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Getting a job in Home Depot's Corporate Office and buying a nice car is not "success." If we do consider that success, then damn, I don't know what else to say.
This is an arrogant statement. Having a steady job and being able to provide for yourself and your family is something that should be respected. It isn't world-changing, but most of us don't change the world, we only change the lives of the people we come into contact with.
If I knew someone who grew up in bad (or even average) circumstances and they grew up to work in a corporate office and have an affluent lifestyle I would absolutely consider them a success (assuming they were a good person otherwise).
Location: Formerly NYC by week; ATL by weekend...now Rio bi annually and ATL bi annually
1,522 posts, read 2,245,192 times
Reputation: 1041
Quote:
Originally Posted by nyanti
To further take what BajanYankee stated the difference between New York, D.C. and Atlanta generally speaking is the mentality of the people. My father is Liberian and my mother is from Mississippi. Both sides of the family strive for academic perfection. The family members at the top of the professional ladder who have the go getter mentality migrate to New York and D.C. While the family members who want to settle down and are not that career driven settle down in places like Atlanta, Charlotte and Texas. What i've come to realize is that certain cities attract certain people. The top tier of African American thinkers and intellectuals for better or worse have been attracted to government, law and policy. Which better city to make your bones in than D.C. Add in the military with their IT and logistical contracts and the opportunities in the large media presence in the city, D.C. becomes one of the it cities for Black A-types. And all the talk about government dependence holding back D.C.'s private sector I think it's the opposite. Look at Black Enterprise industrial/service 100 list. Almost every year Black companies in the D.C. area are no less than 25% of the total companies. New York is the number one A-type city period. From fashion, advertisement, finance, media and everything in between New York is the it city. So although you may have a large percentage of underclass Blacks in New York compared to D.C. and Atlanta the A-type Blacks in business and other fields almost even it out. Plus the fact that New York's Black population doubles D.C. and Atlanta. Not trying to drag Atlanta through the mud but it's a B-class city for professionals. Why would anyone go to Atlanta for fashion or acting over L.A. and New York unless they were trying to recreate their career and return to those cities or just got sick of the rat race and wanted to settle for steady work. The facts are the facts, there are just certain cities that you have to go through to be at the top of your field.
I kinda see where you are going but dont really agree. I personally think LA is better than New York in terms of the first set of highlighted text. Unless of course you want to be a Wall Street Trader or Investment Banker. I believe that the statement is again to broad. Hell, Houston Texas is a hotbed for Finance professionals. Especially Oil and Gas. I live in New York and Atlanta so I am basing my response off of actual factual daily dealings in both cities. And I am a multi certified, degreed Finance Professional.
There was a previous post about the attitudes being different in the cities being discussed with D.C. or New York having the attitude of "I'm doing big things" and peoples perception that the people in ATL are just super laid back. I dont agree because remember, ATL is made up of people from not only those cities but everywhere. I think that what has everyone up in arm's is that fact that the media has delegated these titles to ATL.
I tend to like most cities that have a solid black population and I tend to like cities with natural amenities. I am not a hater of Atlanta. I have never been to New York or DC or the East Coast period. I have been to California cities many times. California impresses me more than any other place.....but its too expensive. I just love San Diego. Atlanta does not rank high at all on my list of places that I would want to live. There is something about being located on or near a large body of water, which Atlanta lacks, that makes it less attractive to me. Most great cities are located near water. I am really not that big a fan of a city that is not located near water.....the more I think about it. At least Detroit has the river.....and great architecture. However, if Detroit had everything I needed I would still be living there.
I have read your comments and your arrogance when expressing your opinion on others careers or jobs is sickening. Owning a business no matter what service it provides is something to be proud of period , especially for us black folk. How dare you toot your nose up at a sucessful business just becuase it doesn't seem "cutting edge" like a federal lawlyer. This is the kind crap attitude that keeps our people down, not a lack of lawyers (like the world really needs more of those).
No. It's just the truth...unless you don't mind coming in last place when it comes to everything but sports and entertainment (and we really don't "run" that anyway). Korean families will come to this country poor, open up a convenience store, work hard, and then make sure their kids bust their butts to get into Harvard. They work hard to ensure that the next generation is better off than the last. In one generation, they're sending their kids to Harvard, and we're supposed to beat our chests when we open up a chicken and waffle shop? Please.
What's keeping our people down is complacency and low expectations. We need to get in the game. I don't think most of us truly even know that the "game" is. If you're a parent and you're sending your kid to a crappy school so you can live in a mega-mansion (as opposed to living in an apartment to be in a better school district), you don't know what the game's about. If you're not enrolling your kids in Princeton Review courses by Age 7, you don't know what the game's about. It'a "Get Down or Lay Down" world out here, and right now, we're laying down.
Atlanta could never compete with D.C's Black history legacy period. having a degree in history/education I could name hundreds of first that D.C. has over Atlanta. You have to realize that D.C. and Baltimore were the prime cities for the urban Black population from the Civil War until the great migration only being surpassed by Philadelphia, New York, Detroit and Chicago. D.C. had the only Black high school in the country for years being a feeder school for Howard university. If I started naming accolades and achivements of different cities in Black history Atlanta probably be ninth after D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, New Orleans, Richmond, Detroit and Chicago.
Location: The Greatest city on Earth: City of Atlanta Proper
8,486 posts, read 15,006,323 times
Reputation: 7334
Quote:
Originally Posted by nyanti
The family members at the top of the professional ladder who have the go getter mentality migrate to New York and D.C. While the family members who want to settle down and are not that career driven settle down in places like Atlanta, Charlotte and Texas.
Oh lord. SMH
It's hard to even engage in debating this point since it isn't based in anything factual, rather a personal bias based off of a narrow amount of experiences.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nyanti
T What i've come to realize is that certain cities attract certain people. The top tier of African American thinkers and intellectuals for better or worse have been attracted to government, law and policy.
I'm not so sure about that. Politicians and lawyers aren't exactly the two professions I would categorize in the "top tier of thinkers" African-American or otherwise. It's not even worth really trying to argue since you can see historically that most great black thinkers and activists have exclusively gone into the clergy or education by a very large margin. That's not to say that there aren't great black thinks that were politicians (such as a Ralph Bunche or Thurgood Marshall) but it's small in comparison to the others.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nyanti
Which better city to make your bones in than D.C. Add in the military with their IT and logistical contracts and the opportunities in the large media presence in the city, D.C. becomes one of the it cities for Black A-types.
Ugh, this whole "a type" personality argument. I'll get that in a second.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nyanti
And all the talk about government dependence holding back D.C.'s private sector I think it's the opposite. Look at Black Enterprise industrial/service 100 list. Almost every year Black companies in the D.C. area are no less than 25% of the total companies
Uh, not sure what list you are looking as I was not able to verify that is the case. I did however look at the most recently available list and Atlanta and DC were tied. It's only when you suck in Baltimore does it grow larger, but that's not exactly accurate.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nyanti
New York is the number one A-type city period.
As proven by an extensive psychological evaluation of all 8 million of the city residents, no doubt. SMH.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nyanti
From fashion, advertisement, finance, media and everything in between New York is the it city. So although you may have a large percentage of underclass Blacks in New York compared to D.C. and Atlanta the A-type Blacks in business and other fields almost even it out.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nyanti
Plus the fact that New York's Black population doubles D.C. and Atlanta.
Not true. The New York metro has just 1 million more black residents than Atlanta. This is something that probably won't last for much longer either even though it seems insurmountable. In the last decade Atlanta's black population grew by 500,000 and New York's declined by 100,000 and over the last 30 years, Atlanta's black population has grown by 1.4 million while nework's by 500,000 before the population loss. The exodus of Black people from New York is continuing and actually picking up speed with the number one destination being Atlanta (although DC does fairly well in picking up these transplants as well). In a few decades, barring anything drastic, Atlanta will likely have the largest black population in the country.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nyanti
Not trying to drag Atlanta through the mud but it's a B-class city for professionals.
The juxtaposition of this sentence says to me you don't know what the term "drag through the mud" means.
Really, you have produced nothing at all to suggest that Atlanta is far behind DC or New York when it comes to business. NY and DC may have more Black people that make more than 200k a year, but that's more reflective of the COL differences between the three cities. There is no doubt that Atlanta has a massive black middle class (beyond anything NYC has) and is on par with DC.
For the record, I believe that DC and Atlanta are on par and equally compliment each other in terms of "black meccasness".
Quote:
Originally Posted by nyanti
Why would anyone go to Atlanta for fashion or acting over L.A. and New York unless they were trying to recreate their career and return to those cities or just got sick of the rat race and wanted to settle for steady work. The facts are the facts, there are just certain cities that you have to go through to be at the top of your field.
If you bothered to read the article you would have seen how black entertainers stated that they have moved to Atlanta and gotten more work than they did in LA or New York.
Really, have you ever even noticed how Hollywood and New York treat African-Americans in entertainment? Outside of the handful megastars, opportunities for black actors and entertainers is an uphill battle. When a production in one those cities decides to even have a black person in it, they are usually relegated to secondary roles (if they get to speak at all or live past the first 5 minutes) and have a hard time even finding work.
The difference with Atlatna is that a very large segment of the entertainment industry here is owned by and geared towards African-Americans. This is something that does not exist in NYC or LA. People can talk all the junk they want about Tyler Perry (and personally, I am not a fan of his movies or tv shows since I do not agree with moral message in them), but look at the brother has done. He has built his own media empire, owns his own movie studio, he can green light a movie or TV show at will, and is free to pretty much do what he wants. That does not happen in LA or NYC. Just look at Spike Lee. How much trouble has he had getting his films made and he the brother is one of the most talented directors of all time. There is a lot to said about having a comfortable climate to work in.
This is an arrogant statement. Having a steady job and being able to provide for yourself and your family is something that should be respected. It isn't world-changing, but most of us don't change the world, we only change the lives of the people we come into contact with.
If a white man had a job at Home Depot's Corporate Office, would we call him "successful?" Or an Asian man? Or a Jewish man?
The whole concept of the "successful" black person is a backhanded compliment in itself. Why are you "successful" for doing some sh*t that white people do all the time? I'm more inclined to call Asians "successful" because there are fewer of them (in America, anyways) and they're locking up a good 20 to 40 percent of the slots at Stanford and the Ivies. They've raised the bar and it's time for blacks to do the same.
Location: Formerly NYC by week; ATL by weekend...now Rio bi annually and ATL bi annually
1,522 posts, read 2,245,192 times
Reputation: 1041
Quote:
Originally Posted by nyanti
Atlanta could never compete with D.C's Black history legacy period. having a degree in history/education I could name hundreds of first that D.C. has over Atlanta. You have to realize that D.C. and Baltimore were the prime cities for the urban Black population from the Civil War until the great migration only being surpassed by Philadelphia, New York, Detroit and Chicago. D.C. had the only Black high school in the country for years being a feeder school for Howard university. If I started naming accolades and achivements of different cities in Black history Atlanta probably be ninth after D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, New Orleans, Richmond, Detroit and Chicago.
to my hometown...rep New Orleans baby!...Sorry I know thats off topic.
So I am interested in how you would rank the three cities in this discussion? Now I live in ATL and NY and spend large amounts of town in both..
The Detroit News has a short article today (http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070612/UPDATE/706120425 - broken link) on the dropout rate of Detroit Public Schools students. The article states that a report from Education Week, a weekly education newspaper, has done a study showing that Detroit’s dropout rate is 75%.
No. It's just the truth...unless you don't mind coming in last place when it comes to everything but sports and entertainment (and we really don't "run" that anyway). Korean families will come to this country poor, open up a convenience store, work hard, and then make sure their kids bust their butts to get into Harvard. They work hard to ensure that the next generation is better off than the last. In one generation, they're sending their kids to Harvard, and we're supposed to beat our chests when we open up a chicken and waffle shop? Please.
What's keeping our people down is complacency and low expectations. We need to get in the game. I don't think most of us truly even know that the "game" is. If you're a parent and you're sending your kid to a crappy school so you can live in a mega-mansion (as opposed to living in an apartment to be in a better school district), you don't know what the game's about. If you're not enrolling your kids in Princeton Review courses by Age 7, you don't know what the game's about. It'a "Get Down or Lay Down" world out here, and right now, we're laying down.
What is more prideful then not having to work for another person?What business owner doesn't push their kids to either do the same or be successful in what hey want to do?
You aren't making any sense. Owning a successful business regardless of what it is means you are meeting a demand that people have. How is that not something to be proud of? Do you know black business owners who don't give the best to their kids future or are you just tooting your nose to the "chicken shop" owner who probably sets his own hours so he spend time helping his kids do their school work?
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to my hometown...rep New Orleans baby!...Sorry I know thats off topic.
