They Call Her “Mother of The Nation”

Beloved…

“Mother of the Nation”…

Nomzamo Winifred Zanyiwe Madikizela Mandela…the western world knows as Ms. Winnie Mandela, has transitioned from her earthly body today at the age of 81.

Ms. Mandela, may you live eternally in peace.

May other women, both young and more seasoned pick up your torch, stand strong and courageously, determined to never give up or give in until freedom and equity is fully and truly achieved in every sense of their meanings.

Ms. Mandela was and is a force to be reckoned with, that propaganda machines tried to destroy, but failed to do.

Women are to be seen and only heard when called on to speak, and only allowed to say what is deemed respectable and respectful by man. And Black women have less rights than that, especially during the apartheid-era in South Africa.

Some of the culprits have even come forward and admitted their roles and explained that they had to do it to keep her from growing in power and influence; they couldn’t afford having this woman convince her then-husband, Nelson Mandela, to do and say the bold things that would’ve elevated all of South Africa to a status equal to those nations that had colonized and controlled it; they couldn’t risk the domino effect it would create throughout the African continent.

So the propaganda machine worked instead on a strategy of divide and conquer.

They divided the Mandela family.

They divided Black leadership.

They divided the ANC.

They divided a nation.

They almost turned the world against Ms. Mandela.

Almost.

Propaganda machines are fueled by and rely upon the ignorant and uninformed.

However, with every conspiracy there are always the enlightened who you will never fall for the trick and never will convert.

Those of us who see clearly the deception, smoke and mirrors, and the games, also saw the plot against Ms. Mandela.

Nomzamo Winifred Zanyiwe Madikizela Mandela, we will continue to speak up, speak out, act timely, hold accountable, and demand that all of God’s people live and die with dignity, with the same resources, advantages, and opportunities as those who once and still do oppress them.

You fought an amazing fight Ms. Mandela. You can now rest and watch over your beloved nation. 💗

Here is a snippet of a nice tribute that ABC News created for Ms. Mandela: https://twitter.com/abc/status/980870784833945602?s=21

~Natasha

Copyright 2018. Natasha Foreman Bryant. The Paradigm Life.

Choices: Violence or Nonviolence

By Natasha Foreman Bryant, MBA
 
 Every day we must make a conscious decision to either be violent or nonviolent. We choose to “go off” on someone verbally or physically. We choose to have road rage. We choose to allow that road rage to escalate to physical violence.
 
 We choose to load the bullets, draw the gun and pull the trigger. We choose to swing that bat or 2×4 at someone’s body or property. We choose to strike that match or land that punch. We choose to throw that rock. We choose to kick someone while they are down. We choose to stab someone.
 
 We choose to join a group of people to jump one or more other people. We choose to riot. We choose to destroy private and public property. We choose to give in to our insecurities. We choose to live with rage.
 
 We choose!
 
 We can also choose to walk away and calm down. We can choose to apologize and try to make amends. We can choose to squash conflict, that “beef” we have with someone, and just let bygones be bygones. We can choose peace. We can choose freedom over jail or death.
 
 We choose!
 
 
 What choices will you make?
 
 
 
 Copyright 2014. Natasha Foreman Bryant. All Rights Reserved.
 
 
 

Do You Know Who Invented the Products You Use?

By Natasha Foreman Bryant, MBA
 
 I love learning new things. So I get excited when I learn facts about people, products, things and places that I sometimes take for granted, for instance, I use Crest toothpaste, sometimes drink Folgers coffee, I like to pop in Bounce fabric softener in my laundry, and before I stopped drinking soda I used to love slurping back a can of Crush soda (Orange or Strawberry).
 
 

Well I was very surprised to find out that these products and more were developed by an African American chemist and executive, Dr. Herbert C. Smitherman, Sr. when he worked at Procter and Gamble beginning in the 1960s.
 
 

Dr. Smitherman developed several flavors of Crush many of which are still on grocery store shelves today.

Now I’m sure some of my friends from high school or even college will tell me that I knew this little known fact, but I honestly can’t recall—which is sad, especially since I have a degree in Black Studies. Uugh…well let me continue sharing what I found out about this great innovator.
 
 Dr. Smitherman was the first African American hired by P&G with a PhD in physical organic chemistry, and he continued working for the company for 29 years, helping to develop numerous products for them, while also helping to make P&G a more diverse company, as he recruited a great number of African American professionals to work for the company from the 1960s through the 1980s.
 
 How many of you use (or used) Safeguard soap? Well be sure to say, “thank you” to the late Dr. Smitherman, Sr for developing that for your daily use!
 
 Check out this 1960s Crest commercial: http://youtu.be/cbXuW97l3DQ
 
 Developing products and creating a more diverse environment for P&G aren’t the only things Dr. Smitherman did in his lifetime. Besides earning his PhD, the only child to an Alabama pastor (also a community activist), also served in his community, as an active member of the NAACP. He and his wife of 51 years, Barbara Flowers Smitherman, had six children and 14 grandchildren. The couple met while they attended college at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama.
 
 After retiring from P&G, Dr. Smitherman pursued a career in education, serving as vice president of academic affairs for Wilberforce University. Dr. Smitherman then started Western Hills Design Technology, a high school that was created to assist African American students in math and science. He later joined the Cincinnati Public Schools Board of Education as an assistant to Superintendent Mary Ronan.
 
 Dr. Smitherman passed away on October 9, 2010 at the age of 73. He left to carry on his legacy his wife, children, and grandchildren. He also left behind a history that can never be forgotten, as long as we do our part to share it in our households, communities and with the world. Some of the many patents Dr. Smitherman developed for P&G were featured in the ‘’America I AM: The African American Imprint’’ exhibit at the Cincinnati Museum Center. Check with America I AM for current and future exhibits around the country, by visiting: http://www.americaiam.org
 
 Every time I purchase a P&G product developed by Dr. Smitherman I will smile proudly at the cash register and all the way home. Thank you Dr. Smitherman for your amazing contributions to the world.
 
 Please share this story and other historical records of contributions made by men and women of color, and the African American experience, as it oftentimes goes overlooked, and has increasingly been removed from history books given to students in grades K-12. I don’t recall reading about Dr. Smitherman in any of my K-12 classrooms, and he’s not searchable on Wikipedia, so I know that the majority of students today don’t know about him and other pioneers, innovators, and leaders—don’t forget, many of them go to Google and Wikipedia for their research and fact checking.
 
 Knowing this, let’s do our part to keep the light lit and the information churning!
 
 
 
 Copyright 2014. All Rights Reserved. Natasha Foreman Bryant.

Invest in Your Life and Purchase Real Money Answers For Every Woman: How to Win the Money Game With or Without a Man.

A book review written by Natasha Foreman Bryant
 
 Let me start off by saying that this may not be like any other book review you have ever read. Okay, now that I have prepared you, let’s do this!
 
 I absolutely love Real Money Answers For Every Woman: How to Win the Money Game With or Without a Man. It encourages women to Woman Up and get their lives right. I have known Patrice C. Washington personally and professionally for roughly three years and it’s both an honor and privilege to write this review for this awesome woman, wife, mother, author, and entrepreneur. Hopefully after reading her book you will do the same, and share the book with others.
 
 Patrice has done an amazing job taking the lessons she learned the hard way and combining them with the lessons she has learned from others, and those she has taught her clients over the years, and she is now sharing all of this proven wisdom with her readers.
 
 Regardless of your financial situation, the health of your financial portfolio, your job title, or knowledge of this topic—you should read this book and share it with others. I intend to purchase this book for family members, friends, and my mentees. I intend to purchase this book for women who know (and those who think) they have their financial worlds together, and I’m going to encourage them to read and review it, and then share it with others.
 
 I’ve been a personal and professional CEO for over 25 years. I know you’re saying to yourself, “huh how can you be both a personal and professional CEO?” Well when I train adults in the business and community settings, and speak with youth in classrooms and youth centers, I always tell them that they need to see themselves as the CEO of their life, that they are a brand and that they need to live and act accordingly. So it was great to read that Patrice teaches the same to her clients.
 
 This book encourages and empowers you to build your personal brand and live your life as the CEO of that brand, while also showing you how you can professionally become the CEO of your very own company (or as an Intrapreneur you can see through the lens of the CEO of the company where you work).
 
 I always share with clients and those that I work with in the community that I am the CEO of my personal brand, Natasha Foreman Bryant (formerly Natasha L. Foreman). How I live affects my branding. I am the CEO of Foreman & Associates, LLC, a business management firm. The decisions I make personally and professionally affects my company and its stakeholders. If I’m irresponsible, lazy, shiftless, fearful, prideful, or stubborn my brands are negatively impacted. Every day I must consider my brands.
 
 We all should live our lives thinking this way. Patrice will help you to begin thinking this way and I’m so glad to see that she is dedicated to this, because not all authors, consultants, and leaders focus on that.
 
 Trust me, there is something in this book that you don’t know, forgot, hadn’t seen delivered (or explained) a certain way, or you hadn’t fully applied to your own life.
 
 Now you can use these tools to begin the necessary steps to provide the sense of security you want and need, and from there you can create or maintain the financial wealth that could possibly sustain future generations in your family.
 
 There isn’t a dull page in this book. Patrice jumps right in, no sugar-coating, no trite regurgitation of things you already heard, and no “mumbo jumbo”. If you want an enabler, this isn’t the book for you. If you want a rah rah session filled with frills and fluff, this isn’t the book for you.
 
 This is a book for women, not immature females who want to call themselves women. If you have fallen and you need to pull yourself up, this is the book for you. If you want to make sure you are on the right path, this is the book for you. If you want to become more interdependent and less dependent, co-dependent, or obnoxiously independent—-this book is for you.
 
 Let me explain my thinking here. You can be broke and alone but you can’t be broke and independent. Trust me you’re depending on someone. On the flip side, you can have all of the money and resources in the world, but you still need someone’s help, guidance, support, and encouragement. You didn’t make it to the top alone. Gain the knowledge to grow into a healthy interdependent woman that can stand on her own but has the sense to ask for help when needed, quickly seeks out the resources you need to learn and grow, and is reliable enough where someone can come to you for counsel and assistance.
 
 Woman up!
 
 Here’s the thing, even the areas that you may already be well-versed in this book has great tips, affirmations, stories and testimonies that you or someone you know might find extremely helpful. As you turn each page you will instantly gravitate to Patrice’s “Real TALK”, “Real MONEY”, “UN REAL”, and “AFFIRM” sections. There is where you will find the quotes, affirmations, statistics, and tips that Patrice has gathered from research (and spending time listening to and learning from experts in the field) and shared with clients and in workshops.
 
 It was great seeing one of my husband’s (John Hope Bryant) favorite Winston Churchill quotes in the Wealth Begins Within chapter (pg. 16) that said, “…success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm“.
 
 Every person should memorize this quote, and apply it to their lives. Every successful person and every person who has gotten back on their feet after failing knows this quote to be true, especially if you’re an entrepreneur. I started my first business when I was 11 years old, and have since owned several businesses that I have started, stopped, and failed at—-and that doesn’t include the business ideas that failed before I could get them started.
 
 Failure is inevitable. It’s what you do afterwards that counts. How do you deal with it and how quickly do you realign your thinking so you can get back up? Patrice’s book helps you switch your thinking about your failed financial situation, your failure to not succumb to excessive spending, and your failure at reaching or maintaining the wealth you desire.
 
 The biggest problem in our personal debt crisis is our pride, shame, and yes even our greed. Greed is also the reason our country had a financial crisis.
 
 People have lost their homes, cars, and more because they were too prideful or too consumed by their shame to admit they needed help, and to go get the help that could save them. Oftentimes our greed is what first got us there. We buy cars and homes that we know deep down inside that we can’t afford, but we convince ourselves that we have to have it, and that somehow someway we will pay those bills each month. Then when times get tough our pride and shame kick in and we never get help, or we wait until it’s too late. We lose our car, home, lifestyle, dignity, and sometimes our family and friends.
 
 Patrice’s book helps people face this fact, and take the necessary steps to save themselves and build the lives they have always wanted, with the wisdom to not repeat bad habits and make fatal mistakes. Her book isn’t a one-size fits all nor is it the solution for all of your financial problems. But it’s a start and it gets you to the next level where you can see the finish line, or the goal you’re reaching for.
 
 If you think you don’t need this book and you have it all figured out. You really need to get this book. If you discover you were right, then great, pay it forward and give the book to a loved one. You can vouch for it and help someone else attain their goals.
 
 Maybe you haven’t figured it out and don’t have top-rated credit, zero debt, and a top-notch portfolio. Are any of the scenarios below similar to your current reality:
 
 1) Do you have student loan debt, credit card debt, facing foreclosure or repossession of your vehicle, or barely making ends meet? Read this book.
 
 2) Have you lost your job, car, or home, or a combination of the three? Well you need the resources to get back on your feet. Buy this book.
 
 3) Do you have problems saving money and reducing debt simultaneously? Read this book. You can pay off your debt and save money at the same time!
 
 4) Do you have problems with budgeting effectively? Read this book. Do you wonder if you really need a budget? You really need to read this book.
 
 5) If you don’t have a professional financial team providing counsel, helping you with financial decisions, and helping you to build a healthy portfolio then please read this book.
 
 6) If you’re clueless about financial portfolios, then you really need to read Patrice’s book.
 
 7) If your credit score is below 850 then you should read this book. Yes, even having a high 700 credit score doesn’t make you financially savvy or secure. You are only a few late pays (or one high credit card limit) from dropping to a mid-to-low 600 credit score. Trust me, it happened to me more than once. Co-signing for someone could drop your credit score. Acquiring that awesome no-limit credit card could drop your credit score. It’s possible, and Patrice’s book (and the access to resources, professionals, workshops and other books) could help you.
 
 More applied knowledge leads to growth and wisdom. Take what you learn in this book and apply it to your life, and then do check ups twice a year to make sure you are staying on track.
 
 8) If you are married or considering marriage, please please please read this book. The number one cause for divorce is behind money and debt. This is not the 1950s ladies. Change your thinking that it’s solely your man’s responsibility to handle all of the finances.
 
 As we have taken on more professional roles and responsibilities, and achieved greater heights in education over the past 50-plus years we have also further exposed ourselves to more financial debt.
 
 Unfortunately most women don’t share the details of their financial position and amount of debt they have taken on while they are in the courting and dating phases of their relationships. Instead it’s usually not until they get married that they drop the debt bomb on their spouse. I’ve seen it happen with my friends, and I swore that I would never do it to my husband, and I didn’t. Upfront we put our cards on the table so that there weren’t any postnuptial surprises.
 
 Here’s why:
 
 For 20-plus years your spouse has been focused on their budget, debt, and responsibilities. Understandably he believes that you have been doing the same for the past 20-plus years. How do you think he would feel finding out that now your debt pile has been added to his? He feels blindsided and possibly like you played him.
 
 What if he isn’t strong in that area, what will you do? What if he passes away and you’re left to handle everything on your own? Additionally and most importantly, your personal debt shouldn’t be his burden. Woman up and take care of your responsibilities. Patrice’s book encourages this and I love it.
 
 You wouldn’t want your spouse handing you his pile of credit card, mortgage, car loan, and student loan debt expecting you to pay all or most of it, so don’t convince yourself to do the same.
 
 Look at it another way, if your finances aren’t in order and his finances aren’t in order (or something happens that disrupts his financial conditions) how will that impact your relationship? The blame game will begin quickly and your marriage may take a hit that you may not recover from.
 
 Remember, the number one cause for divorce is behind money and debt. So be proactive and get this book!
 
 Here are some other reasons to buy Real Money Answers For Every Woman:
 
 9) Do you have children or want some? This is a no-brainer. Buy this book immediately!
 
 10) Are you the person that friends and family come to when they need money, “a loan”, “help”, “a favor”? Trust me, buy this book and read it.
 
 11) If you are a big spender, giver, or a push over, you need this book to help you realize what you can and cannot afford to do in your life, and for others. This book and the other resources Patrice shares from other authors, will help you learn to say “no” to yourself and to others, learn how to become more disciplined, learn how to reprogram your thinking and habits, and learn how to live the life you want and need, while learning the real difference between wants and needs.
 
 12) If you want to invest in yourself, your family, your career, and in your future. Then invest in this book.
 
 While reading this book I found myself saying, “yep I remember doing that”, “uugh, yep I’m guilty of this”, “okay okay, I’m on it”, and “oh shoot I need to share this with so-and-so she really needs to read this”. Trust me you will too! There were things that I already knew, already committed to habit, and then there were things that I have procrastinated on, or hadn’t seen explained the way Patrice did. What is also great is when she shares updated statistics that you may have been unaware of, it’s both informative and useful.
 
 As a wife, daughter, sister, friend, mentor, entrepreneur, and PhD student, I can say that Patrice’s book covers all or most of the areas in a woman’s life that needs help, tuning up, restructuring, or reevaluation. For less than $20 what sane person wouldn’t want to invest in themselves by purchasing this book?
 
 As I prepare myself for a future life of motherhood, I will use this book again to check up and check in, as I work to balance my roles of wife, mother, community servant, and entrepreneur. My children will need to learn early on their responsibility in life, how to grow the wealth they have inherited from their parents, and make the right decisions in order to be productive personally, professionally, and in the world in which they live. If they can’t learn from me and their father, then who will they learn from? My goal is to be their first role model and the one they can turn to and emulate throughout their life.
 
 If that is also a goal of yours for you and your family, then make sure you invest in and read:
 
 Real Money Answers For Every Woman: How to Win the Money Game With or Without a Man
 
 Purchase Patrice’s book and check out the 5 stars I gave her here:
 http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0985908017
 
 
 Here’s to your success,
 
 ~ Natasha Foreman Bryant
 Servant leader, wife, change agent, PhD student, CEO of Foreman & Associates, LLC, and CEO of the Natasha Foreman Bryant brand!
 
 
 

Invest in Your Life and Purchase Real Money Answers For Every Woman: How to Win the Money Game With or Without a Man.

A book review written by Natasha Foreman Bryant

Let me start off by saying that this may not be like any other book review you have ever read. Okay, now that I have prepared you, let’s do this!

I absolutely love Real Money Answers For Every Woman: How to Win the Money Game With or Without a Man. It encourages women to Woman Up and get their lives right. I have known Patrice C. Washington personally and professionally for roughly three years and it’s both an honor and privilege to write this review for this awesome woman, wife, mother, author, and entrepreneur. Hopefully after reading her book you will do the same, and share the book with others.

Patrice has done an amazing job taking the lessons she learned the hard way and combining them with the lessons she has learned from others, and those she has taught her clients over the years, and she is now sharing all of this proven wisdom with her readers.

Regardless of your financial situation, the health of your financial portfolio, your job title, or knowledge of this topic—you should read this book and share it with others. I intend to purchase this book for family members, friends, and my mentees. I intend to purchase this book for women who know (and those who think) they have their financial worlds together, and I’m going to encourage them to read and review it, and then share it with others.

I’ve been a personal and professional CEO for over 25 years. I know you’re saying to yourself, “huh how can you be both a personal and professional CEO?” Well when I train adults in the business and community settings, and speak with youth in classrooms and youth centers, I always tell them that they need to see themselves as the CEO of their life, that they are a brand and that they need to live and act accordingly. So it was great to read that Patrice teaches the same to her clients.

This book encourages and empowers you to build your personal brand and live your life as the CEO of that brand, while also showing you how you can professionally become the CEO of your very own company (or as an Intrapreneur you can see through the lens of the CEO of the company where you work).

I always share with clients and those that I work with in the community that I am the CEO of my personal brand, Natasha Foreman Bryant (formerly Natasha L. Foreman). How I live affects my branding. I am the CEO of Foreman & Associates, LLC, a business management firm. The decisions I make personally and professionally affects my company and its stakeholders. If I’m irresponsible, lazy, shiftless, fearful, prideful, or stubborn my brands are negatively impacted. Every day I must consider my brands.

We all should live our lives thinking this way. Patrice will help you to begin thinking this way and I’m so glad to see that she is dedicated to this, because not all authors, consultants, and leaders focus on that.

Trust me, there is something in this book that you don’t know, forgot, hadn’t seen delivered (or explained) a certain way, or you hadn’t fully applied to your own life.

Now you can use these tools to begin the necessary steps to provide the sense of security you want and need, and from there you can create or maintain the financial wealth that could possibly sustain future generations in your family.

There isn’t a dull page in this book. Patrice jumps right in, no sugar-coating, no trite regurgitation of things you already heard, and no “mumbo jumbo”. If you want an enabler, this isn’t the book for you. If you want a rah rah session filled with frills and fluff, this isn’t the book for you.

This is a book for women, not immature females who want to call themselves women. If you have fallen and you need to pull yourself up, this is the book for you. If you want to make sure you are on the right path, this is the book for you. If you want to become more interdependent and less dependent, co-dependent, or obnoxiously independent—-this book is for you.

Let me explain my thinking here. You can be broke and alone but you can’t be broke and independent. Trust me you’re depending on someone. On the flip side, you can have all of the money and resources in the world, but you still need someone’s help, guidance, support, and encouragement. You didn’t make it to the top alone. Gain the knowledge to grow into a healthy interdependent woman that can stand on her own but has the sense to ask for help when needed, quickly seeks out the resources you need to learn and grow, and is reliable enough where someone can come to you for counsel and assistance.

Woman up!

Here’s the thing, even the areas that you may already be well-versed in this book has great tips, affirmations, stories and testimonies that you or someone you know might find extremely helpful. As you turn each page you will instantly gravitate to Patrice’s “Real TALK”, “Real MONEY”, “UN REAL”, and “AFFIRM” sections. There is where you will find the quotes, affirmations, statistics, and tips that Patrice has gathered from research (and spending time listening to and learning from experts in the field) and shared with clients and in workshops.

It was great seeing one of my husband’s (John Hope Bryant) favorite Winston Churchill quotes in the Wealth Begins Within chapter (pg. 16) that said, “…success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm“.

Every person should memorize this quote, and apply it to their lives. Every successful person and every person who has gotten back on their feet after failing knows this quote to be true, especially if you’re an entrepreneur. I started my first business when I was 11 years old, and have since owned several businesses that I have started, stopped, and failed at—-and that doesn’t include the business ideas that failed before I could get them started.

Failure is inevitable. It’s what you do afterwards that counts. How do you deal with it and how quickly do you realign your thinking so you can get back up? Patrice’s book helps you switch your thinking about your failed financial situation, your failure to not succumb to excessive spending, and your failure at reaching or maintaining the wealth you desire.

The biggest problem in our personal debt crisis is our pride, shame, and yes even our greed. Greed is also the reason our country had a financial crisis.

People have lost their homes, cars, and more because they were too prideful or too consumed by their shame to admit they needed help, and to go get the help that could save them. Oftentimes our greed is what first got us there. We buy cars and homes that we know deep down inside that we can’t afford, but we convince ourselves that we have to have it, and that somehow someway we will pay those bills each month. Then when times get tough our pride and shame kick in and we never get help, or we wait until it’s too late. We lose our car, home, lifestyle, dignity, and sometimes our family and friends.

Patrice’s book helps people face this fact, and take the necessary steps to save themselves and build the lives they have always wanted, with the wisdom to not repeat bad habits and make fatal mistakes. Her book isn’t a one-size fits all nor is it the solution for all of your financial problems. But it’s a start and it gets you to the next level where you can see the finish line, or the goal you’re reaching for.

If you think you don’t need this book and you have it all figured out. You really need to get this book. If you discover you were right, then great, pay it forward and give the book to a loved one. You can vouch for it and help someone else attain their goals.

Maybe you haven’t figured it out and don’t have top-rated credit, zero debt, and a top-notch portfolio. Are any of the scenarios below similar to your current reality:

1) Do you have student loan debt, credit card debt, facing foreclosure or repossession of your vehicle, or barely making ends meet? Read this book.

2) Have you lost your job, car, or home, or a combination of the three? Well you need the resources to get back on your feet. Buy this book.

3) Do you have problems saving money and reducing debt simultaneously? Read this book. You can pay off your debt and save money at the same time!

4) Do you have problems with budgeting effectively? Read this book. Do you wonder if you really need a budget? You really need to read this book.

5) If you don’t have a professional financial team providing counsel, helping you with financial decisions, and helping you to build a healthy portfolio then please read this book.

6) If you’re clueless about financial portfolios, then you really need to read Patrice’s book.

7) If your credit score is below 850 then you should read this book. Yes, even having a high 700 credit score doesn’t make you financially savvy or secure. You are only a few late pays (or one high credit card limit) from dropping to a mid-to-low 600 credit score. Trust me, it happened to me more than once. Co-signing for someone could drop your credit score. Acquiring that awesome no-limit credit card could drop your credit score. It’s possible, and Patrice’s book (and the access to resources, professionals, workshops and other books) could help you.

More applied knowledge leads to growth and wisdom. Take what you learn in this book and apply it to your life, and then do check ups twice a year to make sure you are staying on track.

8) If you are married or considering marriage, please please please read this book. The number one cause for divorce is behind money and debt. This is not the 1950s ladies. Change your thinking that it’s solely your man’s responsibility to handle all of the finances.

As we have taken on more professional roles and responsibilities, and achieved greater heights in education over the past 50-plus years we have also further exposed ourselves to more financial debt.

Unfortunately most women don’t share the details of their financial position and amount of debt they have taken on while they are in the courting and dating phases of their relationships. Instead it’s usually not until they get married that they drop the debt bomb on their spouse. I’ve seen it happen with my friends, and I swore that I would never do it to my husband, and I didn’t. Upfront we put our cards on the table so that there weren’t any postnuptial surprises.

Here’s why:

For 20-plus years your spouse has been focused on their budget, debt, and responsibilities. Understandably he believes that you have been doing the same for the past 20-plus years. How do you think he would feel finding out that now your debt pile has been added to his? He feels blindsided and possibly like you played him.

What if he isn’t strong in that area, what will you do? What if he passes away and you’re left to handle everything on your own? Additionally and most importantly, your personal debt shouldn’t be his burden. Woman up and take care of your responsibilities. Patrice’s book encourages this and I love it.

You wouldn’t want your spouse handing you his pile of credit card, mortgage, car loan, and student loan debt expecting you to pay all or most of it, so don’t convince yourself to do the same.

Look at it another way, if your finances aren’t in order and his finances aren’t in order (or something happens that disrupts his financial conditions) how will that impact your relationship? The blame game will begin quickly and your marriage may take a hit that you may not recover from.

Remember, the number one cause for divorce is behind money and debt. So be proactive and get this book!

Here are some other reasons to buy Real Money Answers For Every Woman:

9) Do you have children or want some? This is a no-brainer. Buy this book immediately!

10) Are you the person that friends and family come to when they need money, “a loan”, “help”, “a favor”? Trust me, buy this book and read it.

11) If you are a big spender, giver, or a push over, you need this book to help you realize what you can and cannot afford to do in your life, and for others. This book and the other resources Patrice shares from other authors, will help you learn to say “no” to yourself and to others, learn how to become more disciplined, learn how to reprogram your thinking and habits, and learn how to live the life you want and need, while learning the real difference between wants and needs.

12) If you want to invest in yourself, your family, your career, and in your future. Then invest in this book.

While reading this book I found myself saying, “yep I remember doing that”, “uugh, yep I’m guilty of this”, “okay okay, I’m on it”, and “oh shoot I need to share this with so-and-so she really needs to read this”. Trust me you will too! There were things that I already knew, already committed to habit, and then there were things that I have procrastinated on, or hadn’t seen explained the way Patrice did. What is also great is when she shares updated statistics that you may have been unaware of, it’s both informative and useful.

As a wife, daughter, sister, friend, mentor, entrepreneur, and PhD student, I can say that Patrice’s book covers all or most of the areas in a woman’s life that needs help, tuning up, restructuring, or reevaluation. For less than $20 what sane person wouldn’t want to invest in themselves by purchasing this book?

As I prepare myself for a future life of motherhood, I will use this book again to check up and check in, as I work to balance my roles of wife, mother, community servant, and entrepreneur. My children will need to learn early on their responsibility in life, how to grow the wealth they have inherited from their parents, and make the right decisions in order to be productive personally, professionally, and in the world in which they live. If they can’t learn from me and their father, then who will they learn from? My goal is to be their first role model and the one they can turn to and emulate throughout their life.

If that is also a goal of yours for you and your family, then make sure you invest in and read:

Real Money Answers For Every Woman: How to Win the Money Game With or Without a Man

Purchase Patrice’s book and check out the 5 stars I gave her here:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0985908017

Here’s to your success,

~ Natasha Foreman Bryant
Servant leader, wife, change agent, PhD student, CEO of Foreman & Associates, LLC, and CEO of the Natasha Foreman Bryant brand!

A Call to Action for All Men: Part Two

By Natasha Foreman Bryant, MBA
 
 Part one of this series was a call to action for the men in the world to stand up, speak out, and to be proactive in our communities. Today I continue my plea. Today I go even deeper and broader.
 
 I want to see more positive male role models showing young girls and ladies what a man and father is all about and that although these females may not have a real father in their life, they should not go through life looking for one in every male they encounter, nor should they lower themselves to fighting over men or plotting and planning to take one from another woman.
 
 I want to see these male role models speak up and tell women that “he who findeth a wife finds a good thing” and that a real man will find them and will do right by them, encourage them as they grow in their career, and will marry them first and not rush to turn them into a “baby mama”. I also want these men to shed light on the labels of “baby mama” and “baby daddy”, and that a woman should not want to be labeled as such or be in a position to have a man not worthy to be called the father of her children, or her husband.
 
 I want to hear from the men as they explain to young girls and women that their value is not between their legs, but rather within their brains, and that it is a rare man who is interested in marrying and staying in a committed, monogamous, and healthy marriage with a woman who spreads her legs like an eagle or frog for almost every passerby. I want men to stand up and let females know that the only man interested in a “loose” woman is not a man, but he is rather a snake who is pimping not only her but others for their “goodies”, and once he is done with her he will move on to the next and the next, and the next.
 
 Young ladies need to know that they don’t need to fight for, manipulate, trick, or set up a man. A good man, a decent man, a man qualified to be a husband, will seek them out and they will complement each other. I want to see the men stand up and tell these young ladies that trying to get pregnant to keep a man will only make their lives a living hell, and increase the probability of their children growing resentful of one or both parents.
 
 I want to see men stand up and let these young girls and women know that the words “I love you” are used casually as well as manipulatively to gain power over another person, and the truest sign of someone’s love is when they don’t ever make you feel desperate, weak, vulnerable, less than, second to, dependent, alone, lonely, ugly, stupid, trapped, incompetent, worthless, or like a body part.
 
 When a man gives a woman the space to grow, learn, experience life, take on challenges, chase your dreams, set and achieve goals, pursue and complete your education, follow your passions, work for the job and career you desire, start your own business, have a social life outside of him, spend time with friends and family, live interdependently—-that is love. The same is true when a woman provides that environment for her man. That is what I want to hear men share with these young ladies.
 
 I’m asking the men to stand up and keep telling these young males to pull up their pants, dress with respect and dignity like they want a career and have aspirations beyond living for today. Tell these young ladies to dress with class and not like prostitutes. I’m asking for the men to stand up and tell both boys and men to stop calling women bitches and hoes, chicken heads, side chicks, side pieces, and other disrespectful (and belittling names). I also need you to stand up and tell the females to stop answering to and calling each other these same names, and to stop disrespecting men by calling them out of their names. Females need to stop tearing down, beating down, and psychologically castrating men—a man can’t lead if he’s been kicked down. Let them know this. Explain this to them. Help them to see what you see.
 
 Men I need you to stand up, stand up, stand up, and get to work. Don’t close your eyes or turn your head, get to work. We have a world to save!
 
 If you are serious and ready to commit to turning our communities around for the better, in addition to your active pursuit of change, take part in the Clinton Global Initiative Commitment to Action through Operation HOPE’s Project 5117 by visiting http://operationhope.org/join5117 and select one of the options, or click “Other” and type in your specific commitment to saving our youth.
 
 
 ~Natasha Foreman Bryant
 
 
 
 Link to A Call to Action for Men: Part One: http://natashaforeman.com/2013/12/12/a-call-to-action-for-all-men-part-one/
 
 Copyright 2013. Natasha Foreman Bryant. All Rights Reserved.
 
 
 

Dealing With the Disruptive and Dysfunctional Family Member—Or is This Person You?

I just posted to my Breaking Bread blog a prayer and reflection that I felt could also be shared on my other blogs. It doesn’t just focus on our family members who lie, cheat, steal, and get high. It focuses on you, on us, and how we deal with that person. It also focuses on our lives and those frequent moments when we betray God with as much or more intensity and intent as the family member who betrays us. It’s such a crazy cycle.
 
 How do we heal from our self-inflicted “crimes” and how do we heal from heinous acts committed against us? How do we go through the steps needed to forgive ourselves and others? How do we factor in the person who hurt us? Do we disown them or slowly begin to allow them back into our lives? When do you let them back in? After they are “healed” from their “infliction” or during the healing process? Below please read the excerpts from this post and then share your thoughts.
 
 Excerpts from Breaking Bread:
 
 

Has a loved one ever stolen from you? Blatantly lied to you? Been abusive towards you? Coldly disrespected you? Manipulated you into believing that they were a certain type of person, or lived a certain type of way? Have you suspected that they were stealing from you and others but your interventions fell short of any real results?
 
 Do you have a loved one who is abusing drugs and/or alcohol yet you keep ignoring the problem? How many times have you known that this person has been behind the wheel of a car? How many times have you witnessed the aftermath of their binging behavior? How many times have you bailed them out of jail or financial binds?
 
 I just spent the past hour reading forum threads about family members, young children and adult children, who stole from their family, were abusing drugs and/or alcohol, were blatantly disrespectful and sometimes abusive, and their family didn’t know what to do. I read of parents and other family members who just couldn’t take the betrayal any more and they kicked the perpetrator out of their home and forbid their return for any reason. Then I read of instances where people continued to forgive and let “slide” the offenses even when extremely valuable and sentimental items were stolen.
 
 Have you ever experienced this phenomena? Are you experiencing it now? It’s painful to have a stranger steal from or betray you. But it feels like your insides are being gutted when it’s done by a loved one….

 
 

…I think that just like God lovingly allows us to stumble and fall into valleys, yet never completely cutting us off, we too must lovingly let our perpetrator-family member go so that they can stumble and fall—-because we can’t go farther down when our faces are on the ground. We can either stay there or get up, and we can’t get up without God.
 
 Lovingly keep those who are inflicted with the thieving, lying, abusing/abusive “bug” at a safe distance, so that you can allow God to have complete access without your interference. Every time we interfere and think that we can do God’s job and fix something faster, we end up being the victim. There’s a big difference between an intervention with tough love, and trying to “fix” someone. Set and stick by boundaries and rules to protect yourself and other family members, and let God handle the details. The perpetrator will only get and accept help when they want it and see the need for it. Until that time they are like a nonstop tsunami that will destroy anything and anyone in their path.

 
 If YOU are the perpetrator then you will either deny wrongdoing (and continue spiraling out of control until you hit a hard enough force that stops you) or you will get professional and spiritual help, and make right your wrongs.
 
 
 Copyright 2013. All Rights Reserved. Natasha Foreman Bryant.
 
 
 

ObamaCare or the Affordable Care Act, Which is Your Preference?

By Natasha Foreman Bryant

First let me start off by thanking my friend and colleague Steve Woodsmall for sharing the video link below with me. I know that the headline of my post has probably left all or most of you scratching your head. I’m hoping that it does and that you have not already voiced an opinion for either Obamacare or the Affordable Care Act.

I say this because they are both one in the same, and oh yeah, so is Health Care Reform.

What is amazing is that there are probably thousands and thousands of people who don’t realize this and they have voiced their opinions strongly within their households and publicly, either for or against ObamaCare, the Affordable Care Act, or Health Care Reform.

Please watch this video so that you can see for yourself how people who seem to be well-educated are also extremely ignorant on this topic, and why we all must take the time to:

1) Increase our level of common sense with as much passion as we pursue our formal education, and

2) Teach people to think for themselves, research, ask questions, and not be so quick to follow the crowds.

To put things bluntly, if the people in this video were cattle they would’ve already been slaughtered, because they allowed themselves to be brainwashed into believing one thing and one thing only, and they naively and ignorantly have followed this belief (and those who preach it) down a rabbit hole of nonsense.

If they don’t know about this, what else are they blindly swayed by? What other topics have they been chiming in on and voting on the last 12+ years? How many of their relatives, neighbors, colleagues, and friends think and vote just like them?

How many voters or potential voters does that add up to?

Now think about this… think about all of the local, state, and federal elections that these individuals and others participate in regularly because they want their voice heard and their vote counted.

I have heard voters over the years admit to simply filling in boxes on the ballot even though they had no clue what the topics and laws meant, or how they would be impacted. They would’ve been better off just voting for the one or two candidates they wanted, and leaving the rest of the ballot blank, but instead they took it upon themselves to cast a vote for things they knew nothing about. We’ve been brainwashed to chime in and ‘fill in the bubble’ on issues with the same carelessness as we do multiple choice exams where you simply fill in a bubble.

How many of you recall teachers and proctors telling you to simply, “answer each question even if you don’t know the right answer, just fill in a bubble with your best guess because you may just get the right answer...” How many of you can admit to randomly filling in C-A-B, A, C, B, and so on, and reciting what you were taught that, “there’s a higher probability of ‘C’ being the correct answer“. Well there seems to be a lot of ‘fill-in-the bubble’ people in this country.

This truly bothers me. Just like this ObamaCare versus Affordable Care Act debate and foolishness.

Come on folks, with all of the technology and resources available to us, take the time to inform and educate yourself about topics, laws, statutes, etc., especially the ones that affect millions of people, and possibly even your own family.

Just because you hear a message repeated multiple times does not mean that the message is accurate. Just because an image is shown to you repeatedly, doesn’t mean that what you see and what you are being told that you see are identical. If someone tells you that the letters G-R-E-E-N represent the color blue and you don’t take the time to research that, you will spend your entire life believing that to be true. A yellow building will always be pink if you never question or triple-check the person telling you that it’s pink. These are the critical thinking skills we claim we are teaching our kids to acquire and use.

If you don’t know about the Affordable Care Act also known as ObamaCare, please visit http://healthcare.gov or call (800) 318-2596.
TTY is (855) 889-4325. Small businesses with 50 or fewer employees can call (800) 706-7893. TTY is (800) 706-7915.

To help better educate the people of this great nation, please share that website and the phone numbers with every person that you know regardless if they have health insurance or not. They need to know the facts. They need to know that:

1) The Affordable Care Act is available for all persons who are uninsured or facing this gloomy fate.

2) It’s an open marketplace that allows citizens to find affordable insurance without the fear and burden of pre-existing condition clauses, and other red tape normally associated with the health insurance game.

3) If they are already insured by their employer or have self-paid insurance then they don’t need to do anything but enjoy their insurance benefits.

4) Those receiving state assistance already have Medicaid (which in California is Medi-Cal). As they transition into jobs and better opportunities, they will have more options afforded by the open marketplace.

5) Children of employees are now covered by their employer-sponsored insurance up to the age of 26, when most insurance carriers traditionally drop dependents from coverage between the ages of 18 and 23.

6) It doesn’t apply to or affect everyone.

There’s so much more information that people need to discover about the Affordable Care Act that they won’t learn by simply watching the news, listening to radio or television programs, or gossiping about it in the barber shop or hair salons—or even on the golf course.

Like or dislike the Affordable Care Act after you have been well-versed and done exhaustive research. We need people to really use their common sense and their critical thinking skills. Let’s think, educate and empower ourselves and our people!

Video Source: http://www.hulu.com/watch/539715
Video Footage: Jimmy Kimmel Live

Copyright 2013. Some Rights Reserved. Natasha Foreman Bryant

The 76 Year Legacy of Pastor, Father, Friend, and Civil Rights Leader, Reverend A. Knighton Stanley: The Torch Has Been Passed

By Natasha Foreman Bryant

I can’t recall ever personally meeting Reverend Stanley, but I know one of his beloved daughters, Taylor Stanley. I have watched Taylor grow and blossom as a woman, student, and leader over the past few years. She served as my Fellow at Operation HOPE, and worked passionately as she juggled tasks for her Fellowship, assignments for her Master’s program at Georgia State University, and her commitments to political campaigns.

Through Taylor I connected with the man who she saw as more than just her father and dad, but as her best friend and hero. I can relate deeply with that because that’s how I always saw (and see) my dad. It was easy for me to take Taylor under my wing much like I would a little sister, so I stand committed to encouraging (and lovingly pushing) her to become the woman and leader she was born to be.

Reverend Stanley obviously was and is a strong, brave and special man, because his daughter Taylor is strong, brave, and very special. When Taylor speaks of her father her eyes light up, even when he struggled with health issues and you could see the burden on Taylor’s heart, you could still see the “light” within her and feel the love of this daddy’s girl.

Reverend Stanley is still preaching and advocating in heaven, as I’m sure he can’t shake the more than 40 years he devoted himself as a pastor of Peoples Congregational United Church of Christ. Nor can he shake the years he dedicated as a Civil Rights Leader in Washington DC. and down south in North Carolina.

Because you won’t read it in a K-12 history textbook, most people don’t know that Reverend Stanley worked at North Carolina A&T State University, and Bennett College. Most people also don’t know that he is the man behind Jesse Jackson’s rise to prominence in the 1960s, and that he served as a trusted advisor to those brave students in Greensboro, NC who were taking part in sit-ins—trying to integrate lunch counters, and regain the dignity given to all of God’s children at birth.

Most people don’t know how Reverend Stanley’s political power continued to grow as he passionately fought for the rights of those who at times felt powerless and voiceless, and how he also humbly used the pulpit to help bring about change. Most people can only recall at most two pastors involved in the Civil Rights Movement. The majority of folks may only muster up one name, and that’s Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

It is no wonder to me why Reverend Stanley’s daughter Taylor (also the granddaughter of Civil Rights Leader, Reverend Ambassador Andrew Young) is so passionate about education, underserved communities, politics and governmental policies, and civil and human rights. She has been lovingly sandwiched between two men who have served their country and communities for well over 50 years.

It’s in Taylor’s blood and DNA.

Just as it’s in her to look closely and analytically at situations and issues, and to stay on something like a dog with a bone. She got those skills and more from her mother Andrea Young, who is a lawyer, the Executive Director of the Andrew Young Foundation, and a Scholar-in-Residence at Morehouse College.

This article is not just about noting another loss or physical death. The purpose of this article is to celebrate the life and legacy of a man who served when he didn’t have to. The purpose of this article is to celebrate the legacy that he has built and left behind for his children and grandchildren to proudly continue.

Isn’t that what we all want out of life?

To leave behind a footprint, a legacy, something to be remembered by, in hopes that our accomplishments will be noticed and recognized, and our hard work continued?

Reverend Stanley you have achieved that sir, and I believe that your family will continue your legacy and make you proud!

Here and below please find a link to a captivating article by the Washington Post honoring the late, great, Reverend Stanley and his life and legacy. Please read it and share it with others.

Many folks know of King, Parks, Young, and Jackson. Some folks know of Lewis, Vivian, Abernathy, and Lowery. We need to make sure that more folks know of Reverend Stanley and others who bravely stood up and spoke out about injustice in this country, and fought for human dignity for all of God’s children. When you know about them you are better prepared for the Taylor Stanley’s who are making their way up the funnel.

Reverend Stanley thank you for your service, your leadership, your bravery and dedication, and for fathering and nurturing a legacy within your family—and within Taylor, that amazingly bold daughter of yours. I pray that over the years as you look over us and see what’s going on down here that you have more moments of smiles and laughter, than head shakes and frustration.

Thank you sir!

~ Natasha Foreman Bryant

Washington Post Article:
http://m.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/a-knighton-stanley-a-civil-rights-leader-and-dc-pastor-dies-at-76/2013/09/25/1ddabb36-25fc-11e3-ad0d-b7c8d2a594b9_story.html

Copyright 2013. Natasha Foreman Bryant. Some Rights Reserved.

While Others Question Her Net Worth I Salute Her Journey and Accomplishments

By Forbes calculations ($660 million), Folorunsho Alakija, is not wealthier than Oprah Winfrey. But the Forbes calculation has been disputed, with the number $3.3 billion replacing it and topping Oprah’s $2.7 billion.

Now here’s the deal, I honestly don’t care who has a higher net worth. I am just proud to highlight another woman, of color, a Black woman, who has used her God-given gifts, talents, and intelligence to make it to the top and stay there. I’m sure starting out she didn’t have an immediate goal of being a multimillionaire or billionaire, she probably just wanted what most of us do, to carve out her own place and space in life.

Some would argue that since Alakija does not have a rags-to-riches story like Oprah Winfrey, that her story is not newsworthy and one to be celebrated and highlighted. Alakija comes from a wealthy family and received education at quality schools, but let me chime in and say this, she started off as a secretary and then after quitting her job she left Nigeria in the 1980’s to study fashion design in England. She later returned to Nigeria to launch her own fashion label. Her fashion label grew in size and value, and while making money from that industry she then expanded into oil and other industries. Why isn’t that newsworthy and reason enough to celebrate? Daddy didn’t hand her a job, she went out and built a career and developed companies.

Let me also add this point as a wakeup call to anyone who doesn’t get it—anyone with wealth (or who has had wealth) knows that it’s not getting there that counts, it’s the longevity after getting there that matters.

There are numerous inheritors of wealth who have squandered it. Just as there are a great deal of rags-to-riches-back-to-rags stories that will make you cringe.

Alakija is not some young 25-year-old recent billionaire who made her bucks through the funnel of nepotism. This is a hard-working, highly intelligent, skilled business woman who is calling the shots and making moves at the young age of 61. She’s a wife and mother of four children. She’s balancing career, family, and personal needs—-something many women, including myself, find as an enormous challenge. I salute her.

But then there’s other people out there who say that since she’s Nigerian that her wealth is questionable, and argue that with so much personal wealth in a country with so much poverty, that maybe Alakija should not be highlighted, even at $660 million in earnings. To those people I say, she is a business woman, not a government official, politician, or public servant.

Zoom in and slam down those who are so-called public “servants” who are living the high life off the backs of those they claim to serve. Broadcast these so-called “servants” for accepting or demanding compensation for a job that should have meager earnings, yet they are making hundreds of thousands and millions of dollars annually barely living up to their job description or the claims they made to get their jobs, while the people they “serve” are impoverished and holding on by a thin string of hope.

Ethical entrepreneurship should always be celebrated, and now we have another example of a successful woman who has earned her way to the top not in the stereotypical ways and also not in the traditional ways perceived by most.

Alakija is not a singer, dancer, actress, athlete, or other entertainment professional, she’s not even a doctor or lawyer—she’s a business woman with a mission and vision that should be celebrated and used as an example for women and girls worldwide. I’m not demeaning, mocking, or limiting the value of these other professionals—I’m merely highlighting a career where the path is never clear and all of the schools in the world combined cannot truly prepare you for—and that is the creation, development, and economic sustainability of a business—one of the loneliest careers on the planet—entrepreneurship.

Think if Alakija’s family had lowered her standards and forced her to assume a different role in life— now smile and salute a woman, a Black woman, who no matter which financial calculations you accept, is doing huge things, making huge moves, and is helping to raise the bar of excellence while kicking down the barriers that keep women worldwide “in their place”.

We should make it a point of highlighting female entrepreneurs so that the world can see the power of a woman who see no limits.

Copyright 2012. Natasha L. Foreman. All Rights Reserved.

Sources:
http://www.ventures-africa.com/2012/08/finance-fashion-philanthropy-folorunsho-alakija-famfa-oil/

http://www.techyville.com/2012/12/uncategorized/meet-the-richest-black-woman-in-the-world-and-it-isnt-oprah/

http://www.ventures-africa.com/2012/11/the-richest-black-woman-in-the-world-folorunsho-alakija/

http://www.forbes.com/profile/folorunsho-alakija/