Click the image below to hear what Dr. Boyce Watkins has to say about the new credit card legislation signed by President Barack Obama:
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Black Women Speak on Ursula Burns: First Black Female to run a Fortune 500 Company
With Ursula Burns being recently appointed as the first Black CEO of a Fortune 500 company, the Black community had a lot to say. Most importantly, Black women and men in academia, law, and the professional world shine light on various points of view that should be considered as the nation celebrates the achievements of Burns and the Xerox Corporation.
Dr. Julianne Malveaux – President of Bennett College for Women:
“Glass ceilings are shattering and sisters are celebrating this amazing milestone. After the dust clears, let’s focus both on the glass ceiling and the sticky floor that suppresses the wages and salaries of most working women.”
Dr. Mary Stoddard, Attorney at Law – Stoddard, Parks & Associates, PLLC:
“Having the first black female CEO of a Fortune 500 company is greatly past due. The value of a segment of the population that has been the fundamental cornerstone to the growth and development of this country is long due our nation. Because one black female has been bestowed the job, that does not remove the many who are qualified and denied the opportunity because they are a black woman.”
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
What is the “Wizard of Oz” Syndrome?
Last weekend, I had the wonderful opportunity to go home to Louisville and attend the Kentucky Derby. Growing up, I was not allowed to participate in many of the Derby festivities. My father was a Major with the Louisville Metro Police Department and was often over security for the city’s Derby festivities. Because of this task, he was subjected to a lot of foolishness through the years during Derby in order to serve and protect the city’s patrons. Therefore, he insulated me from most of the damaging behavior that comes with having an extra 200,000 people in the Louisville metro area of only 700,000 residents. This year was only my second “true” Derby experience and it was completely different from the Derby with which my father was familiar. I was excited to get the weekend rolling!
As I boarded my plane from Ithaca, NY all I could think about was how much fun I was going to have at all of the VIP events and all of the interesting people I was going to meet. Thanks to an awesome friend, my girlfriend, Kandice, and I were given some box seats to the Derby and tickets to all of the VIP galas. I was afforded the opportunity to spend hours with some of the top entertainers, athletes, and business moguls in the nation. I quickly became disappointed, however, as I transitioned from dreaming about talking to ‘Deity XYZ’ to actually speaking to him in person.
After exchanging small talk for a few minutes, I asked each person one simple question, “What are you passionate about?” My goal was to attain deeper insight on what made them successful. After proposing the question, each individual looked at me for a moment with a perplexed expression. After a much anticipated silence, most of individuals said, “Wow . . . No one has ever asked me that before.” As people answered this question for me throughout the evening, I slowly became saddened and disappointed by their responses. I was shocked by the amount of times I heard “making money”, “ballin’”, and “I have no idea” as simple responses to the question asked of them. I then asked myself a vital question . . . Is there really anything more to life than fast cars, chartered jets, and high class sporting events?
Click to read more on the Black Authors Blog
Thursday, May 7, 2009
The Power of Entrepreneurship
by Genma Holmes
When I am asked advice about to grow a business, I always reference my experiences at the Black Enterprise Entrepreneur Conference (BEEC). As I plan my business strategies at the beginning of the year, BEEC is always at the top of the must do list. Even when times have been lean, I have managed to find a way to attend the ONLY entrepreneurial conference that helps make me money.
For the last few years, I have been able to get my fellow brothers in the pest control industry to the conference as well. Each passing year, we have become more determined to work together on larger contracts and grow our companies together. What I have learned the most by attending the conferences is the power of collaborating and working together for the greater good. Being in an industry where there are few women in leadership roles and even fewer minorities as key influencers, it is even more evident to me the power of connecting with others who are visionaries and rain makers.
When you are in the presence of those who want to see you succeed, who teach you to think successfully, and who create venues to help you not only network but to close the deal, you are affected in a positive way. You leave the conference WANTING to be successful. And when you are hungry enough and have drive and ambition, you will walk in your destiny no matter what the economic barometer says.
Get Your Paper Straight: Dr Boyce and George Kilpatrick on the Value of Education
Get Your Paper Straight: Dr Boyce and George Kilpatrick discuss the economic value of education. Click the image to listen!
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Dr Marc Lamont Hill Goes to Columbia University
TEMPLE UNIVERSITY hip-hop scholar Dr. Marc Lamont Hill and I are sitting side-by-side on a Friday-afternoon Acela to Washington where he will be on a too-large panel giving a report card to President Obama.
Hill is Philadelphia's best-known and most visible African-American academic specializing in hip-hop, youth culture and controversial opinions.
The panel, at the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, draws about 225 interested citizens, more than 95 percent African-American. Most have grievances about America and no panelist hands Obama a straight A grade. Hill gives him a C.
I take a seat in the back of the fifth-floor hall, one row in front of a Beyonce-beautiful woman in a skin-tight, let's-go-clubbing dress and push-up bra.
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