Growing up in Chicago

I had dinner with my youngest brother the other night and was reminded why it’s important for men to have other men in their lives. We are both extremely busy but when we get together our conversations are usually pretty substantial. He reminded me of a conversation we had a couple of years ago that completely changed the course of his life. It wasn’t long at all but the impact was lasting.

This is the value of deep relationships. Over a period of years you build capital with each other that can be used to sharpen one another unlike any other type of relationship. When you feel like someone actually cares for you then even advice given in casual conversation is so much more meaningful.

So, I’ve been doing short videos on Youtube talking about different topics in enterprise technology. This is the first time in a few years I’ve actually listened to myself talk. When I was a kid I spent 45 minutes a week for 8 years going to speech therapy. My teachers had a hard time understanding me because I would cut off or slur together words instead of taking the time to fully enunciate my words.

This got me a rap of not being very bright and effected my confidence in and out of the classroom. I never really fully developed the skill of fully enunciating my words but I remember a distinct time when it affected me as an adult. I went on a job interview at a fast food restaurant and eventually got the job after hounding the manager. A few months after proving myself to be a pretty good employee the manager confided in me that he thought I had a mental development problem. He said I turned out to be one of his best hires. As politely as I could I told him, “I’m not dumb. I just talk funny.”

Watching the video’s reminded me that I still talk funny but, I’m much more confident and it kind of goes with the whole geek thing that I’ve embraced in the portion of my life.

I was surprised to see that New York, NY made the Forbes 2013 List of America’s Most Miserable Cities.  Then as I went down the list I saw Chicago was number 4 on the list.

Chicago which has to following things going for it.

1. Taste of Chicago

2. More than 27 museums

3. One of the most vibrant downtown’s in the nation

4. More biking trails than almost any other city

5. Lakeshore Drive

6. A lake that doesn’t look like any “lake” you’ll ever see

I love Chicago.  It has more going on than any other city that I’ve been in excluding maybe New York.  I moved for a while to MD and completely missed the city with big shoulders.  However, in my travels I can see why Chicago can get a bad rap.  The political corruption is infamous.  Our former mayor (Daley the Son) was known as the Teflon Don.  He had more political allies take a fall for him than bowling pins in The Big Lebowski.  The weather is among the worst.  And the gun violence is quickly making Gary, IN look like a safe haven.

I was still amazed to see that we made this notorious list and ranked so high.  I hate to pick on other cities but have you visited Baltimore or even seen The Wire? I once got lost in Baltimore.  And all I have to say is Baltimore ain’t Chicago.

It’s never the shady character we need to worry about.  It’s always the guy we trust that is our downfall.

Jesse Jackson Jr.

We all know a slippery slope when we see one.  However, it’s funny how we think just because we see the slippery slope before taking the road we believe we can navigate the most dangerous parts of the path.  The point of the warning isn’t to help navigate through the slop but to avoid the slop all together.  I’m sure once he shares his story Jesse Jackson’s warning will be much like all of the other disgraced  public figures prior to his own tale.  I’m sure he reasoned to himself why he should help himself to campaign funds but, I’m more interested in those he convinced to take part in his scheme.

Why would they help in such an obviously illegal plot?  Why wouldn’t his wife raise a red flag.  She is after all a seasoned lawyer.  Why didn’t Jackson Sr. recognize something was afoot with his son’s life style (maybe a whole different topic)?

Stealing $750,000 in campaign funds is not a simple task that one person or a couple of people can do.  It takes a corrupt organization to pull off the scheme.  There are checks in balances in place that prevent things like this from happening.  So, the Jacksons needed collaborators to help them in their fraud.  The Jacksons were a very well respected couple within their district.  The community and their supporters counted on them to help move the community forward.  With this comes a trust that is extremely dangerous when betrayed.  But danger in the traditional sense.  The worry isn’t that you will be cheated out of money or benefits.  But this betrayal goes to the heart of human nature.  The ability of people you trust to get you to do things you would not normally do.  To go against your own morals.

The Jacksons’ story reminds me of a report I heard on NPR Planet Money some months ago.  A mortgage lender was sharing how he went to several people for help in creating fake mortgages.  To his surprise every person that he asked to support his criminal activity didn’t hesitate in saying yes.  The reason they gave was that they trusted him.  Over the years, like the Jacksons he built a reputation as a man of integrity   He had done so much good to this point in his life that the people he approached with the scheme didn’t give it a second thought.  They figured that if a man that has displayed such integrity to this point would ask them to do something unethical or even illegal it must be OK.  He was in a sense their moral barometer.

You see, we know not to trust the untrustworthy.  It’s the trustworthy we have to question.  So many people fall for cons because the Bernie Mahoffs of the world seem extremely trustworthy.  Their record’s are impeccable so, when they come to us with opportunities that seem too good to be true we take them at their word instead of following our normal logic.  The lesson in this tragic fall from grace is that you have to stay grounded in your own morals.  You have to constantly run scenarios through your mind like, “If this was on the front page of the NY Times would I be embarrassed.”  You may not just save yourself but also the very person that you respect and is asking you to betray your shared morals.

The Jesse White Tumblers have been a staple of Chicago for a long time.  They are one of the most successful outreach groups in the black community in Chicago.  The focus of the team is to create opportunities through gymnastics for at risk youth. I was pretty surprised by the numbers Illinois Secretary of State check off during an appearance of his Jesse White Tumblers at a performance at a group meeting for my job the other day.  His Tumbler’s have –

• Been around for 53 years
• Have had 1500 kids come through program
• Have 7 teams that will have performed 70 performances by end of the 1st month of the year
• Performed across the nation and globe

More importantly, a number I was encouraged to hear was that of the 1500 youth to come through the program only a 110 have gotten in trouble with law enforcement.  That was a pretty staggering number to hear when some sources say 1 in 4 black men will be incarcerated in their life time.  I have to admit that at times I’ve just gotten too comfortable with the work that this organization has done.  It’s similar to everything in life.  I’ve just seen them too many times.  But it has been a few years since I last seen them perform and the freshness of seeing them has reminded me of just how amazing the group is in both talent and mission.

Seeing them again has encouraged me to step up my volunteer efforts and reach out to the youth of the city.  I’m so grateful for these private organizations and look forward to sending financial support to the building of the Jesse White Community Center.