Yasmin Shiraz

The last five days have been some of the hardest days of my life. I try to be an empowering and connected parent and when my daughter brought home some unsatisfactory grades, I was like totally not getting it. She told me how hard her classes are and how the teachers are wack but when I talked to the teachers, they painted a different picture. They say my daughter is not applying herself, she’s not handing in her homework, she’s not even doing extra credit and those are the freebies. I’m hurting for her right now because I know that life is so about excellence. You can’t get anywhere in life that you really wanna go by being mediocre. And if you are really brilliant, why not let your star shine?

I’ve talked to educators all across the country and even Tom Krieglstein who deals with apathy of college students, and there’s a profound lost of desire. Our young people don’t care about being excellent. They just seem to be okay with just being… being whatever… being cool… being for the moment… being there. But life is so much greater when you excel, when you grab the bull the horns and show life who’s boss.

I hurt for all the young people of the world who have been tricked into believing that mediocrity is a great way of life. Its not. I hurt for all the young people who think its cool to drop out of school, to get bad grades and to not apply yourself. The kind of world that is waiting for you is not pretty. I don’t profess to know why so many of our youth have lost their desire. But, I pray that its found and quickly.

To my daughter, I just wanna say, I love you and whatever that you’re going through, I’m here for you. I want you to share with the world how bright you are and all the gifts God gave you. He was not stingy when dealing with you. So little light of mine, let your light shine. Don’t be fooled by those who don’t believe they are gifted. For their journey is not yours. Be a person of excellence.

Peace to all my little lights in the world… all my girls of the world… all my boys all over the world… Let your light shine.

On day two of my Politics of Hip Hop Culture tour I discovered that college women are turned off by the open crotch shots ie (Lil Kim and Nikki Minaj.) When I asked men if they liked the photos, of course they said yeah. But it still wouldn’t make them buy the album. They would simply go on the internet, find the photo and affix in their room and use it accordingly.

But THEY WOULD NOT BUY THE ALBUM just because the female artist was spread eagle on her album cover.

I found this terribly interesting because I know more women buy female rap albums than men. So if women are offended by the crotch shots, why are they displaying their crotches? Its obviously not to increase album sales.  Inquiring minds want to know…. Including my students who attended the Politics of Hip Hop Culture tour today in Florida! Let me know what you think.

Nikki Minaj

I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase: “Your network is your networth.” If you haven’t, it simply means that whoever it is that you are networked with determines your networth. If you are networked with folks who don’t have a lot of value then your value will automatically be lower. If you are networked with individuals of high value, then you will have greater access to raising your value as well. And if you are not networking period, well, you have a bunch of potential problems on your hands. I’ve had many friends say, “I don’t like networking.” Its one of the most absurd statements for a working person to make. When you say, “I don’t like networking,” what you are really saying is “I don’t want to meet people who may be able to help me down the road.” Who in this world doesn’t believe that they’ll need help at some point in their lives? I’ve begun to step up my networking even more this year and I wanted to share some valuable ways for you to increase your network as well.

1. When attending conferences/workshops get the business cards of everyone you meet and then send them an email when you return to your office. Request to connect with them via facebook and/or linkedin.
2. When attending conferences/workshops look through the conference program and reach out to potential colleagues via facebook and linkedin and let them know that you both recently attended the same conference.
3. If you are using twitter, use the search engine and type in topics that interest you. When people come up, follow those people and introduce yourself. I’ve increased book sales, and press coverage through previously unknown twitter contacts.
4. Write handwritten thank you note to people that you’ve met recently. You’ll stand out since it’s not a formulaic email.
5. Attend networking events just for the sake of meeting people. Your purpose is to increase your network.
6. Set a goal of 5 new people a day.

In 2008, when I decided that I was going to focus on my film career, I didn’t have a lot of personal contacts in the film industry. But I decided to go to networking events, pitchfests, film festivals, acting classes–whatever was out there to introduce myself to my potential colleagues in the film industry. In less than one year and a half, I have over 200 film contacts. Its not a thousand contacts, but again its much more than I had in 2008. Now when I have a issue or I need support, I have people that I can reach out to. And that’s the great thing about networking, you can make it happen for yourself.

Maybe I was hibernating when this news was broadcast. But, I recently found out that Harvard University’s President is a woman, Drew Faust. Belated Congratulations, Drew. This is Harvard’s first female president! Yippee for that. I see progress being made. In the video below Drew talks about how girls throughout the world are feeling empowered because of her being in her new position. I can definitely relate to that. A woman president at Harvard? Almost makes me want to get my PhD! Check out the vid…