THE GANTT REPORT, by Lucius Gantt
One day, not so long ago, I was visiting one of my Caribbean clients in St. Maarten who managed an adult entertainment business, and I asked my friend, “Why are all of the women that work here so young?”
His response was, “Young women are what the customers want.”
OK, that’s understandable. I imagine women that are employed by sex businesses should have energy and vigor, but more than a few older women also can put the good work in, so to speak.
However, experience matters! An 18-year-old’s talents and skills which mostly amount to boyfriend relations, oftentimes are not sufficient to please older and more mature sex customers.
When young and aspiring media workers desire to do the kinds of media work that I do they suggest to media owners that people like me are too old. They convince inexperienced media owners that they can deliver readers, viewers, market numbers, and advertising revenues just like someone that has a history of media expertise and media longevity.
I wish all the young journalists and media owners the best of luck. If you know your Black history, you should know Black elders should enjoy social reverence in African American communities and businesses.
We should rely upon the wisdom of elders to reinforce important social values or to maintain a sense of social, occupational, and professional justice.
If I knew a young Black journalist that could do what I do, I wouldn’t denigrate him or her, I would celebrate them. I’m eager to pass the torch.
All of us, regardless of our ages, have a role to play in the Black community and business progress.
Today, a so-called big concern about the 2024 elections is the age of the President.
No one says President Joe Biden is an incapable President. No one says he can’t get his governmental agendas passed. No one says Biden lacks vision. They just say, “Biden is old!”
Well, younger candidates for the United States Presidency had an opportunity to defeat Biden in the 2020 race but they failed to do so.
Perhaps, they failed because they didn’t know how to win. Maybe, they didn’t have the appropriate relations, resources, and connections to generate more votes than “Rip Van Biden”!
Biden is no friend of mine, but his age doesn’t bother me. To be honest with you, I would like for Biden to run for reelection, win and retire before the end of his term so Vice President Kamala Harris can become the first woman to serve as President.
“What is your age?” is not the most important question in the media, or in politics. What the people want to know from wannabe journalists and prospective candidates for public service is, “Who can deliver?”
If only the young can be the best writers, reporters, columnists, and journalists, why do they continue to seek my advice?
They contact me because whatever they try to do in the media, I have been there, and I have done that!
I’ll never admit to being experienced in adult entertainment because I’m not, but they do call me, “No mas” in the adult playhouses because I stay in my lane and stick to my job.
If you want to succeed in media or politics, talk to journalists and public servants that have experienced success. Preschool and kindergarten are not graduate schools.
Lucius is a contributing columnist to NNPA newspapers around the nation, and the author of “Beast Too: Dead Man Writing,” available on Amazon.com and from bookstores everywhere.