Mack Burnett III

Barbara Becnel, who championed the fight for Stanley “Tookie” Williams (see post), is running for Govenor of California. I think this is a great idea! What bothers me is that she, as with Al Sharpton in the beginning of his race, has been largely ignored in her process.  In this recent NY Times article, it mentions her opponents, both Caucasian and both men. Now is it that the power of the “Govenator”, Arnold Schwarzenegger, that strong to not even acknowledge or is it just that Ms. Becnel’s run is not of worthy mention. 

  I think that if Schwarzenegger is that strong then why not at least give her ample room to make her case to be Governor. I would love to see a second coming of a Willie Brown “type” that would bring the people together with intelligence and devotion. 

Former San Francisco Mayor, Willie Brown

WOW… Is the first thing that comes to mind when I think about this past Friday, May 12, 2006.

I spoke at Mahalia Jackson Middle School 391 in Brooklyn, New York for Career Day. The kids in the Achievement First Program are absolutely another level of engaged. We had a great time talking about empowerment, education and entrepreneurship.

I will share with you, what I shared with the kids… in a slightly different way.

What do I do as an Entrepreneur?

1. THINK

Thinking is the cornerstone of any good entrepreneur’s existence. To be successful, you have to master the ability to think critically. Without the ability to discern between a good decision, a bad move and a necessary evil, you can’t learn to leverage your moves. Learning how to surmount obstacles by THINKING is the entrepreneur’s best weapon. 
 

2. LEAD

There is a big difference between LEAD and to LEAD. LEAD is a toxic substance, which is comprised mostly of graphite, that they once used in paint, that somehow made it into schools and public buildings around the country. It is also so dense that when placed in water, it sinks right to the bottom. LEAD just sits there, dense and poisonous.
 

When you LEAD someone, you provide a vision, a focused direction to move in. Leading is the only way to get from here to there. When someone is a LEADER they can see what is not there, they make their own decisions based on the facts available and constantly seeks new information. Be proactive in your own life and lead yourself in the direction of success.

How can you lead people anywhere if you, yourself, do not know where you are going? Make a decision not to just sit on the bottom of the river.  Leading a fish to water is not as hard as showing him where to go once he’s wet.

3. MANAGE

Managing is both necessary and a nuisance. It is necessary to manage, not only a business, but your time and resources as well. You have to learn to manage your money, your time and your skills in such a way that move you towards success.

The biggest problem with management is that it takes away from THINKING and LEADING. You have to manage things and lead people. Without both, your ship is a Titanic waiting to happen.
 
New Seminar!

In any case, I had a great time with the kids and their energy was incredible! We have a full day seminar (6-Hours) about Making Empowered Decisions by Thinking, Leading and Managing. Feel free to email the staff for more information at: bookings [at] mackburnett.com. (sorry, but the SPAM is out of control!)
 

My man Star finally did it. I remember star from way back when he was doing Around the Way Connections. Star was running his magazine and I was running mine. We used to kick it. Then he took it to Public Access Television and started the Hater Show… Then he took it to MTV and the show didn’t last long, then he found the radio…The rest, as they say, is history.

Listen, I never agreed with the whole “hater” thing. I much prefer the positive direction that Steve Harvey’s show has taken. The thing is that I knew Star “back when” as they say. His recent attack on DJ Envy’s children is unspeakable. I can’t even imagine having a family member threatened on the radio, let alone, a child. First, it was the Aaliyah drama and now he’s threatening DJ Envy’s kids? For those who don’t remember, he used a plane crashing sound when Aaliyah passed.

Bottom line, I don’t know what happened over these years since I knew the man and I don’t fault him completely. He was provided with a platform where any “ANYTHING GOES” performance was not only indulged, but encouraged. It’s a harsh human fact, nobody wants to crash, but everyone will stop to watch an accident.  I send out my regards and only positive thoughts to both DJ Envy’s and Star’s family as well. May we find our common humanity somewhere in the cloud of the personal and tumultuous storms that most of us showcase on the surface. 

The Greatest Of All Time has sold the rights to his name for 50 million dollars. Is this the last great Washing Out of an icon. Business is business and I’m all for leveraging assets, but Ali is like an icon of Bucking the System. I suppose this is no different then a 2 Pac Lunchbox.

What’s next, a Luther Vandross church fan? Can you imagine your aunt in church, sitting next to you fanning herself with Luther Vandross? Not sure how I feel about that either.

Well, a House is Not A Home… I guess…

Can these heros truly rest in peace walking around with a Thermos inside of them? I welcome your thoughts…

REUTERS 

BONUS IMAGES…

The Greatest’s Logos. I just thought these were awesome. Had to share…

Hey Everybody, we finally launched the radio show. When you get a chance go over to Black Business Radio and check us out… I am the Host and the Executive Producer of the show. Please feel free to let me know your thoughts…

Black Business Radio is a new online radio show dedicated to the discussion of business issues, dissemination of information and the economic empowerment of African Americans.

BBR was created to utilize new technologies such as the Internet, “Blogging” and “Podcasting” to deliver information in an expedited manner. Through the use of the Internet, BBR can reach around the globe and discuss business related issues that affect everyone, but Black people or people of African decent especially. was created to utilize new technologies such as the Internet, “Blogging” and “Podcasting” to deliver information in an expedited manner. Through the use of the Internet, can reach around the globe and discuss business related issues that affect everyone, but Black people or people of African decent especially.Using the Internet to distribute niche information has become the new standard. Black Business, “BUY BLACK”, “Keep the Money in the Neighborhood” are all concepts that have been around since the 1950’s and the 1960’s.

All of us at BBR are trying to help raise the collective bar and business acumen within our community. BBR also plans to address some of the issues that business neglects in pursuit of greater and greater profits.

The fear of not asking someone for something can be one of the greatest mistakes that we can make. Whether it’s someone that we know or someone new, don’t be afraid to ask.

ASK for the raise or the corner office, ASK that special someone to join you for lunch and ASK questions in general. Most kids ask hundreds of questions, back to back. They are never stop asking questions. The reason that they stop asking questions is that they figure out is that it annoys their parents! The average adult only asks a few questions each day!

You can’t get anything if you don’t ask. If you don’t ask for something, you can’t get it. You can’t assume that people can read your mind. Sometimes just introducing a request into a conversation as a possibility can lead to something the person that you are talking to might offer that you hadn’t even anticipated.

Now at the same time, let me say, i’m not saying to be rude or forward to the point of excess. You have to balance what is rude or unreasonable with that which makes sense. So use your good judgement and go ahead… ASK…

Ok. I know this is silly, BUT… Soooo many people as me what a Podcast is, so let’s Ask A Ninja… So let’s have some fun on a Friday afternoon.

Watch The Video

Well, I was able to move all of my posts over to the new blog from BLOGGER using a nice feature that I found. Only thing was that I seem to have lost all of my images and video. My staff and I are on it. We’ll get it together in a few days. Thanks…

It’s been a long time, I shouldn’t have left you. – The “R”

To all my loyal readers, I apologize, I have had serious issues with my old hosting company. They changed their policy and basically didn’t allow me to post ANYTHING.

In any case, I’m here starting from scratch, but I’m back, bigger and better. The new site is under development. Hope to have that up and ready to go in short order.

Thanks for spending your time here with me. I promise I will treat that time with the respect it deserves and bring good things to you always.