Leeds is a playful city that’s full of breathtaking cultural and background sites, which are great fun to visit. over 100,000 people come to work in the city centre every single day and thousands more come to shop, eat out or just to enjoy the range of attractions Leeds has on offer.
Numerous industries have added to Leeds’ finances, but the city is especially well-known for its clothes trade. There are several well-known names associated with the city, comprising of Thomas Chippendale who began creating his well-known furniture there, and Michael Marks – of marks and spencer – who opened his 1st Penny Bazaar there in 1884.
In addition to this, it is also home to the historical Kirkgate Market. The market is Europe’s 2nd largest indoor market after Leicester and is open 6 days every single week. There are more than 400 stalls inside the market and a further 200 outside. It attracts over 100,000 visitors a week.
Kirkgate Market first opened in 1822 as an open air market & the 1st inside sections were constructed between 1850 and 1875. Unfortunately, much of the building, except the Vicar Lane frontage, was ruined in a 1975 fire. although, the Market was refurbished in the early 1990s & following this, Kirkgate Market was upgraded from a Grade II to a Grade I listed building.
Usually known as the ‘Knightsbridge of the North’, Leeds is a fantastic place for shoppers! It boasts over 1,000 shops, comprising of Harvey Nicholls, Louis Vuitton and more, scattered around its fashionable high streets, state-of-the-art malls, Victorian shopping arcades, big buildings & markets.
If you are not keen on shopping, you’ll be pleased to know that Leeds has plenty more places of interest. These include the very extraordinary thackery house museum and the leeds city art gallery, which caters to the artistic tourist. alternatively, you could visit one of the city’s fabulous parks or even the gorgeous millennium gardens, which are situated in the heart of the city.
These good-looking gardens were built to commemorate the millennium at a cost of £12 million & were funded by leeds council & the Millennium Commission. The gardens won a prize at the 2004 Chelsea Flower Show, although they were damaged this year due to a huge water fight that was organised on the social-networking web site, Facebook.
As well as fantastic shopping and culture, Leeds also boasts amazing culture. From exclusive bars and quaint pubs to gay bars & amazing night clubs, the city truly boasts something for all of us.
If you’dprefer to have an early night, you will be pleased to learn that the city also boasts some fantastic luxury hotels, comprising of the leeds novotel. These hotels offer a real treat, so you can’t fail to get a fantastic sleep and a amazing breakfast.
So, whether you are passing by Leeds for a fun evening out, a glamorous shopping trip or even a cultured weekend away, you will be spoiled for choice by the vast range of stimulating things to do. For more knowledge on things to do in Leeds and the surrounding areas, only telephone the local sightseer information board.
You’ll find Leeds is easy to get to via car, bus, coach and train. railway connections run from Leeds Railway Station, also called Leeds City, to the heart of london, Southampton, Bournemouth, Plymouth, Birmingham, Leicester, Bristol, Manchester, Liverpool and plenty of other destinations throughout the UK.
Krissy Haze
Many of the modern games that we enjoy today come from the 19th century despite there are historical reference of games that could be associated to them coming from ancient civilizations. However the history ob baseball can be situated in the mid-1800s when people who lived in the rural towns of the United States practiced a game named “rounders” that would be the direct antecedent of Baseball.
Rounders was also known as town ball, “one o ‘cat”, and base ball, similar to the actual game but with different regulations. It was until 1982, when then first baseball club was founded in New York, organized by Alexander Cartwright with the name of Knickerbockers Base Ball Club. The members of this club were called Knickerbockers and they drafted the 20 rules of the baseball game that were published in 1845, rules that are the foundation of the modern baseball game.
The first official baseball game between the Knickerbockers and another team was held on June 19, 1846 at the New York Club, today Hoboken, New Jersey. However, the first professional baseball team was the Cincinnati Red Stockings who begin to play in 1869. During the 19th century, baseball was mostly popular only in New York and its surrounding so it was commonly referred as the New York Game.
The turn of the century witnessed the establishment of the American Baseball League in Chicago on 1901. Later Ty Cobb was nicknamed the sensation of Georgia, after winning his first of nine consecutive batting titles in the American League setting a record in 1907 when the Tigers defeated the Athletics that year. By 1912, the first baseball stadiums were built; one was the Tigers Stadium and the other was the Fenway Park.
In the early decades of the 20th century George “Babe” Ruth was best known as the “Sultan of the home run” so, the New York Yankees paid $125,000 to hire him in 1920. Babe Ruth’s style was imitated by many hitters and the baseball become more popular than ever by this time.
In 1924, with the addition of first baseman Bill Terry, the Giants obtained a difficult victory over the Dodgers playing the World Series and soon baseball become popular in Japan until the present where every summer a large number of schools participate in the 4000 All Japan Baseball Tournament that takes place nearby Osaka.
The New York Yankees played in April 1936 its first competition game with one of the greatest baseball players of all times, Joe Di Maggio. The New York Yankees have won the World Series 23 times.
Baseball became “the King of the Sports” during 1940-1950 and the national Cuban sport until the present. Although many baseball players arose during the following decades, it was until the 1970s when Reggie Jackson became a baseball celebrity like Joe Di Maggio and Babe Ruth in their moment.
Living the excitement of baseball and its new stars is possible at SBOBET, the online Sportbook that caters for all your betting requirements.
Timothy Hampshire
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Dan Kazinsky
Leeds is a large and wealthy city, which is centrally situated in the North of England. The City is renowned as the commercial and museum capital of the North and has long been known for its large manufacturing industry, which is still going strong.
From breathtaking buildings to considerable sites, Leeds boasts some beautiful things to see & do.
One of the city’s finest appeal is Kirkstall Abbey, which is a considerable abbey situated in the outskirts of the city. It is widely regarded as one of englands most complete examples of a medieval Cistercian abbey. construction of the abbey began in 1152 and it took over seventy-five years to complete. The considerable abbey is now a Grade 1 listed building.
As well as Kirkstall Abbey, Leeds boasts plenty of other things to do, comprising of the considerable Kirkgate Market.
Leeds boasts a marvellous shopping centre, which boasts a shop that are suitable for any funds. in fact, you will find high end stores in the city’s Victoria Quarter, comprising of branches of harvey nicks, Flannels & other designer outlets.
In the headrow centre, you will find more cost-effective high-street outlets such as primark, warehouse & game.
If you do not like shopping, you will be happy to know that Leeds has many other places of interest. These include the extremely fine thackery house museum and the henry moore institute, which caters to the arty tourist. on the other hand, you could visit one of the city’s fabulous parks or even the stunning nelson mandela gardens, which are placed in the heart of the city.
These good-looking gardens were constructed to celebrate the millennium at a cost of £12 million & were funded by leeds city council & the Millennium Commission. The gardens won a prize at the 2004 Chelsea Flower Show, although they were damaged this year because of a massive water fight that was organised on the social networking web site, Facebook.
Leeds has some fantastic nightlife, which begs to be tasted. Whether you would rather have a cosy drink in one of the city’s quaint pubs or a glass of rose wine at one of Leeds’ vip cocktail bars, you will have a fabulous evening here.
After you’ve finished your drink, why don’t you hit the night clubs? Leeds has some fantastic night clubs that cater to any style of music, so you will be spoilt for choice.
Leeds also has plenty of venues to see live music, which contain the Cockpit. These venues cater mostly to rock music & attract local and touring bands.
Whether you are travelling by car or public transport, you’ll pinpoint getting to Leeds is simple. its well served by Leeds Railway Station, also called Leeds City, as well as having regular bus and coach services.
Even though this is the end of our back packers guide to Leeds, we’ve not been able to squeeze in all of the fantastic lure that this city has to offer. To find out many more material about Leeds and the areas nearby, simply get in touch with your local back packers information centre.
Karri Madelline
When I was a boy, I would overhear older black men talking about this evil, mythical figure called “The Man.” I thought there was Batman, Spiderman, Superman, and The Man.
The Man was accused of selfishly hoarding power and resources that prevented black men from getting jobs, owning businesses, and having greater opportunities in general. As a young impressionable child, The Man seemed like one bad mutha. It took me some time for me to figure out that The Man was the white man.
As humorous and antiquated as this notion may be, it surprises me that The Man still lives in the minds of many black men today. After listening to Barack Obama make his presentation at the Democratic National Convention, which coincided with the 45th anniversary of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, there is a palpable energy, optimism, and pride that I’m sensing in my conversations with other black men. An awakening that’s almost spiritual. A fertile synergy that can produce the seeds of a movement – a black male movement.
While the women’s movement has been legitimized and publicized in the press since their struggles for liberation began, there is a potential – and much needed – black man’s movement that’s underway. Of course the media has not picked up on it because they don’t consider it newsworthy or noteworthy, but conscious black people, especially those who desire and seek financial, mental, and vocational liberation for themselves and their children, are well aware of it.
It’s the effect that Barack Obama’s campaign and legacy will have on black men.
To really understand the magnitude of this effect you have to go back in history to another speech. It was given at a graduating ceremony for Howard University in 1965 by President Lyndon Johnson in the aftermath of John F. Kennedy’s assassination and the passage of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination of all kinds based on race, color, religion, or national origin.
“You do not wipe away the scars of centuries by saying: ‘Now, you are free to go where you want, do as you desire, and choose the leaders you please.’ You do not take a man who for years has been hobbled by chains, liberate him, bring him to the starting line of a race, saying, ‘you are free to compete with all the others,’ and still justly believe you have been completely fair…This is the next and more profound stage of the battle for civil rights. We seek not just freedom but opportunity-not just legal equity but human ability-not just equality as a right and a theory, but equality as a fact and as a result.”
The bill was later amended to cover discrimination on the basis of gender. That amendment largely benefited white women and opened the floodgates for their entry into the workplace.
As more white women migrated into the workplace in 1964, occupying jobs they were “allowed” to have and armed with new legislature and a spirit of liberation that would gain momentum and evolve into the women’s movement, black women would soon follow suit and be deployed in less desirable roles while black men would essentially be displaced; spawning an employment imbalance in the black community where the men consistently have higher rates of unemployment and underemployment than black women.
This statistic holds true to this very day.
When I Juxtapose today’s work environment with yesterday’s, I see that black men still comprise the bulk of the work force that’s relegated to manual labor or undesirable jobs with marginal pay. I searched, but did not find, statistical data on the ethnic composition of the labor force of FedEx and UPS, but through observation, I’m willing to bet they are among the top – if not 1 and 2 – employers of black men, closely followed by any company that provides security (guard) services.
They are all jobs that place physical demands on their employees. Black men have always been used and valued for their physical strength since they stepped (chained) foot into this country. After all this time, we are still more likely to be paid millions for our muscles than our minds.
The Barack Obama Effect will cause the pendulum to swing in the other direction.
In the 60s, gainful employment was denied due to racism, fear, and distrust. Racism is not what leads to unfavorable employment conditions that black men have to overcome, it’s negative perceptions about black men as a group that have proven to be a greater economic and psychological barrier to our success. It’s the internalization of these perceptions that impact us. There’s extensive research that proves how devastating these perceptions can be when internalized by young black males.
According to Dr. Alvin Poussaint, psychiatrist and author of Lay My Burden Down: Unraveling Suicide and the Mental Health Crisis among African Americans over the last twenty years, suicide rates among young black males between the ages of 15 and 19 increased 114%. Head coach of the Indianapolis Colts lost his 18 year old son to suicide in 2005 and finally the epidemic caught the media’s attention, albeit for a fleeting moment.
With commonplace scenarios such as fragmented families that are often headed by single mothers, lack of male leadership, negative influences, and continued discrimination in our schools from teachers who do not embrace, nurture, or support young black males as readily as their white peers, it’s no wonder that so many young black males fabricate false bravado and a cool facade to camouflage low self-esteem, and often seeking validation through sports, entertainment and sexual conquests. Even worse, it creates a fixed mindset.
Author Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D., who is widely regarded as one of the world’s leading researchers in the fields of personality, social psychology, and developmental psychology, notes that psychologists know that negative stereotypes and labels are harmful, but they are still discovering just how negative labels harm achievement. She writes in her book Mindset: The New Psychology Of Success, that a fixed mindset limits achievement. It fills people’s mind with interfering thoughts. It makes effort disagreeable, and it leads to inferior learning strategies. What’s more, it makes other people into judges instead of allies.
My father told me at an early age that black men have to work two to three times harder than white men to achieve the same success. We also have to work smarter to be as successful. There are political, psychological, racial, and legal elements at play in every arena that we thrive in. It behooves us to know how to best navigate through situations that pose a threat to our success.
Whether it’s working harder or smarter, extra “work” is inevitable. Dealing with the inertia that stems from apathy in many of our neighborhoods, communities, and homes; dealing with lingering fears and stereotypes, and having to exert constant effort to fit in with white men who don’t feel as comfortable with us or in our presence. Historically, our prosperity as black men has always been tied to our ability to successfully interface with white men.
I imagine that living life as a paraplegic or without one’s sight is probably harder in terms of difficulty and adaptability, but certainly not capability. That’s where the line gets drawn and a new way of thinking can begin. Yes, being a black man is harder for some black men and it certainly has some societal drawbacks, but like those with the aforementioned physical challenges, we must view them as just that; challenges not disabilities, and certainly not handicaps. Being a black man is hard, but being a black man who is president will be inconceivably hard.
What do we find when we delve into Barack Obama’s background? Let’s see:
Barack Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii to a Kansas-born mother, Ann Dunham (who is a distant relative of Robert Duvall) and a Kenyan-born father, Barack Hussein Obama Sr., who met while both were attending the University of Hawaii, where his father was enrolled as a foreign student.
His mother and father divorced when he was two and his mother re-married and they relocated to Indonesia. His father attended Harvard, traveled around the world on official business for Kenya and saw Obama only a few times by the time he turned 10, at which point he was sent back to Hawaii to live with his maternal grandparents so that he could attend the highly-regarded non-sectarian private Punahou School where he graduated from.
Obama studied for two years at Occidental College in California before transferring to Columbia University, where he majored in political science with a specialization in international relations. He became a community organizer for a small Chicago church-based group for three years, helping poor South Side residents cope with a wave of plant closings. He then attended Harvard Law School, and in 1990 became the first African-American editor of the Harvard Law Review.
He turned down a prestigious judicial clerkship, choosing instead to practice civil-rights law back in Chicago, representing victims of housing and employment discrimination and working on voting-rights legislation. He also began teaching at the University of Chicago Law School. Eventually he ran as a Democrat for the state senate seat from his district, which included both Hyde Park (where he currently lives) and some of the poorest ghettos on the South Side, and won.
In 2004 Obama was elected to the U.S. Senate as a Democrat, representing Illinois, and gained national attention by giving a rousing and well-received keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention in Boston; won a Grammy for Best Spoken Word for the CD version of his autobiography “Dreams From My Father” (2006); won his second Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for “The Audacity of Hope” (2008); sought the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Presidency (2008).
It’s a brief overview that highlights great accomplishments, but his origins are similar to most black men I know: He came from a single parent household, had a strained relationship with his father, a close relationship with his grandparents, and had to make choices.
Law school, community organizer, civil-rights activist, Grammy award winner, member of the U.S. Senate, Presidential candidate – they are all talent and value based decisions. None of them would be feasible if Barack Obama did not truly believe that these goals were possible and put forth the consistent effort to reach them.
What will happen if Barack Obama gets elected president? What will happen when black men stop blaming the man, and start being The Man? Every door will be open. Every American dream – including being president – can be a reality.
Our view and definition of The Man will finally be flipped; replaced by a positive self-image and greater awareness of the super powers we possess, but seldom activate. We will become more motivated to utilize resources, get better jobs, start successful businesses, and capitalize on opportunities because the leadership and role model that so many of us have lacked, will have emerged in the highest visible position in the country – the presidency.
In short, The Barack Obama Effect will mean that our statute of limitations on excuses will have officially run out. The fixed mindset that has plagued black men for centuries from the aforementioned internalization of negative perceptions will be repaired. The Effect Of Barack Obama will germinate a growth mindset which will benefit black men for centuries to come.
Dweck writes: The growth mindset is based on the belief that your basic qualities are things you can cultivate through your efforts. The growth mindset takes the teeth out of stereotypes and makes people better able to fight back. They don’t believe in permanent inferiority. She also writes: Prejudice is a deeply ingrained societal problem…a growth mindset helps people see prejudice for what it is – someone else’s view of them.
The Barack Obama Effect will inspire little black boys to find the courage to choose the road less traveled and explore the many options available to them. The Barack Obama Effect will motivate the parents of little black boys to instill an authentic, deeply rooted confidence which allows and enables them to have personal and professional lives that are only limited by the boundaries of their imagination and efforts, not lack of opportunities. The Barack Obama Effect will linger because black men and black boys will know that in their hearts and in their minds, they are The Man – the only man – who controls their own thoughts, actions, and destinies.
Â
Gian Fiero
When I was a boy, I would overhear older black men talking about this evil, mythical figure called “The Man.” I thought there was Batman, Spiderman, Superman, and The Man.
The Man was accused of selfishly hoarding power and resources that prevented black men from getting jobs, owning businesses, and having greater opportunities in general. As a young impressionable child, The Man seemed like one bad mutha. It took me some time for me to figure out that The Man was the white man.
As humorous and antiquated as this notion may be, it surprises me that The Man still lives in the minds of many black men today. After listening to Barack Obama make his presentation at the Democratic National Convention, which coincided with the 45th anniversary of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, there is a palpable energy, optimism, and pride that I’m sensing in my conversations with other black men. An awakening that’s almost spiritual. A fertile synergy that can produce the seeds of a movement – a black male movement.
While the women’s movement has been legitimized and publicized in the press since their struggles for liberation began, there is a potential – and much needed – black man’s movement that’s underway. Of course the media has not picked up on it because they don’t consider it newsworthy or noteworthy, but conscious black people, especially those who desire and seek financial, mental, and vocational liberation for themselves and their children, are well aware of it.
It’s the effect that Barack Obama’s campaign and legacy will have on black men.
To really understand the magnitude of this effect you have to go back in history to another speech. It was given at a graduating ceremony for Howard University in 1965 by President Lyndon Johnson in the aftermath of John F. Kennedy’s assassination and the passage of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination of all kinds based on race, color, religion, or national origin.
“You do not wipe away the scars of centuries by saying: ‘Now, you are free to go where you want, do as you desire, and choose the leaders you please.’ You do not take a man who for years has been hobbled by chains, liberate him, bring him to the starting line of a race, saying, ‘you are free to compete with all the others,’ and still justly believe you have been completely fair…This is the next and more profound stage of the battle for civil rights. We seek not just freedom but opportunity-not just legal equity but human ability-not just equality as a right and a theory, but equality as a fact and as a result.”
The bill was later amended to cover discrimination on the basis of gender. That amendment largely benefited white women and opened the floodgates for their entry into the workplace.
As more white women migrated into the workplace in 1964, occupying jobs they were “allowed” to have and armed with new legislature and a spirit of liberation that would gain momentum and evolve into the women’s movement, black women would soon follow suit and be deployed in less desirable roles while black men would essentially be displaced; spawning an employment imbalance in the black community where the men consistently have higher rates of unemployment and underemployment than black women.
This statistic holds true to this very day.
When I Juxtapose today’s work environment with yesterday’s, I see that black men still comprise the bulk of the work force that’s relegated to manual labor or undesirable jobs with marginal pay. I searched, but did not find, statistical data on the ethnic composition of the labor force of FedEx and UPS, but through observation, I’m willing to bet they are among the top – if not 1 and 2 – employers of black men, closely followed by any company that provides security (guard) services.
They are all jobs that place physical demands on their employees. Black men have always been used and valued for their physical strength since they stepped (chained) foot into this country. After all this time, we are still more likely to be paid millions for our muscles than our minds.
The Barack Obama Effect will cause the pendulum to swing in the other direction.
In the 60s, gainful employment was denied due to racism, fear, and distrust. Racism is not what leads to unfavorable employment conditions that black men have to overcome, it’s negative perceptions about black men as a group that have proven to be a greater economic and psychological barrier to our success. It’s the internalization of these perceptions that impact us. There’s extensive research that proves how devastating these perceptions can be when internalized by young black males.
According to Dr. Alvin Poussaint, psychiatrist and author of Lay My Burden Down: Unraveling Suicide and the Mental Health Crisis among African Americans over the last twenty years, suicide rates among young black males between the ages of 15 and 19 increased 114%. Head coach of the Indianapolis Colts lost his 18 year old son to suicide in 2005 and finally the epidemic caught the media’s attention, albeit for a fleeting moment.
With commonplace scenarios such as fragmented families that are often headed by single mothers, lack of male leadership, negative influences, and continued discrimination in our schools from teachers who do not embrace, nurture, or support young black males as readily as their white peers, it’s no wonder that so many young black males fabricate false bravado and a cool facade to camouflage low self-esteem, and often seeking validation through sports, entertainment and sexual conquests. Even worse, it creates a fixed mindset.
Author Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D., who is widely regarded as one of the world’s leading researchers in the fields of personality, social psychology, and developmental psychology, notes that psychologists know that negative stereotypes and labels are harmful, but they are still discovering just how negative labels harm achievement. She writes in her book Mindset: The New Psychology Of Success, that a fixed mindset limits achievement. It fills people’s mind with interfering thoughts. It makes effort disagreeable, and it leads to inferior learning strategies. What’s more, it makes other people into judges instead of allies.
My father told me at an early age that black men have to work two to three times harder than white men to achieve the same success. We also have to work smarter to be as successful. There are political, psychological, racial, and legal elements at play in every arena that we thrive in. It behooves us to know how to best navigate through situations that pose a threat to our success.
Whether it’s working harder or smarter, extra “work” is inevitable. Dealing with the inertia that stems from apathy in many of our neighborhoods, communities, and homes; dealing with lingering fears and stereotypes, and having to exert constant effort to fit in with white men who don’t feel as comfortable with us or in our presence. Historically, our prosperity as black men has always been tied to our ability to successfully interface with white men.
I imagine that living life as a paraplegic or without one’s sight is probably harder in terms of difficulty and adaptability, but certainly not capability. That’s where the line gets drawn and a new way of thinking can begin. Yes, being a black man is harder for some black men and it certainly has some societal drawbacks, but like those with the aforementioned physical challenges, we must view them as just that; challenges not disabilities, and certainly not handicaps. Being a black man is hard, but being a black man who is president will be inconceivably hard.
What do we find when we delve into Barack Obama’s background? Let’s see:
Barack Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii to a Kansas-born mother, Ann Dunham (who is a distant relative of Robert Duvall) and a Kenyan-born father, Barack Hussein Obama Sr., who met while both were attending the University of Hawaii, where his father was enrolled as a foreign student.
His mother and father divorced when he was two and his mother re-married and they relocated to Indonesia. His father attended Harvard, traveled around the world on official business for Kenya and saw Obama only a few times by the time he turned 10, at which point he was sent back to Hawaii to live with his maternal grandparents so that he could attend the highly-regarded non-sectarian private Punahou School where he graduated from.
Obama studied for two years at Occidental College in California before transferring to Columbia University, where he majored in political science with a specialization in international relations. He became a community organizer for a small Chicago church-based group for three years, helping poor South Side residents cope with a wave of plant closings. He then attended Harvard Law School, and in 1990 became the first African-American editor of the Harvard Law Review.
He turned down a prestigious judicial clerkship, choosing instead to practice civil-rights law back in Chicago, representing victims of housing and employment discrimination and working on voting-rights legislation. He also began teaching at the University of Chicago Law School. Eventually he ran as a Democrat for the state senate seat from his district, which included both Hyde Park (where he currently lives) and some of the poorest ghettos on the South Side, and won.
In 2004 Obama was elected to the U.S. Senate as a Democrat, representing Illinois, and gained national attention by giving a rousing and well-received keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention in Boston; won a Grammy for Best Spoken Word for the CD version of his autobiography “Dreams From My Father” (2006); won his second Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for “The Audacity of Hope” (2008); sought the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Presidency (2008).
It’s a brief overview that highlights great accomplishments, but his origins are similar to most black men I know: He came from a single parent household, had a strained relationship with his father, a close relationship with his grandparents, and had to make choices.
Law school, community organizer, civil-rights activist, Grammy award winner, member of the U.S. Senate, Presidential candidate – they are all talent and value based decisions. None of them would be feasible if Barack Obama did not truly believe that these goals were possible and put forth the consistent effort to reach them.
What will happen if Barack Obama gets elected president? What will happen when black men stop blaming the man, and start being The Man? Every door will be open. Every American dream – including being president – can be a reality.
Our view and definition of The Man will finally be flipped; replaced by a positive self-image and greater awareness of the super powers we possess, but seldom activate. We will become more motivated to utilize resources, get better jobs, start successful businesses, and capitalize on opportunities because the leadership and role model that so many of us have lacked, will have emerged in the highest visible position in the country – the presidency.
In short, The Barack Obama Effect will mean that our statute of limitations on excuses will have officially run out. The fixed mindset that has plagued black men for centuries from the aforementioned internalization of negative perceptions will be repaired. The Effect Of Barack Obama will germinate a growth mindset which will benefit black men for centuries to come.
Dweck writes: The growth mindset is based on the belief that your basic qualities are things you can cultivate through your efforts. The growth mindset takes the teeth out of stereotypes and makes people better able to fight back. They don’t believe in permanent inferiority. She also writes: Prejudice is a deeply ingrained societal problem…a growth mindset helps people see prejudice for what it is – someone else’s view of them.
The Barack Obama Effect will inspire little black boys to find the courage to choose the road less traveled and explore the many options available to them. The Barack Obama Effect will motivate the parents of little black boys to instill an authentic, deeply rooted confidence which allows and enables them to have personal and professional lives that are only limited by the boundaries of their imagination and efforts, not lack of opportunities. The Barack Obama Effect will linger because black men and black boys will know that in their hearts and in their minds, they are The Man – the only man – who controls their own thoughts, actions, and destinies.
Â
Gian Fiero
Thinking about how I might support Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I asked subscribers to my newsletter, Staging Diva Dispatch, if any of them were also breast cancer survivors who might want to share their personal stories about fighting this disease and going on to reinvent their futures..
My intention was to gather stories that would:
⢠empower others to strive to reach their dreams no matter what adversity is standing in their way
⢠increase awareness of breast cancer
⢠attract funding for breast cancer research
⢠celebrate the stories and successes of the women who shared their stories for others to benefit from
As the responses started coming in, I was afraid to read many of them.
They were filled with the awful medical realities of fighting this disease and fears of leaving children behind. In a week leading up to spending the day with my family to honor a cousin who recently died of cancer, I wondered why Iâd set myself up to have to read even more about cancer by actually requesting these stories from my readers.
Well the truth is, you canât catch cancer by reading about it and knowledge is power.
To say Iâm humbled by the stories Iâve received would be an understatement. I feel sad and inspired at the same time. One response came from Danielle who said she would love to share her story, but she has just undergone two surgeries and is going through chemo and didnât feel she could give a good enough response.
Gloria Salvetti writes that sheâs proud to be a survivor and pleased with the direction her new life has taken as she grows her Virginia-based company East Coast Stager.
Staging Diva Graduate Patty Osterhout of First Impressions Staging Services LLC started her home staging business with partner Tiffany Winkler about a year after being diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 46, âI tell people to stay as positive as you can. Donât forget to live and laugh. Surround yourself with good things. I had so many beautiful and inspiring cards from family and friends. I strung them all up on a wall in our house so I could see them every day, what a lift that gave me.â
Perhaps most tellingly, Patty adds, âI do not look at having breast cancer as the worst thing that ever happened to me. In a way it has made me a better person. It was just our âbumpâ in the road.â
Beverly Forte lost a mother and best friend to breast cancer, but she is 10 years past her own diagnosis. She writes, âI kept my life as normal as one could as I went through chemo and radiation. Here I am today after that crazy winding road and I found my path. I have a love for design and staging.â
Jamie Anne McClellen writes that her story âpales in comparison to so many othersâ, but sheâs a breast cancer survivor and I donât consider that any small feat.
Two years ago, at the age of 55, she was diagnosed after a routine mammogram. After surgery she continued working as a freelance photostylist during her radiation treatments.
Jamie Anne believes a special part of her experience was the fact that she never wavered from her conviction that everything would be okay. She remained positive the entire time and saw the entire ordeal as one âblip on the radar screenâ of her life. She believes if she had a negative mental outlook it would have lead to a different physical outcome.
This brave woman recently decided to pursue a career in home staging which was a natural transition from her 20+ year career as a photostylist and set designer. Her home staging business, Practical Magic Home Staging, is based in Chicago. Sheâs currently working on building a website.
The advice she offers women is to get regular mammograms which is what caught her cancer at its most treatable stage. She also advises women facing this disease to focus their energy on positive healing instead of negative worrying.
Another story came from Bay Chamberlain of Your Space/Their Space (New Orleans) who was also diagnosed at the age of 55. Like Jamie Anne, Bay believes keeping a positive attitude and drawing on the support of her family and friends helped her cope and resulted in a âvery rich experienceâ. Bay wrote of her husbandâs passing one year ago and described as a blessing the fact that they were able to experience âthe same wonderful love and support during his illness.â
Bay has returned to work to fill the time and fight the âtankingâ economy. With a fine arts degree, post graduate degree in interior design and several successful informal staging projects done for a real estate agent friend, she is working on building her home staging business.
When I read Linda Stoltz-Fosterâs story I was truly touched by the sense of humor she maintained through her experience or at least the telling of it.
Linda and her husband purchased a vacation resort in need of repair. They invested a lot of time and money into restoring the property and it paid off with lots of business and a great reputation. In less than a year (and despite a previously ânormalâ mammogram result), Linda discovered a lump that turned out to be breast cancer. Without insurance because of diabetes, she took only a week off during her surgery and treatments.
Linda said one reason they kept their business open during her treatments was that she isnât one to enjoy âa pity partyâ and with all of the major decisions about treatment being made for her, she felt the only thing she could control was her business.
Four years past her diagnosis, Lindaâs advice is to âtrust your instincts â you know your body better than any machine or highly trained individual. Take action â donât wait.â
Linda and her husband have since sold their resort and moved to Driggs Idaho where Linda started a staging and redesign business to compliment her real estate practice.
Like the others who wrote to share their cancer survival stories, Linda advises women remain as positive as possible.
Besides personal stories, there were a couple of resources sent to me. Ellen Dixie wanted everyone to know about Dr. Susan Loveâs armyofwomen.org. Dr. Love has taken a unique approach to eradicating breast cancer by encouraging healthy women to participate in studies to determine what causes cancer.
Another resource that was brought to my attention by Deborah Wickel is myleftbreast.ca. Started by a breast cancer survivor, the company provides post-mastectomy and carcinogen-free products.
Women to Women, founded by Marcelle Pick, OB/GYN NP, Christiane Northrup, M.D. and others pioneered the combination of alternative and conventional medicine in womenâs health, bringing science and discipline to natural and preventative methods. They have an excellent discussion about breast cancer sent to me by Kim Johns.
Many thoughts and emotions ran through me standing in the cemetery this past Sunday seeing â1963 – 2008? on my cousinâs tombstone. It really made me think how short that dash between the year weâre born and the year we die is, and how none of us knows how long it will be.
If youâre not living your life to the fullest and doing what you love for as many days as you can, what are you waiting for?
Itâs my sincere hope that some of the tips from these heroes of home staging will help others seek prompt attention for any lumps they find, regardless of previous mammogram results. I also hope these inspirational stories help to empower women.
These survivors have demonstrated such courage. If they were able to come through cancer and start their own home staging businesses, imagine what someone not facing such an unthinkable challenge is capable of doing.
To donate towards finding a cure, in Canada visit the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. In the US, you might consider donating to Susan G. Komen For the Cure.
Debra Gould
What is a psychic medium? How do they differ from a “normal” psychic and under what circumstances would you want to see one? Have any of these questions occurred to you? If so… you’re in luck!
Filed Under: Psychic Mediums – The Basics
Any psychic who gets, or gleans their information from the “other side” is considered a medium. Essentially, mediums speak to the dead, often getting verifiable information that would be impossible for them to have gotten otherwise. Most mediums do NOT predict the future. They won’t necessarily talk about your career, or your finances or your love life. (unless the spirits or loved ones of YOURS they connect to WANT to talk about your love live or finances..:-) Much of the very BEST evidence we have about the survival of consciousness, or “life after death” comes from psychic mediums, many of whom are famous and you will occasionally see on TV.
Filed Under: How They Work
Some work in a trance state, although in today’s day and age, this is a bit more rare. Most of the famous mediums work on the telephone or in private sittings and simply “connect” to entities that they see, or hear while talking to you. Many claim they get much of their information symbolically, or filtered through an interpretive lens. (as in, they’ll see symbols that are meaningful to THEM, and interpret what YOUR spirit guides or loved ones are trying to say through these signs)
Filed Under: Just the Facts
The truth? Many mediums have been studied under INTENSE scientific scrutiny and protocol…with amazing and simply sensational success rates. Even so, obviously, skeptics remain. Recent research done by places like the Windbridge Institute and the University of Arizona on FAMOUS mediums like George Anderson, Annette Martin and others seem to PROVE that mediums are genuine and cannot be explained away by simple science.
Danny Fredricks
Property owners seeking property tax relief need to learn the process and system of appeals. Owners need to go before their city council and present an argument that their current assessed value is unwarranted and high. Now, as properties values decline across the nation, never has this been an better time to prove this and get property tax relief. Â
The National Union of Tax Payers estimated in 2006 that 60% of all owner where over assessed. Now in 2009, that number is surely much higher. Perhaps 80% or even 90% of all property owners are eligible for a reduction. It is well worth the ownerâs time to investigate if they have a case or not.Â
The process to appeal boils down to presenting comparable recent sales, also known as comps, proving to the city that you are over assessed and deserves a reduction. As you may suspect, however your city is most likely not enthusiastic about granting a reduction, as many property owners are trying to get some kind of property tax relief as well; and your cities is trying to protect their own interests.
So, as one of our associates (who was the head of an assessing office) points out, you need to understand that the city officials are smart, and that they do this every day. If you come in with poor comps and or a weak presentation you will be blown off. The city officials are playing the âgameâ and will throw your appeal out the window due to minor technicalities.Â
Issues like being 10 minute late to the meeting, filling out the forms wrong or presenting comps that have the wrong dates, etc can have an immediate negative impact.  There are many other little details like this.  But not understanding the world of comparables is really the main issue. Owners need to dive into this arena and build a level of understanding. Though they should not get overly concerned as you need to know enough to debate your case, but do not need to become an expert.
Not to sound redundant or paranoid the city officials are looking for any reason to get rid of your appeal as they are trying to protect their tax base. If denied, due to technicalities you will have to wait another year as the city will only look at your appeal once. It pays to be prepared and have a good understanding of what to expect before you go before your city. Â
jeff rauth
http://www.articlesbase.com/taxes-articles/property-tax-relief-come-and-get-it-685085.html
When I was a boy, I would overhear older black men talking about this evil, mythical figure called “The Man.” I thought there was Batman, Spiderman, Superman, and The Man.
The Man was accused of selfishly hoarding power and resources that prevented black men from getting jobs, owning businesses, and having greater opportunities in general. As a young impressionable child, The Man seemed like one bad mutha. It took me some time for me to figure out that The Man was the white man.
As humorous and antiquated as this notion may be, it surprises me that The Man still lives in the minds of many black men today. After listening to Barack Obama make his presentation at the Democratic National Convention, which coincided with the 45th anniversary of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, there is a palpable energy, optimism, and pride that I’m sensing in my conversations with other black men. An awakening that’s almost spiritual. A fertile synergy that can produce the seeds of a movement – a black male movement.
While the women’s movement has been legitimized and publicized in the press since their struggles for liberation began, there is a potential – and much needed – black man’s movement that’s underway. Of course the media has not picked up on it because they don’t consider it newsworthy or noteworthy, but conscious black people, especially those who desire and seek financial, mental, and vocational liberation for themselves and their children, are well aware of it.
It’s the effect that Barack Obama’s campaign and legacy will have on black men.
To really understand the magnitude of this effect you have to go back in history to another speech. It was given at a graduating ceremony for Howard University in 1965 by President Lyndon Johnson in the aftermath of John F. Kennedy’s assassination and the passage of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination of all kinds based on race, color, religion, or national origin.
“You do not wipe away the scars of centuries by saying: ‘Now, you are free to go where you want, do as you desire, and choose the leaders you please.’ You do not take a man who for years has been hobbled by chains, liberate him, bring him to the starting line of a race, saying, ‘you are free to compete with all the others,’ and still justly believe you have been completely fair…This is the next and more profound stage of the battle for civil rights. We seek not just freedom but opportunity-not just legal equity but human ability-not just equality as a right and a theory, but equality as a fact and as a result.”
The bill was later amended to cover discrimination on the basis of gender. That amendment largely benefited white women and opened the floodgates for their entry into the workplace.
As more white women migrated into the workplace in 1964, occupying jobs they were “allowed” to have and armed with new legislature and a spirit of liberation that would gain momentum and evolve into the women’s movement, black women would soon follow suit and be deployed in less desirable roles while black men would essentially be displaced; spawning an employment imbalance in the black community where the men consistently have higher rates of unemployment and underemployment than black women.
This statistic holds true to this very day.
When I Juxtapose today’s work environment with yesterday’s, I see that black men still comprise the bulk of the work force that’s relegated to manual labor or undesirable jobs with marginal pay. I searched, but did not find, statistical data on the ethnic composition of the labor force of FedEx and UPS, but through observation, I’m willing to bet they are among the top – if not 1 and 2 – employers of black men, closely followed by any company that provides security (guard) services.
They are all jobs that place physical demands on their employees. Black men have always been used and valued for their physical strength since they stepped (chained) foot into this country. After all this time, we are still more likely to be paid millions for our muscles than our minds.
The Barack Obama Effect will cause the pendulum to swing in the other direction.
In the 60s, gainful employment was denied due to racism, fear, and distrust. Racism is not what leads to unfavorable employment conditions that black men have to overcome, it’s negative perceptions about black men as a group that have proven to be a greater economic and psychological barrier to our success. It’s the internalization of these perceptions that impact us. There’s extensive research that proves how devastating these perceptions can be when internalized by young black males.
According to Dr. Alvin Poussaint, psychiatrist and author of Lay My Burden Down: Unraveling Suicide and the Mental Health Crisis among African Americans over the last twenty years, suicide rates among young black males between the ages of 15 and 19 increased 114%. Head coach of the Indianapolis Colts lost his 18 year old son to suicide in 2005 and finally the epidemic caught the media’s attention, albeit for a fleeting moment.
With commonplace scenarios such as fragmented families that are often headed by single mothers, lack of male leadership, negative influences, and continued discrimination in our schools from teachers who do not embrace, nurture, or support young black males as readily as their white peers, it’s no wonder that so many young black males fabricate false bravado and a cool facade to camouflage low self-esteem, and often seeking validation through sports, entertainment and sexual conquests. Even worse, it creates a fixed mindset.
Author Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D., who is widely regarded as one of the world’s leading researchers in the fields of personality, social psychology, and developmental psychology, notes that psychologists know that negative stereotypes and labels are harmful, but they are still discovering just how negative labels harm achievement. She writes in her book Mindset: The New Psychology Of Success, that a fixed mindset limits achievement. It fills people’s mind with interfering thoughts. It makes effort disagreeable, and it leads to inferior learning strategies. What’s more, it makes other people into judges instead of allies.
My father told me at an early age that black men have to work two to three times harder than white men to achieve the same success. We also have to work smarter to be as successful. There are political, psychological, racial, and legal elements at play in every arena that we thrive in. It behooves us to know how to best navigate through situations that pose a threat to our success.
Whether it’s working harder or smarter, extra “work” is inevitable. Dealing with the inertia that stems from apathy in many of our neighborhoods, communities, and homes; dealing with lingering fears and stereotypes, and having to exert constant effort to fit in with white men who don’t feel as comfortable with us or in our presence. Historically, our prosperity as black men has always been tied to our ability to successfully interface with white men.
I imagine that living life as a paraplegic or without one’s sight is probably harder in terms of difficulty and adaptability, but certainly not capability. That’s where the line gets drawn and a new way of thinking can begin. Yes, being a black man is harder for some black men and it certainly has some societal drawbacks, but like those with the aforementioned physical challenges, we must view them as just that; challenges not disabilities, and certainly not handicaps. Being a black man is hard, but being a black man who is president will be inconceivably hard.
What do we find when we delve into Barack Obama’s background? Let’s see:
Barack Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii to a Kansas-born mother, Ann Dunham (who is a distant relative of Robert Duvall) and a Kenyan-born father, Barack Hussein Obama Sr., who met while both were attending the University of Hawaii, where his father was enrolled as a foreign student.
His mother and father divorced when he was two and his mother re-married and they relocated to Indonesia. His father attended Harvard, traveled around the world on official business for Kenya and saw Obama only a few times by the time he turned 10, at which point he was sent back to Hawaii to live with his maternal grandparents so that he could attend the highly-regarded non-sectarian private Punahou School where he graduated from.
Obama studied for two years at Occidental College in California before transferring to Columbia University, where he majored in political science with a specialization in international relations. He became a community organizer for a small Chicago church-based group for three years, helping poor South Side residents cope with a wave of plant closings. He then attended Harvard Law School, and in 1990 became the first African-American editor of the Harvard Law Review.
He turned down a prestigious judicial clerkship, choosing instead to practice civil-rights law back in Chicago, representing victims of housing and employment discrimination and working on voting-rights legislation. He also began teaching at the University of Chicago Law School. Eventually he ran as a Democrat for the state senate seat from his district, which included both Hyde Park (where he currently lives) and some of the poorest ghettos on the South Side, and won.
In 2004 Obama was elected to the U.S. Senate as a Democrat, representing Illinois, and gained national attention by giving a rousing and well-received keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention in Boston; won a Grammy for Best Spoken Word for the CD version of his autobiography “Dreams From My Father” (2006); won his second Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for “The Audacity of Hope” (2008); sought the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Presidency (2008).
It’s a brief overview that highlights great accomplishments, but his origins are similar to most black men I know: He came from a single parent household, had a strained relationship with his father, a close relationship with his grandparents, and had to make choices.
Law school, community organizer, civil-rights activist, Grammy award winner, member of the U.S. Senate, Presidential candidate – they are all talent and value based decisions. None of them would be feasible if Barack Obama did not truly believe that these goals were possible and put forth the consistent effort to reach them.
What will happen if Barack Obama gets elected president? What will happen when black men stop blaming the man, and start being The Man? Every door will be open. Every American dream – including being president – can be a reality.
Our view and definition of The Man will finally be flipped; replaced by a positive self-image and greater awareness of the super powers we possess, but seldom activate. We will become more motivated to utilize resources, get better jobs, start successful businesses, and capitalize on opportunities because the leadership and role model that so many of us have lacked, will have emerged in the highest visible position in the country – the presidency.
In short, The Barack Obama Effect will mean that our statute of limitations on excuses will have officially run out. The fixed mindset that has plagued black men for centuries from the aforementioned internalization of negative perceptions will be repaired. The Effect Of Barack Obama will germinate a growth mindset which will benefit black men for centuries to come.
Dweck writes: The growth mindset is based on the belief that your basic qualities are things you can cultivate through your efforts. The growth mindset takes the teeth out of stereotypes and makes people better able to fight back. They don’t believe in permanent inferiority. She also writes: Prejudice is a deeply ingrained societal problem…a growth mindset helps people see prejudice for what it is – someone else’s view of them.
The Barack Obama Effect will inspire little black boys to find the courage to choose the road less traveled and explore the many options available to them. The Barack Obama Effect will motivate the parents of little black boys to instill an authentic, deeply rooted confidence which allows and enables them to have personal and professional lives that are only limited by the boundaries of their imagination and efforts, not lack of opportunities. The Barack Obama Effect will linger because black men and black boys will know that in their hearts and in their minds, they are The Man – the only man – who controls their own thoughts, actions, and destinies.
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Gian Fiero