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| Children sure do know how to brighten your day T
Nigel Alston
Motivational
Moments
"The only thing that can pos
sibly keep you from going after
your dream is the person stand
ing in your shoes, wearing your
clothes, and thinking your nega
tive thoughts."
Les Brown
Life is full of surprises
| around my nieces, ages 6 and 8.
Almost every conversation
Sf includes a big "I loooove you,"
? which brightens my day and-1
^ makes everything in the world
L seem a little less worrisome.
* But then that's what hap
pens when you deal with chil
dren. They haven't yet learned
the art of cynicism - everything
is as it seems And every gift to
a child is a treasure.
It reminds me 01 the young
If boy at an elementary school
B who caught me off guard by
telling me that he was my
"biggest fan" and asking for my
i?j. autograph.
u. Children enjoy a different
niA perspective of the world. And
" that often produces memorable
ol moments.
-a Often after an experience
: with a child or a group of chil
dren, I am amazed at how even
the simplest things can really
make a kid's day - and inadver
tently make mine too.
After a weekend off, I found
two big pieces of paper on my
desk waiting for my attention.
At first, I had a very adult
'' reaction - I wondered who had
been in my office while I was
[J, gone.
That suspicion faded qiiick
'y
The two pieces of paper
contained messages created
especially for me.
One was a drawing of a
camel at an oasis, with a bright
yellow sun and a giant brown
and black tree with a green top.
The camel was brown, with
a red nose, a green eye and yel
low fuzz down his neck.
"Isn't this something," I said
to myself.
Above the camel's head was
this message: "We were here but
you weren't. Sincerely, Lindsay,
Madison, and Justin."
The notes were from the
children of my co-workers. The
kids were at the office and they
expected me to be there too.
Had I been there,. I probably
would have gotten a hug
instead of drawings and notes.
I was equally surprised by
the reaction from the students
in Ernestine Swift's second
grade class at Jefferson Davis
Diggs Elementary School. They
were full of enthusiasm and
surrounded me as I read a book
to them.
They' were acting out the
story as I read it.
When I challenged them to
read a book, all of the children
raised their hands to accept my
challenge to read and send me a
report.
It was agreed the group
would read about the exploits
of Clifford, the legendary "big,
red dog."
The group sent me their
hand-written reports on that
familiar blue-and-red-lined
paper with a dotted line
through the middle of the two
solid lines, used to guide their
writing.
I excitedly read the reports
out loud as my wife and I sat
down at a restaurant.
The notes wete astounding.
"Dear Mr. Alston," one
read. "Thank you for my book
Children's artwork can really brighten your day.
'Clifford's Riddles.' I also
thank you for giving all us
books. I liked the part when
Clifford was dressed up as a
Zebra. 1 do not like the part
when Clifford was thinking of a
vampire. My book was fun.
Love, Kenneth Richards."
"Ahhh, that's precious," my
wife said. She was smiling too.
Another report included a
drawing of a big red dog walk
ing across a field, of bright
green grass. The sun - which
Was blue with green rays -
bangs in a Technicolor sky.
Tywanda Bristow wrote: "I
thank you for My book Clif
ford Manners. I like the part
when Clifford crosses The
Street and when Clifford Says.
'please' to get some food."
Timothy Duncan, not the
basketball player, wrote: "I
thank you for giving me this
book and I thank you for help
ing me learn how to read. We
all thank you for telling my
teacher to give us the Clifford
book's so we could read them.
We also thank you for coming
to the 'Reading Is Fun Day!!"'
The notes won me over and
made my day. But my blessings
weren't done yet.
I had a note waiting on me
Monday morning.
"Dear Nigel," it read,
"how's it going? Hey Do you
like me? I like you! P.S. Wright
back!! Send it to my moms
office. Love, Lindsay Peele."
Kids really do know how to
brighten your day.
Nigel Alston is an executive
with Integon Insurance and can
be reached at P. O. Box 722,
Winston-Salem, NC 27102 or
e-mailed at
nalston237@aol.com
i Joyner and Smiley: New millennium - new strategy I
Val Atkinson
Jones
Street
// ?
, Wfth the South Carolina
V tourism boycott, Kweisi Mfume
?' and Julian Bond may have
?i stoked a new fire for progress in
the new millennium.
But media personalities Tom
,v Joyner and Tavis Smiley are
definitely bringing in more
wood.
Smiley and Joyner led a
v drive to get CompUSA to
\? advertise in traditional black
w media outlets. CompUSA's
i" CEO, Jim Halpin, had been
<? advised that African Americans
-Y> weren't purchasing very many
?n computer or other hardware
>v, products and therefore selective
> advertising in the black media
market was not necessary.
Smiley and Joyner decided
to show Mr. Halpin how wrong
u he was. The duo used their out
lets - "The Tom Joyner Morn
" ing Show" and the "Tavis Smi
ley Show on BET" - to ask
African' Americans to send
copies of their receipts of pur
chase to Halpin.
The response was stagger
ing. Receipts flooded Hatpin's
office and eventually forced him
" to reconsider his ad policy. He
has since admitted that he
received "bad advice" from his
staff and thafy he intends to
make restitution by hiring a
minority ad agency to help him
advertise and to give a 10 per
cent discount to those who have
already purchased his products. 1
Joyner's
use of the
airwaves to
get Halpin's
attention
was remark
able. There
were tons of
black folks
all over the
world who
had pur
chased
Joyner
? ? . i
Halpin's equipment. Halpin's
reply was a striking reason why
diversity in hiring and place
ment are so crucial to fair treat
ment and progress in America.
Joyner and Smiley's Com
pUSA campaign was a notice of
the highest order.
The notice didn't beg for free
computers. Joyner and Smiley
didn't ask for free training,
there was no rally on the court
house steps, and they didn't
threaten to call the elected offi
cial they helped put in office. J
They asked that African
Americans speak with their dol
lars by proving that we indeed
purchase items that advertising
executives, for all their wisdom,
say we don't.
Could this be the new strate
gy for the new millennium?
Could this be the ticket for
African Americans' final free
dom? We began the Civil Rights
Movement with the economic
success of the Montgomery bus
boycott. We later moved to
protest, sit-ins and rallies, fol
lowed by the political strategy
for voter registration, and voter
turn-out. Many think that
we've played our political card
too strong to the exclusion of
other strategies - like economic
leveraging.
African Americans have
made great strides in the politi
cal arena. Many major cities in
America have had black may
ors, and there are scores of
blacks holding municipal and
county offices throughout the
nation.
But the dollar gap between
blacks and whites continues to
widen. There seems to be flo
positive correlation between the
number of black elected offi
cials and meaningful improve
ment of the qualify of life for
the neediest among us. Some
African Americans are begin
ning to come around to under
stand the real motivation of
America's dominant group, and
,that simply is M-O-N-E-Y.
The Rev. Martin Luther
King Jr. and Rosa Parks under
stood this in Montgomery,
Ala., in the late '50s when they
boycotted the Montgomery bus
system. Pan Africa's Randall
Robinson understood this in his
battle to dismantle apartheid in
South Africa and Jesse Jackson
has used the power of the dollar
several times against tlje likes of
Texaco and Denny's.
African Americans have
spending power. We will spend
almost $500 billion this year
alone. That's more than the
total gross domestic product of
more than 95 percent of the
world's nations.
What we do with it and how
we use it will have a greater
impact on our quality of life in
the next millennium than elect
ing officials who promise to
appoint black faces to ceremo
nial positions.
What does all this mean?
Should we boycott every
state, corporation, company or
store that doesn't adhere to our
every whim?
The answer is a resounding
no.
African Americans should,
however, become more selective
donsumers.
We ought not financially
support those who choose to
disrespect and denigrate us.
We ought not financially con
tribute to insensitive companies
who "just didn't know" that we
would be offended by their
actions or inactions. We ought
to get off the courthouse steps.
The feet of an incentive-dri
ven politician or businessperson
is no place for the new African
American of the 21st century.
Val Atkinson is a reporter
for the Triangle Tribune.
I I
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