Name: Baratunde Thurston
Profession: Philosopher-activist / Author / Performer
Age: 37
One word that describes you: Baratunde
CEO and co-founder of Cultivated Wit and co-host of the podcast About Race, Baratunde Thurston uses humor and technology to communicate important ideas across a variety of media. Author of the New York Times bestseller How To Be Black, Thurston served as Director of Digital for the satirical news outlet The Onion for five years. When he’s not delivering talks at schools and gatherings such as SXSW and TED, he writes the monthly back page column for Fast Company and contributes to the MIT Media Lab as a director’s fellow. Baratunde has advised the Obama White House, has more than 10 years’ experience in standup comedy and more than 30 years’ experience being black.
Simply Baratunde, the multi-talented philosopher is creating his own lane by being exactly who he is. “I was inspired by my experiences in high school and college at using arts (and particularly humor) to address contentious issues,” Thurston tells BE Modern Man. Operating in multiple domains, Thurston gets to deal with multiple obstacles both personally and professionally. “In standup comedy, it was getting over the ego-crushing experiences of playing to an empty or hostile room. In publishing online, it’s the trolls and haters and relentless
pace of production that can really de-motivate the most optimistic and driven among us. In television, it’s the copious amounts of bullshit people are willing to feed you instead of just saying, “No thanks. I’m not interested.”Losing early archives of his work, weathering a friend’s suicide, the death of his mother to cancer and the end of his marriage did not derail his purpose. “Through it all, I can be grateful and so very happy that I managed to avoid bedbugs,” says Thurston. You can recover from divorce. Bedbugs? I’m not so sure.”
Surfing, biking, yoga, hip hop and science and technology are just a few of the things that Thurston enjoys. But what makes him so unique isn’t necessarily his writing style or sense of humor. “I’ve traveled to every continent except Antarctica, I have a Nigerian name but am not Nigerian, and I will forever be a huge fan of the TV series, The O.C.,” Thurston tells BE Modern Man. “I’m pretty sure I’m the only version of me that there is.”
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Invited multiple times to the Obama White House to advise them on communications and digital strategies, Thurston’s work resonates through its mix of instinct, intuition,
personal history and passion. “Active listening has played a large role in my success,” says Thurston’s. “I’ve had years of practice ingesting information, processing it, and returning something to the world that tries to explain or reframe what’s going on. Listening is the most important step in that process.”Traditional or non-traditional, success will not be found if you do not educate yourself and learn your craft. There are those who value learning versus those who do not, and the latter will have difficulties finding equal success in life. “Whether learning comes in the structure of formal education or lived experience matters a lot less to me,” Thurston tells BE Modern Man. “Learning can happen anywhere if the student has a mind attuned to glean things of value from his or her world.”
The importance should be placed on the learning, and BE Modern Man hopefuls should pay attention to how they can create value. “Don’t worry about the money in the beginning,” says Thurston. “Take mental and physical notes on how those around and above you operate. Identify flaws in whatever system you’re in, and consider them as opportunities for you to step up and improve things. But most importantly be patient and avoid white walkers.
In the spring of 2014 Thurston suffered a concussion that forced him to be patient. Unable to use a computer, work, and even think at the levels needed to live his life, the injury forced him to slow down significantly. “I had to lean on other people in ways I was not used to, and I missed a trip to Brazil with my boys to see the world cup. It was horrible,” says Thurston. His advice for everyone. “Don’t hit your head on things, people! Wear a helmet ALL. THE. TIME.”
A member of the media, Thurston sees the consequences of main stream media beating helmet-less people in the head with images that are far off from reality. “The mainstream image of men of color is entirely wrong, and it’s damaging because these overwhelmingly inaccurate portraits affect how we all (including men of color) approach the world,” Thurston tells BE Modern Man. “How we hire, and love, and forgive, and trust is all affected”.
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Using his powers of communication to tell more complete stories in a better way when it comes to our
community, Thurston hopes to help expand the successful model of BUILD.org, the non profit on whose national board he sits. Restoring communities, is also high on his list of goals. “I want to use my platforms to more effectively join the epic and worthwhile fight to ween the United States from its devastating incarceration addiction,” says Thurston. “People like Shaka Senghor and Van Jones (of the #Cut50 initiative) or Zachary Norris and team at the Ella Baker Center in Oakland need all of us on board.”As the vast majority of media impressions continue to make us look like terrifying, oversexed, super human criminals. Thurston understands the importance of having narratives that paint a more balanced and complete picture. “We need to tell our own stories,” says Thurston. “A BE Modern Man is a man who loves and respects himself and others, and because “modern” is part of the label, he almost certainly has a late model smartphone.”
The BlackEnterprise.com team salutes Baratunde Thurston for his ability to use humor and technology to communicate important ideas to the world while sticking to his passions.
It’s our normal to be extraordinary. Follow @blackenterprise and join the BE Modern Man conversation using #BEModernMan.