Well Equipped: 5 Areas of Support for First-Generation Black Male Students
I travel the country speaking at colleges and universities. When I’m not traveling, I’m researching for my doctoral program. In both scenarios I am always in awe of the young Black men engaging in their collegiate experiences. I am filled with a sense of pride in knowing how hard they are working towards academic success. But I am also keenly aware that many of them, especially those identified as first generation, need additional support that extends beyond academics. Some of the conversations, programming, and community involvement needs to be redirected towards ensuring these young men are well equipped for success both in and outside of the classroom. There are five areas that I believe offer reinforcement for Black male success.
COMMUNICATION — Communication is both a skill and an art form that has evolved over time. Digital devices and social media have led to a blurring of communication lines with being “always on” and having direct access to a variety of people that we may otherwise have never come in contact with. Our young men need to be taught to be just as savvy in professional communication as they are in the digital world. We should also be equipping them with a sense of responsibility and accountability to how they show up in social media spaces. Although social media has been deemed a personal domain, we have all seen the ways that online interactions can impact our professional lives both positively and negatively. Young Black men need to understand this too.
In addition to knowing how to communicate effectively in digital spaces, we must provide our young men with an understanding of how to communicate in face to face settings. We must return to teaching basics like direct eye contact, appropriate body language, and clear voice and volume.
A final area of communication in which we should offer our first-generation Black male students instruction is in the area of conflict resolution. Conflict resolution is a necessary skill to survive in today’s socio-political climate. We must offer direction on how to constructively address grievances, productively agree to disagree, and ways to move moments of conflict forward. By offering our students opportunities to learn how to effectively communicate, we provide them with transferable skills that will benefit them in all types of relationships, personal and professional.
APPEARANCE — In many cases the rules of grooming and appearance have become more relaxed, especially following the pandemic. However, there is still a standard set of knowledge that our young Black males should have regarding appearance. Our young men should be taught directly regarding personal grooming including shifts and accommodations that must be made as maturity continues. Additionally, we should be equipping our young men with information on the various categories of dress and the accompanying settings for each. We must equip them with understanding of what it means to be formal, semi-formal, and business professional. Likewise, we should be sharing examples of business casual, fashion trends, and the appropriate settings for each when not directly stated.
I have had the pleasure of participating in numerous dress for success programs and blazer ceremonies at various institutions. While I am often wowed by the number of young men who do not know how to tie a tie, I am not shocked because it is a practice that we have gotten away from. We must explicitly teach these skills (which have become taken for granted) to ensure that our young men are on a level playing field with their peers.
FINANCIAL LITERACY — When I think about my own experiences as a young, Black man, one of the areas in which I wish I’d had earlier training was the area of financial literacy. Like many others, I started working in high school. However, I was not financially literate. I knew that I wanted money and what I wanted money for. There is a way that finances operate from spending and saving to the more complicated concepts of credit and investing. Part of our responsibility as leaders is to ensure that our Black male students are equipped in these areas. Although checks are not as commonly used, there is still a need to know how to write a check and how to balance a checkbook. Similarly, they should have knowledge of reconciling transactions within their bank accounts, especially with electronic payments, digital wallets and transferring softwares like CashApp, Zelle, and Venmo. When it comes to financial literacy, our young men also need an understanding of planning for the future. In an appearance driven and immediate gratification society, it is easy to get swept up in the now. Our young men deserve an opportunity to be forward thinking — savings, investments, generational wealth. Their knowledge should include personal and business credit best practices. Additionally, there should be a broader understanding of economics and taxes. By ensuring that our young men are financially literate, we are equipping them to better steward the incomes that we are encouraging them to strive for. Instead of just going to school and getting a good job, they have an opportunity to also do well towards financial stability and closing the existing racial wealth gap.
CAREER/WORKPLACE READINESS — I began my collegiate journey as a nontraditional student. As a result, I already had workplace experience. I knew what employers expected because I had been in the workforce and seen how all the pieces came together. While we are pushing academic achievement, we should have career support in place for our Black males. Workforce readiness is a necessary component of their success toolkits. Efforts and resources should be put towards teaching transferable skills and soft skills including problem solving and time management. Interpersonal skills and teamwork are important skills for navigating the workplace. In addition, our young men need instruction on putting together resumes and professional profiles. There are benefits to posting resumes online and having a polished LinkedIn presence that our young men should be familiar with. Part of their career preparation should also include the basics of filling out applications (paper and digital) and interview skills. Mock interviews go a long way in preparing our young men for success outside of the classroom as they transition into the workforce. We must equip them to be competitive both on paper and in-person as the job market continues to evolve.
HOME BUYING — A final area in which we should be equipping our first-generation Black male students is in the process of home buying. Though many may not be looking to buy a home immediately, it is important that they be aware of how their actions now could potentially impact their home buying ability later. This is an extension of the need to be financially literate. For a long time the narrative has been that homebuying is a way to close the wealth gap. However, as Black Americans continue to lag in homeownership, it is important that we deliver an understanding of how it plays into the bigger picture of wealth building. Real estate investing is a proven way to build wealth, yet access to the ins and outs has been limited. Therefore we end up with young men purchasing homes at inflated prices through racially biased practices and not seeing the benefits of homeownership and investing. Teaching the process helps narrow the educational gap in this area which will hopefully narrow the ownership and financial gaps.
My grandfather had a strong hand in raising me to be the man that I am today. I’m grateful for his input and leadership. I recognize that not everyone has that experience. However, that is not an excuse for us to push our first-generation Black males through academic systems without ensuring that the other aspects of their lives are fortified. As leaders, we must extend the opportunities for these young men to be successful beyond grade point averages. We must equip them to be good citizens who are financially literate with great communication skills. We must support them on their journeys to workplace readiness while also ensuring that they understand the nuances of professional attire. The old adage says “it takes a village to raise a child”. I agree; it takes a village to ensure that our young Black men are well equipped beyond the classroom.
