From a very early age, we learned that in order to participate in any game (sports, cards, chess or checkers etc), we needed to know how to play the game. Know the rules, know the boundaries and know how to keep score. We understood that we could not win every time we played and that was OK.
Democracy, for the United States, is thought to be the fundamental reason for this country’s existence, with its freedoms but, it has a “game” that hardly any of us truly understands.
A few months back, we had the opportunity attend a conference at Center for the Study of Race and Democracy, Arizona State University (CSRD – ASU) where our understanding of Democracy and what it meant was challenged. What follows is a short film that illustrates the diversity of thought on the question, “What is Democracy?”.
This short is eligible for the People’s Choice Award which is determined by public vote. Click here if you would like to vote for this film.
Apparently we are in the worst moments of lives, if you are listening to the people attempting to tell us what going on with our economy. There are all kinds of explanations, most contradictory and shaded in innuendo and secrecy . We wonder if they really know what they are talking about. It would help people understand better if they explained that what’s being called “our economy” is no longer ours, it kinda belongs to the rest of the world as well.
“After seven years of nonstop construction, skyrocketing rents and sales prices, and a seemingly endless appetite for luxury housing that transformed gritty and glamorous neighborhoods alike, the credit crisis and the turmoil on Wall Street are bringing New York’s real estate boom to an end.” NY Times by C. Bagli
Based on a recent article in the N.Y. Times, no one is immune. The deal to purchase Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village looked like a no-brain-er at the time, which goes to point out how no ones knows what going to happen. To fund this hopeful growth across the country came via Sovereign wealth fund our inflated (dream like) personal wealth.
“You will take a chance in something in the near future”
We don’t have a choice. For once we all agree that we have never been in this situation before. Even with this agreement to purchase 700 billion worth of assets to stave of disaster, we will find ways lay claim to our extremes and will find ourselves bent over a new a different problem some where down the road.
Part of what contributes to this problem is the belief that there us vs them. There is Wall Street (named after a wall on a street or a prison fence) and Main Street, so generic it can be found anywhere. We divide our selves up into meaningless groups.
Liberals vs Conservatives
Red vs Blue states
White vs Black
Young vs Old
Rich vs Poor
Democrat vs Republican
Main Street vs Wall Street
Legals vs Illegals
These make bitter sound bites but have little or no meaning. If we honestly examine the last 20 year the real division has been about “Work vs No Work”. It’s been “Wall-Main Street” trying to find a ways to survive, manipulating the only product that was available, the imaginable and the invisible. If no one can see it we can make as big as we want.
Everybody knows and loves Oprah’s Favorite Things! And if you are one “not in the know”…
Oprah’s Favorite Things is an annual segment that appears on The Oprah Winfrey Show. In the segment, which is typically aired during the holiday (or summer) season, Winfrey shares products with her audience that she feels are noteworthy or that would make a great gift. In addition, the audience members present during the taping of the episode receive items from that year’s list for free.(Wikipedia)
So in the tradition inspired by Ms. Winfrey, from time to time Positively Powerful will endorse, recommend, and salute to the skies some of our favs. We won’t be getting a commission for this or anything in return, but will be doing this because it is true to our cause. We believe in transformational education, learning, and sharing brilliance. So please meet TED! TED is not a person.
TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Since then its scope has become ever broader.
The annual conference now brings together the world’s most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes).
This site makes the best talks and performances from TED available to the public, for free. More than 200 talks from our archive are now available, with more added each week. These videos are released under a Creative Commons license, so they can be freely shared and reposted.
We believe passionately in the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives and ultimately, the world. So we’re building here a clearinghouse that offers free knowledge and inspiration from the world’s most inspired thinkers, and also a community of curious souls to engage with ideas and each other. This site, launched April 2007, is an ever-evolving work in progress, and you’re an important part of it.
You can join TED for free. You’ll receive regular emails on what going on it the world. Here is a clip with anthropologist Helen Fisher, PhD on “The Science Of Love And The Future Of Women.”
Scottsdale, AZ.:“Positively Powerful Women Celebrate!” is an event scheduled for May 16 and 17 at the Chaparral Suites Resort, 5001 N. Scottsdale Road.
The purpose of the event is for the empowerment of all women and the celebration of their accomplishments in ways that inspire others to live their dreams. The event is geared for entrepreneurial businesswomen, corporate executives, educators, trainers, homemakers, trainers, students and community-minded women.
Dr. Joel Martin, president of Triad West, Inc. will be the keynote presenter and workshop facilitator.She has worked with hundreds of thousands of individuals in Fortune 500 companies, non-profit and entrepreneurial organizations across many industries in the U.S. She has also worked internationally in South Africa, France, the UK, Latvia, Finland, Malaysia, Russia and China.
A powerful speaker, she uses behavioral science business applications and experiential education to inspire those who attend her workshops.She is the author of the book How to Be a Positively Powerful Person.She has been featured on the Today Show and in the NY Times, Essence, U.S. News and World Report, Black Enterprise, Working Women and Fortune magazine.She appears in the transformational film The Answer. She has earned a Masters degree in Psychology, a PhD. In Communications and is a Wharton Business School Fellow.
The May 16 program begins at 5:30 with a dinner sponsored by eWomen Network and presentation of the Positively Powerful Awards. At 9 am a continental breakfast with networking opportunities will kickoff the May 17 schedule which concludes at 6 pm. The program is highly interactive, fun and participatory.
Event sponsors include eWomen Network, Southwest Gas Corporation, Anheuser Busch Budweiser, APS, and Dial Corporation – A Henkel Company. When asked why he was sponsoring the inaugural event, Garry Walters, Administrator/Community & Consumer Affairs, Southwest Gas Corporation said,
Joel is an award winning diversity supplier, who is a member of the Southwest Gas Supplier Diversity network. Sponsoring this “Positively Powerful Women Celebrate! Retreat” is the right thing to do. We are recognizing our relationship with Triad West Inc. and the return on investment this provides Southwest Gas. We have a jewel in Joel Martin. Her expertise and resources need to be utilized for this and the greater good.”
Cybel Martin, award winning cinematographer and lecturer, will be filming the 2-day event for educational purposes.
For information, registration and scholarships contact www.triadwest.com or call 480-563-5585. The cost for the 2-day event is $250 before May 1 and $290 after. The cost includes the Friday evening dinner, and Saturday breakfast, lunch and reception featuring the sampling of new Budweiser Light With Lime.
All of the many ways one can shape the public perception of a culture through film were alive and well this month. From a visionary film maker and producer, marketing professional, events producer, to actors. If you weren’t in AZ for the Black Film Showcase, you should have been.
I interviewed Director Lee Daniels (Shadowboxer, Monster’s Ball, The Woodsman) who gave us the guerrilla film production background for his brilliant films and what it took to really get them produced. I found him to be upfront and candid, humorous and human. He’s a spiritual man. And spirited! The audience and I loved his verbatim’s. He directed the superstar Helen Mirren with grace, style and expletives deleted when needed he said. He shared his process for production and came prepared with audition tapes of a exceptionally gifted new actor starring in his upcoming film “Push” and out takes of her with Mo’nique. It was so real and raw, I asked (choked up) how it would end…but I won’t tell you here, you’ll have to see it for yourself in the theater. He also brought footage from “Tennessee” featuring Mariah Carey. Lee is amazing in how he casts his films and this songbird’s role is no exception. I’ll be there for anything attached to his name in the movies, you be there too. He deserves the Academy Award recognition and Cannes Film Festival wins.
Some distressing news though for Lee Daniels fans – he said only two more films, one of these would be a musical, and then he wants to teach. No more than two more films? Youch! He’s already involved with the Ghetto Film School.
When I interviewed Award winning actor Lynn Whitfield (Thin Line Between Love And Hate, Tyler Perry’s Madea, The Josephine Baker Story), she showed a humorous side that I have never seen before. She’s always a great and beautiful actress displaying a fine edge of intensity but this side of Lynn was fun. We saw her on the big screen in the video highlights of her career to date (check out “Kings of the Evening“!). Lynn shared some ‘for real’ remarks on the competition for roles, how she almost gave up in those early days before she became a star, and her love and appreciation of her beautiful daughter.
Lynn once again made history. She won Showcase Oscar Micheaux Award. This is the first time a woman actor has won the coveted honor in the seven years of its existence. Going back a bit, both Lynn and Lee have created successful productions that people in general want to see. Oscar would be pleased.
Oscar Micheaux, the first African-American to produce a feature-length film (The Homesteader (1919) in 1920) and a sound feature-length film (The Exile (1931) in 1931), is not a major figure in American film just for these milestones, but because his oeuvre is a window onto the American psyche as regards race and its deleterious effects on individuals and society. He also is a pioneer of independent cinema. Though the end products of his labors often were technically crude due to budgetary constraints, Micheaux the filmmaker is a symbol of the artist triumphing over long odds to bring his vision to the public at large while serving in the socially important role of critical spirit.
I also moderated a panel discussion with Hollywood insiders Felicia Bell, Jenean Glover, and actor Linara Washington. Felicia is a marketing and film distribution phenom. Jenean is a talent manager and consultant with her own company Screen Partners, Inc. and Linara, an actor in the film “Kings of the Evening” which had its Arizona premiere at the Showcase. What did the audience hear about what it takes to make it behind the camera where the office is and in front of the camera? Here are a few highlights: Never give up, learn how the money is made in films, and give yourself a time line. From a big money, big money perspective as Tyler Perry and others are proving, never underestimate the power of a cultural group’s desire to see a relevant, revealing, and reliable portrayal. Felicia and Jenean are making decisions for their organizations that are as green as dollars bills.
There was a dynamic Q and A with everyone. I asked tough questions and the audience did too. And like I said, “you should have been there!”
The mission of the ArizonaBlackFilm Showcase is to become the premier, national media arts event dedicated to supporting Black film professionals through educational and networking opportunities. Founder Joanna De’Shay believes that “Black Film is American Film” and that Black Films have a significant impact on the broader Film and Television Industry and I share this vision with her. Her annual, competitive film showcase has supported, celebrated, and promoted the dynamic works of Black filmmakers locally and nationally for the past seven years.
My time and my company’s production efforts will be focused on women in May. Specifically, Scottsdale AZ, Chaparral Suites Resorts, the Positively Powerful Women Celebrate dinner, awards, and personal development workshop May 16 and 17. Another not to be missed event. And yes, we will be filming it for educational purposes. If you would like to become a sponsor, purchase the film, attend, register your Mom, receive a scholarship (we have a limited amount, first come first served) call Joel Martin, President Triad West Inc. Positively Powerful Events. For information call (480) 563-5585 or click here.
Here’s something I received that I thought you would appreciate. It was written by Lisa Kalmin, who appears with me in the film and DVD The Answer To Absolutely Everything:
Responsibility is a word loaded with meaning for most of us. Many people have been conditioned that responsibility is a duty, burden or obligation. Like a kind of martyr’s yoke. Others view responsibility as a chore that demands our time and resources. Still others see it as anything but fun. Yet others hold it as a badge of courage and honor, like an identity or character trait. We could go on and on… However, in the game of life we always have a choice.
One unique perspective reveals responsibility as a Life-Generating force. It can be a powerful state of Being. Discover how taking Responsibility can empower you to have what you most aspire to achieve in your life in a profound new documentary called THE ANSWER to Absolutely Everything.
Responsibility is anything but a ‘have to’. It’s a choice. With every event in our life we have a choice on how to respond to it.
Read on for The Special Offer for the DVD and Free Transformational Seminar
Here’s an offer you might want to respond to with a “yes!” I highly recommend The Answer. Those of us featured have been supporting others in changing their lives for more than 30 years. If you decide to purchase a DVD (only $19.95 per copy), a portion of the money will go to The Children’s Hunger Fund and the Harvard AIDS Institute, among other worthy humanitarian causes.
Through this movie we are initiating a “Wisdom Campaign” to remind people – that no matter what their circumstances are, there are clear ways to overcome. Centuries of knowledge and 30 years of experience each from over 20 international leaders who will get personal with how they are doing it right now. Find out how at www.gettheanswer.org today.
If you like personal stories with readily usable insights to boost your life, take a pause from the flood of hype and chatter and connect with real people with real answers to many real life situations. CNN honored one of our team, Steve Pfeifer with their Hero’s award recently for example.
A great choice. Buy the movie today and get some great free downloads. Then register for your 2 FREE tickets to THE ANSWER’s SUPER SEMINAR. This will be a spectacular three day event filled with experiences that may alter your life. It will be held in LA. Take part in the magical transformative effects of the Synergistic Field that will be created, as described by the eminently popular Lynne McTaggart. Featured coaches in the movie, several of whom are members from the acclaimed Transformational Leadership Council, will either present or provide products and services (Check out coaches on THE ANSWER site and TLC site online). The actual lineup of trainers and coaches with bios and pictures is forthcoming in subsequent publications. All this for just one copy of THE ANSWER movie – you can’t beat it.Space is limited. First 500 registrants on “Thank You” note after purchase). Buy one movie and reserve your 2 seats while they last. Live the life you love and make a difference, right now.
(Shadowboxer, Monster’s Ball, The Woodsman) who gave us the guerrilla film production background for his brilliant films and what it took to really get them produced. I found him to be upfront and candid, humorous and human. He’s a spiritual man. And spirited! The audience and I loved his verbatim’s. He directed the superstar 
(Thin Line Between Love And Hate, Tyler Perry’s Madea, The Josephine Baker Story), she showed a humorous side that I have never seen before. She’s always a great and beautiful actress displaying a fine edge of intensity but this side of Lynn was fun. We saw her on the big screen in the video highlights of her career to date (check out “
