Summer Equals Festival Time

I remember the winter day I opened up the Globe and Mail only to learn there was a new way to kill people of colour - Vitamin D deficiency. Wow! I thought melanin would protect me for life. Who knew that little gene needs some sunlight.

Well, that makes summer time even more essential and here in the Big O, we got the remedy! I don't think there's a city in the world with more festivals then Ottawa. From Jazz, to Blues, to Garlic to Folk. We've got it all. Beer, Ribs, Greek, Italian, Lebanese, Caribbean, Chinese, Winterludes and Tulips! The list continues.

Nothing says summer though like our music festivals. Die hard fans come to the Jazz and tonight the early act is Trombone Shorty. If you don't know, you better ask somebody. New Orleans in the house! Bringing together the two most beautiful things in the world to make you feel good:: Sun and Music. We they are both vibin' just right, there is nothing better in the world. Add a little of this and a little of that, even better!

So here's to summer and here's to an Ottawa summer. You never cease to amaze!

Shows: Smokey Robinson, Gil Scot Heron, Trombone Shorty, Jimmy Cliff, Arrest Development, Tarmaine Hawkins, Drake!

You better ask somebody. The Big O is where it's at!

Action > Apathy, I am Greater Than Aids
www.3dreads.com
Sent with love from a Crackberry Device

Righteousness Needs No Reward

These last few weeks have challenged me beyond sense. I felt like I was thrown right back to a time that I would normally describe as the worst years of my life. I'm still struggling to understand certain parts of what is going on with me while being with the fact that there is nothing for me to do except BE!

There must be storm before the calm! In many ways I have lost patience with the process of transformation. The seeds that get planted in that process need the time to germinate and grow. I think the velocity I was moving with previously is now being tested like a final exam before I can move to the next course. Different then that type of test, I don't get an assessment or evaluation that has an already developed rubric. There is no Right or Wrong, there is just the BE of it. How do I know what's right? How do I know what's wrong?

The conversations of the head are powerful distractions that keep me preoccupied with and by the unnecessary. Distract me from noticing and keep me inside of the triggers that are also essential for moving forward.

I wrote in a card for someone else what really is my own truth: Have faith in your trust and trust your faith!

I can no longer afford to think of it in terms of lost and found but more in terms of discovery. Some discoveries are things we already knew but forgot we knew while others represent the revelation that is the fuel to the engine empowering our visions!

I am present to myself as the source of my vision and even when I can't see, I have to rely on my other senses to support the one that is suffering from a diminished capacity because of the stories in my mind.

All I can really say after that is the journey continues. My righteousness will receive no reward except Happiness! That is something I can be happy with.
Action > Apathy, I am Greater Than Aids
www.3dreads.com
Sent with love from a Crackberry Device

Why Do I Play Phoenix Basketball? - A Converstation with Veterans!

Toshoy Gaza-more.: Why are people telling kids bullshit about our program? One kid said he doesn't want to play phoenix because of the coaches that's where I lost it
** Jun 7 Mon 20:20 **
Afua: No worries! Their minds are poisoned and this program is not for the ordinary or the regular. Racism is real and it's all good! No fight needed. We know what's real.
** Jun 7 Mon 20:24 **
Afua: Why I coach and who I coach is deeper then the game and that's why some folks can't hear the message. Those we impact, are impacted in the place where it's important - LIFE!
** Jun 7 Mon 20:26 **
Afua: Fight the Power. T, those folks are stupid and they get me pissed like that too. Sometimes I don't understand why people can't see ME! But in the end, those who need to see, SEE!
** Jun 7 Mon 20:34 **
Toshoy Gaza-more.: Reality will hit some people in the hardest way when they are old enough realize what's really going on.
** Jun 7 Mon 20:36 **
Afua: I have to store my patience. That's why I want you to come to he Summit. A different space and a different way of being that reminds me every year to live my vision fulfilled. Those folks don't have vision and when challenged there, they are scared of me because I'm a reflection of what they most fear - THEMSELVES. I'm hitting you there and then the 2nd punch is straight to the gut in the form of a 6 foot 7 inch man who aint scared!
** Jun 7 Mon 20:48 **
Toshoy Gaza-more.: I will love to attend the Summit. This is in August right?
** Jun 7 Mon 20:53 **
Afua: Yes!
** Jun 7 Mon 20:56 **
Gary- Stimulas Strategies: Yeh dude I recommend u go to a summit. Big time. Some of the most important steps I had to take seemed easy cuz of being in the summit space!
** Jun 7 Mon 21:01 **
Toshoy Gaza-more.: Alright
** Jun 7 Mon 21:01 **

Afua: Based on our discussion from yesterday, this is why the Phoenix program is important for the people it's important to. Coach Dub and I see the world for the black athlete through a different lens. Although our way isn't the only way, I'm very well aware of what additional drama can be caused by the others. We don't always get it right. We don't always win. We don't always lose. Honest Intention + Sharing Your Vision + Engaging the Right People = Successful Momentum!
** Jun 8 Tue 10:37 **
Toshoy Gaza-more.: Fascinating. That's when you know you have impacted someone's life.
** Jun 8 Tue 10:43 **
Afua: Impacting lives through basketball. Finding your life's purpose through sport. Worked for me and worked for Coach Dub. We merely give some of what we got plus most of what we missed!
** Jun 8 Tue 10:53 **
Afua: Typically, the guys who have dropped out or who can never come are the guys who are most afraid of what we are offering - an opportunity for them to see their authentic selves! That's why this is not for the ordinary or the weak. So go to Guardsman, go the Next Level. We want more then just "players". We want people who will use what they learn here for a lifetime!
** Jun 8 Tue 11:00 **
Gary- Stimulas Strategies: Amen to that...I can and do talk for days about the phx program. And when I do talk about phx basketball is 33%.
** Jun 8 Tue 11:01 **
Bruh: Let's not even get me started bout phx G..
** Jun 8 Tue 11:02 **
Gary- Stimulas Strategies: How about fitting young men with the tools to thrive in academia, thrive in the corporate world, understand the importance of optimizing our contribution to our selves, family, community, and intellectual capacity and leisure?
** Jun 8 Tue 11:03 **
Gary- Stimulas Strategies: It teaches balance, vision, moral ideals and edicts, team work, passion, fundamentally the bare necessities of life.
** Jun 8 Tue 11:34 **