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Being the change...

SWAG Academy::

Collective Renaissance Guild::

Inkognegro on Sickle Cell Disease::

The Conversation & my rants about african-american family dysfunction::

and introducing....?:: No, I'm not ready for that yet. But it's my contribution, and I'm working on it, and you'll hear about it soon enough. It's something I've been mulling over for a while, and the mulling isn't idle - it's an idea whose time is now, and needs development to properly bring it to fruition. I'm almost ready. And when I am, you'll hear about it.

The bottom line:: our community, the African American community is fraught with issues. And we keep expecting existing institutions, that are mired in old school policies, methods and ideologies to deal with these new school issues. But that's not working. And it's not going to come just from the NAACP, or the ACLU or American Red Cross. And it's not going to be a PSA about why we should do good - despite my nostalgia about days gone by. It starts with us. We are the village. We're not living in a vacuum.

This is Social Activism, 2.0 people. It's Tom's Shoes, and Ashoka, and Idealist.org, and Singles for Service, and social entreprenurship, and proving that doing good benefits us all, including capitalists and multinational corporations. It's using Twitter, and Facebook, and other social media tools, and mashups, and Ajax, and blogs and this little thing called the internet to do more than gossip about celebrities and live chatting about falsality (false reality) shows. This is about constantly asking yourself a question, repeatedly.

What have you done for the village, lately?

It's an end of an era...

I've been blogging since November 24, 2001

Much of it has been personal. VERY personal. So personal, in fact, that it's become burdensome. If you're wondering why I'm stopping - that's it, in a nutshell. The joy I once felt in writing in this space is gone, for more reasons than I care to recount. But I am busy, things have changed - and I'd rather spend my time doing things, than talking about doing them.

My only goal when I started blogging/writing was to make some sense of what I was going through. And to tell the truth.

Blogging has evolved dramatically in the last 9 years, and with it....comes the time to ask myself if I need to evolve also. The answer is yes.

So, with that - it's time to go.

I want to thank you - those of you that have taken the time to read my stuff, and give me feedback, comments, email me, etc. I appreciate all that you've shared with me, positive and negative.

And no, I haven't stopped writing completely - it's just time for the journey to take a new direction.

This leg is over.

Now on to the next.....

UrbanVerge: your premier destination for reviews with an Urban Edge

Luv-A-Nu: to rediscover Love Anew

and the movement that will change the world......

Globalhaus: bridging the gap between social good and profitability/efficiency worldwide. Globalhaus isn't just an idea - it's a movement.

A new nickname that explains it all.

Bestowed during a business meeting with some uptop colleagues about a collective venture, some marginally unpleasant tasks thrown at me that I got done quickly and efficiently, and me gnarling over the bones of those tasks, chewing gristle aggressively while asking "so what's next?"

Even as I'm floundering careerwise or transitioning from one role to another, I get it in.

So, I'm an MBA. I don't know how/when this happened, but it changed my life outlook in a very pragmatic way. I tend to look at anything/everything in life based on the perceived Return On Investment (ROI) and according to the bottom line (profit/what are you getting out of the deal?). And as driven toward a target as a bullet train toward its intended destination. I will run you over. You've been warned.

So it's sometimes hard for me to sign up for ISH, or co-sign ISH, if it's patently a losing proposition. I can be the ultimate naysayer, just because I don't see the margin. Or because an idea is not "sexy". For example, you think that personalized backpacks are going to be the hottest thing in 2010? "How much will they cost to produce?" "How much can we charge for them?" "Do you really think that we'll want to work THIS hard to make $1/bag? Really?!" I know I go hard. So, I tend to prep for the ride up front, to make it less bumpy and remove stops, before I fully commit. Sorta explains why dating in these crazy times is so unappealing to me, no?

My friends still consult me, and at times I barely know why, because I'm the hole-finder...the pinprick in their idea bubble. Call it pessimistic, cynical, fatalistic - or pragmatic (which is how I'd like to think of it) - the MBA-colored glasses rarely come off.

And in friendships/relationships - that would be a problem. A HUGE problem.

I come across as dour or too blunt. Negative. Dull (vs. vibrant). Although I'm fairly attractive, and as most people that know me say, I bring a lot to the table in friendship, relationships, business associations, partnerships, etc. Still - I'm a hard pill to swallow. I'm hard on my friends. I'm hard on the brothers. And as anyone knows me knows, I'm extremely hard on myself.

And I cannot BUY a date. Men rarely approach me, and those who do seem more than a little scared. And most people's feedback from initial meetings with me declares me aloof. Colleagues may respect me, but admiration? They'd state they never knew me well enough for that. While I can be "personable", right now I subconsciously find it a less-than-efficient use of my time. Not a good look.

So, I'm reading Hill Harper's new book "The Conversation". (I'm both enjoying it and rushing to finish so I can write a glowing review - so more on the book itself later). And I got a wake-up call...

The Unbearable Lightness of Being:: the fact is, that I lack a "lightness" of personality. I'm not bubbly. Based on my experiences with people (not just men) and my suspicions of the true nature of most humans - my subconsious assumption that "everybody uses everybody, don't they" - I'm not generating positivity, so I'm definitely not attracting positivity. Right around pages 96-98, Hill points out that those of us who have had baggage and think we've put our baggage behind us, may have "gotten over" whatever hurts we have suffered, while being indelibly changed by them - and not even realizing it. But he also suggests, it's completely within out power to do something about that.

In everything in life including business, there is a balance. "Going hard" is not a bad thing, but must be tempered by socialness, passion, creativity, innovativeness, grace, tolerance, patience and persuasiveness. And yeah, those better all be words...lol.

Yeah. I go hard. It explains so much, and yet I still have work to do.