NorCalUrban

I don't know how I forgot to post this - but the tornados in Florida was about 2 miles from my parents house. Thank God - they were untouched. This photo is from right by their house.

Igawa Debut Dazzling As Kei Igawa prepared to take the mound for a two-inning stint in the Yankees' lone intrasquad game of the spring, pitching coach Ron Guidry delivered a simple message to him. "Have fun," Guidry said. Igawa did just that, throwing two nearly flawless frames in his first game action since he signed with the Yankees this winter.

Here's a link to a report and video about some of the anti-violence efforts in the city. I'm somewhat torn about this event. We've been very involved in some of the city wide efforts to curb the violence. For a variety of reasons, a member of a local rap group that is getting national attention, Dem Hoodstarz, is playing a big part of the summit. So - I'm feeling torn. I love hip-hop and those who know me know that I'm somewhat progressive in my stance on music. However - I have a hard time asking a group that represents a certain part of urban culture to present an alternative to the violence when their music seems to present a different view. Here's a video that shows them performing at the corner of Clarke and Bay, in front of Price Barber shop - which is one of the local 'hot spots' for drug dealing and violence. On the other hand, the folks that are organizing the event are good people and I'm know they love and care for EPA. Some grew up in ...

Guy Kawasaki's blog has a great post about "The Art of Schmoozing" " Understand the goal. Darcy Rezac in his book, The Frog and the Prince, wrote the world's best definition of schmoozing: “Discovering what you can do for someone else.” Herein lies eighty percent of the battle: great schmoozers want to know what they can do for you, not what the you can do for them. If you understand this, the rest is just mechanics." I consider myself a fairly good schmoozer. As I read his 9 characteristics, I also thought how they can help us shareing our faith, fundraising, poliital action, community organizaing... Are you a good schmoozer? The other eight are: Get out. Schmoozing is an analog, contact sport. You can't do it alone from your office on the phone or via a computer. You may hate them but force yourself to go to tradeshows, conventions, and seminars. It's unlikely that you'll be closing a big order with someone you met online at MySpace or via S...

OK... I know I've been somewhat remiss in my postings. It's been a crazy couple of weeks. Some of you may have gotten the prayer note I sent out last week. If not, here's what I wrote: We began NCUD with the vision to relieve and defeat systemic and generational poverty through the extention of the blessings of the Kingdom of God into our city. Our goal is to effectively give the people the tools and resources to work their way out of poverty. To that end we've been working for the past two years to bring a community development credit union to the community of East Palo Alto. We are coming closer and closer to the 'tipping point' where I can say that our credit union will open this summer! We're not there yet, but, much work has gone on over that past months that have clarified our vision and direction. I'm feeling more and more optimistic that we will be open this summer, perhaps as early as June. I'm specifically asking for your prayers right now...

" Gangs are blamed for 56 percent of the 478 murders in Los Angeles last year. Many of the dead were victims of inter-gang warfare or drive-by shootings so commonplace and so far away from affluent Beverly Hills that they barely make the local news. "Most gang killings involve minorities, black or brown. It is only when something special happens, or a white person is involved, that it becomes newsworthy," said Malcolm Klein, professor of sociology and a gang expert at the University of Southern California. Klein said most kids join gangs for identity, status, reputation and a sense of excitement. Baca said 95 percent of gang members in Los Angeles were high school dropouts "who have basically given up on themselves. Some of them say they do not expect to live beyond age 20." Public apathy is part of the problem. "Even in Los Angeles there is a lot of denial. If you live in Beverly Hills, do you really care what goes on in Compton?" said Wes McBride, d...

Very creative and cool. Love the pictures of the classic artists...

Geez - so much has gone on over the past few weeks. Here are some updates and pics: Bay Area Reload - Our local Reload event was again a success. This year we were at Patten University in Oakland. I haven't seen the final numbers, but I estimate we had just under 300 in attendance. Thanks to all the UYWI staff for their hard work. Also thanks to the BCM staff, Patten staff, School of Urban Missions, our COGIC family and Angie Ibarra from Teen Mania. It was a blessing and honor to again serve with our Bay Area leaders and Larry Acosta's staff from Reload. We're praying that God will bring unity and peace to our region. - East Palo Alto Peace and Unity March - As reported on this blog and in the mass media it's been a violent month in EPA. As a result of the communities efforts to bring peace and unity, a group of local leaders, spearheaded by the Pacific Islander community, planned and hosted a local march. It was a resounding success. I actually got emotional while I ma...

This is Jeremy Del Rio's father. Haven't met him yet - but crashed in his church last time I was in NYC. I can see where Jeremy gets his spirit!

EXCELLANT article (thanks Rudy) in Christianity Today about racism and multi cultural staffing at Christian organizations. I used to take a certain amount of pride in being the first African American on staff at Christianity Today. But I was routinely humbled when I realized that being first isn't all it's cracked up to be. When you're the only one, there's always a sense that you're in an extremely unstable position, as if one healthy gust of wind could topple you—and with you, the hopes of other people with your skin color. Sometimes, I had to remind myself to "be black," to make sure the rest of the editors weren't overlooking some important point or advancing something that might be insensitive to nonwhites. This became exhausting. On the one hand, I wanted to be a good race man and represent "my people" well. But on the other, I hated all that responsibility. I just wanted to be an excellent journalist. The author concludes: So let me p...