Helping You to Take the Initiative

This is an in-class assignment we'll be doing in PODs:

http://www.thedominoproject.com/2011/03/poke-the-box-the-workbook.html

If Education Wasn't Stuck in the Industrial Age

Not that I thought I was dummy in school but I did recognize that it was a bit too limiting in what it consider to be smart. Education needs to be less academic and more creative. Here's an argument for just that:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U&NR=1

Lesson #10: How Entrepreneurs Market

http://www.effectuation.org/videos/saras-tedxmidatlantic

The Fierce Urgency of Now

On this date to commemorate Martin Luther King Jr., I quote the following made nearly 50 years ago:
"We are now faced with the fact, my friends, that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there is such a thing as being too late. Procrastination is still the thief of time. Life often leaves us standing bare, naked, and dejected with a lost opportunity. The tide in the affairs of men does not remain at flood -- it ebbs. We may cry out desperately for time to pause in her passage, but time is adamant to every plea and rushes on. Over the bleached bones and jumbled residues of numerous civilizations are written the pathetic words, "Too late."


And there is this quote from Frederick Douglas over a century before Dr. King: "If there is no struggle, there is no progress." 


The two men could have been embodied in one soul but it only made sense that they lived in different eras and inspired their own generations. More importantly, they used their words as an integrated part of their actions. Rather than mere political rhetoric or scalding editorials, both Dr. King and Frederick Douglas sought resolution through direct action. Words, as that children's rhyme goes, won't break anyone's bones. But executing a physical act will break the back of oppression. Action will serve in complement to the verbage. One without the other is weak and misunderstood at best. 

A small group of you has not finished your GPS so this is especially important for you to consider in moving forward. For the rest of you, please keep in mind that this is a road less traveled with plenty of bumps. But it is this journey that you'll probably find as the most rewarding of all. In the end, what we learn needs to be distributed to our children, to our friends and all those who live without their own answers. 

Make no mistake, Urban FIRE is about economic justice. Our brand of entrepreneurship is the civil rights strategy of the 21st Century working with small groups of individuals. While we label our economic conditions as "recession," "deregulation," "inflation," and "adjustments," the majority of us continue to suffer - and when a larger sector of any society suffers, there's no way around calling it "oppression." Through our economic system based on 17th and 18th Century theories, the paradigm goes that there must be various classes of people so that different people will perform all the necessary chores from menial to rocket science. So that we don't see through the dark side of this charade, there has been a centuries-old strategy called "Divide and Conquer" which keeps us from uniting and sometimes, even fighting each other while our real manipulator continues to thrive at our expense.   


We live in a society of Haves and Have-Nots. The latter is growing and no doubt, you're in Urban FIRE because deep inside you've wanted to change the course of where you've been and you're now seeking new direction. Whether you have considered your situation as temporarily poor, economically disadvantaged or socially denied, we tend to allow our conditions to persist because, frankly, when you get use to a situation, it's easier to live with the familiarity than to fight it.


So change is hard, isn't it? You've made the first step into recognizing the need to change by enrolling in this class. You've lived within the status quo for a long time, perhaps a lifetime. You desire - as we all do - to live with dignity and sufficient means, but you've neither had the opportunity or the sustainability to make it happen for the long haul. 


So I'd like you to think of this class as an Introduction to Struggle - an organized method -  an instigation - of change even when I don't know what change needs to happen for you. Through the articles I assemble and the research that I present to you, your first step is gaining knowledge because as Malcolm X said, "The future belongs to those who prepare for it today." With this knowledge comes answers, but it only matters when you gather the experiences and knowledge of your own life to make it relevant to you. This is when you'll be able to define your own change. That's why it's imperative that you spend time now to fill out your GPS. Yep, it can be emotionally draining. 


I make Urban FIRE challenging because building upon your sustainability is hard work - but the right thing to strive for. What I ask for is fully do-able and within the means of us all. Whatever reason you have for not submitting your GPS or in not reading through the assignments is not acceptable. Your choices are clear: continue the way you've always operated and stay where you're at or take the challenge to struggle and get your answers. Remember: failure is not an option; it is mandatory. There is no success without your progressive mindset to embrace failure as a part of getting to your goal. 


So today, let's honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who fought for us at the risk of his own life. I know that we've all said, "I have a dream." Today is the day to deliver because tomorrow does not exist. Urban FIRE is do now.


With sincere desires for your prosperity, 
Boku

Entrepreneurship nor Humans Are Expected to be Perfect

For a supplement to your GPS, please check out this video on a TED talk given by Brene Brown. Give it a bit of time to warm up because what she does is build her case and concludes with a resounding bit of wisdom.
http://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_on_vulnerability.html

"When will there be a harvest for the world?"

Hello Good People, 
I've got a loose ended proposal that looks like an empty bottle thirsting to be filled with good ideas. I originally sent this to a few people but it’s time to open it up because we’re all concerned and it’s us – the everyday people – who need to be the decision-makers. If we wait for our “leaders” to solve our problems, we’ll be waiting in the breadlines.

So let’s do something like our forefathers: let’s make up new rules, change the playing field and dust off that original meaning of democracy. Too long, it’s just been treated like a storefront mannequin, getting a new dress when the new fashion wind blows. If real change is going to happen it ain’t coming from those who put us here in the first place as Albert Einstein once quipped. It’s one person joining a neighbor joining a cousin joining a colleague joining a Facebook friend. Nothing to lose but the chains around the status quo.   I realize you're busy as hell and I fully respect that but like me, you’ve probably been saying that for years.

Myself and Paul Lamb of Man on a Mission - http://www.manonamission.biz/ - were asked by The Hub -  http://bayarea.the-hub.net/public/ - to help them understand the social justice priorities of the East Bay because they're relatively new to this area. They are an international organization that works on a local level in a variety of social and entrepreneurial programs. The premise is simply that "social justice begins with us." The Hub wants to create an on-going program of social justice advocacy. Not that they'll own; it'll belong to all of us but it'll be conveniently accessible to us via The Hub.  

Somewhere down the road, we need to build a forum or an on-going dialogue for which we participate actively 
either in person or online. Somewhere we need to start even if we don't have the perfect venue; even if we don't 
understand all that we need to. Because when we start something, then other voices will chime in and through 
these new voices, we'll begin to figure things out. 

I realize that social justice is an extremely broad term and the idea of having a convening to discuss social justice is 
like discussing food. It's a supermarket jungle. But the idea comes from a book I read entitled "Sitting In the Fire" by Arnold Mindell. There is one passage that struck me as the essence as to why we need a dialogue on social justice. Here is a short section of that passage pertaining to a meeting around racism that happened in Oakland in 1992: 

"It was a cacophony of themes, voices and pain. In the midst of the chaos, a Black man spoke out with fury about 
the privilege of whites who give the good jobs to other whites while Blacks get the undesirable jobs. Things 
escalated. A white man came forward to meet him and the two men raged at each other, face to face, inches 
apart. The Black man screamed at the white man about his sense of supremacy and privilege, and the white man 
warned the Black that if he did not cool off and speak reasonably he would get his “ass kicked.” 

"That did it. The fire roared. Privilege means, as the reader will realize by now, not only economic power, but the 
privilege of being cool, calm and detached in communication – the privilege of not having to listen to the rage, fury 
and sadness of those without power. The whites suddenly split apart; some tried to silence the white man, while 
others stood by to support him. Blacks came forward and rallied around the Black speaker." 

In an urban farming project I had initiated in Oakland, a similar situation happened between various members. We were all working for the same goal but our ways of communicating with each other were disconnected and misunderstood. This happens when people of different color, different social and economic backgrounds and different ages merge together.  Had we taken the time to sit, restated our purpose for coming together and requested more clarity with each other, we would still be working together.

There is no doubt that we are all hurting by the economy, by the overall disenfranchisement of our social system. 
And if we remain separated in our little groups, then we'll continue to suffer when the real problem is the same for 
all of us. If we don't unite we stay status quo and we continue to fight over scraps. So social justice begins with us. 
We are the leaders we've been waiting for and we need to take back the power and control if we're to beat the 
crap out of social injustice.

So my challenge is identifying the most important issues of social justice. Break it down; specify it: 
* Our toxic food system?
* Our incarceration system?
* Our one-sided economic system?
* Our education system?
* Our eroding environment?
* Our unaffordable health system?
* the continued death of our social service system?
* Our inability to see our own racism, ageism and sexism?
* Our inability to unite to fight the same enemy?

So, it comes down to organizing and building a movement that gains traction and high profile so that it does not 
remain in the closet but feels like a popsicle stick shoved up our nose. President Obama would agree. In 1990, he 
wrote the following:

“In theory, community organizing provides a way to merge various strategies for neighborhood empowerment. 
Organizing begins with the premise that 1) the problems facing inner-city communities do not result from a lack of 
effective solutions, but from a lack of power to implement these solutions; 2) that the only way for communities to 
build long-term power is by organizing people and money around a common vision, and 3) that a viable organization 
can only be achieved if a broadly based indigenous leadership – and not one or two charismatic leaders – can knit 
together the diverse interests of their local institutions."

So, any ideas; what the main issue? Is there a venue for this discussion? Who should be included? How do we gain 
momentum and get something that's real and concrete to come out of this; something that kicks ass to our main 
issue? Would we then gain the momentum and power to take on the other issues?

I realize this all sounds like stuff you've heard before. But on the other hand, when are we going to see change? When does that start? Not the politico rendition but the real one; the one when education is open to everyone, when your doctor isn't about going to the emergency room and young men don't feel the need to carry a weapon anymore. 

Anyway, I've written this because we matter - you matter. And you have the resources, connections and 
knowledge to make it happen. Can you get on board? In the words of the Isley Brothers: "When will there be a 
harvest for the world?"

- Boku

Parenting: First Offensive On The War on Poverty

The Core Issue

For a long time, I've been composing an argument in my head that speaks to the research I've been doing for the past 11 years. I need to keep constantly vigil of how I might provide a better service to those in our disenfranchised communities consisting primarily of African Americans in the inner cities. My entrepreneurship training program is one thing but there is a more fundamental training that needs to be addressed: teaching young people to become responsible, selfless parents who will mode an inquisitive, loving child into an inquisitive, loving adult.

Too often, a child growing up without proper parenting ends up out on the streets looking for connections - to belong - and usually finds it in all the wrong places. Parenting is the most important responsibility a human has once a child is brought into the world. Life's priorities need to change. Partying, staying out all night, spending money until you're in debt, regretting the baby's presence are no longer options. They must now be far down on your list of priorities. Parenting must become one of the top four responsibilities (the other three are passionate life work, personal happiness and financial security).

I'm responding to the constant data in the media, in repetitious research studies, in the neverending amounts spent by foundations to find out why African Americans continue to lag behind in education and professional careers; why there is a disporportionate number of black men in prisons and why such a huge percentage of African Americans are in poverty. It starts with a parent not parenting. It begins as a one-on-0ne home environment and while societal conditions will play a major part, the most influential aspect of any child growing up is the parent. The parent has the most control of how their child will come out as an adult.

Enough Already; Do Something!

Every decade, a dozen or so well-publicized studies are conducted, paid by foundations to showcase their purpose and written quite expertly by well-honed PhD candidates and other for-hire scholars. The study might be localized to a particular city, a specific community or a group of students in a single school, but the results come back the same and usually, the recommendations follow similar patterns. In fact, most studies will reference past studies and cite each other's qualifications to justify their conclusions. So in fact, the paradigm never changes. Who did you say these studies benefitted?

Data is useless without action. What we need is more sweat on the streets with people being well paid to care for our communities with well defined, realistic outcomes. Get over the fact that anything will have a quick solution - that's your local politican talking. Ain't going to happen because we've been mired with a hundred years of "usual" business practices that seem to take resources away from their intended target. (Several years ago, I was told that a $3 million federal grant I had initiated required us to turn over $500,000 to a local government agency for their "endorsement" even though they had little to do with our project.)

We need a new paradigm; a new way of doing business in the social service sector of our society. The status quo usually resides with those in control, and it's there because they're quite satisfied with their positions. So whenever you start acting as if you're entering the status quo, have someone kick you really hard in the head. Complacency is a prime character of the status quo and action merely becomes your butt sitting at a computer and writing glorified, justified mumbo jumbo data for some foundation. Oh, there might actually be lots of things hopping and social servants will tell you how over-worked they are. But if you were to analyze their duties, I'll bet most of it is creating report that no one will seriously look at or data collection that will have minimal usage or writing documents to justify "stuff."

Real Social Change

I believe that entrepreneurship training addresses one major level of real social change when conducted as a five-prong process:

1. civil rights

2. economic justice

3. ethical business practices

4. the science of personal success and

5. engaging in community improvements

And it does so at a fraction of the expense. Like the growing Green Industry which is reducing our dependence on foreign oil, entrepreneurship will reduce our dependence on social service as we know it now.

As I conduct my training, I bear witness to many of my students who continue to have difficulties in keeping up with the work. As much as most of them have the highest intentions of succeeding, their ability to focus and sustain their determination lags behind their desires resulting in broken promises to themselves.

Without a doubt, if you're born poor in America, the odds are you will be at a social and personal disadvantage. The experiences and the environment one gets dealt will weigh heavy in your way of thinking. For instance, many poor babies grow without enough parental love and care because parenting skills are lacking in young mothers, fathers are absent and the lack of money requires the mother to work without adequate childcare.

It's Not Just Environmental

Recent brain research has shown that a lack of nurturing retards the development of that area of the brain responsible for caring of others and social responsiblity. So that a lack of one's responsibilities and a lack of achievements is not just a social conditioning but more importantly, a mental conditioning. The good news is we can dramatically improve those skills.

In his book, "The Talent Code," Daniel Coyle writes about an experiment in an urban school where 700 students were divided into two groups at the beginning of a semester. One group was encouraged to make a good effort. The other group was informed that recent brain research proved that diligence in studying improved intelligence. In other words, intelligence was a learning process, not an inherited trait. The results: the second group had far better grades. (A side note: the number of immigrants who have launched their businesses without so much as a training program - forget for a moment whether these businesses succeed or not. Why are they more determined and with far less fear to launch a business?)

For me, the million dollar question was why my African American students had the most difficulty in starting a business? Yep, the research is there, and I now know the answer - even though incomplete - it still raises my awareness and forges some action, starting with this blog entry.

Is it me or don't other people want to actively pursue a solution for such a fundamental necessity as parenting education? Not that it's not there; it's that we don't fund it the level we need to in order that future kids don't get discarded. We want our futures to thrive with caring people and those who will work towards a global peace and prosperity. Why we haven't done much about this issue is the real question. It would probably cost about one B1 Bomber.

Here's my take on why we've injected little time and money into parenting education: 1. it's not sexy or news-catchy; 2. there's no quick solutions so that politicans and government agencies can benefit from it and 3. we're doing it already, and we don't need to tweak it. It's like the battered woman who can't leave her abuser because at least she knows what's going to happen rather than leaving and entering into the unknown. (I've experienced the reluctance to support my entrepreneurship program by social service organizations because they understand job training not job creation. I've even had one organization call me a threat to their existence!)

Maintaining the Status Quo

For all that's been written, for all the research, for all the political posturing, for the trillion dollars spent; in the end, little has changed over the years in America as it pertains to the poor in the inner cities. Yes, it is a societal issue that affects every one of us. We forge ahead with new social programs every few years with new names and new missions. And we continue to get the same results. Maybe the status quo is saying that in order for the status quo to exist, we must always have poor people. So if you're poor, the status quo is your enemy but the status quo always seems to just sit there on its big fat behind because few people are nudging it. As former Black Panther Huey Newton once said, "If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem."

So the status quo looks like this: politicians boasts of being saviors, social service agencies maintain business as usual and the poor continue to serve as pawns of the federal money game. It's like legalized money laundering because the "clients" are kept quiet with chump change every two weeks while the real deal gets washed, folded and tucked away by the keepers of the laundermat.

In the meantime, the most basic problem - lack of parenting and the lack of a well-funded education around parenting - stays, well, status quo.

If you want to see real change starting with the most fundamental criteria, there's two levels of attack that need to take place simultaneously:

1. fight for parenting education as a requirement starting in middle school so that future parents realize their roles and responsibilities as parents in caring for their children. (Think about the killings that happen in inner city communities now that you understand how little children without proper love and guidance grow into youths without that part of their brain holding human life as precious or of social responsibility.)

2. seek out the brain research that's available now to understand how you can identify your learning ability, how to grow those parts of your brain that are the most important to you and how to achieve success by tapping into the new science of brain optimization. Some popular books to suggest:

"Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell

"Talented Is Overrated" by Geoff Colvin

"The Talent Code" by Daniel Coyle

"How We Decide" by Jonah Lehrer

"Brain Rules" by John Medina.