Rest In Peace Bishop Walter Hawkins. GOD Bless him and his family through these trying times.

“What worries me are people who mistake their desire to get rich with their absolute compulsion. You can’t mistake those two things. When people have the wish to be rich but know in their heart of hearts that they do not have what it takes to get there — the long hours, the hard work, the ability to face up to fear of failure — they are going to cause themselves and those around them endless problems.” – Felix Dennis

“Learning to evolve or die is a cardinal virtue” – Felix Dennis

“If you haven’t got the balls to ask people for money because you’re going to lose it, then you’re certainly never going to get rich.” – Felix Dennis

“The purpose of being an entrepreneur is to make a lot of money and have a lot of fun.” – Felix Dennis

“People will surprise themselves at how much money they can raise. There are a lot of vendors who are willing to take a risk on you, if you are totally up front with them and as long as they don’t risk too much. That’s the way I did it. “- Felix Dennis

On this week’s edition of Black Enterprise Business Report, we feature Bishop T.D. Jakes, pastor and CEO of The Potter’s House and TDJ Enterprises, respectfully. Our Wealth for Life focuses on “Love, Marriage, and Money” with Dawn Brown, Senior Financial Advisor for Altfest. The Entrepreneur of the Week segment features a mother-daughter team, owners of the Harlem-based bakery, Make My Cake. Plus, the Luxe Life shows you how to have a glamorous wedding on a tight budget.

I think about how easy it can be to talk or tweet reckless. Jokes are jokes, but if being a comedian isn’t your strong suit, and it won’t get you a check, who do it. I think talking or tweeting reckless to a certain degree makes you sound more ignorant, less business like. Like my Uncle used to say, “Comedian’s out of work and y’all trying to be funny.”

That being blogged…I know for a fact that God gave me One Mouth and Two Ears, so I listen more than I speak, which gives me leverage. I never miss an opportunity to brand myself or speak my mind, but I think before I speak so I can get my message across and protect my brand at the same time. I’m learning …and it all takes SELF DISCIPLINE !

*I also merge the wisdom of Jerry Weintraub and others, Jerry of course …says “When I Stop Talking, You’ll Know I’m Dead ” and you should read his book to understand why.

VIA Joel’s Blog

A while back, I read about this door-to-door salesman who was selling vacuum cleaners. He arrived at this one particular house, and a young man came to the door. The salesman could tell the young man wasn’t feeling up to par, but he gave him his sales pitch anyway. Finally, the young man said, “Listen, I don’t need a vacuum cleaner, what I need is a kidney. I’m waiting for a transplant.” He went on to explain that there were about 500 people on the transplant list in front of him. The salesman said, “I understand” and packed up his kit and started on his way. However, before he drove off, something down inside him said, “You were sent here for a reason. Not to sell a vacuum cleaner, but to give this young man a kidney.” The salesman immediately called his wife and then his father and told them what happened. They both agreed, and so the salesman went back to the door and said, “Let’s go see your doctor. I want to donate a kidney to you.” Wouldn’t you know it, they were a perfect match. Several weeks later, they had the transplant operation. Today, both men are as strong and healthy as can be.

I want to encourage you today because God knows what you need, and He knows how to get it to you. You may not see how it can all happen, but God can. He can make a way out of no way. Remember, He has you in the palm of His hand. He knows every need. He knows every struggle. He knows every dream and every desire in your heart, and He has a plan to bring it to pass. He’s a supernatural God. Choose to put your faith and trust in Him today because He is working behind the scenes to lead you into victory in every area of your life.

And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19, NIV).

“All of it was toward saying how can we bring all the people who need to understand the role that women have played, but also the predicament women face, and especially we who are women of color, where we’ve had both sex and racial discrimination as a characteristic of our lives,” she said.

By the 1960s, Height had already been focused on equality and fairness for more than 30 years. And she had dedicated her life to those battles.

‘An Absolute Genius’

Dorothy Irene Height was born in Richmond, Va., on March 24, 1912, and grew up in Rankin, Pa. In high school, she won a scholarship to Barnard College after winning a national oratorical contest. But she arrived after Barnard had already admitted the two blacks it accepted per year at the time. Instead, Height earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at New York University in four years and did postgraduate studies in social work. By 1933, Height was working against lynching and for reforms in the nation’s criminal justice system and for free access to public accommodations.

Height, who was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2004, is perhaps best known for her work with the National Council of Negro Women. The group’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., stands steps from where slaves were once traded in the shadow of the U.S. Capitol. Height was president emerita of the NCNW.

Harvard professor Charles Ogletree called Height “an absolute genius.”

“Everything that we do today is influenced by her sacrifices decades ago, her marches as a teenager against lynching, her buying a building right on Pennsylvania Avenue to in a sense to talk about the slave trade, and her commitment to open up doors for others is unparalleled,” Ogletree said.

In 1937, Height was working with the YWCA in Harlem and was assigned to escort Eleanor Roosevelt into one of the Negro women’s group meetings. NCNW founder Mary McLeod Bethune noticed Height and asked the young woman to join the organization’s quest for women’s rights for full, equal employment, pay and education. In addition to her 33 years on the national board of the YWCA and her nearly 40 years with the NCNW, Height also served as national president of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. from 1947 to 1957. The tiny woman was known for her impeccable attire — and her stylish, striking hats.

“Every black woman, it seems to me, has to see Dorothy Height as an inspiration,” said Eleanor Holmes Norton, the District of Columbia’s representative in Congress.

She said everyone who was either a feminist or in the civil rights struggle has worked with Height. But black women are not the only ones who were in awe of her, according to Holmes Norton.

“Dorothy Height gets the same kind of hush when she comes into a room full of white women,” the lawmaker said.

Darlene Clark Hine, a professor of history and African-American studies at Northwestern University, said Height “was able to engender greater conversations — dialog, communication — between white and black women.”

She said Height’s ability to bridge racial, regional and class divides between women was important, but that it was her focus on education, voter registration and political mobilization that was vital to black women, who weren’t able to engage in the political process at the same level as their white counterparts after women got the vote in 1920.

A Leader In The Civil Rights Movement

Civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) said Height should be counted among the leaders of the movement. Her ability to distill a message and direction from a roomful of dissenting voices, he said, was extraordinary.

“Dorothy Height emerged at a time when there was male chauvinism at its height,” Lewis said.

She “had the rare ability — and I think part of it was just innate — to sort of soothe the conflict, the division, the schism, and bring people together,” Lewis said. “Being a woman, but more than just being a woman, she could say, ‘Now brethren, now brothers and sisters,’ and people listened to her.”

Her fundraising abilities were legendary. “She could call her white sisters and Jewish sisters and others — she could get on the telephone and call the Rockefellers, the Fords and others, and they’d listen to her,” Lewis said.

Height continued to fight for equal justice up until the end of her life. In 2008, she told NPR — while wearing a feathered purple chapeau with a fetching bow — that there is unfinished business in civil rights.

“We don’t need the marches we had in the past,” she said. “But we need more consideration in looking at the boardroom tables and at the policies that are going on — looking at what’s happening in industry, what’s happening in terms of employment opportunities, housing and the like.”

And Height left a message for the young people she has worked with so passionately throughout her career. The younger generations, she said, are the beneficiaries of what a lot of people worked and gave their lives for. It is important for the young to get organized in how they will serve others, because when people work for something bigger than themselves, there’s no way they can help but grow.

VIA NPR

“Dear friends,

Register today for this groundbreaking event.”

Avi Lewis talks to Cornel West, professor of African American Studies at Princeton, hip hop artist, and one of the most controversial academics in the US about the state of democracy for African-Americans in the US today, US foreign policy, global recession, and his dispute with Lawrence Summers

These people inspire me for different reasons.

President Barack & First Lady Michelle Obama\Oprah Winfrey\Percy Miller
Daymond John
Ephren Taylor
Kobe Bryant\Lebron James
Jay-Z\Steve Stoute