Posts Tagged ‘Obama’
Presidental Press conference
Tuesday, March 24th, 2009America on Parade
Saturday, January 31st, 2009
The Inauguration of President Obama was an event to behold. Mr. Obama is the first presidential candidate since Kennedy to inspire me to hope and believe once again in our government. I wanted so badly to regain my lost hope in the Great Idea that is America. It seems that I am not alone. Almost 2 million people gathered in the freezing cold to be part of that historical moment.
I felt a connection with Barack Obama from the first time I heard him speak but I was unsure of how mainstream America would respond to him. My grandparents are from Iowa so when the good people of Iowa voted for him in their caucuses, I knew that he had a chance to win the election. It was the Iowa spirit that kick-started Obama’s victory, placed him favorably in the national spot light, and led to this Inauguration.
When race seemed to become an issue during the campaign, Mr. Obama faced it head-on. Mr. Obama’s historic speech put American racism in perspective with grace and civility. I could feel him speaking from his heart. It was then I knew that he was the breath of compassionate and intelligent fresh air that was needed for this country to move beyond stigmatizing people based upon their skin color. (read more )
My country Tis of Thee
Friday, January 23rd, 2009
MY COUNTRY ‘TIS OF THEE
My country ‘tis of thee
Sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing
Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrims pride
From every mountainside let freedom ring.
When I heard Aretha Franklin sing those words at the Presidential Inauguration it took me back to my childhood, and the memory of signing the National Anthem and saluting the flag every morning at the start of school. It was something we did as part of being American, part of being patriotic. We would all sing with a joy and a belief. I vividly remember the early 60’s and being mesmerized by a young Irish President from Massachusetts, John F. Kennedy. He was my hero of sorts. For some reason I could relate to him, I could relate to his story–being the captain of a sinking PT boat and not wavering from his appointed duties of staying with his ship. He was a hero, and I was into heroes. He was up there with the Apache Indian, Geronimo, who represented to me someone who fought against injustice and did it in a way that demonstrated that real men had courage to face death in the face of truth(read more)
The Train
Wednesday, January 21st, 2009Embracing Differences
Monday, January 19th, 2009
embracing differences
comic by Chan Lowe @ www.list@myucomics.com
Jerome Green
This is a year of embracement and a very exciting time in our world. Come Tuesday, we will have a new President, but more importantly, we will have a new lease on life, increased hope and a plethora of new possibilities. The election of Obama came on the heels of a new wave of energy and spirit. This is the year that we will learn to embrace everything around us and this learning will be crucial in dealing with the issues of the economy, our families and life itself.
At Henry’s (my spiritual advisor) annual New Years Eve gathering, he discussed the principle of embracing others – even if you don’t get along, can’t give them what they want or don’t agree with them. Embracing someone is all about how much of your heart and luvv you are willing to give.
As I embraced this idea, I took a fresh look at several areas of my life. I examined how I interact with the many homeless people and beggars on the street. I thought about the times that I am asked for spare change and how I sometimes give it and others time don’t. When Henry was speaking on New Year’s Eve, he said that “Giving someone money doesn’t mean you have embraced him or her. You can give someone a strong embrace and it will do more for them than the little bit of cash you give them.”
I realized that if I give or don’t give money, that there are very few times that I have actually embraced the homeless. I may say hello or I speak to them, but most of the time I just get a little annoyed or wish they wouldn’t approach me. Years ago, Henry said to me “The more you luvv, the more alone time you will have.” People feel the power of luvv. Most people don’t want that much luvv coming their way so they leave you alone.
Henry’s comments about embracing others hit home for me. The embrace is not a hug. Hugs can be full of fake energy and can shut you and the recipient down. An embrace is the exchange of your heart to someone else’s heart. I saw this in action the other day. For the past year I’ve had a person I used to do business with call me and leave messages. As I was no longer interested in doing business with this person, I never returned his calls and I figured that he would “get the message” and stop calling me. The last time he called, I could hear the conscience speak to me and say “What did you just learn about embracing someone? Oh, by any chance would this be the time for an embrace?” So I called the person back, spoke to him and told him about embracing people more than ever this year. I confirmed that I was no longer in need of his services, but wanted to reach out to him. The next day I received a phone message and he spoke specifically about feeling the embrace and how important embracing was going to be for him this year.
In less than twenty-four hours we are going to have a new President. There is the anticipation of great change ahead. How you will direct the changes in your own life? How will you answer the call for change that President Obama has asked of each person in this country? It is our responsibility to do our part to lift our country out of its depression and to bring about more spirit and production. As we look upon this day, no matter what political, racial or economic affiliation you have, focus on who you owe. Embrace them and begin to bring your luvv to them. Some of it can be done “in the silence” or through your thoughts. The beauty of embracing others is that you don’t have to agree with them – just learn to luvv them and hold them in your heart. It will greatly assist us during these difficult economic times and will assist with the rebuilding of the worth of each individual in our country and the world.
Dwight Eisenhower, in his farewell address to the nation after his second term as President, had this to say:
“To all the peoples of the world, I once more give expression to America’s prayerful and continuing aspiration. We pray that peoples of all faiths, all races, all nations, may have their great human needs satisfied; that those now denied opportunity shall come to enjoy it to the full; that all who yearn for freedom may experience its spiritual blessings; that those who have freedom will understand, also, its heavy responsibilities; that all who are insensitive to the needs of others will learn charity; that the scourges of poverty, disease and ignorance will be made to disappear from the earth, and that, in the goodness of time, all peoples will come to live together in a peace guaranteed by the binding force of mutual respect and love.”
Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
The Weight Is Not Over
Tuesday, January 13th, 2009
The Weight Is Not Over
Jerome Green
I had to laugh at myself tonight. Here I was returning from the gym mixing a Glycemic shake for weight loss and my 17-year-old son was mixing a Protein shake for weight gain. How funny life is! Here he is trying to gain 5 lbs to get to 137 and I am trying to lose 50 lbs to get to 185. I had to really laugh at just how ironic life really is. It can seem that we are always at the opposite end of things – searching for the ideal situation.
Similarly, we have complained about how high gas prices were, how much clothing and other goods cost and the inflated prices of buying a home. Now, gas prices are down, goods and services are at bargain prices and homes and cars are priced within reach, but many of us can’t take advantage of it because we either don’t have the cash flow or can’t get a loan.
A lot of the changes we are seeing in our surrounding community, country and world are more about bringing a greater focus to our spiritual connections and the ability to find the victory when the news is promoting despair. This past Christmas I was able to shop for a few presents. My decision was based upon much money I had, but more so, my discernment and my willingness to really allow myself to feel Christmas – and not feel that I had to give physical presents to everyone.
We had a wonderful Christmas night dinner with some companions and my wife Gail came up with a Christmas gift exchange activity that was a lot of fun. So many of our companions expressed great joy in the exchange and the fact that they could really feel Gail’s luvv in the gifts. Luvv needs to become part of the GNP. The paper is not holding up. It’s disappearing as fast as it’s printed. It is crumbling around us and no matter how many Bail Out Plans the government comes up with, in the end, it’s going to take a lot of government work projects to get us going in our new direction.
Learning how to be Happy is becoming another essential skill to have. Being Happy is really about going beyond the creative forces that try and tell us what happiness looks like and feels like. Happiness is in the inner joy that permeates our being and allows the joy to flow with or without the material objects. Being Happy doesn’t mean that you have to be poor or wealthy. It simply requires an open heart, a warm embrace and the ability to not get caught up in the images projected by Madison Avenue that try and tell us how we should be or what we should look like.
In my struggle to lose weight, I sometime catch myself looking back at how I use to look, or feel, and while I want to get back to that person, I will never get the years back or look like I used to. I have a novel thought that just maybe I can actually be better than I use to be. Maybe not run as fast or jump as high, but actually, by using what I’ve learned and getting in both physical and spiritual shape, maybe get in the best shape of my life. The same can be said for the country and the economy. The more we try and capture the past, the more depressed we’ll become. There is no going back to the way it was. For centuries, we, as people, have always lamented on those words “the way it was.”
I know I don’t want to go back. I want to go forward. GE, CEO, Jeff Immlet has talked about a
“Business Reset”, where businesses are spending time trying to go back, but must go forward or they will not prosper. Specific industries will be restructured within the next 6-12 months, and the intersection with government and business in the U.S. and Europe will change for at least a generation. “That companies need to stand for something beyond the bottom line is profound”, said Immlet, “we are in an emotional, social and economic reset”.
As I continue to drink my Glycemic shakes in search of the lbs leaving me, I also have to look at all the other extra weight I might be carrying. This is an ideal time to streamline and, as in my son’s case, build up. Building more character, charisma and purpose are going to be very good traits to have and develop. No matter what the government does, it won’t absolve us of individually developing our own Super Powers to combat the forces of malaise that took over the collective conscientiousness of a country for the past decade or so. We are Super People, with super abilities and we are all being asked to put on our Super Hero uniform and advance our world – one family at a time.
“It will not come easy or happen overnight, and it is altogether likely that things may get worse before they get better. But that is all the more reason for Congress to act without delay. I know the scale of this plan is unprecedented, but so is the severity of our situation. We have already tried the wait-and-see approach to our problems, and it is the same approach that helped lead us to this day of reckoning.” –President-Elect Obama on American recovery and reinvestment
My weight, like our issues, will not go away over night. Shucks, it took me 15 years to put this weight on. It will take resolve, dedication, clear thought and discipline to reduce my weight, and to build a new America.
Dirt off Your Shoulders
Tuesday, December 9th, 2008This is a great blog article from my buddy BrooklynRon
check it out.
Business and Conscience
Monday, November 17th, 2008
Worried about the Economy?
With the global economy being attacked from all sides, along with the news on Monday that Japan, (the second largest economic power in the world next to the U.S) is in a recession, there is a great fear of what the future, and by future, I mean an hour from now, holds for all of us.
Today we are faced with businesses closing down, downsizing their employee ranks, or curtailing some of their business activities. Companies like Circuit City, Starbucks, Home Depot, Linens-n-Things and Foot Locker are reducing their work force from anywhere from 17-25% and closing stores to fight back against a recessive trend that seems to be inevitable.
“With income down 78 percent in 2007, the shoe retailer is running for the hills. It’s putting 140 more of its 3,785 stores on the chopping block in addition to the 274 it closed last year.”— Money.aol.com
Why do we see so many businesses facing these hard economic times? The economic pundits say it’s a combination of consumer wariness about the economy, and loss of real jobs. While all of this can be statistically documented, I would say that there are possibly other reasons.
Let’s take the case of Circuit City. They are the second-largest consumer electronic retailer and have filed for bankruptcy; begging for the financial protection that they need to survive. Does a company like Circuit City just collapse because of a poor economy alone or are there other issues that have brought this about? In Sundays November 16, L.A Times business letters section, Dan Rendant from Arcadia Writes:
“ It is certainly no surprise that Circuit City has filed for bankruptcy. A couple of years ago Circuit City management decided to get rid of the experienced store employees in order to bring the payroll down to near minimum wage levels.
Practically overnight the atmosphere in the stores changed when the new employees couldn’t get off their cell phones long enough to help the customers. That is when I took all my personal and corporate business to other chains.”
I chuckled to myself when I read this, because I had just mentioned the same thing to someone a few days ago. I realized that somewhere along the line, our business model for this country moved from that of having customers to wooing consumers. We have become a country of consumers and businesses have reacted to this trend. It seems that product consumption has outgrown product production.
Many companies jumped on the consumer bandwagon and started to target the consumer while disconnecting from the customer. The idea of customer has a spirit to it, a connected link to an exchange. The image I get of the consumer is similar to the one I had as a child while feeding the pigs on my Grandma Maggie’s farm in Georgia. They would eat what ever I threw in the pen. There was very little discrimination on what it was they were being fed and how much of it was there. We have become pigs in many ways and our retail stores and business saw an opportunity to make a quick buck, without much effort on their part. On Progress-index.com the editor wrote:
“According to recent news reports, Circuit City didn’t take the threat of Best Buy seriously enough, focusing on making a profit in the short term rather than building value for customers in the long term.”
From Worry to Hope
This downturn in the economy and the election of Obama has the spirit of business associated with it. All areas of America including Government, businesses, households and individuals are being called upon to show a profit. We are being commanded to remove the shackles of economic slavery and to replace those shackles with Freedom. It’s time to move away from the “free money” and put luvv back into our money and the products we produce. In a conversation I had with Henry Conyers, my spiritual advisor, he said:
“ We are running for nation to nation looking for an honest dollar. It’s time to let go of the dream and embrace the Vision, the CAP has come off the world and the conscience has been unleashed”.
I have seen people from the “Blue States” and the “Red States”, all acknowledge that no matter what their political affiliations or beliefs are, that they can’t deny the feeling of hope they feel from the Obama election. Hope is very high right now, despite, CNN daily and sometimes hourly reports on how dim our fiscal future looks. I sense that we have embraced Obama’s key message on the night that he won the election, when he said:
“The Road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year, or even one term. But America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you, we as a people will get there.”
What Can You Do?
This is a time of great opportunity for learning and growth. I am hearing more about retrenchment of adult learning in companies, cutting back on fun opportunities for employees and cutting sales staff. These decisions are usually coming from the top of the corporation and don’t involve the people in the middle or the bottom. This is how the 700 Billion dollar bailout was decided too. We see how well that is working. Go Green Learning offers a “Happy Hour program” and I can’t think of any better than now for people to get a little happier in an aligned way.
Step I
It’s time to laugh more, play more and learn more. While cutting back on what seems to be fringe benefits, you have to recognize that right now, we are all living on the fringe, and cutting those things, might lead to a less productive work force and the inability to build a comeback.
Step II
Change from the mind to the heart. Michele Obama in an interview said:
“ I think to the extent that people think that I’m good, It’s from the fact that I really try to speak from my heart”.
Take a look at what changes need to be made in how you do business. Involve employees in real discussions on how to bring the company back into production. You never know what might come from this process.
Step III
Become a great listener. Listen to conscience, which in turn will assist you to listen to others, your customers, your employees, your children and mate.
Check out our communication workshops.
Step IV
Strengthen your compassion level. Becoming a better listener will allow you to develop a greater level of compassion for yourself, first and foremost, and for others. Don’t feel sorry for people or try to walk a mile in their shoes. Just bring a greater level of luvv and heart to the office or boardroom.
Step V
Develop vision teams. These are people who don’t even have to like each other or get a long. I will never forget when I was the director of Student Activities at Cal State University, Northridge and I hired Jeannie Rosenberger on the staff. I hired her for two simple reasons, 1) she was very structured and organized and 2) she was a fighter. I knew she would fight me when she didn’t agree and that is what I needed. President-elect Obama is taking the same approach in filling his cabinet positions. The popular Lincoln-est term is “Team of Rivals”. This vision team should be comprised of people from the custodial staff to the President – anyone who has demonstrated that they have vision and have acted upon it in some way.
Step VI
Finally, stay true to you. Do it your way with alignment and focus. Continue to acknowledge, embrace and act on your desire when possible – even if your desire seems to be out of step with the times. Never recoil or give up. Hope is a magical aspect of life.
“Hope is the bedrock of this nation-the belief that our destiny will not be written for us, but by us, by all those men and women who are not content to settle for the world as it is, who have the courage to remake the world as it should be”—Obama in Des Monies after winning the Iowa Democratic caucuses.
Many people, Jesse Jackson for one, had the idea of hope as their message. The difference is that unlike others, Obama has been called by the conscience to do the work associated with the word.
Start remaking your company today, by Asking The Conscience.
The Conscience Is The Funny Man
Monday, November 10th, 2008
The Conscience Is Funny
We’ve all heard the comment that “life is funny”. We laugh or giggle, but really life IS funny and the conscience is even funnier. The conscience has a strong sense of humor and there was no better example of it than this past week. All over the news we heard stories about the impending election, and the night and the days that followed. There was a newness to all the reporting. The media was less serious, laughter was openly expressed, and everyone seems a little happier.
I was speaking to a parent of one of my players in my basketball program today and we were talking about the election and how everyone seems so lifted, and more accessible to each other. I said to him that, I realized that for the past 8-years it was like we were all depressed and didn’t know it. We both laughed because we knew there was a certain amount of truth to what I was saying.
A conversation I had tonight with Henry, my spiritual companion, increased the clarity to what we are all feeling. We are feeling the effects of the Cap coming off the world and the conscience being unleashed. I could feel the truth to that, as I am sure you can. As a result of the Cap being removed, the conscience has had a lot of fun reporting on the election results.
Henry has always had a very amazing way at looking at the world and our surroundings. Speaking with him is like taking a ride on a roller coaster that never ends. He looks at things from a funny place and in the process brings a lot of laugher with his truth. He is the funniest when working with other people. The people he is working with don’t always see him as being that funny, but they can’t deny the truth. Laughter is a part of work. If you are not bringing laughter to your work, you’re probably not listening to conscience or you might just be a part time user of the conscience.
My mother has been ill for the past two years. Several times, according to reports, she was on her deathbed. I would rush to New York and there she would be looking fresh as a daisy. During this election, she was at the polls at 5:30 am to cast her vote. My entire family got a kick out of it. Mom, who can’t get around all that well, got moving on Tuesday, November 4, 2008, to make sure she cast her vote. I have to check with President- Elect Obama to see if he can have a major event every week. For at least this one day, my mom, listened to conscience, and gave us all something to laugh about.
Bill Maher from Real Time, in his opening monologue this past Friday had this to say regarding the election :
“ Americans have gotten behind our racial past and picked a black man to clean up our mess.”
When I heard this I cracked up. There was so much truth to this statement that I couldn’t help but laugh out loud. Here it is, all of the blacks, rejoicing about finally having a recognizable black president and really the white folks were voting for a highly qualified janitor with Ivy League degrees. The conscience really does have a sense of humor.
When do you ever recall seeing Presidential Candidates, during the election, being on Saturday Night Live and allowing themselves to be made fun of? There is no denying the conscience. Protocol and the Secret Service couldn’t get in the way of it.
Another funny tidbit from conscience had to do with the Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger being interviewed on CNN by John King. When John King asked him what it was like being a republican in his house with his wife, Maria Shriver, a democrat and a Kennedy, here is what Arnold had to say:
“She is walking around the house with a cardboard cut out of Obama saying “Obama, won, Obama won.”
What’s even funnier is that Arnold, the muscle guy, is the Governor of California. Did you ever see his movie Stay Hungry, with Sally Fields and Arnold? It was a funny movie about Arnold’s desire to make it big in America as a muscle man. He even wore a cape and Mask
Laughter is important to our lives. I really enjoy a good Laugh. Norman Cousins believed that Laughter was a cure all for many things that ailed you. He even wrote a book about it entitled “Anatomy of an Illness-The Healing Power of Laughter. In the book Cousins address how, in 1964, he found laughter in the face of a life threatening illness-Ankylosing Spondylitis (deterioration of the spine). Cousins discovered that hospitals were no place for the seriously ill. It was more or a less a place to go and die. So he checked himself out of the hospital into a hotel, got a movie projector and started watching funny movies. It appears that Cousins tapped into conscience and was given direction on healing himself.
The next time you feel down, or you feel that the economy is against you, that life isn’t fair and that all you need is a break or two try asking the conscience for a little laughter to lift you out of your self-pity and into WORK.
Everyone Has The Opportunity to Change
Wednesday, November 5th, 2008
Everyone has been Given the Power to change.
I first said “No, No, No and now I say, Yes, Yes, Yes”. These were the words from my mother-in-law at our wedding reception 20 years ago. In 1988 my wife Gail (who is white) and I (black), took a bold step, even for the 80’s. We got married. A black man and white woman getting married and doing it in public (wedding was over looking a bluff in Santa Monica), was not a popular decision.
On the night of the election, after the results were in. My mother-in-law called and asked to speak to me. There was energy of newness in her voice. There was a deep connection beyond the words. There was a spiritual connection and an opportunity for change in the air. We laughed and loved and talked about the power of the present and the hope of the future.
I could feel life coming through the phone. I had goose bumps while I was watching the speeches of Obama and McCain and even greater goose bumps in speaking with Bernie, my mother-in law. She has always been one of my favorite people. She’s had her beliefs and they were strong, but over the years I’ve seen her surrender more and more to the conscience. I’ve seen her being willing to learn and grow. I’ve seen her lose a husband, go through her own process of learning how to deal with that lost and come out of it stronger and more vibrant than anyone could have expected.
The Time is now
The time is now. The work to be done is now. We’ve gotten a new lease on the conscience. This election has given us the opportunity to expand our listening and our ability to become world leaders again. The world is watching us, counting on us to deliver on the promise. Yes, Obama is the new president, but it doesn’t stop there. It begins there. Each of us has been called into duty, called to do our job, bring our love and deliver on our destinies. If you now feel that Obama is your savior, then get out of the way. He isn’t. He isn’t even the first black president, just the first acknowledged one. We had Jackson, Coolidge, and Lincoln before, just to name a few.
We now have an opportunity to follow the conscience in our daily lives. We’ve always wanted our vote to count and this time it did. What happened on Election Day was a spiritual action. It wasn’t a political action. I could feel the spirit in the speeches of McCain and Obama. Even Bush, who has been devoid of spirit during his 8 years in office, had a twinge of spirit in his voice when he addressed the nation today.
The party is on
Everyone is partying and rejoicing with the new levels of hope that hit us like an astroid. Even the people who didn’t vote for Obama felt lifted by the results. I was talking to a dear companion of mine, Henry Conyers and he said, “I hope the party continues by each individual stepping up and doing their part”. “If each of us doesn’t do our part, the party will be short lived”.
Don’t leave the conscience hanging. If you truly want change, then embrace the opportunity and get your butt’s moving. Demonstrate your willingness to listen to conscience and follow it. The world is now again focused on America and Americans. Will we do our duty or will be run, get scared and not deliver on the spiritual message that came through as a result of the election.
Ask the conscience and when you do, then be willing to listen and act.
