Stran Ge!

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!!