Careers for African Americans
Posted on September 28, 2008
Filed Under Women Leaders | 16 Comments
Careers for African American have gained considerable importance, mainly because Black professionals have consolidated their presence across wide ranging sectors. Ranging from the hardcore corporate world and political scenes, to scientific field, entertainment industry, and religious forums, career options for the African American have never been better. Following the era right after the American Civil War, African-Americans have gained access to higher education. Therefore, their emergence as competent professionals has been phenomenal.
Careers for African American: Creating a Niche
Here are some interesting points relating to careers for African American:
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African Americans have created an enviable place for themselves in the US defense forces as many of them have served in the U.S, Army, Navy, Coast Guard, Air Force and Marines.
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The corporate sector has also witnessed the emergence of African Americans. Several Americans of African origin are heading various corporate houses. Take the example of Franklin Delano Raines, who is the director of Revolution LLC, a leading financial service company in the United States.
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African American women are also finding challenging roles for themselves. Most of them are highly praised for their professionalism and resilience. African American women created history on February 12, 2009 when they formed an all African American female crew in the Atlantic Southeast Airlines flights 5202 and 5106.
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There are still some sectors where African Americans have yet to excel. Take the restaurant and lodging industry, where the Bureau of Labor Statistics reveals that only 9.2% of the top managerial, administrative and executive positions are occupied by black professionals.
Facts on African American Careers
There are some misperceptions about African American job profiles which is why this segment on African American careers will serve as an eye-opener. It is wrongly perceived that a majority of African Americans work in low paying jobs. Take the example of Dr. George Washington Carver, an African American scientist, who discovered three hundred uses for peanuts. He introduced the concept of crop rotation to farmers. Another renowned name is that of Marian Write Edelman, an African American activist, who founded the Children’s Defense Fund, an advocacy and research forum of poor, minority, handicapped children. She advocated health care funding, pregnancy prevention and selective gun control because of school shootings. Clearly, it would be correct to reiterate that numerous African Americans have made their mark in varied spheres of life and work activities.
To get more information on African American careers and job opportunities, visit http://www.amightyriver.com
Watch the video related to african american women history
Track Six – Black History Month
Help answer the question about african american women history
who is better a African American or a Women as the president?this is the first time ever in the history that a women and an African American are running for president position. whom do you think is important and why,to be a president ? is it better to have women as president or African American, make sure you provide enough detail to convince. thanks
people if we had to i mean dont give me that vague aswers like that…!
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Amightyriver.com is the professional online community building careers for african american people.
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16 Responses to “Careers for African Americans”
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Her voice is great!
Thanks so much for this historical post. When I was in junior high school Diva Marian Anderson came to our school to perform circa ‘62 and her performance was breathtaking!
Great vid. Hey! this is the same tune to Britain’s nat anthem.This is a great piece of nostalgic footage.Fantastic to see a sistah making moves.Great lady.Another to put in our history books and tell out children about.thanks for the vid.
Well there is one field that I always found interesting and, if you are willing to work hard to make an impact, might be what you are looking for. Museum curator. As far as I know the Detroit Institute of Art is the only major art museum that has a gallery focusing strictly on African American art. It really is a shame that there aren't more institutes that are showing enthusiasm about a community that has such an rich artistic history.
You could teach, work in urban planning, go on for your master's, do social work, etc. Really for that degree that's kind of it because it's specializing in mainly African-American culture. If your still in school please do think about where that piece of paper will land you…there are a lot of dead end degrees and in the end that piece of paper could mean nothing but debt. If you can't find enough jobs on the internet for this field or you can't figure out what direction to take, certainly don't stick in this major….you don't want to end up almost working at McDonald's like I did, lol.
i've lived in atlanta my whole life and i'm considering moving, but i love the fact that my friends and family are here. i agree with what the earlier poster said. if you don't have friends and fam here, it'll be hard (at least you'll have your sister). living inside of the city is getting kind of expensive. when i hear that people are moving here i suggest they get with a church or something like that so you have some sort of network set up. there are PLENTY of educated black people here. its both a blessing and a curse. if you want you can email me at geminipoetgirl@yahoo.com . my name is malika. hit me if you have any more questions.
YEAH!!!
Awesome video. Thanks for sharing. BTW, I think some of the people you mentioned like Marc Lamont Hill can’t compare to the contributions of someone like Marion Anderson. I also think some of them have taken up talking about race as a means of making a living.
awesome voice!
I work from home for a great company and we have alot of African Americans that are very successful in our business!
Our companies success rate is based on equal opportunity. What you put into it, is what you get out of it which is great!
Northern Virginia is nice. I am currently in school for Massage Therapy. The pay is well in this area. There are property taxes, but to me its worth it. They really enforce their laws. The crime rates are low.
i watched this video in class, i love it. her vioce is good
well, 5'7 is a little short to be a model; you will have to work twice as hard (and be 5 times more beautiful with an almost 'perfect' body) in order to get signed over the other girls, who are at least 5'9 (most agencies require their girls be at least 5'9, although some 5'8 girls with very strong looks and awesome bodies get booked; unfortunately, my own agency does not sign 5'7 girls). also, being african american does not make your plan of action different from any other girl's who wants to be a model. you dont need to "train" to be a model- in fact modeling 'schools' are a flat out rip-off, and legitimate agencies look down on them; girls who go to these schools then list it on their resume when submitting to real agencies usually dont get booked. you need to send in professional quality photos (one smiling, one not smiling, both shoulder-up, a full body, and it would be helpful to also submit a swimsuit shot) to every agency in YOUR area (a lot of girls make the mistake of submitting to agencies in cities far away, when they are not able to move there; you cant work in a city you dont live in/near), with your height, weight, size (size and proportion are important (straight models must be a size 2 or 4 most of the time, and plus size a size 10 or 12- possibly an 8). for instance, if you have a pear shaped lower half and a smaller top half, you dont have the right body type. you also need to include your measurements. to work in print you need to have great skin, straight, white teeth, excellent bone structure and basically, be gorgeous. the fact that you are 5'7 will unfortunately be a big hurdle; many agencies do not accept models under 5'8. im actually 5'10 and have been told by one designer i was a little "too short" for her show, if that gives you a good indication of how important height is. its a pretty brutal industry, and a lot of people dont understand that just really wanting to be a model wont get a girl into modeling; you can have all the determination and drive in the world but if you dont look the part, you cant work.
As an experienced (Caucasian male) engineer in the Construction Management field with a large firm, I would say your prospects are excellent. Go for it.
The percentage of African-Americans who go into Engineering is sadly far below their demographic percentage in the typical university as a whole. My Uni had (at a guess) maybe 10% black population in total, but in College of Engineering, less than 1%!! Why don't more choose Engineering as a career? I don't know. After all, the best thing about college is, you get to major in whatever you want.*
My company would love to recruit more qualified graduates of underrepresented minorities. There are not that many out there applying for jobs. I have worked with a number of people of African background, but some of those have been native-born Africans or from the Carribean.
[*The asterisk is this: realistically, to successfully study Engineering, any incoming freshman needs to have taken all the advanced math and science their high school offers, or they won't be prepared coming in.]
Good luck. Email me if you could use an employment lead.
all of them~
Not peaches and herb, huh? Let me know when you find out, I'm curious.