Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester
Lisa Blunt Rochester
1962 - PRESENT
Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester is proudly serving our nation representing Delaware in the U.S. House of Representatives. Lisa has a tremendous track record of working in the community with a principal focus to help people in need. Lisa's run for Congress became a historic election in 2016 as she became the first woman and person of color Delaware has sent to Congress. In this post, I will share some of Lisa's career highlights in honor of Women's History Month.
Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester was born Philadelphia, PA and raised in the small wonder of Wilmington, Delaware where she attended Padua High School. While in school, she worked her first job at McDonald's on the infamous Market Street in Wilmington. Upon completion of high school, Lisa went on to major in International Relations at Fairleigh Dickinson University and later completed a Master's in Urban Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Delaware.
Lisa started the early part of her career as a caseworker for then-Congressman Tom Carper, helping people with their Social Security benefits, disability insurance claims, IRS disputes, and housing needs. Lisa's historic career began, and she empowered herself to become Delaware's first African-American woman Secretary of Labor serving the cabinets of two Delaware governors. Lisa also became the first African-American Deputy Secretary of Health and Social Services and State Personnel Director. In these roles focused on connecting employers to resources and jobseekers, and commissioned to investigate the Delaware State Police for racial and sexual discrimination.
Lisa was also well-equipped to serve as the CEO of the Metropolitan Wilmington Urban League - an action-oriented, public policy research think-tank focused on the inclusion of people of color. Not only did Lisa have a core focus on local issues, but also national security. She helped women enter the workforce in the Middle East, provided vaccines to children in Africa, and co-authored a book while living in China; THRIVE: 34 Women, 18 Countries, One Goal. The book contours women who reinvented themselves while living in a foreign country.
Congresswoman Blunt Rochester is all about education, a healthy workforce, and a thriving economy which is why she serves on the Committee on Education and the Workforce, as well as the Committee on Agriculture.
Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester, thank you for all that you do for our community at home in Delaware and also for our beautiful Nation.
The Power of Communities
Back in the summer of 2016, I relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area in California for a new position at my job, and I honestly didn't know what to expect. I did not have any friends or family in the area, and this was the first time I left the "nest" to explore the world on my own.
My first year in the Bay Area wasn't the worst experience that could happen in my life, but it turned out to be one of the most challenging experiences in my life. I was living in a one bedroom apartment that was above my means. Every day, I would go to work during the week and come home in the evenings. I hardly went out to have any leisure time. That was the first time I felt like a loner, and it was becoming depressing.
In the spring of 2017, I found myself contemplating if I should move back home or stick it out and stay in the Bay Area. I would complain to my parents and friends, but I had to realize that I haven't taken advantage of what this experience could be. I had a conversation with one of my mentors from back home, and she mentioned something that stuck out to me, and that was "You need to join a community."
What exactly is a community, and why is it so important? There are many variations to the definition of "community," here is the one that helps to share my idea the most:
"A feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals."
Suddenly, I realized this is what I lacked in my life — a sense of community. Of course, when I go home, I have a variety of communities that I developed from years of relationships and experiences in my life. When a person moves to a brand new environment, then you have to rebuild yourself and find those communities that fit your attitude, interests, and goals. I was walking a clean slate.
Imagine you are entering your freshman year of college, as human beings, we naturally want to feel like we belong to something and that is what communities help us to do. When you enter your freshman year at a university, you have to declare your major, meet new classmates, and check out a variety of organizations to find your sense of belonging.
Today, I'm glad to say I've now found that sense of belonging out here in the Bay Area, and it is a pretty unique one. I now have roommates that I can connect and engage in interests that I enjoy, but most importantly they hold me accountable to be who I want to be. We do this is a communal way.
At the beginning of the year, we discussed how we go about setting goals. This discussion turned into us building a framework for us to achieve three goals every quarter of the year. We meet every Sunday and Thursday to share our updates on our desired goals we've chosen.
We start with someone from the group sharing something they've recently completed or something new they’ve learned that we can all benefit from. Once complete, we each share our goal progress: what was achieved, what we plan to do next, and what is holding us back. The group holds you accountable by asking questions to try to understand how we can help you succeed and to keep you on track if you're not progressing.
This structure is built to help you grow in areas that you want to see positive change. However, it is also a structure that allows you not to do it alone. We are supporting each other every step of the way and ensuring that we always balance it out with some fun.
This is what community has been defined for me in my 3rd year in the Bay Area. I came here to surround myself with incredibly smart individuals, driven to succeed, and loves to enjoy life. I'm lucky to have that community in the home-place and with friends. It is vital for you to find out what community means for you. There's a famous quote that says:
"You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with."
This quote is a disclaimer for good and bad communities you choose to spend your time. If you spend time hanging with people who are not making positive decisions, then you should expect adverse outcomes to transpire inevitably.
Communities are how we develop a society that supports the ideals that we wish to promote. Everyone either creates communities or joins them because it is the natural thing to do. Ultimately, that gives you the power to decide the people you want around you for a certain length of time. Is it worth it?
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
1942 - 2018
As we approach the late Aretha Franklin's birthday on March 25th, I'd also like to make this post in honor of her iconic career and oh-so-inspiring voice that has touched people across the world.
Aretha Franklin was born March 25th, 1942 in Memphis, Tennessee to Baptist Preacher Reverend Clarence La Vaughan Franklin and Barbara Siggers Franklin, a gospel singer. After her mothers passing at the age of ten years old, Aretha's father moved the family from the "Home of the Blues" to the "Motown Sound" (Detroit, MI) where he became a distinguished preacher across the country.
Aretha was born with her musical talent, and it was apparent from the very beginning. As a self-taught child prodigy, Aretha's skills on the piano and powerful voice granted her the opportunity to perform at the church, and record her first album at the age of fourteen years old. Aretha's path to stardom began, and she never looked back.
Aretha has received offers and worked with many big-name record labels like RCA, Motown, Columbia, and Atlantic Records over her career. Her pure talent grew over the years affording her the chance to work with some of the top artists in the 20th and 21st-century music industry like Stevie Wonder, Quincy Jones, Otis Redding and more.
Her experiences through the music industry awarded her 18 Grammy's and counting, sold millions of copies, and performed in some of the most publicized events. In 2014, after being active in the music industry for over 50 years, Aretha Franklin released an album named "Aretha Franklin Sings the Great Diva Classics." It reached No. 13 on the pop charts and No. 3 on the R&B charts.
She decided to retire her music career in 2017 and plan for life after such a memorable journey. In 2018, Aretha chose Jennifer Hudson to play her in a biopic named Respect which is set to release soon. Sadly, later that year, on August 16, 2018, Aretha Franklin had become extremely sick and passed away from pancreatic cancer. Check out just a small taste of her music below, and remember how influential and special we are to listen to such a natural talent.
I Didn’t Know NBA Games Could Get Any Better
When I was a kid I spent a lot of time playing video games with family and friends. The graphics and gameplay drastically improved every single year. In many instances, people thought I was watching a live game, and were shocked to find out I was playing sports video games like NBA 2K or Madden NFL. Video games are so realistic that people can’t tell the difference.
However, video games always had the upper hand on showing data and visualizations on the screen. For example, NBA 2k will give you a shot meter to tell you the probability of the shot going in, or when you are running a play, each player is guided to complete their positioning and actions in the play.
NBA 2K19 Gameplay
Now the tables are turning. Videos games are starting to look more like real life with a stronger emphasis on using data and visualizations in the game. Instead real NBA games on national television are injecting some of the same features that are thought to be seen in video games, but in real time.
A few days ago I was in my room checking out a few different NBA games on my iPad. I came across the Los Angeles Lakers vs. New Orleans Pelicans game via ESPN3. When I started to watch the game, I immediately noticed that there were real-time data overlays on the screen that immerse you into a live set like never before. I began to investigate what this new feature was doing on my screen and it took a few minutes to realize all its capabilities.
ESPN is delivering a new and special broadcast called Full Court Press - Second Spectrum. According to ESPN Media Zone, Second Spectrum enables new and compelling content and experiences through interactive applications and augmented video that helps media, teams, and fans visualize and add context to stories about the game.
The Full Court Press - Second Spectrum presentation featured 3 different viewing modes: Coach mode, Player mode, and Mascot mode. Each mode has its own flavor to it, and this enables the viewer a choice to watch the game in the experience of their liking.
Coach mode is a full X's and O's analytical presentation of the game with on-court diagrams as if you are watching the coach draw up a play on a whiteboard.
Player mode features the scoring probability of the five offensive players on the court and throughout the offensive possession the data overlay changes in real-time.
Mascot mode is the most fun and entertaining presentation of them all. It features unique fire graphics when the team is on a long scoring streak , a 3D brick may appear if a player misses a shot and many more interesting overlays on the court.
Stephanie Druley, ESPN executive vice president, event and studio production stated, “We’re excited to present a completely distinct and innovative way to watch a highly-anticipated NBA game to fans. There are several ways to tell the story of a basketball game, and through this collaboration with Second Spectrum, and the great work of our production team, we can offer new ways to reach all NBA fans.”
As Stephanie mentioned, this is a new and innovative way to watch games, and usually when you try out new things for the first time it brings for some challenges. There were a few hiccups during the game that could’ve knocked some people the wrong way. The broadcast went out a few times with technical difficulties, so I had to restart it by changing the mode to get back to the game. I also tried to switch to my iPad into portrait orientation to view the statistics of the game, and it cut off the entire right side view of the court.
Nonetheless, the overall experience is one that will not only transcend sports but will be seen across many live broadcasts across the globe. The way we watch live sports will be a thing of the past, and we will now watch sports in the future as if we were playing a video game. This is great for beginners to a brand new sport. This is supportive for players and coaches to learn and improvement their game. This is entertaining for the fans who love to watch the game. This is a beautiful example of immersive experiences!
Second Spectrum deserves a huge amount of credit for putting together a fantastic team to actually make this a reality. Not only do I think this is the future of sports but fans have spoken about the experience as well. People are beginning to take notice of how powerful this innovative solution can be in many different use cases. Fans on Twitter are loving the new data overlay. They want to see where this will take us in the future and so do I.
Fans talking about the new viewing experience with ESPN x Second Spectrum:
Lena Waithe
Lena Waithe
1984 - Present
Lena Waithe has always been extremely passionate about screenwriting since she was just a little kid. Growing up watching star-studded family shows like the Cosby Show, Good Times, and many more, only fueled her dreams of the endless possibilities awaiting her. Once she graduated college with a degree in Cinema and Television Arts, she swiftly made her move to the world-renowned city of Los Angeles to make her dream a reality.
Lena is now a triple threat: writer, producer, and actress. She is a trail-blazer working her way to the top starting out as an assistant for the hit show Girlfriends to now being a creator of her show The Chi. Her impact on the entertainment industry will be everlasting, and you should expect to see more from Ms. Lena Waithe for years to come. Why?
Not only is Lena an Emmy award-winning role model in the industry, but she is also a massive supporter of mentorship for those following her footsteps. Lena developed an organization named the "Hillman Grad Network", designed to assist emerging artists navigating their way into the entertainment industry. The Hillman Grad Network thrives on three main pillars:
Inclusion - Strive to increase diverse representation in front and behind the camera
Opportunity - Valuable resources are given to mentees to grow their skills through classes, writing groups, networking, and career opportunities.
Success - Each group will feature a limited number of mentees to focus on helping them achieve success.
To cap off why Lena is so valuable to the industry: she was the first openly queer black woman to be featured on the cover of Vanity Fair, and was mentioned as someone who's "disrupting the hell out of Hollywood."
Immersive Experiences are Coming...
Just about 20 years ago, desktop computers were selling like wildfire, and the internet was booming. Then a few years later everyone had smartphones that had access to the internet. If someone decided to order food for delivery in the early 2000s, then they would have to call the store and make an order. Now, there are apps like DoorDash and Postmates that grant people an end to end experience of viewing the menu, placing their order, and visibility into the items being delivered. Life as we knew it changed right before our eyes, and it will do it again.
Currently, examples like DoorDash and Postmates show that consumer behavior is changing rapidly and it is shifting to more personalized experiences. Resulting in businesses and institutions to look at these experiences through two main lenses which are the user experience (UX) and the customer experience (CX).
User experience is the way users interact with a product, website, app, or service. Some elements of UX can be defined as the usability, the way the information is displayed, and the intuitiveness of the app. The purpose of UX is to meet the end users needs and provide them with delightful experiences.
Customer experience is a more holistic view of a customer's journey and their touchpoints with the brand. The purpose of CX is to meet end users needs with a consistent brand experience throughout every interaction with the business.
Think about the last time you used or bought a product or service. What was the experience like for you? Did an advertisement catch your attention? How was the sales process? If you had any questions or issues, were the customer service associates able to provide excellent customer support? These are the times when people decide how they would like to spend their precious time and money.
The most significant distinction between CX and UX is that UX is just one element of CX. Customer experience is the many different touchpoints along the customer journey, and each touchpoint has its own user experience tied to the brand.
Many companies try to complement their CX with great UX principles, but most companies don't do it better than Apple. Apple has built its business around the focus of having a great user experience no matter where you are in your customer journey of their brand. Whether you are looking at products online or purchasing a product in the store, the user experience is set to the highest standards. This enables the Apple brand to have a robust end-to-end customer experience. More recently, the company put a stronger emphasis on the CX by making an unconventional branding push to call their stores "Town Squares."
Apple Stores get a tremendous amount of traffic, and it is a primary channel for revenue generation. Not only is it suitable for revenue generation, but it is perfect for building relationships with their customers. The idea of calling Apple stores "Town Squares" is a unique way to cater to the customer experience by creating a community that consumers can do work, learn and have fun.
If Apple is the cream of the crop for CX + UX in today's businesses, then imagine the future. More likely than not people will experience life in a brand new way in the next ten years. The typical things we do like walking down the street with our dog, shopping with friends, cooking for your family or even at a concert of your favorite music artist will all have brand new experiences.
I predict the next significant shift will be immersive experiences becoming ubiquitous. An immersive experience is an imaginary environment that completely surrounds you such that you feel that you are inside it and part of it. The way in which these experiences are designed is entirely different, and require a new level of complexity. We are still in the early stages of exploring what this means for society.
I expect to see a mixed reality that might only be thought of in sci-fi films. Many of the breakthrough technologies like artificial intelligence and IoT will merge to create innovative approaches to experiencing the world. The capabilities that 5G will bring to our networks, the billions of sensors that will be connected to almost every aspect of our lives and the availability of virtual & augmented reality are coming.
Examples of immersive experiences are already available like watching an NBA game in a VR headset and the most popular of all, Pokemon GO! Picture an immersive experience at work while being a car mechanic and having a digital layer to diagnose problems, give part information, and guided repairing.
Of course, it can be a bit interesting to think of adding a new layer to the life we currently live in, and that is why we need to begin to look ahead to better prepare ourselves for what is to come.
Comment below and share what immersive experiences you think will enhance our daily lives in the future? If you need some inspiration check out this blog by AT&T.
Marvin Gaye
Marvin Gaye
(1939 - 1984)
Marvin Gaye is a legend for his soulful hits, and you cannot forget his "Sexual Healing" slow jams. "What's Going On" and "Inner City Blues" are a classic work of art that you can't dismiss once it encapsulates your mind. His words of choice are perfect as it attempts to spread boundless love and understanding to your ear's. These songs were released in 1971, and still remain with rich meaning to the real problems many people face today around the world.
Parents are grieving from terrible loses to their children with violence in the streets, police brutality, disease, and so on.
Marches across the globe with people fighting for their rights as a human being!
We all just need to come to a common understanding. We are all people, with many flaws.
The Gotti Project
“Power, Pace, and Positivity”
The Gotti Project is a personal commitment to myself with a mission to (1) listen to that inner voice and become the person I always wanted be, and to (2) be a beacon of light to the people, so they can also unleash their true power -- True Dreams!
As I see the clock change from one minute to the next, then from 5 minutes to 10 minutes, and next thing you know a month goes by and you haven't achieved what you planned to achieve. It makes me wonder how much time is wasted, and what if I never hit the pinnacles I planned to reach. There is a quote by a famous Roman Emperor named Marcus Aurelius that states, "It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live." I can not make up for lost time. No one can. Not pushing to make my dreams come true is living without a purpose. The only way to truly live is to continue pursuing your dreams. Once you feel the feeling of achieving a big milestone, you continue to chase that invigorating feeling. You feel free -- You Feel Alive!
“It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.”
Growing up in Wilmington, Delaware exposed me to a ton of societal pressures that push you into becoming a lost soul. Lost in certain ways that limit you from growth in a cold world. You sometimes feel that everything in the world is against you, so you turn to the faster/easier option, because all you want is to feel free and alive. This is not just an issue in Wilmington, Delaware; it is a global issue that I plan to tackle, and spread a vibe of Power, Pace, and Positivity!
It is my duty to enlighten the people, and unleash their true power. That power that is in them to live their god given dreams. I'm sure most people know the person they want to become, and dreamt it for a very long time. There are barriers, trials and tribulations that they will face, because this journey will have to come from within. No matter how bad it gets, if you design the person you plan to be then it will become possible. I want to spark that motor in you that will guide you to the dreams you envisioned since you were kid -- Be the person of your DREAMS!