Black Fact: Olympic Edition

This week’s black fact is by request of my mom. It is not a lesser known fact, but I am honoring her request. Erin Jackson, from Ocala, Florida, just became the first black woman to win a gold medal in speed skating. Yep, just happened on Sunday. Erin started out inline skating and switched over to speed skating in 2016. The part of this story that touched my heart is Brittany Bowe, stepping down and allowing Erin to compete in the 500. And then Erin, using that opportunity to take home the gold. The sisterhood 💕. I won’t go into how if women united all over the world, we would run the show, but… 😆

There was not a lot of information on Erin Jackson, which I know is due to her newfound stardom, but I did find a pretty good article.

https://olympics.com/en/news/erin-jackson-the-sunshine-state-speed-skater-taking-the-winter-sports-world-by-s

Here is another link to read a little more about Erin and watch a brief interview after her gold medal win at the Winter Olympics.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/olympic-gold-medalist-erin-jackson-bejing-winter-olympics/

This is an honorable mention. Ekow Nimako, is a sculptor who creates art using legos, mainly all black legos. He is not American, but he is black. I have been so mesmerized by his works of art I just had to share. Ekow is a Ghanian Canadian who started making these sculptures in 2012 and exhibited his work two years later in Canada during Black History Month. Lego made a short documentary about Ekow Nimako.

https://youtu.be/nqMAtbca0DQ

Here is an article I liked because it shows a lot of his sculptures.

https://www.buzzfeed.com/joshcorrea/ekow-nimako-creates-intricate-pieces-of-black-art-with-lego

If this blog post or any other post, past or future, resonates with you, please share it with someone else. Someone who you feel may benefit or enjoy this content. This would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for taking this journey with me. Be well and whole. Much Love 🧡 💚

What Do You Really Want? Vivyd Article

Well, I’m a little late. This article has been in the magazine since the beginning of the month. And here I am just now posting it. I thought I would have some other words to add, but they never came. So, here it is. I hope you enjoy it. 

https://vivydmagazine.com/articles/f/what-do-you-really-want

If this blog post, article or any other post, past or future, resonates with you, please share it with someone else. Someone who you feel may benefit from this content. This would be greatly appreciated. Be well and whole. Much Love 🧡 💚

 

Black Fact: David Steward, Billionaire Status

Looking at the sky, like Thank God that you’re with me.” – H.E.R., We Made It song lyric

We are currently reading, “The Wealth Choice: Success Secrets of Black Millionaires” by Dennis Kimbro, in book club. He highlights past millionaires such as Madam C.J. Walker and O. W. Gurley along with current millionaires such as Tyler Perry and Oprah Winfrey (they are actually both billionaires now). This made me want to look up a lesser known billionaire and shine the spotlight on him for this post.

I specifically chose a current black billionaires because I believe it is more of an encouragement than black millionaires from back when slavery was just ending. To be a millionaire in the 1800s was unheard of. Our spoiled, pampered butts can’t even imagine, much less relate to the dedication and hard work it would have taken to be successful in that era. It is encouraging to know that black people succeeded in a time that was specifically set up for them to fail. Unfortunately, it is not as relatable.

My black fact centers around David Steward. Once again, someone I have not heard of. Mr. Steward is the founder and chairman of World Wide Technology (WWT). He is the second highest earning black billionaire in America. Mr. Steward borrowed $2000 from his father to start his first business auditing and reviewing freight bills and overcharges for the rail industry in 1984. He was familiar with the rail industry from his time working in sales and marketing at Missouri Pacific Railroad.

Mr. Steward started his tech company, WWT, in 1990 with his own savings, struggling in the beginning as is common for a good amount of businesses. He began to partner with the federal government supplying computer hardware and software and he has grown WWT to a company that makes over $12 billion dollars in sales.

Mr. Steward is also the author of 2 books, “Doing Business by the Good Book” and ” Leadership by the Good Book”. Here are a couple sites to read more about David Steward.

https://horatioalger.org/members/member-detail/david-l-steward

https://www.wwt.com/profile/dave-steward

I’m going to be honest, I still can’t relate 😆. Not because I do not think it is possible for me, but because I don’t think I want to be a billionaire. Now, if it happens, I won’t be upset. More money, more people I can help. I definitely want to be a millionaire. I want the freedom money brings and the ability to feed into people while I am here and when I am gone. Come on millionaire idea, 🎲, this girl needs a house on the water 😆. Seriously, I hope you have been enjoying my black facts so far. Be well and whole. Much Love 🧡 💚