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  • Politics Is Like Hiring A Hitman
    by Scott Woods inPolitical on2020-08-13

    For me, politics is like hiring a hitman. I have values and things I care about. I care enough about them to at least bother voting for 5 minutes every year for one issue or another. And because I care at least that much, I vote for people who align with the ability to realize the things I care about.

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  • Punching Above Our Weight
    by Roger Madison Jr. inPolitical on2020-07-24

    I believe our vote is the punctuation of our voice. Without that resounding exclamation mark, I believe our voices are just incoherent noise.

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  • BLACK PROGRESS AMIDST SOCIAL CHAOS
    by Roger Madison Jr. inPolitical on2020-06-16

    Recent events have raised the profile of historical injustice and inequities here in the USA. The entire world has taken note of the fact that BLACK LIVES MATTER.   We invite all of our friends to engage in actions that result in the greatest movement for change in our history. It is imperative that we take advantage of this opportunity to affect a positive change by ACTING IN OUR SELF-INTERESTS.

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  • Living in a Black No-Man's Land
    by Roger Madison Jr. inOur Community on2019-10-28

    There are many narratives that define the Black experience in America in this 2nd decade of the 21st century. Our striving over the centuries of our sojourn in this nation is a tapestry of every human experience -- oppression, enslavement, forced assimilation, dehumanization, exclusion, segregation, isolation, struggle, perseverance, achievement, excellence, celebration, mourning, despair, progress, setbacks, lynching, assassination, genocide, terror, self-hatred, low esteem, pride,...

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  • Fighting Racism
    by Scott Woods inOur Community on2018-10-25

    I had a boss who was racist. Not an outright bigot, of course; her toolbox was more subtle than most. We bumped heads a lot over inconsequential things. She frequently couldn’t keep my name out her mouth. Lot of gaslighting. You know…2018 style. I tried a lot of ways to combat or navigate her issues. None of them worked, and that’s saying a lot because I’m really good at fighting racism. But at the end of the day – every day – she was my boss, I had to deal with her, and that was that. Finally I...

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WE MUST SUPPORT BLACK, SMALL AND MINORITY OWNED BUSINESSES!!


 I remember thinking just before that fateful day in 2010, "hmmmmmm usually when things go south (meaning the economy), I end up getting let  go from my job. Seems like that aint the case this time..."  I really felt secure and comfortable at my job. I believed that my job did not have a policy of down sizing or laying off....Well, I was very wrong.

That day, I  came into work a little late from a doctor's appointment. As soon as I got in, I received a telephone call to come to the  Chair's office. My instincts told me that something was  wrong ...and low and behold, I was right! I was being laid off, not because of my work but due to financial reasons.  I knew that was a bunch of crap because I kept the books. I absorbed the horrific news in shock! My mind instantly raced as to how I was going to survive and pay bills..

Giving more thought to my situation, I realized that throughout my working career  whenever the economy went bad, I always end up losing my job!  In the 70s, I was laid off and had a  baby to support. In the early 90s, I was laid off when the concept of "downsizing" was introduced and people who have been on their jobs for 20, 30 years were laid off and escorted off the premises like criminals etc. And now, today in 2000 during one of the worse economic downturn in history.

It just seems that  Blacks and minorities are always the first to be let go when the economy goes bad,   and I am really sick of it! Thank God I am personally in a better financial position than the other times I was laid off.  This time I saved for a rainy day...and trust me, it is pouring!! but I am able to survive!

This lay off also made me think that we must support each other! We must support Black, small and minority owned businesses! We have to collectively look out for one another, because other people are doing just that. Just look around, there are many jobs that have traditionally been held by Black and minorities are now being held be whites  and other ethnic groups. This is to not say that whites are not caught up in this crap because everybody who is not part of the 1% is caught up in this...but Blacks are disportionally more badly affected!!

I have made a vow to support Black and minority owned businesses. I  now make an effort to first try to find a black vendor when I need something and then move on. I also do that with supporting American made goods as well. You should too!!