Why Marilyn Monroe? Why Not Josephine Baker?

Beyond the Color of Beauty                      

I’ve recently noticed young black girls’ huge fixation with Marilyn Monroe.  A couple of weeks ago, I walked in my 17 year old cousin’s room and her walls were completely covered with magazine photos of Marilyn Monroe.   I asked her why Marilyn Monroe and she answered, “She is just gorgeous”.  Then I asked, “What about Lena Horne or Dorothy Dandridge”?  She shrugged her shoulders and asked, “Who are they”?

      Even hip hop female artists are memorized by the beauty icon’s name and try to mirror her image.  While Marilyn Monroe’s beauty can not be denied, I feel it is important that girls learn about women of color who also had a strong impact in pop culture for their talents and their beauty.  Take for instance Josephine Baker whose fame began in the 1920s.  A dancer, singer, and actress Baker broke racial barriers in the United States by becoming the first African American female to star in a major motion film.  Her exotic costumes accompanied her seductive performances along with her fiery personality.  Baker refused to perform in front of segregated audiences, which contributed to the end of segregated shows in places like Las Vegas.

      Due to the racial intolerance in the United States, Baker moved to France in 1937 to continue her entertainment career.  Her determination to fight injustice continued in France.  She was the first American women to receive the French military honor.  Baker’s wit and talent drew dignitaries such as King Farouk of Egypt and prompted an invitation by Fidel Castro to perform in Cuba.  While in France, Baker still supported the Civil Rights Movement in the United States.  Although she was sought by Civil Rights leaders in the United States to return back home, she refused due to fear of abandoning her children.  Baker adopted 12 children from across the world, which she named the “Rainbow Tribe”.  Some note that Baker influenced Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt to adopt internationally. 

      In 2012, I am baffled to find the need to explain that beauty extends beyond a fair complexion, blue eyes, and blonde hair.  It takes me back to 1940s Clarks’ Doll Experiment were majority of black girls preferred to play with white dolls oppose to brown skin dolls.  Twenty years from now, wouldn’t it be troubling to have a child only know Fergie, Pink , and Katy Perry as star icons? While the works of Beyonce, Mary J. Blige and Gabrielle Union were forgotten?  Let’s commemorate the work of women like Dorothy Dandrige, Billy Holiday, Lena Horne, Marian Anderson and many more women who contributed to American entertainment and social justice.  While they had personal battles, their strength to fight racism, and sexism should be recognized.

Random Thoughts: Integrity

     Have you ever kept something to yourself out of fear of others opinions?  Then to only still have the same outcome you feared come to fruition.  Fear shouldn’t be an excuse to mislead.  Nothing can trump the truth! Lies change, but the truth always remains the same. Why does fear drive people to go against everything they stand for? Life throws us all types of curve balls and I admit I’ve struck out a few times.  My life choices haven’t always been the best, but I made them with good intentions. 

     However, recently I learned that sometimes your intentions do not matter. All that matters is the outcome of your intentions.  It may seem like I am talking in riddles, which I kind of am.  I’m perplexed on why all the good you do is overshadowed by the one thing you do wrong.  Someone once told me that your character is who you really are while your reputation is merely people’s perception of you.  Which one is more important your character or reputation?  Should either be compromised? 

     While I am sure each of us has sacrificed our integrity for one or more reasons. How do you gain it back?  Especially, when you hurt people based on your selfishness.  Are you suppose to make it right with people who cut you off or do you simply move on and learn from your mistake by rebuilding your life on the right track or do both?  Some people won’t give you a second chance to redeem yourself.  As painful as it is, it is a part of the consequences of our life choices.  When you compromise your integrity you risk losing respect from others and degrading yourself. 

    I recently started back meditating.  Sometimes I pull out my dictionary and look up words and correlate it with a passage in my Bible.  Well today I looked up integrity.  It is a noun defined as 1) completeness 2) unimpaired condition; soundness 3) honesty, sincerity, etc.  The word that stood out to me in that definition was completeness.  Without honesty, sincerity or a clear mind you can’t be complete within yourself.  The days of incompleteness are over for me.

          Proverbs 3:3 Never let loyalty and faithfulness leave you.     
          Tie them around your neck and write them on the tablet 
          of your heart. Then you will find favor and high regard in the 
          sight of God and man. (Loyalty: honesty; support to those
          close to you and High regard: respect)

 From now on I’m no longer making life choices based on me alone, but how they will affect those closest to me.  I thank X, Y, and Z for teaching me this lesson.

Boobe; CEO of Oy Boyz Records

   Sometimes to silence the naysayers you have to show and not tell. That’s exactly what Boobe, the CEO of Oy Boyz Records has accomplished.  For nine years Boobe grinded hard as a rapper starting out in Washington, DC to creating a national buzz from mixtapes and his acclaimed single My Way featuring Raheem Devaughn. 

      Boobe recognized his gift for music could become a profitable career once promoters started requesting for him to perform at clubs.  His idea to form a label came after performing at an open mic show in 2002.  He teamed up with the Young Farmers and independently put out their first mixtape Boobe and the Young Farmers under Oy Boyz Records formerly One Way Records.  Through the journey of creating a name for himself, Boobe questioned his sacrifices to become an artist.  The long nights at the studio, time away from family and friends, and the financial investment.  However, he knew that in order to become the best he had to sacrifice things in his life. “Music is like having another family,” he said. “I have to wear a lot of hats. I’m the manager, promoter, mentor- all of that for my team,” Boobe explained.

     Grace, humility, and determination are the key factors, which enabled Boobe to maintain his own in the gritty music industry.  Quitting has never been an option for Boobe.  “I’ve learned that you must surround yourself with people who are just as hungry as you or hungrier than you,” Boobe explained. It’s taken a while for him to build a team and learn how to relax. “While I am still hands on in everything involving my career I am learning that I do need assistance,” he explained. Now Boobe is working on his new cd “Boobe Trap” expected to be released nationally this August.

       With this new album, you will hear his current single Cadillacs. This smooth track defines his fixation with Cadillacs and shows laidback personality. Boobe has created a sound of his own with influences from Scarface, UGK, and Jay-Z. Following the Cadillacs single is Big Time Dreams featuring Fat Trel another DC rap artist. Other artists on the album include the Young Farmers, David Correy, and Raheem Devaughn.  

      Anybody trying to come up and learn about the industry can trust that Boobe will lend a helping hand. “I believe learning from trial and error is the best tool to teach a person to grow,” Boobe said. “Earlier in my career I didn’t understand the artistry of creating a single,” he said.  With hits like My Way Boobe has definitely learned the skill of creating a hot single. The Cadillacs video has already hit over 100,000 views.

      “I want to see platinum plaques on my walls,” Boobe said. The Oy Boyz team are pushing Boobe’s singles to radio stations across the nation. At Studio 420, the home of Oy Boyz Records you will find a team of producers and artists working diligently on their music following the lead of Boobe.  For Boobe and his team there are only bigger things to come.  To find out more about Boobe and Oy Boyz Records visit www.onewayboobe.com

Follow him on Twitter @onewayboobe

Sticking to a Routine (Consistency)

When I decided to start this blog, I had the intention to post a new entry at least every week.  Well, every week turned into every two weeks then to three then to oops I just went a whole month without an entry.  Life can be overwhelming while trying to balance caring for children, exhausting work schedules, and relationships. Once in a while these things can throw us out the loop.  However, if you have a passion or are trying to learn something, it is important to put whatever you love to use on a daily basis.  For me it is writing.  So in order for me to get better at it I must exercise that skill everyday. 

 To help me stay on track, I started using my calendar on my phone.  I even posted sticky notes on my bathroom mirror and in my car. Being consistent can be hard at times. There is nothing wrong with tweaking your routine every now and then. No matter how many times you break it, the important thing is to get back into it. With that being said, I hope you all will continue to read my posts and be encouraged to keep pushing towards your goals. Now I am back on track, look out for my new posts. Remember I love reading your comments and suggestions for topics. If there is someone you think I should feature please let me know.

 “Setting a goal is not the main thing.  It is deciding how you will go about achieving it and staying with the plan.” Tom Landry

 “Failure is not falling down; failure is not getting back up.” Zig Ziglar

Exercising Courage

I am fixated on television shows like American Idol and Top Chef.  The drive people possess to follow their dreams amazes me.  Whether they are mediocre singers or horrible chefs they are willing to go against all odds just for that one possible opportunity. Now there is another show I enjoy, America’s Next Great Restaurant (trust me I’m not a TV junkie).  The premise of the show is to give a person the opportunity to have their own chain of restaurants starting in Hollywood, Minneapolis, and New York City.

The contestants go through a series of challenges in front of four potential investors.  There is Bobby Flay of Iron Chef America, internationally renowned chef Curtis Stone, Steve Ellis founder of Chipotle, and Lorena Garcia who founded several successful restaurants in Miami.  These investors serve as mentors by helping the contestants develop their concepts through various challenges on the show.  The 10 competitors come from all walks of life.  There is a former WNBA player, an attorney, bartender, and even a stay at home father.  Some of them quit their jobs or took an unpaid leave of absence to follow their passion and learn from the best in their field.

Besides wanting to own their own restaurants, these contestants have another thing in common.  Courage. I sincerely admire them because they didn’t give the possibility of hearing the word “no” room to prevent them from exercising courage. You know why?  Because hearing “no” does not kill their dream.  It only fuels them to do better and try harder.

What fears are you allowing in your life to prevent you from following your passion?

Finding Your Gift

Derrick Miles

Back in January, I stumbled upon an interview on NBC 4 Washington News featuring Derrick Miles, co-founder and spokesperson for Milestone Motivation, Inc.  His insight on finding your “superhuman gift” as he coins it paralleled with the theme of my first blog post.  I acted on faith and contacted him for an interview. I was elated when he agreed.

Derrick known as “The Encourager” always had a gift for encouraging people, but he recalls a difficult time in his career supervising two employees.  “I could not motivate these guys to lead who were in leadership roles,” says Miles. “Their gifts were not in leadership, so they became ineffective in their marketplace and personal pursuits.”  Derrick left his 12 year executive position in hospital leadership to begin his aspirations of motivating people.  That was almost two years ago.

The Department of Labor reported the unemployment rate fell by 0.1 percent this past February dropping the national rate to 8.9 percent.  Currently, there are 13.7 million unemployed Americans. Miles encourages people who are frustrated with seeking employment not to settle on any type of job especially in financially difficult times.  “Majority of people work out of obligation to pay bills, live a certain lifestyle, and or to put their kids through college, but these people do not experience happiness,” Miles explains.  “People who are succeeding in their profession know what their gifts are and utilize them everyday,” says Miles.  To seek happiness in your profession, Miles believes people should exercise “superhuman performance”.  “You reach superhuman performance by knowing your gift and utilizing it to follow your passion.”

“People have a tendency to hide their talents and bury them in the ground,” says Miles.  During the interview, Derrick discussed the importance on acting on desired career changes and business endeavors. “Through motivational speaking, I found out that only five percent of the audience after hearing a motivational message will actually try to create change for themselves by acting upon their aspirations while the other ninety-five percent will be temporarily motivated, but will not act,” says Miles.

Will you be apart of the five percent that acts on your aspirations or will you be apart of the ninety-five percent that remains stagnant?

Derrick along with his twin brother Darrayl Miles are the founders of Milestone Motivation, Inc.  Their professional development and training company helps corporations and individuals tackle their frustrations of ineffectiveness by motivating people to recognize and utilize their innate gifts and resources.  The Miles brothers’ portfolio includes features on CBS Money Watch, Christian PR News, NBC4 Washington News, and Bloomsberg Businessweek.  Through immense research and a series of interviews with successful global leaders, top executives, and faith-based leaders, the Miles brothers have written two books, Superhuman Performance and Superhuman Performance II: Utilizing Your Gifts to Perform at Extraordinary Levels. The first series focuses on the gifts of Administration, Craftsmanship, Discernment, Encouragement, Faith, Giving and Helping /Serving.  Superhuman Performance II explains the gifts of Hospitality, Knowledge, Leadership, Mercy/Compassion, Teaching, Wisdom and Writing.  “These gifts relate to the marketplace and will help you in your personal development and community,” Miles explains.  Later this year, a national television company will market Superhuman Performance.

Tips from Derrick Miles to achieve “Superhuman Performance”:
1.  Learn Your Gift(s).

2.  Use Your Gift(s) on a Daily Basis.
     (Understand that people rely on your gifts.)

3.  Learn/Engage People with a Different Set of Gifts.
     (Don’t isolate yourself. You need to surround yourself with
     people that have other gifts in order to produce”superhuman
     performance”.)

 Tips on entrepreneurship ventures and career changes:
1.  Act on your ideas.
     (You have to be ready to use courage.)

2.   Train yourself in your talent and gain more talents.

3.  Do not hide your talents.

4.  Never use the lack of money as an excuse not to act.

Click here to get your Marketplace Gift Assessment.

To get a jumpstart on recognizing and utilizing your “Superhuman gifts”, click here to order the Superhuman Performance: Utilizing
Your Gifts to Perform at Extraordinary Levels book series.

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                       

 

 

 

Superhuman Performance II: Utilizing Your Gifts to Perform at Extraordinary Levels

 

Superhuman Performance: Utilizing Your Gifts to Perform at Extraordinary Levels

Women’s History Month; Celebrating the Qualities Within Ourselves

Throughout this month we will hear about nationally known women such as Michelle Obama, Susan Rice, Maya Angelou, and Helen Keller.  While these women are deserving of such recognition, I implore you to honor everyday women such as the woman who puts off retirement to care for her grandchildren, the woman who works a 12-hour shift everyday to support her family because her husband can’t find employment, and the woman who shows her loyalty by accompanying a friend to their chemotherapy treatments.  There is something in all of us that deserves to be celebrated.

I have a couple of heroes in my life.  One being my mother and the other being Sojourner Truth.  Sojourner was fearless.  Despite not being treated with dignity she continued to boldly speak out about racial inequalities and the struggles of women in America even though many organizations created by women in her time did not include women of color as part of their movement.  She did not allow people’s presumptions of her to dictate her contribution to society.  In homage of Sojourner Truth I created a rendition of her famous Ain’t I Woman speech.

Am I Not a Woman?

Brought to this land
Taken away from my man
My children stripped from my hands
Am I not a woman?
Am I not human?

I have two legs, eyes, and hands
Am I not a woman?
Put to work slave labor without any favor
Beaten because I am tired
I have to submit to my master’s desires

Did you forget I have a seed in my womb?
Lord take me… I am ready to be placed in my tomb
Freedom… please come soon
Am I not a woman?

Thank God for women like Sojourner Truth and Ida B. Wells
Who had so much courage
Don’t let me forget Dr. Dorothy Heights, Linda Brent, and
Maria Stewart who fought because the men alone could not do it

These women were ready to take a stand
Make a mark in this land
For their children, sisters and especially their men
I received my courage from these women
And they dare ask the question,
“Is she a woman?”.

-Tami O. Ojewale

 To read Sojourner Truth’s speech click here.

Reinventing Yourself

Lately I’ve been thinking about my childhood dreams.  Everyone has had one or two right?  The joy about being a child is there isn’t anything you know that can stop you from believing ANYTHING is attainable.  Whether it was to own a horse, make a million dollars, or even be an astronaut we’ve all had them.

Growing up I dreamt about being a dancer, to a race car driver, to eventually a lawyer. I pictured working on Capitol Hill in a corner office watching tourists walk by taking pictures, but after two failed attempts at the LSAT I decided to channel another passion of mine… writing.  Receiving my Masters degree was a big accomplishment for me.  I was ready to go full force into a new career, but the waiting on a job in my field took forever for me.  So yet again, my life headed into another direction and I found myself managing a real estate title firm.  That was five years ago.

Like so many of you I’m ready for a career change.  You may be saying to yourself, “No, I just want a job!”. I totally understand your frustrations, but in this dismal economy where jobs are scarce I believe this is a great time to go back to our child-like ways of thinking when anything was achievable.  As children we didn’t let issues about the recession, heartbreak, or past failures stop us.  When we fell off the monkey bars we got back up and tried again. This is the time to brush your knees off and try again.

We are in a great time to reinvent ourselves. Pick up a book about the field you really want to enter into, learn a new skill so you can begin that new career you so badly want to start.  Take the time to invest in yourself.  The next few blog entries will focus on tips about taking charge of your future.  I will provide tips from a motivational speaker and marketing expert and interview people who’ve taken the risk to follow their passions and make their dreams realities.

“The secret of getting ahead is getting started.  The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks and then starting on the first one”.

- Mark Twain