Your Value...@iamsophianelson

"You cannot base your life happiness or your value on people who try to tear you down, try to hurt you, who walk away from you, talk about you, lie on you, or worse. Your value is based on how you see and love yourself."

--Sophia Nelson, Esq., Author, Motivational Speaker, and Journalist

http://www.thewomancodebook.com

The History We Need...Carter G. Woodson

We should emphasize not Negro history, but the Negro in history. What we need is not a history of selected races or nations, but the history of the world void of national bias, race hate, and religious prejudice.

--Carter G. Woodson

The Greatest Gift...Ruby Dee

The greatest gift is not being afraid to question.

--Ruby Dee (1922 - 2014)

Protect Your Dreams...Harriet Tubman

Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.

--Harriet Tubman

Leadership Tuesdays: The Numbers Do Not Lie…Mellody Hobson

"Now race is one of those topics in America that makes people extraordinarily uncomfortable. You bring it up at a dinner party or in a workplace environment, it is literally the conversational equivalent of touching the third rail. There is shock followed by a long silence. 

Now, I know that there are people out there who'll say that the election of Barack Obama meant that it was the end of racial discrimination for all eternity, right? But I work in the investment business and we have a saying, 'the numbers do not lie.' ...There is significant quantifiable racial disparities that can not be ignored in household wealth, household income, job opportunities, health care. I [talk] about this issue of racial discrimination because I believe that it threatens to rob another generation of all the opportunities that all of us want for all of our children no matter what their color or where they come from. And I think it threatens to hold back businesses. 

So, I think it's time for us to be comfortable with the uncomfortable conversation about race. Black, White, Asian, Hispanic, male, female, all of us. If we truly believe in equal rights and equal opportunity in America, I think we have to have real conversations about this issue. We can not afford to be color blind. We have to be color brave."*

-Mellody Hobson, President, Ariel Investments; Chairman of the Board, DreamWorks Animation SKG
*This quote is an excerpt from a TED Talk Mellody Hoboson gave on March 20, 2014

Every other Tuesday, WOMEN AT LIBERTY provides a platform for a variety of voices and resources to develop, encourage, and strengthen women leaders. Today's Leadership Tuesdays' post is a courageous talk on race given by Mellody Hobson, President of Ariel Investments, at a TED Conference in March of 2014. Her eloquent discourse regarding an experience she had in 2006 of being mistaken for the "kitchen help" when she showed up with then Congressman Harold Ford (D-Tennessee) for a lunch meeting at the offices of a highly regarded New York publication will make you chuckle because it seems unbelievable. But, yet it is true. As one of only two African American Chairpersons of a publicly traded company (the other person is Ursula Burns of Xerox) she is less well known than a Beyonce or even Oprah Winfrey. However, Ms. Hobson is a highly accomplished, Princeton-educated young woman.

Her talk is both relatable and relevant. She makes a business case for businesses making diversity one of its core values and part of its competitive strategy. She also makes a human argument for why we cannot wait for the next election or another year to confront the issues of race and racial discrimination in America.

To listen to today's feature, click here. For more information on Leadership Tuesdays, click here. 

Setting Our Priorities...Bell Hooks

“When we black people commit ourselves to living simply as a political action, as a way of breaking the stress caused by unrelenting hedonistic desire for material objects that are not needed for survival, or essential to well-being, we will not be talking about Ebonics. We will be out in the streets demanding that the public schools have enough teachers so that all kids, cross color, can read and write in standard English and in Spanish too.”

--Bell Hooks, Black Genius: African-American Solutions To African-American Problems

The Purpose of Rituals...Renita J. Weems

Rituals are routines that force us to move faithfully even when we no longer feel like being faithful. Until our hearts has the time to arouse itself and find its way back to those we love, rituals make us show up for duty.

--Rev. Dr. Renita J. Weems, (@somethingwithin) is a Writer, Clergy, Speaker, Educator, Administrator, Public Thinker, Pastor, Quilter, Blogger, Mentor, Girlfriend, Wife, and Mom.