Reach - Then Teach

Dear Hannah, Mentors are people who share their experiences. Their wisdom is earned through lessons learned. Then they pay it forward. Love, Daddy

Dear Hannah, Mentors are people who share their experiences. Their wisdom is earned through lessons learned. Then they pay it forward. Love, Daddy

Dear Hannah, it's a new year. there's a lot to discuss. we won't count our words, but we'll make our words count. Love, Daddy

Dear Hannah, we can both reach the finish line by helping each other train and pace to run our own race but to run it right we need to both pack light to push some major freight and pull our own weight so hang in there when it doesn't go your way hang in there when you have to say "bye bye" sometimes to people, places, habits, and ideas that hinder more than they help sometimes you have to see it...

(Original Broadcast: 3-1-2017)   Dear Hannah, our conversations. have dwindled into shouting matches and "people's court" cases posts and reposts of articles that align with our minds to which we assign absolute truth with no consequences where we want to prove that our might is right your wrong is strong and always have both our say ... and our way but civil discourse - especially between dissent...

(Original Broadcast: 3-1-2017) Dear Hannah, my education began when I finished school. reflection led to a lot of unlearning and relearning. i realized that i was presented facts disguised as knowledge, opinions disguised as fact, and a whole lot of memorized processes disguised as problem solving. it's all good, though - 'cause now I know ... that i don't know. so i value divergent thinking ... (...

Dear Hannah, My name is Derrick. I have one purpose today. I want to tell people who I am, and what I do, hope, and dream about ... I am a standup storyteller. I use spoken word (poetry), rapping, teaching, oration, singing, writing, producing, and directing to cast hopeful visions of creative, robust solutions to the problems of our existing state. Let's say that another way. I want to challenge...

Dear Hannah, We are all messengers for different audiences. Sometimes your message will not find its audience ... ... until you learn how to speak your peace. Say what you have to say ... ... but tell your truth with grace.   Love,   Daddy    

Dear Hannah, The road to reconciliation starts with ... realization (of both the might and the plight), respect (both spiritual essence and natural function), reassurance (of commitment to the corrective plan and path - don't ask for trust ... EARN IT), and REAL relationship (dealing with each other as EQUALS). We've got a long way to go ... ... because we keep trying to start at the finish line ....

Dear Hannah, I'm a people watcher - a careful observer of human behavior. Watching people has taught me that when I look at them ... ... sometimes I am looking through a window. ... other times I am looking in a mirror. When I stare through a window in the afternoon, I see outside. Staring through a window at night shows me "me". The mirror always shows me "me" ... but also shows me what is behind...

Dear Hannah, I am LEarning to listen and observe more than I talk. I see and hear a lot of stuff that I do not understand. I accept these events as part of my LEarning. The easy road is to dismiss it all with judgement and opinion. The tougher road is LEarning to practice empathy. So if a cat shows or tells me something that sounds crazy, it helps me remember how crazy I have sounded to other peop...

Dear Hannah, Our greatest entertainers have "five tools". This variety is what makes their performances dynamic and memorable. Comedian Tracy Morgan considers Eddie Murphy as his hero and role model. Morgan taught me that Eddie is unique because he has five comedic tools: stand-up, impressions, characters, singing, and acting. I remember "Raw" 30 years after its release. I remember his "Elvis" imp...

Dear Hannah, There's this school of thought that measures our leaders' effectiveness by factors like their number of followers, or our unflinching alignment with their opinions. Both are misleading. I measure a leader's effectiveness by that leader's service. Not "what they do" for us or "the least of these", per se. In these times, that service includes thought leadership more than ever. Not tell...

Dear Hannah, My education began when I finished school. After school, I enrolled in a lifelong curriculum that includes the following classes ... ministry (serving people) entrepreneurship (developing solutions that serve people) stewardship (taking care of relationships, possessions, talents, body, mind, and time) literacy (reading & writing skills) numeracy (math skills) language (communicat...

Dear Hannah, As the name suggests, The People In My Neighborhood (TPIMN) is a project that helps me learn more about where I live. It began as an effort to organize the neighbors in our subdivision, then grew into an effort to learn about our adjacent communities - then their adjacent communities, etc. About one year ago, I was able to formalize the project into a google map with several layers. T...

Dear Hannah, Nine Men's Morris is an ancient board game combining the speed of checkers, the strategy of chess and the simplicity of tic-tac-toe. It is easy to play, but difficult to master. Opponents each start the game with 9 playing pieces. The object ... is to either trap your opponent so he or she can no longer move or to capture all their playing pieces except for two. The rules ... first pe...

Dear Hannah, The NOW YOU KNOW History Quiz Bowl is a gameshow tells the story of 25 ordinary people who did extraordinary things. These people have special connections to each other - and to us. Our connections to their lives, stories and accomplishments help us to relate to them. This allows them to disciple us - even though we may never meet them face-to-face. The game is played in the tradition...

Dear Hannah, "LEarning (Writing Your First Business Plan (WYFBP))" By Derrick Brown 8-10-2017 Many years ago, I developed a six-week class called "Writing Your First Business Plan". The purpose of the class was to help entrepreneurs with GOoD ideas (good ideas from God) "wrap their minds" around their vision, mission, and steps - in a way that established and built positive momentum. Vision descri...

Dear Hannah, I host a six-week class called "Reach - Then Teach". The class goal is to help parents, mentors and teachers build stronger relationships with students. Part of my role is to introduce 6 key projects (one per class) that I use to both facilitate and actively participate in relationships. The larger part of my mission, though, is to create and nurture a small-group, "discipling" fellow...

Dear Hannah, So how do you deal with the frustration that accompanies feeling like you are not being heard? I have no answers. I do have an approach that I am still LEarning. First step ... remember what frustration is, Derrick. Frustration is an emotional response to a lack of control ... of people, circumstances, outcomes, etc. I am not in control of anything but me. That establishes a clear bou...

Dear Hannah, The movie "Groundhog Day" starred Bill Murray as a weatherman caught in a time loop, repeating the same day again and again. His experiences led him to re-examine his life and priorities. When it was released in 1993, "Groundhog Day" was a modest success. Since then, it has become more popular, and is now considered one of the best comedy films ever. It is now ingrained in the public...

Dear Hannah, LEarn to do math, then learn what math does. I developed the game Talk To Me to support this LEarning journey. Love, Daddy "LEarning (Talk To Me (A Game That Teaches The Language of ANY Subject))" By Derrick Brown 6-25-2017 Language and discourse are more important than vocabulary. Vocabulary is knowledge of words. If you say "Chuck D's stentorian cadence commands his audience's atten...

Dear Hannah, Your friends will be the people who accept and affirm you, hold you accountable, and present you with authority that you respect. You and your friends will exert powerful influence over each other. Your charisma will give you powerful influence in the world, too. Everybody you influence will not become your friend - and that is OK. The most powerful influence, though, is exerted via s...

Dear Hannah, You have been given relationships, possessions, talents, a mind, a body, and time. Take care of what you have been given. Love, Daddy ---------- For years, I have repaired, recycled, and redistributed broken / obsolete laptop & desktop computers. It began as a hobby. When I was young, my Dad fixed large and small electronics to make our living. I soon noticed that we never bought ster...