Episodes

Today, I will share a story that articulates a concrete strategy to create sustainable change through *persistent* efforts to connect (with like-minded people), collect (information), protect (spirit, energy, and identity), and project (collaborate in consistent, meaningful ways).

On 2-4-2021, I hosted and moderated a conversation. The participants in this conversation were all connected to the history and legacy of the Lemon Street Schools. The Lemon Street Schools were segregated schools for Cobb County Blacks. When integration closed the schools and absorbed them into the Marietta City School district, a lot of people were hurt. A lot of their legacy was suppressed, ignored and marginalized … but still they rise. That resilient spirit has been evident in all the conver...

Harriet Tubman conducted 13 rescue missions on the Underground Railroad over a 10-year period. Those long journeys to freedom resulted in lots of hungry people. Tubman was a professional cook - which provided her mission's startup capital, and creativity under pressure. She once stopped at a market to buy 2 chickens, and almost came face-to-face with a former overseer ... so she dropped one of the chickens and started to chase it. The comedy allowed her to escape unnoticed - even though everyone...

I am a "Standup Storyteller". I am comfortable standing up and speaking my truth. Here's today's truth - I have blind spots. Help me to see them today by listening. I have a special set of skills ... acquired over a long career ... that make me attractive as a workhorse problem solving employee ... but not necessarily as a leader. Let me say that this lack of validation follows a pattern in my life. This lack of validation has become my validation.

I don't know a lot about the Tuskegee Airmen. Don't know a lot of details, but now here's what I do know. I know that they were a group of courageous men of color ... who sought to break barriers in a profession ... that constructed a lot of them ... to make sure that pilots were of a certain hue, if you understand what I'm saying. And to overcome those barriers, they had to defeat barriers about intelligence and that means intelligence requirements ... not being able to combine physical, mental...

Once upon a time, the President gave a group of African-American community leaders a seat at the table. The leaders brought their own menu. It took a long time to make the meeting a reality - lots of letters & telegrams, and several more civil rights crises (like the desegregation of Little Rock, AR schools) for 29-year-old Southern Christian Leadership Conference leader Martin Luther King, Jr. to convene a meeting with then President Dwight D. Eisenhower on June 23, 1958. King attended the meet...

(Marietta, GA) Lemon Street High School's Mr. Lewis Clyde Scott taught many students ... several of whom became teachers. He has transferred his wealth (his knowledge) in ways that have personally inspired me ... without my ever having met him. I have met many of his students. Their lives and stories have told me the kind of teacher and influence he is. On 2-10-2022, I presented some of them to the public ... and they will present Mr. Scott to you from their experiences.

The "SeeSayShow" is a short "class monologue" that shares stories powered by "real-world" LEarning. I teach my classes in a building that used to be an annex to the former segregated high school for Cobb County Blacks. Today's episode shares a story about the first Black city councilman in our city (a graduate of the segregated high school), and how a lawsuit helped to facilitate his election. I am using a "quiz bowl" gameshow shtick to engage the students.

MLK's letter writing practice was strategic. It probably helped him remember who he was meeting, who they were, and what their encounters and meetings produced. These letters were probably his KnowledgeBase, and helped him to make moves.