Bring Your A Game

I needed to share this. Black men need a game plan. You are fathers of this Earth & you need to rule again.


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Thought of the Day: 12.14.2010

Ambitious Girl: Thoughts on success, passion & ambition. Pt. I

#nowplaying J. Cole - “Blow Up”

If you asked me 15 years ago what I wanted to be when I grow up, and you asked me today, my answer is the same: Oprah & the President. Sucks for you if you lost your ambition.

I’ve accepted that my life plan is an unconventional one. Unlike my colleagues, I never took the college seriously. Academia never really impressed me and I’ve never equated a degree to the key to success. I’m convinced that at the end of the day my talent and ambition would carry me farther than a degree will. Thus I’ve continued through my 4 plus years of undergrad seeking the degree only as step ladder that leads up to a door where my talent and perseverance are the key.

I’ve never been able to concretely wrap my mind around the conventional successful lifestyle that everyone else seems to be so enthralled with. I don’t want to start at the bottom and work my way to the top. I’ve never desired the standard corporate job with the pension plan and benefits. I could care less about making it suburbia. You can save the mini-van, soccer games and 2.5 kids for some other woman. I’m not your Stepford wife.

I don’t mean to knock the conventional lifestyle if that’s what you want, I just want it be clear that it’s not for me. Just know that this blog is dedicated to those, in the words of J. Cole, those who are satisfied with secondary and the sister who are satisfied with secretary.

So since I’ve abandoned the “by the book” approach to success, baffling my friends who are fighting to secure entry level positions with “room for advancement”, and successfully convincing my mother that I will amount to nothing, I’ve found myself that more motivate to reach the overly ambitious goals in life I’ve set for myself. So the “ambitious girl” grind has not only become one motivated by passion, but one equally as propelled by pride. Failure is not an option.

As the dreams of an 8 year old have morphed in the 10 year plan of 22 year, I’ve realized that my personal success is a direct correlation to my happiness. Making a lot of money by any means necessary isn’t my desire in the least bit. However if wealth comes hand in hand with me living out my dreams and expressing my God given gifts, I won’t complain.

I won’t be happy unless I wear many hats.

I honestly can say I wasted too many years trying to narrow down a career path, weighing which skill was more important than the other, deciding which talent would be more lucrative than the other. And finally, I asked myself, why can’t I do it all. Wanting to be Oprah and the President has evolved into working towards being a media mogul, a publicist, a politician and activist, a motivational speaker, an author, and a CEO… bitch! (in Sean Parker Voice) . My passions equal my paycheck and will subsequently render happiness and success in my eyes.

However, the sad irony as write this exposition defying convention, I am toggling screens back and forth between it and an essay for my Women’s Studies class final. Here come’s convention creeping back in.

To be continued…

J. Cole - "Blow Up" from the mixtape Friday Night Lights

World Aids Day 2010

African Americans account for nearly half of the newly reported HIV cases in the United States

At some point in their lifetimes, 1 in 16 black men will be diagnosed with HIV infection, as will 1 in 30 black women

The rate of new HIV infection for black women was nearly 15 times as high as that of white women and nearly 4 times that of Hispanic/Latina women

protect yourself. know your status. fights aids.

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