Race

I have a brother thats white. His name is Nathan Taylor. He's around five foot six, but I'm pretty sure he says he's five foot eight. And I'm guessing he's around 160 pounds these days. 

I'm a black male thats five foot ten 220lbs. If you were to look at us, you would quickly realize that we were not born from the same womb. But, nevertheless he is still my brother. Why? Hell, I don't know... I love the guy.

Me and him both are from the south. I was born in TN, and have since lived in Birmingham, AL for eight years. He's from a little town in GA, by the name of Rockmart. 

I love the south because I'm a southern boy at heart. I love the smell of the country, I love the smell of barbecue and Jack Daniels on a Saturday morning before a SEC football game. And all in all I just love my southern heritage. There are things that I don't like, but being from the south is in my DNA. You can take a man out of the south, but you can't take the south out of the man. 

Yet, the south has a dirty history of racism. Blacks faced years of prejudice with Jim Crow Laws set into place after Lincoln's Proclamation of Emancipation in 1863. The Civil Rights Movement, the riots, and police brutality led by the likes of Birmingham's Bull Connor. The South to put it mildly, hadn't always been home sweet home for its black citizens. 

Through all this, I believe that our world has rapidly changed in the last 100 years. Some may beg to differ, but think about it. Fifty years ago our country was embroiled in the civil rights movement. Who would have ever imagined then that we would now have a black president? 

And who would ever imagine that there would be a Condoleeza Rice, a Colin Powell, Oprah Winfrey... The list of names and faces are many, some famous and some not so famous. Many taking roles in education, healthcare, and business. 

So now black america must ask itself. Does racism still exist? 

If the answer to this question is yes.

Then my follow up question is, does racism impede your progress from achieving your goals and reaching your full potential? 

The last question I would pose to a black audience would be...

Are you any less racist than a white person? 

Back to my brother by a different mother. Its obvious that he's white. It's obvious to me that we have different perspectives and viewpoints on what life means and what race means. But, he's still family. He would be family to me regardless of his skin color. Because its his soul, its his heart and mind that I love. 

Like Dr. King said, "Judge me by the content of my character, not the color of my skin." That goes for both white and black. To me, the only way black america can grow is for us to take full ownership of our shortcomings. To look in the mirror and not blame others for our failings. 

Lastly, I will leave you with this thought...

In the 21st century, who's the SLAVEMASTER? 

Is it a white man? Is it a black man? Or is it... the reflection of yourself in the mirror? 

The Chase

We're all chasing. Yet, I'm very certain that if we were to really ask ourselves what we're chasing after we wouldn't even have a clue. One day, we might desire respect, the next day money, and the next day...and the next day.

The chase is exhausting, especially when you wake up in the morning stare at yourself and think...What am I really here to do? What is my place amongst a growing population of nearly 7 billion people?

We all ask ourselves what is my purpose? And depending on our mood, we will have different answers. I've chased, and I've pushed things to the side, procrastinated with decisions. But one day, a question was asked of me that completely changed my life. It was a simple question. But it had an amazing impact on me. So I figured I'd share it.

The question:"Where do you see yourself in five years?" 

Well, this question is pretty simple. And it shouldn't take much thought to answer. Right? WRONG! Because its one of those open-ended questions. A question that you can answer with many statements, but was followed with this question.

The follow-up question: "What plans have you made to achieve your goals in the next five years?"

See, what I realized in this simple interaction was that just because I could easily say where I wanted to be in the next five years. I hadn't actually made up an action plan to achieve any of these goals.

Honestly, it hurt to realize that the only person that was holding me back from my potential was myself. I had no one else to blame for my failures or my shortcomings. It made me re-analyze my process. And, what I realized is that I had gotten caught up in the end result and not focused enough on taking time to make sure I was following the correct process.

Its like a good free throw shooter in basketball. Sure they make a high percentage of free throws, but look at their process before they shoot each shot. You will often find, its the same actions. Following a process, allows them to feel prepared to make the shot.

What I've realized is that we must constantly re-evaluate our process, and decide on why we do what we do. Is there a better way to solve a problem? Is there a better way to get to the end result? Because if the process is flawed, you will never reach your potential.

It's hard to accept that you have no control over the future. But its easier to grasp life's uncertainties when you sit down, reflect on your life and begin planning for how you would like to see yourself in the next 5 or 10 years. Plans never work out completely, but what I've found is that having a 5 year plan on paper is better than having no plan at all.

The chase... well, I've found that you can transform it to The plan...
And a plan only leads to purpose.