5:59 AM 9/25/2024 Wed
One of the great things I really love about working with my conclave brothers Shannon Rawls and TheoWAF is that all three of us are some SERIOUS data nerds - we LOVE numbers, crunching the data, and looking for patterns - all things that really puts to bed many of the seriously egregiously false things many of the critics, detractors, naysayers and downright HATERS of the Black Manosphere have been saying now, for years. Often with impunity, I might add. Well today, we kill it all with fire, because we now have our own exit survey data from this year's conclave in Houston - our biggest one yet.(1) Upwards of 400 Black men showed up at the Four Seasons hotel in downtown Houston, and that's quite the sample size. Many were only too eager to let us know a whole bunch of things about themselves, which paints a very different picture of the Black Manosphere than what is commonly told and believed by the uninitiated public. Comparing this year's actual numbers to that of the critics, is like comparing night and day.
So, without further ado, let's begin with a series of answers to questions in this year's exit survey, shall we?
AGE
Responding to the question, "What is your age group?" attendees of this year's conclave responded thus:
-32% is 55 to 64(!)
-28% is 35 to 44
-24% is 25 to 34
-And finally, 8% is 44 to 54
Based on this, and contrary to what you might surmise from watching a little too much social media for your own good, the Black Manosphere can say with confidence, that there are some grown-assed MEN over here. Only TWENTY-FOUR PERCENT of our rank and file are between the ages of 25 and 34 - and that number shrinks even further when you only consider those under 30. A full SIXTY-EIGHT PERCENT of the Black Manosphere party faithful are aged 35 and UP. That, has powerful implications for reasons that I'll get into when we talk about matters like money (read: Earnings) and mating aspirations - trust me, it is NOT what you thought you believed.
MARITAL STATUS
The conclave also asked brothers the question, "What is your marital status?", with a whopping FOURTY-TWO PERCENT reporting being single and not currently dating, while another 29% reporting being divorced. Much smaller percentages of conclave brothers were married (about 8 percent), or who were single but also currently actively dating - another 8%. When we compare these and other numbers in this report to the venerable website BlackDemographics, we find some very interesting results: A smaller proportion of Black Manosphere men are "never married" (BMC: 42% vs. BD's FIFTY PERCENT). However and to be fair, BMC men are divorced at a substantially higher rate than Black men in the general Black American population at 29% compared to BlackDemographics(2), which reports that Black men divorce at a rate of merely 10%. According to BlackDemographics, Black men in the "Blue Pill" population are also married at a higher rate than BMC men, 33% to only eight. One can speculate as to why such a glaring disparity exists; perhaps it may very well indeed be due to differing temperaments and personalities among BMC men as opposed to the "Blue Pill" brothers in this regard? ???
THE BLACK MANOSPHERE CONCLAVE CONFIRMS: BLACK MEN DO WANT TO BE MARRIED OR IN A RELATIONSHIP!
To the question, "If single, do you intend to be married or in a committed relationship one day?", a staggering EIGHTY-TWO percent responded "Yes!" vs. a paltry 18% who don't - this tracks even BETTER than the oft-quoted NPR/Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard University of Public Health's joint survey(3) that is now more than a decade old, which reported that not only were single and childless Black men greatly desirous of getting married or otherwise having a deep relationship with a Black woman, but that they did so at a considerably HIGHER rate than Black women themselves - nearly HALF of Black men survey, vs. roughly only a quarter of Black women(!). Put these numbers together with that from BlackDemographics that proves without a shadow of a doubt that there are more Black men who are currently married than Black women(4), and we come away with the only conclusion that matters: BMC men want marriage and relationships substantially MORE than Blue Pill Black men in the general population do - which is already substantially higher than Black women themselves.
Our exit survey did one better than the admittedly excellent joint survey carried out by NPR & Co. cited above, though; we asked conclave brothers the question, "In Relationships, what do you consider yourself?", with 75% reporting being Monogamous, while the remaining 25% claiming Polygamous as their mating method of choice. Trying to locate verifiable and reliable sources of information on what percentage of Blue Pilled Black American men would claim to be polygamous is proving to be quite the challenge(5), but if the Black Male Infidelity rate is anything to go by - and last time I checked as per the Institute for Family Studies(6), that infidelity rate is nearly 30% and the highest among all racial and ethnic American male groups - we can say that the actual number of inherently polygamous Black men in the general population at the very least matches BMC men, and could be quite a bit higher, since cheating and infidelity is strongly frowned upon by the conclave leadership and hierarchy, and cheating and infidelity is so very high among Black men in the general population. Instead, we here at the Black Manosphere Conclave favor and endorse the late Alan Roger Currie's "Mode One" stance(7), of being "upfront and straightforward" with our romantic and sexual interests and intentions, leaving it for the ladies to choose freely for themselves what kinds of men they want, knowing full well what they're signing on for right from the rip.
In any event, Black Manosphere Conclave men - some three quarters of them(!) - are "one woman men" and which again, tracks very well with all of the aforementioned survey data. BOOM!
POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS
Given that it's a political season, and a highly unusual and contentious one that that, in light of current Vice-President Kamala Harris being in the running as the first non-White woman to vie for the highest office in the land on the Democrat side, it would make sense for us here at the Black Manosphere Conclave to find out where our brothers are on the spectrum in this regard. Responding to the question, "Politically, what do you consider yourself?", ONE HUNDRED PERCENT of respondents said, "Conservative" over the "Liberal" option. 100%! Whew!
And, responding to the follow up political question, "What is your political affiliation?", 37% said Independent, while another 21 percent said that they don't vote at all(!). Despite these huge numbers, BMC men were indeed represented among the two major political parties in the USA, with roughly 13 percent in favor of the Democrats and Republicans, respectively. That's hugely interesting, since among the general Blue Pill Black male population in the country at large, Black men vote for the Democrat Party at a rate orders of magnitude higher than 13%. While the BMC support for the GOP mirrors that of Black men back in 2016 - the year Donald J. Trump won the election and became the 45th POTUS(8). What we can glean from all of this - especially in light of the religious data we collected in the days and weeks after this year's conclave - is that while the overwhelming majority of our conclave brothers don't tout any political party in particular, they nevertheless hold very strong "small c" conservative values, ideals and norms - and which would track well with the perception of many on the outside looking in, that Black Manosphere denizens are decidedly center-right in their outlooks on things.
IT'S OFFICIAL: THE BLACK MANOSPHERE DEFINITELY BELIEVES THERE IS A GOD
Responding to the question, "What is your religious affiliation?, nearly HALF of conclave brothers - 48 percent to be precise - reported being Christians, while another 22 percent claimed being "Metaphysical or Spiritual" but not claiming any particular orthodox or conventional religious belief. Another nine percent claimed not being very religious at all, with Muslims, Hebrew Israelites and Atheists all coming in on the survey at just ONE percentage point each - not even statistically significant. This again, tracks very well with what we know about Blue Pilled Black men out in the general population: According to the Pew Research Center(9), Black men at large report being 72% Christian and hold church membership at a rate of 55% - which are behind Black women's, at 82% and 62% respectively - but the point is made: Even while lagging behind Blue Pilled Black men in this regard, BMC men nevertheless overwhelmingly identify as Christian in the main. There's just no getting around it!
BLACK MANOSHPERE MEN: SMARTER THAN THE AVERAGE BEAR
Another interesting and key finding of this year's exit survey post-conclave, is how our brothers responded to the question, "What is your educational level?". 28% reported holding a Bachelor's degree, which is a comfortable six points ahead of Black men per BlackDemographics (22%)(10), while 20% of BMC men hold an Associate's degree vs. BlackDemographics' mere EIGHT percent(!); another 20% of BMC men hold Graduate or Professional degrees vs. BlackDemographics' EIGHT PERCENT(!!), and BMC men also hold Vocational & Trades School degrees and certifications at a rate of 12% - an area that BlackDemographics doesn't seem to track for Black men at large (Hmmm!). It is also quite interesting - and telling - that BMC men dropout of college (12%) and high school (8%) less than Blue Pilled Black men per the BlackDemographics data, at 22% and 13% respectively. These findings are hardly surprising, given the tentpole focus of STEM training, instruction and certification at the Black Manosphere Conclave, led by our Chief Instructor TheoWAF.
Based on all of the evidence as per the above, the conclusion is unavoidable: Black Manosphere Conclave men are decisively more educated and just downright smarter than your run of the mill, garden variety, rank and file Blue Pilled Black man out there today. There's simply no doubt about it!
MOST BLACK MANOSPHERE BROTHERS WORK IN STEM - BOOM!
Another popular talking point online, is that Black Manosphere brothers are without ambition, have nothing better to do than to whine and moan about Black women on social media, are "Dusty" and slackers, and so on. Well, we here at the Black Manosphere Conclave have long known this not to be the case, and now we have the conclusive, decisive proof. Responding to the question, "What is your primary occupation?", literally HALF of conclave brothers reported working in the STEM fields - Science, Technology, Engineering & Math! The second largest group of conclave brothers belonged to the Trades, which came in at 17% - and when comparing both these numbers to BlackDemographics' in this regard, the contrast is quite striking: Not only do we have MORE brothers currently working in the STEM fields than Black men at large do - 50% to 41% - but our overall percentage of brothers working in the Trades is almost HALF that reported by BlackDemographics - 17% to 39%(!) respectively(11). Again, this would track with the previous section on educational attainment, since it has long been known that the correlation between education, occupation and income (coming up!) is quite robust and constant down through the years - which brings me to...
NEWSFLASH: BLACK MANOSPHERE (CONCLAVE) MEN ARE ANYTHING BUT "BROKE & DUSTY"
This is hands down my favorite part of this year's exit survey - check this out. Responding to the question, "What is your annual income level?", almost 30% of conclave brothers report making between $50K and $75K a year (compared to BlackDemographics' 20% of all Black men)(12); 24% of BMC men make between $100K and $250K a year, with a smaller but not at all insignificant percentage of conclave brothers making between a quarter of a million to half a million dollars a year, at 8%. BlackDemographics doesn't get as granular as we do, merely tracking Black men who make north of $75K a year - but whatever their numbers are, they cannot be larger than 13%, because that's what BlackDemographics cites: ALL Black men making $75K to infinity, makeup only 13% of the adult Black male population in the country(!). Yes, you've read all of this right: Black Manosphere Conclave brothers - including the 16% who make between $75K and $99K a year - make substantially more than the rank and file Black man out there - who, according to BlackDemographics, is making a yearly average salary of $46K USD.
In fact, almost HALF of all current BMC men make between $75K and $500K a year, which would put them firmly into BlackDemographics' top 13% of Black male money earners(13). Not only that but, when you consider ALL American male money earners, we here at the Black Manosphere Conclave boasts the BEST men around when it comes to sheer money making - our 48% will mop the floor with the country's 26%!
Finally, let's consider the 24% of brothers on the wheel who currently make between LESS than $40K to $49K a year - this would be the demographic of Black men out in the general population that Black women can be heard frequently complaining about online and off, as being "Dusty". Fair enough. However - and this is a very, very important caveat - the guys here who are making those low wages, won't be for long. Come this time next year, they will be earning substantially more than what they're currently making - with all the attendant lifestyle changes to come with it (my talk, "Success Changes a Man" was very warmly received at the conclave I am very happy to report!). Even if only making double what they are right now, they will have done something most Black men simply don't, by significantly making more money than they currently do.
One other very interesting finding was how so many BMC men travel for work; responding to the question, "How often do you travel out of your STATE in the U.S. per year?", a mind boggling FIFTY-TWO PERCENT reported traveling out of their state, "three to five times a year", while another 28% reported "once or twice a year". Next up there were the eight percent of conclave brothers who reported divvying up their time between their homestate and another throughout the year. Bringing up the rear were the 12 percent of brothers who reported not having traveled out of their state in the past calendar year. Again, when you're making the kind of money brothers at the conclave do, traveling becomes part of your job description - all told, a whopping EIGHTY-EIGHT PERCENT of conclave brothers travel outside of their homestate several times a year!
At any rate, for the most part and in the main, Black women aren't talking about Black Manosphere Conclave men when they complain about "Dusties", for the simple reason that it's kinda hard to be "Dusty" when you're holed up at the Four Seasons hotel all weekend...
A WORD ABOUT PASSPORT BROS & BLUE BOOK GENTLEMEN...
Finally, we come to the part of the survey about passport bros and blue book gentlemen. It's no secret that the Black Manosphere Conclave draws a huge crowd of brothers who already have their blue books, or would like to; but it's something else entirely when you see the numbers in black and white for yourself. Responding to the question, "Are you an active passport holder?", 76% said "YES!", while another eight percent reported "being in the process" of getting and owning one. 16% of respondents either said "No" or had let their passports expire. Even if we keep the numbers where they are frozen in time, EIGHTY-FOUR PERCENT of passport holding brothers ain't nothing to sneeze at, no matter how you slice it!
Put this together with the responses to the question, "How often do you travel out of the COUNTRY (the U.S.) per year?" and the picture gets even rosier: 56% of brothers reported "once or twice a year", while another 12% reported "three to five times a year" - we got some frequent flyers in here! - with roughly a third of brothers saying "never" at 32%. Nevertheless and all told, SIXTY-EIGHT PERCENT of Black Manosphere Conclave brothers are no strangers to putting their passports in the sky - so again, it's hard to make the whole "Dusty" thing work when you're flying First Class and getting concierge service from the moment you touchdown on the tarmac to the moment you're back in your First Class flight back home. Maybe the lovely ladies who say such things online and off, need to get out more? They can start by going to where brothers like the ones at the Black Manosphere Conclave actually are, hangout and conduct business.
CONCLUSION
On behalf of Theo and Shannon, and the whole of the Black Manosphere Conclave, I want to thank each and every one of our brothers for showing up and taking the time out to give us their thoughts, observations and suggestions as to how we can improve and enhance the conclave experience for all of you. Conducting exit surveys is perhaps our single most profound tool we can use in that regard, so I thank you all again for arming us with valuable information as we gear up for the Miami conclave next year, which will be YUGE! Can't want to see you all then, and don't forget - take a few brothers with you!
MOA
ENDNOTES:
1. "Black Manosphere Conclave 4.0 Houston 2024 Highlights Reel World Premiere!", Mumia Obsidian Ali Unleashed channel, Rumble, Sep 21, 2024.
2. "Relationships & Black Men" infographic, BlackDemographics.com, "Black Male Statistics" section.
3. "So Single Black Men Want Commitment. Really?", NPR, Jun 8, 2013.
4. "Black Marriage in 2021", BlackDemographics.com, "Black Male Statistics" section.
5. "A Look at Polygamy in Black America", Funlayo E. Wood, Ph.D., Medium, Feb 14, 2019.
6. "Who Cheats More? The Demographics of Infidelity in America", Wendy Wang, Institute for Family Studies, Jan 10, 2018.
7. "Mode One: Let the Women Know What You're REALLY Thinking", Alan Roger Currie, Booklocker, Feb 28, 2006.
8. "The gender gap in black views on Trump, explained", Vox, Mar 9, 2020.
9. "A Religious Portrait of African-Americans", Pew Research Center, Jan 30, 2009.
10. "Educational Attainment Black Men" infographic, BlackDemographics.com, "Black Male Statistics" section.
11. "Occupation Type Black Men" infographic, BlackDemographics.com, "Black Male Statistics" section.
12. "Earnings & Employment" infographic, BlackDemographics.com, "Black Male Statistics" section.
13. See above.