Tag: positive thinking

Renee Montgomery, two-time WNBA Champion and now WNBA Team Owner

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Renee Montgomery

Black History happens everyday by the extraordinary women and men who stand on the shoulders of our ancestors fighting for a life that is better today and tomorrow than it was yesterday. Renee Danielle Montgomery made not just Black History in 2021 but American history. She saw injustice in the league that she had played for 11 years and decided that she would either be part of the problem or the solution. What a solution she found.

Renee Montgomery just bought out Kelly Loefler’s stake of the Atlanta Dream, the WNBA team which she owned when she was appointed as a US Senator foe the great state of Georgia and lost to the Honorable Rev. Dr. Raphael G. Warnock in November 2020. What makes this so spectacular and newsworthy is that Ms. Montgomery decided to take off a year after Ms. Loefler threw her Black team members under the bus during her campaign. Those same team members and along with others in the WNBA banded together to support Rev. Warnock against their team’s owner.

In the summer of 2020, members of the Atlanta Dream and Phoenix Mercury came together on national television wearing Black t-shirts with bold white letters that read “VOTE WARNOCK” in all caps. At the time, some members of the WNBA didn’t even know who or what Warnock was. Now the world knows!

One of the leaders of this movement was Renee Montgomery. She made the conscious decision to ignite a campaign against the team’s former owner and won. She asked to meet with the team owner and respectfully discuss their differences. This now former team owner decided not to meet with Ms. Montgomery and her allies for political reasons. That was a mistake on her part. Ms. Montgomery and her allies went on to support Rev. Warnock helping him win his campaign on January 5, 2021. Ms. Montgomery would not stop there.

With the support of her teammates, fans, the community and eventually the league, the stakes owned by the now defeated Loefler were bought by Ms. Montgomery and an ownership group that she joined. In just one year, Renee Montgomery went from being an Atlanta Dream team player to an Atlanta Dream team owner.

Renee Danielle Montgomery has only just begun which in my book make her one of the the greatest! To learn more about Renee Montgomery and the Atlanta Dream, please visit the following links. She is Black History. She is American History. She is Women’s History!

#womenshistorymonth #reneemontgomery #blackgirlmagic #blackgirlsrock #livinghistory #changeagent #warnock #AtlantaDream #WNBA

Renee Montgomery official WNBA site

Time Magazine article: WNBA supports Warnock

Atlanta Dream WNBA page

Be like Bradley Cooper

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twitter.com/kylebuchanan/status/1091785247182606342

On Saturday, Bradley Cooper revealed that he auditioned for the legendary Spike Lee and was rejected. When I heard this story I immediately thought about his tenacity, his willingness to never give up, his belief in himself. Sure he probably had good days and bad days, sometimes wanting to give up on his dreams but he didn’t. He says that he was rejected THOUSANDS of times yet he persisted. He continued to audition. He trained, honed his craft, and never gave up.

I attended a Paparrazzi conference yesterday where the keynote speaker was one of the company’s founders Trent Kirby. He encouraged us to fail. That may sound funny but is t that exactly how Bradley Cooper and so many others have achieved their success. He failed. He failed to get that part with Spike Lee but did that deter him. NO! We are going to fail but we must fail forward, get back up and try it again. Be engaged in our business, our dream; fail, learn from that failure and try again.

Be like Bradley Cooper! Remember that great people fail all the time. We may not see all their failures. We may not see any at all, but as a student of history, Trent reminded me yesterday that greatness doesn’t come from always winning. In order to truly be great, there will be times when you fall short of your goals. The key yo greatness is how you respond to your failures. Do you give in and give up? Or, do you pick yourself up, fail forward, learn and try again?

Let’s Go Crazy 😜

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The title of this post is the my theme for the year and one of my FAVORITE Prince songs! It always made me happy to hear it, usually followed by dancing around and making some people a little uncomfortable. I was HAPPILY dancing and singing like no one watching or caring.

Being happy is not always easy for everyone. It involves knowing and being true to yourself. I spent most of my life doing what I thought other people expected me to do. I didn’t want to rock the boat. I didn’t want anyone to be upset with me. I wanted to be and have friends.
See, I’m an only child. My parents divorced when I was young. My MoM was great, and I did everything she asked me to do. I always wanted to be the perfect child: independent, smart and caring. In all of that, I forgot to be myself. So after 40-something years of living, I’m being me. It’s not always popular or right or wrong, but it will be me.
So from where does Happy come? It comes from within!

What does BLM mean to you? Essay Contest 

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Dr. Kennette Thigpen is host an essay contest where students age 10-18 of all backgrounds, races and ethnicities to share what Black Lives Matter means to them. In an effort to not forget our children, the essay contest allows children to share what they are thinking, seeing and experiencing. Let’s here from our young people, our future and allow them to express their perspectives. 

For essay contest details, please visit Dr. Thigpen’s website https://www.drkennettethigpen.org/contest and share with your friends, family and associates. 

Registration starts September 1, 2017 and ends October 15, 2017. 

Under Construction

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It’s been over two months since I last posted anything and have not written anything in quite some time. I am under construction. My written word has been stifled and I need time to brand myself. I’m working on what is most important to me and there is so much. But I have a purpose, a reason for my prose and pinpoint to my musings.

It is a process so I ask for your patience as I go about my daily life and know that great things are on the horizon. I’ve solicited the help of professionals for get the right look and feel. I’m also studying this thing we call “blogs” so that I can really share on this blog. Don’t be surprised if the name changes.

Reaching out is so important and I want everyone to know that I am still here, just having some work done! #brb

Happy Birthday, Mr. Anderson

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After the Navy Yard shooting on Monday, I spent a lot of time thinking, meditating and praying! I thought about how grateful I am for grace, family and friends and life. I meditated on those things that I do well and can do better. I prayed for everyone that experienced loss on Monday whether through death, injury or just plain fear. Then I reflected on what I could do to make a difference, because that’s what makes us different from the animals. We, as humans, have the ability to reason, to evolve, to improve.

No, today is not Mr. Anderson’s birthday, but we did celebrate 50 years in 2013.  Since we couldn’t agree on a 50th birthday party, we agreed to a 50th year celebration.  Well, we’ve been celebrating for 9 months and as I begin this new blog, I am starting anew by doing something that I’ve never done. I’m sharing my daily struggle with life. I won’t demean it and give it a name or title because you can’t put it in a box like elation or depression or hormones or joy or exhaustion. It’s none and all of those things. I struggle regularly to get out of bed, go to work, manage my household, educate my children, be a good steward of our finances…the list goes on.  The point is that I struggle. Despite what people see, despite the person that I emanate, I struggle.  And it’s okay!

KAA_fav1On my husband’s actual birthday, I should have been excited, but I wasn’t.  First, I didn’t feel well. It was his birthday and we couldn’t celebrate because I was sick.  Sucks, right?! In addition, we are polar opposites when it comes to birthday celebrations. He has never had a birthday party and refuses one now at 50 years old!  Not everyone lives to see the BIG 5-0, so I thought that we should celebrate him, his life, what he means to the children and to me.  He just wanted to go to work.

However, I was taught as a child that it is nobody’s business if we can’t agree and might even “fuss” about it. I was taught that some things are personal and not to be shared. It’s a lesson that I learned well.

2013 is the year that I break with tradition and share my struggles. It’s not that I don’t believe that privacy has its place. It absolutely does; but sharing is about healing, and we all need healing. So good or bad, right or wrong, up or down, I share!

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