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Here is an excerpt from a book I recently read, "The New Testament," by Jericho Brown.



Another Elegy 

Expect death. In every line, 

Death is a metaphor that stands 

For nothing, represents itself, 

No goods for sale. It enters 

Whether or not your house 

Is dirty. Whether or not 

You are clean, you arrive late 

Because you don’t believe her 

When, sobbing as usual, she 

Calls to say if you don’t stop 

Your brother, she will kill him 

This time. Why rush? By now, 

You think she likes it, his hands 

Slapping her seven shades of red. 

Besides, your brother is much 

Bigger than you—once you tried 

Pulling him off the woman he loves 

And lost a tooth. Expect to lose 

Again as you stand for nothing 

Over his body, witness 

Or reporter, murderer or kin.

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Here are a few excerpts from a book I recently read, "The Origins of the Urban Crisis: Race and Inequality in Postwar Detroit," by Thomas Sugrue.




These inequalities—and a host of deeply held misunderstandings about their causes—led me to write The Origins of the Urban Crisis. The book explains the transformation of American cities—through a case study of Detroit—as the result of a combination of three forces that occurred simultaneously. Any one of them would have had devastating consequences, but the combined effect of all three reshaped American cities in ways that still affect us today. First was the flight of jobs, particularly the relatively well-paying, secure, and mostly unionized industrial jobs that dominated the postwar urban economy. Second was the persistence of workplace discrimination, despite remarkable legal and political gains accomplished by the struggle for black civil rights. The third was intractable racial segregation in housing, segregation that led to the uneven distribution of power and resources in metropolitan areas, leaving some places behind while others thrived. Sociologist Charles Tilly describes “resource hoarding” as one of the major contributors to historical inequalities—and the story of American metropolitan areas, like Detroit, is a history of the ways that whites, through the combined advantages of race and residence, were able to hoard political and economic resources—jobs, public services, education, and other goods—to their own advantage at the expense of the urban poor.  

Origins uncovered a largely hidden, forgotten history of actions by policymakers, large corporations, small businesses (particularly realtors), and ordinary citizens that created and reinforced racial and class inequalities and perpetuated the political marginalization of African Americans in modern American life. The transformation of Detroit was not the “natural” inevitable consequence of market forces at work. At a political moment when Americans have a deep faith in the market—a faith that has strengthened since I wrote Origins—it is difficult for many readers to see that racialized inequality is, at core, a political problem. Still widespread is the assumption that blacks and whites live apart solely because of personal choice, not because of the enduring effects of public policies that have encouraged racial segregation. 

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Here are a couple of excerpts from a book I recently read, "Nerve: Adventures in the Science of Fear," by Eva Holland.

I know now that I don’t need to make my world smaller—I don’t have to allow fear to shrink the boundaries of the life that I live. But I also know that I don’t have to keep trying, pushing, proving myself. I don’t have to become a rock climber if I don’t enjoy rock climbing, even if it doesn’t scare me as much as it used to. I can choose to seek thrills, to embrace the rush of fear, or I can choose to stay home and read a good book. Maybe I’ll go back to Florence someday; maybe I’ll try to learn to sail again. 

But if I don’t, I’ll know that it’s not because fear stopped me. If I never make it back to the top of the Duomo, it’ll be because there was so much else to do and see in the world. My time is not limitless—something I can now accept, mostly, without fear.

Personality Makeover

If you're familiar with the Myers-Briggs Personality Test, you know it consists of four pairs of traits: Introverted (I) - Extroverted (E), Intuiting (N) - Sensing (S), Thinking (T) - Feeling (F), and Judging (J) -Perceiving (P).  Some of these terms make more immediate sense than others, so a very brief explanation:

* Introverted-Extroverted is the most readily apparent, although it must be noted that there are lots of layers to this continuum.  Not just how much you like solitude or small groups versus large groups, but also in which setting do you draw energy, as well as whether you think inside and then speak or think by speaking.

* Intuiting-Sensing is mostly about whether you are more future-oriented or present-oriented.

* Thinking-Feeling is mostly about whether you make decisions based on facts or emotions.

* Judging-Perceiving is mostly about whether you like things settled (Judging) or prefer to keep your options open (Perceiving).

One Christian's Take on Cancel Culture

"Cancel culture" has gotten lots of attention lately, and from both sides.  One side is done with inexcusable behavior and is saying "no more," calling it out, and forcing transgressors to suffer the fallout of their misdeeds.  Another side says it's gone way too far, either because the punishment far outstrips the crime or because it is applied to far too many people. 

I'm curious as to why there haven't been more Christian takes on this, or maybe I've missed them.  As with all social issues, this actually relates to Biblical faith.  And yet, as with too many issues, we Christians have been silent.  Or even worse than keeping our mouths shut is opening them and saying nonsense or worse.

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Here is an excerpt from a book I recently read, "I Really Needed This Today: Words to Live By," by Hoda Kotb:




And there was nothing I wanted more than to be a mom. When I flew home, I was finally ready to share my desire aloud . . . to Joel. “You don’t have to tell me right now—take a minute—but I’d like to explore the possibility of adopting a baby with you.” There. I’d put it out into the world. Without skipping a beat, Joel said, “I don’t need a minute. Let’s do it.”

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Here are a couple of excerpts from a book I recently read, "It Takes What It Takes: How to Think Neutrally and Gain Control of Your Life," by Trevor Moawad.

It’s what you do, not how you feel, that gets things done. We can do our way into feeling the way we need to. It’s hard to feel our way into achieving a damn thing.

Average is a choice. Greatness is a choice. There is no magic. Only decisions. Great teams behave like great teams. Their behaviors precede their success. Their behaviors create their belief. Behaviors are not only what we do, but what we are willing to not do.

25 Years of West Market Street

 In September 1995, not even two months into my first job out of college, I took a weekend afternoon and walked the 10 blocks on Market Street between 40th and 50th Streets.  This was an area of focus for where I worked, an organization now called The Enterprise Center, so I wanted to document the physical landscape.  I snapped four pictures at each intersection, one on each corner, and it being 1995, I had the film developed and put the photos into an album.

Five years later, I repeated the effort.  By 2005, I'd gone digital, and it was digital photos that represented my 2010 and 2015 efforts as well.  Here's a link to my blog post from 2015, which includes links to photos from all the other years.

Nothing magical about September, but I had done all my picture-taking that month, every five years.  This year, with the pandemic, I had Jada and Aaron take pics for me in late May.  The top three are their work; the bottom three are scans of my photo album from 1995.  We've come a long way, I'd say, and more to come.  Making note to revisit in 2025.

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Here are a few excerpts from a book I recently read, "Eyes on the Street: The Life of Jane Jacobs," by Robert Kanigel.

And yet, out of their two dissimilar natures emerged, as if alchemically transmuted, a home of healthy, sometimes madcap exuberance, lively talk, free questioning, enjoyment, and encouragement that profoundly inspired the confidence and independence of their children.

If we had to pin down a moment when that began to change, when Jane Jacobs began to see in a new way the streets and cities, buildings, plans, and architectural visions she had been writing about, it would probably be sometime in early 1955, in Philadelphia.

Presidential Musings

It's official: I've been named one of two Co-Presidents of my firm.  I'm super humbled and thankful for the Founding Principals and current Co-Chairs of the firm for this vote of confidence in my ability to help lead the firm forward.  A few stray thoughts for now, I'm sure many more to follow as I step into this new and exciting chapter in my career:

1. I had the occasion to reach out to a few close friends and colleagues to tell them the good news in advance of the official announcement.  It was really touching how many responded with kind and generous words in response.  I also appreciated how many said some form of "let's celebrate!"  Which I needed to hear, because I hadn't gone there myself.  It's not good to just keep chugging along without taking a moment to celebrate.  But all too often I forget to.  So it was a good word and lovely sentiment for so many people to remind me and want to join me.

2. An obvious question about this promotion is what it means for my day-to-day.  On one level, not much.  I've been given ample opportunity to grow into this role so have been taking on many responsibilities that I will continue to.  And, thankfully, there will be no material reduction in my being able to work on the work of the firm, which I enjoy immensely.  That said, there's something about being president and having the buck stop at your desk, which adds a not insignificant psychological burden.  Which, I welcome the challenge, but I know there's a heaviness there, and I'll have to figure out how to carry it well.

3. I have great respect for the unique challenges that attend to being the top dog.  I've tried to be a champion, cheerleader, and supporter for those who inhabit the seat.  Recently, I was in an advisory board meeting of an organization that has a new leader, and a relatively young man at that, and we were invited to offer words of advice.  All who preceded me said things far more substantive than I could ever, so when it was my turn all I could say was "be yourself."  It occurred to me that I should be telling myself that too.  I have been lucky to have many examples of good leadership all around me, and have learned much from each role model.  It is not wrong for me to say that I am an amalgam of many characteristics borrowed from many people.  But "be yourself" means trusting that you have been given the opportunity to lead for a reason, and possess all the traits and opportunities to do so in an authentic way.  I always need to improve.  But I don't need to be anyone else but myself.  I look forward to being just that, in this new role.

Social Media Diet

Every once in a while, I like to document how I approach social media.  Here’s where I am as of now.  Note that the sites below are the most popular in the world by users; obviously there are others, but at this time I don’t interact with them.

The Second Person of Color in the Room

I alluded to this in a post a few years back, but I often find myself being the second person of color in a room.  What do I mean by that?  Some group has a token person of color in it, and has now added me.  And, invariably, an issue comes up in which race is an obvious relevant aspect, and I am left to either give my assent when the other person of color raises this, or I am the first to raise it and the other person of color expresses their relief that finally there is someone besides them who is willing to speak up.

Diversity in groups cannot mean all white people except for one person.  Most people would agree with that.  Equity in group cannot mean simply the composition of the room but also the distribution of power.  Most people understand and can assent to that statement as well.  What may be less appreciated is the fact that, independent of where power lies, if the composition of the room is disproportionately not people of color, it creates a very difficult dynamic for those remaining few people of color.