Your Black Bloggers The official gathering spot for black bloggers
By Doshon Farad
On Jan 31st,2013 in Newark, NJ, at Malcolm X Shabazz High School, Your Black World founder and Syracuse Professor Dr. Boyce Watkins keynoted a program aimed at empowering young African-American men and African-Americans, in general, in financial literacy,mentoring,and goal setting. He shared the dais with educators, politicians,and former Pro-sports employees.
During his concise address, Watkins explained the rationale behind what he felt is the uncaring attitude that many individuals have towards African-Americans.
“Nobody cares about us because we don’t care about us”, he asserted.
Watkins also stressed to his mostly black male audience that, “We are at war”. The Syracuse professor made very clear that he and the other panelists were reaching out to black male youth because, “we love you and we’re soldiers in the struggle”.
While making his remarks,Watkins certainly made his financial literacy background quite obvious when he said regarding black pro-athletes,
“Most of them are not educated on how money works and most of them don’t want to be educated…They’re being manipulated.”
While discussing accumulating wealth he cautioned listeners not to become, “high paid slaves”. And stressed, “You have to think like a free man”,while achieving career and financial goals. He also encouraged blacks to have several “side hustles” to achieve economic independence.
Dr. Watkins concluded his lectures by asking “What is happening in Black America?”. He brought attention to the fact that there are more black males in special education classes as well as poor reading skills than any other racial group. For a few seconds he commented on the amount of black homes being headed by single women. He encouraged black men to mentor black youth. “You don’t have to have a child to be a parent”. While describing the state of black America as being “in a rebuilding process”, the financial scholar emphasized the importance of receiving an education. “You have to be fanatical about education.” “If you walk away from education, you are walking right into slavery”, he concluded.
