Sunday. June 28th 2020. Weekends man, they sure don’t last long. Sunday afternoons are my time to enjoy “leisure time”. After “assisting” with Sunday dinner I like to kick back, maybe watch some football, Formula 1 Racing (get that title Lewis!) and practice bass before I begrudgingly prepare for the week. It’s also a time for wishful thinking and reflection. It’s Summer. Summer is for outdoors. Summer is for open air. Summer for me also means motorcycles. Aaaaah motorcycles. Love these things. Among the most beautiful creations of mankind. Just something about that rear tire connected via chain to that engine producing all that power. Yes sir baby! So, in the wishful thinking category I present you my once and future dilemma: Who’d you rather? Honda CBR650F or Suzuki GSX S750? I say both.

Thank you President Obama. Thank you for your courage, your commitment and your compassion as a leader. Thank you for your humanity, your humility and your humbleness as a man. Thank you for your understanding, your knowledge and your wisdom as a black man. And, thank you for your power, your purpose and your patriotism as a President.

President Obama, my family may never get the opportunity to meet your beautiful family, and you may never get to read this post, but nonetheless I write because it needs to be told. I know that I am not the first to express these thoughts and words. Hopefully I am not the last. From almost as far as I can remember, I’ve been of the belief that there is far more “good” than “bad” in the world we are so fortunate to live in. I believed it yesterday, I believe it today and will believe it with each tomorrow. Others may view the world differently, especially in these times, but I’ve always leaned toward optimism. My feeling is that if those whom are capable of “doing good” would DO so as often as possible, the good deeds would surpass or at least balance the the scale against those who are more apt to do “bad”. And thus, I offer my apologies.

President Obama, my apology for not doing more to support you during your tenure. Oh, believe me, I ABSOLUTELY voted for you! In fact, I cast 20 ballots by myself in each election of “08 and “12. LOL! Now let somebody say sump’m……I’m in a “wishful” mood these days! (See Cedric the Entertainer in Kings of Comedy). I should have voted for you as a “write in” candidate in ’16………...Voted, yes, but voting is the “beginning” of democracy, just one small, however important, ingredient. I assure you that my family will never forget this. There is work to be “done” once the election is over. Not only by the candidates, but more so by the “people”. As we are currently mired in the administration of “true lies” and “alternative facts”, I have been forced to accept the fact that I did not “do” enough in support of your presidency. President Obama, the feeling of pride, euphoria, excitement, astonishment, reality, and yes, disbelief and surprise made me numb to the fact that I, as Black American, had a responsibility beyond witnessing the inauguration of the “first Black President”. WE, AS A PEOPLE, HAD WORK TO DO! Twelve years since and I still see the faces of the older generations witnessing something that they thought they would never live to see. Thank you again sir.

So Mr. President, I have compiled a list of things that “I” could have “done” to help my little piece of America be better. These were all inspired by you and I will honor your legacy throughout my family as you will be undoubtedly remembered for being on the right side of history.

1. Pursue a higher level of education
2. Become more active in local politics
3. Contribute more to HBCUs
4. Support a worthy charity
5. Volunteer for a non-profit that directly benefits the local community
6. Support the community where I grew up
7. Visit and support African-American monuments/museums
8. Learn/share the historical relevance of my home state
9. Greet and acknowledge each other positively
10. Celebrate/acknowledge Barack Obama’s Presidency beyond the Oval Office

There is so much more I could say, but even more I must do. Thank you Mr. President, for the inspiration. See you in ’21………..

June 27th 2020. Saturday. Do you know where your Friday night went? Hope you enjoyed it. I listened to some music, did a little writing, relaxed. Ate at home. Got up at 7 this morning. Cut my grass at 8. My neighbors were soooo “happy”. Sorry, I like to be done by 10. You know the saying, “Do what you HAVE to do first and then do what you WANT to do”. Now I have the rest of the day to do what I WANT to do, like CREATING some music. And maybe get some bass practice in. Trying to remain focused in these times. That being said, I have a question for you. How many days during the week are you able to do exactly what you want to do? No compromises. No questions. No concerns. How many? I’ve thought about this recently and wanted to share my thoughts.

I have two kids aged 21 and 19. For the past 20 years I’ve done my best to put my family first. My wife and I worked to provide as many opportunities as we could for them. Hopefully we are giving them a pretty good foundation to start from. As a father I NEVER wanted my kids to miss out due to my over indulgence. So I always put them first. Food, clothing, leisure time. I compromised a lot and denied myself plenty along the way. And I’m good with it. No regrets on that! However, as my sons have gotten to a level of independence that does not require the same level of “parental guidance”, it has been an eye-opening experience as we try adjust to some new found freedoms. It has taken awhile to realize that my schedule does not revolve around their daily activities. They drive so I don’t have to chauffeur them around. They work so I get to keep SOME of my money….! We all have different tastes so I don’t have to share every meal (my sons AND my wife still like me to cook, though). Our schedules allow me to have the house to myself a little more, but somehow I still have to share my “studio” with the fellas and EVERY other room with my wife……(?) Point is, I have days where I wake up and am fortunate enough to do whatever I want to do at that moment.

This is very new to me. My wife often reminds me that I can “do something for myself sometimes”. She encourages me to buy for myself, or take time for myself. This is good. It is quite a refreshing feeling to know that, while still a dad, I am not tethered to every move my family makes. For those of you who have already been in this place in your life, good for you. If you are still working to get to this place, you’ll get there. For now, it is Saturday and everybody is entitled to do something they want on this day. Make the most of it because as you know we are already half way through the weekend! And be ready for church tomorrow………….

That is the question. At least it is for me. As we all know, the Corona Virus altered our lives in ways we probably would not have imagined had it not happened. Shut downs, closed schools, closed businesses, quarantines, masks, etc. Not to mention the impact it had on our time. Me personally, I found that I had more time to think and reflect as I was on administrative leave for some days during March, April and May. During my time of reflection I thought about the current state of my professional life and how it may have been altered (for better or for worse…) had I made different choices over the course of time. At different stages of life I had thoughts of pursuing specific career paths, but admittedly became distracted by comfort, complacency and some early financial success. As I thought, I asked myself the question: do I have regrets? Absolutely! Some may say that having regret is looking into the past. And you are right. I like to use my past as a reference to make wiser choices in my future. Just the way I think, that’s all. You do what works for you. Hopefully you don’t have any regrets in your professional life. That is a blessing.

There are three instances where I wonder how my life would be different if I’d made a different choice. One, I wish I had followed my ultimate dream to become a fighter pilot. I love military fighter jets. My real, real dream was to be an Air Force F15 pilot. I had a good start too. Was supposed to spend a couple of summers in the Naval Academy JETS program while in Junior High School. But girls came calling……..Two, I often envisioned myself as a college professor. I’ve always enjoyed engaging in conversation and sharing information with people. I’m a decent verbal and written communicator and think I could connect with students to inspire them. But I let music (my mistress) get in the way. Three, I love science/technology and have always been intrigued by computers. I am so fascinated by the history of computers that I could read the same information over and over and not get bored. There are times when I read hour upon hour day after day learning about hardware and networking. I finally got past my fear and lack of on hand experience and decided to really study hardware, networking and cloud computing. Thanks to my son Rashon for the inspiration! No longer letting missed time get in the way!

So yeah. I have a regret or two. Or three (don’t judge………) but I am gonna use them as motivation as I move toward the next level in my professional life. U.S. Air Force F22 here I come…………By the way, anybody know the maximum age limit for fighter pilots?

Friday. June 26th 2020. Another Friday night in my life. Let’s see. If my math is correct, I’ve been blessed to live through 2500 or so Fridays. With each passing weekend and subsequent Monday morning (seen about 2500 or so Monday mornings too) I’ve come to the realization that Friday nights are invaluable slices of time that can determine how much I get accomplished during my all-too-brief Saturday and Sunday. Anybody out there know what I’m talkin’ about? It’s like the time evaporates. When you really think about it, the weekend is actually only about 60 hours, depending on how early that Monday morning alarm sounds off for you. So make the most of Friday night. Start on Thursday if your schedule (AND JOB) allow. No matter how you celebrate your Friday, kick it off early. My wife and I don’t party often, but she likes to dance. I do too, but I’m not as good as she is. So, I have been secretly practicing Hip hop Dancing. Yeah that’s right! Whatchu say? That’s what I thought……Remember, old dogs can learn new kicks! So enjoy your Friday night! Get it all in whatever it is. Get up and get to it RIGHT NOW! Don’t forget, Monday morning is already waiting for you……………….

The United States was founded on the principle of “We The People” more than 250 years ago. Today, June 25th, 2020 “We The People” are faced with voter suppression in the “greatest democracy in history”. If America is ever going to be it’s greatest, it has to be great for “all of the people”. Who is up for the challenge? I knew Donald Chump was not……

I have a question for all Donald Chump supporters. All kidding aside, could any Trump supporter please tell me how your life has benefited from his Presidency? I really would like to know. I don’t see any improvement in my daily life resulting from his policies. I genuinely would like to hear from someone who has. I’ll be waiting…………..

As the saying goes, you cannot know where you are going if you do not know where you have been. So America, as a society we have come a long way, but where are we going? Why and how is racism still the proverbial “elephant in the room”? We all know it exists, it always will. But do we have to be a lesser species for it? Have we gotten to a place where we can talk honestly about it? Are we willing to work to create a better society for us all? I am optimistic about the positive protests after the recent police killings of more black Americans. Hopefully we turn the protests into policies for change.

Continue reading ““Where Do We Go From Here?”” →

Enjoy your day, dads. You have earned it!