Definition
Having positive net income; having greater income than expenses; making a profit.
Having positive net worth.
Origins
From the standard accounting practice of using black ink, as opposed to red ink, to denote positive values, especially a net income.
Opposite In Meaning
How People Actually Use It
1. To be pushed out of the mainstream and into darkness; to push someone from the spotlight and into obscurity "Mr. Tomlinson found, after a series of public relations blunders and threatening remarks, that he was in the black and forgotten." 2. Existing in a forgotten or lost place, usually due to rejection or failure "Patrick's most recent book had failed. Whereas once he briefly enjoyed the spotlight, now he found himself quite in the black."
""I just want to get the attention I crave, but I can't out here in the black.""
Source: Urban Dictionary