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Friday, April 15, 2022

He's to Become a Doctor & a Lawyer

From Black Enterprise - 

VICTOR AGBAFE IS ON THE PATH TO BECOME A DOCTOR AND A LAWYER

By Yolanda Baruch

Victor Agbafe (Screenshot) Image Credit: Victor Agbafe Twitter

Victor Agbafe is an academic anomaly; he gained acceptance to all eight Ivy League universities and is enrolled in both medical and law school, WBTV reports.

After he made public of his admissions to the most prestigious schools, many took notice of the Wilmington, North Caroline native, a straight-A student, and an athlete from the Cape Fear Academy.

Agbafe went on to complete undergraduate studies at Harvard University and, two years later, enrolled in medical school at the University of Michigan and law school at Yale University, according to WBTV.

https://www.blackenterprise.com/victor-agbafe-in-on-the-path-to-become-a-doctor-and-a-lawyer/


In Celebration of National Peach Cobbler Day

Celebrate National Peach Cobbler Day With These 3 Recipes From Black Chefs

https://madamenoire.com/1312420/celebrate-national-peach-cobbler-day-with-these-3-recipes-from-black-chefs/

Wednesday, April 13, 2022

If You Hear This, You Have a Problem

An excerpt from INC - 

These 4 Words Are a Sure Sign Your Team Has a Toxic Culture

If you find your team saying this phrase, you have some work to do.

BY JASON ATEN, TECH COLUMNIST

If you manage people, one of your biggest challenges is motivating your team and keeping them focused on what's most important. It's a challenge because people are people and are sometimes easily distracted. As a leader, however, you need everyone contributing and working together towards what really matters.

Of course, the most important thing for your team might look different depending on your business. Still, I'm guessing you probably spend a lot of time trying to build a culture that prioritizes taking care of your customers, and supporting each other. If you don't, most of the other things you're trying to accomplish won't really mean much. 

He's a simple tip: If you find your team using these four words, you probably have some work to do. I'd even argue that if you ever hear them, your team might have a toxic culture. 

"It's not my job."

Unfortunately, that's a pretty common mentality for a lot of people when they show up for work. A lot of people like to have a very defined role with a list of tasks they can cross off. Everything that's on the list is their responsibility, and everything else is someone else's problem.

Except, it doesn't work that way in the real world. Too often, a job description becomes an excuse to ignore anything that's not listed as a bullet point. It's easy to think that anything else is someone else's problem. It's easy to look at something going wrong and think "that's not my job."

Here's the thing--if it's important, it's never not your job.

https://www.inc.com/jason-aten/these-4-words-are-a-sure-sign-your-team-has-a-toxic-culture.html

Men: A Profession to Avoid When Looking for a Spouse

 

@jettiegirl28 I think I just started a nuclear war #divorce #divorcetok #BigComfy #EasyWithAdobeExpress ♬ original sound - KK

Ladies: Five Professions to Avoid When Looking for a Spouse

 

@jettiegirl28 local divorce attorney PSA #divorce #narcissist #EasyWithAdobeExpress #fypage ♬ original sound - KK

He Speaks 24 Languages!

From the Washington Post - 

The remarkable brain of a carpet cleaner who speaks 24 Languages

By Jessica Contrera

Amazing Weaves For Men

 


Sunday, March 13, 2022

Even the Critters Are Doing Classwork

 From Upworthy - 

A professor asked students to send photos of their dogs doing classwork. It quickly got out of hand.

By Jisha Joseph



'I probably now have a collection of maybe 60 dogs. Some are at the computer. Some are reading,' the professor revealed.

https://scoop.upworthy.com/professor-asked-students-dogs-doing-homework-internet-exploded

Guaranteed to bring a smile. - Faye

Beautiful!

 

Shaq Thinks Deion Sanders Should Coach the Dallas Cowboys | The Tonight ...


Breaking Barriers in the Sky

An excerpt from Black Enterprise - 

24-YEAR OLD TO MAKE HISTORY AS YOUNGEST BLACK FEMALE PILOT FOR COMMERCIAL AIRLINES

by BLACK ENTERPRISE Editors

(Image: Blacknews.com)

Miracle Izuchukwu, who is from New York City, will soon break barriers when she officially becomes part of the 1% of Black female pilots for major commercial airlines around the world.

Now 24-years old, she is currently in training to become a Commercial Airline Pilot and continues to inspire other people with her story.

Miracle, whose parents are Nigerian, says that she grew up in a very discouraging environment. She said her ambitions were often looked down on because of her gender, but she did not let it stop her from dreaming big.

https://www.blackenterprise.com/24-year-old-to-make-history-as-youngest-black-female-pilot-for-commercial-airlines/


How Late Is Too Late To Call Someone?

From Southern Living -

How Late Is Too Late To Call Someone? Southerners Know the Answer

Manners matter, even over the phone. 

By Kaitlyn Yarborough

istock photo

No matter the quickness and ease that texting and emails lend to our busy lives, nothing will ever beat an old-fashioned phone call. The stories and details simply cannot be mimicked in text form, no matter how cute and cheeky the smiley faces and heart emoticons seem. Yet, just like with anything else in the South, there are manners to mind, even when it comes to your weekly gossip session with a girlfriend or daily touch-base with your sister. When is it too late to call someone? Here's the Southerner-friendly breakdown, but it's not necessarily clear-cut. 

Like with anything, social rules of any nature—but particularly etiquette-related ones—aren't set in impenetrable stone. In order to work, they need to bounce and bend to adapt to different situations, moments, people, and cultures. That goes for phone calls, too. The cutoff time you would call a cousin with young children isn't necessarily the same deadline you'd give to your best friend who loves to pour a glass of vino and plan the next girls' trip just as much as you do. You wouldn't call a professional acquaintance as late as you would one of your close family members. Basically, manners aren't manners if you don't wield them correctly.  

However, there are general guidelines about phone etiquette that are always important to heed—unless in the case of an emergency, of course. Firstly, if the sun's down, so should be the cellphone. Busy weeknights and fun-filled weekends deserve their own precious consideration, so Southerners know to keep the calls to the daylight as much as possible, which albeit gives you more flexibility during the sunlight-filled summer months than the winter. Summer is for evening porch hangs and light-hearted gossiping phone calls, anyway.

Secondly, respect your elders. (This one applies to many scenarios in the South.) Likely, your mother and great-aunt didn't grow up with pings and rings coming in past dinnertime. It's best to handle any social business with your older family members and acquaintances prior to 4 p.m. This guideline isn't steadfast by any means, but a good rule of thumb is to respect people's time and evening routines, especially if they go to bed early. 

Lastly, the later it is, the shorter to keep it. As the day winds down, it can be hard now for most of us in the modern technological world to wind down with it. Keep catchup "phone dates" with friends and family under an hour (and around 30 minutes if possible), especially if calling after business hours. This makes it easy for both parties to keep to their schedules and get things done.

In short, if the clock is ticking past 6 p.m., Southerners might not pick up. It's nothing personal—rather, it's just that dinner is on the stovetop and the next episode of Yellowstone is calling our name. 

https://www.southernliving.com/culture/etiquette/when-is-it-too-late-to-call-someone

Want a "Cup of Joe?"

An excerpt from All Recipes - 

Why We Call Coffee a "Cup of Joe"

Several theories attempt to explain the phrase.

By Stacey Lastoe

istock photo

One theory on cup of joe's origin goes like this: In 1914, a ban on alcohol on U.S. Navy ships imposed by the Secretary of the Navy Josephus "Joe" Daniels meant that the strongest drink available aboard the ship was black coffee. It wasn't long before the angry sailors began referring to the hot drink as Joe or cup of joe, a nod to the Navy secretary.

Gabrielle Bernstein, co-founder of Joe Coffee Company, of which there are now 20 in New York City, subscribes to this theory: "What I always heard about the origin story of cup of joe was that it was during World War II, and there was a sergeant who didn't allow the troops to drink booze, so he gave them a lot of coffee instead." The booze-banning sergeant's name was Joe, and so, says Bernstein, "they started calling coffee 'a cup of Joe.'"

Another theory plays into this story: Many believe that the nickname cup of joe is a way of saying coffee is common — it's a common man's drink. Joe, being a common name, represents the basic beverage (though these days, coffee is often anything but basic). Coffee wasn't a cappuccino or a latte or a flat white or cold brew. It was coffee grounds and water. Hot, caffeinated, and open to milk or sugar additives, coffee was regular. Low-brow, low-key, cheap, and purpose-serving.

The third and no less compelling explanation for how cup of joe came about goes back to the 1930s when coffee's most popular nickname was jamoke, from mocha java. Some linguists say joe is a shortened version of jamoke. British etymologist and writer Michael Quinion's research supports this understanding of cup of joe's origin.

https://www.allrecipes.com/article/cup-of-joe-meaning/

Black Life We Rarely See

From the Huffington Post - 

These Black Photographers Showcase Images of Black Life That Too Often Go Unseen

By Erin E. Evens and Christy Havranek

Burden Bearer

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/black-photographers-everyday-life_n_6214f954e4b0d1388f0b52cb

California's Cup Runneth Over With Billionaires

An excerpt from the NY Times - 

Why So Many Billionaires Live in California

Blame Silicon Valley.

By Soumya Karlamangla

From left, the Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg, and the Google cofounders
Larry Page and Sergey Brin.Credit...From left: Eric Thayer for
The New York Times, Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times,
Kelly Sullivan/Getty Images



Of the 100 wealthiest people in America, 26 live in California.

That’s more than any other state, and not simply a byproduct of California’s large population. If the country’s 100 top billionaires were evenly distributed, we would expect just 12 of them to reside here.

Yes, this is largely because of Silicon Valley. But it’s also a reflection of the fact that California has the fifth-largest economy in the world, said Richard Walker, an emeritus professor at U.C. Berkeley who studies economic geography.

“California has been the main engine for American growth for the last 50 years,” Walker told me. “This is not sufficiently acknowledged — how immense the California economy is.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/08/us/billionaires-california.html