June 2013

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The Come Up The American Dream page 4

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Hip Hop Quote of the Month

Kendrick Lamar from Push Thru

Like kindergarteners My vision’s bothered by vigilantes that harbor on street corners Try your hardest to harvest bundles of weed on ya The starving’ll speed on ya, stampede on ya Impede on your pockets then pee on ya Dreams of us living lavish in fabrics of fine linens Spending, established, with women dining and laughing But this environment got us violent, ready to crash in To society, take this driver seat, hope you fastened Your seatbelts twice, when I rolled them dice, I crapped So many times I can build casinos from scratch Too many daps you might receive from the things you

achieve, relax That’s what my mental say, but my physical’s been detached, I’m on some other shit Like fuck the government, I’m higher rankings, where’s the mothership?

I made a covenant that I was changing but my luck is bent Quite disgusting when reality tainted, where the fuck you been?

Left him face down like he was planking In a cold world where old girl and her homeboy got a motive You can bench curl your tribulations, that sensation’s insulting Got a wifey or a mistress, nigga which one you indulging?

Regardless of who you pick know life’s a bitch when you ain’t focused nigga I’m focused

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Rosalyn Andrews A Business Women You Should Know

A gifted businesswoman who turned her experience in education and marketing into leadership of multimillion-dollar ventures, Rosalyn McPherson Andrews is a modern executive who oversees the creation of world-changing products. As vice president of marketing for Time Life Inc.'s Education Division, she develops and markets culturally diverse products to schools and libraries across the nation. Her first product for Time Life, African Americans: Voices of Triumph, has been a feat of marketing skill and cultural integrity.

Born in New Orleans on March 27, 1953, Andrews is the daughter of

Major James G. McPherson and Lillie Webb McPherson. Her father was an army officer who later became a nursing home administrator. Her mother was an elementary school teacher.

In 1973 she earned a bachelor's degree in secondary education from Southern University & A & M College, in Baton Rouge. From 1975 to 1976 she taught mathematics and social studies in the public schools of Roosevelt, New York. Then, in 1976, Andrews became an editor for CBS, Inc., in New York City, developing social studies textbooks and related products.

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The Men of the Tenth Inc.

June 2013 Andrews stayed with CBS until 1979, when she left to join McGraw-Hill, where she was again an editor in a social studies textbook program. She stayed until 1980, when she was recruited to Scholastic, Inc., to be a product manager for children's paperbacks. Andrews was primarily in charge of marketing products, producing catalogs and promotional materials for a line that generated in excess of $6 million in revenue.

In 1982, Andrews received her M.B.A. from Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, New Jersey.

The following year she left Scholastic to become circulation manager of college agent sales at Time, Inc., which publishes not only Time but Sports Illustrated and Discover, among other magazines.

Andrews was in charge of marketing these and other magazines to college students and faculty. She was responsible for more than $12 million in profits.

By 1985, Andrews had decided to strike out on her own, opening McPherson Andrews Marketing, Inc. She began as a lone freelancer with only three clients. She ended up with more than twenty specialists working for her, and more than twenty corporate clients. Her specialty was research, development, and distribution of multicultural products to schools, libraries, and individual consumers. During this period Andrews also found time to teach marketing at Rider College and at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.

In 1992, Time Life, Inc., asked Andrews back to become director of multicultural markets. Her primary project was the development of the three-volume set African Americans: Voices of Triumph. The first volume, Perseverance, chronicled individual struggles from slavery through the Civil Rights movement. The second, Leadership, covers accomplishments in business, education, religion, science, and politics. The third, Creative Fire, deals with achievement in the arts, music, literature, theater, and film.

Andrews is head of the project, which includes distinguished board members such as writer Maya Angelou and Harvard historian Henry Louis Gates Jr. In a project managed and staffed by black professionals, Andrews was careful to keep the books culturally accurate and appropriate. In order to introduce the series, one set of books was donated to every public school, secondary school, and library in the country, a total of some 50,000 books.

In September of 1993, Andrews was promoted to vice president of marketing for Time Life's Educational Division. Major corporations have recognized the potential of ethnically targeted educational products, and they need businesswomen like Andrews to deliver.

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+ The American Dream. By LaVon Williams Recently read a definition of the American Dream and it was defined as the “traditional social ideals of the United States, such as equality, democracy, and material prosperity.” After reviewing this definition I thought about how this concept affects many individuals inside and outside of the United States that work diligently to achieve the dream. Interesting enough research suggests that for many individuals pursing the American dream it is an experience like no other.

American dream is a nightmare also resonates with the thoughts of several HipHop artists. For example, hip-hop artist, Papoose’s entitled his debut album, The Nacirema Dream (which spells American backwards) because he believes that many people do self-defeating things because of the pressure to achieve the American Dream.

For those that may disagree, statistics show that many minorities struggle with achieving the American dream. For example, black males in the United States account for a larger percentage of the poor than they do of the overall population. One reason for this circumstance is that most black males are more likely than white males to have no income. In America, black male employment is a trend that continues to decline and has been declining for decades.

This decline effects so many African Americans that I once read a scholar’s dissertation and it suggested that “for many African Americans the American dream is often a nightmare.” The implication that the

Another rapper, Stalley entitled his Maybach Music Group mixtape debut, The Savage Journey to the American Dream because he believes people are unsure of what the American dream is and that it is a savage journey to achieve it. The first song off of Stalley’s mixtape is called Savage Journey and it contains powerful lyrics. In the song he states that in order to achieve the American dream he has to be “focused and fixated” especially because “people never thought I’d make it, not out of Stark county, where there’s nothing but sharks and bounties, goons, and crackheads around me. You would’ve thought that this world drown me, or you would’ve found me getting down in county.”

What is interesting is that Stalley and Papoose’s thoughts about the American 4

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(Continued) dream are similar to the inquiring thoughts of Langston Hughes poem, What happens to a dream deferred? Hughes poem begins by asking the question what happens to a dream deferred and finishes by questioning if the dream explodes.

Langston Hughes questions seem to be in search of an answer that often times explodes.

an individual to focus on a specific business plan, technology, or development to help them achieve the American dream. For example, if you notice the world does not have enough lemonade makers, become a lemonade maker. Lastly, in order to achieve the American dream you must work hard.

Hard work consists of following through with tasks despite any negative situation. It is completing tasks even when progress looks bleak. Hard work is when you effortlessly apply effort to continue during challenging times because you are confident about your outcome.

By following these three principles individuals will be able to turn Papoose’s concept of a backwards “American Dream” into its original definition. Moreover, you will also change Stalley’s idea that the savage journey to achieve the American is really an experience that is civil.

However, to achieve the American dream there is a simply plan that an individual can follow. If an individual wants to achieve the American dream he or she must first obtain an education. Obtaining an education does not mean you must attain a college degree. For example, Marcus Garvey, Malcolm X, and Steve Jobs were all intelligent men without college degrees. The second step for fulfilling your dream is to fill in the gaps that are missing in society by using your education to create a product or service. Seeking to fill in a societal gap makes it possible for

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Avoid the Labels This might sound funny coming from someone who design clothes for a living, but labels are really something I try to avoid in life. Labels cloud our vision and distract us from seeing how much we have in common with one another. As Deepak Chopra puts it, “When we label or define people, we stop seeing them. We see only [those] labels.”

When we can only see labels, we become isolated. Rather than stepping out into the common ground that we should all be enjoying together, we become comfortable huddling in the corners of life with others who “look like us,” “talk like us,” or “share our values.”

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(Excerpt from Russell Simmons, Super Rich)