The 25 cent stock

Picture this.

You get a tip from a man who’s into the stock market. He tells you about this one 25 cent stock which has the potential to double its value overnight. Since he’s respectable and well-educated you take is advice and put $1000 dollars into this stock. 9:30 AM the next day, you have $2000.

This man is BlackManAbroad.

Being an black person in America is complicated. Since the inception of the USA, black people have never had it easy. We’ve been disrespected for hundreds of years. Our own African people even sold us into slavery.

Since I’m big into the stock market, I’m going to relate being black in America in economic terms.

The stock market is ran on the premise of supply and demand, a stock will fall if there is no demand (selling) and will rise once the demand returns (buying). When a stock has fallen 25% or more it is considered “oversold”. For some, this is a good time to buy the stock because you can get a good if you time your purchase correctly.

I like to think of black people in America as an “undervalued” or “oversold” stock. Essentially we are a stock valued at $25 but for various reasons we are a penny stock. The shareholders are panic selling and in turn the stock keeps on falling.

The Penny Stock Boom

But just like the recession of 2008, stocks will bounce back… and bounce back with avengeance. But instead of time determining the value of the stock, in this case for African- Americans, location determines the value of the stock.

Our stock used to be worth something, we used to be listed on stock exchanges on Wall Street. But now, in America, our stock is worth pennies on the dollar.

This is where travel comes in.

I find it crazy that you can get a $150 plane ticket and go somewhere where you are valued, wanted and respected. Where the culture is different, the women are respectable and the standard of living is higher. When I took my first flight abroad I was amazed by the friendliness of the people. On my 18 hour flight to Australia the flight attendants kept telling me how cute I was and how I looked so different. The first person I encountered, the bus driver on my way to my hotel, told me I was cute and had a nice smile. WTF? I never felt this valued in Atlanta, Georgia.

I felt exotic, my accent felt unique, I felt like an individual, not just thrown into the “black person” archetype. It felt good.

America is no place for any self-respecting black person and it never has. Unless your life is riddled with fame or wealth, you’re never going to be respected here.

The problem is that I don’t want too many people to know about going abroad.

I only want the most self-respecting and enlightened black people to know about opportunities abroad. When black people go abroad, they are a fucking ambassador. We are an ambassador for our race. No other race has this burden on their shoulder. If we do something wrong it is not the person who fucked up but instead the entire race. This is why I don’t want to ruin our reputation like we have done in America. That’s why we must leave ignorant blacks behind. Our stock is of little worth over there and there is little hope of it ever reaching our previous value.

But we can restart. We can get re-listed on a different stock exchange, under a different name, and rise in price. Eventually we will be worth something again.

But once again, ignorant blacks must be left behind. They will tarnish our reputation more than it already has and our stock will once again be worthless, but this time everywhere.

I honestly think that if I wouldn’t have gone overseas I would have never truly valued myself. It seemed as if as soon as I left America I became a better person.

So my goal for BlackManAbroad is to enlighten black people on what the world has to offer. To value themselves and to stop with the self-loathing.

You can keep up with me at @properrobinson on Instagram and check out my travel hacks.

Take care,

-BlackManAbroad