2006 November - Black In Business

November 13th, 2006

Dr. King

Dr. King’s Dream

This morning at 5:30am on CNN I heard the following, “The rich and famous are gathered to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Junior!” My wife informed me that former president Bill Clinton spoke. Billionaire Oprah Winfrey was also present. I wondered about Clarence Thomas, the only black sitting on the supreme court and a person who benefited greatly from Dr. King’s movement. Did Judge Thomas participate?

USA Today’s had a headline that read, “Dr. King’s dream comes true.” No doubt this is a proud moment for the King family and I’m sure they are all proud to bask in the sun, from the bright light of the King legacy.

If Dr. King were alive he would not be 80 years old yet. We all know of people in their late 70’s that have a very sharp mind still. A few things to consider.

Dr. King turned down the money from his Nobel Peace Prize in order to help the poor.

When Dr. King lost his life, he was fighting for the garbage collectors in Memphis.

Dr. King was among the first to speak out against the war in Vietnam.

Would he celebrate his honor with the rich and famous, or the regular folk he cared so deeply about?

Would he have joined George Bush and both sides of Congress in endorsing their vote for war?

Would Democrats in Congress have voted for the war if Dr. King had lived?

Would he feel his dream had come true?

Dr. King may have taken more pride in the every day people that follow black in business and the every day business owners. He would want for us to be judged by the content of our character and not the color of our skin.

Progress has been made, but there is still so far to go. As blacks in business , we have moved pass blaming racism for our short comings. We accept the fact of hope and acknowledge if the mind can conceive and believe then we will achieve.

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November 12th, 2006

Jaime Parks

Support Black Business

A fun part of my childhood took place when my father’s friend would come visit. My dad was an iron ore miner and most of his buddies were too. All of these black men were like second fathers to me and were a part of my extended family. One man use to work the 11 to 7am shift and my dad worked the 3 to 11am shift. Mr. H would stop by the house in the morning for coffee with my dad. Their conversations would mostly end in arguments and one of them would always say, “You will not believe me until someone white tells you, the white man ice is colder.”

I heard a story about a black woman who was getting a new basement put in. A black contractor bid for the job and was considerably less than the competition. The black woman met with the black contractor a couple of times, but could not do the deal. The gentleman seemed qualified, but she felt the white firm would do a better job. She met with the white firm and argreed to a cost much higher. The job was scheduled to start on the following Monday. You can imagine the surprise this lady felt when she opened the door and there stood the black contractor. She said, there must be some kind of mistake. I hired the “white is right” company and the black contractor said you are right, but I work for the “white is right” company too. This lady paid more for “colder ice”, but still got the same workman. Other races support each other and so should we.

Saying all that to say this, attorney Jaime Parks supports black business. I met Jaime online and he commented on my first blog, “Barber Shop.” Jaime is in my blog roll and he is a leading thinker regarding use of technology in law firms. Jaime has a picture of Dr. King’s mug shot, with a great mission statement included.

Jaime’s support of black causes and business is an example to us all. As follows are a few highlights of Jaime Parks.

The owner of LawTechFirm.com and founder of VaXzine Labs, Jaime Parks, specializes in assisting litigators with their client’s case presentation development and familiarizing attorneys with new technology. Jaime has operated courtroom technology for jury trials, arbitrations, mediations, speeches, and exemplary presentations. Mr. Parks goals is to continue growing LawTechFirm.com and eventually launch his first global startup company in April of 2007.

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November 11th, 2006

My Blogroll

The nature of my blogroll:

I fell that many of these blogs will be of interest to business people….

Ben Yoskovitz, under the name boyosko in my blogroll, works extensively in the technology industry, including web design, software development, blogging and podcasting. Ben has been in the business for 10 years.

Chris Baggott, whom I have known for more than 20 years, is a leader in database marketing. Chris is the co-founder and chief marketing officer of Exact Target’s market leading on-demand email software solutions.

The blog titled ConverStations, was developed by Mike Sansone, a blog coach, helping many companies and professionals launch and improve their business blog sites.

Douglas Karr, a personal mentor, is currently a product manager for a major permission-based Email Service Provider.

Shawn Hessings is the creater of the website BootStapme.com, a website that advises you on how to bootstrap your business to fame and fortune.

Zenophon Abraham Jr., under the name Zennie in my blogroll, is the designer and developer of the XFL Simsworld and the Oakland Baseball Simsworld and the creator of the website business model around which SBS products are built.

Michael Parekh, was the lead research analyst for the IPO’s of Internet Companies like UUNET, Yahoo!, eBay, America Online and many other similar companies. He currently splits his time between the East and West coast with several trips to Asia and Europe, focusing on Internet trends, technologies and investments.

Chris Cree is the creator of the blog CREEations, a blog of practical life and philosophy. Chris’s goal is to challenge the way people look at the world.

Colin Sullivan, the author of the blog Chronic Pain, has spent close to 20 years working for Wall Street, where he’s responsibilities included analysis, turnarounds, gap analysis and driving revenue.

Clary Lopez is a member of the blog site Guerrilla Marketer’s Cafe. This is a site where authors and readers can mingle. Clary is an author, photographer, webmaster and moderater. Clary’s book Simplicity-Richness of Life, explain’s her philosophy on how to do as much as you can without complicating your life.

Michael Seneadza, a Stanford graduate and the creator of the website Trader Mike, has been a professional trader since 1999.

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November 11th, 2006

In Memory of Ed Bradley

The death of Ed Bradley was profound to many of us who admired Mr. Bradley’s work and style. He gave us hope in a time where rolls for Blacks on t.v were reserved mostly to sports and comedy. He was a giant news journalist with the courage to be a man with a sense of individual style. He dared to wear facial hair and an earring on air, during a time when it was considered risky and cool. Mr. Bradley was a very deep and focused man. He will be missed.

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November 9th, 2006

Modern Day Black in Corporate America Success Story

Recently I had dinner with a gentleman that has become the essence of a successful brother. I first met this gentleman when I was a recruiter for Abbott Diagnostics Division. My associate, whom I will refer to as BM, was a junior military officier. BM was considering a move to the corporate world and had a background that was attractive to my company. We had good luck with Junior miltary officers,”JMO’s,” they had ambition, worked hard and had accepeted large responsibilty at an early age. BM made me very proud of the way he has seized the opportunity given to him and became a star. BM drives a 2 seater Mercedes, owns a big house in the south and has traveled the world. When we met he was well dressed and extremely confident. I quized him because many folk do not reach that level of success.

Family influenced BM’s thinking. His mother told him he could do anything. His parents were not formally educated, his mom went to 5th grade and his dad had no education. I can relate to that because my Dad only went to the 3rd grade. Yet BM’s parents showered him with love and set a sense of expectation that has carred him on. BM recalled football games across town verses, upper class white teams with better equipment. Yet the poorer, ill equipped BM and his teamamtes always won because they expected to. BM want on to a historically black university on a ROTC scholarship. He was in ROTC in high school and met an older white man, who saw BM’s potential and became one of BM’s biggest supporters. Early in BM’s journey to adulthood, 3 keys to his now success were evident. Strong foundation of parents and a mentor, desire exhibited through sports, and a belief that it could happen.

BM finished college and went to the military as an officier. His interview with me was so powerful that I became determind to have him as part of the Abbott family. We flew him in from Nashville to St Louis, to meet with two people. BM blew them away with his intellect and communication skills. There was a managers meeting going on that day and this young black JMO endured an additional 5 interviews before he was cleared to recieve his offer. We have discovered that top notch black talent often times will have to sit through much more scrutiny than whites. BM was prepared, after all he was also an army ranger, the baddest of the bad.

BM first assignment was in sales and he was given a territory made up of accounts, no body wanted and we had no marketing programs to address. You ask why do many blacks fail? It is because of reasons like the asignment BM was given. He kicked butt and became a decroated salesman, salesmanager, international product manager, and even worked in acquisitions as a manager. BM also excelled as a trainer and his leadership in all of these roles allowed all those associated with him to enjoy great years. BM is now a director with a major company in life science.

BM has accomplished a lot and has done great. Yet in my opinon, there are still less talented whites that recieve higher positions on less accomplishment. BM has completed his MBA and has every credible certification in training to continue to improve. For young people building your career, BM’s story is a good indication of what it takes.

In closing BM has worked hard, excelled in leadership, cared to help his empolyees excel and continued to improve his credentials. He has lofty goals and some day may sit in a CEO job. BM with all of his God given talent feels if he can over come being a d black man in the white business world full of sterotypes and bias than more blacks should. Read BM’s story carefully, there is a lot to gain from his jouney.

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