The Periods

At TED2016 in Vancouver, BC.

I'm having a little girl.

Photo by Dom Pierre

Juneteenth is my birthday

LIVE. LIFE. FREE.

Fly High

FLY HIGH is a collective kite flying event that celebrates the lives of those lost at the hands of police.  Launched on 150th anniversary of Juneteenth (June 19), a national observance of the last enslaved Africans in Texas receiving the order of emancipation, the intention is to expose community members to the faces and names of the hundreds lost and as an introduction to a fading past-time.

On each white kite, the face and name of someone lost at the hands of police will be affixed.  Participants will then receive support to catch a wind to have the kite rise higher and higher in the sky.  Hundreds of kites will float above the park.

Organized by social architect and Dream Director, Sallomé Hralima, her vision is to see old and young learning how to lift others up - literally and figuratively - providing a powerful visually symbolic reference for all who participate and all who witness it.

I will be featured in an amazing project highlighting women in education that will launch this year called Why The Sun Rises. I am excited about this project and hope you will support it.

Please visit www.whythesunrises.com and follow @whythesunrises_ on twitter, facebook, and instagram to learn more.

"I rise because I have an audacious belief in children and their ability to lead.  Since I can’t fathom just how much the world will change in the next decade, I am committed to reflecting back to children their beauty, their unique and innate contributions to humanity.  I am committed to having them stand confidently next to any leader of any age knowing that their voices and imaginations matter." -Sallomé Hralima

Tobacco, Sugar and other Killers

I have been crying at my desk today. Since 2001 I have been searching for ways to change mindsets. In college it was Black Out days and emails sent from Ghana during September 11th telling my peers never to forget that our country has waged so many wars on so many defenseless. It was writing articles for The Argus about my fear of white men and organizing reparations panels. Out of college, it was rolling through the United States with Youth4Reparations, working to educate young people in high schools and colleges about the issues and working to build our own 100 year plan. In my young adult life it looked like teaching 8-year-olds everything in the 3rd grade curriculum via project-based learning, all through the lense of the African Diaspora (listening to Bob Marley and Nas' "I Can," studying Egypt then visiting the Brooklyn Museum and hearing Tyriek ask the tour guide: "If all of this stuff is here, what's left in Egypt," having them build a Museum in our class of African and African-American scientists and inventors). After that, I sent friends and family to complete the Curriculum for Living at Landmark Education so that we could complete our relationship to the past and create futures that call us powerfully into audacious moments of Now. And today, that looks like living the life of a Social Architect and Chief Dream Director - generating experiences for people to "get their lives." And yet, today, I feel like my work is just beginning. What a time to live in.

Meme

Thanks Dan.

What will my legacy be?

Maritza R. Alarcón, Dream Director and dear friend, asked me via Facebook: What do you believe your legacy will be?

My response: To use Jullien Gordon's framing:

1) I will have children and demonstrate the kind of parent one can be to born leaders. 

2) I will have produced media and brands that impact and influence millions of people. 

3) I will have created new career paths and educational institutions that challenge Americans to indulge in their jobs as a reflection of their life's purpose. 

4) I am an organ donor; I want the end of my life to be the beginning of a new life for others or another.

One Day...

I'll speak at TED Talks, The Feast, Aspen Ideas Festival.

A movie I produced will be at Cannes International Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival and the American Black Film Festival.

3six5

There was this project I was invited to be a part of.  

3six5

365 people would share their day with the world and the curators would upload it to the site.  My day was May 14, 2011.  And this is what I shared.

I may just run for Mayor of New York.  I have a campaign strategy that I proved today will win the hearts of the buppies, old ladies, store owners and babies.

Campaign Strategy #1: Be generous.

I wake up with an orange OSHO book on the bureau. I didn’t put it there.  So, being the information whore that I am, I read the first page.  A quote from Socrates strikes me; I tweet a message to the world: “I want to be the kind of person where wherever I move, with whomsoever I move, I am loving. #ReminderfromOsho” 

Campaign Strategy #2: Be accountable and count-on-able.

The practice of self-discipleship begins. Today’s message from the self-love jar: “I bring fabulous things to fruition.”  Perfect. Hit compose on my Gmail account, autofill finishes Frank’s name – my Wealth Building Coach. Subject line, the usual: #ProsperityPowerHour.  I type the four areas – Spiritual, Mental, Material, Physical – and begin my process. 

Campaign Strategy #3: Be empowered.

What can I wear today to make a cynical and resigned New Yorker smile... Rock my crown! Open the door of my building and play “Breath of Fresh Air” – my iPod morning playlist.

Campaign Strategy #4: Be personable.

Step on the train, and what do I find? A little girl is also wearing a golden crown. 

“Look mommy, a Queen.”

“Yes, she’s a Queen and what are you?”

With a toothy grin, she says, “A princess.”

 “Your crown is amazing,” I tell her. “Where’d you get it?”

“Me and mommy made it.”

“You did a great job.”

I spend the train ride with Jasey, her mom and little sister.  Before we step off the G train I tell her, “Jasey, you made my day. If I didn’t do another thing today but have this train ride with you, it may very well have been the best day ever.”

Platform: Crowns, wings, and magic wands for everyone.

Today there were many deep bows, “Birthdays?“, “All hail the Queens!”, and children pointing and yelling out “Look, a King!” I’ve never seen so many smiles in New York City.  Mayor Bloomberg may want to use his one dollar a year salary and invest in a Burger King crown.

(365 exactly)

Sallomé is a Social Architect for PlanIt Brooklyn. She makes living itself an art, by any dreams necessary. Follow her musings @Sallome.

Education? Business. As usual.

Educator, KC Wilbourn tweeted: "The only time an institution is willing to change is when their way of doing business is threatened."

I once suggested that we work with young people to choose a school year and refuse to take standardized tests. A sit-in focused on the business of education. I believed that if we educated our young people about the industry, they could own a movement to transform public education in this country.

It would start with students from one school, getting students in their district, then in the city, then spread via social media across the nation. And educational policymakers and leaders would be forced, willing or not, to change. But I listened to those with more fear, more logic, and ditched the idea. 

Daily... I imagine the impact it would have if students came to schools on the day of a major exam, sat at their desks, were handed the test, and each and everyone in 1, 2, 5, 20 schools sat through the duration of the exam without opening a page. And with a few students as spokespeople in each school, a national conversation with young people demanding that test makers, leaders, etc speak about the lack of assessment that matches their individual needs.

#UndergroundRailroad

Defining Education

Decided to look up the word EDUCATION today.

I realized that when we agree to education being a public service provided by the government, we must understand that we are complicit in the maximizing of a system they are delivering, a process that is systemic and without consideration of the nuanced ways in which we uniquely flourish.

Education must be guided by the individual's interest, passion and defined purpose and simultaneously one's relationship to our ecosystem. When education became synonymous with a content delivery system, an institution, a building, the powers that be successfully bamboozled us into thinking tests, textbooks, and grades - hell even the building itself - reflect the capacity of our people to be Genius. Standing on the shoulders of my forefather W.E.B. DuBois, I would contend that the problem of the twenty-first century is the problem of schooling.

Google
noun:
1. 
the process of receiving or giving systematic instruction, esp. at a school or university.
 ◦ the theory and practice of teaching.
 ◦ a body of knowledge acquired while being educated.
 ◦ information about or training in a particular field or subject.
2. 
an enlightening experience.

Merriam-Webster
noun
:the action or process of teaching someone especially in a school, college, or university
:the knowledge, skill, and understanding that you get from attending a school, college, or university
:a field of study that deals with the methods and problems of teaching


Dictionary.com
1. the act or process of imparting or acquiring general knowledge, developing the powers of reasoning and judgment, and generally of preparing oneself or others intellectually for mature life.
2. the act or process of imparting or acquiring particular knowledge or skills, as for a profession.
3. a degree, level, or kind of schooling: a university education.
4. the result produced by instruction, training, or study: to show one's education.
5. the science or art of teaching; pedagogics.


The Free Dictionary
n.
1. The act or process of educating or being educated.
2. The knowledge or skill obtained or developed by a learning process.
3. A program of instruction of a specified kind or level: driver education; a college education.
4. The field of study that is concerned with the pedagogy of teaching and learning.
5. An instructive or enlightening experience: Her work in the inner city was a real education.
 
Wikipedia
Education in its general sense is a form of learning in which the knowledge, skills, and habits of a group of people are transferred from one generation to the next through teaching, training, or research. Education frequently takes place under the guidance of others, but may also be autodidactic.  Any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts may be considered educational. Education is commonly divided into stages such as preschool, primary school, secondary school and then college, university or apprenticeship.

Oxford Dictionaries.com
NOUN the process of receiving or giving systematic instruction, especially at a school or university an enlightening experience

Business Dictionary The wealth of knowledge acquired by an individual after studying particular subject matters or experiencing life lessons that provide an understanding of something.


Meet Phyllis Wheatley
 

How I'm Feeling

"If you're an architect, if you're a world builder, if you have all these ideas… and you want to build buildings, if you don't ever get that out, what's gonna happen?…" -K. West, Zane Lowe

6 Ways to Develop as a Dream Director

It has been a privilege to serve as Chief Dream Director for The Future Project.  The results we have achieved as an organization are astounding.  And I am clear that it has everything to do with the genius known as Dream Director.

Six Ways to Develop your Dream Directing Skills

1. Get Curious. Find out the big and small dreams, goals and aspirations of people you care about.  Start asking people what legacy they are working to leave or dreams or goals they are actively pursuing at networking events, impromptu gatherings, and on first meetings.  It is a true conversation starter when you are on a date and ask, "So what legacy are you hoping to leave on the planet?"  But most importantly, you start to learn so much more about people and what drives them when you get curious.  It sets you up to assist them in actualizing these things.
2. Contribute.  After you have a sense of the passions, goals, and aspirations of others, look for resources that could push them.  Someone tells you they dream of running a marathon, send an email to that person and your one friend that completed the ING recently and connect them.  If your 10 year old mentee dreams of being a DJ, send them to Scratch DJ Academy or Dubspot.  If a friend says they'd like to turn their side hustle into a lucrative business, send them to Sidehustla.com. 
3. Challenge Yourself.  Always be in pursuit of your own dream and practicing your own passions.  How can you support others in fulfilling on a dream if you're removed from the emotional, mental, spiritual, and sometimes, physical effort required.  It is imperative that you can say: "I understand what you're talking about.  I am (was) dealing with something similar just last week as I was working on..."  You are better able to offer sound advice when you presently share the passion for the completion of something.
4. Be Bold.  Try out the thing people are most afraid of doing: speak publicly, skydive, create a dating profile or go on a blind date, travel to a new place alone, pose nude for an art class, leave a job to pursue a dream, write a book, perform at a talent show, read all of the world's holy texts, do a triathlon, share your dreams for the world, start a business or organization, be vulnerable, offer your help/volunteer, take on a challenge, borrow money!  If you can relate to the things others are most afraid of doing, you can help walk people through the emotional freeze that leads to no action.
5. Be Interested.  Read books and take classes that give you better insight into yourself and others. Read about seemingly unconnected ideas.  Use your library card.  Allow yourself to go down the Wiki rabbit hole and have links that interest you guide your learning.  Go to talks and watch TED Talks.  Ask friends to suggest books, conferences, print and online magazines that they most value.  These could lead to a breakthrough for you or someone you know.  This also requires that you listen and read carefully; be discerning, ask questions, challenge your mind and your heart.
6. Create Opportunities.  Organize dinners, potlucks, panels, brainstorming sessions, and 30-day challenges for yourself and others regularly.  You'll meet amazing people with tons of resources and experiences and push everyone to be better, do better, and dream bigger.  Many of the successes of people I am close to can be attributed to making a connection at one of these events.  And when people invite you to these kinds of things - go!

I have lived the Dream Director life for nearly 28 years.  As my fulfilled dreams get bigger, so too does my ability to assist others in doing the same.

Our family, peers, elders, and children deserve to focus their life energy on what lights them up.  How will you grow your Dream Directing skills today?

Heart Led Rebellion

I am honored to call these women (and many of the people featured) my family.  My tribe.  Stand up! This is a Heart Led Rebellion.

You can see my contribution at 1:25.

"We are standing on the shoulders of the ancient ones." - Climbing PoeTree

The Pleasure of My Company

A friend posted this on Facebook.  It tickled me so...

Sometimes, I feel discriminated against, but it does not make me angry. It merely astonishes me. How can any deny themselves the pleasure of my company? It's beyond me. -Zora Neale Hurston

33 Things I've Learned in 33 Years

1. High heels are bad for the body.  (Knowing it doesn't stop me from wearing them.)
2. You may never know how you knew.  Angels, intuition, energetic awareness,  metaphysics, psychic abilities, and The Most High all could have played a part in it.
3. When you want something to move with velocity, search for the Gate Keeper - the beloved office manager, administrative or personal assistant.
4. Everything that comes out of your mom's mouth can be translated to "I love you and I want what's best for you."  Yes, even the annoying requests to call when you land, "she's not good enough for you," "eat more [fill in the blank]," "you look awful," and their assertion that you choosing that major will certainly result in unemployment after you graduate.  All love.
5. Admitting that you're wrong, or that you don't know, can be access to your freedom.  And just so happens to be awesome parenting.
6. Dress so that you smile when you look in the mirror at yourself, and others will too.  (I wore a crown for the hell of it once; it was a fun day.)
7. Set up your life so that you are guaranteed to laugh at least once, hard, everyday (marry a comedian, come in through the door with the security guard that always makes you laugh, listen to a satellite radio comedy show on your way to work, skype with your hilarious bestie that moved to Thailand).
8. Mentor.
9. When you want to "go off" on someone, take a breath and look at where in your life someone may be experiencing you the same way; that usually enables me to come to the situation with more compassion.
10. Find ways to spend time with people smarter than you.
11. This - heartbreak, head over heels feeling, hurdle, period of insane productivity - too shall pass.
12. Make time for the elders and the children.
13. Find rituals and routines that work for you.  Just because waking at 4AM, eating raw one week every month, doing 30-day Bikram Yoga Challenges, and carrying a lucky lighter worked for your sibling, your best friend, your boo or your boss doesn't mean they will for you.
14. Remember that you get to choose.  And if you can own your choices and all that results from them, you can rest assured that you are actually creating your future.
15. Allow yourself the gift of romantic love no matter where you are in your educational and/or career path.  People that tell you you don't have time for it believe they are saving you from distraction or heartbreak.  Having fear is expected, but living in and operating out of fear is never a good look.
16. Race is a social construct.  
17. Consider that a human experience includes the full range of possible emotions.  And that if you are void of any of them, you've missed out on what it means to be human.
18. Travel.
19. There is language (a song, a poem, a mantra) for how you feel right now that can right your ship.
20. Most schools train young minds to forego curiosity for answers, when curiosity is the one virtue that will keep the brain functioning optimally well into your old age.
21. Reflection is sacred work.
22. Make sure you love something significant in your life - your work, your hobbies, your tribe, your God - or you will find living more difficult than it needs to be.
23. Don't send that angry or hurt email immediately.  Wait 24-hours AND send it to your most sound friend for their feedback first.
24. People are seldom responding to what is happening in the present; they are most often addressing their past.  Don't take it personally.  Everyone is bruised.
25. Having fun is an extremely productive and healthy use of your time.
26. Courage is underrated; fear is overrated.
27. "Because I said so," has led to generations of emotionally underdeveloped adults.  Parents, get your fear and embarrassment in check.
28. We must stop teaching girls that their access to pleasure can only come from a man.  That's a lie.
29. If 40 is the new 20, when I'm 40 I am going to need to find some 60 year olds to hang out with.
30. Everyone IS a role model.  We just have to get comfortable with the fact that people aspire to play out varied roles in life.
31. I still don't understand why we say "there's a method to my madness" as if madness is good or why we say "I want to piggyback on that."  And I refuse to Google it.  It's more fun to ask why people say it and have them realize they don't know either.
32. I may struggle with the inclination to be right over being loving well into my old age.  But I hope not.
33. Lessons stick best when birthed from your own experience.  I don't expect this list of 33 Things I've Learned in 33 Years to mean anything to you.  We've gotta write our own lists.

The People That Make Me Work Harder - Today

Don Cornelius: Created Soul Train franchise.
Phil Jackson: Made the Triangle Offense popular.
Ava DuVernay: Created the African American Film Festival Releasing Movement.
Harriet Tubman: Through her work in the army and on the Underground Railroad (went back approximately 19 times) helped free over a thousand enslaved people.
Phillip Agnew: Executive Director of Dream Defenders.
Mara Brock Akil: Television producer and writer.
Bruce Lee: Founder of martial art Jeet Kune Do.
Pharrell Williams: ...his hands are in everything.
Kanya West: Artist.
Solange Knowles: Artist.

Fastgirls Run NYC

I have the profound privilege of co-leading a 90-Day Challenge called We Are the Ones.  It is the 20th Fastgirls Challenge.  As a part of the challenge, participants were charged with running/walking or assisting with the production of a marathon.  Women were to cross all three bridges that connect Brooklyn and Manhattan at one time.

Thanks to the brilliance of Herman Jean-Noel, Tafadzwa M Chiriga and Alex Dweh, we captured this beautiful day.

#Victory

Big Life

A new friend, Hannah Tall, asked me: How will you live a big life? 

For me, living a big life includes:

1. Creating rituals. For example, I send $20 to my nephew for what I call a Fun Fund each pay period. Sealing the envelope and writing him letters makes me feel accomplished and connected. 
2. Inviting people to celebrate and explore (e.g. I host a day of Kwanzaa annually and make it fabulous and invite people I love AND admire). 
3. Creating a dream list. I do this and check something off every year (at least). 
4. Creating a habit of sending resources to others. I like to give gifts; so I find books, urls, music and opportunities for others and to send it to them.
5. Living with a great faith.  I act like my big 'ole life is directly correlated to the amount of faith I have.
6. Mentorship.  To be a mentor and have a mentor is all about karma.  I want all the good karma I can get.
7. Expressing gratitude.  If there's one thing I have learned from Ashley "Gratitude Guru" Mui, it is that when we vibrate on the level of Love & Gratitude we are more beautiful.

You?...

5 Things All Children Should Know

1. You were gifted a life to live out a unique and cherished legacy - made of the same stuff as the stars. Do not hide your shine; it is needed to light the way for others and to give others permission to do the same.
2. Everything in the universe has a particular vibration and that vibration is on a particular frequency. Love & gratitude are the highest vibration.
3. The most important character trait to develop is integrity - be impeccable with your word.
4. BE the change you wish to see; the revolution begins with you.
5. Respect yourself, your family, your environment, your community, humanity, and all The Most High created. When in doubt, first respect yourself.