Historically Black Colleges. Universities.

So this is graduation weekend in my part of the country. That image on the left is from the Morehouse website.

And as always I reflect a bit on my undergrad and grad years. Thank God I had the chance to go and finish two universities. Thank God that there are many more students getting that chance as well.

One regret, if you can call it that, is that I would have loved going to one of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in the U.S. for undergrad. Or any private school for undergrad. And then the large public for grad school. Not the way I did it -- large public first, then small Catholic private for grad. Yeah. Silly. I can't change the clock now. But I often wonder, what if?

I personally think small privates or HBCUs are a wise investment of time and money. Even some of the large weekly newsmagazines have called campuses such as Spelman or Morehouse or other HBCUs a wise investment for students and parents.

Culturally, you get in touch with yourself, your history. Academically, you're in smaller classes which is always a good thing. Care-ethic wise, smaller campuses give you more attention and that ethic of care and being cared for. Connection-wise, I hear and see so many positive stories of people who've met the folks they continue to network and do business with... all due to their HBCU experience.

Last week I listened to Johnetta Cole and others talk about the strengths and challenges facing our HBCU institutions.

The scholars were very proud of the fact that HBCUs overwhelmingly graduate the students who become black doctors, lawyers, dentists, and government officials. They graduate black leaders, not just people who are leading blacks (a nice phrase I picked up from a Jesse Jackson talk a while back.) As well, proud that these institutions continue to survive in the midst of budget cuts, lower enrollments, and competition for the best and brightest with other institutions.

On the other hand, they're not bringing in the money like their larger, historically whiter campus counterparts. One statistic shared was that Harvard has an endowment (investments and cash reserves for scholarships, buildings, etc...) of around $30 billion, while the combined endowments of ALL the HBCUs is around $1.8 billion.

The enrollment numbers vary from campus to campus, but we're not sending our kids to HBCUs like we used to. And, faced with lower black student enrollments, many HBCUs are actively recruiting Latina/o and Asian American students to help fill the gap. That new recruitment strategy put some black academics and student affairs types in some serious cognitive dissonance. Other communties are starting to see the dollar and educational value of HBCUs.

Anyway, what's your take on HBCUs? You attend one? Or thinking of it? What's your take on the new recruitment strategies some HBCUs are utilizing? All that... Have a good weekend!
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Book Firsts. Royalties. Covers. The Future.

Book stuff. You're always planning. You're always assessing what you did right and what you could have done better.

I got my very first royalty statement from my publisher this week. Confusing little report. Think I figured it out. (Learn more about royalty statements here or here or here if you're so inclined.) I was pleasantly surprised with the number of units shipped, sold, and returned from July 2005 - December 2005. (Yes, they tell you how many units got shipped back to publisher... ALL books have units shipped back.) I didn't break any records or make "lists," but I'm not disappointed at all. It was my first book. Ever. One day, I will make lists. No doubt.

I give myself kudos for a lot of firsts, because I didn't know ANYTHING about the publishing industry. Firsts like... writing AND finishing a novel, the art of querying agents, developing good relations with your agent and publisher/editor, planning much of my first book events schedule, learning how writers really need to develop an eye for business, marketing, and branding, etc... pretty much on my own. No biggie. Being first-born child in a family makes you a curious pioneer type.

Learned a lot for the second novel, Right Side of the Wrong Bed, which comes out Summer 2007. Like the art of planning early. Thinking of what you'd do differently. Also knowing to keep high expectations, but at same time knowing in a world of stores/readers where Nora Roberts and James Patterson rule, your expectations should not be the same as it might be for them.

Once cool thing. The publisher/editor, agent, and I are talking about cover ideas. I think we're on same page about a general concept -- something more photographic, rather than an illustrated drawing, and using live model or models. That would be nice! And knowing that I'm so into chocolate brown and ANY color combo, we might work that in as well.

But aspiring authors... get this. No one, unless they're Nora Roberts or James Patterson or self-published types, gets final cover approval. You get to share some thoughts and ideas, and that's pretty much where the consulting ends. Not a bad thing. Just a publishing reality thing. Sometimes the bookstore chains have final say on the cover... if they like the design the publisher came up with, they'll order more copies. If they don't like it, they'll suggest changes with the offer to order more copies with suggested changes done.

Bottom line. It's all business. And that's the first thing writers and those aspiring to be published by mainstream publishers need to understand. First. What are some other things you aspiring authors wanna learn more about?

Check out Marcela Landres site for some more book business information.
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Grandsons of dictators grow up to be...

This is Borgy Manotoc, grandson of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos. Yeah, those Marcoses. Yeah, the Philippines.

He's a model. Love that bubble gum shot. Yum. He's legal. He's 23/24ish.

Who isn't a model these days?
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Tight.

Tight, a novel by Patrick Sanchez, is a fun look at America's plastic surgery obsession through three heartrending, hilarious, and very real (fictional) friends who will do whatever it takes to stay... TIGHT.

I heard Patrick read from a very funny section of the novel a few weeks ago in Miami. A scene about a not-so-nice co-worker who outs one of the main characters' age in an office birthday party setting. Fun scene. We were laughing out loud. Tight is on my summer reading list.

Tight. What we'd all be like if we kept those lifestyle change promises we made back in January. How you doing on your fitness plans? For motivation, check out Keith Boykin's fitness journal on his site. For more motivation, check out Hood2Big site, with some tight boy models. (Both sites are workplace-safe for browsing, for those of you lunchtime browsers).

Hope it's a fab Monday for you all!
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Desperate. Divide. Conquer.

This week (maybe even as early as today... Monday), the U.S. Senate will vote on pressing issues such as immigration, gay marriage, and flag burning. So. Darn. Pressing.

Another case of the Desperate Republicans, trying to do anything to continue "dividing and conquering" the U.S. and keeping us embroiled in "smoke and mirrors" about what's really not right with the country -- illegal spying, a "war" that's gone desperately wrong, sky-high gas prices.

Remember... this is an election year. People have to strategize to win. Enough said.

But, you can also contact your U.S. Senator to voice your opinion on how he or she should vote on the desperate and dividing issues on the agenda this week. You can also register to vote... for NEXT time.
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First Job.

Had an interesting icebreaker this morning in one of the conference sessions. What was your first job? And how did it shape who/what you are today? I like icebreakers (and if you have other icebreaker ideas, send them my way!!!)

My first job, actually, was being a peer teen sex educator for a Catholic Social Services program in Detroit. Communicating Around Sexuality Issues.

I was 16. Needed parental consent to be trained to educate teens about sex, teen pregnancy, and goal setting. It was fun work and important work. Taught me a lot. I don't think the program exists anymore. And now looking back, there are definite connections between my current work and that job. The social justice aspect and helping others.

I never had the burger flipping experience. Or college cafeteria experience. The closest was working in a record store while in high school and home for college breaks. Ross Music. Northland Mall. Southfield, MI.

Anyhoo. What was your first job? And are there connections between what you're doing now... and what you did back then?
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Why I Love Chicago.

I'm such a shameful travel whore... I get teased a little, fall in love, and then know I have to pack up and leave in the morning... as in Diana Ross' Touch Me in the Morning and then just walk away.

But... we're talking cities. Not relationships. Though... what's that term we learned in English grammar. A simile. A metaphor. Anyway.

I hate that I gotta get up and leave Chicago later this weekend. I've had such a ball and though my life now is in L.A., I have always said if I moved again I'd come back to Chicago. Oh, I said that about Atlanta, New York City, Seattle, and Miami too. Hmmm. See, shameful travel whore that I am.

Why I love Chicago?

1. Serious appreciation for good food. Like real food, not appetizer plates masquerading as entrees as in L.A. Whether it's ribs, deep dish pizza at Giordano's, Mario's Italian Ice, beef sandwiches, Harold's, Chicago style hot dogs, chicken, the kettle caramel popcorn (just forgot the place), whatever... people here really love food. When I was in grad school here, I loved food too. And you can't forget Taste of Chicago.

2. Serious appreciation for good drink. Whether it's to celebrate, wind down at the end of the day, or to watch a game, Chicago loves its bars... and beer. Big clubs. Dive hole-in-the-wall bars where the locals hang. Too many bad-yet-fun grad school memories. But you know the deal.

3. Serious appreciation for sports. Cubs, Sox, Da Bears, The Bulls with Tyson Chandler. The lakefront biking, volleyball by Fullerton, and not to mention the upcoming Gay Games. This town stays fit. Even if it's just walking to and from the "El" train.

4. Speaking of the "El", I love, LOVE, LOVE the fact that you don't have to own a car or drive here. I'd forgotten the luxury of leaving home whenever you want, stumbling home whenever you want... and knowing that you can leave the driving to the friendly taxi driver or the "El."

5. Cuteness. Whether it's Boystown, the South Side, or West Side, and no matter your taste, there is a natural cuteness and fineness (is that a word???) of the boys here. Not liposucked, not exfoliated, not starved to size negative zero... just natural, good looking men everywhere. And there's something about that working-blue-flava collar look you see all around that's just kinda... yum.

6. Oprah.

I'm talking myself into something. Let me stop. I'm sure some of you are shameful travel whores too. Where have you wanted to move after visiting?

Happy Weekend! I'm off to the gym in the Loop to work off some of the food and beer I've consumed this week. :-)
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Johnetta B. Cole. Tim Wise. NCORE.

On a quick break from conference duties. Stuffing my face with some Harold's Fried Chicken -- wings -- and digesting some of the deep DEEP things we've been discussing at NCORE this week. My presentation, by the way, went really well.

But yesterday had the opportunity to hear Dr. Johnetta B. Cole, president of Bennett College for Women in North Carolina, and former president of Spelman College in Atlanta. She's great. Smart. Motivating. Sharing some of her wisdom on being an effective leader in whatever you do. A few of the 12 points she shared:

1) Surround yourself with folks good as or better than you could be;
2) Have passion in your work, but know when it's time to move on -- in other words, you've got to leave when people want you to stay;
3) Integrity at all times;
4) You must engage in the discussion about diversity and inclusion. Of course there's more contextual stuff, but I have a session to make in a few minutes.

Today. Tim Wise. If you don't know, Tim Wise speaks out and challenges white people to take responsibility for the systemic role they play in perpetuating white privilege and racism. Today, he spoke the gospel on the Hurricane Katrina situation, and four points he'll be making in his upcoming book on the disaster are:
1) White America is incapable of seeing black/brown realities and are in a perpetual state of denial;
2) New Orleans was not a systematic failure-- the system did what it intended to do;
3) White corporate media is incapable of and incompetent when presenting issues of race and class in the U.S.;
4) Our commitment to charity (i.e. giving after a disaster) is inversely proportional to our commitment to proactive measures to prevent social crises.

More context, but gotta run. Thoughts?
NCORE 2007 will take place in San Francisco.
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