Black In Business

Here we go again! This story is getting great coverage outside the mainstream media. I wish for all young blacks to have a opportunity for leading a productive life. I wish I could respect and honor cops, but as a father to young black men, I am fearful for their lives at the hands of police.
Richard Pyror once did a album where he discussed being stopped by the police as a young black man,”Officir I am reaching for my wallet because I don’t want to be in no MFing accident. It was a funny and scary situation.A young black man stopped and even mature adults that are black, are correct to fear the police. The cops are seen as potectors and heroes in some communities. In my community, the black community a overwhelming majority would see the police as evil. That is why we celebrated when OJ was found not gulity.
In January I came across a new and excellent blogger that goes by the name Villager. I predict villager will enter the top 10,000 bloggers in the world, he just landed in the top 100,000. Please visit his site and see his insights on cop killings.

Electronic Village
The Electronic Village is a ‘virtual village’ created in the African tradition with an eclectic collection of insights, input and information. Take a moment to introduce yourself. Add your flavor to this blog and enjoy the heavily traveled parts of our village and the rest of the flow…

Unarmed Blackman Killed by Police
4/20/07 - Updated information for those able to attend the march or funeral services.

This has been a violent week. Hundreds died in Iraq. Hundreds more died in Darfur. 32 were killed on the Virginia Tech campus. As such, you may not have heard. Another unarmed Blackman was shot in the back and killed by the police. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is looking into the shooting of two brothers by Fulton County police officers that left one dead and the other seriously injured outside a nightclub early Sunday. Neither of the brothers were armed.

Fulton and state officers are looking for evidence and talking to people who witnessed the shooting of Roy Pettaway III, 27, and his brother, Ron Pettaway, 26. The incident happened on a sidewalk outside the Frozen Palace nightclub in south Fulton County. Shots were fired after the brothers allegedly got into an altercation with the two officers who arrived to break up a fight at the nightclub. I’m fairly certain that barroom fights don’t carry a death penalty in America. Yet, one brother is dead and the other had a bullet removed by doctors in the emergency room.

The officers, each of whom has fewer than two years on the force, are on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation. Their names have not been released.

Services will be held for Ron on Saturday at Liveoak Baptist Church, 2601 Flat Shoals Road, in College Park on what would have been his 27th birthday. The Rev. Markel Hutchins, a civil rights activist and Pettaway family spokesman, said there will be a march from the Frozen Palace to the church for the funeral. The funeral itself will be held on Saturday, April 21 at 10:00 am, on what would have been Ron’s 27th birthday.

We encourage any villagers who live in the Atlanta area, or anywhere in Georgia, to attend the march. A special section in Liveoak’s sanctuary will be set aside for families of other metro Atlantans allegedly victimized by police, Hutchins said. Hutchins and the victims’ relatives have been vocal in their outrage over the shooting that they have described as nothing short of murder and a violation of the brothers’ civil rights.

You can learn more about this situation from other AfroSpear bloggers here, here and here. Also, I see where the Pettaway family posted relevant news and video on the case.

I live in Cincinnati, OH. We had similar issues with our police department that came to a head in April 2001 when the 15th Black man was killed by the local police. The Cincinnati uprising made international news. The city is still dealing with the real and perceived problems in community-police relations.

I understand that DeKalb police had a dozen fatal shootings in 2006 and Atlanta officers shot an elderly woman to death during a botched police raid on her home. My hope is that folks will learn from the past and deal proactively with this situation in Fulton County before it blows up into a similiar situation.

Yesterday, activists asked the governor to get engaged in the issue.

It was a violent week. However, we cannot afford to let the shooting of unarmed Blackmen be swept under the rug. The African American Online Network, known as the AfroSpear, must ask the major newspapers and mass media, why they have not come out with editorials condemning this shooting. What justification can there be for not speaking out?

The first quarter is over the numbers are in, how did you do? Early this year we spoke of business plans and the importance of keeping them updated.I used these in organizations where I managed managers. I would have the managers do a group business plan, with quarterly goals and objectives set. As with all goals we would have dates and time lines established for the steps of the sales to be accomplished. We also used timelines when I worked with R & D on new product releases.The point is regardless of your aspect in business you can measure your progress via commiting to a time frame.

A meeting to review action plans and update them has been on the calendar since the new year started. These meetings are critical to accomplishing goals, coaching, employee development, communication and morale. You give advance notice because you do not want any one absent.Depending upon how the team is doing or a individual performer performing, these meetings can be a time of glory and recognition. In rare cases it can be a time of despair and even drama. Many times it is somewhere in between.

My philosohpy is as the nation leader the pressure should be more on me and my direct manager reports to make things happen, than on the sales reps. An error mangement Often times makes if for the pressure all going downhill and the front line people bear the brunt of it.Your team will feel that no one supports them. These sessions can establish you and your local managers as great leaders.The goal for the business plan review session is to acknowledge success and reinforce we are there to help the team and team members win. This is very important, your team must know you are willing to walk the walk with them in order to help.

A suggested format for the meeting to review frist quarter performance is as follows.
The local manager would present on projection screen, the team goals for the first qtr and report on the results for each goal.
Significant contributors to achievement would receive recognition. This can as simple as a stand up to applause, or gift card, to a weekend get away.
The team goals for the second quarter would be reviewed along with key events that must take place in order to exceed the objectives.The local manager should be confident these goals will be achieved or adjust them to reflect what can be accomplished. If the second quarter goals can not be met, let’s discuss it now and not mislead anyone

A good format for the Rep presentations is as follows;
Similar review as local manager
First Quarter Accomplishments
Dissapointments
Critical factors for achieving 2nd quarter number.
Gap Analysis, If your numbers are running short, give a plan to make up the gap and assign a probability %

Sufficient time should be planned to have a team building event at the end of the business day.This could be a pizza and root beer party, or real beer, golf ,bowling attend a ball game etc. The better the team is doing the more elaborate you get. Adward success!
As a leader, you will want your team member exhibit a sense of pride in their presentation and you will want to be active with feedback good and bad. You are teaching your people how to be professional.
I am interested i n your feedback on how to meet an annual goal and things to do at this point in the year. Lets share!

I remember when I first got into the business world as a Xerox salesman. I loved being in sales, wearing a suit, having a card and having a opportunity to make money. Management in those days was a strategy of intimidation. The managers were almost abusive. One day I told my direct supervisor You hired me you do not own me and if you speak to me like that again, I will come across the desk and whip your ass. I was 24 years old and i didnot get my degree to be treated less than a man. I also was single and had very little bills so I could have handled being fired. I did not get fired and my manager started treating me like a human but I decided then to become a manager that made business fun.
Do unto others as you would have them do onto you became my moto. I learned things not to do and how not to treat people from many poor managers. In fairness they were excellent managers but poor leaders. I became a leader. What is the difference, (leave a comment on how you see the difference between a manager and a leader,) to me the difference, a manager manages the details and a leader leads the people. That is it people vs details.
Motivation is a big part of leading. Here are some of the things I have done to excite people.
Leased a new BMW sport car converitible, given to my top sales person
Hired Earth ,Wind and Fire to play for 200 couples at our company Presidents Club
Established a million dollar club
When traveling often times would invite the significant others to dinner with the team
Announce every new business close on the company wide voicemail, like a MC with music and energy
Gave nicknames to the best performers
Helped team members reach their goals.
establish a team theme or rally cry
Made it fun
How about you, what have you seen work?

Chris Baggott is a businessman you should check out. We were in Vegas together recently and his awareness of business opportunity is keen. He is one of the leading authorities on Email marketing and has an award winning blog. Chris hipped me to the black blogger activism study done by Ivy League Brown University.
This study points out black bloggers are more active in social issues and political involvement. Many ask for readers to contact their political leaders. It is noteworthy, blackbloggers do not feel discriminated against by other members of the blogosphere. The nitch for activism appears to fill a void in the mainstream media regarding some serious issues.
We have recent examples that exhib this activism is having an influence. Shaquanda Cotton is a child, who in George Bush’s Texas was sentenced to 7 years in prision for a violation that should have been punished by a school suspension. Don Imus is a celebrated and now humuliated racist shock jock. The activism by black bloggers made a diffenence and cause good debate on these social issues.
Thers is a strong movement,among some elite black bloggers to come down on black rappers and trying to bring some good out of the Imus debacle. This activism is misguided and is viewed as an attempt to get back in the good graces of white folk by bringing down a force in the black community. An eye for an eye, embarrass the white racist, whom many if not most white people felt did nothing wrong, be sure to find some black people to go after.

April 5, 2007
Contact: Deborah Baum
(401) 863-2476
E-Activism: Analysis of Black Bloggers in the Blogosphere
In the first scholarly research examining the role of black bloggers, Brown University’s Antoinette Pole found that bloggers of color are using this burgeoning medium to encourage political participation and activism. She also found that black bloggers do not feel discriminated against or excluded by other bloggers. Her findings appear in the International Journal of Technology, Knowledge and Society.

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PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — In the first scholarly research examining the role of black bloggers in the blogosphere, Brown University researcher Antoinette Pole assessed how bloggers of color use their medium for purposes related to politics. She found that black bloggers are, in fact, mobilizing readers to engage in political participation. Additionally, Pole found that black bloggers do not feel discriminated against or excluded by other bloggers. These findings appear in the International Journal of Technology, Knowledge and Society.

Among the top political blogs, Pole says blogging has primarily been undertaken by white men, coined by Chris Nolan as the “Big Boys Club.” She says blacks comprise approximately less than 1 percent of political bloggers.

“Though they are less numerous, examining the role of minorities in the blogosphere is important if blogs are being used to engage in political discourse and discussion, and more importantly, political action that has real-world implications,” Pole said. “Who has influence in the blogosphere and how bloggers are using this new medium to undertake political action merits study.”

Based on in-depth interviews with 20 black bloggers conducted in November 2005, Pole’s study found that 85 percent of respondents use their blogs to engage in political advocacy and to raise money for charitable causes. A majority of the bloggers said they encouraged their readers to vote or to register to vote; 40 percent of the bloggers asked their readers to contact elected officials; 35 percent suggested that their readers sign a petition or attend a rally, protest, or march. Several of the bloggers mentioned using their blogs to endorse candidates for office. Compared to other research examining blogging and political participation, black bloggers appear to be engaged in these online advocacy efforts and philanthropic endeavors to a greater degree than their white counterparts, according to the paper.

“I assumed these bloggers were writing about politics and policy issues, but I didn’t realize the extent to which the authors mobilize their readers and use blogs as a conduit for political participation,” said Pole.

When black bloggers were asked whether they felt discriminated against or left out by other bloggers, a majority of respondents said they do not. “While black bloggers face challenges such as not being linked by more popular bloggers or not receiving as much traffic as other bloggers, they perceive the blogosphere as inclusive.”

Pole also found that black political bloggers do not necessarily blog about issues that are unique to minorities, though at times, they emphasize how issues affect blacks in particular. Respondents commonly reported writing about a variety of topics including race and ethnicity, party politics, and campaigns and elections.

“Findings from this research suggest the blogosphere can be an avenue for greater political participation on the part of blacks and other minorities, given the relatively low threshold to entry and what appear to be low levels of discrimination,” Pole concludes.

This paper is part of Pole’s forthcoming book titled Blogging the Political: Politics and Participation in a Networked Society, which examines the impact of political blogging on politics and participation.

Editors: Brown University has a fiber link television studio available for domestic and international live and taped interviews, and maintains an ISDN line for radio interviews. For more information, call (401) 863-2476.

There is no title because words can not describe the 2 hours of horror experienced during the VA Tech Massacre. We have experienced violence in this country, the past few years. 9-11, shock and awe, Saddam murder, some of the violence we celebrated, some we were surprised and frighten. Yesterday we were shocked.31 people lost their lives, thousands more lost innocence.
We all want to show our sorrow, our support, our love toward the families of the dead. We want to pray for the family of the killer and his soul. At some point we want to understand. Is God trying to get our attention? We have killed thousands of Inocent Iraq citizens as we celebrated shock and awe. The horror of death by murder was on our TV’s last night. Our national leadership has resorted to violence and now in an exquisite setting in the western part of a state for lovers,death and violence was front and center. Violence rears it ugly head in inner cities on a regular basis, few care but now in our TV rooms we watched and wondered, why? America vilolence is fastly becoming part of our lecagy. Have we ever lost 31 soiders in George Bush’s war, like we did yesterday on a college campus?
My nephew recieved his master degree and PHD in engineering from Virginia Teck. He was on his way last night to be near the campus. I have spent many a night in Blacksburgh, at the Marriott hotel off route 81. I always enjoyed myself. Guess who is going to Blacksburgh today? Our President George Bush. Did he learn and become more sensitive since Katrina, or was Kanye West right?
Please see the link describing the stop blogging initciative for April 30. To support the famiies of the dead, we bloggers can band together and pray for their recovery.
Stop Blogging