Occasio Gee I Don't Think I Contemplate & Ponder

10 friends you need by age 30

(The Frisky) — From the time you were in pre-school and your mom picked your play dates, you’ve been building relationships with people. And sometimes, when you have things in common and get along with one another, you become friends. You might think that you have enough friends in your life, but really, can you ever have too many? Plus, you never know when you’re going to need a hand saw, so you better have someone in your cell phone who owns one.

Before you turn 30, these are some friends that would be handy to have around.

1. The Style Guru: Everyone needs someone who can help them figure out which dress is appropriate for “black-tie optional” weddings, and whether you can get away with wearing a green sweater with a red belt. (The answer to the latter is “probably not,” unless you are a Christmas Elf.)

2. The Mr./Ms. Fix-it: You bought a new bike online, but the instructions for putting it together appear to be written in a language you do not speak. It’s time to call the friend who has a knack for building things and owns all the right tools.

3. The Good-Time Gal: If you’re feeling antsy with nothing to do on a Friday night, call this friend, who is generally up for doing anything at any time. She’ll cook up plans that involve dancing on banquets or singing Madonna’s “Like A Prayer” in the time it takes you to change out of your work clothes and slap on a fresh coat of mascara.

4. The Health Nut: During the times when you suddenly decide to start working out or eating food other than take-out and delicacies from the frozen-food aisle, it’s good to have someone who reads every health and fitness magazine and loves to dispense instructions on the proper squat form and to pass along recipes for protein-rich meals.

5. The Ear: You had a sucky day at work and hate everything in your closet. What do you do? Call the friend who will calmly listen to all of your problems and then, at the appropriate time, give you a few pearls of wisdom.

6. The Do-It-Herselfer: Hemming vintage dresses or whipping up a crème brûlée might not come naturally to you, but with the help of a skillful friend, you’ll develop new talents in no time.

7. The Culture Guru: If you like the idea of going to see that new up-and-coming band perform, befriend someone who knows who’s playing and what exhibits are on display.

8. The Healthcare Professional: Make friends with a doctor or nurse. Then, when you wake up with ginormous swollen glands, you won’t have to wait for an appointment to get medicine to cure what ails you.

9. The Legal Adviser: We all make mistakes. A need for speed can lead to you getting pulled over, and a lively party might end with a noise violation. If you have a friend who’s a lawyer, at least you won’t be alone when you have to appear in front of a judge.

10. The Travel Buddy: There are those who like to stay in the same place and find solace in their homes. And there are others who need to get out and explore the world. If you’ve caught the travel bug, find a friend who has it too. It’s way more fun (and much safer) when you share adventures with someone else.

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Urban League Breakfast

This morning I had the pleasure to attend the Urban League of Hampton Roads. It was titled the Changing Lives Breakfast. It was an amazing event. It showcased some of the great events and feats of the organization.  Highlights of the speakers included a very talented young lady who though successful, was on the verge of losing her home.  It included the parents of a young lady who through the mentoring programs of Urban League, was able to gain entrance to William & Mary and has become very successful in the mass communications field.  The final highlight was on a young man who was left alone after his mother unexpectedly died of cancer.  Though he was nearly homeless, the Urban League assisted him on getting on the right path with his life.  There was a who’s who of community involved individuals.  I attended with Curt Anderson, founder of Mygoodlyfe.com, Norfolk commissioner for Redevelopment and Housing Administration and owner of the Palace on Plume.  Also in attendance was Jummy Olabnji, the attractive young reporter from the local CBS affiliate WTKR.  My good friends and proprietors of Posh Retro, Amber Ivey and Tomeria Allen were in attendance.  I had the pleasure of sitting with the men from Best Kept Secret.  This group desires to lower inner city violence by mentoring young men and providing free hair cuts to them.

The Urban League was established nearly 100 years ago. It was made to assist rural African-Americans who were transitioning urban cities. Today Urban League has become an outlet for aiding those facing foreclosure and those seeking home ownership. Urban League also works closely with small business to aid them in reaching a move level playing field through technology and education.

I encourage everyone to check out your local Urban League. In my area it is the Urban League of Hampton Roads www.ulhr.com. Nationally you can go to www.urbanleague.org

Black State of the Union vs. Obama

I was so proud to be in attendance last year at the State of the Black Union (SOBU). It is a very powerful event. Last year many of the attendees were very critical of Sen. Obama for not attending the conference. I was with them. Then I though a little bit more about it. It was the same day Obama declared his candidacy for the Presidential nomination. It was also around Abraham Lincoln’s birthday celebration in Illinois. This was the perfect opportunity for him to announce he’s running for President of the US. Now if he simply wanted to be the premier leader within the Afro-American community he should’ve been there. Obama needed to show he is a leader amongst all Americans; Black, White, Puerto Rican and Asian.

Well this year Tavis is back at it. He is upset that Obama will not put a hold on his campaigning to go the Nawlins (New Orleans) to participate in this year’s SOBU. I personally agree with Obama. It could prove detrimental if he doesn’t present himself to those still to vote. The people of Louisiana already showed their overwhelming support to Obama. He needs to focus on TX, OH & WI.

Hillary has confirmed that she will be in attendance. She has something to prove to Afro-Americans. Once her family was adored within our community and that is no longer the case. Obama needs to gain the support of all Americans because he is already fighting out of a hole.

Obama offered his wife to attend in his place. That would be a welcomed site. We have already seen plenty of Bill Clinton this season. Why not compare the entire team. The Clintons showed that the role of the 1st mate might be more than throwing dinner parties, so we should at least know what we’re getting from both Obamas. The black mother is the foundation so let’s spotlight Michelle.

Super Fat Tuesday

Black voters see new generation gap

By SHANNON McCAFFREY, Associated Press Writer1 hour, 49 minutes ago
When civil rights elders signed on to support Hillary Rodham Clinton’s run
for president, it was seen as a coup in the competition for the black vote,
especially in the Deep South.
Yet many younger black voters seem to be
shrugging off the sway of leaders such as Rep. John Lewis and former Atlanta
Mayor Andrew Young, siding instead with Barack Obama’s history-making bid to be
the nation’s first black president.
It’s a generational struggle that should
serve as a warning to Democrats as they head into primary contests in states
with large black populations: The black vote today is anything but
monolithic.
It also suggests the influence the civil rights leaders have
enjoyed as political kingmakers is waning.
“The figureheads are not actually
gatekeepers to the black vote,” said William Jelani Cobb, a 38-year-old history
professor at the historically black Spelman College.
“No disrespect, but they
don’t speak for us.”
The candidates face their first showdown for black votes
in South Carolina on Jan. 26 and another Feb. 5 in Super Tuesday states with
large minority populations, such as Georgia, Alabama and Arkansas.
Clinton
and Obama have been aggressively courting black votes for some time. Both
visited Selma, Ala., in March for the anniversary of the “Bloody Sunday” civil
rights march in 1965. And Obama is set to speak at Martin Luther King Jr.’s
Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta on Sunday, a visit expected to be rich in
symbolism coming the day before the King holiday.
In a sign of what’s at
stake, a heated dispute has erupted over Clinton’s comment that King’s dream of
racial equality was realized only when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the
Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Bill Clinton’s putdowns of the Illinois senator
also have offended some blacks. Altogether, the scrap between the Clintons and
the Obama camp has awakened racial sensitivities in the party that is supposed
to know how to deal with race.
Blacks have traditionally voted overwhelmingly
Democratic and Obama is picking up their support fast, according to new polls.
An ABC-Washington Post survey this week found a 21-point increase in support for
Obama among black voters in the last month, putting him up 60-32 over Clinton.
He led the New York senator 49-34 in a CBS-New York Times poll.
Still,
Clinton’s husband enjoyed such strong support from black voters that he was
dubbed the first black president. And Hillary Clinton has been able to
capitalize on long-standing friendships with the black political elite in
scoring endorsements. Whether that will translate into black votes is anyone’s
guess.
“For me personally, I have a long association with the Clintons and
I’m very loyal to my friends,” said Lewis, an Atlanta Democrat.
Younger
blacks don’t share the same loyalties. And some lump older black leaders with
the political establishment they say Obama is aiming to upend.
One civil
rights veteran who is backing Obama shares that view. Joseph Lowery, former head
of the Southern Christian Leadership Council, calls colleagues who are
supporting Clinton “good old boys.”
“They are business-as-usual, old-guard
politicians and it’s hard for them to break out of that mold,” Lowery
said.
At a speech Wednesday before the Hungry Club at the Butler Street YMCA
in Atlanta, Lowery said blacks who doubt Obama’s ability to compete are guilty
of “a slave mentality.”
“No matter how much education they have, they never
graduated from the slave mentality,” Lowery said. “The slavery mentality compels
us to say, ‘We can’t win, we can’t do.’”
Clinton has lined up the support of
baseball Hall of Famer Hank Aaron, one-time basketball superstar Magic Johnson,
Motown founder Berry Gordy and Black Entertainment Television founder Bob
Johnson among others. Obama has Oprah Winfrey in his corner as well as R&B
crooner Usher.
Clinton has poet Maya Angelou; Obama has the rapper Ludacris
— a generational split all its own.
The campaign has divided some prominent
households, too.
Jesse Jackson, who tried to become the first black
president in his 1984 and 1988 campaigns, and his son, Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.,
are backing Obama. The elder Jackson’s wife, Jacqueline, is supporting Clinton.
Georgia state Rep. Bob Holmes, former director of Clark Atlanta University’s
Southern Center for Studies in Public Policy, said blacks in the South could
once count on a rigid brand of machine politics in which black churches and
civic leaders delivered their voters.
That machine is no more, he said. “The
younger generation is more independent and make up their own minds.”
Holmes
also said younger blacks feel the old guard set its sights too low.
“This
isn’t the generation of slow struggle,” he said. “This is the Me Generation and
if they see a viable black candidate for president they don’t see a reason why
that shouldn’t be possible right now.”
Rick Dent, a political strategist who
has worked for Democratic campaigns throughout the South, said older black
leaders adopted a more pragmatic political approach out of necessity.
“For
the John Lewises of the world, who’ve been hit in the head with a baton, they
have a different perspective,” Dent said. “You’ve got a new generation of
African-Americans with no contact or understanding with what he had to go
through, thank God.”
LaDawn Jones bounced her 5-month-old daughter Lyndon on
her knee at a party that brought several hundred Obama supporters together to
watch returns in the New Hampshire primary won by Clinton. She said she backed
Clinton at first because she thought the New York senator had a better chance of
winning in November.
Now Jones is behind Obama, explaining, “I want to go
for the gold.”

Student Vote

Ever since my days in college I was bombarded with statements that the student vote doesn’t exist. People are criticizing Obama for following the laws. These young men & women are good enough to pay out of state tuition but not good enough to caucus? That is really interesting. I have seen Obama welcome Republicans & Independents and this is something that young voters admire.

The steadfastness of the 2 party system & people’s inability to think for themselves is what is ruining America. Inc case you didn’t know, there is no law that says you have to vote for just one party. Those that do are fools. You vote by the individual. The politicians are living this falsehood as well. Congress is full of fools who can’t see what’s right. All they can see is red and blue.

Politics & A Time For Change