Gordon Parks was a Black American photojournalist, musician, writer, and film director who among many other things, is known for breaking the "color line" in professional photography.

William Hastie

The first African American federal and appellate judge, William Hastie had a distinguished private law career before being appointed to the United States District Court for the Virgin Islands by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1937. He then worked for two years as a federal judge before becoming a law educator at Howard University School of Law, where he taught the soon-to-be-famous Thurgood Marshall.

Inventor Fred Jones’ contributions during his lifetime were momentous and can be felt to this day. A self-taught and naturally gifted mechanic, Jones invented a portable air-conditioning unit for trucks in 1938. This unit could be used to preserve perishable foods during transport, and the patents Jones was awarded for the product led to the formation of the Thermo King Corporation. His inventions were vital during WWII when they were used to transport blood and medicine to battlefields and hospitals.

Some of his over 60 patents:

U.S. Patent 2,581,956 was issued on January 8, 1952 – For a refrigeration control device.

U.S. Patent 2,666,298 was issued on January 19, 1954 – Methods and means of defrosting a cold diffuser.

U.S. Patent 2,696,086 was issued on December 7, 1954 – Method and means for air conditioning.

U.S. Patent 2,780,923 was issued on February 12, 1957 – A method and means for preserving perishable foodstuffs in transit.

U.S. Patent 2,850,001 was issued on September 2, 1958 – For a control device for an internal combustion engine.

U.S. Patent 2,926,005 was issued on February 23, 1960 – Thermostat and temperature control system.

During this Black History Month, for the next, we are showcasing some of our lesser-known Black American heroes. They may be lesser known not because of their lack of contribution but because their exploits were never taught in history class. Sit back, relax, and listen to how these Americans triumphed against unbelievable odds to become leaders not only in the African American community but national leaders in their own right.

While many were taught that Rosa Parks was the first to famously refuse to give up a bus seat. However, nine months before her 1943 protest in Montgomery, Alabama, then fifteen-year-old Claudette Colvin was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a standing white woman after school. Colvin was then forcibly removed from the bus and arrested, but would later go on to be one of the principal plaintiffs in the Supreme Court case Browder vs. Gayle, which declared bus segregation unconstitutional under the fourteenth amendment.

Ok, it’s year 3 of working from home. But now it has gone from 100% to about 20%-30% at home. I have found myself less motivated to get up and go out to work, but I know I need to. Working from home has become more of a distraction than a blessing- at least to me. Last semester I started going to the office 2 days a week because I had some classes to teach. So when I got to stay home, I was a little more productive with my work life as well as my home life, and any little running around I needed to do- cleaners, supermarket, hmmm liquor store…I could do it and get back to work.

I genuinely believe the hybrid mode of working works better for people. You should be able to balance your work and home life better. A happy and steady home makes for a productive work life, and the same goes for a happy work-life makes for a happier home life.

How has your schedule changed this year? Has it? How are you balancing work/life? Please put it in the comments below, and don’t forget to follow us on Facebook, and Instagram.

Ok, get back to work!

Hello, fellow coffee breakers!

Coffee Breaks is back for season 4.

Once again we’ll enjoy the mindless banter that we all have during our many coffee breaks throughout the day, where nothing is out of bounds… well… AS LONG AS no one else hears us.

Hit the follow and let’s take a coffee break!

Now, get back to work!

It's that time of the year again. We took some time between cooking, sipping, and wrapping presents to share our year with our listeners and followers. Wishing all of you a Happy and Health Holiday season.

Hey Cocktailers and Tabletalkers, it’s that time of year again, the hustle and bustle of holiday time can be stressful, fun, nostalgic, and hopeful.    Join us as we look back, go down memory lane, and set our sights on the upcoming year, we had a FRUITFUL year, and we continued to GROW…you see what I did there?? Fruitful…Grow…our vegetable garden??   Tanisha and I will talk about our new passion, and how it added to our happy home. We got some big plans for 2023, and we want to share some with you. Thank you again for hangin in there as we continually learn and grow (our not intended). So join us as we talk about our years’ greatest joys and some of our lowest lows , and we’ll find out how some of our friends are spending the holiday season and what plans they have for the New Year.

While looking for "Transformational" vegetable gardening tips on YouTube, I stumbled across this speaker. Cheryl Polote-Williamson considers herself a transformational speaker. What do you think is the difference between motivation and transformation? Do you always need some motivation to get certain things done, or do some things? Do you look for motivation in everything you do? How have you "transformed" yourself into who you are today? Are you transformed to the person you want to be? In our coffee talk, we discuss this. Join us.

How do you all handle your mistakes? Work, family, etc. When you discover that you make one are you able to learn from it, change your approach, forgive yourself and move on, or do you get stuck obsessing over why it happened and why you didn’t make a better decision at the time?  Today we talk with a group of men that I know very well. We’ve been friends for over 40yrs. They are husbands, fathers, uncles, and brothers, they are successful in what they do. Leaders in their industry as well as leaders of men and women.  We only see what people choose to show us Everybody has had bad days and mistakes and failures The bad days are there to make the good days all the more worth it Don’t beat yourself up for making the mistake, beat yourself up for not learning from them, and not moving on from it.  There was a question asked about whether or not race plays a role in anything. I think as black men that question always comes up even if it was not part of the scenario, because of how we are as a society and how we know we are seen in various situations.