Deep.

Who is Generation Y ??

The Silent Generation are people born before 1946.

The Baby Boomers are people born between 1946 and 1965. 

Generation X are people born between 1965 and 1979.   

Generation Y are people born between 1980 and 1995.

Why do we call the last one Generation Y ?   I did not know until now, but the cartoon below explains it eloquently…. and now, you too have learned something new!

Gen Y

I can’t believe I have not done my write up about this event yet.
Slacking Dave. Slacking.

Well for those who have heard me going on and on about TED Global in Tanzania 2007 and the meeting of revolutionary methods this was an opportunity to be able to hear more stories about marvellous work going on in the continent.

Held last week Saturday in the University of Central London by my TED Fellow Chikwe Ikweheazue, I wildly sent emails around to my colleagues to seize the opportunity of catching a little flavour of this kind of event. Unfortunately many could not attend of the short notice but I went anyway.

I think it behooves me to say what both worked and didn’t work for me. Using my WIN formula. What was WONDERFUL, what needs IMPROVING and what was NICE.

WONDERFUL
I will be honest and say the initial thing that got my attention was the calibre of the speakers that would be speaking. I was specially captivated by the presentations delivered by Chikwe Unigwe, Bryan Pearson and Funmi Iyanda. Mainly because their storytelling style of delivery and pace at which they delivered was amazing. I thought it was great that speakers were able to grace the stage and leave an indelible image on my mind about stories from the continent and the Diaspora.

IMPROVEMENT
I think if carrying the TED brand maybe a bit more coaching about the speaker expectations need to be reinforced. In a darkened room where presenters are presenting on a video lighting the energy of the presentation needs to be raised. Content and structure of all the speeches was on point but delivery is a must if people’s attention needs to be kept. (Wish I heard some poetry/more afropop too but that’s just my issue)

NICE
A couple of us were twittering through the conference. It was great to see the contrasting views of the presentations. Amazing opportunities were had to network and meet others with the same passion and indeed to meet a couple of people who I have only spoken to online. Hello Twitter.

am looking forward to the next revelation of this event but even more importantly building on some of the conversations that we developed and getting out more on to the continent for 2010/2011.

Well done to the team who put this together and looking forward to the next episode (Sorry I had to leave early. Was tired as heck)

I do believe in you, but that does not come without its doubts and questions. I think it is only healthy that if questions do come to mind that I ask them and respectfully pursue those answers whether out of my own curiosity or peace of mind. For many years growing up in the Christian faith I have taken it as read that many of my beliefs whether in your creative power, the concept of salvation and a restored earth are unquestionable. At my core these beliefs still remain however as a child to their parent it is only healthy I believe that when something does arise to challenge this thinking that it does get addressed.

In my youth I always say atheists, humanists and all others who did not believe in you as I did as targets of ridicule or opportunities to exercise my theological superiority on. Age and experience have in fact taught me that healthy dialogue with those who do not share my beliefs can both strengthen my resolve and give me food for thought where we differ. So in many ways this is my open letter to you with some of the issues that trouble me the most.

All Knowing God

I can’t help but struggle with how you tolerate suffering. So many lives have been cut down in their prime whether through war, poverty, ill health or cruel twists of fate. If you knew this could happen what of those who pray every day for your divine protection from harm yet lose family and friends to these results. I think of countries where freedom and liberty are something only experienced by those in power at the time. Whilst in my mind I find it easier to reconcile the loss of our own child to a miscarriage I still hard it find that you cannot or do not intervene into situations where people have been abused, oft times for years, or have their lives cut short. How do I share that this God who I praise because he is all knowing and all caring would allow this to happen? I must admit I find it hard to deal with and blind faith is not something that does or will come easy to me. There has to be some method even if I don’t understand it.

So Many Faiths

My model of the world was shaped primarily through the lenses of my denomination. The church I went to. The way I worshipped. The food I ate. The drink I drank. The places I went. The media which I exposed myself to. If you Lord are one God how is it that so many variations and versions of who you are and what you can do exist in a world today? From the Middle Eastern born faiths of Judaism, Islam and Christianity through to the likes of Shinto, Buddhism, Shamanism all have an angle or ‘their truth’ as to who you are and what you represent. Why does one person’s view differ so much from another? Do you accept the prayer of a Buddhist equally as you do a Christian? In a world where most religions and there  various fragmentations  are always appealing for top dollar as access to who you are, surely the revelation of who you are has to be more simpler than this. Jesus, Maitreya, Mohammed all venerated yet so different and when interpreted actually quite divisive. Why is this so, why is it allowed? Sometimes I wish you would come to me direct and share some of the answers.

A Question of Christianity

To be quite honest God I have my own doubts and questions as to whether Christianity is the one true path to you. Who is to say that mine is the correct one? How can a faith which is culturally steeped in the understandings of an Aramaic/nomadic Middle Eastern community be the blueprint for all of humanity? Does that mean the stories from Peru are invalid? What about the world view of say a Masai? AS Buddhist in Tibet? The thing is this even a cursory comparative look at world religions show there are so many parallels. Why as a Christian do I fold my hands together to pray? Did we borrow this from Hindus who did this to symbolize the sharing of their heart from their third shakra? What about the concepts of baptism? A divine son God born of a virgin? I love being in the space to ask myself these questions and delve into why I believe this. My only concern has been that I don’t feel safe enough to share this among other Christians or in a church setting. It’s strange how I mostly feel comfortable around my humanist/atheist friends in exploring this. That is some kind of strange.

Your Existence

If I dismiss fairies at the bottom of the garden how come I find it so easy to believe in another spiritual being such as yourself? What is the point of praying out loud when I never hear anything back in return?  These are serious questions that have run across my mind. Thing is this I do sincerely believe in you. Am not 100% sure if that is purely because of the way I have been brought up or what but I do seriously still believe in you even if I am more open to other ideas as to who and what you mean to me.

I am a lot more open to see how other people see you. Be it through other religions and their practices. I love the sense of oneness that people aspire to get through yoga. I love the sense of those who see each of us individuals as temples for you.  I love the sense of prayer and meditation and giving to the community and selflessness that comes from a healthy respect for you. I love those who will dedicate specific times of the day just to communicate with you. But most of all I just thank you for listening.

Yours

Dave

Last week my butt got ceremoniusly kicked by a young lady called Lola.

After throwing down the gauntlet for a game or three I manned up (or so I thought) and took to the board where I was routinely thrashed and with a giggle.

My future shopping list includes a fussball table.
Practice will be taken up and revenge will be sweeter than a mars bar after running a marathon.

Lola (and anyone else reading) you have been warned.

For those who know me,  I am passionate about African culture and arts.
One of the most talented ladies I have met in the last two years  is Jepchumba, a Kenyan digital artist living in Chicago, Illinois.

Her site African Digital Art highlights a lot of the most innovative and cutting edge artistry coming out of the continent. The site features artists from all across the continent with special features, interviews and more recently this year a community section.

Links through to other social media like Facebook, Flickr and featured videos on YouTube position this as one of the best sites if not the leading one on african digital art. Check it out. Subscribe. Immerse yourself.

So let’s consider the facts. Dude, aka Professor Nutt (yes the universe has a sense of irony), thinks that the government are not being as honest as they should be on drugs policy. In steps Alan Johnson the Home Secretary who sacks Nutty Professor (sorry couldn’t help it) for stepping over the line when he more or less stated that science should not be ignored when defining policy.  To be fair he did make some crass comparison between deaths from ecstasy compared to horse riding.

My Opinion
I think before I take this further I should state my claim. I am concerned about the legalisation of drugs like cocaine, heroin or marijuana. I am also concerned about the harm done by any kinds of drugs to people. However if it reduces criminality and the harm done to people then I am all for legalisation. I think if more harmful, and this is my opinion, drugs and tobacco are legal and taxable then there is no reason why the same shouldn’t be done for marijuana. This is purely on a harm prevention and non moral basis. The horse has already bolted so there is no point pretending like it will go away.

Intellect vs Emotion
The thing is this, as with any sensitive subject often emotion comes to the fore. As a trained Drug Prevention Educator I have seen first hand the effects both in schools and the community the affects of psychosis from drug use. I have read stories and heard first hand accounts of people who have vigorously opposed the use of drugs classed A to C. Families who have lost loved ones mentally or physically because of tainted or modified drugs such as skunk or ‘high grade’ to use the street vernacular.

In light of this however these deaths and injuries pale in comparison to the damage being done by the legal alcohol and tobacco use. The science suggests, depending on which research you buy into, that more harm is done through tobacco than marijuana and thus this should influence policy.

Now without delving deeply into this argument (for another post) if you do have research that can influence classification of a drug and thus reduce harm surely this should trump emotion. Unfortunately such is the nature of politics that this issue will be clouded. Given that the Nutty Professor (a gentle title for this blog, no offence intended) should come of his high horse and not think he has all the answers I do think he has a real point that we miss the bigger picture if it’s just about votes.

Source: Telegraph

One of the most popular posts on my blog has been about the race and IQ. Since as early as I can remember there have been some very interesting debates around this issue and it still raises as much passion as ever.

Channel 4 are going to starting a series discussing issues around race. The leading programme is  Race: Science’s Last Taboo and is being chaired by Omar Rageh where he challenges the concept of race and intelligence.

Is this Debate Worth Having?

There are a number of people who will wonder why Channel 4,  famous for it’s controversial programmes, will air such a show, especially in Black History Month.  I feel a bit more comforted in that Oona King, has sanctioned this to go through, so it’s more about challenging notions than massaging some twisted right wing thinking.

I personally think the more we talk about the notions around race and especially from a scientific perspective the better. It is a lack of discussion that led to many of the eugenics driven horrors of the holocaust in Germany and the less spoken of differences in the Rwanda genocide. Whilst I do not share the views held by Prof Watson and Rushton I think a concrete argument around this is neccesary.

The Bell Curve

In 1994 the Bell Curve was published. This book written by Harvard psychologist Richard J. Herrnstein and American Enterprise Institute political scientist Charles Murray focused on intelligence and success. Their most controversial section focused on race and intelligence and has sparked debate ever since and much of the rest of the book about differing success based on intelligence between the classes.

The thing is this. In many arguments people get incredibly emotive. That’s a given. However if we are ever going to get to the bottom of an argument on this we need to look at all the facts. For example, many people will not lose any hair over the supposed advantage athletes of afro descent have in major games while hardly being represented in swimming (Did I go there?). However when it comes down to IQ well that hits a real sore spot.

Just Watch First

Like many controversial programmes the hype around the programme is always going to create debate.  Let’s not make a judgement before the show has been aired. Watch the show. Dissect the information. Stand away from the emotive side of it and then let’s have a sensible debate around this.

Channel 4’s Race: Science’s Last Taboo season of documentaries begins on October 26 2009.

This weekend sees a technology conference for youth, designed by youth being run in London. Tomorrow’s Web Conference looks like a great event and I wish them all the best for it. Channel 4 has been quite forthright in both promoting youth projects and shows, and a host of other organisations such as Prince’s Trust, etc. are very keen to show that many of your teens are doing great things. Thing is this. If you were to pick up the newspaper or listen to the news and hear something being reported about teens it more often than not is a lament as to how feral they are, unless you happen to be a diver or sail around the world!

Even as a youth advocate I realise that it can be so easy to want our teens to live this protected life away from sex, drugs and rock and roll. We want to recruit, brief and reject the kinds of friends that they see. We want to enforce on them role models (whatever the hell that means) so that they can be “like them” instead of just like themselves.

Truth be told from my own simple experience and through working with them is that the teen years are years of rebellion and discovery. Physical, emotional, spiritual and intellectual boundaries are being pushed, tested, discovered and there is no cookie cutter solution to each individual case. Sure we can see by patterns of behaviour or the influence of backgrounds possible outcomes from previous examples, however we really need to give them the chance to be able to just..well, just be a teenager. Sure some drink, smoke, sex and all the other vices we would rather they didn’t do and as parents, guardians and support we want to protect them but they surely the most powerful advice we could give them is about decision making.

As a father of two girls I have it all cut out as to how I would intellectually maim anyone who tries in the future to lead them down a path of waywardness, but still I have to realise that they just have to be themselves. To recognise that the more we try to push them into a box or way of living according to our own ways of thinking that they will rebel. They are not all criminal. They are not trouble makers. They are not all sex crazed alcoholics social media junkies….err…well some are…but we need to give them chance to be. Guide yes. Support yes, but let them have that space to discover themselves.

Yesterday I met with two people I am most accountable to professionally and personally. We spent the day brainstorming the next steps of our professional lives and in turn how they effect us personally too. As part of this process I revisited a fear that I have found in many of the clients that I coach and one that, if I am a honest, is one that I have supressed from my conscious mind. The fear of rejection.

As a speaker and coach my business model revolves much around my own credibility and being able to deliver. So whether I am speaking at a conference or coaching an entrepreneur into stepping out into a whole new world of possibility I know my success depends on being trusted. Unlike some other products or services the underlying theme here is what I bring to my customers so any rejection to these services can and sometimes is taken quite personally. So why is this important to be recognised?

There are times when I have pitched for work or networked with people to make them aware of my services. Sometimes the power of the other person’s network and to be quite honest the suitability of their product to the customer has meant I have lost out on the sale or pitch. This in turn affects to my ego, an adjustment to my leads and forecasted revenue and means I have to start again with another. The mind games that ensue get me to question what I have done wrong, how did I position myself and what kind of energy is needed to start the process all over again. Herein however lies a simple golden nugget. By addressing what is our fear of rejection we can unpick or come face to face what we place meaning on.

So here are some questions to think about.

Is our fear unfounded and more about our need for acceptance?

Does such a fear ultimately stifle us from being our best selves when we are interviewing, pitching or presenting our stuff?

Does a fear of rejection mean we give more power to others about how we feel about ourselves?

When we sit back and analyse some of our fears in truth they can be formed by bad experiences from our past or even in some cases a lack of our own self esteem. Whatever the reasons it is good to be able to face them head on and see how such a fear can be placed in it’s correct context. Of course no one likes rejection, be it in their professional or personal life, but it is in our dealing with such rejection that shapes our ability to be present and rational and to provide ourselves with tools and strategies to move beyond such a mindset to being more assertive, creative and positive about ourselves and what we can achieve.