More Black Success

After 15 years of drug addiction, Joseph Chapman was in a county jail cell when he decided to turn his life around and overcome substance abuse. Now he helps other African Americans to do the same.

Michael Taylor speaks about how he went from bankrupt, depressed and stressed to being a successful entrepreneur writer/publisher.

These are just two of the stories in the More Black Success free eBooks.

Get your copies of these and lots of other free eBooks here:

http://www.black-success.com/freeebooks.htm

International Sharing and Communication

It's so important that we, as people of African heritage, share information and communicate with one another. Whether we live in the UK, the U.S.A., Africa, the Caribbean or anywhere in the world, we share common experiences.

I just came across this article. A young student was banned from giving a speech about how the Eurocentic curriculum in his school had damaged him and other Black students: http://www.frostillustrated.com/full.php?sid=1265

Although this happened in the States, it could easily have happened here in Britain and it affects all of us in the Diaspora.

I also just found this link: Basic Black Griot, A Conversation with [the playwright] Wole Soyinka.

The page asks: How would you describe the relationship between Africans and African Americans? Should there be a relationship between the two cultures or is that a “feel-good” sensibility that has no basis in fact?

Check it out and leave your comments.

In my work, I make no bones. I publish work from the UK, the U.S.A., African, the Caribbean and everywhere else there are African people. We did not stop being Africans when they put us into the slave ships.

We must keep dialoguing and communicating with each other. This is vital in order for all of us to survive and thrive.

Click here to read my article on Celebrating Black Heroes and Sheroes.

Click here if you want to submit your article or story.

The Most Popular Social Network in the World

Direct Matches is the largest and most popular social network in the world. It’s free to join and will bring you thousands of visitors.

You can join Direct Matches from http://www.directmatches.com/Zhana21

Here are 12 ways you can get the most from your membership.

(1) If you are new to Direct Matches, make sure you create a profile, as you will get loads of visitors checking out your profile. Make sure you check out theirs, too.

(2) Whether or not you are new, every time you get a visitor, contact that person and ask him or her for feedback. Say, ‘What did you think of my profile?” You can tell who your most recent visitors were by clicking on My Profile Traffic.

(3) Always be polite, courteous, and professional in your communications.

(4) When someone joins up through your link, always visit their profile and ask them how they are finding Direct Matches. Ask them if they need any help and try to give any help or practical advice they may need, or point them in the right direction. You can tell who joined through your link by visiting your BackOffice and clicking on the link for Binary Genealogy (Tree).

(5) When you visit someone’s profile, ask yourself how you can help this person. Maybe you send them a link to a blog, or forum posting, that will help their business. When you like what you see, say so.

(6) Send them an e-mail or, if you are their approved contact, post a comment on their comments page. When you praise someone, don’t just say ‘I like your profile’. Say what you like about it: Is it the colours? The wording? Their story? Or the service they are offering?

(7) Everyone is on Direct Matches in order to sell goods or services and make money. Be different. Your mission is to help other DM members.

(8) When you help someone, you are building a relationship. This person may refer others to you. Or you can ask the person for a reference which you can add to your website. The more people you help, the more referrals you will get.

(9) Posting classified ads will also bring visitors to your profile. Offer free goods or services which others can use to promote their businesses. For example, I offer a free Advanced Traffic System. You can use this to promote any program or opportunity. Advanced Traffic System

(10) Post blogs. Don’t just post about your business. Post things that will be of interest, of use and of value to other DM members. The same goes for forum postings. Become a resource. Be the person people come to for information.
(11) Don’t just promote your own business. Promote others’ as well if you think they are valuable. For example, I give away How to Be a Black Entrepreneur and link to Conversations with Black Millionaires on my site. Free eBooks

(12) Enjoy Direct Matches and have fun!

You can join Direct Matches from http://www.directmatches.com/Zhana21

Oprah Backs Obama's Campaign

Oprah Winfrey has been named as the most influential woman in the world. This is the first time Oprah has ever backed a political campaign.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/afp/20071209/twl-us-vote-2008-entertainment-oprah-2802f3e.html

To read about Oprah and other successful Black people, click here.

How do Asian students get to the top of the class?

I recently read these two articles:

How do Asian students get to the top of the class?
http://www.greatschools.net/cgi-bin/showarticle/ca/933/

Asian Parents and Success:
http://www.greatschools.net/cgi-bin/showarticle/ca/950

I have a lot of problems with what these articles are saying. This is aside from any self-stereotyping that may be going on.

(1) For one thing, similarly to Asian parents, Black parents also have a high expectation of obedience from our kids, and expect them to respect their elders as we were taught to respect ours. But our children, particularly the boys, often do not do well in school. This is because the schools are failing our children, not because we don’t expect them to respect their elders.

(2) On a deeper level, my problem with this is that it assumes that parents are building up their children’s self-esteem by praising everything they do, so that the children don’t want to make any effort.

Praising a child’s every action is not the way to build the child’s self-esteem. If anything, this will make the child very dependent on parental approval.

Similarly, it seems to me that requiring your child to be obedient, and putting the emphasis on results, is one way to guarantee that your child will grow up neurotically dependent on approval from authority figures. He or she could spend the rest of his or her adult life, either working hard to gain the approval of employers and superiors while lacking quality of life, or in therapy trying to overcome this tendency.

(3) These articles also refer to the child identifying with the role of ‘student’. That way, the child will grow up to identify with the role of ‘accountant’ or ‘chemist’ or whatever career the parents think is appropriate.

Of course, white society is happy to see Asian children brought up to be insecure and competitive, quiet and obedient. This suits the needs of the majority, authority figures and the powers-that-be. But does it meet the needs of Asian children, families and communities?

Surely, we – all adults - should encourage our children to be proud of being themselves, and identify with being authentic. That way, they will grow up to be healthy, happy, well-rounded adults. People with high self-esteem tend to perform better in different roles, including their careers as well as relationships, because they expect to do well. When you feel good about yourself on the inside, your actions and interactions reflect this.

The way to encourage our children to do well is to build their self-esteem by helping them to identify their own strengths and accomplishments. Yes, children can always do better. So can adults. I suspect many Asian parents who spend their time pointing out to their children how to improve do so because of their own inner sense of inadequacy. Their strategy is to pressure their children to do well in the hope that their children’s achievements will help them to feel better about themselves.

I speak partly from my own experience of being parented by African American parents who used the same strategy.

Luckily, my Dad also frequently reminds me how brilliant I am and that I can achieve anything I want to. This helped me through difficult times during my childhood, and I find his belief in me still contributes to my self-confidence now.

High self-esteem comes from inside. It does not come from being praised or by achieving external goals unless those goals are linked to one’s inner sense of what is important. Reliance on achievement of results leads to a sense of insecurity and a constant need to achieve, to do better than others, to compete. The most competitive people are not necessarily the most successful or effective in their fields, but they tend to be the most insecure.

My Dad’s reminding me of how wonderful I am contributed to my positive self-image, as both of my parents’ criticism contributed to my negativity about myself. In the end, we internalise these outside influences and we are the only ones who can use them, overcome them or transform them.

We want to bring up Black children to be happy, healthy, secure and successful adults – on their own terms. Not just to conform to the values of white society. Of course, their achievements can include career success and should do if that is what is important to the person. Lastly, I recently discovered this somewhat humourous, but nevertheless truthful, article on The Asian Parent Syndrome.

Bitter Asian Men http://www.bitterasianmen.com/parents.html

For more on building positive self-esteem, for parents and children, see
Success Strategies for Black People.

Click here for great Xmas and Kwanzaa gifts.

Remembrance Sunday

Here in the UK, it was Remembrance Day on Sunday. Veterans’ Day in the States?

I was watching The Wright Stuff last week Friday. Well, I don’t actually watch it as my eyes are on the computer screen, which means my back is to the TV. But it was on. They were talking about whether or not to wear a poppy in the days coming up to Remembrance Sunday. Somebody made reference to ‘poppy fascism’.

Being from the States, I did not grow up with poppies, and I don’t wear one now. I certainly don’t need to wear one to remember the honoured dead.

My Dad was in the war. Obviously, he didn’t die, or I would not be here. But he and his comrades risked their lives so that we could have a better world. To me, those men are heroes.

I note Ian Hislop’s excellent series, “Not Forgotten”, about the people listed on First World War memorials, is being given another airing on Channel 4. One of the many things I enjoyed about the series was the fact that he devoted an entire programme to those from the Empire who served in the British forces. Those whose experience and sacrifice are usually consigned to one sentence – something like, ‘And many people from the empire joined up to serve King and country’.

I do recall one programme some years ago – also on Channel 4 – about soldiers from the Caribbean who were recruited into the British Army during the First World War. The ship that took them to France sailed via the North Pole, but the Caribbean soldiers were not issued with the winter uniforms that were on board. Many of the men suffered frostbite and had to have limbs amputated.

So much for serving King and country.

The Black soldiers were not issued with rifles. I don’t know whether the white people thought they were too stupid to use them, or were afraid of finding themselves at the business end of them.

That programme went on to say that German prisoners were kept in heated barracks, whilst the Caribbean soldiers, from the tropics, shivered in unheated quarters.

So I feel somewhat ambivalent when I see a Black person sporting a poppy. I want all of those who served their countries to be remembered, along with their suffering and sacrifices.

Wordpower Literary Festival

Emmanuel Amevor, Director of Centerprise bookshop and literature project, thinks Black people who are aware of our history should do more to educate young people.

To read this interview, in which he speaks about the month-long Wordpower Black literature festival and his vision of economic empowerment, visit:

http://www.kuumba-survivors.com/centerprisewordpower.htm

Conversations with Interesting Black People

I love publishing. I get to meet so many interesting people, online and offline.

I love discovering more and more interesting and successful people of African heritage. Coaches, mentors, people who motivate others and who are willing to share their secrets with my readers and me.

I got a message from Bro Bedford, author of Conversations with Black Millionaires, the other day. He basically said, 'Well done, keep up the good work'. It was so kind - he didn't have to say this. He doesn't even know me! That one message put a smile on my face all day.

You can download his free eBook, How to Be a Black Entrepreneur, from my site at
http://www.black-success.com/freeebooks.htm

By the way, you can read an interview with Black millionaire Randal Pinkett at:
http://www.blacksuccess1.com/randalpinkett.htm

Another person I have met online is Sandra Rafaela, who publishes the Black Authors page on her site for Afro European Sisters. Check this out: http://www.aesn.eu/bwie/black_authors.html

She has a new site, Women of the African Diaspora, which she has put together with Adrianne George of Black Women in Europe: http://www.aesn.eu/bwie/index.html

Looking to Publish Inspirational and Motivational Articles

I am seeking nonfiction articles by and about people of African descent for publication in my More Black Success series of eBooks.

If you have an inspirational or motivational article or true story to tell, check this out: http://www.black-success.com/storieswanted.htm

Themes may include:

· overcoming blocks and obstacles
· mistakes and what you have learned from them
· what inspires you
· how you keep going when things are tough
· yoga
· meditation
· healing
· complimentary therapy
· Kwanzaa
· African traditions

For more details, contact info@blacksuccess1.com

Looking to Publish African American Articles

I am seeking nonfiction articles by and about people of African heritiage for publication in my More Black Success series of eBooks.

If you have an inspirational or motivational article or true story to tell, check this out: http://www.black-success.com/storieswanted.htm

Themes may include:

· overcoming blocks and obstacles
· mistakes and what you have learned from them
· what inspires you
· how you keep going when things are tough
· yoga
· meditation
· healing
· complimentary therapy
· Kwanzaa
· African traditions

For more info, send an e-mail to info@blacksuccess1.com

The Best Content for Your eBook

Internet experts all agree, for real Internet success and to make serious money online, you need to create your own products. But what if you are a newbie? You are not an Internet expert yet. So what have you got to say?

Write about something you are passionate about.

To read the rest of this article, visit
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/article_announce/message/99832

To get your free More Black Success eBooks, visit:
http://www.black-success.com/moreblacksuccess.htm

Poetry, Style and Verse

I have not blogged in so long now. Even when I want to, I try to login and it's dern near impossible. Frustrating, exhausting. Isn't technlology supposed to make our lives easier? I so often ask myself this question.

Went to this event the other night at the Writers' Guild. It was great. I have rarely seen so many white people on a spoken-word stage. But they were good and I managed to catch up with Oneness. I have been trying to track her down for ages. She did some of the interviews for my website (http://www.kuumba-survivors.com/) and I still owe her money.

The poetry was great but what was even better, in a way, was the sense of being part of a writing community, even a spoken word community.

Things have been so hectic. The cat has been unwell and I have been so depressed. Think there's a link there somewhere.

I'm busy writing at the moment, words that will be spoken by actors. I'm excited and terrified.

African People's Self-Liberation

On Tuesday, I attended one of Brother Omowale’s talks at South Bank University’s Pan-Afrikan Society. See details below.

Brother Omowale is an excellent, very knowledgeable speaker. I had intended to leave the meeting early but I just could not leave, so transfixed was I by this brother’s words.

He spoke at length about the fact that African people liberated ourselves from enslavement. We did not wait for someone like William Wilberforce to say to Parliament that the ‘slave trade’ should be made illegal. The Transatlantic trade had been going on for 300 years before he decided it should be abolished.

I found this meeting so inspiring. This was the first time I had attended this series of talks, but I plan to go again.

Brother Omawale started off by saying that this year, we are going to be hearing so much about William Wilberforce as if he were some kind of hero, but African people liberated ourselves in all sorts of ways. These included things like publishing books and pamphlets, and giving public talks. Of course, I knew this already. My mother used to teach me about Black people’s resistance to enslavement from the time I was a young child. But it is useful to remember this in the context of the ‘Wilberforce fest’ which is about to descend upon us.

For example, see Frederick Douglass’s “My Bondage and My Freedom”. The introduction tells us that, having visited England, Douglass decided to publish a newspaper “against the wishes and the advice of the leaders of the American Anti-Slavery Society”.

One story Brother Omowale told was of a slave ship which was freed by the Africans on board. Sometimes, the women were allowed onto the decks of the ships so that the ships’ crews could use them sexually. Apparently, one group of sistahs worked out where the guns were kept, where the keys were kept, and which ship had fewer guards on it. Then they took over the ship and liberated the brothas from below decks.

Usually, when African people took over a ship, they would kill most of the Europeans, but keep one or two alive to navigate the ship back to Africa. But these sistahs were so angry with the white men, they killed them all. Unfortunately, this meant nobody could steer the ship back to Africa, so eventually they were caught.

See also: Soul Survivors.

Kuumba-Survivors

The meeting overran by about an hour, and nobody wanted to leave. On the contrary, more and more people kept coming in all evening. They had to keep putting out more chairs. I found it heartwarming to see so many Black people wanting to connect with our history and our heritage. Many of the people there were very knowledgeable already, but I think we all learned something.

Venue for Pan-Afrikan Society Meetings:

London South Bank University, London Road Building, London, SE1

Meetings start @ 5:30pm

Tues, 6th Feb: PAS Room: L119
Ways to Overcome the William Wilberforce Propaganda (Part 1)

Tues, 13th Feb: Brother Omowale Room: L119

Ways to Overcome the William Wilberforce Propaganda (Part 2)

Tues, 3th Feb: Dr Rashid Room: L120
The Truth about Valentines Day

Tues, 20th Feb: PAS Room L119
Screening: 'The Assassination of Malcolm X'

For more information call: 07908 204788

To Spank or Not To Spank

I was reading this piece today in a forum I belong to. The piece was entitled To Spank Or Not to Spank. All these parents were saying, ‘I have a right to hit my kids if I want to’, ‘Who are the government or anybody to tell me not to hit my children?’, ‘My parents hit me and I’m okay’, and I’m upset about this.

It started with a story about a little girl, I believe she was about three years old, who was distressed on an airplane and her parents were made to take her off the airplane because she was making so much noise. All these people were saying her parents should have hit her.

Now, none of us knows what she was upset about. Maybe she was terrified of flying, as are many adults.

There are lots of ways of calming down a child, but hitting her is just going to make her more distressed. This seems obvious to me. So why is it that parents rush to defend their ‘right’ to spank? Surely no one has the right to hit another person.

I am also thinking, if we think it is okay to hit our children, then how can we complain about how those who have power over us treat us?

I remember Diane Abbott produced a report about Black parents in which she said, a lot of parents feel they are not able to control their children because they are not allowed to beat them. I am thinking, if the only way you can control your children is to beat them, then maybe you should not have children.

This is one of the reasons why I am running the Improving Relationships workshop on 10th and 24th February. If you would like more information, click here.

A lot of the problems we face as adults are also experienced by children. You can read about surrogate tapping (i.e. Emotional Freedom Technique) as it was used on an airplane, click here.

To read about how surrogate tapping was used to calm a frightened child, click here.
To read more about EFT, click here.

Keywords: Black parenting, African Caribbean, parents, families, relationships, UK

Henry Bonsu Sacked

Remember the day Henry Bonsu was sacked by the BBC for being 'too intellectual'? Click here to read all about it.

In my new book, Black Success Stories, Henry gives me all the details about what happened and why he is no longer on the Wright Stuff, and talks about life after the BBC. He also talks about how we need to return to the spirit of Ujamaa, co-operative economics, when Black people would work together to achieve their goals.

Click here to order you copy today.

See also: Do Black Consumers Buy Black?

Keywords: Black Success Stories, BBC, Henry Bonsu, Ujamaa, Co-operative Economics

Do Black Consumers Buy Black?

As we know, one of the seven principles, or Nguzo Sabo, of Kwanzaa is Ujamaa - co-operative economics.

Yet people on my e-mail list, Black Business UK, tell me Black people won't buy from them. I've asked why, but no one has offered me any answers.

Click here to read this article.

In my free e-book, More Black Success Vol. 2, Tim Campbell, winner of The Apprentice UK, talks about the need to return to co-operative economics like we had in the old days. To order your copy, click here.

Keywords: Black business, African Caribbean, UK, Ujaama, Co-Operative Economics