UPTOWN RESOURCES

Often it’s good to simply catch up with old colleagues; people like Marko Nobles of Injoy Enterprises. As one of their valued strategists, Marko just returned from the Harlem Week planning retreat in Jamaica. To learn how you can participate in the premiere uptown community relations and marketing opportunity, contact marko@injoyenterprises.com.

Harlem Week celebrates its 34^th anniversary this summer. I’ve known Marko for two decades; we worked on the event during its infancy. What fun. Back in the day, I handled the Eastman Kodak Company account. Our Harlem Week participation featured photo sessions for families with Kim Fields, before she landed her starring role on Living Single, for those who love classic TV. (If you like “extra classic” TV, remember her child star days as Tootie on Facts of Life?)

Things have changed in the past 20 years. Harlem now boats Bill Clinton as a celebrity resident. The further uptown you travel, the higher the rents. Georgie’s Pastry Shop on 125^th Street is gone; replaced by Starbucks and other retail giants. The new establishments may have their loyal followings, but I can still savor the flavor of Georgie’s warm donuts. During the holidays, residents would travel from throughout the tri-state area to pick up their pies waiting in lines that went down the block.

Change is everywhere and will happen. Is change always good?

Marko and I had a spirited debate about business strategies, Harlem, changes in our respective lives (he's the proud father of almost 1 year old twin daughters) and the forthcoming presidential election and what it could mean to the overall political landscape. We considered how it was energizing new audiences and giving voice to more people.

New voices and new visions lead to a vibrant and vital civic scene!

CNN-CBC DEBATE RECAP

Check out the Jan. 21 Martin Luther King Day CNN – Congressional Black Caucus Institute Democratic Primary debate on YouTube if you didn’t see it live.

According to moderator Wolf Blitzer, it was the most widely watched presidential debate on cable.

I definitely enjoyed the debate for its entertainment value. It was good TV.

But, in the end, was it a good show of who will potentially lead the free world? Now that I’ve had time to digest last night’s “spectacle”; I certainly hope the candidates had a good “vent.” During the feisty brawl between Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama, everyone got in a few good punches. John Edwards emerged from the sidelines of the squabble as the self-appointed “grown up” wing of the Democratic party.

While I’m not a politician, I know the feeling of festering frustration. Things can only simmer under the surface for put so long. Sometimes you just have to let out the explosion, before you implode. And, it’s always best to get things out in the open—directly confronting the issue or person at hand.

At this point in history, we certainly need grown up leaders here in the USA. Adult thinkers who can forge collaborations to deal with the war in Iraq, the money meltdown and educating youth who can compete in a global economy. Grown ups who encourage work in a flat world economy and support cooperative enterprises were everyone can make a legal buck. It’s possible!

For sure, politics is a dirty business. You have to be ready to get down in the mud.

Get ready for another round.

Let’s just hope next time everyone stays more on message: the war in Iraq, the economy, education. Check out Bob Herbert’s column, The Blight That is Still With Us, which speaks of South Carolina’s educational “Corridor of Shame” regarding substandard schools in rural parts of the state; some have been in operation since 1896 (without many upgrades). http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/22/opinion/22herbert.html?_r=1&ref=opinion&oref=slogin

It got about 30 seconds of time during the debate. There are too many other issues like this that need attention. Let’s hope candidates of all parties check their egos and participate in substantive discussions about important issues.

There’s simply too much at stake.