INTRODUCING A NEW GENERATION OF AFRICAN AMERICANS

BETHESDA, MD — A new generation of black Americans is emerging as a force of cultural and social change, reports futurist professor Nat Irvin II of Wake Forrest University.

Irvin calls this new demographic group the "thrivals." They are the post-1960s generation of blacks reaping the benefits of civil rights movements and overcoming the history of segregation and legal disenfranchisement. And they’re going to change everything, says Irvin, management professor and president of Future Focus 2020, an urban-futurist think tank.

"They are the first generation of blacks who will aggressively compete in the battle to shape the images, ideas, and the future of global culture, business and commerce, science and technology, education, politics, the environment, the arts, and the role of nongovernmental organizations," Irvin writes in the March-April 2004 issue of THE FUTURIST magazine.

It’s not just American blacks, he says. Africans worldwide and of all economic and educational backgrounds are emerging as thrivals

The advent of the thrivals is due to the increased economic clout of American blacks, continued educational achievement, increased American diversity, improved race relations, and the growth of urban areas into megacities, Irving explains.

Consequently, thrivals will bring a tremendous amount to the future. Look for thrivals to be concerned about the environment, turned on to science and technology as engines for social growth, and looking beyond simple solutions to complex questions. Optimism does not mean naivete, says Irvin, and a commitment to ancestors’ struggles is a crucial part of a thrival’s makeup.

"They believe in capitalism, the free market, and the due process of law that supports commerce, the rights of women, universal access to public education, free speech, and freedom of the press," says Irvin.

Irvin’s article "The Arrival of the Thrivals" in the March-April 2004 issue of THE FUTURIST is available now for $4.95 from bookstores, newsstands, and from the World Future Society, 7910 Woodmont Ave., Suite 450, Bethesda, MD 20814.

EDITORS: For more information contact Clifton Coles at 301/656-8274; fax 301/951-0394; e-mail ccoles@wfs.org.
2/25/2004