Reimagining Black Relations

Jeremiah Bourgeois (J.J.), Criminal Legal System Consultant and Director of Beyond the Blindfold of Justice Project, described his childhood journey from private and boarding schools, to the streets, to life in prison without parole at age 14, and now a legal consultant and  a J.D candidate shaping the policies influencing the legal systems. "At least with respect to shaping the African Ameri...

O.T. Wells II J.D., the Chief Procurement Officer for UCLA affirmed the resilience of Black people. His family knows the great Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. quite well, and he shared some insider stories about the Reverend. O.T. sees pockets of bright spots, and he shared the secret ingredient every Black person in America needs: to be cheered among their peers, to meet Black legends face to face, an...

Olajide N. Bamishigbin Jr. Ph. D.,  an Assistant Professor at California State University, Long Beach discussed the state of affairs of Black men in the United States. He focused on their health, socioeconomic status, and education, while delineating the impact on boys from men. "Black men are a very disadvantaged group. They tend to have some of the worst health in the country, physical heal...

George Critchlow, Ph. D., Professor Emeritus, practitioner, and author addressed the subjects of law enforcement, defunding the police, and why America is leading the world in incarceration, ahead of China and Russia. He expounded on what a Fear-based society is and the painful process of transformation. "You do not have any kind of relationship between the representation of African Americans...

Norma Hollis, founder of Authenticity Programs contended on the irrelevance of guilt, necessity of taking one step at a time, and the shift from autopilot. "But my parent's vision and what I realized about two decades ago, was that, one reason my parent lacked vision was because they couldn't vote until they were in their 40s. So, how can you have vision if you can't even envis...

Jacob U'Mofe Gordon, Ph. D., LLD (Hon), the first black Professor Emeritus at the University of Kansas, and current President & CEO of American Health Coalition discussed the root cause of racism, black brainwash, history of America, current colonies, education, a working solution in Florida, and the way forward. "Now, you got to remember now, that the same group of people who coloni...

Tokiwa Smith, a black female Chemical Engineer, Social Entrepreneur, and the founder of a STEM Education firm discussed the double-edge challenges faced by young black students. She introduced the systemic complexities working against black students, and proposed a solution pathway, both from home and school. "The education field is very much a white woman's profession, right. And that w...

Join me as we recap all 2020 episodes with the memorable soundbites. I'll introduce the episode number, title, description, and you can listen to the soundbite. A great way to quickly scan through all the episodes. Thank you for your support - I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year in 2021. We'll be back on Jan. 9th, 2021.

Sola Bamis is a black female actress, writer, performance artist, producer, and film-maker in Hollywood. She discussed the inner workings of Hollywood, the challenges and opportunities, and the big "ask" from the power players of Hollywood. "There is also a very very predictable Hollywood systems, you know, a Hollywood caste system, that makes it, so that, you know, the younger you...

Ken Bentley, black male executive and CEO of APGA Tour, and previously a Vice President at Nestle USA spoke about his childhood experience as a black inner city kid from Los Angeles. He cited a number of black role models that many are unaware of, and he discussed his path to the top at Nestle, the significance of "Amen corner", and bridging the opportunity gap. "Then my mother show...

Brian Levy, a black, Native American Indian executive shared a different dimension to the black phenomenon. He spoke on the intercession of the natives and blacks, approach to navigating the success route, and his strategies to improve the life of the marginalized. "And so, she's being sheltered from that entire life, I'm really just more happy that she doesn't have to go throu...

Sue Subocz PhD - a white female executive, is the Provost of Walden University.  She shared her experience as a Coast Guard Captain, and provided the specifics on the importance of higher education in driving the conversation forward.  She emphasized the importance of critical listening, vulnerability, and skepticism. " More a series of events, where you say to yourself, some kind of inequity...

Tolu Bamishigbin PhD/JD, a Nigerian-American female, shared her experience in the legal profession before she switched paths. She expanded on issues faced by black women in academia, the intellectual fear faced by black business leaders, and self-internalized racism among blacks. "A white man with a criminal record has a greater chance of getting a job, than a black man with no criminal recor...

Dwight Coates, Chief Information Officer for Cydcor, expressed dismay about what America is experiencing in 2020 regarding racism. He shared his repertoire of actions, personally and professionally to effect the change we need for the reimagined black relations. "When I look back, could I have done more, absolutely could have done more. To think this terrible situation with George Floyd has j...

Jennifer Randolph, the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)  executive at ThinqShift, shared a personal experience on finding allies in interesting places, and professionally, how DEI works to benefit all stakeholders. "And that was really my first experience of having a white male ally in the work place. And I will say, in the first 30 days of our working together and developing a rapport,...

Stephen Hill, a black male executive, most recently the President of programming at BET, shared his thoughts on pre- and post-crack relationships with law enforcement, the importance of supporting your own, and the criticality of making it home alive. ""I'm Officer Friendly, Friendly Officer".  And his whole thing is like, when you see me, come up and shake my hand. Let's...

Vicki Shillington is a white, female, South African born executive. She introduced us to white life in South Africa during "apartheid". While describing the subtleties of white privileges in our everyday life, she also provided insight at the C-suite. "And it's inconceivable to me that, that's what you live through, and it's embarrassing to me, to not even know that w...

Valerie Sheppard, a black female executive took us on her journey to the top. Her struggles for acceptance among whites, and not being black enough for blacks. Her call to action were profound. "I have been acculturated white in a black body. It was always instilled in me that black people have to work twice as hard to get half as much. Like, that was just a given....Outwardly, it's obvi...

Matt Smith was a Vice President at RGP. He shared his thoughts about: the genesis of the gangs, challenging socio-economic systemic issues, and proffered top down solutions to meet the energy from the ongoing bottom up engagement. "I think when it's tangential, when it doesn't really touch you at home, it's a concept, and then as kids or young adults, you start to look for reas...

Renowned Anthropologist Dr. Eric Montgomery walked us from the beginning of time through now.  He shared critical facts such as Out of Africa (OOA) and introduced us to the concept of "decolonization of minds". He mentioned key points, including - people are afraid of black people; blacks enslaved other blacks; the inaccuracy of the history of the world's first millionaire; and prof...

Duane Filey, Chief of Staff at Walmart, spoke about his experience as a black man, his keys to success and the shortcomings in corporate. "For me, I've been in such a white world, I'm the only brother most of the time, that I've code-shifted so much, that I don't even know how to go back. I just do it 24/7 because..." Duane Filey

Vips Kapadia, a brown British executive and Chief Executive Officer of ThinqShift, spoke about his experience as an Indian Brit, and his perception on racism towards black people. He affirmed that nothing will help other than a more equitable distribution of wealth within a capitalist structure. "Certainly when I was in my late teens, I did often find physically imposing black people frighten...

Dr. George Fraser, a global award winner with over 350 awards and citations around the world became a recipient of Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award under President Barack Obama in 2016. Dr. Fraser is the Chief Executive Officer of FraserNet Inc. He called the black race to order, expressing their need to understand their roots as descendants of kings, queens, and warriors. He reminded them...

Dr. Ward Ulmer, President of Walden University is confident our generation can make a positive change that will be felt by future generations. He believes that each and every person is a product of their upbringing, and considering we all came from the same place, it is not okay to be racist. He asserted that, while he cannot control his white privilege, he can control whether he is racist or not....

Belinda Kendall, Chief Executive Officer of Promise Media Group shared her insights from both spiritual and social perspectives. She expressed the uniqueness of law enforcement officers' relationship between blacks and whites, and shared her understanding of the historical significance of the badge. Ms. Kendall reminded us to consider the impact of this racial discourse to both adults and chi...