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Fredric is a web developer based in Chicago who hopes to one day start a foundation to support young, Black males in programming and computer science.

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10 things that are not ybp (young, black, or professional)

August 14th, 2007 • Related • Filed Under

i feel like this post will be me on a soapbox, but i was on the train this morning and felt it needed to be addressed. while i don’t consider myself anyone’s keeper, i do think that common sense and professionalism yield a set of unspoken rules about being a ybp.

  1. being late. rule of thumb: arriving early is arriving on time. arriving on time is arriving late. arriving late is cause for termination.
  2. excessive jewelry. lets all act a little more grown and calm the multiple piercings down to one. subtle diamonds are expected, not giant two carat cubic zirconium.
  3. young black professionals ybpnot knowing what ‘business professional’ is. shift some funds from your sneaker fetish to purchase a tailor-made gray, blue, or black suit. you don’t want to be caught without form-fitting business professional attire during important networking events.
  4. not being trilingual. just in case you haven’t heard, there is a way to speak in the office, a way to speak to your family, and a way to speak to the cats on the block.
  5. wearing a do-rag. again, let us graduate from high school and retire the do-rag and head wraps for indoor, bedtime use.
  6. not having inviting decorum. whether you live in an apartment or house, grown and sexy is epitomized through the available clean and inviting house, subtle house colors and tone, and the complimentary wine with light snack.
  7. cursing excessively. yeah, it was cool in grade school, but ybp’s should pride themselves on a more tactful and expansive vernacular, especially in the office. the same could be said for laughing excessively loud and talking obnoxiously.
  8. not paying the bill every now and then. while you should never over extend yourself, grabbing the check ‘every now and then’ goes a long way, even if its just a couple of drinks.
  9. not paying colleagues back in a timely manner. almost an extension of number 8, if you don’t have cash on you at a given moment and a colleague offers, be sure to hit that person back within 1 day. not 2 days or 5 days. 1 day.
  10. excessively watching mtv and bet. while the viacom networks obviously provide us with some entertainment, they should not dictate our perspective about pop culture. join a book club, read newspapers and weblogs, and stay active in your neighborhood. you don’t want your conversation to be limited to ‘did you see what happened on college hill last night?’


(image from gettyimages.com)

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