ABOUT THE TALENTED 10th

What is the TALENTED 10TH? 

A community-based society for Black male high school and college students.

What is the ultimate VISION of the Talented 10TH? 

The ultimate measurable goal of this organization is to eliminate all disparities that separate Black Americans from all other racial groups as it relates to educational attainment, employment, income, homeownership, and incarceration.

What is the PURPOSE of the Talented 10TH? 

The purpose of the Talented 10th is to connect Black male high school and college students to a network of experts, professionals, and students. This network serves the purpose of providing information, instructions, and inspiration through the platform of relational learning.

This information, instruction, and inspiration is designed to build into Black male high school and college students the psychological skill-set necessary for accomplishing their educational and professional goals.

This psychological skill-set is instilled through the use of mentoring, life skills workshops, cultural activities, community outreach, internship placement, work assistance, awards banquets, scholarship opportunities, and a positive social network. 

Improving the likelihood of Black males accomplishing their educational and professional goals will result in improved life outcomes for Black Americans living in the GR community.

This collective educational and professional achievement on the part of area Black males will ultimately strengthen the local workforce, the local economy, and the overall sociocultural structure of the Grand Rapids community.

The CURRICULAR components of the Talented 10TH 

The Talented 10TH provides Black male high school and college students with a structured pathway for empowerment This culturally responsive fraternity holistically addresses the Black male's psychosocial barriers to motivation and learning. 

The overarching developmental outcome of the Talented 10TH curriculum is to build into Black male college students the ability to exert a will and resilience stronger than their environmental challenges. 

This goal is accomplished using an intentional strategy to provide a racially-contextualized curriculum (information, instructions, ideas, people, support, resources, social networks, etc.) that is capable of building into program participants, the psychological skill set (responsibility, independence, hope, motivation, focus, resilience, impulse control, delayed gratification, confidence, etc.) required for sustained engagement with the educational process. 

This curriculum integrates an enriching relational learning process that connects Talented 10TH members to the information and motivation necessary for achieving optimal levels of personal, social, educational, and professional development. 

The curriculum utilized by the Talented 10TH provides Black male's with the information and motivation necessary for overcoming race related social barriers, economic struggles, issues with internalized racism, jaded belief-system, demoralized value-system, and a disempowered self-system (esteem, efficacy, and image).

The Talented 10TH curriculum is designed to foster the following developmental OUTCOMES:

1. Increased levels of self-efficacy and self-esteem.
2. Enhance critical thinking and decision-making skills.
3. Enhancement of emotional intelligence levels.
4. Increased levels of overall self-awareness.
5. Effectively overcoming racism, stigma, and discrimination.
6. Increased ability to control impulses and delay gratification.
7. Increased interpersonal communication skills.
8. Increased ability to access campus resources.