Erase the Fear: My Experience with Law Enforcement Citizens Academies

While our great country has thick societal scars, we have created landmark legislation in a generation that has had profound impact on the lives of a segment of the population.  The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was one of those landmark legislative accomplishments.  The Law Enforcement Agency responsible for protecting those rights is the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The Civil Rights Division of the FBI highest priority is Hate Crimes, with Racial being the highest subprogram priority.  The segment of the population that is most vulnerable expects this agency to fulfill that priority with all the Law Enforcement tools at the local, state and federal levels.  However, there are cases where the same resources that are tasked to carry out those mandates abuse their powers to detain and violate the civil rights of the same citizens which require that protection.  The FBI also has a focus on Color of Law violations which prosecutes Judges, Prosecutors, Security Guards, and Law Enforcement Officers that disregard the public trust.  Because of those abuses, we have generations of individuals that have an innate fear of those chartered to protect and serve.   There are those that express their frustration in several ways.  They may protest in pubic, vent on social media, or attempt to get a deep understanding of the Law Enforcement Administrations and how they should function.

I was one of those individuals that had a very deep frustration and concern for the way the wheels of our country’s criminal justice system were moving.  I became tired of having tremendous fear and anxiety every time a squad car or flashing lights passed by my vehicle.  I also became tired of the fact that segments of generations of parents have and continue give a “workshop” on how to interact with Law Enforcement commonly called “The Talk”.   However, I would not complain anymore unless I completely understood how the system works to accurately criticize any aspects of it. One day I decided that it was time for a personal change. After many hours of research, I found several Florida Law Enforcement Citizens Academies.  Local Police Departments offering unadvertised 13 week intense trainings for the community to understand all aspects of law enforcement.  Then advanced, selective Federal Programs sponsored by the DEA and FBI.  I had the privilege to attend both local and federal programs.

The local Citizens Academy covered topics ranging from understanding the local Officer mindset during a traffic stop, to SWAT and K-9 Unit raids, to robotic use in bomb situations, to visiting and talking with Prison Guards and low risk Prisoners, to simulating an active shooter situation in a school with the Police simulator, to visiting the Regional Communications Dispatch and 911 Call Centers, to in-depth review of Florida State Statutes. Getting to sit in a classroom setting and with the opportunity to ask candid questions on all topics with local Law Enforcement Commanders was probably the most valuable of the Citizens Academy program.  A quote by one of Colonels in the Sheriff’s Office that remained with me was “Respect is not given, it is earned”.  This was a guideline that he continues to use with all the Officers that he is responsible for.   This experience was the catalyst to explore the Federal Citizens Academies beginning with the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) Miami Field Office.

The highlight of the DEA Citizens Academy was the class participating in a simulated large drug bust.  The DEA Team had each student partner with an Officer and mirror their pre-planning coordination and suspect reviews. Immediately leading to an actual execution of a complete raid and bust in full equipment and vehicles. The topics during the 7-week training ranged from examining DEA Legal Authority Title 21, to drug investigations, narco-terrorism and financial investigations, examination of synthetic drugs, clandestine labs, surveillance/ undercover techniques, and firearms training.  The information about drug trafficking in our country and the global network were truly enlightening.  The last experience was the FBI Citizens Academy.

All 8 Weeks of the training were thought provoking and extremely informative. The topics ranged from the Civil Rights Division, counter terrorism, counter intelligence, SWAT Operations and Emergency Response Team (ERT) functions.   The highlights were collaborating with a student to investigate a simulated Bank Robbery and meeting with FBI Legal to discuss my decision in use of lethal force and mapping my actions to compliance with use of force guidelines.  Lastly, an actual SWAT Operation simulation of retrieving a hostage in a house.

I can say that the time investment was personally beneficially.  Taking these actions helped me overcome the long-standing issues that were like a dark cloud.  This investment will provide you with better tools to overcome your fears and increase your knowledge on all aspects of these Agencies. I encourage you to look for the various Citizens Academies Programs in your area.  Erase the fear.

http://www.fbicaaamiami.org/

https://www.dea.gov/divisions/mia/mia_sac.shtml

http://www.sheriff.org/about_bso/community/ca.cfm

   

It is What it is - Dad

           I had a conversation with my young teenage son reflecting on the 1960’s and the Black Panther movement.  He asked me what I knew about it since growing up very young in the South side of Chicago and remembering the Panther movement.  He also was very perplexed that the core mission that drove the creation of Black Panther Party for Self Defense was the ongoing conflict between Law Enforcement and community, which is the same conflict that the Black Lives Matter movement is focusing on today.  For 50 years, this conflict has been going on without significant resolution? He said that protests and riots happened after these conflicts back then and still continues to happen today.  He asked me why hasn’t this changed and why do you have to talk to me about how to act if I am approached by Police? Why should I have to act any different than some of my friends? Before I could respond, he said “I guess it is what it is and it is not going to change – Dad”. 

                

            At that very moment, I felt disgusted to the very pit of my stomach and my mind raced on how I could respond to my son when the outcome of this conversation will have a long term impact on his perspective.  What has really changed and why should he have to behave different than his friends, were the two questions that each Black father has to contemplate when dealing with their young sons.  There was another time that brought outrage to Orson Welles in 1946 in his very popular radio broadcast.  He responded and addressed the vicious beating by Batesburg, South Carolina Police Chief of a Black solider named Isaac Woodard that resulted in blindness. His stance created controversy with some of his listeners, but created unprecedented awareness.

Since then, our country has 477,000 sworn officers and roughly 12,000 Police departments.  The country’s police departments are 12% Black, even though the U.S. Black population is 13.2%.  From 2002 to 2011 Police Officers had 32.9 Million face-to-face contacts with White individuals, force or threat of force was used to 445,500 (1.4%). Excessive force was used to 329,500 (1.0%).  In contrast, 4.6 Million face-to face contacts with Black individuals, force or threat of force was used to 159,100 (3.5%). Excessive force was used to 128,400 (2.8%).  What is more troubling is that prior to President Obama’s second term Police Departments were not required to submit fatal police shooting reports (FBI Supplemental Homicide Reports).  Florida departments hadn’t filed since 1997 and New York City last reported in 2007.  At least 1000 Police Departments filed a report or reports in 33 years, compared to the 17,000 national police departments.  The other side of this equation is what metrics do Police Departments used to measure success? And do those matrices drive certain behaviors? Michael J. Wood, retired ex-Baltimore cop seems to thinks so. In an interview with Slate.com he indicated that, “The citizens just become a statistic, a number that you are going after.  I never feared the streets, I constantly feared other officers.”  Based on his comments, the infrastructure places more value on statistics than community policing. To achieve those statistics where is the easiest place to pursue.  The affluent neighbors or the poorer neighborhoods?

                Therefore, I continued to wonder how many layers of issues have exacerbated this multiple generational problem.  There was not one single issue, but multiple ones that have contributed to this generational distrust.  The one, overarching missing piece is each side looking at the problem through the opposing side.  How many people of color are actually taking the time to attend the various Citizens Academies sponsored by local Law Enforcement, DEA, ATF and FBI?  To combat an issue, you have to understand how Agencies think, trained and what their core guiding principles of behavior. How often do Police use their professional training to de-escalate a situation?  Do the individual Officers view the citizens as people, or become jaded and view the citizens as suspects?  How many minorities are assigned to all white districts to protect and serve? Are there similar problems in those circumstances?

                The only thing that I could share with my son is how we could take responsibility to force change and never say, “It is what it is”.   I told my son that what has changed is the different avenues we can collectively take to reflect the desired change.  What if every Black person understood the training that Police officers received, how they are measured and could predict what would trigger their behavior in an encounter? A Commander at Broward Sheriff’s Office in Florida told me that respect is not given it has to be earned.  Was this a philosophy held decades ago? I mentioned to my son that some Law Enforcement positions are elected positions and some positions are appointed by Elected Officials like Mayors.  We have the collective ability to grade them through our votes and hold each one accountable based on their record.  We can collectively go to our Congress person, Senator and Governor express our concerns with solutions and demand that they either support or provide alternative solutions.  Lack of response means lack of votes for their re-election.  For example, the Florida Governor won his re-election by less than 70,000 votes with a turnout of 22%.  What if every eligible Black voter participated in the Governor’s race?  Would the outcome be different? Would the Zimmerman prosecution have been the same? The Governor’s Office and Attorney General were responsible for prosecuting or not prosecuting the Zimmerman case.  In this case the people have spoken and the State Attorney Angela Corey was out of office with her record on the George Zimmerman, Marisa Alexander and other cases. Unfortunately, most people don’t understand how to connect the state dots and pressure points for elected officials and Law Enforcement.  Protests mean nothing without sustained political pressure and mid-term election voting. Never feel that you as a Black person are helpless. Therefore, it never “is what it is -Son”.  It is what we allow it to be. 

Maurice Henry is a seasoned professional in the High Technology industry and International Business. He has a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration from Rutgers University and a MBA from Southern New Hampshire University in International Business. He publishes a Blog on http://mauricehenryjr.blogspot.com/

Sources:

Amnesty International (2015). Deadly force police use of deadly force in the United States.

https://www.amnestyusa.org/sites/default/files/aiusa_deadlyforcereportjune2015.pdf

Bekiempis, Victoria (2015, May 14). The new racial makeup of U.S. police departments.

http://www.newsweek.com/racial-makeup-police-departments-331130

Bureau of Justice Statistics (2015, November 15). Police use of non-fatal force, 2002 -2011.

http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/punf0211_sum.pdf

Gabrielson, Ryan, Jones Grochowski, Ryann and Sagara, Eric (2014, October 10). Deadly force in black and white.

https://www.propublica.org/article/deadly-force-in-black-and-white

Neyfakh, Leon and Wolfe Aaron, (n.d.). Why police are so violent towards black men.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/crime/2015/08/baltimore_ex_cop_discusses_police_violence_toward_young_black_men.html

Working Hard Not Smart: Economics and the Electorate

I started an interesting book by Edward D. Baptist titled, “The Half Has Never Been Told- Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism”.  The author makes some very interesting points, but a couple points really caught my attention.  In the early 1780’s to the early 1860’s the South went from a series of worn down plantations barely producing cotton to producing almost 2 billion pounds.  In the Republic of Texas slaves increased from 4,000 to 27,000 in nine years.  The South became a subcontinental empire and the commodity of cotton was responsible for over 50% of our country’s exports.  The foundation of the cotton explosion was predicated by the major U.S. acquisitions of cotton land from the Native Americans from 1814 to 1840.

Cotton production and the economics of slavery prior to this period were small and profitability was in the decline until the invention of the cotton gin, ironically by a black man.  The leaders of cotton suppliers were able to get more daily productivity from slave labor than comparable free labor in other industries.  The thirst to reap the incredible financial benefits of the slave industry enabled 5% of all U.S. lending to go through Isaac Franklin’s slave trading firm. British and American financial institutions made funds available to keep the profits coming in. The slave bonanza also created a financial commoditized slave trade, which enabled ordinary investors to purchase bonds that represented a slice of income of thousands of slaves.  Very similar to the purchase of a piece of today's bundled mortgages.  Investors from all over the country and Britain could reap a return on their investment without actually owning slaves from products on the British and American financial markets.  Profits from these investments help fuel capital investment in textile industries in the North.  Insurance companies’ profited and financial institutions provided additional lending for economic expansion in the Midwest, Southwest and Western United States.  The Slave industry created national and international wealth, by understanding how to exploit slave labor by increasing daily output and efficiency for maximum profits.  Some would argue that the Slave industry was the catalyst to shape American capitalism and enable the United States to ascend to a world power.   Our labor shaped this country.  As horrible as this period was, there are valuable lessons that can be learned. There are 45 million Black people with $1.4 trillion in economic power.  Are we working smart economically today?  

We have to continue to ask ourselves are we working hard and not working smart in championing our causes.  We have been outraged by the visible police cases that have covered our national media.  We have seen an unprecedented rise in social activism as a result of national awareness.  We have been incredibly responsive in protesting and picketing events that have a profound impact on our lives. However, we have to ask ourselves some fundamental questions in our understanding of the electorate and our consistent response.   The response starts with the awareness of the process of either the elected or appointed top law enforcement manager.  The appointed law enforcement officers are appointed by either the Mayor or City Manager.  Elected law enforcement officers are usually the county Sheriff.   We have the ability to hold the Mayor and City Managers accountable for their selection to lead their respective law enforcement efforts.  We also have a direct impact on the selection of the elected Sheriffs.  Protesting brings awareness, but pulling the lever in the ballot box directly determines how law enforcement will perform in our respective areas.  Considering the Black vote was under represented in both the 2006 and 2010 midterms, the 2014 midterms were marginally better.  What are we doing to better understand the mindset of law enforcement?  They are not going away and will remain part of our lives.  Most people aren’t aware that most cities offer a Citizen’s Academy program that actually exposes you to your state laws and how officers think and react in situations.  I went through the Broward Sheriff’s Office Citizen’s Academy in Florida for 13 weeks, because I was so bothered by the Trayvon Martin verdict.  I really needed to understand how Florida law enforcement was trained and I decided that I would not have the constant paranoia for local police officers.  These programs provide us the tools to navigate through the uncertainty of the interpretation of our state laws. It is time that we work smarter but continue to work hard to understand the influences of economics, legislation and the electorate at all levels.

Hispanic Heritage Month - Sometimes Forgotten from the American Mind

The U.S. has 52 million Hispanics and has the second largest Hispanic population behind Mexico.  The U.S. Census predicts that the Hispanic population will be 132 million by 2050.  Hispanic estimated purchasing power is $1.4 trillion since 2012.  Twenty five years ago, the U.S. chose to make a month long celebration of Hispanic contributions to the U.S.   The celebration would be in conjunction with the anniversary of the independence of seven Latin American countries. Mexico, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Chile, and El Salvador all celebrate their independence during this this period.  Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated September 15- October 15. So as American football season starts up, this month of celebration tends to slip away from the American mind. Hispanic contributions to America are sometimes forgotten and many times are not acknowledged. We should take a look at the one of the earliest contributions to America.

The Pinta and Nina ships that sailed with Columbus were owned by the brothers Martin Alonso Pinzo and Vicente Anes Pinzo of Spain.  They both were captains of their respective ships during the voyage to what was thought to be the New World in 1492. Juan de la Cosa, also of Spain was the owner and captain of the final ship the Santa Maria that made the voyage. That was the beginning of many future Hispanic contributions to America. Mexican-born Victor Ochoa patented the electric brake in 1907. Mexican engineer Guillermo Gonzalez Camarena received a patent for the color-wheel type of color television in 1942. Brazilian Roberto Landell de Moura received three patents between 1903 to 1904 for the hertzian wave transmitter, the wireless telephone and the wireless telegraph. Dr. Victor Blanco, Ph.D. an astronomer from Puerto Rico discovered the Galactic Cluster "Blanco 1" which was named after him.  Cuban doctor Carlos Finlay discovered that mosquitoes carried yellow fever in 1900.  Panamanian born Shoshana Johnson was the first Black/Hispanic female prisoner of war in the military history of the U.S. She was held captured in Iraq for 22 days.  She later received the Bronze Star and Purple Heart for her service in Iraq. There are nine Hispanics in the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame.  There are eight Fortune 500 Hispanic CEOs.

• Joseph Molina, Molina Healthcare
• Paul J. Diaz, Kindred Healthcare
• Robert E. Sanchez, Ryder System
• Joseph Alvarado, Commercial Metals
• J. Paul Raines, GameStop
• Carlos Rodriguez, ADP
• Josue Robles, United Services Automobile Association (USAA)
• George Paez, Express Scripts

Too often the thinking of Hispanic contribution is deeply rooted in food.  While the culture takes great pride in foods that represent their countries, the American psyche has to evolve from tacos, burritos, enchiladas, black beans and rice, plantains and Cuban sandwiches as the first layer of Hispanic contribution to this country. We mentioned some of the many contributions to America, there are many more.  Today, organizations like Circle de Luz are creating a network of mentoring Latinas all across the country. Circle de Luz is empowering young women's transformation through scholarship funds and extensive mentoring so they can become the next contributors in their communities.

http://circledeluz.org/

Hopefully, 25 years later a Hispanic Heritage Month will not be needed because Hispanic contributions will just be another great layer of the melting pot of America.

African Americans and American Gun Culture

Stefan B. Tahmassebi of the George Mason Civil Rights Law Journal indicated that the first recorded law restricting African Americans from owning guns was in Virginia in 1640. A century later, the 27 words of the 2^nd Amendment made it clear that the people have the right to keep and bear arms.  However, those 27 words are subject to interpretation.  After the Civil War, legislators of the South adopted Black Codes.  Black Codes represented a series of comprehensive regulations that made the bearing or owning firearms by African Americans illegal. The Black codes essentially made African Americans vulnerable to any attacks.  Justice Buford of the Florida Supreme Court justified two original Acts restricting African American laborers from owning guns in 1893 and also in an amended version in 1901.  Despite the pervasive gun restriction laws, African American inventor Clarence Greg received a patent for an early version of a machine gun in 1918.   

The United States Congress overrode the Black Codes with the passage of the Civil Rights Act and the 14^th Amendment.  The National Rifle Association (NRA) set up charters throughout the South to help train African American communities to defend themselves.  There should have been momentum for African Americans to become more integrated in the American gun culture.  What slowed down the momentum?  Those of us that lived in the cities in the late 1960’s can remember our parents telling us not to be in the front or back of the house when the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve.  There was always fear of people firing a gun to bring in the New Year.  Many people were killed by the New Year’s Eve stray bullets.  We also tended to associate guns with crime and were told that guns were a bad thing.

Today, it is speculated that there are approximately 300 million guns in the United States.  The NRA indicates that their membership is approximately 5 million. When you think of the American gun culture, you have imagery of pickup trucks, hunting and primarily White Americans.  The imagery is further confirmed by survivalists and the membership profile of the prominent NRA organization.   The most popular magazine catering to the gun culture, “Guns and Ammo”, usually has not featured any African Americans contributors nor has any been displayed in advertising.   Does the NRA see an opportunity to expand their membership and target the 30 million African Americans in this country?  The NRA has taken their first step to tap into this market by using 29 year old African American, Colion Noir as one of their newest pitch men.  Colion has endured criticism from vocal members of the African American community.  Colion responded in an interview in the LA Times, “Calling me an Uncle Tom simply because I am into firearms, it doesn’t make sense. My entire identity as a black guy is based on my ownership of guns? Really?” he said. “Some of the most influential black individuals have advocated the use of firearms, so how come when I do it, I’m vilified? Take a look at the Black Panthers, MLK and Malcolm X.”  Does Colion deserve the criticism?  

Colion Nior for NRA News

Gwainevere Catchings Hess, President of the Black Women’s Agenda, Inc. points out that, “In 2009, black males ages 15-19 where eight times more likely as white males the same age, and 2.5 times as likely as their Hispanic peers to be killed in a gun homicide.”   The initial reaction could be perceived that Colion could be adding more gasoline to an existing wide spread problem.  Do these statistics and generational stereotypes create a fear of African Americans with guns in the majority? Could that be the reason for not targeting the African American market?  Or is the gun industry using the statistics and generational stereotypes to exploit fears to generate revenue?  The NRA could be attempting to introduce a new dimension of African American thinking in regards to firearms.  

 Some have noted that the popular gun publications don’t market to African Americans because the demographic is heavily populated in States that have strict gun laws. Therefore, those advertising dollars would be merely symbolic because the target customer would not be able to answer the call to action of purchasing a firearm.  That theory can be scrutinized because 2013 Gallup Inc., Gun Owners of America statistics indicates that 27% of African Americans and 44% of White Americans own guns.  If you agree with the sample statistics then almost 3 in 10 African Americans own guns.  Others have indicated that the African American gun culture is reflected in today’s urban rap music and is associated with gang violence. With the demographics of the country changing, maybe the NRA and gun manufacturers realize that a shift in marketing may make sense.  Ten years from now, the American gun culture may look a lot more colorful.

 

Which America Are We Living In?

There has been intense chatter about Black-on-Black crime in response to the George Zimmerman verdict in Sanford, FL. The most used example is the uptick in “gang related” homicides in Chicago.  It is very easy to deflect from the larger points as to why it is happening.  Don Lemon of CNN weighed in on his five points for the African American community.   Those of us in the African American community have heard a variation of these before from our parents. He stressed pulling up your pants.  He also stressed to stop perpetrating the use of the “N” word.  Respect where you live and stop dropping your trash in your neighborhood.  Finish school and become a viable part of society.  Just because you can have a baby doesn't mean you should. He also mentioned a quote from one of his guests, “If Conservatives are so interested in helping to resolve the issues in the African American community, why do they only discuss it when they want to stick it to the African American community?” It is fairly obvious that Mr. Lemon is only focusing on the surface of the problem.

As an African American fortunate enough to live in an affluent, diverse Florida community, I believe there is a link between economic status and crime.  Two towns from my community is a large trailer park.  The trailer park racial mix is approximately 80% White.  I have spoken with Police Officers that patrol the trailer park that process the incredible amount of crime reports that take place in the park.  So, there must be evidence of linkage between income and crime.   Based on the 2011 U.S. Census survey, there are approximately 45 million African Americans and 198 million White Americans.  The Census indicates that 23.3% of African Americans (18-64) and 9.9% of White Americans (18-64) are living below the poverty level.

Fundamentalfinance.com sited their analysis of the link to poverty and crime.  Poverty can cause high levels of stress that in turn may lead individuals to commit robbery, theft or other violent acts.  Poverty may also lead to a perceived or actual inferior education which could cause young people to rely less on access to schools, jobs and role models.  These elements lower the opportunity costs of crime and increase the likelihood that young people will spend more time in the streets associated with gangs.  In 2010, White families earned $2 for every $1 African American families earned, a ratio that has been the same for 30 years.  While this analysis doesn't justify committing crime, it is import to understand the possible inputs that contribute to the acts.  

In contrast, the African American community spending power is estimated to reach $1 trillion by 2015.  Has the spending power changed the economic standing of the African American community? Jeneba Ghatt of the Ghatt Law Group shares some interesting statistics. Despite being 13% of the U.S. population, African Americans own 5% of U.S. small businesses and only 1.8% of companies that employ more than one person.  The profitability of African American businesses is bleak.  More than half the African American businesses had less than $10,000 in business receipts in 2002, compared to one-third of White-owned firms and 28.8% of Asian-owned firms.  The spending pattern of the African American community is 30% higher the rest of the population.  In terms of assets, cash savings, homes and retirement accounts subtracted from debt such as mortgage and credit cards, white families have six times wealth.    When you use that store credit card to purchase that designer label, did you ask yourself how will the dollars spent impact your community? Did the “bling” change your economic outlook or your families?  Especially since there was a 300% mark up on what you just bought.  You can’t fix a problem if you don’t recognize that a problem exists.  There are poverty and crime and there are spending and opportunity.  There is not an easy explanation for either of them.  The category that you fall into will determine- Which America Are You Living In?

Get Out of Your Comfort Zone

My fascination with UK based Tesco PLC occurred when Tesco- Homeplus South Korea introduced a Subway Virtual Grocery Store using smart phones in Seoul, Korea  at the Seolleung underground train station.     Virtual grocery shopping before you board your train? The concept was unheard of and unproven.

  Subway Virtual Grocery Store South Korea video

Recently, I had the opportunity to hear Sir Terry Leahy, former CEO of Tesco. He signed a copy of his book Management in 10 Words.   Courage and Act were two words from his book. By definition courageous acts or audacious goals take you into uncharted territory, beyond the safe borders you have set for yourself.  You have to turn your words into action. You have to be disciplined after a mistake is made to stop and identify lessons learned from the mistake and continue moving forward.  This can be applied to the African American community. 

 One example that could be applied to courage and action is the success of Paul Luyeye and his wife Martha Makuena of Congo.  The couple moved to Beijing, China for a job opportunity and later opened the first African hair salon in 2003.   There were an estimated 3,000 Africans in Beijing.  The couple had a vision, learned Mandarin and diligently set a course to capitalize on the opportunity.  

Another example is the story of Fredrick Bruce Thomas (Fyodor Fyodorovich Tomas) that migrated from Mississippi to Europe and eventually Russia.  Thanks to Quintard Taylor of Blackpast.org for sharing these incredible proof points of courage and action.  In 1894 Thomas fled to Paris to seek greater freedom.  During his time there he learned French and developed exception his skills as a waiter and valet. In 1899, Thomas traveled to Russia where there were few African Americans in a country of over one million.  By 1911, Thomas learned Russian and succeeded again as a waiter.  He succeed in two entertainment ventures.  His last one Maxim became the favorite for Russia night spot for five years.   He was the first African American to get Russian citizenship.  All of these examples have one thing in common.  They were not afraid to get out of their comfort zone to gain success.  International borders where not an obstacle. Something that we should think about.  Something that our community needs to think about.