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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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How do you get IT back? Easy, you never lost IT!

Ever look at yourself in the mirror and ask yourself the question "What happened to me?" or "Why am I not attractive?" or "What ever happened to that kick ass woman or man I used to be?"

Ever think about what ever happened to the "IT" factor that you used to have.  You know, when you were afraid of NOTHING.  You knew you could another job in a second.  You knew you could blew away an exam without even studying.  You didn't care if that guy or that girl left you because there were 4 more waiting. 

You were FINE! You were all that and a bucket of chitlins! (That's right, just STANKIN for no reason!)  You had it all going on and you couldn't be touched.

Then, what happens?  You let the PRESENT become the PAST!  You let the IT become the THAT!

When you were 15 points lighter, THAT was when you had to fight off the girls and the guys.

When you were making 'A's in school, THAT was was when you couldn't be touched academically.

When you were moving from one job to another and not worrying about the future, THAT was when you were FEARLESS!

You WISH you could find THAT person again.  Well, unless you are having some sort of OUT OF BODY experience, you are still THAT person. 

But you know what happened, you started focusing on the thing you couldn't change as opposed to what you could?  Still confused?  WRAP your mind around.

IN the grander scheme of things, there is ONE very BASIC fundamental thing that you can NOT change: TIME! You are going to get older.  Your bones are going to get a little fragile.  Your ability to metabolize is going to get a little slower.  You can't CHANGE time.   What happens is that we get so upset by all of the incidental things that come with time, we let the "IT" factor in us to into the "THAT" factor.  When you were YOUNG, you were fearless.  When you were LIGHTER, you had more men or women after you.  When you FIRST started working, you could move from job to job.  When you were in your 20s, you had your whole life laid out including grad school and that corporate job, the big money salary, and the lifestyle.

Well, you can't CHANGE time.  You can CHANGE your MINDSET!!  Listen, I can't tell you how many times I've gotten mad at single parents telling me that they want to get their degrees but they can't because they have kids.  My mother got her Master's degree when I was 8 years old.  I can't tell you how many times I had to sit in the lobby of the school while she was in class.  CRAZY!  Who told you that you can't make a career change now that you have a family???  Where did that lie come??

Now, I know some of you have been watching TOO many model shows but let me tell you something, I have known plenty of Full Size woman who can stop men in their tracks!!  One of my best friends and frat brother (who's nick name is Big Sexy) once said, "It's amazing, I actually more attention from women when I got BIGGER as opposed to being smaller!"

And why do you think that you CAN'T follow that life plan you had?  You can still get to where you want to go and be what you want to be.  And STOP using that crappy line, "THINGS change!".  No! Times CHANGE! Circumstances CHANGE! Knowledge CHANGES!  But only YOU can CHANGE what you plan to do!

Stop taking the easy way out by convincing yourself that you no longer have IT anymore!  Trust me, you are just as smart as you were then.  You are just as competent as you were then.  You are just as sexy and fine as you were then.

Remember, the only difference between the person you are today and the person you were 10 years ago is TIME, Experience, Gravity, and a few pounds!  Instead of beating yourself over what you think you have lost and left you, spend time re-establishing what has always been there.

How do you get IT back?  Easy, you never lost IT to begin with!! DAMMIT! :-)