Peace Fam,
I have a few things I’m launching. I am very excited about this mission. And, you may be able to participate. The ‘help’ you lend is entirely up to you. You have specific talents that will help make my movement a success.
Here is what’s necessary:
An executive assistant.
A good lawyer (experienced, business mentor).
A good accountant (growth focused, intimate knowledge of IRS).
A Web Freak! (designs, knows html and flash, is innovative, fresh ideas on using the web)
Marketing: Recommendations for people to become a part of my team of MANIFESTORS™.
Sales & Distribution: Apparel/Music
Manufacturing/Sourcing
Photog/Director of Photography/Editor
Encouragement, check-ins, and prayer (speaks volumes)!
Buy my stuff, if it moves you, and spread the word!
Email blasts to friends and associates who would benefit from and enjoy my products.
Product and brand placement, ads, interviews, write-ups, etc.
You’re a creative being. If you can think of something I need, do share.
True,
da’shon is.
“That just happened!”
BLOCK PARTY
Big up to Christian for inviting me out to his party in the Saturday sun! I was the first Selector to get behind the wheels of steel (and the Serato box and my laptop). The theme was Latin/Caribbean but he said I could go anywhere I wanted. So I whetted their appetites with some of my music first (NEVERUMIND) and then I took ‘em out there. Then Mafioso got on and killed it with ill blend of latin, hip hop, dancehall vibration. I haven’t had that much fun in a minute!
TEARS OF APPRECIATION
My girl Eesh says she was getting misty-eyed as she sent me an email in response to my “WATERMELON MAN” story in the last blog. The story resonated with her because she was raised by a Grandparent and understands the majesty of elders. Her sentiment is the reason I’m sharing my truth in this format. There is a Universal thread that runs through all of us. And regardless of where we come from, we truly have more in common than we know. -I appreciate the encouragement!
BACK IN THE DAY
I was tagged in this old school photo in front of what used to be Yin Yang Music Café. Although I was the doorman, I wasn’t actually in the picture, but my t-shirt was. (d a’ s h o n)25 was my first brand, and it was born and fueled by the energy of that era. Kembo’s open mic “Elevation” started many careers and spawned many copycats around Atlanta. India Arie, Donnie, Black Thought, Erykah Badu, and Anthony David are just a few of the folks that either got their start of honed their craft on that stage. Before it became Apache Café, Yin Yang was a vortex of talent and expanding ideas. There’ll never be another. –Thanks for that trip back!
Something I wanna address…
WELCOME TO MY WORLD:
A friend pointed out that this so-called financial crisis has people thinking about what their lives are worth. I am very fortunate to have people in my life who genuinely love me for who I am and not for what I have. To the casual observer, I don’t have much. Of course I can’t speak for them but I want to believe it’s because people can sense that I value them and understand what relationships are worth. But then I have been called a lazy dreamer who expects too much.
Being homeless for 5 months began to change my self-worth. I was in LA, a place notorious for superficiality, when I had to really determine what my life was worth. The feeling of being a grown man who couldn’t keep up with the Jones was emasculating. Seeing people with shiny stuff I couldn’t have was frustrating. I got to a depressed, abysmal place. When I could get no lower, the light came from an unexpected place.
People who derive their self-worth from their net-worth are going through it right now. In a time when one can lose one’s job as easily as catching a cold, things are looking madd nervous. It’s hard not to see the world through the lens of a capitalist when we’re born and raised in this religion. When the answer to 99/100 questions is money, where does the light, the answer, come from?
I lost my religion when I began to define my worth. I started to recognize that my true value comes from knowing who I am and what I have to offer the world. I now know that we are only limited by our imaginations. I no longer judge myself based on what’s in my pocket or what people think of me. Something powerful happens to us when we take charge of our lives. When we stop placing blame for our situation or fighting against what is, we become empowered. Try this: perhaps the economic situation is such because it’s time for a complete over haul in how we view our lives. Instead of using this time for wide spread panic, we should be cleaning up our houses, so to speak. I’m with Gandhi, “my life is my religion”.
This lazy dreamer expects that things will work out; they always do. I don’t have a “job” but my worth is immeasurable! My world is perfection in process. I see current situations as manifestation of what I was thinking about before. With this logic, if people spend today in panic mode about not having a job, they can expect to not have one tomorrow. So in my lazy moments I dream about what I expect to happen. Then I wake up and make it happen. I know that my seeming flights of fancy don’t put food in your mouth. I know there are people that don’t think highly of me, based on the capitalist model. I know what people think of me is none of my business anyway. I know that I’m a very Blessed Black Billionaire ; D
Corny, politically incorrect, or just silly-ass jokes!
I KNOW THIS IS OLD, BUT DAMN.
“The most I can show you is Love”.
THE TRUTH AND NOTHING BUT
On the evening of my little sister’s 8th wedding anniversary I realized something about sharing one’s truth. I was talking to some married friends about their challenges. They were going on about how demanding it is to work in the partnership and raise children. They were also advising me about the road ahead. As a single man who has never slipped one past the goalie, how do I interject my truth in order to be of service to them?
Logic dictates that the elder, more experienced person has all the answers. After we’ve been around the block a few times, even the dumbest of us picks up a lesson or two. Some of us have the inclination to share these lessons, these truths. And it’s my experience that a five year old can hit you in the head with some timely wisdom. But that kid has to have the stones to say what they feel. And they usually do.
In our conversation I found myself biting back my truth. These married folks are in an experience I have not yet had. And naturally they were advising me from their own understanding. But I saw some truths I didn’t share because, who am I?
I am a SEER. In both cases, I saw some stuff before these folks were married that were warning signs of the road ahead. Sometimes I shared what I had, but most of the time I kept what I saw to myself. Sharing what I saw has lost me friends in the past. But now I SEE that to be me is to communicate what I know. The truth is the warning signs in both cases have come to pass.
One of the married person’s issues is not feeling able to fully express themselves in their relationship. I pointed out that repressing any part of who we are not only harms us, it also does everyone in our lives a disservice. I’m no bible thumper, but I truly believe that truth is paramount. Personal integrity is everything. We must figure out who we are and be that at all costs. Although I’ve never been married, I SEE that this is one way to make it to 8 years and beyond.
Things of interest…
MY COUSIN DANE MAKIN' MOVES! WWW.DANEREIDMEDIA.COM
THE LEGEND ROCKS ON!
JACK N BROOKE ARE THE ILL COMBO. DON'T MISS OUT!
SELECT SOUL SINGERS.
APPARENTLY IT'S ABOUT TO GO DOWN. GET IN!
Thank you’s and shout-outs…
THE GIFTS (to download copy the links below and paste it in your browser)
http://www.mediafire.com/file/qum2nwkylnn/12.BLESSEDBLACKBILLIONAIRE.mp3
http://www.mediafire.com/file/imym5utumtj/8.SEER (TIME AND SPACE).mp3
AND FOR THOSE WHO DIDN’T GET THIS FREE MIX, STOP SLEEPIN’!
http://www.mediafire.com/file/ktmjnyz0yly/The Traveler VOL1-TRACKLIST.jpg
http://www.mediafire.com/file/knyoim0nnnu/The Traveler VOL. 1- Because.mp3
Big ups to Christian & Charlene for the hospitality and letting me hog the turntables for hours last Saturday!
Thanks to Adinah for the inspiration!
Cynthia, thanks for inviting me to dinner. All-you-can-eat is trouble!
Eden in Dallas, I appreciate you checkin’ for me : )
THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES>>>
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A WEEK MAKES
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