According to Black Facts Online: “Norma Merrick Sklarek [was] the first licensed woman architect in the U.S., and the first African American woman to become a fellow in the American Institute of Architects.”
Black History Fact Of The Day
Written By: Elsie Law
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Jan•
14•15
Quote Of The Day
Written By: Elsie Law
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Jan•
14•15
“Concentrate all your thoughts on the task at hand. The sun’s rays don’t burn until brought to a focus.” -Alexander Graham Bell
A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words Pic Of The Week: Meredith Gourdine And Family
Written By: Elsie Law
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Jan•
13•15
Black History Fact Of The Day: The Genius Of Meredith Gourdine
Written By: Elsie Law
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Jan•
13•15
Newark, New Jersey-born, and Harlem and Brooklyn-raised, Meredith Gourdine is a Ph.D. who pioneered the research of electrogasdynamics. Electrogasdynamics is a method of dispersing fog and smoke.
Meredith Gourdine held more than 40 patents for his various inventions. His inventions include a generator that allows for a less expensive way to transmit electricity. He invented a way to convert natural gas to electricity. Meredith Gourdine also successfully built a multi-million dollar corporation. This multi-talented genius also won the silver medal for the long jump in the 1952 Olympic games.
Quote Of The Day
Written By: Elsie Law
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Jan•
13•15
“When you have chosen your part, abide by it and do not weakly try to reconcile yourself to the world. The heroic cannot be the common, nor the common heroic. Congratulate yourself if you have done something strange and extravagant, and broken the monotony of a decorous age.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson
Black History Fact Of The Day
Written By: Elsie Law
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Jan•
12•15
Joseph Dickinson received several patents for his various reed organ inventions. He also invented a mechanism for the player piano which allowed sheet music to be able to be rotated in a forward or backward motion.
Quote Of The Day
Written By: Elsie Law
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Jan•
12•15
“Decide what you want to be and don’t settle for anything less. Believe that you can live your dream, and then work toward that goal, and it will happen. The worst mistake you can make is when you give up on yourself.” -Dr. Ben Carson
Book Excerpt Of The Day: “Pour Your Heart Into It” By: Howard Schultz
Written By: Elsie Law
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Jan•
09•15
“As a parent, or as an entrepreneur, you begin imprinting your beliefs from day one, whether you realize it or not. Once the children, or the people of the company, have absorbed those values, you can’t suddenly change their world view with a lecture on ethics.
It’s difficult, if not impossible, to reinvent a company’s culture. If you have made the mistake of doing business one way for five years, you can’t suddenly impose a layer of different values upon it. By then, the water’s already in the well, and you have to drink it.
Whatever your culture, your values, your guiding principles, you have to take steps to inculcate them in the organization early in its life so they can guide every decision, every hire, every life strategic objective you set.
Whether you are the CEO or a lower level employee, the single most important thing you do at work each day is communicate your vales to others, especially new hires. Establishing the right tone in the inception of an enterprise, whatever its size, is vital to its long-term success.” -From, “Pour Your Heart Into It: How Starbucks Built A Company One Cup At A Time” By: Howard Schultz
TODAY IS BUY BLACK FRIDAY
Written By: Elsie Law
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Jan•
09•15
PLEASE PASS THIS ON! (EACH ONE TEACH ONE OR TWO!) THIS IS PHASE ONE ON HOW WE CAN HELP TO STRENGTHEN & EMPOWER OUR COMMUNITY:
The 2008 not guilty verdict in the Sean Bell case evoked outrage, emotion, and debate. It is not an anomaly that the police officers involved in the Sean Bell slaying were acquitted of all charges on all counts in State Supreme Court. I could run out of ink printing the names of people who have been victimized by the inaptly named justice system.
The American justice system has been especially terroristic towards the African American community. Many community members can cite historic and personal accounts to prove this. Therefore, it would be foolhardy (at the least) to turn to a system that has methodically oppressed us, and request that they free us. We can only free ourselves through extreme discipline and intelligent planning.
As a community we have been too compliant with leaders who organize ineffective, delayed reactions. The only strategy that can save us in this last hour is one that calls for a collective code of conduct that will be conducive to improving the conditions of our community, and shifting the paradigm of how we are treated by outside entities. The first step of this code of conduct should be based on economics.
The old adage of “money talks,” still reigns true in the new millennium. Any political scientist worth his or her library card will tell you that: “Economic powerlessness equals political powerlessness,” and conversely “economic power equals political power.” This means that if we continue to allow our wealth to be extracted from our community, we will remain impotent.
The power of the collective “Black Dollar” is often discussed. However, that power has been left unchanneled. Today is the day to change that. A one-time boycott is not going to bring long-term change and respect to our community. Our community has launched boycotts before. Our success and ascension will be based on what we consistently do. For this reason, we should initiate “BUY BLACK FRIDAYS.”
BUY BLACK FRIDAYS is a small step towards our community acquiring power via controlling our economics. Every Friday, people who acknowledge the injustice and oppression that the African American community has been consistently subjected to should do one of the following:
Option #1: Spend $0 on Friday
Option #2: Spend no more than $10 on Friday
Option #3: Only Shop at Black Businesses on Friday
[PLEASE NOTE THAT THE ABOVE OPTIONS CAN & SHOULD BE EXERCISED ON A DAILY BASIS. However, we can all at the very least focus on Fridays. This way we can take a collective stand and build our collective discipline. Please remember that this is only Phase 1!].
To the people who are tempted to label “BUY BLACK FRIDAYS” as racist, I say this: In the big scheme of things, this is about right & wrong, justice & injustice. The African American community is a strong, proud community that has endured the brunt of America’s iron fist. We must stop the pounding. I feel that any fair-minded individual will concur, and join in.
ANY business that is privileged to enjoy the support of the African American community MUST return that support.
I thank you in advance for your effort and dedication.
-Elsie Law AKA Starface
