When That Beat Came Through the Speakers There are certain records you hear for the first time and immediately know somebody has brought something different into the room. That is how I think about “Ruff Ryders’ Anthem,” the DMX record produced by a young Kasseem Dean, better known to the world as Swizz Beatz. Swizz
Swizz Beatz: The Young Producer Who Helped Move a Culture Read More »
I Never Saw Safety as an Either-Or Choice When somebody asks whether I support defunding the police, my answer begins with the belief that communities need effective law enforcement. People should be able to walk through their neighborhoods, raise their children, operate businesses, and grow old without constantly worrying about violence. Police officers have an
Public Safety Cannot Be an Either-Or Proposition Read More »
Making More Money Does Not Automatically Make You Wealthy One of the biggest money myths I have heard is that the more money somebody earns, the wealthier that person must be. That sounds reasonable until you start looking at how people actually live. Somebody can earn two hundred thousand dollars a year and spend two
What I Have Learned About Money and the Myths We Tell Ourselves Read More »
When the Phone Gets Put Away When I first heard about Kansas moving toward a bell-to-bell restriction on student cellphones, I understood why it immediately got people’s attention. We are talking about young people who have grown up with phones being almost as ordinary as pencils and notebooks. Under this kind of policy, students are
When the School Day Goes Phone-Free Read More »
Grown Folks Ought to Tell the Truth At a certain age, I believe we ought to know enough about ourselves to stop selling people a version of us that does not exist. We are too grown to be lying about what we want, what we can give, and what we know we are not prepared
We Too Grown to Be Lying About Who We Are Read More »
The Argument Is Not Always the Real Argument The older I get, the more I realize that people are not always arguing about what they claim they are arguing about. The disagreement may start over politics, dirty dishes, money, somebody leaving the milk out, or something said on the evening news. Before long, two people
Don’t Take the Bait: Listen for What’s Underneath the Argument Read More »
When I Started Thinking Beyond the Blessing I have heard people talk about blessings all my life, especially growing up around folks who believed God had a hand in everything. We thanked God for food, family, jobs, homes, health, opportunities, and another morning to open our eyes. As I got older, though, I began thinking
The Blessing May Open the Door, but Grace Carries You Through Read More »
Everybody Is Not Going to Be Your Cup of Tea One thing life has taught me is that I am not going to like everybody I meet, and everybody I meet is not going to like me. That is just part of being human, and pretending otherwise does not make much sense to me. Sometimes
You Don’t Have to Like Them to Treat Them Right Read More »
A Different Kind of Revolution I have lived long enough to watch technology grow from something simple into something that touches almost every part of our lives. I remember when the telephone stayed in the house and the television had only a few channels. Back then, a computer was something most ordinary people never imagined
When the Machine Becomes Smarter Than Us Read More »
The Love Hidden in Consideration The older I get, the more I believe one of the highest forms of love is consideration. Sacrifice might rank a little higher, but that is a conversation for another day. I am talking about those small moments when somebody shows you that you crossed their mind without asking for
You Thought About Me Read More »