Every proficient staff member of a firm, agency or organization has reached or currently aspires to garner the ranks of manager or executive in their professional career. These designations have validated all the studious college time, early arrivals and late departures as an Intern and assignment inheritance as an Assistant Executive. However, is there more than meets the eye to suiting the appointment of Executive. I once read a statistic that 85% to 90% of high level executives and managers have gone through a period of “discomfort” in their life. This is a notable percentage. Everyone has heard the inspiring story of how a person reaches the pits of their life only to hit bottom and then ascend farther then they dreamed personally and professionally. Is this introspective and difficult journey a karma prerequisite for coping with success and the stresses of supervision? I feel that an Executive and Manager must not only be able to functionally deal with their own lives and professional adversity, but also that of their staff as well. How many managers have had to coach and consult their personnel on topics that range from relationships to volatile lifestyle? The answer is almost all of them. These problem solving abilities and stringent resilience to life’s obstacles make these Executives and Managers very valuable resources in the spectrum of professional Human Resources. Remember it is the journey and not the destination that counts in the Pursuit of Happyness; but when you do finally get there, definitely Be Seen at the Top.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Cancer Clusters
In the news today, they were talking about concerns about Cancer Clusters in Sayerville, NJ. Residents in this area are worried about the levels of Cancer in their environment. I don’t blame them. If I lived near a Superfund* site and had all sorts of pesticides and shit in my environment, I’d be terrified. Wait a minute… I actually do. I live in the Bronx. We have the notorious Cross Bronx Expressway which is a major producer of smog. What are the residents saying about it? Not much. Well, you actually don’t hear them. See, the Bronx is the poorest county in the nation. Yeah, go figure. Who would’ve thought that in the big rich city of New York, the Bronx’ population is struggling more than a trailer trash bumpkin in VA who has a common law marriage to his first cousin, Loretta. This is as per the last US Census.
When I lived in Harlem, I was enamored by the gorgeous Riverside State Park. There is a running track, ice/roller skating, picnic areas, vendors, play areas for the kids, soccer fields, just good times to be had. To my dismay, I learned that the Riverside community was pissed off that the city put a waste plant in their community and were fighting like hell to get it out. Rather than loose millions and get rid of the plant, the powers that be decide “Hey, just throw some grass and a park on top and they’ll be happy!” Surely enough, they were. Haven’t read any articles about complaints; haven’t even heard anything from former neighbors. Let’s see how the children who are playing on this grass turn out in 20 years. Remember on the Simpsons when Mr. Burns said that he’d eat the three-eyed fish, yeah, it’s that real.
Until next time…
Be Seen at the Top!
*Definition of Superfund
WordNet - Cite This Source
superfund
noun
the federal government's program to locate and investigate and clean up the worst uncontrolled and abandoned toxic waste sites nationwide; administered by the Environmental Protection Agency; "some have intimated that the Superfund's money may have turned into a political slush fund" [syn: Superfund program]
WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
KATRINA: IT'S NOT OVER
This was forwarded to us. We thought we should share...
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Contact:
Monifa Bandele, Peoples Hurricane Relief Fund 917.407.3018
Kojo Livingston, Peoples Hurricane Relief Fund 318.834.0322
When: Wednesday, August 29, 2007 at 5-7pm --Opening Ceremony
Where: Pan American Conference Center
609 Poydras Street, 11th Floor
New Orleans, LA 70130
What: International Tribunal on Hurricanes Katrina & Rita, www.internationaltribunal.org
The People's Hurricane Relief Fund, the US Human Rights Network, the Louisiana and Mississippi ACLUs, Safe Streets/Strong Communities, and Advocates for Environmental Human Rights stand in support of and in response to the demand by hundreds of Katrina and Rita Survivors that local, state and federal governments be held accountable for their actions before during and after hurricane Katrina. “We are calling for an International Tribunal to bring charges of racial discrimination, forced eviction of pubic housing residents, violations of the right to life and health, and the denial of the right to return” --says Survivor and activist, Viola Washington. More than 300,000 residents, mostly poor and black have been unable to return to the city, due in large part to the discriminatory rebuilding and public assistance efforts. Furthermore, they call into question government practices before and during the storm that led to the disproportionate impact of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita on poor African American communities.
This International Tribunal has been endorsed by over 100 Louisiana-based, national and international organizations. It will bring together hurricane survivors, international delegations, expert witnesses, a team of human rights and civil rights prosecutors, and a panel of US-based and international judges. The international delegations will include government officials, scholars and advocates from Brazil, France, Germany, Algeria, South Africa, Haiti, Ecuador, Mexico, Venezuela, Guadeloupe, Martinique and the Dominican Republic.
The prosecution team includes attorneys:
• Chokwe Lumumba - People's Hurricane Relief Fund,
• Kwame Kalimara – Malcolm X Grassroots Movement,
• Joan Gibbs – Medgar Evers Center for Law and Social Justice,
• Mark Fancher – National Conference of Black Lawyers,
• Lisa Crooms – US Human Rights Network,
• Kamau Karl Franklin – Center for Constitutional Rights,
• Tracie Washington – Louisiana Justice Institute,
• Bill Quigley – National Lawyers Guild,
• Nkechi Taifa – Legacy Empowerment Center,
• Kerry McLean –International Association of Democratic Lawyers,
• Chandra Batnagar –ACLU Human Rights Program,
• Damon Hewitt – NAACP Legal Defense Fund*,
• Jaribu Hill – Mississippi Worker’s Center for Human Rights, and
• King Downing – ACLU National Campaign Against Racial Profiling.
The panel of judges includes Algerian Parliamentarian Louisa Hanoune, international law scholar Ward Churchill, and human rights expert Jill Soffiyah Elijah of Harvard Law School. The proceedings will be based upon international law and practice made standard through the People’s Permanent Tribunal in Rome, Italy. The tribunal has gained the endorsement of South African Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane and will commence on the 2nd anniversary of Hurricane Katrina’s touchdown on the Gulf Coast region of the United States.
*for identification purposes only
Tribunal Partners:
ACLU of Louisiana
ACLU of Mississippi
Center for Constitutional Rights
Center for Law & Social Justice at Medgar Evers College
Common Ground Relief
International Association of Democratic Lawyers
Louisiana Justice Institute
Malcolm X Grassroots Movement
Mississippi Disaster Relief Coalition
Mississippi Worker’s Center for Human Rights
National Conference of Black Lawyers
National Economic & Social Rights Initiative
National Lawyers Guild
People's Hurricane Relief Fund
Safe Streets Strong Communities
Urban Justice Center
US Human Rights Network
On December 8th and 9th, 2005 hundreds of Internally Displaced People from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita gathered in Jackson, Mississippi in a Survivors Assembly. They came together to demand accountability, reconstruction and restitution from all levels and departments of the US government. The Survivors Assembly was convened as a democratic institution to provide Survivors with a vehicle for self-determination. On December 10, 2005 over 2,000 survivors and their supporters marched on City Hall in New Orleans demanding justice and the right to return home.
The tragic scenes of Katrina victims facing death, destruction, abandonment and forced relocation and occupation at gunpoint gave rise to outrage across the globe. The events of December 2005 signaled the turning this outrage to action. Now, from those same voices, comes a demand to put the American Government on trial for its Katrina related human rights violations.Katrina Survivors, advocates, and volunteers have carried out the will of the 1st Survivors Assembly 18 months ago.
