Lost and found

"Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me....
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now, I see."

I read a financial article that spoke about tightening up your fiscal game in these uncertain times and some of its talking points really resonated with me for more than obvious reasons. In the piece, the writer likened the range of emotions people feel when unprepared to their gut instincts when their money is being messed with. The pain of loss is something we grieve over more as opposed to celebrating the joy of gains. In simple terms, we are more sad we lose money than we are happy when we earn money. In my world, it struck me because I had a t-shirt created to vibe with a theme that had been running through my head. Legendary status. Or living legend. Or whatever you want to call it. Essentially, I am a fan of celebrating someone's life while they are still here to enjoy and partake in that celebration. This is especially hitting close to home right now because it has been a mere 2 days since I received word that my dear friend, Denise Luma, passed away. Denise was a very warm and genuine person. A fellow NEU alumnus, she did her thing in school and won accolades as a star student. Outside of class, she became part of an extended family of NSBE heads that all rolled together hard. But she eventually lost her battle with lupus. When I last visited her in the hospital, she was super pissed because she was mad hungry, yet we still cracked several jokes and spoke about President-elect Obama because dropping that "elect" prefix was still premature with the Inauguration a day away. Denise was full of energy and sass and as I chilled Monday night with 2 other friends reminiscing, I struck me that I have been quite blessed and lucky to not have had a death made such a immediate impact on my psyche until now. As my peers and I grow old, some relationships will fall off while others will continue to thrive. And yet I will continue to life each day as though it were my last. I've always harbored a disdain for death and those moments leading up to it. As the years go on, more pain will surely come my way; natural causes or otherwise. But I will say that I life is to be lived. Instead of mourning her passing, I will celebrate the many fun, hilarious, adventurous time we shared personally and with others. The thrill of waking up to a new day is not to be taken for granted. May you rest in peace, Miss Luma.

change the game

I happened to come across the web site for the 2025 Campaign for Black Men and Boys and immediately was drawn in to its purpose and content.

What could we do as a society to improve the life of a Black boy born in 2007 so that by the time he was eighteen his odds for success were significantly greater?

I'll admit that I was mostly captured because of their use of the phrase, "real change takes action." But that whole concept if measurable change takes me back to the days of learning about OGSMs and strategic planning. Many a meeting, group, organization, or entity has sat stagnant and frozen in time from talking more than doing. It is a pervasive and all-too-common ailment that afflicts many people. So naturally, I am highly intrigued by the clear direction and action steps that it offers. Nonetheless, the data is in-your-face and disheartening, but not futile. Given Half a Chance is the the Schott Foundation's 50 state report on public education and Black males. I did find some of the results surprising: New Jersey is the benchmark for graduation rates of Black male students for states enrolling more than 10,000 Black male students (74%), Maryland is the benchmark for the percentage of Black male students in Gifted/Talented programs (5.7%), and Massachusetts is the benchmark for Black male students scoring at or above Basic for Grade 8 Reading in 2007 (62%).

one down, plenty to go

It appears the homie, Bob Terrell, won't be running for an at-large city council seat after all. I had his Feb 27th campaign kick-off already in my calendar. Via email, he let folks know that he was bowing out gracefully.

Just a brief note to inform folks that, unfortunately, I'v had a major change in plans. I will not be running for public office this year. Having made a decision to run in late November 2008 this left us with a short amount of time to prepare for a major undertaking in 2009. It appears that we will not be able to put everything in place that we need in time to run an effective campaign.

I would like to thank those of you who expressed an interest in my candidacy but please be assured that I will be running for office in the not to distant future. I will keep my "account" with the Office of Campaign and Political Finance open so that I can activate a Committe-to-Elect any time I choose.

In the meatime i will not be idle. I will continue to be active on issues facing the City of Boston and buildings towards a run in the future. This will give me the time I need to develop the organization and gather the resources needed to win. Thanks again for your interest and support. I'll be in touch soon.

I got to know Bob 2 years ago when we worked on Mr Henriquez's campaign. I'm glad to see that he's still planning to launch a run for office in the near future. He's one of the city's leading voices in terms of public transit and is very involved with both ACE and the Roxbury Neighborhood Council. But....Sam Yoon finally decided to throw his hat in the race for mayor.

balling on a budget

So...the school district had its presentation of the preliminary fiscal year 2010 budget tonight and it's not too pretty. It is no secret that the economy is down everwhere and nowhere is that more evident than in municipalities across the country. Locally, the governor announced that there will be substantial cuts to local aid from the state, and despite any hopeful economic stimulus packages (read: bailout money for schools) it's gonna get uglier before it gets prettier.

For me, I've been a bit anxious myself as all the news has been circling in terms of layoffs, recession, and such. I know several folks close to me have had to bear the bad news of getting the proverbial boot. Personally, I love my job and the variety and challenge it offers. I'd prefer if my small department was left alone to continue doing the work we do to expose students to STEM careers and opportunities. But I ain't no dummy. Everything's on the table, son. pretty.

The preliminary budget recommendation lists a reductions in staff of an estimated 917 full-time equivalents. Damn ain't even the word. Principals are stressing. Teachers are stressing. Employees and administrative staff are stressing. And students and parents are stressing as well. As both an employee and a parent, I wear two hats in all of this. We had a Parent Council meeting this morning and the budget obviously dominated the conversation. Hopefully, being such a small school will work in our favor to limit the impact on my son and his fellow schoolmates, yet risk aversion is one scary, hairy b!tch. Even with the school closings already in progress for next year, there's no telling what the future may hold. Hell, we had to do our own petitioning just to get some information about when they were going to re-open the neighboring pool. Simply doing things in silo won't work alone. Expanding the number of zones from 3 to 5 and reducing transportation costs are just the tip of the iceberg.

Anyways, I just felt the need to quasi-vent and quasi-pontificate about this economy stuff. Trickle-down economics ain't no joke, yo. I'll have the resume ready for rapid fire if I need to dust it off and holla at some folks, ya dig? Regardless, we gonna keep pushing our agenda to stimulate and capture the attention and minds of youth interested in careers in technology. They are our future change leaders who will inherit our mistakes if we don't step up our game to do right by them. Speaking of which, I ran into Sister Tina today and she did he usual wowing of the crowd with a very inspirational and motivation speech about her son and the Peace Institute. I didn't know she'd be there, but it was goood to see her as always. We spoke briefly, but essentially the young professionals have to be more proactive in addressing the issues and concerns of our community. Whether it is related to the schools, politics, business development, or public safety; we cannot afford to keep resting on our laurels. I've seen a lot of great energy lately (from friends, co-workers, and stranges alike) and I've been burning the oil on several personal projects of mine (entrepreneurship, politics, board service, education, & photography), so here's to a 2009 full of substance and impact. Word.