Blk + In Grad School

The power of social media plays a huge role in the creation of this recent episode of Blk + In Grad School. Allanté sits down with Asheli Atkins, a 4th year Ph.D. student whose experiences as an MBA student shifted her path from wanting to be an entrepreneur to wanting to study, and teach entrepreneurs.

Atkins believes, “Students need to be aware of what is in front of them to learn how to navigate the barriers of being a Black entrepreneur and running a Black-owned business.”

A business consultant who started her own event planning business at the age of 19, Atkins learned very early that there are barriers against black business owners that do not exist for others.

Now, as a 4th year Ph.D. student studying sociology, Atkins has big plans to take her knowledge and give it back to the community through teaching and her consultant company.

She discusses strategies to survive, the pros and cons of emphasizing and deemphasizing as a Black-owned business and gives a quick history lesson on how the Jim Crow era affects black business owners.

This week's Lessons From the Trap comes “Number 23,” a song by Esta and Rihanna J.

Calling all Entrepreneurs, this one is for you!

Episode 47: Travis Carless

If you’re considering another degree but you’re uncertain of your path then you need to turn up the volume because this episode is for you. Allanté sits down with Dr. Travis Carless, a beasty, recent CMU grad that received his Ph.D. in Public Policy and Engineering. Now a postdoctoral fellow and researche Travis discusses his challenges with figuring out his path, keeping up with his studies and navigating a academia as a Black man with an agenda for inclusion and connectivity on campus and within the community.

Allanté said it best, “use what little power you have to make change happen.”

He did, and so can you.

While Travis began his path through school with uncertainty, he ended as a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated, the BGSO (Black Graduate student Organization) and GSA (Graduate Student Association) president, married, and on the mission to leave a lasting footprint in society.

This week’s Lessons From the Trap gets personal. Travis throws it back to the King of Trap, T.I, and his hit single “Rubberband Man.”

Prepare to be inspired.

CLASS IS IN SESSION!

“Hella Intersections: The Digital Insecure Kickback” isn't your typical Insecure chat. It was a really dope, really big kickback talking about INSECURE. ...and not just the #basic stuff, but the intersectionality of the narratives that the show powerfully brings to life.

Listen in on such an amazing chat with call-ins!

Episode 45: Whose Mother, Whose Wife

“As a woman with ambition we are constantly told that we can’t have it all…”

Sound familiar?

Raise your hand if you’re a person of color and you’ve been devalued to mean only as much as your relationship or marital status? Raise your hand if you’re a woman of color and people have made you feel as if you haven’t made it in life because you haven’t become someone’s wife?

You may be in your car, or at home, or listening while at work but you can imagine how many hands would be raised around you.

This week’s episode gets real, and not the kind of real where we are fighting adversities in the classroom, no, this type of real hits home, literally. Allanté takes us on a field trip into her personal life where she discusses moments where society invalidated her worth as a woman. Prepare to be triggered.

Turn up your headphones for this week’s Lessons from the Trap. It’s not trap music but you are going to feel it on a spiritual level. Swedish recording artist Seniabo Sey’s hit song “I owe you Nothing,” is a anthem like no other.

Many times we sit and fill out a ton of applications – essay after essay, personal statement after personal statement, for a ton of graduate programs, just to be stalled by none other than the nonrefundable fees you have to pay before you apply. Say you climb that hurdle, and, woohoo you’re accepted. Great job, but who is going to pay for your attendance?

Allanté sits down to discuss some ways you can secure the bag when furthering your education. Outside of sponsorships, fellowships, and employment what are the best ways to pay for school without going into debt?

After tuning in to the episode be sure to catch to the webinar, “How to Secure Graduate School Funding,” for more information.

After talking about money, you maybe a little stressed. Find some positivity with this week’s Lessons from the Trap. Logic’s “The Return,” provides positivity for the hard times when everything feels lost.