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The Subtraction of Umoja: Why Building the Nation Means Shedding the Armor

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The Subtraction of Umoja: Why Building the Nation Means Shedding the Armor Let’s stop lying to ourselves right at the front door. We’ve been heavily programmed by a hyper-individualistic simulation to believe that growth is always about adding more. We’ve been told we need to stack more titles, collect more individual armor, and hoard more personal validation before we are qualified to stand together. It’s a beautifully designed trap. The matrix wants you isolated in your own personal silo because a single twig is easily snapped. Our ancestral algorithm teaches us a completely different math: via negativa—the power of subtraction. True Umoja (Unity) isn’t realized by doing more; it’s realized by what we choose to shed. We have to scrape off the thick, suffocating buildup of blame, shame, and guilt that keeps us locked in states of being Mad, Sad, or Scared. That heavy baggage makes us toxic to the very people we claim we want to build with. The Lesson of the Seven Sticks: Separate an...

Salute to Nommo X

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I have to start this by saluting the men who have blazed a path in my life. I will do this in order and then I will dive in to this tribute. First I have to give shots out to my grandfather Cleven Brown who taught me to care and take care of my family (RIP). Next in line I have to say thank you to the person who this article is about Nommo X. Nommo then introduced me to Dr. Moriba Kelsey the founder of APDS, and the Tawi Village. Through Dr. Kelsey and Nommo I met Dr. Lewis Dodley entrepreneur and the Baba of the Simba Nation. Through Baba Dodley I was introduced to Gaylord Thomas. These men have shaped me through the fire of their love into who I am today. You may never hear about these men but they are in my pantheon of greatness. When I needed fatherly guidance each of these men gave it to me in their own way. Nommo X was a historian, warrior, entrepreneur, and a all around great man. He was a mentor that accepted you where you were and helped moved you to where you needed to be. ...

Sending Props to Seth Godin

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On this Journey you have to sometimes adjust your trajectory. You sometimes end up on a dead end trail, because the Journey is about gaining the experience so that you can share what you know. At these times it is good to humble yourself and admit that you are lost. What I have found in life is  that when you let your ego go and ask the universe for help, something always appears. Sometimes it's a book, a map, gift, and if you are lucky  a person. During one of my lost moments, I happened to be on TED.com looking for videos. This is when I ran into Seth Godin's presentation entitled " The Tribes We Lead ". He presented answer to questions I had been wrestling with. I suggested that those on the Journey check the video out. Now I want to send props for a few major things I learned from @sethgodin: 1. I was not trying to build organizations, but Tribes. It was something I had being doing but did not know what to call it. By being introduced to this idea, I have cha...