Do they want you home? Yes. Would you like to be home more often? Absolutely. Yet the pull of passionate, meaningful, and purposeful work keeps you away.  I know this dilemma too well. It stirs internal conflicts, cooks destructive thoughts, and serves plates of frustration. Sometimes, I eat challenges and digest gratitude. I have moments when I also take on too much and vomit the excess. Lost or disgusted? Read on for context. The Umoja Community Education Foundation held it

Hip-hop lives. During car rides and school days, the music and culture of hip-hop can encourage awareness and prevent suicide.. Nino Paid’s song Joey Story  offers us an example. I can’t front. Nino Paid’s music is not on my playlist. Here’s a brief story about how I learned of this artist. The drive for awareness. My teenage son opened the passenger’s door and sat in the front seat. He fastened his seat belt, and we pulled away from the curb. Within seconds, he connected his

With help from a staff member and a cane, an elder walked to the podium. In a voice rich with confidence and experience, she introduced herself as a founder of the Umoja Community Education Foundation. Next, she described the cultural grounding activity and invited the room of higher education practitioners to close their eyes.   I sat on the carpeted floor, crossed my legs, and listened as the elder established the importance of remembering and honoring Ancestors . We opened

We touch a dangerous element every time we choose to swim. It’s not an idea we want floating in our heads when swimming in ponds, pools,...

Did Baldwin get it right? In James Baldwin’s book, The Fire Next Time , he writes, “Perhaps the whole root of our trouble, the human trouble is that we will sacrifice all the beauty of our lives, will imprison ourselves in totems, taboos, crosses, blood sacrifices, steeples, mosques, races, armies, flags, nations, in order to deny the fact of death, which is the only fact we have.” Baldwin suggests our fears of death shape our drives, decisions, and divisions. Life is often u

The door slid along the carpeted floor. I entered the rectangular office with off-white walls and wooden furniture. On the bookshelf, I found welcoming gifts from the foundation. Sandwiched between two hardcover books, I read the title of a popular book from my college years. I blinked twice and smiled. The leadership team had placed a copy of Dr. Joy DeGruy’s book Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome: America’s Legacy of Enduring Injury and Healing  in my office. Upton Press publis

What is ideal work for you? As much as we would like to chill and enjoy every luxury life can offer, it is not a reality for us. We must work. Let's return to the opening question. How do you define ideal work? W. E. B. Du Bois says, “The ideal of Work–not idleness, not dawdling but hard continuous effort at something worth doing by a man supremely interested in doing it, who knows how it ought to be done and is willing to take infinite pains doing it.” Tasks aligned with our

"Artificial intelligence helps us imagine who we are.” I listened as my coworker shared ideas from her conference presentation. After our meeting ended, I scribbled her words on a notebook to review later. How do you make use of AI? Are you hesitant or jumping in to use the tools without inhibition? On some levels, I’ve been reluctant and skeptical about AI’s shortcuts to research, productivity, and creativity. I use Grammarly for editing assistance, but outsourcing human thi

Dreams often reveal the stories inside our souls. They project pictures of fears and ambitions to the walls of our craniums while we...

It's business as usual. After the disappointing election results, I opened an encouraging email and read that, despite Tuesday's outcome,...

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Stand still or sit down for just a few seconds. Close your eyes. Did you trust that everything would remain the same when you looked...

Who are you? I am not asking about the public persona you play at work. Who are you when you’re alone? Many of us assume different...

Ask yourself three questions beginning with the letter W. Then follow up with another question that starts with H. Did why, what, who,...

What do you do it for? This week, please think about your reasons for doing the work that brings you joy, the play that makes you smile,...

How do you want students to feel? If it's important for you to hear their voices, then you must ask and answer questions. Listen with...

Is there anything in your life that you need to revisit? After Brandon Johnson's historic election to Chicago's mayoral office, I feel...

Have you ever read a book, placed it on your shelf, allowed it to collect dust, and picked it up again years later? You’re a reader, so...

Did you know that Bob Marley would have turned 78 this week? Unfortunately, cancer cut his life short at 36. When I started dreadlocks...

You have a big report due at work. It’s on a topic you’re familiar with, but you don’t feel confident presenting in front of your...