Conducting research for my Ph.D. dissertation, I came across a statistic that indicated that many media stories featuring African-Americans are about athletes/entertainers or criminals. This is a false narrative and does not recognize black people’s positive influence and culture of excellence. Black people are more than athletes/entertainers and certainly most black people are not criminals. Another find while pursuing my Ph.D. was an interest in the work of Albert Bandura and his work on social learning theory and how we learn from observation. Simply if we see negative behavior, the mind will mimic the behavior. Conversely, if the mind observes positive images, it mimics positive ones. This is powerful. My co-founder and I decided to be a voice for positive black reinforcement.
Curating Black curates the positive stories in black communities and the excellence of black people. Adults need to see positive, but more importantly, black children need to see positive. Hence, they understand their historical roots of excellence. Also, there are different avenues to be successful and wealthy beyond being an athlete or entertainer. Don’t get me wrong, I love my entertainers and athletes. Still, only a small percentage make it to the top, so the more we show positive, the more positive becomes part of our everyday life. The entire Curating Black team and I are excited for the world to hear and see black people’s excellence and positive work in black communities and the innovation of black culture. Thank you for supporting this media outlet working to represent the collective voice of black excellence.
Dr. Alan K. Caldwell
Founder & Managing Partner
