Poor Quality Teachers

If teachers wish to be respected as highly paid professionals, maybe there should be some gravity behind being a certified teacher.
As it stands today, many people who teach are those who could not find success in any other profession requiring a degree.
Teaching is seen as a backup not as a goal - not even among many who work this profession themselves.
Maybe we should hold teachers accountable at the same level we do doctors, lawyers or even contractors.
In each of these professions, consistently flawed work is often followed with disbarment or the loss of ones license.
If a doctor working in the most run down hospital in any given town, working with old equipment and uncooperative patients were to fail (kill) the majority of his patients, he would lose his license to practice medicine.
If a bright young doctor was saving lives while an older burned out doctor was failing his patients, the young doctor would be promoted while the older doctor would be retired.
Maybe this is the approach we need to take with teachers - instead of letting the National Educational Association dictate why poorly performing teachers should have job security, maybe we should insist that they produce the best teachers for the most demanding conditions.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/05/magazine/05FOB-wwln-t.html

Must Have Forgotten The "M" and the "E"

It is often said that, "There is no 'I' in 'TEAM'.".
But whoever said that must have forgotten the "M" and the"E".
This philosophy is common in all aspects of life.
Whatever the situation, there is always a stellar performer whose sole goal is the elevation of self.
This is what I will call the "Allen Iverson Effect".
Iverson was a very good player with very good stats.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allen_Iverson
But the glaring omission from Iverson's career is that of "Champion".
At Georgetown - no NCAA title.
In Philly - no NBA title.
At the Olympics - (Even teamed with the best individual players in the world) no gold medal.
Sure, Iverson was a really good player (great personal stats) but he was never a great player (no championships).

Music which moves a generation - "We".
Music which causes many to revert to atavistic behaviors - "Me".
Good schools - "We".
Poorly performing schools - "Me".
Good blocks, neighborhoods and towns (even during Segregation) - "We".
Bad blocks, neighborhoods and towns (even with more freedom and opportunity) - "Me".
Successful businesses - "We".
Out of business businesses - "Me".
 No, I'm not saying that Allen Iverson invented the philosophy of "Me" - only that he is the best example of the final result.

At one of the bars for which I consult, there is a fast and knowledgeable bartender.
The girl makes jars full of tips and has a small following.
But the girl is only out for herself.
Her only concern is the money she can make.
But this leads to problems between the other bartenders, the cocktail waitresses, the bar backs and herself.
I know that the goal of having a job is to make money - but at what cost?
The girl is so concerned with her own tips that she interferes with other's ability to make tips.
This girl is so fixated with money that she always accuses others of stealing her tips.

I had to get rid of this girl.
This past weekend, the bar was short a bartender so I stepped in.
In an effort to maximized her profits, the girl went through twice the alcohol as did I with only half the sales.
Sure, the girl maximized her profits but at the expense of the company's profits.
Her self centered desire for money ultimately led to her loss of employment.

The concept of "we" seems to be the most common trait possessed by successful business owners.
Most of the the local restaurant owners who have enjoyed long-term success are those who frequent the restaurants of their competition.
These men and women support each other through patronage, the lending of supplies and the free exchange of knowledge.
Unknowingly, I became part of this clique.
It is not an exclusive group - the only qualification for membership is that one must support others.
In fact, we didn't even know that this clique was ever formed.
We seemed to intuitively understand that everyone could benefit if everyone could benefit.

As my young cousins once pointed out on a recent visit, almost everyone in my neighborhood helps everyone else in my neighborhood.
These cousins are from the hood.
In their neighborhood, everyone looks out only for himself.
But in my neighborhood, the vast pool of knowledge and resources allows everyone to benefit from the knowledge, skills or property of others.
In my case - everyone takes advantage of this and lives better than they could afford to if they had to pay someone whenever they needed help in something which one of our neighbors specializes.

This used to be the case before the end of Segregation.
Even under much more harsh circumstances and with less money - the quality of life and the net result seemed to be that each generation did better than the last.
This "We" philosophy led to generations which could leave the hood and pursue lives in more resource abundant environments.
But as those with this way of thinking left the hood - so did the intrinsic value of such thinking.
So how do we eliminate many of the problems and the very existence of the hood?
Simply put - by replacing the concept of "Me" with the more traditional concept of "We".

Out To Lunch

Believe me when I say that I am "The King of Lazy".
If there is an easier way - I'm looking for it.
But this does not mean that I don't work.
I work a lot - it's just that usually it's not for the money.
Sure, I get money but it is just not my motivation.
I'm usually just as pleased with a bad tasting home cooked meal as payment as I am with dollars.
(If that is the best they can do.)
Money is just a byproduct of my work.
My motivation is always to help make people's lives better.
To teach them how to increase revenue while cutting costs without being distracted and wasting resources on those things which do not really matter.
To help them refrain from chasing the Joneses and instead learning to create their own standards of success.

But this is an almost impossible task.
Most people are easily duped into wasting resources on the material goods which they imagine the perceived higher classes having.
Most people want the labels even though they may not be able to afford the maintenance.

Back to being the self-proclaimed "King of Lazy".
My young niece used to think that I went to lunch for a living.
When I'd have to leave, "What are you doing?", she'd ask.
"Making money.", I'd say.
But all she saw were the three or four to-go containers from various restaurants I'd bring home most days.
(These were then brought to the homes of the elderly women I help out.
These women get meals from the best places in town but, to them, these still cannot compare to their home-cooked ox tails, pig tails, bologna and wiener gumbo, potato chip encrusted government cheese macaroni, or smothered chicken feet and gravy.)
All she'd see were the checks received in the mail.
To her, my 'job' was to eat lunch.

Now that I'm kind of busy working with several night clubs and with less time for her - she now thinks that I go to night clubs for a living.
When ever I have to leave and she asks,"What are you doing?" - "Going to the club.", is my most common answer.
She thinks that the only time I do any actual work is when I have to supervise or correct the construction work of her older cousins.
"Don't you ever work?", she often asks.
But she my still be too young to understand that my reputation is what makes money for me.
That my good standing and connections with other club owners, beer and liquor and wine vendors, band managers and band members, DJ's, caterers and restaurant owners, and many people who frequent these clubs is a commodity which new club owners lack.
She may not know it yet but she watches as I maintain potentially valuable relationships with people who may be able to help me later.
She watches as I take a back seat that I am constantly being pushed to the forefront.
She watches as I listen more than I speak, even though people are usually asking for advice.
She watches as I turn a relationship into a profit.
While she says that she wants to do what I do for a living ( "going to lunch and night clubs") she is picking up mannerisms and social skills which will enable her to open doors with her head instead of having to tear down walls with her brawn.

Endless Possibilities

Some people are consumers,
others creators,
and still others destroyers.
Most people are a varied combination of all three.
But as an artist can look at a blank canvas and see what is not yet there - people in need of progress must be able to see what does not exist. (Yet.)
This 'faith' is required for all who wish to break through barriers, change the rules or define their own being.

Felons

The became felons because they could never see (imagine) themselves as anything different.

Baby Talk

Just as we cannot understand a thing a baby says - the baby may have trouble understanding our words as well.
Instead, we better understand the tone, the inflection, or the syntax of the words we have yet to comprehend.
But as babies gain more experience, most eventually learn our language.
It is only with a this new consciousness that he is able to communicate.
It is only with this new awareness that we begin to become what we are to be.

49 - 36

With USC's 49-36 win against Hawaii, it looks like brohammas wasn't the only guy from the mainland to enjoy his trip to the islands.

Petri Dish

The recent rash of bed bug reports has many people worried.
Maybe we just need to get some fresh air and sunlight.
As our cars, homes, offices and hospitals have become more climate controlled - maybe we are creating an environment which bed bugs (and viruses) also enjoy.
Maybe we are creating a huge petri dish in which all of our undesired pests thrive.

Education for an Older Generation

Being tired of an older generation telling their children and grandchildren "That's good for a Black person.", or "They'll never let us do/be/have..." - I bought copies of and watched Spike Lee's Malcolm X with each of the elderly blind women I check up on and their families.
These women loved the old songs and Malcolm X's speeches.
Sure, most had heard these speeches before - but before the election of Obama, they just didn't seem to make sense.
As I watched wanna' be gangsta's slyly wiping tears from their eyes and elderly women repeating every word spoken - maybe this generation will get it.
Maybe this generation just has to be educated with the philosophies of men who may have been ahead of their time.