The Legatum Prosperity Africa Prize is a program which "seeks to recognize and reward the best of small business in emerging markets." The grand prize winner received $100,000 for training and business development.
Check out the trailer for Unlocking Africa, a documentary on the Legatum Pioneers of Prosperity Africa Prize program. More info on this awesome endeavor to come!
Yesterday, while surfing the blogosphere, I visited one of my favorite news crowd-sourcing sites, Digg.com. I entered the term "Obama" and was surprised to see that almost three weeks later, folks are still ranting on (yes, ranting) about Rev. Jeremiah Wright's sermon which contained several remarks some members of the media have labeled as "anti-american," "racist," and "pro-terrorist." [For those of you not familar with him, Rev. Wright was pastor of the church Senator Barack Obama (D - IL) attended when not in Washington, D.C.]
In another Digg search, I entered the term, "race" and reviewed links ranging from the full text of Barack's March 18 speech in Philadelphia to a CBS poll surveying the success of Mr. Obama's oratory genius. Ahh, the power of the Internet: it leaves no opinion or angle unturned ...
Yep, everywhere I surf on the Net someone's got an opinion about Rev. Wright or the speech Barack gave shortly after the controversial tape of his pastor was released. What to do? Jump in and give my two cents of course ...
Defending My Hero
People vote for candidates for a variety of reasons. Policy-wise, Obama and Hillary Clinton are almost identical. The deciding factor on who I plan to vote for has more to do with life experience and how it relates to the future generation of America. Most Americans aren't wealthy for the majority of their life. Most haven't been the First Lady, or had a childhood filled with upper-crust privilege. Nope, most American's work long hours for a wage that doesn't justify the amount of effort they put in -- or the results their employer will gain from it. Many young Americans come from a divorced or single parent home. An increasing number of young American's are offspring of a bi-racial or multi-racial union. None of these experiences line up with the life of Mrs. Clinton or Senator McCain (R-AZ), and after reviewing the side-by-side comparison sheet of all three candidate views, life experience rules.
When November comes around, you can bet your tax rebate that I'll be voting for Mr. Obama. It's not without hesitation however. You see, when I first learned that the senator from Illinois was making a go for prez, I was happy and saddened at the same time. Ever since I was about eight or nine years old, I became aware of the implications skin color can have on social circles, economic status and social standing. There is a unique social learning curve you endure as a bi-racial child, so being told I "look like a nigger" in the sixth grade by one of my peers had a profound effect on what friends I would keep, colleges I would attend, employers I would seek out and organizations I would support.
As a result of several incidents like the one above throughout my adolescent years, I was always keen to an open dialogue of race and progress with my friends and family. When I was in high school, I remember having this optimistic view that racism would be eradicated in my lifetime. In one particular conversation with my school mate Vic, I vividly remember asking him if we would see racism's downfall in America before we die. He looked up from his cardboard-tasting cafeteria pizza very confidently and replied, "No."
Vic's reply would stay with me for several years, drive me to read as many books on race, ethnicity, and social economic theory, and ultimately help me come into agreement with him. I guess I can chalk up my hope to demolish hate before I die to a youthfully optimistic --yet, naive-- outlook on life. Don't get me wrong though --I still have great hope the hate we experience in this country will be eradicated one day-- it just won't be when Vic or I are around.
This leads to the aforementioned "hesitation" I experience when I mention that I plan on voting for Senator Obama. More directly, I'm scared he'll be assassinated.
You see, there is still an entire group of Americans who carry the baggage, grief and pain of the United States, pre-desegregation. These Americans are on both sides of the racial fence (hence, some of Rev. Wright's remarks). It is these same American's who give birth to younger Americans, instill the same backwards and apathetic moral compass and ultimately allow hate to fester in the fabric of this nation.
I want to see someone who represents the experience of the majority of young America win the presidency and run this nation. Almost equally, I'm fearful of what tragedy could result in trying to elect the most qualified person for the job.
Am I just living in a cloud of fear, or are my feelings justified?
**Note: The views/opinions expressed in this article are the views/opinions of the author, not Razoo.com.
Sometimes it really is the little things that make all the difference. We hear it all the time, but how often do we put this into practice in our daily lives? What if we each took 10 minutes a day to do something kind for someone else? Or not even 10 minutes, but 10 seconds? I realized this weekend that sometimes it literally only takes 10 seconds to make a positive difference. Here's what got me thinking:
-I was walking through a crowded market on Saturday, feeling pretty ho-hum, and a woman smiled and said, "your skirt is beautiful -- great color on you!"
-During my long training run on Sunday, on a particularly tough uphill stretch, a runner passed me from behind (not an uncommon experience, given my tortoise pace) and said, "you're doing great, keep going!"
-On Monday, I returned from running errands to find my neighbor watering my flowers for me.
Each of these things took not more than a few seconds, yet each had such a wonderful impact on me, and inspired me to pass along the good.
Others joining in the "small things" efforts:
Beth Kanter, always good about passing along great ideas, has turned her blog pink for the month of October, in support of breast cancer awareness month.
Sam Davidson & Stephen Moseley, co-founders of CoolPeopleCare.org, have written New Day Revolution, which shows how small changes in our daily routines can make a big difference. Their book hits shelves November 1.
Even corporate America has gotten on the small things bandwagon. If you haven't seen it already, take a look at Liberty Mutual's ad campaign, which focuses on the "pay it forward" school of thought:
I'd love to hear what you've done or had done for you in 10 seconds that has made a positive difference...
Today, at the opening of the third annual Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) conference, he announced the launch of his new initiative, MyCommitment.org. The site aims to "help improve the world, one action at a time," by encouraging people to pledge how they will make the world a better place. They are seeking to: 1) inspire change, 2) build community, 3) facilitate action, and 4) strengthen engagement.
From the site: "This site is inspired by the idea that as global citizens, we all have the unprecedented ability to help others achieve their dreams and realize a better future. Anyone -- regardless of age, income, education or where you live -- can do something that has a lasting impact and makes a difference in the lives of others, both down the street and around the world."
I admit I'm fairly uneducated about the issue of homelessness in America, so someone please educate me.
Take a look at this video out of St. Petersburg, FL, which shows local police slashing through a homeless tent-city.
It's pretty shocking, and raises lots of questions. So before making an ill-informed judgement, I'd love to get answers to some of these questions. What's the background here? What were the police trying to accomplish? What other tactics had they tried prior to this? Who were the folks on the losing end of this slash-fest? Had they committed crimes?
I'd like to give the benefit of the doubt to the police, that there was some rationale for the decision to destroy the "homes" of these folks. But the video is pretty harsh, and doesn't portray the powers-that-be very favorably. As someone not in-the-know about how we're dealing with homelessness these days, please tell me -- is this how we're dealing with homelessness these days?
Thanks to one of my favorite bloggers, Britt Bravo (at NetSquared), I recently learned about Quantum Shift TV.
I was lured there by the siren song of a contest for good, but stayed because I was intrigued by QSTV's broader offering. In short, they offer videos with positive stories. In their words: "Quantum Shift TV delivers solution-oriented inspiring news and entertainment that moves the audience to take action on current issues. we provide a high quality worldwide broadcast via the internet and engage the public through citizen journalism and our online community services."
Razoo'er Ellen Fish sent me a video clip of the Barefoot Solar Engineers. The e-mail she sent me reads:
"After 6 months of training at the Barefoot College in Tilonia, these women return to their homes in The Gambia to solar electrify their own communities."
Giving and serving are near and dear to Razoo's heart. So we're positively giddy this week with all the press these two amigos are getting.
First, Time Magazine's September 10th issue hit the stands with a cover story on Service. They devoted eight pages of editorial space to volunteerism and provided their take on a plan for universal national service. They also shared insights about how other countries serve, and featured well-known service organizations like the Peace Corps. Finally, the article shared a number of ways that we can each get involved with service.
Andre Agassi also joined Bill and Oprah, and shared how Giving plays a role in his life. "Tennis was an opportunity for me to affect people for two hours, you know? But what I care about now is the chance of affecting somebody for a lifetime," Agassi said. His commitment to Giving is reflected in the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy, a school he founded in 2001 (and also featured in Clinton's book).
Not one to sit on the sidelines, Oprah joined the conversation about Giving, and promoted her new series coming this fall to ABC: Oprah's Big Give. On the show, people are handed a bundle of cash, and have to decide how to give it away. From Oprah.com: "People from across the country are challenged to help total strangers so that they can feel the high of giving. Over eight weeks, we follow their every move, and in the end, the biggest giver wins!"
Oprah also promoted Kiva.org, one of Razoo's favorite compadres in the online giving and serving world. Kiva focuses on microloans, and has raised $10 million in loans to support social entrepreneurs around the world.
Clinton summed it up nicely for us: "One of the things we know is that intelligence, ability and dreams and the willingness to work hard, they're evenly distributed throughout the world and throughout the neighborhoods of America. But systems, opportunity and investment aren't. So insofar as the rest of us can provide that, that's what we ought to do." Well said.
We can all start making a differnece today! Check out Razoo's Take Action page for ideas on how you can get involved with giving and serving right now.
Join in the conversation and share your thoughts: How are giving and serving a part of your life?
In case you weren't sitting home on Friday night watching the Miss Teen USA pageant, you have surely by now seen her infamous answer (I use that term loosely) in the Q&A round.
It's just too easy to point out the irony behind her incohesive ramblings, given that the question she was attempting to answer was about Americans' apparent lack of education. So rather than heading down the well-worn path of mockery (I admit, I was tempted to go there -- it was so easy), I decided to put myself to the test and see just how well I'd do in a little educational challenge of my own.
The question posed to Miss Teen South Carolina was about locating the U.S. on a map. Ok, so that's not so much of a challenge. But how about correctly pinpointing each of the States on the map? Or identifying countries around the world? What I thought would be a no-brainer was instead a nice slice of humble pie (though, fortunately, I was able to correctly locate "the Iraq").
How's your geography IQ? You might be surprised. Check out these quizzes to see how you stack up against the rest of us:
Here's an idea: Next time you're going skydiving, why not raise some money for a good cause while you're at it? Call it "Diving for Dollars" perhaps. That's the concept behind extreme fundraising -- doing the crazy stuff you love to do to raise money for your cause of choice. It's a pretty cool idea -- you're gonna do that stuff anyway, so why not take it a step further and help someone out at the same time?
Here are a couple examples of folks doing just that:
Got an interesting extreme fundraising story or idea? Let's hear it!
Razoo is a community united around making a positive difference in the world. Where passions are connected with actions, showing us that when connected, our small contributions add up to a big impact. Go ahead, have a look.
Good Happens is a daily dose of good stuff. A counter to all the bad stuff we hear every day. There's plenty of good in the world -- we find it and celebrate it here. Why? Because man can't live on dread alone.
