By: Elizabeth Meravi At Leaders of the Free World we believe in the power of international travel. We're highlighting the stories of several Black men whose international experience had lasting impact on their lives. Napoleon Maddox, musician, traveled to Japan at the age of 30 to promote his band and album. “It was my first time in Asia, experiencing a culture I'd read about and romanticized.” As a person of color, this experience was even more exceptional: “There were very few people of African descent in Japan and they have appreciation for African-American music, so my visit there was celebrated.” His trip lasted a week: he spent time performing and being interviewed as well as experiencing Japanese culture. When asked about the impact this trip had on him, Napoleon commented, “I was astounded by the peaceful nature of Japanese society. There was no gun violence reported on the news. I also learned a lot about myself”. He credits his good experience not only to the people he met but also to his own attitude. “I also learned a lot about myself and how I needed to take a more deliberate, responsible role in my own life... No place (or situation) was going to be any better than what I bring to it. I met people that responded well to me, but it was not just because they were kind (they were) but it also had a lot to do with the preparations I'd made to meet them.” From friendships he had made, and from his studies of Japan, Napoleon had created a strong base for his new experiences.
In retrospect, Napoleon feels he could have been even more proactive: “Perhaps I would have prepared myself to be more confident, focused and deliberate in my actions, realizing that my hosts were waiting on me to make requests according to my needs. “ When asked what advice he would give the person he was before the trip, he told LFW “You belong here. Go and own it.” About Napoleon: Napoleon Maddox is a true Hip-hop ambassador; working as a producer, human beatbox artist, vocalist, DJ and leader of a Hip-hop band called ISWHAT?!. He has created and performed music for cable and Public Television programs in the US and for The Arte network in Europe, North Africa and Middle East. He has worked with the US Embassy and Departments of Cultural Affairs in England, France, Estonia, Serbia, Germany and Morocco. Also mixing and developing unique collages and mixes for radio, films and art events, Napoleon is well known for his collaborations and creations across a wide array of artists in varied disciplines. He has worked with highly respected Hip-hop, Rock, Jazz and Classical musicians including Chuck D, DJ Spinna, DJ Logic, Saul Williams, Vernon Reid and the late great Les Paul. By Ruby Maddox Ever since I read Bryan Stevenson's Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption, he's been a personal hero of mine. Last month Google announced that they would donating $1 million to Bryan Stevenson’s Alabama-based nonprofit, Equal Justice Initiative. (Read full story The Root here) According to their website, The Equal Justice Initiative provides legal representation to indigent defendants and prisoners who have been denied fair and just treatment in the legal system. "We litigate on behalf of condemned prisoners, juvenile offenders, people wrongly convicted or charged with violent crimes, poor people denied effective representation, and others whose trials are marked by racial bias or prosecutorial misconduct. EJI works with communities that have been marginalized by poverty and discouraged by unequal treatment." - EJI.org Stevenson and his team remind me that there still are real life heroes out there fighting for those forgotten by an unjust system. Many of us may never know what's it like to experience first-hand, the despair and frustration of institutionalized subjugation. While we continue to be horrified by what mass-incarceration has done to our communities and to our country, it's organizations like EJI that are providing hope. And men like Bryan Stevenson who are the real Leaders of the Free World. By Elizabeth Meravi At Leaders of the Free World we are passionate about the transformative power of international travel. To that end, we are highlighting the stories of several young, Black men whose international experience had lasting impact on their lives. In some cases, these experiences spurred them to make a difference in their communities. When Amilton was in college at Umass Boston, he was chosen by his Africana Studies professor to go on a trip to Cuba, sponsored by the United Nations. He had been helping his professor edit a documentary on Cuba, and jumped at this opportunity to experience the Cuban culture for himself. “This was a once in a lifetime opportunity so I knew I had to take advantage.” He and his group sailed on a replica of a Spanish slave ship from the Bahamas and up the northern coast of Cuba, visiting the seaside cities of Matanzas and Havana. Amilton says about his experience, "It made me appreciate being out of my comfort zone and having to adapt to the culture that was surrounding me.” He found that as a person of color, he experienced privilege in Cuba, whose population is about 2/3 Black and mixed-heritage. The Cuban people were warm and welcoming, in stark contrast to the negative, America-hating portrayal of Cubans that Amilton had heard from the media in the US. “I realized how much influence the media has on the way that people think.” "My trip to Cuba proved that anything was possible." Amilton also discussed what it was like to be exposed to a different value system. “The most important thing is that Cubans value humanity over materials. Although Cuba is not rich with material things they are exceedingly rich in humanity and do not fit the definition of what Americans would describe as poverty.” He saw that the Cubans valued culture: “People in Cuba appreciate culture and have many supportive programs for musicians, painters, and other arts. In Cuba, the man who teaches people how to paint on TV is a celebrity and is respected by the people.” Amilton was amazed by the architecture and art of beautiful neighborhoods in Matanzas and Havana, where there were traditional colonial buildings as well as statues and sculptures. His experience left him with a lasting appreciation for Cuban culture.
"My trip to Cuba proved that anything was possible." Since then, Amilton has gone on to live abroad in Cape Verde, Brazil, and the Dominican Republic. That first experience abroad opened the door, he says: “Had it not been for this trip I don't feel that I would've ever accomplished living in those places.” He was challenged during his trip to Cuba in ways that allowed him to grow. About Amilton: Amilton is a first generation Cape Verdean-American from Roxbury, MA. As a youth he faced much adversity and nearly dropped out of high school before realizing that an education could afford him a good life. Amilton will be joining the staff at College Bound Dorchester, helping young at-risk adult students who are in pursuit of their HISET Certificate (formerly GED) to get into and graduate from college. He's also on the advisory board and ambassador for the Bigger Than My Block Movement at www.btmb.org. When Sean Watkins was 15, a member of the Rotary Club came to his school and told his class about a year-long Rotary Foreign Exchange Student program in Brazil. The local Rotarian chapter offered to assist any student interested in going. Having already known a few exchange students at his school, Sean felt pretty excited about the opportunity. The very next day he brought back his permission slip. "I was a new person. The experience made me evaluate my identity as an American. And how the rest of the world views America." That first year, Sean says he journaled a lot. While he enjoyed being there, he had gone alone that first year and noted that there was no one around that looked like him. "I would have liked for there to be people around like me that I could connect with." When asked how his experience was different as a person of color, he described times where it felt he had to be a "race ambassador." "The more I’ve traveled, I’ve learned that there are often many times where you will experience micro-aggressions while abroad. There was an incident once where these two European exchange students I was friends with in Brazil began to recite racist nursery rhymes. They never even know the words they used were racist, so to explain that to them while keeping my cool was a lesson I’ll never forget." When Sean returned to Brazil five years later, he was able to gain a deeper understanding of his first experience. "There were things that happened in 2006 that I didn't quite begin to understand until 5yrs later when I was able to go back in my 20’s. By this time, I learned and understood more about the racial and social history about the country." On that second visit to Brazil 5yrs later, Sean lived in Salvador, the Blackest city of Brazil, with over 80% of the population identifying as Black. Unlike the south of Brazil where he had lived, "I realized I had the privilege of 'blending in' —I looked like the people there and I spoke the language. Today, Sean has a career that allows him to travel the world; a career he says he might not otherwise have if he hadn't gone to Brazil that first time. He credits his grandmother, a dancer and singer who traveled all over the world for inspiring him. Sean credits his mother who gave him her unwavering support when he was 16, for something she knew he was passionate about; something he says he never takes for granted. "I'm grateful for those who came before me. Langston Hughes, James Baldwin, they too had the similar discoveries and wrote about them. I feel connected to them in this way and am very grateful." Sean Watkins is the Social Media Manager for OurVoices, the global campaign leg of GreenFaith. Since joining the OurVoices team a year ago, he has been integral to increasing the digital reach and engagement of the interfaith community on social media around climate action. Most recently, he has become the co-host for "Climate Voices," a podcast born out of the Paris climate talks. Before joining OurVoices, he managed editorial content and social media for an online platform designed to empower LGBTQ Christians. A graduate of Michigan State University, Sean is fluent in Portuguese and is based in Brooklyn, NY.
Which of the following statements is false?
If you know who Trabian Shorters is, you probably already knew which statements were true and which was false. Shorters, co-author (with former NAACP president Ben Jealous, now a partner at Kapor Capital) of The New York Times best-seller, Reach: 40 Black Men Speak on Living, Leading, and Succeeding, founded and leads the national community organization that is changing the American narrative about black men. (Read Full Article here) At Leaders of the Free World we are passionate about the transformative power of international travel. To that end, we are highlighting the stories of several young, Black men whose international experience had lasting impact on their lives. In some cases, these experiences spurred them to make a difference in their communities. Our first story is from Steven Hughes, Founder and Chief Financial Mentor of Know Money, Incorporated. Steven got the opportunity to travel just over this past year spending 6 days in Geneva, Switzerland at a conference. What struck him the most? “I met 450 young leaders from 160 countries with diverse experiences, backgrounds and professions. Each were brilliant in their own right and it affirmed some things for me. ” As a young, Black man from the United States, meeting so many people from so many countries was enlightening. “The opportunity to see other people of color from different countries across the globe excelling at their craft was inspiring and motivating. The media in the United States is tirelessly negative when it portrays the young black man or woman. Getting away from that and falling into many positive experiences has changed my life forever.” Steven has moved on to continue work on his own project, Know Money, Inc. to help teach financial literacy and entrepreneurship to youth and young adults across the state of South Carolina. Steven credits his experience for pushing him forward in this endeavor. "I met so many awesome people doing great things and I thought, 'I belong here. I should be doing this." He has also been bitten by the travel bug with plans to travel to Ghana, Tanzania, and Jamaica in the next year.
About Steven: Steven is a first-generation Jamaican-American and native of Columbia, SC. After making countless financial mistakes in college and rebounding from them, he has developed a passion in teaching others about financial education and entrepreneurship. For the past six years, Steven has worked with colleges, universities, organizations and companies to educate their members on reaching their financial, personal and professional goals. Leaders of the Free World believes that international experiences can change lives, perhaps even save lives. Many black men report their international experience as being one that completely changed their perception of the world and of themselves. They saw themselves not only an American citizen but as global citizen capable of so much more than what they had known up to that point. In 2012, Nicolas B. Aziz wrote an article entitled, "Why The World Needs More Traveling Black Men". In it, he discusses the imperative for black men and their supporters to see traveling as more than just a "frivolous" expense by whites. Aziz points out that the these international experiences can have long-term benefits in personal development and life-long learning. In the article he talks about his own experiences as a frequent traveler and the reason why more black men should go abroad. "As someone who has traveled extensively and been able to see the effects of abroad experiences firsthand, I can say that it is imperative that we promote them; not only for the sake of African-American men, but for the sake of the world." Read the full Huffington Post article...
We are currently collecting stories from black men whose lives were changed through an international experience. If you'd like to tell your story, click here! It's finally here! Applications for our 2016 LFW Fellows and Mentors cohort! Starting in this March the first Leaders of the Free World cohort will begin their first session. The team will meet twice a month as part of the LFW curriculum, leading up to our trip to Ghana in the summer (July 22-August 8). http://www.leadersofthefreeworld.org/apply.html (Article originally posted on Financial Juneteenth)
By Robert Stitt Fifteen young Black businessmen entered the Black-owned Industrial Bank with the intent of opening accounts. The men were members of the Black Male Entrepreneurship Institute (BMEI), a partner of the U.S. Black Chambers Inc. (USBC). The move was a calculated effort to gain support for black-on-black economics. Ron Busby is CEO of the USBC. He said, “In order for there to be a strong Black America, you must have strong Black businesses. In order for there to be strong Black businesses, we must have strong Black banks. So, from my standpoint, this is just a reciprocation for what Industrial Bank has done for our communities for the last 80 years.” Read More (Article originally posted on Financial Juneteenth)
By Victor Ochieng Jeremiah and Jeremy Donald grew up in Clarke County at a time when alcohol sales were banned. The two brothers had to find a way to satisfy their desire to drink beer, so they decided to learn the art, having acquired the skill from their grandfather. Little did they know that their skills would one day turn into a money minting business. Yes, the brothers have now turned that leisure into business, having launched their company in July of this year. Their company, Band of Brothers Brewing Co., became the third beer brewing company to open in Tuscaloosa within the past five years. Read More |
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