That's the word of the day, Ladies and Gents! Stran Ge!
Not to be confused with the commonly used and similarly spelled, strange, Stran Ge has a meaning all of it's own and it has nothing to do with how strange something is.
Although I am not necessarily clear on Stran Ge's meaning, in the context that I have heard it used, I have derived that it means: You Go Girl!, Bravo!, or anything else along those lines.
My most recent citing of this word was when I was watching BET Top 25 Money, Power Respect, not just in the black community but the movers in shakers in USA and even the world who have the money, power, and respect to affect change and are leaders in the world of business. The list contained some of the more well known black icons such as Irving "Magic" Johnson, Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter, Oprah Winfrey, Tiger Woods, Russell Simmons, Sean "P.Diddy" Combs and Michael Jordan. It also contained a lot of unknown power African Americans such as Bob Johnson, Founder of BET, or Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice, US Senator Barak Obama (D-Illinois), Merrill Lynch CEO Stanley O'Neal, Time Warner President Richard Parsons, Debra Lee COO (Chief Operating Officer) of BET, and Catherine Hughes, founder/CEO of Radio One. Ladies and Gentleman this people are not in just the million, but some are in the billion dollar club.
The word Stran Ge came up when a commentator on the show was talking about Cathy Hughes and how she took Radio One, which she started in college at Howard University and made it into the conglomerate it is today. She pioneered the airwaves for African Americans. Ms. Hughes' has accomplished much over the years, but her pioneering efforts of what she created with Radio One alone and becoming not just an African American icon but an American icon. For that her gave her an ovation and said, "Stran Ge!"
So, Stran Ge I say, to all the African American's making moves and paving the for younger generations such as myself. And to all the up and coming African American movers and shakers such as myself, I say Stran Ge! Success is not something that should elude us no matter what our background or upbringing was. You can only point the finger and take offense at society but for so long. If you don't like something in you community, put yourself in a position to affect change. Surround yourself with positive people who will add to your vision, not detract from it. In the years to come, I will be on the BET's Top 25 Money, Power, Respect. And when they talk about me, and my accomplishments, I will get a standing ovation and a very swanky STRAN GE!!
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
I Think I May Be Losing It...
Okay, so last night I had a diversity paper due for my Organizational behavior Class. Can I tell you how I don't think the paper I wrote was what my professor was looking for? Yeah, can we say I was angry? How about I let you guys read the first paragraph and you tell me what you think:
If you are not a white, heterosexual male in today's society you are at a disadvantage in the business world. Anyone else is seen as a subordinate group and members of subordinate groups "often encounter more prejudice and discrimination in the workplace than do their counterparts." (2006, Winter) The reason for this is that white heterosexual male culture is considered the norm in America. They are the standard to which everyone is measured against. And if you are not a white, heterosexual male, you can never measure up.
From there I went on about norms and deviants and the Willie Lynch Letter and it's affect on African American Society and how slavery still exists . Jesus Lawd! I promise you my hands were typing but I couldn't believe what I was writing! It was crazy to me! And being that my teacher is a white heterosexual male, I am 99.99 percent sure that he is going to be offended.
With the week I have had with his class, his feathers getting rustled really doesn't bother me all that much. Besides, I have come to realize that white society chooses to be ignorant and not acknowledgedge what is right before their eyes. I'm guessing they have adopted the mentality that if they are ignorant to the ongoings of the world today, that they don't have to acknowledge certain injustices that they see. All in all, my paper was directly indirect in saying that there is no diversity in the business workplace. I'm sure he'll have a lot to say about that. I am looking forward to my teacher's comments. They should be interesting, to say the least. Am I losing it by actually writing the paper? Who knows. But I am pretty positive that I have given Professor U something to think about.
CiaO!
SebineDareau
If you are not a white, heterosexual male in today's society you are at a disadvantage in the business world. Anyone else is seen as a subordinate group and members of subordinate groups "often encounter more prejudice and discrimination in the workplace than do their counterparts." (2006, Winter) The reason for this is that white heterosexual male culture is considered the norm in America. They are the standard to which everyone is measured against. And if you are not a white, heterosexual male, you can never measure up.
From there I went on about norms and deviants and the Willie Lynch Letter and it's affect on African American Society and how slavery still exists . Jesus Lawd! I promise you my hands were typing but I couldn't believe what I was writing! It was crazy to me! And being that my teacher is a white heterosexual male, I am 99.99 percent sure that he is going to be offended.
With the week I have had with his class, his feathers getting rustled really doesn't bother me all that much. Besides, I have come to realize that white society chooses to be ignorant and not acknowledgedge what is right before their eyes. I'm guessing they have adopted the mentality that if they are ignorant to the ongoings of the world today, that they don't have to acknowledge certain injustices that they see. All in all, my paper was directly indirect in saying that there is no diversity in the business workplace. I'm sure he'll have a lot to say about that. I am looking forward to my teacher's comments. They should be interesting, to say the least. Am I losing it by actually writing the paper? Who knows. But I am pretty positive that I have given Professor U something to think about.
CiaO!
SebineDareau
Monday, October 02, 2006
For those who don't know, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. For it is a time of reflection as I lost my grandmother to breast cancer last year. Talk about a tough time! I was eight months pregnant with her first great grandchild. I will never forget the day she passed away....
I was in Lamaze class with my husband and for some reason I just wasn't getting into it. It's not that it works anyway. With all the pain I was in when I was giving birth, I told them to cut me any way they felt necessary. They could've made a design if the spirit moved them, I just wanted it Out! But back to the story, I wasn't really into the class that day and my husband was dozing off next to me, and all of a sudden, my son started going crazy in my stomach. It looked like some Sh*T straight out of alien. I remember looking at my belly and asking, "Dude, are you all right?" And I looked at the clock in the room, it read 6:10. I remember thinking, "Okkkaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay..." And at then he stopped. Mind you all that week, I kept saying I needed to go see my grandmother. I didn't think this hospital visit was too serious. She had been in the hospital before for an extended period of time, and when I would go see her we would be laughing and joking and taking about her great grand child. I remember leaving class and my honey and I going across the street to get a bagel with butter and I checked my cellphone. I saw that my baby cousin had called so I called her back. When she picked up the phone, she was bawlin'. And just like that I knew. And the only thing I said to myself was, "Oh sh*t."
When we got to the hospital it was surreal. I mean I could believe it, but then I couldn't, ya know? My grandma was gone. I really don't remember much of what happened in the hospital. I mean, my 'uncle' from Cali was there and my uncle's friend's from High School were all there; those who grandma had taken in and loved as if they were her own children. I didn't cry though. It was like I was kind of expecting it. I mean, I knew grandma was sick but the fact that she had decided to stop fighting still had me in a state of surreal shock. It seemed I was everybody's major concern and all but I was cool. When I got to see the body, I looked at her, held her hand and kissed her goodbye. My mom gave me a big hug like only my mom can and I hugged her back. Her and my grandmother may have bumped heads on many occassions, but it was only because they were so much alike and couldn't see it. My aunts and I would have good laughs about it whenever they would fight.
Anywho, it was later that I found out the exact time my grandmother passed away. Would you believe it was 6:10pm? Til this day I still believe that my son going haywire in my stomach was his way of telling me that my grandmother had passed.
It wasn't until an exact year later that I cried. The anniversary of her death hit me like an emotional MAC truck and once the tears started they didn't want to stop.
So I encourage anyone who has a loved one who is suffering from this disease, to spend as much time as you can with them. You never know when they will no longer put up a fight and let the cancer consume them. Show them that there is a million reasons for them to stay around and fight for another day of life. I wish I had done that for my grandmother. Maybe if I had she would have at least seen her great grandson be born.
I was in Lamaze class with my husband and for some reason I just wasn't getting into it. It's not that it works anyway. With all the pain I was in when I was giving birth, I told them to cut me any way they felt necessary. They could've made a design if the spirit moved them, I just wanted it Out! But back to the story, I wasn't really into the class that day and my husband was dozing off next to me, and all of a sudden, my son started going crazy in my stomach. It looked like some Sh*T straight out of alien. I remember looking at my belly and asking, "Dude, are you all right?" And I looked at the clock in the room, it read 6:10. I remember thinking, "Okkkaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay..." And at then he stopped. Mind you all that week, I kept saying I needed to go see my grandmother. I didn't think this hospital visit was too serious. She had been in the hospital before for an extended period of time, and when I would go see her we would be laughing and joking and taking about her great grand child. I remember leaving class and my honey and I going across the street to get a bagel with butter and I checked my cellphone. I saw that my baby cousin had called so I called her back. When she picked up the phone, she was bawlin'. And just like that I knew. And the only thing I said to myself was, "Oh sh*t."
When we got to the hospital it was surreal. I mean I could believe it, but then I couldn't, ya know? My grandma was gone. I really don't remember much of what happened in the hospital. I mean, my 'uncle' from Cali was there and my uncle's friend's from High School were all there; those who grandma had taken in and loved as if they were her own children. I didn't cry though. It was like I was kind of expecting it. I mean, I knew grandma was sick but the fact that she had decided to stop fighting still had me in a state of surreal shock. It seemed I was everybody's major concern and all but I was cool. When I got to see the body, I looked at her, held her hand and kissed her goodbye. My mom gave me a big hug like only my mom can and I hugged her back. Her and my grandmother may have bumped heads on many occassions, but it was only because they were so much alike and couldn't see it. My aunts and I would have good laughs about it whenever they would fight.
Anywho, it was later that I found out the exact time my grandmother passed away. Would you believe it was 6:10pm? Til this day I still believe that my son going haywire in my stomach was his way of telling me that my grandmother had passed.
It wasn't until an exact year later that I cried. The anniversary of her death hit me like an emotional MAC truck and once the tears started they didn't want to stop.
So I encourage anyone who has a loved one who is suffering from this disease, to spend as much time as you can with them. You never know when they will no longer put up a fight and let the cancer consume them. Show them that there is a million reasons for them to stay around and fight for another day of life. I wish I had done that for my grandmother. Maybe if I had she would have at least seen her great grandson be born.
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