Augsut Book

The verdict is in: The book selection for the month of August is, The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. He is one of the wittiest and biting classic writers that I've ever read. For those who are unfamiliar with this legendary man, he wrote The Importance of Being Earnest and An Ideal Husband, among others. He has so many quotables, I'm sure if you read him, you'll agree. He was a man too ahead of the times for his own good, and I admire his spirit greatly.

Happy reading!

Was it Independence Day for You?

Whenever July 4th rolls around and I really think about what the day means, as I shared with you last year. This year, the CEO of iZania.com (an interactive marketplace for African-Americans) has sent a public message about this debatable day. I thought I'd post it and see what you think about it.

Independence Day -- The Cost of Freedom

I recently read an article about research facilitated by The Ohio State University's Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity, titled, Whites Underestimate the Cost of Being
Black. The basic observation of the research by Phil Mazzocco is "While there has been progress in making racial conditions in American more equal, there's clearly a lot more work to be done," he said. "Blacks and whites are not experiencing the same America." As we approach this Independence Day, I began to ponder the "cost of being Black."

Independence has a very different meaning for African Americans, and that leaves many of us ambivalent as we watch the fireworks and hear the marching bands and see the parades celebrating our nation's independence. Freedom for Black Americans came more than 100 years after the Declaration of Independence, and still is characterized by huge gaps in the fruits of independence.

Looking back on our own independence, and evaluating our progress, we are not far removed from the indignities observed by Frederick Douglass, in his Independence Day Speech on the fourth of July 1852. At that point in the history of our nation - he made this observation:

"At a time like this, scorching irony, not convincing argument, is needed. Oh! had I the ability, and could I reach the nation's ear, I would today pour out a fiery stream of biting ridicule, blasting reproach, withering sarcasm, and stern rebuke. For it is not light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake. The feeling of the nation must be quickened; the conscience of the nation must be roused; the propriety of the nation must be startled; the hypocrisy of the nation must be exposed; and its crimes against God and man must be denounced."

“The costs of being black in our society are very well documented," Mazzocco said. "Blacks have significantly lower income and wealth, higher levels of poverty, and even shorter life spans, among many other disparities, compared to whites."

While whites may underestimate the cost, most Blacks are not far removed from the sentiments expressed by Frederick Douglass. As we celebrate along with our fellow citizens, we must continue to advance, in spite of the costs. It is important to recognize that, while emancipation was officially announced in 1863, we are still paying a higher cost of being Black in America.

For me, this makes my freedom more precious, and provides the motivation to continue the struggle for equality. My vote is more precious. My education is more valuable to me. I appreciate the progress that my parents and grandparents made - as well as my own progress -- because I had to work harder for it. I have a greater commitment to work for the progress of others, because Frederick Douglass also taught us that "power concedes nothing without a demand."

Do we have something to celebrate on this Independence Day? Yes, we do. We are not experiencing the same America, but this nation is just as much ours as it is anyone else's. So I encourage you to enjoy the celebration. Just don't forget the cost.

Roger Madison

CEO, iZania.com

I think that was pretty well stated, do you?

Summer Fun

I was just reading my July issue of Glamour Magazine (with Katherine Heigl on the cover), and came across a cute list of things to do to put you in a good mood (July is peak happiness month, after all, duh). I'd like to share them with all of you who do not subscribe to gloss mags and don't know what you're missing...

30 Things to Put You in an Instant Good Mood

1. Google your first head-over-heels summer love. Consider sending him and email.
2. Get rid of some unhappiness: Let go of a grudge, forgive a slight, unload a worry.
3. Give dark nail polish the summer off. Yes, it's edgy, but nothing compares to looking down at 10 pretty pastels.
4. See The Bourne Ultimatum just for brainy Matty D's biceps
5. Eat plenty of pink: lemonade, grapefruit, champagne, frosting.
6. Run an ice cube all over him. Or if there's no him, you.
7. Marco? Polo!
8. Use your sexy walk. Take all catcalls as compliments.
9. Open drawer. Insert BlackBerry. Close drawer. Walk away.
10. Skip makeup for a day and call it your new nude look.
11. Sit in front of a freezing cold air conditioner in a darkened room and have an all day screening of winter movies like Doctor Zhivago, Never Cry Wolf, March of the Penguins.
12. Plant something. Watch it grow. Eat it with a nice vinaigrette.
13. Spend 15 minutes browsing for sandals at zappos.com, which has--no joke--338 pairs under $40.
14. Naked sleeping, naked TV watching, naked iPod updating, naked tub scrubbing...need we go on?
15. Download the singsongy ice cream truck jingle as your ringtone (for as long as you can stand it). Just search for "download ice cream truck ringtone"--it actually works!
16. Give the kid a whole dollar for the lemonade.
17. Dip your feet in a cool, crisp body of water (yes, a blowup pool counts).
18. Order the 2 1/2 pound lobster. Of course you can finish it!
19. Bikram sex. As in hot, sweaty, intense.
20. "Don't worry about a thing. 'Cause every little thing gonna be alright." Repeat anytime you need a Bob Marley moment.
21. Make sangria (check out mixdrinx.com). Wine-soaked fruit: Does it get any better?
*22. Get a dog. Do it! You know you want to.
23. Put a pair of sunglasses on a baby strictly for your own enjoyment.
24. Entertain your fellow drivers by singing out loud to the radio with the windows down. Also, make "air waves" with your hands.
25. Add fresh mint to all cold beverages.
26. Price a quickie weekend trip to Vegas. Yeah, it's hotter 'n hell there, but the fun is all indoors.
**27. Be barefoot more often than is socially appropriate.
28. Hit the pool or beach at sundown, when all the crowds have gone. Have yourself a lovely solo swim.
29. Celebrate Take Your Sundress to Work Day. Wear an office-y little sweater, but know that underneath it you have the day off.
30. Turn 360 degrees and identify five things around you that are making your life beautiful right now.

*I am anti this item. Why would I want to take care of a smelly dog in the summer and have to walk it in this crazy heat and humidity?!?
**I think this is highly unsanitary. I do not recommend this item, either.

Albeit, some of the list items seem corny and kooky, I think that's what makes a person happy sometimes. A little corniness might just be what it takes to get you out of whatever rut is bogging you down. Have fun!

Book Club

My girlfriend, Trish, who I met in a book club I still belong to, is our book club coordinator, until now. Due to a new job and hectic schedule, she has passed on the torch to yours truly. I think I will be quite capable at my new role, and have already started coordinating my first gathering. I am always encouraging people to read, read more often, and/or join our book club (which is in Miami). Some people are on our list who read the books from wherever they are in the country; they just don't participate in the discussions. Rather, they use our list and monthly selection to do some reading on their own.

All that said, I have decided to post our monthly selections here every time a vote takes place. I encourage you to join online and share your thoughts and questions of our books with me. I will even bring them up to my group when we meet. Our next vote takes place early in the new week, so I will be posting our August book here later in the week.

Are you game?

(I'm hoping it's going to be a book I already own. Last thing I need is to buy another book to add to the piles of still unread books lying around the house!)