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Carole Copeland Thomas
EMPOWERMENT TODAY
STUDENT SAFETY MONTH
Empowering People Changing Lives
www.TellCarole.com
1-508-947-5755
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The FREE electronic timely and topical newsletter designed to enhance your professional and personal skills both on and off the job.
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TODAY Friday June 23, 2006

WBNW-1120 AM Radio - Boston

Focus On Empowerment

12 Noon - 1:00 pm EDT

SPECIAL GUESTS:

Devon Kurtz, Director of Education and Interpretation, Concord Museum

Carol Haines, Public Relations Officer Concord Museum

&

Gail Harris, Author, Your Heart Knows The Answer

Live Web Simulcast: www.moneymattersradio.net (Go to this website if you cannot get the program on your radio. Listen online anywhere in the world!)

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Volume 6 No. 138

Issue Date: June 23, 2006

Publisher: Carole Copeland Thomas

http://www.TellCarole.com

© 2006 Empowerment Today All Rights Reserved

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In This Issue...

1. Carole’s Commentary: Racial Reminders Just Won’t Go Away

2. George Fraser’s PowerNetworking Conference Recap

3. Mickarl D. Thomas, Jr. Sprit Award Winners for 2006

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1. Carole’s Commentary: Racial Reminders Just Won’t Go Away

by Carole Copeland Thomas

A dear friend of mine shared some wisdom from her late father on ways to cope with foolish people who cross your path each day. Instead to blurting out in anger or doing something you may later regret, you merely start an “Idiot’s Check-Off List” and remind yourself that you’re allowed three idiots each day of life. I’m sure this is how he survived the viciousness of a hostile South during the angry days of bitter racism and hate-filled Jim Crow.

According to his philosophy, you are allowed three idiots in your life each day. Your anger gets muted because you expect them to come take aim and fire at you. A mental check-off list gets filed when you reach number three, and then you prepare to meet three more the next day.

It’s the kind of common sense that you laugh at and forget about until the idiots start coming fast and furious. I realized that I was due my share on the flight back from Atlanta last Saturday after attending the PowerNetworking Conference (see article #2 below). Here I had participated in three days of intense Afro-centric celebration only to be reminded of my race on an airplane ride back home.

It was so innocent that the average person might have missed the intent. I was one of the last persons to board a connecting Air Tran flight leaving Atlanta headed north. I had barely left the jetway and stepped into the plane when the perky blonde blue-eyed white male flight attendant looked me in the face and said, “Oh, I guess you didn’t find your son, eh?” My amazement quickly turned to shock when I realized that not only had he mistaken me for another passenger (who was already in her seat), he had stepped into my private space of honoring the life of my deceased son.

Not knowing what to say I then turned around and said, “No, my son died nine years ago.”

It was then that this flight attendant said the unthinkable by smirking back at me, “Oh, I guess you didn’t see him anyway!!”

The woman he had mixed me up with was also black. In fact as my anger built and I walked to my seat, I turned to see that the other woman was two shades darker than I, had wavy black hair, and an outfit completely different than mine. I was ready to take my seat and check off the “idiot” flight attendant as one more for the road when I turned around and there he was. This time I carefully and deliberately said loud enough for other passengers to hear, “That was a very callous and inappropriate remark you said to me. I don’t appreciate it.” Stunned that I dare confront his “joke” he quickly apologized and said he “understood” how I felt. That was the WORST remark one can ever utter to any parent who has lost a child if you have never lost one yourself. Remembering my idiot’s check-off list kept me from slapping his face. As he feebly attempted to reach for my carry-on bag to put it in the overhead bin, I refused to let him touch it. The African American flight attendant behind me who now realized what was happening tried to take my bag. I refused her offer as well. I then lifted my own bag, put it in the bin and sank deeply and loudly in my seat. The woman across from me wanted to know what had happened. I explained it to her and the others around me, and she agreed that his comment was callous. As fate would have it, the 81 year old woman sitting next to me just looked at me and helped defuse my anger by quietly saying that she, too, had lost a daughter years ago in a car accident. She understood.

It was remembering about the idiot’s check off list that countered my emotions and helped me to deflect my anger. I thought about the countless times people have made false judgements based on race alone and in their own way validated why race is still a problem in this country. I think that if we don’t have more real conversations about race, there will be more flight attendants mixing up black passengers all over this nation.

By the time the plane landed in my connecting city I had calmed down and was putting the unfortunate incident behind me. But I was only headed for one more racial confirmation. As I stepped off the plane, the third flight attendant, another white male, looked me dead in the face and said, “Welcome home!!” You see, we had landed in Baltimore, Maryland, a city with a majority black population. What he didn’t realize was that I did not live in Baltimore, but outside of Boston.

He became my second idiot for my check-off list.

So I was reminded twice on one flight home to Boston that race is alive and well in America. And more than ever, I value my friend, whose father I never met, for passing on a check off list that puts my idiot quotient to the test each day.

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June is Student Safety Month.

Learn more about Student Safety Month by going to my website www.TellCarole.com and clicking on the Student Safety section.

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Plan For Your Fall Training Programs. Learn More About Carole’s Multigenerational, Diversity, Leadership Women’s Issues and Empowerment Sessions. Visit her website at www.TellCarole.com or call Carole at (800) 801-6599 or (508) 947-5755

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2. George Fraser’s PowerNetworking Conference Recap

A POWERNETWORKING THANK YOU...

George Fraser has done it again and produced a star-studded PowerNetworking Conference, this year in Atlanta, Georgia. After whipping out last week’s ezine I flew to Atlanta to participate in this fifth annual event. Wow! What a turnout! More than 2000 African Americans from across the country deeply engaged in conversations, seminars, and workshops on economic development, international business opportunities, and political issues impacting the black community.

Lead Corporate Sponsor: Ford

Many other corporations also sponsored the event

Who was there?

Dr. Cornel West, Atty Darrell Miller (the attorney for box office stars Angela Bassett and Courtney Vance), Dr. Julianne Malveaux, Rev. Al Sharpton, Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, Bev Smith (syndicated talk show host), Ambassador Andrew Young, and Rev. Dr. Myles Munroe.

Also countless workshop leaders, academic experts, and business dynamos

There was even a workshop on land that is being given to people of African descent in Ghana, West Africa (the country that just beat the US in yesterday’s World Cup match). If you’re interested in finding out more about the fascinating project just email me at Carole@TellCarole.com.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Avery special thanks to my friends and colleagues who supported and attended the panel I moderated: “From Contacts to Contracts.” Special thanks to my panelists:

--Eddie Arnold, Vice President, Nielsen Media Research (who sponsored the session)

--Keith Moore, President, KDM Associates

--Atty. John Elmore

--Reggie Williams, CEO Procurement Resources

--Emmett Vaughn, Manager, Exelon Corporation

Special Thanks to my dear friend, Dr. Lois Graham and her business partner, Dr. Lenora Frazier-Maultsby, both of Sacramento, California, for attending my session!

AND...a great big THANK YOU goes out to George Fraser for inviting me for the third time to participate in this wonderful conference extravaganza.

Missed it this year? The PowerNetworking Conference will return to Atlanta for the next four years. Check it out next year in June 2007.

For more information about George Fraser, the Powernetworking Conference, CDs of the conference, or George’s dynamic networking organization that you can join, visit him online at www.frasernet.com

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RADIO ADVERTISING SPECIAL

Do you need to advertise your products or services? Do you want to reach a concentrated Boston radio audience and other prospects around the country? Are you looking to broadcast the right holiday message to your customer base throughout Boston?

Well Carole has the program for you!

Carole’s new radio program Focus On Empowerment is looking for advertisers like YOU. Her weekly program broadcasts to a diverse upscale listening audience on WBNW 1120 AM Radio in Boston and simulcasts on the world-wide-web at www.moneymattersradio.net. Now you can reach that target audience by advertising on her radio program.

For more information and to receive your free media kit with a CD of Carole’s radio program, call her at (508) 947-5755 or email her at Carole@TellCarole.com.

Please include your name, company name, phone number, email address, and mailing address.

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THANK YOU RADIO SPONSORS:

Premiere Sponsor: Staples

Gold Sponsor: Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau

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3. Mickarl Thomas, Jr. . Sprit Award Winners for 2006

Each year, in tribute to my late son, Mickarl D.Thomas,Jr. (1979-1997) I present a Spirit Award to two deserving Milton High School graduates who have combined academic achievement with athletic ability both in the class room and in sports. It’s so amazing to return each year to the school all three of my children attended and see the parade of young people growing, developing, and just having fun as teenagers on their road of life. The Booster’ Banquet is the sporting event where my award is given out each year. Every sports teams is honored, letters are awarded, and trophies are handed out like gold cup calling cards. It’s an exciting event to witness.

This year I am proud to announce the following seniors who received the MDT Sprit Award in honor of my Mikey:

Leia Baylor, Field Hockey and Tennis

University of Vermont Class of 2010

and

Chad DePina, Football, Boys Lacrosse

Franklin Pierce Class of 2010

CONGRATULATIONS to these deserving young athletes and scholars!

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CAROLE ON THE RADIO!

Every Friday you can hear Carole’s popular show, “Focus On Empowerment” on WBNW 1120 AM Radio-Boston.

Live! Every Friday! Call In Listener Segment!

This Friday’s Show June 23rd:

Devon Kurtz, Director of Education and Interpretation, Concord Museum

Carol Haines, Public Relations Officer Concord Museum

&

Gail Harris, Author, Your Heart Knows The Answer

Simulcast live on www.moneymattersradio.net

Call In Number: 888 205 2263

Email me with topics YOU would like to hear discussed on my radio program. Carole@TellCarole.com

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Our NEXT Empowerment Breakfast is Monday November 6, 2006 Featuring the Pearl of Africa Children’s Choir from UGANDA.

Additional Sponsorship and Advertising Opportunities Now Available

Email: Carole@TellCarole.com Phone: 508 947-5755

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CAROLE’S UPCOMING RADIO GUESTS:

Future Scheduled Guests Include:

--Deepak Chopra (Best Selling Author and Medical Doctor)

--Blair Underwood

--Marion Wright Edleman, Children’s Defense Fund

--Jill Nelson (Best Selling Author)

--Ed Gordon (Host: National Public Radio)

--Susan Taylor (Essence Magazine)

--Mel Jackson (actor: Flip The Script and Deliver Us From Eva)

--All of the 2006 Massachusetts Gubernatorial Candidates

--Star Jones (I’m still working on getting this interview.)

Who would YOU like to hear on my radio program?? What topics would you like to see covered? Email your suggestions to Carole@TellCarole.com

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To unsubscribe (even though we’ll be sorry to see you go) you MUST unsubscribe through www.savicom.net .

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