To survive the world as a young, black and mentally-gifted man—which society didn’t seem to value—I had to be so great that they couldn’t ignore me.
—
The world isn’t easier to navigate if you’re young, black and mentally-gifted; if anything it’s harder because everyone just expects you to achieve, forgetting that you face the same institutionalized racism as the middle school dropout with less diction in his voice and more tattoos on his body.
Growing up in Philadelphia there was little to no brain stimulating, culturally relevant programming or support for the young, black and gifted, but there was plenty of community offerings to be found for the young, black and incarcerated; the young, black and illiterate; and/or the young, black and at-risk.
But for those of us young black men who would be classified as at-potential – which in reality all humans are, some walk in their purpose and others ignore it – the perception is we that have it all figured out; that we don’t need the same level of support or mentorship as those black youth who’ve been jacked up by the system.
The truth is mentally-gifted black men and boys face the same issues as their counterparts of lesser intelligence, and maybe even more so, seeing as how being a genius isn’t the safest title to have when you live in the hood and attend a public school whose expectation of you is to just show up and not kill the student next to you.
I was fortunate enough as a child in the Philadelphia School District to have mentally-gifted classes, and the class sizes were no more than ten students. From third grade until 10th – when I arrived at University City High School after leaving Overbrook High in search of a quality music program – I had access – on a weekly basis – to high quality teaching, advanced learning techniques, peers of equal intellect, puzzles, brain teasers, challenges and everything else an over-achiever could ask for.
Once my school career was over, which was in June of 2004, the real-world set in and I was forced to achieve against the odds. The obstacles I had to overcome to establish myself as the professional I am today aren’t the usual narrative of a dysfunctional home, gang violence, homelessness, jail or even being seen as less than human. The challenge for me, a black man with an exceptionally functioning brain, was not being invisible to the world at large – my kind didn’t seem to exist.
In order to materialize myself to the public who on a daily basis ignored highly capable, inspired black men – unless they’re exploiting them – I had to build a culture of achievement, a lifestyle wherein excelling was the norm, not a one-off occurrence that required headlines highlighting me as the exceptional Negro.
My journey into eternal excellence started at Guitar Center in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania, it was the first job I obtained after high school. I was 18 years-old, had never sold anything before in my life, and was one of maybe three minorities who worked in the popular music store located in one of the country’s richest zip codes. I was determined to be the best; to achieve in spite of my perceived weaknesses.
By 19 years-old I was running the drum department, overseeing $2 million in inventory and had been awarded (drum) Manager of the Year in 2006. I was the one of the highest-paid drum salesman in my region for more than a year during 2005 and 2006, and I was one of the very few – if not the only – African-American teenagers to earn a spot – multiple times – in the company’s prestigious 10K sales club.
I left GC in November of 2007; I’ll never forget the day because the parting of ways ended on bad terms. However, my reputation as a stellar salesman and a solid drummer landed me a job with Sam Ash Music in King of Prussia a week later. Although I never reached the level of success in sales I had with my former employer – which was mainly attributed to the lack of autonomy I had and the lack of respect the team had for an intellectual boy of color who wasn’t afraid to voice his opinion – I was able to leverage my creativity into a wildly successful merchandising effort that took advantage of the open space we had and truly highlighted the diversity of our inventory; as a result sales went up. I didn’t stay long, however, as I didn’t really connect with their culture of business.
I bided farewell to the family-ran music chain in the spring of 2008 and searched for work elsewhere. A lucky phone call landed me an interview with a new campaign that was selling warranties on Apple products. I didn’t know anything about technology; I didn’t even own a laptop at the time; but I knew I could sell snow to an Eskimo so I went for the job, although it required me to commute everyday from South Philly to Pennsauken, New Jersey.
At the job interview the campaign manager told me he already had a Chris on his sales team and didn’t really need another one. I told him “if you hire me I will be your number one Chris.” After a few months I was the top sales guy and nearly year later – once the office was slated to close – I was the only sales associate offered to relocate to Austin, Texas; in fact my sales calls were used for training the newly formed southern team.
Knowing nothing of the south, I packed up my bags and moved to the live music capital of the world. There, along with Arthur L. Griffin, Jr – who was the campaign manager that hired me and was also asked to relocate – we took a campaign that was doing roughly a million dollars a year and bolstered it to where it was generating more than $2 million a quarter. Eventually the recession hit, the campaign was experiencing a number of unflattering changes and I, along with several others, were proven to be disposable.
I kept a studio apartment in the Graduate Hospital section of Philadelphia while living in Austin, so that’s where I returned to. I wasn’t excited the least bit to be back in Philadelphia, but that was my reality and I had to make the best out of it. I quickly landed a gig as the Director of Sales and Marketing for a gospel promotional firm. Impressed with my resume, they hired me to drive revenue by establishing partnerships and wooing marketers to utilize our platform to distribute their email marketing campaigns. I only stayed there a few months, but during that time I secured multiple national media partnerships that significantly raised the profile of the organization across markets.
After doing so much for these ungrateful companies and not having much to show for it but some flashy drum equipment and a sharp set of sales skills, I pledged to never work for another company again, so I started up my own. On December 14th, 2009 – my 23rd birthday – Techbook Online was incorporated and… well that was about it. I was aiming to start a technology news and education company with no real internet access and a high school diploma; not many people believed in me.
One of those people who did think I had what it took was Arthur L. Griffin, Jr., who went from being my former boss to my angel investor; he was the first person I really shared the idea with – he also cut me my first check. Four years later, and 10 years after flipping my tassel, my social good venture has grown into a global media empire that churns out 100% original content daily that’s circulated across channels and platforms, reaching up to 100 million readers a month.
I’ve had the privilege to travel across the country and share my thought-leadership in media, marketing and community organizing with some of the most influential figures in business, politics and philanthropy. Last year I was recognized at the Philly DoGooder Awards as an Emerging Leader. I was awarded Brother of the Year from the Brothers Network and I inducted as a BMe Leader. As the one of the Pennsylvania state representatives for Black Youth Vote, I was present for the 50th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington. I was a semi-finalist in Echoing Green’s, the world largest angel investor, inaugural Climate Fellowship competition and just last week I advanced in a global challenge that could land me in Peru this winter covering the United Nations climate change negotiations.
On Friday, June 20th, 2014, I will stand among a cohort of prominent Philadelphians and receive the Lucien E. Blackwell Guiding Light in the Community Award for my work with Techbook Online, which is now one of the world’s largest African-American owned, millennial-led marketing and news organizations. The following day, Saturday, June 21st, I will speak to a room of more than 75 teens and Millennials at Microsoft’s YouthSpark Live event.
As my address to the at-potential youth will take place just steps from my alma mater, University City High School – which is now closed and sold off to Drexel University – I’m going to tell them what I wish someone had told me when I walked down the aisle 10 years ago and grabbed my diploma:
“When you’re good at something, you chase after money; when you’re great at something, money chases after you. Be so great at what you do that no one can ignore you. And most importantly, always remember, the sky is not the limit, it’s the starting point!”
Thanks for reading. Until next time, I’m Flood the Drummer® & I’m Drumming for JUSTICE!™
Great article Christopher. We should meet and exchange ideas.