iZania Blogs

Once, I asked a friend to define success. When have we achieved that pinnacle of success?”  The answer was “Only too much is enough.”

Successful achievers never tire and rest on their laurels – not Tiger Woods, or Jesse Jackson, Magic Johnson, Cornell West, Tavis Smiley, Oprah Winfrey, or Barack Obama. We all know the household names. But we also know teachers, and social workers and foster parents, and preachers and community activists, and entrepreneurs, and parents who never tire of seeking a better outcome for themselves and their families – our community.

I looked around our virtual community to find examples of African Americans committed to this concept in making our community stronger. What I found was tremendously encouraging. We should not be discouraged by what seem to be overwhelming negative outcomes. There are many more examples of positive contributions that don’t get the national headlines that the negative reports receive. To be sure, we should not be satisfied with current outcomes. Too many of our children are living in poverty without proper healthcare; too many of our teenagers are not graduating from high school; college enrollments are not growing fast enough; and the wealth gap persists.

There is also a positive side to this story that gets lost in the statistics. There are more entrepreneurs, professionals and college educated African Americans than ever in our history. Who stopped counting the ones that went before us who are still contributing to our progress every day? There are Black achievers in every aspect of our society – surely not enough, but more success is being achieved every day.

We have an unprecedented set of opportunities just on the horizon that can help make a difference. It is the little things that add up to greatness for our community. Register and VOTE. Mentor a child in an urban school -- even if you live in the suburbs and don't have any children in school. Make a special effort to support excellent Black entrepreneurs. Commit to saving and restoring two-parent Black families. Seek professional mentoring relationships. Honor the wise elders in our community.

We should never stop learning; never stop sharing; never stop caring for those less fortunate; never stop striving for excellence. Here at iZania, we celebrate and profile each of our members and challenge everyone to adopt the attitude that “only too much is enough!”