Micro Credit

Thursday, March 31, 2016, 10am to 11:30 in the Meeting Room (behind the fireplace)

We need to change the single narrative of how the world poor depend on wealthy nations. In general, people in poverty are ashamed of taking charity and want to be able to be self-sufficient. But they need access to capital. A way has been developed to allow people in one country to make small loans directly to people in a different country, bypassing governments. We will view four TED Talks about this micro credit phenomenon:

• Jessica Jackley was motivated by her Christian faith to create the micro credit website, Kiva
• Julie Hannah was a refugee from Egypt who later became Kiva's chairman
• Sangu Delle is an African who insists that micro-loans are not enough for success
• Gayle Lemmon uses the woman's perspective to explain why micro-loans succeed

And another thing. One of our members has a very special relation to one of the speakers above, more at the meeting.

African Origins

Thursday, March 24, 2016, 10am to 11:30 in the Meeting Room (behind the fireplace)

In past meetings, we have talked about the need to broaden our understanding beyond the single narrative. In that spirit, we will have a guest speaker, Sherman's friend, Kenneth M. Jennings, Jr., on the topic of the true origins of ancient Egypt, its suppression by main stream historians, and what it means for Black Americans.

An excerpt from Ken's handout:

Understand that when I speak of the Kemites I am speaking of the Black people of the Nile Valley of Africa who built the world’s first major civilization and nation state long before Moses and long before even Abraham.  Greece and Rome did not exist.  Sumer in the Tigris and Euphrates rivers area (now called Iraq) was a city state.  There was no concept of a “Europe” among the primitive white inhabitants of that area on the western edge of the Asian land mass.

Here is a little about Ken, related to the topic:

He has made nine trips to Ghana, West Africa and one to the Nile Valley in Egypt on a study tour.  He is a member of The Association For The Study Of Classical African Civilizations (ASCAC).  Ken gives presentations to Alpha Achievers in the schools and others to ensure that the young men, school staff and the community have a clear sense of African history and culture.  He has written essays to express an Afrocentric perspective, often using the name Kofi Akuffo Ojise’.  Kofi is the Akan peoples of Ghana name given to boys born on Friday, Akuffo means Ordained by God and Ojise’ means “messenger” in the Yoruba language of Nigeria.

HERE is a link to the video that will be shown.

-------------------------- Updated 3/24/16 -----------------------------

Other videos:

• Richard Pryor - Egypt
• Dr. Asa Hilliard, Part 1

Political Funnies

Thursday, March 17, 2016, 10am to 11:30 in the Meeting Room (behind the fireplace)

Sorry for the late post. I wanted to talk about something positive in politics, like the CARA drug bill that recently passed the Senate, but the presidential race has gone crazy and demands our attention, so we will talk about that instead. But the election is so depressing; so we will use comedy videos to guide the discussion. Here is a starter:

• CNN Election Center
• Voters for Trump Ad
• Carson Endorsement
• Hillary Campaign Ad

There should be more by Thursday.

------------------------------------ Updated 3/17/16 -------------------------------------

Here are the other videos shown in full at the meeting:

• GOP Brokered Convention- A Closer Look
• Cruz 101 - Full Frontal with Samantha Bee
• The Daily Show - Donald Trump's Political Fight Club

Here are the other video clipped for the Ben Carson piece:

• Super Tuesday Part Three Proved They Need To Retire The Franchise

Here are the videos clipped for the Jeb Bush piece:

• George W. Bush Cold Open - SNL
• Jeb Bush's Campaign Trouble- A Closer Look
• Donald Trump attacks George W. Bush on 9-11, Iraq
• George W. Bush Offers Tough Trump Takedown In Campaign Debut
• John Oliver - South Carolina Republican Primary
• Hungry For Power Games- Jeb Has Fallen

Aging Gracefully

Thursday, March 10, 2016, 10am to 11:30 in the Meeting Room (behind the fireplace)

Members haves requested that we cover more age appropriate topics; so what could be better than aging itself. For our next meeting we will explore the wide spread belief that people get happier as they age.

• Jane Fonda thinks that the best time of life is in the final third act
• Susan Jacoby disagrees
• Robert Waldinger says it depends and has the studies to prove it

-------------------------------- Updated 3/10/16 ------------------------------------

Here are the other videos shown at the meeting:

• Susan Jacoby's Never Say Die
• 93 year old bodybuilder Charles Eugster

Super Tuesday

Thursday, March 3, 2016, 10am to 11:30 in the Meeting Room (behind the fireplace)

What happens next Tuesday could determine the Presidential nominee for both the Republicans and Democrats. So our Thursday meeting should be the perfect time to pontificate over the election. 

As I will be away, Norm will lead the discussion.

Dangerous Stereotypes

Thursday, February 25, 2016, 10am to 11:30 in the Meeting Room (behind the fireplace)

Unfortunately, the presidential race has devolved into bigotry based on dangerous stereotypes about race, religion and gender. For the next meeting, we will view three TED Talks about how we can overcome these false narratives.

• Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie tells how the single narrative has distorted our views of Africans.
• Anand Giridharadas tells a story of forgiveness after a religious hate crime.
• Dame Stephanie Shirley tells how gender based bias of women in business was overcome.

Government Services Privitization

Thursday, February 18, 2016, 10am to 11:30 in the Meeting Room (behind the fireplace)

I will be away next week, so Norm will be the discussion leader. The topic will be on the trend to privatize many government services. There will be no videos during the meeting and 90 minutes is a lot of time to fill. So please use the blog comments give your opinions and examples.

How about this: Here’s How to Fix Flint’s Water System: Privatize It

Please add your examples below.