The National Conversation (Raw)

Why We Fight

Why we should never take our enemies for granted.

It's A Generational Thing

On yesterday's Easter edition of the National Conversation radio show, I played a side by side of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

In addition to differences in tone, content and theology, what one can hear in the side by side comparison is vision and the lack thereof.  It speaks to what has been lost in a generation. The two reverends are only 13 years apart in age, but lifetimes apart in attitude.

Listen, and tell me what you think.

Download mlk_rev_wright_mix.mp3

Collaboration Comes Of Age

From “Be All You Can Be” to “Army Strong,” video gaming technology has now caught up with the true spirit and value of the Millennial generation: collaboration.

In the beginning was the single player game -- man against machine. Remember Pong? Ms. Pac-Man? A few years later, player vs. player was all the rage. The advent of online play expanded the competition to team play, but now as video game play has evolved from the tastes and desires of the Generation X gamer to the Millennial gamer team, cooperation or cooperative gaming is now the in thing.

Gears of War, Rainbow Six and NHL are first wavers, but the best of the bunch is Rock Band, the hottest selling game of this past Christmas season. Competition is no longer  in, now it’s all about team work and collaboration. Building together instead of tearing apart. If a band member (player) falls behind in the game another player can step in to rescue him.

“Gag!” How nice. How sweet. How... “Yes We Can” Millennial!

OK, so the new collaboration games are not my speed. They’re not supposed to be. I’m an old Xer, I represent the past. But make no mistake, the Millennials are on deck and they will change everything they touch just like their Boomer parents did.

The internet is their playground. Collaborate or die!

Pride: In The Name Of Love

The Boston Globe asks the right question:

So what did Michelle Obama think of the United States before her husband decided he wanted to run the place?

“For the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my country,” she told a Milwaukee crowd today, “because it feels like hope is making a comeback.”

Let me see, two Ivy League educations, freedom to raise your family, a rise in the U.S. Senate and a run for the White House and only now are you proud of this country? I bet Michelle is one of those sisters that has more pride in her African heritage than the fact that she is an American.

Look at what this country has done for her, the advantages that she has had as an American citizen, that she has obviously taken for granted... Until now?

What a gaffe! What a blunder. What a perfect mirror to the soul of an ingrate.

Michelle Obama, do your husband a favor and shut the hell up!

Messiah? Wow...

Ladies and gentlemen this is getting out of hand... Messiah?

Geoff Elliott writing for The Australian, has an interesting take of the first coming of Obama. He says he's seen this before. In 1994 Nelson Mandela held the mantle of Chocolate Jesus. He asks the question, how did that work for him?

Is history rhyming?

This just in... Family ties key to youth happiness.

White kids are more happy than black and Hispanic kids according to an AP-MTV poll.  Hmmm, what about Asian kids, are they happy?

In any event, the Millennial generation has come of age.

Check out the rest of the story on The Hip Musings of James T. Harris...

I know I'm shameless!

Shift Happens

This was sent to me from one of my mentors... I found it to be thought provoking and worthy of our time. As you are viewing this YouTube video, think about the state of our public schools, inner-city culture and the effect that the absolute break down of the family is having on the future of this nation.

Shift Happens.

Where there is no vision the people will perish! - Proverbs

Generation Consternation

“Eenie, meenie, minie, moe, pick a seat it’s time to go!”

Lawsuit!

The 20-something flight attendant didn’t know what hit her. All she was trying to do was find a creative way to get passengers in their seats so the plane could take off. Two African American passengers were more than a little offended, due to the roots of the “Eenie, meenie” rhyme. They took the flight attendant – and her airline employer – to court. She had no idea that she had conjured up racial discord and opened scars from America’s racist past.

Welcome to the phenomena that I call generation consternation. It might on occasion rear its ugly head with matters of race, but generation consternation transcends racial prejudice. It is a malady that occurs every day in society, impeding communication among and between generations. Events that are meaningless to one generation might have significantly shaped or even scared another. Race issues are only the soft underbelly of this fascinating American phenomenon.

I am willing to bet that that the Gen X flight attendant had never heard the original version of “Eenie meenie minie moe” saying, which featured the “N” word. Gen X and later generations grew up singing “catch a tiger by the toe!”

Can anyone argue that the two African American “Silent Generation” (1924 - 1942) passengers had no right to be offended? What they heard was the racist nursery rhyme from their youth. To them, the offense was as plain as day.

Generation consternation. It’s everywhere. Here are some other recent examples to consider and reflect upon:

• Last year, an ex-KKK member was found guilty of manslaughter in a series of 1964 civil rights murders. Older generations of both blacks and whites rejoiced at the prospect of closure, while the youth wondered why old folks couldn’t just get over it? “Why are they always dredging up the past?” Again, the answer is generation consternation.
• In Paris, France, talkshow icon Oprah Winfrey tried to go shopping and got rebuffed. The shop was closed. It was after hours; out comes the race card. This situation was unfortunate and complicated, but racist?  Maybe, but I doubt it.  Winfrey is a Baby Boomer who has risen to the pinnacle of success in spite of racism, sexism and myriad other American-isms. Hermes, the store in Paris that Oprah attempted to enter, is French.  Enough said. But how did Winfrey’s Baby Boomer perspective shape her reaction to the slight. On that topic, there is plenty to say.

The generations see differently. Where older Boomers and Silents see a racial dividing line, younger Boomers and the generations that follow suspect the line is just a mirage. “We shall overcome…” Overcome what?

Analysis of this phenomenon is critical to understanding how society operates and where conflicts often arise. We can’t avoid it. It’s everywhere.

Generation Consternation!

Watching the Generations Generate Heat

Occasionally, people tell me that generational analysis is too philosophical -- that it doesn't translate easily into everyday life. What they're really searching for are concrete examples of how society and culture are significantly influenced by the the G.I.'s (1900-1924), Silent Generation (1925-1942), Baby Boomers (1943-196o), Generation X (1961-1981), and Millennials (1981-2002). These examples are abundant -- they're everywhere -- if we only take the time to think about why things play out the way they do. Allow me to share just one such example that recently captured my attention:

The 2006 National Basketball Association (NBA) Finals.

This year's NBA Finals are now over, and if you watched them, you witnessed something special. Whereas the NBA has lately been dominated by Gen X stars -- Shaquille O'Neal, Tim Duncan and Allen Iverson are just a few that come to mind -- the Millennials have officially arrived.
This year's series featured the Dallas Mavericks vs. the Miami Heat. The atmosphere was electric; the energy level was sky high, as each game took on the tone and tenor of a Herculean generational battle -- almost like a team of big brothers (with one exception) against a team of their surly siblings. Any family with competitive boys would have loved this series.

The Mavericks -- a team full of Millennials clawing and fighting to dethrone the Heat's veteran group of Gen X warriors -- did not play in a manner indicative of their nickname. They were a true team in
every way. There was no lone gunman. The Mavs are a younger, edgier version of the Detroit Pistons of old. They have their "bad boys," but because their clout in the league still unestablished, they were not able to get away with any of the antics that those great Pistons teams used to contain Michael Jordan. The same kind of hard fouls and team-wide rough play led by Bill Laimbeer and Dennis Rodman proved extremely costly to this year's Dallas Mavericks. It cost them in the form of fines and suspensions. (Namely due to the vitriol of their truculent owner, Mark Cuban, that eccentric Generation X billionaire.) This team, the Mavs, perfectly represented Version 2 of the new generational prism that is now sweeping the NBA -- and the nation. These were Millennials working and playing with purpose. They were on the brink of a championship, just as many Millennials in the marketplace and in academia are on the brink of success, but their time has not yet come. The Millennials are the generation of future conquests, just as the Dallas Mavericks are the team of future championships.

Then there is the championship team, the Miami Heat.The Heat proved to be Version 1 of the NBA, and their success portends lessons that extend throughout society. In this team, you have a snapshot of the now -- the reality of why inter-generational collaboration results in winning. This is true in every arena, whether it's a business board of directors or a leadership team at a non-profit; and the Heat demonstrated that it is just as true in the arena of professional sports. Gary Payton, Alonzo Mourning, Shaquille O'Neal, and even Antoine Walker -- these were Gen X-ers whose days in the NBA are numbered. These warriors were all aware of the fact that this championship run could very well be their last and best hope for glory, so they came to grips with their limits (as even the best corporate and organizational Gen X leaders must do) and morphed into vital role players. In addition, you had Pat Riley, the idealist Baby Boomer who stepped down as General Manager to lead his team as coach.

Also on this team, you had one star Millennial, Dwayne Wade. If the Miami Heat were a ragtag group of warriors straight out of the movie "Lord of the Rings," (based on J.R.R. Tolkien's classic books) then Wade was the burden-carrying Hobbit willing to take on the responsibility of "dunking" the ring into Mt. Doom. (Taken a step further, this analogy could easily include Riley as Gandalf and the Gen X veterans as supporting trolls and fairies, not that any NBA player wants to be called a fairy.) Unlike some Millennials who are overeager for stardom, Wade was humble and submissive to a host of Gen X teammates on the Heat, starting with Shaq. Although Wade possesses extreme talent, the thing that stands out about him is his unique ability to defer glory to the previous generation.

For me, this moment of generational magic came to light during a post-game interview. ESPN
reporter Steven A. Smith was asking his questions of both Wade and Shaq. Toward the end of the interview, Smith started to run down a list of Wade's accomplishments. His credentials seemed to swell with each sentence, and the list was impressive. Every viewer knew exactly where Smith was headed. He would compare Wade to Jordan. He would laud Wade as a messiah -- the savior of the Miami Heat of the NBA. It had happened before in countless interviews.
But Wade would have none of it. He shook his head, and his eyes were downcast in respect to the teammate at his side. He refused to let the reporter, Smith, compare him to Jordan. Wade seemed to be genuinely uncomfortable. Then the reporter finally popped his telegraphed question: "How do you feel about your accomplishments?" His target, however, had no time to respond. Shaq, the sage Gen X center who already had won three NBA titles, intercepted the question in a manner that gave weight to his generational partnership with the young, high-flying apprentice.
"He doesn't have to answer that question," said Shaq. "I will. I'm his publicist." As Shaq -- with emotion and sincerity -- began to list Wade's many outstanding qualities, I sat in front of my television dumbfounded. I was stunned. Shaq wasn't just naming his athletic accomplishments. He talked about Wade as a family man, about his compassion and his selflessness. Shaq said that Wade didn't have to speak; his game (and life) spoke for him.

"Lord of the Rings" fans might remember the end scene in "Return of the King." The newly crowned king admonishes the Hobbits for bowing down to him. "You bow to no man; it is we who bow to you." I was reminded of this kind of glory deferment when Shaq handed the MVP Award to Wade. Shaq even went as far as to swear his allegiance to him, saying that he would play by Wade's side any time. "And when I do next year," he stated, "we will win another championship."

Welcome to Version 1 of the NBA and of inter-generational magic. Enjoy it while you can. The future is rich, restless and hungry.