Keep plugging away at life because each chip or wood notch you collect is a life experience. You cannot wait for everyone to catch up with you while you are on your journey. Sometimes the loneliness place in life is the place where people who go the extra mile exist. The key component to reaching your plateaus or goals is your own self determination and how you value your time. You see time wasted is unrecoverable but time valued is priceless. Plot your course and stay focused in addition maintain your inner drive and understand this important aspect in life. You can learn something from anyone if you keep your eyes open and your ears clear. A person’s intellect or knowledge base is also measured by degrees and platitudes. The true measuring rod may be the effect that person has on those who surround him. So keep your circle tight but make there is always room for expansion.

2019 was a fantastic year for the 500 most wealthiest families in the world. The amount of their personal wealth increased by a whooping 25%. In terms of dollar amount that was a total of 1.2 trillion dollars. That my friends is the total spending power of the African American community. If you are looking at a country's Gross National Product (GNP) that 1.2 trillion dollars would rank alongside Mexico as the 15th largest GNP in world.Think about that for just a moment let it percolate in your mind the wealth of these 500 individual families increased far more than the GNP of such nations as Switzerland (where many of these families hid their wealth), The Netherlands, Saudi Arabia (where much of the world's oil is located), Turkey ( currently a nation embroiled in America's foreign policies misadventures), Indonesia, and of course Mexico. That is simply amazing that we in many instances worship these individuals. Amazon's Jeff Bezos lost 9 billion dollars and still remains #1 on the list with an accumulated wealth of 116 billion dollars. How did he lose that much wealth? Will he former wife picked it up and now is worth 28 billion dollars. The total wealth of these 500 individuals and families is now 5.2 trillion dollars. That my friends is sickening that the amount of accumulated wealth is valued now as number three on the global stage behind only the USA and China.

If anyone doesn't believe that these individuals don't carry extreme influence and power on the world's stage then you are kidding yourselves. The Republican tax cuts that benefited the most wealthy surely increased the amount on increased wealth for those Americans who are on this list. Do you know what year it was the last time the top 1% controlled so much of this country's wealth? Well, it was the year many wall-streeters were considering jumping off building due to the market collapse in 1929. We are about to entire the decade one hundred years ago that was known as the roaring 20's in 1920. However things are not roaring for the vast majority of Americans. You have American farmers suffering from trade agreements and ecological disruptions that have caused my American farmers to positions close to poverty levels. You have many American retailers closing there establishments at record levels. You have labor unions suffering because industrial production in this nation has virtually collapsed. You have our nation's infrastructure collapsing due to the inability to finance the vast improvements that are necessary. You have the nation's public school systems overburdened not only by deprivation but also budget cutbacks that have adversely affected classroom instruction. You have overcrowded state and federal penitentiaries due to the mass incarceration policies implemented to house those unable to gain an economic footing in this nation. So many, many societal issues that could easily be solved if only our government officials would stop relishing and cherishing the wealth magnets. Many of the suffering groups don't the luxury of paid lobbyists whom line our elected politicians pockets and bellies for influence on critical municipal, state, and federal legislation. How can this nation accept the fact that people are starving and suffering while the rich continue to accrue massive amounts of wealth? How can many of those who have little continue to support the minority of those who have such damn much? I mean it seems that whatever game or strategy the 1% had devised to trick the majority to oppose them proactively it's working. Just think to yourselves this thought because it is pertinent to this bog post. Did your yearly salary increase by 25%? Did your hourly pay increase by 25%? Did your retirement or pension check increase by 25%? Did the earnings from the family farm increase by 25%? Do you think you are less deserving then these 500 individuals or families? If not, why not? This nation can no longer accept the code of wealth inequity that punishes the majority while rewarding the less than 1%.

John Lewis who literally brutalized on the Edmond Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama On Bloody Sunday in 1965 just announced that he’s been diagnosed with Stage 4 Pancreatic Cancer. While I am sorry to hear of this diagnosis. I am also concerned that our black political leaders in Congress seem to stay in office far too long. Lewis is 79 years old and he should’ve retired a decade ago to along a younger Atlanta voice to replace him. Now we are going to see Lewis undergo cancer treatment while remaining in office. Why didn’t Lewis use his congressional experience to instruct the coming generations at an HBCU for the past decade? I am going to say the same thing about Maxine Waters as well. Having a Maxine Waters at a HBCU like Prairie View,or Spelman, having John Lewis at Morehouse, or at Alabama State or Alabama A&M, having Congressman Bobby Rush at Morgan State teaching not only about governmental policy making but activism. I mean when news like what Congressman John Lewis delivered today about his cancer prognosis. It makes me wonder how our communities can best utilize our political resources to the best of their talents. Yes, congressional seniority is important but more important to the future of our communities is the development of future leaders who are well versed in the machinations of doing our communities best work in the federal arena. I will pray that John Lewis makes a complete recovery from this cancer prognosis but I know in my heart of hearts, John Lewis and the other aging black congressional representatives have stayed too long on Capitol Hill. As we move into the decade of 2020 it is imperative that new black leaders are identified. We cannot continue to have aged congressional representatives speaking for the issues that will affect coming black generations. Get well John Lewis but while you are recovering give your seat to a younger and more powerful toned voice.

I was born in 1954 which means I have lived in the following decades, 1950s', 1960s', 1970s', 1980s', 1990s', 2000s', 2010s', and about to enter my eighth decade 2020s' in 3 days. During that period of time I have witnessed as a black person Jim Crow, Brown vs. Board of Education Supreme Court Decision,the murder of Emmitt Till, Rosa Parks refusing to relinquish her seat, the Montgomery Alabama bus boycott, the murder of Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King, the March on Washington, the urban uprisings in Watts, Newark, New Jersey, Detroit, the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church, America's passage of the Civil Rights Act 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, congressional prowess of Adam Clayton Powell Jr., the formation of the Congressional Black Caucus, the election of the first black senator since reconstruction Edward Brooke, the election of the first black female senator Carole Moseley Braun, the nomination of the first black person to the Supreme Court Thurgood Marshall, the election of the first black mayor of major American city Richard Hatcher, the first black governor of a former confederate state Douglass Wilder in Virginia, the Post-Dr. Martin Luther King murder urban uprisings in American cities in 1968, the crack cocaine epidemic that destroyed many urban black cities across this nation, the FBI's COINTELPRO program that destroyed the black militant movement in this nation, Stokley Carmichael's call and response in 1966 in Greenwood Mississippi of Black Power, the formation of the Black Panthers in 1966, the Black Arts Movement lead by Amira Baraka, Jessie Jackson unsuccessful bid for the Presidential Democratic nomination, Shirley Chisholm's becoming the first black woman to seek the democratic nomination for President, Fannie Lou Hamer and the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party challenging the white Mississippi delegates and Lyndon Johnson in 1964, Martin Luther King Jr. challenging a seated democratic president over the Vietnam War in 1967, H. Rap Brown and Stokley Carmichael indicted for causing civil disobedience in cities throughout the nation, Huey Newton and Bobby Seale traveling the streets of Oakland, California fully armed and ready to confront the illegalities of black oppressive police conditions, the murders of Bobby Hutton, Fred Hampton, Fred Clark by vengeful state, federal, and local law enforcement agencies, the unwarranted killings of black men and women over the past 30 years by state and local law enforcement agencies too many names to post, the continuing inequity and inequality of justice by white supremacist institutions towards black American citizens, the continued economic deprivation of black communities since the nation's formation in 1781 to 2019, wow so many events that I have experienced related to our peoples civil, social, educational, and economic rights over these past seven decades I have lived in. I Am A Man the signs held by the garbage workers in Memphis, Tennessee in the days prior to the Dr. King's assassination, yes I Am A Man and even as we approach 2020 the power slogan still applies We Are Men and we demand the same level of equality and opportunity as every other American citizen.

Skyler has spent the last five years remodeling her body by maintaining a rigorous regiment of workouts in a professional gym setting. Skyler educated herself personally and with the aid of fitness professionals she learned many successful techniques that guarantees fitness goal attainment. Just as some individuals will go to college and reach proficient levels of educational goal attainment sometimes without clear results. I firmly believe that Skyler's regiment and attention to detail along with gaining advanced knowledge about living a healthy lifestyle and maintaining healthy habits Skyler’s acquired skills and talents will be recognized and utilized by untold numbers of people during her career. So, if you want to get to know how this young black female professional is going to change the face of personal fitness get in touch with her at @slimskyfit on Instagram follow her and I promise you won't be the least bit disappointed.