Writin' Forty

I read a  stat  somewhere that the average white  (American)  owned small business owner starts off with about $100K in capital while the average black owned small business owner starts off with about $31K. Not playing “identity politics”, whatever that is. I’m simply relaying what I have read to make this point: I think I want to start my own business but I don’t really have the capital to do so. Let me check that, I probably could get the capital but in order to do so I’d have to place myself and family in a position of financial discomfort; I worked too hard to get to this point in my life to risk that money away. I believe I want to start a small business; I do not want to make it the “last ditch effort” where either the business succeeds or my wife and I go hungry! I like to eat. She does too. Decades ago I had the dream of opening a comic book store. While the first comic book I ever picked up was from a Big B Drug Store in Birmingham, AL the first time I would probably le

I saw a meme, picture, something on someone’s Facebook or twitter or something that mentioned… Yes, I know that above clause is a mess but it’s either reflecting that my mind is a mess (highly possible) or goodness, we receive information from a ton of different places! There are a lot of people who fret or worry that we receive our news from Facebook or any level of social media. I get that, but if you’re careful about how you  vet  your information obtaining it from Facebook or Twitter first isn’t really that big of a deal; it’s making sure the source information is valid. Or, if you’re looking at a meme, understand that a meme itself isn’t the source information and you should be super careful about just trusting a meme to carry your thought processes. I should finish the clause. … the ancestors of many African American people, slaves, who were toiling in the field  (In the United States)  were not meant to be slaves. They were doctors, teachers, lawyers,  etc , who were ma

Whether it’s the adage of 10,000hrs or you are what you repeatedly do it seems obvious in plain English that if you continually do something you’re going to get better at it.  Let’s take my tried and true hustle of jiu-jitsu. I’ve read if you’re going to jiu-jitsu  once a week you will slowly begin  to get behind the curve of learning in the art, two times a week  you’re slightly ahead, three you’re moving well ahead. Overall this makes sense to me: if you keep going to class at a steady clip then you’ll get better. If you start as a brand new student and go three times a week you’re going to  learn  more than a brand new student who only goes one or two. If you’re an advanced student and only go once a week your skill level may be that no one below you will notice you’re slipping. But other advanced students would probably be able to tell; it’s possible a gifted new student who’s attending multiple times a week can tell as well. I don’t consider myself “good” at jiu-jitsu.