Confidence over Insecurity

Don't project your insecurities onto someone else. Maybe it's not that they think they are too this or that, it's that you're uncomfortable with who they are and what they represent.

I saw a television show this weekend where a group of women attacked and disliked another woman because her aproach to life and values were different than theirs. "She thinks she's too good for us. She's too quiet. She doesn't hang out with us all the time. She's a goody two-shoes." They felt this way because she did not like the same things they liked. She expressed opinions that were different from the group's opinions. So, naturally she became a target.

As adults and women, we have to be careful that we don't go through life constantly playing middle school games. Let people be who they are. That's a sign of maturity. If you are uncomfortable with who they are, check yourself first. Have the courage to do this as an individual away from the group. It maybe that her example will help you find the confidence to be more of who you really want to be rather than always fitting into the questionable expectations of the group.

Reflections On An Extraordinary King and His Dream

I grew up believing in Martin Luther King, Jr.'s dream. His dream, which should be every American's dream, was that people would be judged by the content of their character, not their skin color. He believed that individuals  should be judged by their skills and comportment, not the pigmentation of their skin, the size of their nose, eyes or lips, the length or texture of their hair, or even their accent.

In the almost 50 years since his death, there has been progress, but not enough. Some of the same problems that plagued King's generation and all those who came before him, still plagued us in the 21st century. Disparities in unemployment and health care, unequal justice, systemic racism, etc. In 2017, we still live in a country where people and their voices are marginalized because they express views that are different.

We as a nation must become uncomfortable with the intolerable just as King, Coretta Scott King, Rosa Parks, Medgar Evers, James Baldwin and so many countless others stood up to racism and discrimination, and initiated change. You will not change a system when you are comfortable with the benefits of its injustice. We must become uncomfortable.

The indomitable spirit, that fire that burned within an ordinary mortal man and caused him to risk his life to lead a people to wage a nonviolent war against an unjust system, must lead us to a place where we are re-filled and re-energized to stand against bigotry and exclusion from the rights that every citizen should have. I have personally experienced silence from leaders who are willing to look the other way when the injustice is against those whose beliefs they disagree with or whose profile is not high enough to warrant their attention. But this is not right. 

Injustice is like cancer. Unless we identify it and confront it, it will spread and take over our system. We must stand up and rededicate ourselves to the equality and the inalienable rights of everyone. We are the ones we have been waiting for... 

--Nona O. 

"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed - we hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

 --Martin L. King, Jr.

Happy Thanksgiving!

#HappyThanksgiving from @womenatliberty and #WomenMakingHistory!

Us vs. Them...@vnona

If you do the same things that they do, you are just like them. If you exclude people beause they don't think like you, you are a bigot. If you bully those who look different from you, then you are intolerant.

The end does not justify the means. You are just like them.

--Nona O.

Happy New Year!

from womenatliberty.com, #LeadershipTuesdays and #WomenMakingHistory!

#LeadershipTuesdays: Motivating People For Optimal Results...Cindy Holland

"How do they need to hear the input to get the best results out of them? In management, it’s about understanding how the person thinks and even figuring out the right choice of words that will help unlock their creativity and desire to do something."

--Cindy Holland, Vice President-Original Content, Netflix

Every other Tuesday, WOMEN AT LIBERTY provides a platform for a variety of voices and resources to develop, encourage and strengthen women leaders. Today's Leadership Tuesdays feature is Cindy Holland. She is the Vice President for Original Content at Netflix, the company who provides on-demand streaming of television shows and movies via the internet and subscription-based rentals to more than 65 million subscribers in the U.S. and over 40 countries in North and South America, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Europe. Netflix has been an innovator in how people access entertainment and they have soared in popularity and revenue as traditional competitors in the space, like Blockbuster, has fallen by the wayside.
 
With shows like House of Cards and Orange Is The New Black, Netflix has made a name for itself in the original programming space. Ms. Holland, responsible for “greenlighting” original content, has been with the company for 13 years and assumed her current role in 2012. In a November 2015 article entitled "Learning To Lead On A Pair of Skis", she talked with Adam Bryant of the New York Times’ Corner Office column about her approach to leadership at a disruptive technology and entertainment company like Netflix.
 
The fun part of her job is saying “yes” to projects starring lesser known talent that may have been rejected by other networks. But at the same time she also has the unenviable task of saying “no” to projects that are attached to well-known names and talent that she feels is not right for her company. One of the things that Cindy talks about is how it can be challenging to give feedback in these circumstances and how a leader must think and what they have to know about people, the projects being presented, and the overall goals/objectives of the organization to get the best results for the team.
 
Click on the video below to see the Corner Office interview. To read a more in-depth article written by Adam Bryant, click here. For more information on Leadership Tuesdays or WOMEN AT LIBERTY, click here.

#LeadershipTuesdays: Majority Rules Are Not Always Best...Leo Tolstoy

“Wrong does not cease to be wrong because the majority share in it.”

― Leo Tolstoy, A Confession

Every other Tuesday, WOMEN AT LIBERTY provides a platform for a variety of voices and resources to develop, encourage, and strengthen women leaders. Today's Leadership Tuesdays will focus on the subject of business ethics. Our news headlines are filled with stories of individuals who have made bad decisions because of lapses in judgement and gotten caught in criminal investigations that led to trials and jail time. Some of the people are prominent politicians, some are corporate executives, and some are everyday people like you and me. As the author of today's featured article intimated, learning business ethics or ethical practices is an ongoing process. It's not easy to always make the right decision. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it.

However, when making any type of decision that may involve potential ethical violations, it helps to have a strong ethical foundation. Angelia White, the author of the blog, "5 Basic Business Ethics Tips", gives us a very practical definition of business ethics and great examples of how she approaches situations in the workplace as an employer, business owner, and leader. At the end of the article she gives advice on some tools that will help strengthen you in your practice of business ethics and help you protect yourself from those who would violate business ethics at your expense.

Angelia White is Publisher, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Hope for Women Magazine. Her passionate dedication towards the Magazine has been evolving for almost a decade. She has a background in publishing and is owner and president of Virtuous Publications, Inc., which serves as the Magazine’s publishing company. Angelia has over 20 years experience in business administration and is a business graduate of Ball State University.

To view today's article click here. For more information on Leadership Tuesdays or WOMEN AT LIBERTY, click here. 

Leadership Tuesdays: Millennial Leaders...We Got Next!

If we stand tall it is because we stand on the shoulders of many ancestors.

--Yoruba Proverb

Every other Tuesday, WOMEN AT LIBERTY provides a platform for a variety of voices and resources to develop, encourage, and strengthen women leaders. Today's Leadership Tuesdays' blog recognizes a few young African American leaders of this generation. In 2012, I was impressed with the activism of four young ladies who, in a matter of days, organized a march in Washington, D.C. to bring attention to the untimely death of seventeen year old Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida. Heather Rasberry, Megan Goffney, Maliaka Mealy along with Yolanda Carr, their friend from Florida, combined social media, the communications tools of millennials, with the proven tactics of non-violent resistance--marching and speeches--to spark activism in another generation of young people. One thing that should be applauded about their March 2012 rally is the support they received from local community leaders like Rev. Tony Lee who answered their call and used his platform to promote the work the young ladies were doing. For more information on what these young ladies accomplished, click here.

Maliaka Mealy, Heather Rasberry, and Megan Goffney

Another brilliant young woman leader who has risen to prominence in the wake of protests related to the shooting death of Mike Brown by police officer, Darren Wilson, in Ferguson, Missouri is Brittany Packnett. Ms Packnett is a native of St. Louis and the Executive Director of Teach For America in St. Louis, Missouri. A graduate of Washington University located in her home town, she has also spent time in Washington, D.C. earning a Master of Arts degree in Teaching at American University. She taught third graders in South East Washington, D.C. as a Teach For America Fellow while working on her Master's degree. This energetic young lady also worked on Capitol Hill for U.S. Representative Lacy Clay (D-Missouri) whose legislative district includes Ferguson which is a part of St. Louis County. Ms. Packnett moved back to St. Louis in 2012 to lead the local Teach For America organization. In November 2014, she accepted an appointment by Governor Jay Nixon to the Ferguson Commission that has been tasked with addressing the systemic racial and economic issues in Ferguson. Their report is due in September 2015. She was also appointed by President Barack Obama to the Task Force on 21st Century Policing. To read Ms. Packnett's biography and learn more about her organization, click here. You can follow her on Twitter at @MsPackyetti.

Brittany Packnett

For more information on Leadership Tuesdays or WOMEN AT LIBERTY, click here. 

Nona O.

#LeadershipTuesdays Motivational Moment: My Resolve and Expectations…Ava Duvernay

In an interview with Fresh Air, Terry Gross asked Ava Duvernay, ‘Where do you go next? You’re going to have a lot more clout now as a film director.'

"I don’t know if I’m going to have more clout. There’s really no precedent for someone like me gaining clout in the space that I’m in…a black woman directing films in Hollywood. You know, no precedent for there being a black woman director who's gained any clout. Black women directors that make amazing beautiful things? Yes. I can name 50. Black women directors that have attained that kind of clout to be able to answer that question from a place of the privilege of having lots of options: I’m not so sure. We’ll see. It’ll be nice. But regardless, I’m going to keep on telling my stories. I’d be absolutely happy to go back and make a smaller picture. I never want to be….my choices to be dictated by budget. That’s one of the reasons why I take so much pride in being able to make films for two dollars and a paper clip. Because I can always get my hand on two dollars and a paper clip. I never have to ask for permission for that. And so I don’t know what the next step is gonna be, but I know that I’ll be doing what I was doing for the six years before this moment: constantly making something. You can call me at any time and ask me what I’m doing? I’ll tell you I’m making this right now. It’s about momentum for me. It’s about that artistic energy and constantly having my hands on a project. So, I don’t know what it’ll be but it’ll be something."* 

--Ava Duvernay, Award-winning director of the movie, Selma.

http://www.avaduvernay.com

Every other Tuesday, WOMEN AT LIBERTY provides a platform for a variety of voices and resources to develop, encourage, and strengthen women leaders. This month, in honor of Black History Month, we will highlight African American leaders who are making an impact or have made an impact in their respective fields. Today, Ava Duvernay, an award-winning director and film maker is featured. Last week, a courageous March 2014 TED talk on race by Mellody Hobson, President of Ariel Investments, was presented.

To view the video for last week's feature, click here. For more information on Leadership Tuesdays, click here. To hear the Fresh Air interview from which the above quote was taken, click the link below.

*The Sounds, Space and Spirit of Selma: A Director’s Take, AnInterview with Ava Duvernay by Terry Gross, Fresh Air, NPR, 1/08/2015

Show What You Are Made Of...Jill Abramson

"And now I’m talking to anyone who’s been dumped! You bet! Not gotten the job you really wanted or received those horrible rejection letters from grad school. You know the sting of losing or not getting something you badly want. When that happens, show what you are made of. 

…it was the honor of my life to lead the newsroom."

--Jill Abramson, Executive Editor of the New York Times (2011 – 2014)

*You are invited to join WOMEN AT LIBERTY for a Twitter Chat (@womenatliberty) Friday, 5/23, 3-4 pm to discuss girls and women succeeding leadership.  #WWYD2H (What Would You Do To Help) We will also discuss why the Nigerian girls becoming "smartgirls" made them such a threat to terrorists in Nigeria.

Begin Again In A New Way...Happy New Year!!

Ends are not bad things, they just mean that something else is about to begin. And there are many things that don't really end, anyway, they just begin again in a new way.

--Unknown

Happy National Grandparents Day!!

Surely, two of the most satisfying experiences in life must be those of being a grandchild or a grandparent. 

--Donald A. Norberg

Today is National Grandparents Day! Are your grandparents special. Tell us in a blog or brief video why they are special to you and you could win FREE breakfast for them. See details below. 

Contact info@womenatliberty.com, @womenatliberty on Twitter, or Women Making History on Facebook.

For All Sacrifices Made...Happy Memorial Day!

For all sacrifices made, we honor you and those who sacrifice with you! A soldier never serves alone...

Happy Memorial Day 2013!!

Dear God...National Day of Prayer 2013

Dear God,

Sometimes our words fail to express what our soul really feels. But our God-given translator, the spirit within us, communicates with your Spirit who intercedes on our behalf!

Because of this, we are confident in your ability to see, hear, and help us in our time of need.  Thank you for everyday miracles and unexplained coincidences that assure us that you are present in our lives and listening to what we say and are unable to say.

Amen.

Motivational Moments

Need or want some daily motivation? Check out my "sister" blog "Motivational Moments" for daily inspirational quotes.

http://motivationalmoments-vwo.blogspot.com

True Costs of Freedom...@vnona

"We will never be able to fully quantify the real cost in lives and sacrifice of freedom."

--Nona O.

Underwater sculpture, in Grenada, in honor of our African Ancestors who were
 thrown overboard the slave ships during the Middle Passage of the African Holocaust.
  --Artist, Jason DeCaires Taylor

Image Source:  http://george-geder.blogspot.com/2012/06/real-african-american-genealogy-brick.html

Power To The Peaceful...Vanessa Hudgens

The Positive Use of Power...Katharine Jefferts Schori

"Power, as human beings exercise power, to me means the ability to change: the ability to change oneself, the ability to change one's community. And the positive use of power is transformation of self and community toward a higher ideal, toward a healed world."

--Katharine Jefferts Schori, 26th Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church of the United States

Twice a month on Tuesdays, WOMEN AT LIBERTY provides a platform for a variety of voices and resources to develop, encourage, and strengthen women leaders. This week Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori is featured. She is the first woman to be elected as the chief bishop or the highest leader of the Anglican Church in U.S. She was elected in 2006.

Bishop Jefferts Schori is responsible for initiating and developing policy for the Episcopal Church and speaks on behalf of the church regarding the policies, strategies, and programs of the church. Before her calling to the priesthood and subsequent ordination in 1994, she was an oceanographer. She has a B.S. in biology from Stanford University, an M.S. and Ph.D. in oceanography from Oregon State University, an M.Div. from Church Divinity School of the Pacific.

In today's video, Bishop Jefferts Schori talks about managing change within her church denomination, how she dealt with discrimination within the church, and the positive use of power. To view the Leadership Tuesdays' feature, click here. For more information on Leadership Tuesdays, see here.

Leadership Tuesdays: "Managing Change" and "How To Succeed"

Twice a month on Tuesdays, WOMEN AT LIBERTY provides a platform for a variety of voices and resources to develop, encourage, and strengthen women leaders. 

In celebration of Black History Month and its 2012 theme: Black Women in American Culture and History, we are featuring Reverend Dr. Vashti M. McKenzie who is currently a Bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church. She is responsible for leading the 13th Episcopal District (Tennessee and Kentucky) and she holds the distinction of being the first woman to be elected to the office of Bishop in the A.M.E. Church. Her leadership accomplishments include leading large church organizations in both the U.S. and South Africa, creating entrepreneurial business projects, starting over 35 local churches, growing a church congregation from 330 to over 1700 members, and managing multi-million dollar church real estate development projects.

http://www.thisisyourwakeupcallonline.com

Also for Women's History Month which begins March 1, Leadership Tuesdays is featuring Arianna Huffington who is an author, nationally syndicated columnist, President and Editor-In-Chief of The Huffington Post Media Group. In 2005, she along with Kenneth Lerer and Jonah Peretti, founded The Huffington Post as a political blog. In 2011, Huffington sold The Huffington Post to AOL for a reported $315 million while still maintaining leadership over the now well-respected internet news source. 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington

To view these stories, click Leadership Tuesdays.

9/11 Tribute--We Honor You...You'll Never Walk Alone

WOMEN AT LIBERTY & Women History Makers-DC, MD, & VA 

honor the memory

of all those who lost their lives in the tragedies that occurred on September 11, 2001 in 

New York, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. 

We also celebrate the contributions of those who courageously responded to and guided the United States through an unprecedented time of mourning and recovery.