Funny

Just a little humor to add to your day.

A man and woman had been married for more than 60 years. They had shared everything. They had talked about everything. They had kept no secrets from each other except that the little old woman had a shoe box in the top of her closet that she had cautioned her husband never to open or ask her about.

For all of these years, he had never thought about the box, but one day the little old woman got very sick and the doctor said she would not recover.

In trying to sort out their affairs, the little old man took down the shoe box and took it to his wife's bedside.

She agreed that it was time that he should know what was in the box. When he opened it, he found two crocheted dolls and a stack of money totaling $95,000.

He asked her about the contents. "When we were to be married," she said, " my grandmother told me, the secret of a happy marriage was to never argue. She told me that if I ever got angry with you, I should just keep quiet and crochet a doll."

The little old man was so moved; he had to fight back tears. Only two precious dolls were in the box. She had only been angry with him two times in all those years of living and loving. He almost burst with happiness.

"Honey," he said, "that explains the doll, but what about all of this money? Where did it come from?"

"Oh," she said, "that's the money I made from selling the dolls."
This was her husband.

A Prayer.......

Dear Lord, I pray for Wisdom to understand my man;
Love to forgive him;
And Patience for his moods;
Because Lord, if I pray for Strength,
I'll beat him to death, because I don't know how to crochet.

GO RED FOR WOMEN

Heart disease is the #1 killer of women in America.

February 1st is National Wear Red Day

Starting February 1, Go Red For Women is calling on real women from across the country to become The Heart of Go Red by sharing their heart health stories.

It's an opportunity to represent the movement in its upcoming 2008-2009 campaign and have a chance to appear in a TV special on women and heart disease.

Click here to learn more.

Barak Obama: Is He Our Man?

When have you seen a political figure show this type of emotion? Do you think that Obama can win the presidency? If so, why? What is it about him that is so appealing or not?
A President Like My Father Caroline Kennedy writes in the New York Times her thoughts of Barak Obama: "I have never had a president who inspired me the way people tell me that my father inspired them. But for the first time, I believe I have found the man who could be that president — not just for me, but for a new generation of Americans." Click here to read more of Caroline Kennedy's article which articulates why she is endorsing Barak Obama.

Another endorsement comes from Toni Morrison. Below is a letter author Toni Morrison sent to Senator Obama. You may recall that Toni Morrison was the first to label Bill Clinton as our 'first black president" On the heels of the Kennedy endorsements, this is another powerful endorsement for our campaign of hope and change.

Also, the last debate before February 5th is this Thursday, January, 31st at 8:00 pm EST/7:00 pm CST/5:00 pm PST. CNN will be carrying the debate LIVE from the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, CA.

Dear Senator Obama,

This letter represents a first for me--a public endorsement of a Presidential candidate. I feel driven to let you know why I am writing it. One reason is it may help gather other supporters; another is that this is one of those singular moments that nations ignore at their peril. I will not rehearse the multiple crises facing us, but of one thing I am certain: this opportunity for a national evolution (even revolution) will not come again soon, and I am convinced you are the person to capture it.

May I describe to you my thoughts?

I have admired Senator Clinton for years. Her knowledge always seemed to
me exhaustive; her negotiation of politics expert. However I am more
compelled by the quality of mind (as far as I can measure it) of a
candidate. I cared little for her gender as a source of my admiration,and
the little I did care was based on the fact that no liberal woman has ever
ruled in America. Only conservative or "new-centrist" ones are allowed
into that realm. Nor do I care very much for your race[s]. I would not
support you if that was all you had to offer or because it might make me
"proud."

In thinking carefully about the strengths of the candidates, I stunned
myself when I came to the following conclusion: that in addition to keen
intelligence, integrity and a rare authenticity, you exhibit something that
has nothing to do with age, experience, race or gender and something I
don't see in other candidates. That something is a creative imagination
which coupled with brilliance equals wisdom. It is too bad if we associate
it only with gray hair and old age. Or if we call searing vision naivety.
Or if we believe cunning is insight. Or if we settle for finessing cures
tailored for each ravaged tree in the forest while ignoring the poisonous
landscape that feeds and surrounds it. Wisdom is a gift; you can't train
for it, inherit it, learn it in a class, or earn it in the workplace--that
access can foster the acquisition of knowledge, but not wisdom.

When, I wondered, was the last time this country was guided by such a
leader? Someone whose moral center was un-embargoed? Someone with
courage instead of mere ambition? Someone who truly thinks of his country's
citizens as "we," not "they"? Someone who understands what it will take to
help America realize the virtues it fancies about itself, what it desperately needs to become in the world?

Our future is ripe, outrageously rich in its possibilities. Yet unleashing
the glory of that future will require a difficult labor, and some may
be so frightened of its birth they will refuse to abandon their nostalgia for
the womb.

There have been a few prescient leaders in our past, but you are the man for this time.

Good luck to you and to us.

Toni Morrison

Do you want to know which residential candidate's thinking is similar to yours? Use this link.

Your Legacy

Now that I am older and have a daughter, I often think what she will think of me when I am no longer around. I want her to feel like she could have had no better mother, but often I am not sure if I am achieving that. I think we all want to be super mom who is emotionally and physically healthy while also maintaining a wonderful balance between home, work, volunteering, and church. There are times when it seems impossible to be who I want to be. I can't help but wonder if that is what matters since all children seem to want is our time and attention.

My mom was a great mother AND it seems she did many of those things. She had her own in-home business. She was active in the community, the church, and in each of our lives. AND THERE WERE FIVE OF US!!!!!!! I just want to be who she was and so much more.

Day to day I know I am creating a good legacy but in the words of Jim Collins how do I turn it from "good to great." As well, how should we really define "great" when it comes to how our children will view us later in life? I know that children truly only want our attention and approval, but why is it that I want to give so much more? I find myself wanting to volunteer more, exercise more, write a great book, create some wonderful invention. And I want to do all that for her! But then it's 9:00 at night and all I have energy left to do is read a bedtime story and say prayers. Lights out!


Have any thoughts on this? Have you thought about your legacy? What do you want to be able to leave your children? How will you accomplish it? What kind of legacy has your mother created for you? Were there other women who influenced you or who you look up to?

African America in Corporate America

1. Ursula Burns, President of Xerox. As a Fortune 500 company, Xerox has a great track record of promoting women executives to the highest management positions. Next in line after CEO Anne Mulcahy, Burns has driven efforts to improve the line of products offered by Xerox and supported R&D of new technologies, including Xerox’s new emulsion aggregate toner plant in upstate New York. Under her leadership, Xerox grew by 20% in 2007. Burns was named to her position in April 2007, and also holds a seat on the Board of Directors. Burns joined Xerox as a summer intern in 1980, and worked her way up at Xerox after obtaining a B.S. from Polytechnic Institute of New York and a Master’s in Engineering from Columbia. She also serves on the boards of American Express Corp., Boston Scientific Corp., CASA - The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, National Academy Foundation, National Association of Manufacturers, and the University of Rochester.

2. Susan Chapman, Global Head of Operations, Citigroup Realty Services. Chapman manages the day-today operations for Citigroup Realty in 96 countries. She holds the No. 2 spot in the business unit, and is responsible for overseeing mergers and acquisitions, retail branch development, real estate administration, strategic projects and global business relationship management.Chapman sits on the Dean’s Advisory Board for the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Business, where she received her MBA in 1998. She was named to Black Enterprise magazine’s Hot List for up and coming businesspeople under 40.

3. Edith Cooper, Head of North American Hedge Fund Distribution, Fixed Income, Currencies & Commodities, Goldman Sachs. Cooper was promoted to managing director in 1998, after only 2 years at Goldman Sachs, and made partner in 2000. In London, she co-led the company’s commodity business for Europe and Asia, and in 2004, she co-headed the company’s global clearing and execution in the equity division. Cooper headed the company’s global futures business before rising to her current position. Before working at Goldman, Cooper worked at Banker’s Trust. Cooper graduated from Harvard College and received her MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Business.


4. Amy Ellis-Simon, Managing Director, Convertible Sales, Merrill Lynch. Ellis-Simon is the MD and head of the Multiproduct Sales Team, which deals with a wide range of equity and debt products, including convertibles, equity derivatives and fixed income. She’s co-founder of the Global Markets and Investment Banking Women’s Leadership Council, a founder and chairperson of Three Sisters Scholarship Foundation, and a member of the Employee Diversity Council. In 2004, Ellis-Simon was named as one of the “Top 40 under 40” by Crain’s magazine. She joined Merrill Lynch as an analyst after graduating from the University of Michigan in in1994. Ellis-Simon serves on the Board of Sponsors for Educational Opportunity (SEO), a program designed to provide young people of color with opportunities in the private sector.


5. Mellody Hobson, President, Ariel Capital Management L.L.C. Hobson heads the nation’s largest black-owned money management firm, Chicago-based Ariel Capital, with $21.43 billion in assets under management. As manager of all business operations outside of research and portfolio management, she oversees client services and investment planning. She also chairs the Ariel Mutual Funds Board of Trustees. Hobson is a regular commentator on ABC’s Good Morning America and has defended the mutual fund industry in testimony before Congress. Hobson was named by Chicago Business News as one of the Top 40 under 40. She graduated from Princeton in 1991.

6. Melissa James, Managing Director, Morgan Stanley. James runs the Relationship Lending Business in Morgan Stanley’s Loan Products Group, where she is responsible for managing over $25 billion in loan commitments. Before she became a managing director, James headed the company’s industrial origination effort, where she helped raise billions in capital for corporate clients and worked on complex transactions, including the first domestic yen issuance for General Electric Capital Corp., the first global bond for DuPont, and the $4 billion initial public offering of Agere Systems. She is also a member of the firm’s Capital Commitment Committee. James joined Morgan Stanley as a Financial Analyst in 1985 after graduating from Yale College and returned in 1989 after receiving her MBA from Harvard Business School.

7. Suzanne Shank, President & CEO, Siebert Brandford Shank & Co. L.L.C. A founding partner and principal of the Oakland, California-based municipal bond specialist is the fifth-largest black-owned investment bank, with $51 billion in total managed issues. Shank was one of the senior managers tapped by the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department to help facilitate an $1.14 million bond issue. In 2006her firm became a major bond underwriter a $500 million tax-refunding bond to help reform the governing structure of the Detroit Public School district. In 2006, Black Enterprise Magazine named Shank one of the “50 Most Powerful Black Women in Business” and one of the “75 Most Influential Blacks on Wall Street.” She graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology with a BS in Engineering and received an MBA from Wharton School of Business in 1987.

8. Gwendolyn Smith Iloani, Chairwoman, President, & CEO, Smith Whiley & Co. Smith Iloani’s private equity firm is the fourth-largest black-owned private equity firm, with $222 million under management. An investment industry veteran, Smith Iloani directs the firm’s investment advisory and asset management business and the investment and portfolio management activities. Prior to forming her own firm, she was a managing director at Aetna Inc., where she persuaded senior executives to partner with her in forming Smith Whiley. Smith Iloani sits on the board of New Samaritan Corp., which provides affordable housing in Connecticut.She received her MBA from the University of Hartford.

9. Tracey Travis, CFO & Senior VP of Finance Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. As CFO of the $3.3 billion apparel, accessories, and home furnishings company, Travis’s work covers the fields of both finance and fashion. Appointed as CFO in 2005, she now oversees corporate finance, financial planning and analysis, treasury, and tax and corporate compliance. The fashion company includes Polo, Lauren, Ralph Lauren, Chaps, and Club Monaco brands and operates about 275 retail stores in the U.S. and 100 affiliates abroad. Travis is affiliated with the Finance Executives Institute and the National Association of Corporate Directors. At Deutsche Bank’s annual Women on Wall Street Conference in 2007, Travis spoke inspiringly to a crowd of over 2000 women about her experiences as a top woman in finance and offered advice to young women interested in pursuing a similar career path.

10. Lisa W. Pickrum, Executive VP & COO, RLJ Cos. L.L.C. In her capacity as Executive VP and COO of RLJ Cos., a diversified holding company with portfolio companies in financial services, hospitality, real estate, gaming, media, and entertainment, Pickrum handles the company’s legal matters, strategic partnerships, and new business developments. She led the formation of RLJ Hedge Fund of Funds, an asset management company in partnership with Deutsche Bank’s Deutsche Asset Management unit that could potentially become the largest black-owned asset management company. Pickrum has a BA from Vassar College and a law degree from Stanford Law School, as well as a degree in finance and entrepreneurial management from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. She also serves on the board of directors for Rollover Systems and CW Wellspring Entertainment. In an interview with Black Enterprise Magazine, who named her one of the 50 Most Powerful African American Women.

Thanks to
for this article.

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What commonalities do you see with these women? How can we encourage our daughters, friends, little sisters to achieve highly in life?

Susan Taylor is Leaving Essence

Big Change at Essence Magazine
Dec. 28, 2007

Susan Taylor, the woman who fashioned Essence into a "must-read" for black women, is planning to leave the magazine she has run for 37 years. Taylor, 61, joined Essence in 1970, the year it was first published, as a freelance fashion and beauty editor after founding her own company, Nequai Cosmetics, reports The New York Times . In 1981, Taylor became editor in chief and held the position until 2000, when she was promoted to publications director. Time Inc., which owns Essence, did not make an announcement about Taylor's resignation. Taylor, who is vacationing in South Africa, wrote in an automated out-of-office e-mail, "When I come back to the states in mid-January, I will be leaving Essence to do what at this juncture in my life has become a larger work for me--building the National Cares Mentoring Movement, which I founded as Essence Cares and today is my deepest passion."

Source: DiversityInc Website; Time Magazine now owns Essence.
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Heart Disease and African American Women

African-American women have higher rates of heart disease than white women. Many factors can lead to the higher rates. The good news is that there is a great deal you can do to improve your heart health.



Here is a CLIP so you can watch more.


Here is a website where you can read more. READ