Leaderboard

You know I actually do have an issue with the word "diversity." It depends upon who is using it for example when Shirley uses it I know she means to include Black folks--that is a given. However when corporations use it, Black folks don't have to be part of the mix, and this is very troubling. This is troubling because corporations and organizations seeking corporate support for their programs can say they are diverse, which gives the impression that Black people are benefiting, when in reality White women, gay people, Asian people, any demographic but the American Black is benefiting. I worked for several fortune 100 companies many of these companies boasted about their "diversity," but this diversity does not include us. On paper the figures can be presented to make a company appear very diverse, but a Black person are simply left out --certainly for the income producing roles and higher paying positions. This New York Times article illustrates this quite well. In fact over the course of my corporate life things got progressively worse over the past 30 years So no I'm not a fan of the word diverse, unless I'm talking about the diversity within Black culture.

Thanks Troy. I appreciate it Just so you know, I am looking to submit to Just Us Books, Inc. and Marimba Books. I didn't know of them until I visited the homepage. Thanks!!!!

Dr J let's travel this road most are interested....we want change.... Most people want CHANGE, but most people don't want to do the work in coming up with and implimenting the solutions. This demands lot of careful thinking, disposable time, and patience as well as courage....a combination most people don't come equipped with. Troy There has been a lot of press lately on the rise in suicides over that past 20 years. I believe the largest increase is among middle aged white men. During the same period the icde rates for Black men has actually gone down. Some feel that the increase in white suicide is a reaction to the loss of white privilege. While this is devastating to white folks reality, this is par for the course for Black folks--arguably an improvement. I came across those articles a few days ago. I'm not sure how Black men compare with other demographics but I DO believe that a lot more Black men are suicidal than the numbers probably lead us to believe. I believe a lot of these police shootings are actually "suicide by cop" from hopless brothers purposefully putting themselves in fatal situations with the law. Del I'm going to seriously consider to begin to looking outside the US I echo Sara's sentiments.....don't go bro. We need more brothers like you to stay here and as Lauryn Hill would say help "reverse the hypnosis" Besides, CD Burns doesn't have his passport so if something goes down, somebody has to stay here with our brother......lol. Mel The family structure that would "win" out, if it was necessary for family to have a main structure, would be "community". Living in close-knit communities is the one structure that allowed us to grow a "healthy" civilization for the last 3 millennia. We've been moving away from that structure and we're suffering. That's exactly what I'm talking about....mini-communities in the form of group families. Say a group of about 4 men and 5 women get together and form a unit, an actual "entity" in and of itself made up of individual members but not reliant on any one of them. They have children in that group and that group helps to raise the children. As the children grow up some members leave that group, others join. But this acts as a more stable environment because it pretty much secures a feminine and masculine presence, financial support, a home, and other necessities for the well being of children. Atleast more so than the nuclear or single parent family structure would. Plus it works better for the adults involved by not putting too much pressure on one individual to be the primary bread-winner, disciplinarian, or homemaker.

Mel your comment made me realize the error in my post. Philosophizing is overrated unless that's your job. There also people in prison that chose crime because it paid more. Some code it or were chosen by it. Since it was better than the alternative.

But NOT thinking can be quite costly....in time, money, and even your freedom. There are a lot of impulsive men and women in prision who made moves without thinking them out carefully. However I've come to believe that people who sit around and think "too much" are often to stagnant and inactive.

Mel, promoted by your message on Linkedin I also added the quote to Erika's page as well. Prince's simple requests helped more people than just Erika. The really powerful aspect of what Prince did is that it did not cost him a cent to elevate Erika, that is real power. And while Erica felt she was too "green" for the assignment, what she probably discovered that she was probably better suited for the job and any of the more senior white counterparts--so everyone benefited. I was hurt to discover that Ericca killed herself in 2012. Insert other media