Rob's News

Watching Tavis Smiley's "State of the Black Family" on C-SPAN. Incredible stuff, year in and year out. Every black man, woman, and child should watch this event in its entirety. Matter of fact, white folk should tune in too! The self-reflection, spirit, love, anger, laughter, and upliftment was energizing and powerful. Luminaries abounded: Cornel West, Myrlie Evers-Williams, Micheal Eric Dyson, Ben Carson, and on and on.

Top quotes:

• "MAN UP!"
  Judge Greg Mathis on black males being men and true to the black family.
• "A wise man will insult me, but a fool never will. Have a nice day!"
  Marva Collins quoting a 6 year-old girl's response to a white boy who called her "nigger."
• "Live inside your paycheck."
  Valerie Coleman Morris on fiscal discipline within the black family.

More Quotes:

• "Close the candy store."
  Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie on a strategy to increase the incidence of marriage between black men and women.
• "I'm free here in Florida because I'm an intellectual black man."
  Jordan A Morris, sophomore at Millersville University PA, on anti-intellectualism in black youth.
• "If being smart is acting white, then how do you act black?"
  Jawanza Kunjufu on anti-intellectualism in black youth.
• "It's hard enough being black and alive. You don't want anybody to think you are Black and crazy!"
  Gwendolyn Goldsby Grant on the fighting the stigma of having mental health problems.
• "What about our loneliness?"
  Orlando Patterson on the "micro" issues affecting members the Black Family, i.e. all black people, within the context of our group solidarity in social, economic, and political arenas.
• "If you 'No' isn't strong, your 'Yes' is weak."
  Iyanla Vanzant on black women taking responsibility for their relationships with the people around them.
  "Start where you are....How ya livin'? Are you living in truth?"
  Iyanla Vanzant on what each black person watching the symposium could immediately take away from it and put into practice.
• "We live in an era of political correctness instead of values."
  Dr. Ben Carson on the current socio-political climate in America.
• "Ain't no gay filter for the cash."
  Rev. Dr. Michael Eric Dyson on active gay and lesbian members in our churches who tithe along side us straight members.

Posted by R.oB. at 01:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Went to the Wharton Technology Conference on Friday. Great conversation with luminaries in tech industry and great networking opportunities. I'm proud of my classmates once again pulling of one heck of an event. You really should've been there!

Here is a great quote:

"If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you always got."
Bill McDermott, CEO SAP, on operational innovation being a core activity of every business in the next 3 to 5 years.

Posted by R.oB. at 01:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I love watching sports...live. Tonight I went to the Sixers vs. Pistons game and had a hollerin' and hootin' good time.

However, watching on this sport I so enjoy on TV just isn't the same. Though I love basketball and such, I'm no sports buff. I'll take Star Trek epsiode over watching a ballgame anyday. I prefer to play or be a spectator in a live performance. I wonder why that is?

I've tried to read the sports section in my WSJ, but get no satisfaction at all. As a consequence, I couldn't tell you the names of the players on my own team, save for Iverson, Snow, and maybe a couple of others. In the past, I felt a bit ashamed of that, but nowadays I simply know what I like about sports and what I don't.

Still, I'm going to bone up on some of the stats of these players. Then I can pursue my favorite sport of all: arguing!

Posted by R.oB. at 12:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I represented Wharton at the Chaka Fattah Conference on Higher Education today. I spoke to minority undergraduates about professional life, higher level degrees, and such. I was subbing for Rodney Morrison of our Admissions Office because he asked me to stand in for him. I'm glad I did. It's important to give back esp. to our youth. Why people can't seem to take the time is beyond me. How can we expect a better world if we don't enable the next generation to make it? At any rate, it did my heart good to see all those students inquire about business and not one asked about money!

Posted by R.oB. at 02:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My wife, Lisa, was recently appointed to Legal Counsel for the Pennsylvania chapter of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Inc. She wasn't expecting it which made for a wonderful surprise. I'm quite proud of her: my Strong Black Queen.

Posted by R.oB. at 08:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I recently signed up to a new networking site that's like Friendster on steriods. It's called LinkedIn.com. Basically it handles the infrastructure for handling your professional network of contacts. Whether you are a job seeker or salesperson, this site seems to have it together. I'm still a bit puzzled as to how this is economically viable. They seem to give a lot of value away.

Posted by R.oB. at 04:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

There are three African Americans that are running for Wharton Graduate Association President this year. I think this is great not because guranteed one of "us' will ge in office, but because of the non-racial character. Elections here are done by slate, so you elect the Pres and his/her Exec VP's all at once. The slates are "multicultural." What's so good is that these brothers are running on the issues and their platforms and it's my perception that that is how people are deciding for whom to vote. That's REALLY important. If we are ever to get beyond race in this country, we need to decide on candidates based on factors other than skin color. Sadly, we don't do that "in the real world"...yet. Keep hope alive! :)

Posted by R.oB. at 04:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If this works...I will preach the MovableType gospel!

Posted by R.oB. at 11:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)