13. Lose the “minor-leagues” mindset.
Too many folks, particularly successful/privileged blacks treat the Black community like it’s the minor leagues of American society. We don’t live around Blacks any longer than we have to. We don’t want our money in Black-owned banks. We won’t support Black retailers. Most won’t use Black vendors or Black contractors. Most Black executives only see BLACK ENTERPRISE as a stepping-stone to FORBES. We still measure our success by the degree to which white institutions and consumers accept and support us.
For all of the talk I hear at Black business conferences I know very few Black executives who make any real efforts to recruit and/or train Black candidates. And just like mainstream professionals, they make the same excuses for why. Willie Lynch is dead. The paper bag test is dead; all this soft self-hating, crabs-in-a-barrel crap needs to die, too.
As individuals, as professionals and as people, we need to love ourselves. We need to believe that we are just as talented, just as worthy, and most importantly, when given a fair chance just as capable as everyone else. Success is not white. There’s nothing inferior or minor-league about black professionals, black consumers or black businesses. We are major not minor. But until we believe in ourselves no one else will.
Us must discuss us trusting us.
—KRS-ONE
14. Get Out More.

From now on the people with the broadest minds, broadest experiences, and broadest sense of possibilities will have the most opportunities to succeed. But in order to be one of those people, you gotta get out more. Meet people from different parts of your city and state and different cities and states and different countries. Meet folks in different industries. Soak up as much knowledge and experience in as many areas as possible. Get off the block.
There’s still a lot of segregation in America. Lots of folks at various levels are circling the wagons to perpetuate it. Still, we all have to expand our minds and get out more. I had to learn to meet different folk in different cities as well as from different countries. I had to learn to be more open-minded about people and my partnerships. It was necessary in order for me to grow. And guess what? I’m still growing, still learning. And I’ve still got a ways to go. We all do.
Again, this isn’t about “going mainstream” or turning your back on your community; this is about growth, and empowerment. Don’t accept staying within the same 5 or 10-mile area as living. Don’t think that being at one company or having one set of skills is enough because it’s not. Not anymore. This world is too big for that type of thinking. The possibilities are too great and more importantly, there’s way too much at stake.
It pains God’s heart that He gave you a whole house
and you only use a closet.
—Bishop TD Jakes
15. Bridge the Gap.
We have to close the generation gap between old and young black professionals. Too many young businessfolks are trying to reinvent the wheel each time out because older folks aren’t passing down their knowledge and connections and younger folks aren’t seeking ‘em out.
Secondly, black parents must do a better job of exposing our kids to the business world. Whether you’re in business or not, let your kids know that business is a viable, realistic option. Like culture and heritage, business opportunities are often passed down thru generations. One reason so many doors have been closed to blacks in the past is because those in charge kept things “in the family,” thus making it even harder for outsiders to get in.
A child’s future is largely based on their experiences—they’re only as good as their options. So broaden their options. By age 10 every black child should know that business is as real of an option as sports or entertainment. By 14, they should believe that owning stock in a sneaker company is cooler than owning sneakers. If we do that, each generation will be able to build on the successes and advances of last, thus create more opportunities, more equity and ultimately, more equality, and self-determination.
I for one believe that if you give people a thorough understanding
of what confronts them and the basic causes that produce it,
they’ll create their own program,
and when the people create a program, you get action.
—Malcolm X
16. Do 4 Self.
Independence and self-determination are seldom if ever, achieved by working for someone else. So if your company is “doing you wrong,” you should consider going the independent route. Start your own business. Freelance. So do for self. When you run things, you set policy, you help who you want to help, you get to branch out and run with your own ideas and go as far as your talents will take you. (See “Do 4 Self ” chapter.)
Ain’t no stoppin’ us now…
—McFadden & Whitehead
17. Pray.
I’m not preaching but I have to say this: I have never done anything worth doing in my life without knowing that God was working it. God’s in the “overcoming business.” You want to do big things, talk to the Big Man. Again, I’m not preaching, but as my pops says, “I’m not telling you what I heard, I’m telling you what I know.”
“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find;
knock and it shall be opened unto you.”
—St. Matthew 7:7
Well, them’s my sweet seventeen. And please, use these strategies plus whatever position or influence you have to help others. Let’s plant these seeds and grow together.
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