One of the most rewarding experiences I have had since the publishing of my book, The Entrepreneurial Secret, has been building with those who have been previously incarcerated, members of street organizations (so-called ‘gangs,’) and young people that the school system can’t seem to reach.
To me, with cities and rural areas all over America experiencing Black male unemployment at 50% (listen to this Senate hearing from 2007 to learn how bad the problem is, particularly in New York: http://www.jec.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Hearings.HearingsCalendar&ContentRecord_id=7E728436-7E9C-9AF9-7061-00CA0C098FF7) and Black teenage unemployment at over 40% there simply is no more important subject than business, economics, and entrepreneurship.
These subjects relate to each of these three groups in different ways.
With young people who are failing in school, having behavioral issues, or bored to tears by the subject matter I discuss and try to find out what it is that they like to do. It usually is sports or entertainment at first, that they express an interest in, but as I dig down deeper it is amazing how often I identify a hobby or interest that they have either hidden from the view of their friends, teachers and parents or which others overlook and therefore haven’t watered. Whether working with computers, building things, drawing, or playing video games, there is always something that a young person likes to do that could be the basis for a business and a key to their accepting that discipline, study, and proper conduct (all of which they are supposed to have reinforced in school) are necessary to make progress or become a success in life. I also always encourage parents and teachers to understand that the qualities that they call ‘undisciplined’ and ‘rebellious’ are actually good traits for entrepreneurs and businesspersons – people who have to think outside of the box and often make their own way. A person who understands this is Shonika Proctor (http://www.pbs.org/nbr/site/about/bio/proctor/) a Washington, DC based entrepreneur, speaker, and blogger (TeenEntrepreneurBlog.com).
Among those in street organizations I build with them on the subject of my last blog here at Mahogany Books, “Trust – The Greatest Form Of Wealth, In Business and in Life.” So-called ‘gangs’ are really nothing more than a kinship system with high quantities of the trust necessary to produce the mutual support and financial capital that a risk-taker (entrepreneur) needs to get an idea off the ground. An entrepreneur is one who perceives or conceives of an opportunity and builds an organization to pursue it. A business organization is a society where a group of people pool resources. There is no denying that a street organization has those necessary elements and only needs to have its energies directed in a positive and constructive manner. In Volume II of my book I describe how the personality of so-called hustlers and gangsters can be directed in business. The chapter is called “The Secret Of Team – The 9 Personality Types.”
And lastly, I love working with the previously incarcerated individuals and those who have been homeless – people that society denies opportunities to earn a living (just look at the jobs in certain states that ex-offenders can’t legally hold) or doubt can find a calling in life. On this latter point, I always reject the notion that someone who has been down on their luck or made bad decisions or did not have formal education somehow cannot find a purpose, talent or skill set that they can market. In my book I write about a method that can be used.
I direct people to the free online version of the United States Department of Labor “Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH).” This book tells you – for hundreds of jobs –
the training and education needed
• earnings
• expected job prospects
• what workers do on the job
• working conditions
By simply reading the OOH, a person begins to imagine themselves in a variety of roles, noticing if they have qualities and a background that might make them a good fit in any particular area. By seeing what is possible, and what makes people good fits for certain jobs, anyone can become an economist in an instant, visualizing themselves working in any field, anywhere, anytime, any place!
This book is rare in its ability to cultivate critical and creative thinking simultaneously. And all you have to do is pick it up and just start reading. Within minutes, a person who feels they aren’t good at anything, bored by everything, or unmotivated to pursue a line of work, will begin to become interested not only in all of the fields available, how much money they attract, and what is needed to qualify; but they will also immediately begin to think of their own inventory of talents, skills, and interests in relation to these fields.
As long as the individual can read, anyone can be impacted by this kind of an exercise.
The time has come for us to embrace alternative ways of viewing and working with those that are called ‘at risk,’ the ‘underclass,’ ‘criminals,’ and ‘ex-offenders.’ With a president with his hands full; a public school system that doesn’t teach economics; politicians that are too ‘correct,’ to meet with controversial leaders and those with ideas that could work; and a media that treats the homeless, the previously incarcerated, and youth as if they were invisible, we can’t wait on change to come, we have to become it.
Here’s to entrepreneurship for the streets!
Cedric Muhammad is a business consultant, political strategist, and monetary economist. He is also a former GM of Wu-Tang Management and a Member of the African Union’s First Congress of African Economists. He is author of the book, The Entrepreneurial Secret. His talk show, ‘The Cedric Muhammad and Black Coffee Program’ can be viewed every Wednesday from 12 to 5 PM EST (USA) at: http://www.cedricmuhammad.com/media/. He can be contacted via e-mail at: cedric@cmcap.com
