’t mind but I’ve been the guy they turn to for the “drop what you’re doing, we need you to stress out and finish this other thing ASAP” stuff at least 4 other times since I started this client.

Now PM wants to have a “team meeting” at 7pm to clear up some things based on what was said to him. FUCK DIS SHIT! I’m leaving at 6:59pm on the dot.



They don’t pay me enough for this office politics bullshit, LOL. I chose to be self employed for a reason. One more month, then thankfully I’m done!

(For anyone that forgot, my day job is in media and advertising production).

 

My first job out of college was the Military and I couldn't be known, it was during DADT. When I got out of the service I worked in the legal field and only a few people knew. My current job know as a diplomat, political officer, I am known because I have a husband and that is hard to hide in my kind of work. I came out by putting our picture on my desk and most people noticed it the first few days.

I honestly don't think its necessary and it only becomes necessary when it starts to interfere with your happiness and life. People don't realize that keeping secrets and holding in shame is harmful to ones health. If if safe for you to be open at work I say do it because then you don't have to walk around with baggage.

 

Honestly, looks are an advantage in most cases. Attraction is definitely relative BUT there are some people that are just high on the attractive scale. I think industry definitely plays a part. If I’m running a bar, I would probably hire the fine ass guy with a nice body or the girl with a pretty face and big boobs. Usually translates to more money. If I’m running a call center, probably won’t care as much.

 

This. Most of my complaints about working for the gummint is the low quality behavior of black women in these positions. Their work ethic, grammar, gossiping...even the ones with grad degrees. It’s tiring and embarrassing.

And, of course, deez wemminks they’s all be sanctified by dee Lawd, boogity, boogity....




And my stupid ass white Becky boss lets them get away with it. Of course, if I dare criticize their waste of taxpayer dollars, it’s “sexism” “misogynoir” or some other excuse for half-stepping...

In corporate America, all the black women I worked with were Michelle Obama / Condoleeza Rice types, a couple of black female execs were bosses. It was good to work for and under black women who were intelligent and allow you to be your professional best. They need to take their ghetto sistren in the back room and school them ...

 

This is just life. Live your life and deal with this shit-it will not go away. Being yourself does not mean you have to broadcast anything, but it also means not having to worry about shit like this-it will happen anyway regardless of what you do or don't do-you won't please everyone. Do you and let the chips fall where they may. Often when things go bad at one place it is for the best-you just never know with life. It is not worth the thought or worry-that shit ages you inside and out. JMHO.

Concentrate on doing a good job and the decent people will judge you on that, not on your personal life. The rest, fuck them. Again, JMHO.

*also, if you know someone already has 'suspicions', then that one, and the ones who will judge you negatively are already gossiping and judging you now behind your back-you can almost be sure of that. That is how those kind are. You probably won't lose much. And the worry about what these people think, them 'distancing' themselves from you, is causing you to 'distance' yourself from other gay guys who are not your enemy. Is that what you really want? Just something to think about.

 

Could say a lot here but will say that White Wealth completely eclipses Black and Latino Wealth, with a large factor due to people of color not having nearly enough land or real estate.