Author: anwaryusef

Anwar Y. Dunbar is a Regulatory Scientist. Being a naturally curious person, he is also a student of all things. He earned his Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the University of Michigan and his Bachelor’s Degree in General Biology from Johnson C. Smith University (JCSU). Prior to starting the Big Words Blog Site, Anwar published and contributed to numerous research articles in competitive scientific journals reporting on his research from graduate school and postdoctoral years. After falling in love with writing, he contributed to the now defunct Examiner.com, and the Edvocate where he regularly wrote about: Education-related stories/topics, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), Financial Literacy; as well as conducted interviews with notable individuals such as actor and author Hill Harper. Having many influences, one of his most notable heroes is author, intellectual and speaker, Malcolm Gladwell, author of books including Outliers and David and Goliath. Anwar has his hands in many, many activities. In addition to writing, Anwar actively mentors youth, works to spread awareness of STEM careers, serves on the Board of Directors of the Friends of the David M. Brown Arlington Planetarium, serves as Treasurer for the JCSU Washington, DC Alumni Chapter, and is active in the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace Ministry at the Alfred Street Baptist Church. He also tutors in the subjects of biology, chemistry and physics. Along with his multi-talented older brother Amahl Dunbar (designer of the Big Words logos, inventor and a plethora of other things), Anwar is a “Fanboy” and really enjoys Science-Fiction and Superhero movies including but not restricted to Captain America Civil War, Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice, and Prometheus. He is a proud native of Buffalo, NY.

Are you Cooning? Thoughts on Black America’s new favorite racial slur, critical thought, and groupthink

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“SEND UP THE COON SIGNAL!”

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With a key principle of my blog being “Critical/Objective Thought”, I’ll occasionally jump off the STEM- and Financial Literacy-trains to discuss aspects of culture, current events, and politics as I did for Colin Kaepernick’s retirement. Similarly, Black America’s adoption and use of the word “Coon” has been rolling around in my mind for a while and begging me to write a thought-piece about it. Thus, at the risk of upsetting some people and sharing this with the “Dominant Culture”, I’ve decided to capture some of my thoughts and observations regarding modern day usage of this racial slur by the same people it was ironically first used against. If you’re easily offended by the word Coon, you should stop reading now because it and others are mentioned quite a bit in this post.

Send Up The Coon Signal!

In the aftermath of the events in Charlottesville, VA there was controversy, of course, surrounding President Donald J. Trump and his comments on the clash of protestors – particularly that there was wrong doing on both sides. There were quite a few criticisms of his remarks; what he said, how he said them, how quickly he said them, etc. Midweek after that a Facebook “friend” (a fellow African American) posted the link to an article entitled, “Black Christian Leaders Detest Claim That Trump Is the ‘Driver’ of Racial Division in America”. The individual who posted the article wrote joking language tagging another friend and saying to, “Send up the Coon signal,” followed by a number of other posters who contributed numerous pictures and GIF animations about black people and cartoon characters “Cooning”.

I had mixed feelings when I saw the responses, but I was not surprised. On the one hand, yes, it was funny. On the other hand, here was another case of black people ripping other black people because of ideological and philosophical differences. I shared the article on my page to see what would happen, and a good number of other African Americans in my network saw the article and expectedly became angry. Most felt betrayed that these black clergymen and women would defend “#45” as he’s referred to now in many circles.

While this post was in part inspired by Donald J. Trump, it isn’t about Trump per se. It’s about black people lashing out and ridiculing one another due to differences of opinion and points of view. Unfortunately, this is actually common as discussed on one of Mumia Obsidian Ali’s podcasts titled “Dumb it Down”, where he discussed how most of Black America – some of our most respected intellectuals and scholars included, can’t have diverging viewpoints without resorting to personally attacking the opposing side or as we call it in the black community, “Playing the Dozens”.

In the podcast for example, Ali cited Dr. Michael Eric Dyson’s attack of Dr. Cornel West following West’s criticism of the Obama administration – not addressing any of West’s criticisms directly, just verbally attacking him and his character. This squabble between Dr. Dyson and Dr. West represents a toxic dynamic in Black America today – philosophical and political disagreements resulting in emotional backlashes against black people who diverge from the “Social Justice” narrative, and then calling the person a “Coon”. It’s very fascinating to witness when it happens.

Ali further described how individuals including: Dr. Thomas Sowell, Jason Riley, John McWhorter, and Dr. Glen Loury – all great black thinkers and writers have been regarded as “Coons” because of their independent/conservative, and non-social justice ideas and views. Interestingly growing up on Buffalo’s eastside, I’d never heard about Dr. Sowell, the elder of the names mentioned. I was ironically introduced to one of Dr. Sowell’s books, “Inside American Education” by a Greek-American classmate at the University of Michigan one day when discussing politics as we ran our experiments. I didn’t hear anything about him either at Johnson C. Smith University, the HBCU I attended. Anyhow, in his podcast Ali further stated that within Black American social media circles, that it is not uncommon to be met with the term “Coon” for merely disagreeing with a person’s particular personal experience/position or the prevailing zeitgeist of the black community at large.

Taking Ownership Of Racial Insults And Slurs

“Hey!!! What about me? Don’t you hold out on me you big Dummy-Nigger!!! Ha, ha, ha, ha…….”

“Wild Bill” Wharton’s racial slur against John Coffey over not getting any cornbread in The Green Mile features another once humiliating word Black America has taken in as its own. Just like “Nigger”, “Coon” was also a racial slur used against blacks by whites in the Jim Crow era. Actually the Coon was a bigoted caricature of black people with the defining character trait of laziness. I tend to think of it when I think of the old “Minstrel Shows” where in some instances white people would dress up as black people (“Black Face”) and act like clowns and buffoons. In some instances, real black people participated.

In the 1990s, Hip Hop artists like Tupac Shakur took “Nigger” and transformed it into “Nigga” (Never-Ignorant-Getting-Goals-Accomplished), glorifying and popularizing the term, setting off countless debates both within and outside of the black community about who could use it, and if it should be used at all. Recently Bill Maher re-sparked the debate culminating in Ice Cube stating, “It’s our word now,” on Maher’s show. Then as now, some black people found it offensive and demeaning, while others felt as though a negative had been turned into a positive.

Some blacks felt and feel that it’s an accurate descriptor for the worst behaviors of our race – something echoed by many of our most popular comedians. Overall black people couldn’t and can’t seem to agree on it even today. Actually most black people do agree that it’s very offensive when other cultures use it with the exception of maybe Dominicans and Puerto Ricans due to some similarities in lineage and culture.

My First Time Hearing About Cooning

“You’re a COON!!!” I may have been out of the loop, as per usual, but I first heard the modern contexts for “Coon” and “Cooning” when watching one of Tommy Sotomayor’s YouTube videos. He’s one of the many black male YouTubers that I watch. I won’t go into too much detail about Tommy, and I may lose some readers here, but yes I have become a regular viewer and a fan. I don’t know that I would start a show saying the things he says, and in the ways that he says them, but personally coming from my background, he and others like him help explain a lot of things – particularly some of the pathologies in black communities across our country.

In most cases he holds our people responsible for their destructive behaviors and doesn’t blame white people, or dwell in the past. He focuses on what not to do. Tommy does lean conservative and he’s particularly hard on black women – I’m sorry, some black women. Those who regularly watch the show understand the “not all” distinction. He draws more than his fair share of backlash and death threats, and regularly gets accused of “Cooning”.

“Coon Train is coming. Coon Train is coming. Coon Train is coming…”

Tommy’s arch-nemesis, a “Pro-Black” gentleman named Tariq Nasheed, created the “Coon Train Awards” similar to the “Soul Train Awards”. Someone created a jingle with the above words and a montage including Tommy Sotomayor and Jesse Peterson among others. The song is actually funny, and it sometimes pops into my mind. The actual use of the word does make me bristle though, especially when the person called the name is only asking a question, or is thinking differently than the person assigning it.

What is this modern day definition of a Coon? It’s usually angrily and viciously unleashed upon blacks perceived as having ‘white’ points of view in the eyes of ‘woke’ black people. It’s the modern day incarnation of an ‘Uncle Tom’, or ‘Oreo’, or ‘House Nigga’, or the character ‘Uncle Ruckus’ from The Boondocks who usually comes up when someone has been called Coon. It’s someone who is thought to be betraying the race for ‘White Supremacy’. One of the biggest contradictions is that it’s often used by those who would consider themselves pro-black (some of whom themselves indulge in colorism and bigotry against other brown skinned people). Consequently, both Coon and Nigga are terms designating one’s blackness, but in different ways – Nigga having good and bad contexts.

Cooning And Groupthink

Calling someone Coon makes me think about the concept of ‘Groupthink’. A simple search of the term Groupthink on Google brings up the following definition:

“Groupthink is a psychological phenomenon within a group of people in which the desire for harmony and conformity in the group results in an irrational or dysfunctional decision-making outcome. Group members try to minimize conflict and reach a consensus decision without critical evaluation of alternative viewpoints by actively suppressing dissenting viewpoints, and by isolating themselves from outside influences.”

Groupthink is very dangerous and organized religion gets a bad rap from instances where groups of people have been mobilized to do evil deeds in a suicidal fashion (Jonestown), or against non-believers. It’s simply following the herd without thinking. It’s voting a certain way because one’s parents or race traditionally voted or believed a certain way. It’s immediately calling someone a racist, a misogynist, or a sexist without analyzing all of the facts – usually responding off of pure emotion. Groupthink prevents its believers from acknowledging when the other person/side might have good ideas or valid points, strictly because they’re on the other side. These are all things I hear when someone calls someone else a Coon.

Interestingly, use of the word Coon seems to be an artifact of my generation and those behind us. When describing this to my mother’s generation (Boomers) who lived through the Civil Rights Era, and who readily heard this word and others in their youths, many are surprised and disapprove – at least those I’ve talked with. Some elders in general ironically loosely still use the word “Nigga” – sometimes in jest amongst themselves. Perhaps it’s just in our nature to turn negatives into positives, and adopt words that were once used against us.

How Do You Know If You’re Cooning?

Are you Cooning? How do you know if you are? What warrants being called a Coon? Again, it often involves being black and having independent thoughts and conservative values. It could be a matter of criticizing Colin Kaepernick’s protest as Minister Jap and Oshay Duke Jackson did – both black men who were subsequently called “Coons” and in some instances “Klansmen” by some of their commenters – the majority black.

It could be something like saying the single-motherhood rate in the black community is too high and is the major impediment of the black race’s advancement in the United States. It could be pointing out that black people can be just as much, if not more, bigoted than white people – not racist of course, because black people don’t have power. It could be the belief that black people are accountable for their actions and that everything happening in 2017 isn’t the fault of white people. It could be stating that you weren’t offended by the Confederate flags and statues. Lastly, it could be citing and believing statistics arguing that there is an unusually high rate of black on black crime. Cooning could be any of these things and much more.

“You’re a COON!!!” Whenever the word is unleashed on someone there is a definite viciousness to it. The individuals who use it always seem to be angry and have reached a level of frustration with the person they’ve ascribed it to, for not agreeing with their point of view. To see such a display, look up Roland Martin’s show where he hosted the “Prince of Pan-Africanism”, Dr. Umar Johnson. In a panel discussion about the state of Black America, Dr. Johnson readily unleashed the word on some of the other panelists all of whom were black. Martin, who aligns with the Democratic party, bristled at the use of the word, and constantly reminded Dr. Johnson not use it any further. The entire exchange was amusing, but at times shocking to watch.

Have I ever been called a Coon? Yes, I have on Twitter, but it was by someone no one takes seriously. Considering myself an independent – one who doesn’t belong to either political party, and who questions things, I’ll probably be called it to my face before long, but that’s okay. The important thing for me is to think critically and objectively – not solely off of emotion if I can help it, and not necessarily following the herd for the sake of following the herd. So if that makes me a Coon, then so be it.

Conclusions On Cooning

I’ll close by going back to our 45^th President. As I told a cousin who insisted he was a racist over a fiery Thanksgiving dinner discussion prior to the 2016 election, I’ve never heard Donald J. Trump say “Coon” or “Nigga”, but I’ve certainly heard black people say them to other black people quite often. It’s kind of contradictory right? It’s like ‘Pro-Blacks’ mocking other blacks because they’re too dark. I guess it’s okay as long as we’re doing these things to one another.

“You’re a COON!!!” Do I expect the people who enjoy using the word to stop? Of course not. While I stated above that the word is often used out of anger, those using it also seem to get a certain amount of enjoyment and satisfaction from using it. Interestingly, ‘Coon’ in its modern context offends me more than ‘Nigga’ does. So no, I don’t expect much of anything to change, but perhaps I’ve raised awareness here to some degree.

A cousin donated the meme at the beginning of this post in a Facebook thread I was tagged in, started by another cousin who really, really wants President Trump impeached. I used pictures of Dr. Ben Carson and Sheriff David Clarke, Jr. in this post because their books just happened to be in stock at my local Barnes & Noble recently. The same is true for Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, though I couldn’t find a good picture of Dr. Thomas Sowell. The newspaper photos were courtesy of the Washington Post’s daily morning express edition handed out during my morning commute.

Both Carson and Clarke are well known for different reasons, and both are considered Coons. Sheriff Clarke is unashamedly conservative and strongly believes in law and order. I saw Dr. Carson speak live during graduate school for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday when he still had his legendary status.

He’s intriguing not only because he’s also a Michigan alumnus, but because this brilliant and gifted neurosurgeon has fallen from grace in parts of the black community due to his conservative politics, traditional values, and his working in the Trump administration. In the eyes of many, his medical and scientific accomplishments are now forever tainted. Lastly, while I’ve discussed only men in this piece, there are black women who draw similar criticisms – Deneen Borelli, and Stacy Dash come to mind.

I want to thank my brother and a group of friends for being my test audience for this potentially volatile topic. We collectively discuss these issues all week long. I especially want to acknowledge the Gaines brothers for turning me onto Tommy Sotomayor, Obsidian Radio, and the other black male YouTubers. Without the discussions on their channels and podcasts, I wouldn’t have known most of this stuff was going on, and I wouldn’t have had the perspective to craft this post.

Thank you for taking the time out to read this blog post. If you enjoyed this post, you might also enjoy:

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If you’ve found value here and think it would benefit others, please share it and/or leave a comment. I’ve started a YouTube channel which is entitled, Big Discussions76. To receive all of the most up to date content from the Big Words Blog Site, subscribe using the subscription box in the right hand column in this post and throughout the site, or add the link to my RSS feed to your feedreader. Lastly, follow me on Twitter at @BWArePowerful, on Instagram at @anwaryusef76, and at the Big Words Blog Site Facebook page. While my main areas of focus are Education, STEM and Financial Literacy, there are other blogs/sites I endorse which can be found on that particular page of my site.

Michigan beats Florida 33-17: A recap of the maize and blue’s 2017 season opener

On September 2, my No. 11 Michigan Wolverines opened their 2017 campaign with a 33-17 victor over the No. 17 Florida Gators down at AT&T Stadium in Dallas, Tx. The win was a pleasant surprise following last season’s stumble to the finish line where the maize and blue lost three of its last four games to Iowa, Ohio State, and finally Florida State in the Citrus Bowl. See my summary of our controversial and painful loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes (damn the B1G officiating crew that day), and then the circus which led to the selection of the 2017 College Football Playoff which Clemson ultimately won.

Many fans wondered how the Wolverines would look with so many players needing to step up and into the starting lineup for the first time. My personal feeling going into this season was to approach it with low expectations as our team was going to be young and would likewise have to figure some things out along the way. That’s what I thought when Coach Jim Harbaugh wearing his signature kakis, trotted out his team wearing surprisingly all-maize uniforms.

After winning the coin toss, Coach Harbaugh elected to kick first giving us a look at Defensive Coordinator Don Brown’s new young unit. I must say that they looked very good, aggressive and hungry. They were led on the defensive line by Rashan Gary, and Maurice Hurst. Our linebacker core which returned only Mike McCray looked particularly aggressive as well led by sophomore middle linebacker Devin Bush, Jr., who almost got himself taken out of the game on Florida’s first offensive series. The secondary snatched a couple of interceptions as well from both Feleipe Franks and Malik Zaire – neither being able to get into a rhythm.

Our offense? That was a different story. I’m probably not alone in thinking that our offense is going to rely heavily on the play of fourth year junior Wilton Speight who stands at 6’6”, and has a strong arm, but who struggled down the stretch last year after a fast start. After throwing a touchdown to Tarik Black on a play-action pass, Speight threw two interceptions – one bouncing off the hands of his target and the other an overthrow both of which were pick 6s leading to a 17-13 Florida lead at halftime. After being pulled out the next two series for John O’ Korn, Speight returned and was under control the rest of the game. He finished completed 11 of 25 passes for 187 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions.

The bright spot of the offense was the running game. Our ground game yesterday with Chris Evans and Ty Isaacs carrying the ball behind the left side of the line, showed signs of explosiveness – something I think that hurt us last year and would have been the difference against Iowa and Ohio State. If the running game is solid this season and compliments Wilton Speight’s arm, I think it’s going to be a good year and the Michigan faithful will be singing “The Victors” regularly and often. Our kicking game looked good too with though our new kicker Quin Nordin who hitting two 50-yard field goals and accounting for 12 of the Wolverines’ points.

Overall I was personally pleased with yesterday’s performance, especially the defense which will keep us in every game if they continue to play like that. Offenses which involve rhythm and timing sometimes take a few games to gel, and I’m confident Coach Harbaugh and Coach Drevno will eventually have the unit clicking. I’ll still watch cautiously though. It’s a four month season and anything can happen – injuries in particular as we found out last year with Wilton Speight’s collarbone, and the year before that with Ryan Glasgow’s forearm – both changing the trajectory of their respective seasons. Also keep in mind that a number of Florida’s players were suspended for yesterday’s game so we might not have gotten their best punch though the way they looked, it may not have made much of a difference.

Oh and by the way, Ohio State won handily over Indiana 49-21 in a cupcake of a first game. I’m sure all of us will be keeping an eye on Urban Meyer’s Buckeyes in anticipation of our matchup with them on November 25. We’ll also be keeping an eye on the Michigan State Spartans. Both teams travel to the Big House this season. Both beat us on controversial plays in 2015 and 2016, so perhaps this year we can send them both home with losses. Look for another blog post from me after the Michigan State game. GO BLUE!!!!!

Thank you for taking the time out to read this blog post. If you’ve found value here and think it would benefit others, please share it and/or leave a comment. To receive all of the most up to date content from the Big Words Blog Site, subscribe using the subscription box in the right hand column in this post and throughout the site. Lastly, follow me on Twitter at @BWArePowerful. While my main areas of focus are Education, STEM and Financial Literacy, there are other blogs/sites I endorse which can be found on that particular page of my site.

A Look at STEM: What is Toxicology?

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“In terms of toxicology, it is the dose makes the poison!”

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Toxicology: The Sister Science of Pharmacology

Similar to Pharmacology, the field of Toxicology is centuries old and is very complex regarding the wealth and depth of information available. It is also still evolving today. The goal of this post is not to address every detail of the field, but instead to give readers a basic introductory understanding of the discipline. Further details about the many aspects of Toxicology can be accessed online, or in scientific journals.

When I meet people outside of my scientific circles at career and STEM fairs, Toxicology doesn’t get confused with other disciplines the way Pharmacology and Pharmacy do – I thus won’t open with a story about misunderstandings. I’ll simply say that Toxicology an exciting field with vast opportunities for individuals who are trained in it. Following my principle of “Creating Ecosystems of Success”, I wanted to write an overview of the field – particularly for parents and young students who have an aptitude for science and may be interested in Toxicology as a career one day. As you’ll see later on, Toxicology is an important component of numerous industries, and scientists with this training will never be without jobs.

Doses and Poisons: Paracelsus’ Riddle

“The dose makes the poison,” is the popular toxicology adage credited to the Swiss physician and alchemist Paracelsus. Simply put, given the proper dose, even chemicals and substances considered harmless can be poisonous – too much sugar or water for example. Dosage or the amount of a substance one is exposed to is a key component of Toxicology – keep this in mind as you read through this post. Also keep in mind the route of exposure. Toxicologists are always considering that an individual can be poisoned through oral ingestion, or through either dermal or inhalation exposures.

I think of Pharmacology and Toxicology as “sister” sciences – both dealing with the effects of xenobiotics on living systems. While Pharmacology focuses more on the therapeutic effects of xenobiotics, Toxicology focuses on the harmful effects – in most cases humans but in some instances other mammalian and non-mammalian species. These effects can occur on the molecular, cellular, tissue, and whole organism levels. While Pharmacology and Toxicology are separate disciplines, they have several overlapping principles and skill sets allowing individuals credentialed in one to work in the other.

Toxicology and Drugs

I’ll start my discussion of why Toxicology is important with drugs. Both biotechnology and large pharmaceutical compan9ies have to understand and report a drug’s toxicological profile to the federal government before selling it to the general public. Many promising drugs actually never make it to market because they’re too toxic. Some actually make it and are then recalled – Rezulin for example.

There are also both clinical and research contexts for Toxicology. Similar to Pharmacology, all medical practitioners (Anesthesiologists, Physicians, Pharmacists, Nurses, Surgeons, etc.) must receive some toxicology training as they all need an understanding of the potential toxicities of the drugs they’ll ultimately prescribe. They need to understand how much of a given pharmaceutical will be beneficial vs. harmful to patient – a drug’s “Therapeutic Index”. If the patient is taking multiple medications, “Drug-Drug” interactions can result – toxicities and side effects resulting from one or more drugs being present in the body at the same time causing others be poisonous. The patient’s current liver and kidney function are critical here as well as they will ultimately determine how long the drugs persist in the body. In an emergency room, physicians must often determine what a patient may have been poisoned by in order make swift life-saving decisions.

Forensic Toxicologists are instrumental in solving crimes and deaths. They’re masters of detecting chemicals in the body’s tissues and understanding how they may have led to a victim’s death. Michael Jackson’s overdose on “Propofol” comes to mind, and is just one of many examples.

Toxicology in Research Settings

In the research context, think about experimentation in laboratory settings – well designed studies run by scientists asking questions and looking for specific answers. Initial toxicological studies typically involve determining how a toxicant exerts its effect on the molecular and then on the tissue/organ levels – similar to how Pharmacologists identify new drug targets. After determining a toxicant’s molecular mechanism, there is then the need to determine the toxic dose range of the chemical at the molecular, tissue and whole animal levels. This is called a “Dose Response” – a critical tool of both Pharmacology and Toxicology where scientists look to determine if increasing the amount of the chemical in question, increases the amount of biological response. This applies to a broad spectrum of chemicals – pharmaceuticals and industrial chemicals alike.

What am I referring to when I say industrial chemicals? Simply look around your home at all of the products you use daily including: household cleaners, cosmetics, pesticides (Raid for example), and even additives and preservatives in some the foods we consume. Thus when you think about Toxicology, think very broad in terms of scope. For this reason, individuals with toxicology training will never be without jobs as everything we use must be screened for safety. Toxicologists are currently in high demand.

Sub-Disciplines of Toxicology

Similar to Pharmacology, there are numerous sub-disciplines within Toxicology. The following is a list of some of the major areas beyond what’s been described thus far. These areas are heavily considered by government agencies and private sector companies who all need toxicologists to create new products, determine the safety of those products, and lastly determine the fate of those products once used:

Aquatic, Eco- and Environmental Toxicology: While these are distinct disciplines all in themselves, I’ve grouped them together for simplicity. They collectively consider toxicity to non-human life – aquatic, avian, other terrestrial life. They consider what happens to ecosystems if a particular species is inadvertently killed off. Some questions involve where the toxicant goes in our environment, how long it stays there, and if it breaks down into something else more or less toxic.
Computational (In silico) Toxicology: Uses computational models, to predict mammalian toxicities. “Tox21” is a current effort to minimize animal testing using computational and predictive models.
Entomotoxicology: Determines how a given chemical is toxic to insect species. This is very important for the creation of pesticides, and it’s also critical for Ecotoxicology as the chemical designed to control specific insects may easily kill something else unintended.

Food Safety Toxicology: Looks at the potential toxicity of man-made or natural ingredients intentionally added to our food. Heat formed compounds are of particular concern – acrylamide and furan are examples which can spontaneously form during the cooking of certain precursor molecules. Lastly the ingredients in food packaging are also considered as they can be ingested through the foods they are in contact with.
Forensic Toxicology: As described above, deals with the solving of crimes – often determining what a victim was poisoned with.
In vitro Toxicology: Characterizes how a toxicant works using cell models and protein systems as opposed to whole animals.

Mammalian Toxicology: Studies the effects of a given toxicant on mammalian systems – traditionally using animals to model to human toxicity. Experiments can be designed over multiple dose ranges and through any of the three routes of exposure – oral, dermal or inhalation. Time of these studies can range from hours to days, to years. Varying indices can be studied such as life-stage sensitivity, cancer potential, or the ability to inhibit one’s immune response. Mammalian toxicology is very important in “Regulatory” settings described below.
Modes of toxic action: Characterizes how toxicants exert their action on the molecular, cellular and whole animal levels. This information can be used to design chemicals to control something like a pest, or to determine how a cancer tumor-type forms.
Medical Toxicology: As described above, deals with the prevention of patient poisoning in medical settings.
Occupational Toxicology: Involves potential toxicity to workers who are in contact with a given toxicant and may get exposed through their skin or through inhalation.

Regulatory Toxicology (Private Sector): When the private sector creates a product, it must work with federal and state government agencies to determine the safety of that product. The products can be: drugs, pesticides, cosmetics, food additives, paints – you name it. Regulatory Toxicologists in the private sector must understand government laws and guidelines for the products they’re creating – knowing which animal and in vitro studies to run to get their product registered in the most cost efficient way.
Regulatory Toxicology (Public Sector): Involves government and state agencies determining the safety of products produced by private industry. This usually consists of considering real world human exposures, and looking at any pertinent data (animal, in vitro, exposure or physical chemical) that might help model those exposures to determine levels of safety or lack thereof.
Toxicogenomics: Similar to Pharmacogenomics, looks at the genetics unique to individuals to determine potential increased toxicity for that individual.
Toxinology: Deals specifically with animal, plant and microbial toxins.
Toxicokinetics: Similar to the description in my Pharmacology post, Toxicokinetics deals with how the body handles toxicants in terms of absorption (entry to the body), tissue accumulation (distribution), biotransformation (metabolism) of the molecule, and excretion (elimination). I will revisit Pharmacokinetics and Toxicokinetics in greater detail in a separate post.

Toxicology Careers and Training

So have I convinced you that toxicologists are literally everywhere? Similar to pharmacologists, toxicologists can leverage their skill sets to work in other capacities besides academia, and the public and private sectors. When combined with other fields such as law and business, toxicologists can start their own companies – consulting for example, and in some cases they can create new health-related technologies and innovations.

Depending on the degree level earned and where the scientist is employed, Pharmacologists can start earn starting salaries of $60,000-$70,000. There are numerous avenues by which to pursue training in Toxicology. According the website of the Society of Toxicology, training can start as early as high school and the amount of training one pursues (Bachelors, Masters, Ph.D.) will depend upon specific career goals. As there is tremendous overlap in skill sets of scientists in the biomedical sciences, one need not have a degree in “Toxicology” per se to work in the field in most cases. An exception is the federal government which is very stringent in terms of matching one’s academic credentials exactly with job openings regardless of one’s actual scientific training and expertise. An individual for example with a Masters or Ph.D. in another biological science, MD, or a DVM for example can receive training in Toxicology through postdoctoral fellowship.

Certifications in Toxicology and the Society of Toxicology

Toxicology also has a unique certification – the Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology (DABT). Earning one’s DABT allows toxicologists to be nationally certified which is particularly important in the private sector, and in capacities such as serving as expert witnesses in litigations. The European Union has a similar certification titled “European Registered Toxicologists” (ERT).

If you are interested in learning more about the exciting field of Toxicology, I suggest that you visit the website of the Society of Toxicology (SOT) – the major professional society for Toxicology. Click on the “Careers” tab and scroll down to the “Becoming a Toxicologist” tab. A wealth of information is available talking about numerous aspects of the field. Similar to Pharmacology, Toxicology has its own annual meeting hosted by SOT where scientists gather to network, discuss their results, employers seek new job prospects, and companies show their latest devices and technologies.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post, and I hope I was able to shed some light onto what Toxicology is. If you enjoyed this post, you might also enjoy:

• A look at STEM: What is Pharmacology?
• A look at STEM: What is Inhalation Toxicology?
• A look at STEM: What is ADME/Drug Metabolism?
• A look at STEM: Blockchain Technology, a new of conducting business and record keeping

A special thank you is also extended to Dr. Chester Rodriguez for his contribution to this post, and sharing the importance of earning one’s DABT.

The Big Words LLC Newsletter

For the next phase of my writing journey, I’m starting a monthly newsletter for my writing and video content creation company, the Big Words LLC. In it, I plan to share inspirational words, pieces from this blog and my writers blog, and select videos from my four YouTube channels. Finally, I will share updates for my book project The Engineers: A Western New York Basketball Story. Your personal information and privacy will be protected. Click this link and register using the sign-up button at the bottom of the announcement. If there is some issue signing up using the link provided, you can also email me at [email protected] . Best Regards.

Are we losing our soft skills due to technology?

One of the principles of my blog is “Critical/Objective Thought” meaning that I usually try to see things from all angles as opposed to just one. I might lose some readers here, but yes I do switch between CNN and Fox News when trying to understand what’s happening politically and in current events. Recently Tucker Carlson interviewed Mike Rowe of the show “Dirty Jobs”. I support Rowe and his messages about all jobs being necessary and important (even the dirty ones), and that our society has over glamorized college and the pursuit of white-collar jobs at the expense of trades, and blue-collar jobs.

Towards the end of their discussion, Carlson and Rowe talked about the growing use of Emojis which have become a very, very popular form of digital communication using symbols as opposed to complete or even truncated words (great vs gr8 for example). Rowe said something very interesting which is that the use of these Emojis (and social media) may be eroding the “Soft Skills” in our society – particularly for individuals seeking employment which involves talking with potential employers during face to face interviews, and where understanding the nuances and complexities of both verbal and nonverbal communication is highly advantageous. He further said that he would encourage individuals looking for jobs these days (some for the first time) to develop their Soft Skills.

According to Investopedia, “Soft Skills” are character traits and interpersonal skills that characterize a person’s relationships with other people. Just off the top of my head, Soft Skills involve being able to speak clearly, listen and also understand the nuances of verbal and non-verbal communication – making eye contact with other individuals, and being able to give more than one word answers for example. It can also involve being able to read someone’s mood by the answers they give and don’t give, or simply their body language. Again these are important on job interviews.

But a job interview is just getting your foot in the door. What about staying at that position? Once hired, soft skills can make all of the difference in the world in terms of excelling in that particular position and helping an organization thrive – particularly when achieving the mission involves working on teams. In any organization there are personalities to work with and juggle which can affect the mission. Some personalities work well together while others clash. There are rare individuals who get along with everyone. Personality clashes and petty bickering can cause production to grind to a screeching halt to the detriment of that organization. Soft kills are critical in navigating interpersonal issues and conflict resolution.

“Emotional Intelligence” can fall under soft skills. According to Psychology Today, Emotional Intelligence is defined as the ability to identify and manage your own emotions and the emotions of others. The other are explanations for it, but I tend to think of it in terms of forming alliances, and not burning bridges. This involves awareness of self and of others – understanding what drives your colleagues, understanding current and past rivalries between colleagues, understanding who is on the fast track towards promotion, and also being more emotionally proactive and less reactive in adverse circumstances, particularly in groups – meetings for example. A good example of Emotional Intelligence is being happy for a newly promoted colleague as opposed to being outwardly bitter – or at least not openly showing your disappointment and letting it affect your performance.

Where does one learn soft skills? We actually learn our soft skills from a multitude of places. Here I will defer to Dr. Ralph G. Perrino’s essay titled, “The Socialization Process and Its Impact on Children and Learning”. In his essay Dr. Perrino, a veteran educator, describes the most profound external forces on the development of children and teens all of which have lingering effects well into adulthood:

The family from which one’s “Ascribed” status is derived;
Attendances at a public school or an exclusive, elite private school;
The composition of peer groups;
Exposure to mass culture and media;
Involvement in voluntary groups and;
Religious affiliation/spirituality.

Soft skills can further be learned and improved through reading and formal trainings. One of my favorite trainings offered through my job is the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. Soft skills can also be learned through in depth discussions with mentors – particularly those in leadership positions with years and years of experience leading others. Lastly, Soft skills can be learned just by observing others.

I’ll close by going back to Mike Rowe’s question. Is technology negatively impacting our soft skills? I would say that it can. In some instances, communication over email and or text-messaging can be easily misunderstood which is particularly detrimental when there are conflicts to be worked out. Digitally you can’t look into someone’s eyes, see their body language, or gauge the dynamics of a group in real time. These are all things for “Millenials” and subsequent generations to be aware of. With the new technologies that captains of industry such as Elon Musk are working on, and with the coming of Artificial Intelligence, this is something to be very cognizant of for students, educators, employees and employers alike.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you enjoyed this one, you might also enjoy:

• We should’ve bought Facebook and Bitcoin stock: An investing and technology story
• A look at STEM: Blockchain technology, a new way of conducting business and record keeping
• A Cryptocurrency App Case Study
• Why SEO really is the key to a successful online business
• The Best Apps for Crypto Investment
• Who will have the skills to benefit from Apple’s $350 billion investment?

If you’ve found value here and think it would benefit others, please share it and/or leave a comment. To receive all of the most up to date content from the Big Words Blog Site, subscribe using the subscription box in the right hand column in this post and throughout the site. Please visit my YouTube channel entitled, Big Discussions76. You can follow me on the Big Words Blog Site Facebook page, and Twitter at @BWArePowerful. Lastly, you can follow me on Instagram at @anwaryusef76. While my main areas of focus are Education, STEM and Financial Literacy, there are other blogs/sites I endorse which can be found on that particular page of my site.

A Look at STEM: What is Pharmacology?

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“Simply put, Pharmacy is the study of what drugs do to man, and Pharmacology is the study of what man does to drugs!”

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The Field of Pharmacology

The field of Pharmacology is centuries old and it is very complex with respect to the wealth and depth of information available. It is still evolving today. The goal of this post is not to address every detail of the field, but instead to give readers a basic introductory understanding of the discipline. Further details about the many aspects of Pharmacology can be accessed online, or in scientific journals.

I earned my Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the University of Michigan. I admittedly didn’t understand the field initially, although I did know that it dealt with drugs and hoped that a degree in it would one day secure a position for me in the Pharmaceutical industry. Since starting my studies in 1999, completing my degree in 2005, and starting my current career as a Regulatory Scientist, I’ve gotten the same question over and over again, “You have a background in Pharmacology? Are you a Pharmacist?” At Career and STEM Fairs, I get this question a lot, and thus following my principle of “Creating Ecosystems of Success“, I wanted to write a brief overview of the field – particularly for parents and young students who have an aptitude for science and may be interested in Pharmacology as a career one day.

Pharmacology and Pharmacy: What’s the Difference?

“Simply put, Pharmacy is the study of what drugs do to man, and Pharmacology is the study of what man does to drugs,” said one of the Cancer Pharmacology faculty in our Principles of Pharmacology course during my first year of graduate school. This statement explained in a very simple way some of the differences between the two disciplines. Pharmacy is the study of the actual drugs administered to patients as therapeutic agents and its practitioners work at various institutions including hospitals, medical centers, and drug stores – CVS for example. Pharmacists are health professionals, earn Doctor of Pharmacy degrees (Pharm Ds), are experts on medications, and are responsible for dispensing medicines. Pharmacology is a basic research science that studies the mechanisms underlying the therapeutic effects of pharmaceuticals and potential drug candidates with the goal of developing and testing of new drugs.

All medical practitioners (Anesthesiologists, Physicians, Pharmacists, Nurses, Surgeons, etc.) must take Pharmacology courses as they all need some understanding of the mechanisms of the drugs they ultimately prescribe. Pharmacologists are the actual researchers performing experiments trying to create new drugs and identify new drug targets. They further seek to characterize how mammalian systems (in most cases human although they are also involved in developing veterinary drugs) handle molecules at the molecular, cellular, tissue and whole organism levels. It’s a vast field with many areas of specialization that I’ll discuss in the remainder of this post.

Sub-Disciplines of Pharmacology

Pharmacology classically can be divided into two parts; Pharmacokinetics, which deals with how the drug is absorbed and eliminated by the body, and Pharmacodynamics, which deals with how the drug exerts its medicinal effect mechanistically. The following sub-disciplines within Pharmacology generally fall under one of these two umbrellas or, in most cases, are a mixture of the two. Each of us or someone we know has taken a drug or a treatment which has been impacted by one of these areas. Any pharmacologist reading this can easily further parse this list out into greater detail, but again this was written for a general audience:

ADME/Drug Metabolism: Deals with how the body handles the therapeutic molecules in terms of absorption (entry to the body), tissue accumulation (distribution), biotransformation (metabolism) of the molecule, and excretion (elimination). Another focus of ADME/Drug Metabolism is “Drug Transport” which focuses on how drugs are absorbed and effluxed from cells using membrane channels and transporters impacting their effectiveness. I will revisit ADME/Drug Metabolism in greater detail in a separate post as me and some of my peers know it pretty well and find it to be a very exciting aspect of both Pharmacology and Toxicology.
Antimicrobial Pharmacology: Involves the control of bacteria, fungi, and viruses to fight off or prevent infections.
Autonomic Pharmacology: Deals with how the drug interacts with the Autonomic Nervous System (that part of the nervous system responsible for controlling bodily functions that are not consciously directed such as the heartbeat, breathing, and the digestive system) particularly through pathways involving epinephrine, norepinephrine, dopamine, and seratonin.
Cancer Pharmacology: Deals with drugs used in the treatment of cancer – usually some form of chemotherapy.
Cardiovascular Pharmacology: Deals with drugs used in treatment of heart disease and regulation of blood pressure. A well-known class is the “Statins” – cholesterol lowering drugs such as “Lipitor“.
Endocrine and Receptor Pharmacology: Deals with how a given drug binds, interacts or even blockades a given cellular receptor, and then what the receptor does or doesn’t do to impact the homeostasis of that cell or tissue. The receptor can be membrane bound or cytosolic (many hormone receptors).
Drug Discovery: Typically associated with the private sector and deals with the identification of new drug entities and the identification of new drug targets. In industry, pharmacologists generally refer to drugs as either “small molecules” which are our classic drugs like Aspirin (~180 g/mol), or “large molecules” (as heavy as 150,000 g/mol) also known as “biologics” which are generally proteins which have therapeutic effects. An example is Abbvie’s “Humira”. The units “g/mol” or grams per mole designate a chemical’s molecular weight and as you can see the size difference between the two classes is considerable.
Neuropharmacology: Similar to Autonomic Pharmacology but deals with all of the other parts of the nervous system such as pain responses – analgesics and anesthetics for example.
Pharmacogenomics: This new and exciting field looks at the genetics unique to individuals to determine the best treatments and dosages for that individual.

The Clinical and Research Sides of Pharmacology

For each of these sub-disciplines there is a clinical side and a research side. The clinical side is self-explanatory – it involves treating patients for various diseases as well as the prevention of illness by the above mentioned medical practitioners. Think of the many medications you have been prescribed when you go to see medical doctors when you’re sick or for checkups, emergencies or surgeries. But where do these medications come from originally? Also, where will new medications come from in the future?

Academic and Industrial Research

This is where the research side come comes into play. At institutions like my alma mater, and in the private sector, there are scientists working year round on research projects asking questions about current medications in addition to trying to unlock the secrets of nature to create new therapeutics. The investigations they perform involve testing molecules using whole animal models, cellular models, and in vitro systems to ask questions at the molecular level (proteins, lipids, DNA and RNA) about what the compound does. It’s this research that can get very esoteric to the general public and that is published in academic journals including: Drug Metabolism and Disposition, the Journal of Pharmaceutical and Experimental Therapeutics, and Molecular Pharmacology.

Pharmaceutical companies like Merck and Pfizer conduct research as well but instead of doing it strictly to find new knowledge, it’s to create new drugs that they can sell. The same is true for smaller Biotech companies like Biogen. Both need scientists with backgrounds in Pharmacology. The Federal Government also employs scientists with backgrounds in Pharmacology to determine the safety of new drugs before they can be prescribed to the general public. The same is true for food products and chemicals used in those products, so Pharmacologists are literally everywhere.

Careers in Pharmacology and Training

Depending on the degree level earned and where the scientist is employed, Pharmacologists can start earn starting salaries of $60,000-$70,000. Pharmacologists generally receive their training at major research universities. While undergraduates can get training in Pharmacology – nursing students for example, degrees in Pharmacology are usually conferred at the Masters and Ph.D. levels and support for the student’s educational expenses as well as a modest salary are provided. Upon attaining these degrees, scientists then determine which sector they want to pursue – academia, the private or public sectors, or nontraditional careers. With the skills obtained in graduate school, scientists with these backgrounds have the flexibility to combine their knowledge sets with other disciplines to go into a wide variety of areas in addition to drug discovery in pharmaceutical companies and biotechs including: consulting, Toxicology, patent law and even starting their own companies.

The Professional Societies for Pharmacology

If you are interested in learning more about the exciting field of Pharmacology, I suggest that you visit the website of the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET). You can then click on the Education & Careers link near the top of the page. In the right hand column, there is a link titled About Pharmacology, that provides a great deal of interesting information. Speaking of ASPET, all scientific disciplines have their own professional societies with annual meetings that rotate cities every year, and where scientists congregate to show their results, and network. The two major professional societies for pharmacologists are ASPET, and the International Society for the Study of Xenobiotics (ISSX).

Thank you for taking the time to read this post, and I hope I was able to shed some light onto what Pharmacology is. If you enjoyed this post, you might also enjoy:

• A look at STEM: What is Toxicology?
• A look at STEM: What is ADME/Drug Metabolism?
• A look at STEM: What is Inhalation Toxicology?
• A look at STEM: Blockchain Technology, a new way of conducting business and record keeping

A special thank you is also extended to Dr. Paul Hollenberg, Chair of the Department of Pharmacology at The University of Michigan when I was a student, who graciously looked at this post and gave feedback prior my publishing it.

The Big Words LLC Newsletter

A review of Marvel’s Spider-Man: Homecoming

I recently wrote a review of the Tupac biopic All Eyez on Me. Prior to that, shortly after starting my blog, I co-wrote movie reviews with my brother Amahl Dunbar for Marvel’s Dr. Strange and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story – both of the Super Hero and Science Fiction genres. We followed those two films up with a review of Hidden Figures which had a more historical focus. In this review we’re returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) with a review of their latest offering, Spider-Man: Homecoming starring Tom Holland (Spider-Man/Peter Parker), Robert Downey, Jr. (Iron Man/Tony Stark), and Michael Keaton (The Vulture).

Amahl Dunbar: This latest version of Spider-Man was designed to fit neatly into the MCU. For that reason I feel the script was too safe. It had a couple of twists I didn’t expect, but I felt the biggest surprises were the explanations of his powers for this version of the character which differed from the previous versions. As an inventor myself, I really enjoyed the winged flight suit worn by Spidey’s villain, the Vulture, portrayed by Michael Keaton. Whenever the Vulture suit was on screen, I was almost taking notes in my head regarding designs and how something like that might work in the real world.

Anwar Dunbar: I think Spider-Man: Homecoming was well worth the wait and anticipation. I won’t give an overview of the whole movie so as not to ruin it for anyone who hasn’t seen it yet. Instead I’ll just touch upon what stood out to me. Spider-Man: Homecoming tells the story of the Tom Holland’s Spider-Man who has had two previous incarnations (Toby Maguire and Andrew Garfield). As Amahl stated, the story was now intentionally told as a part of the MCU.

I think Tom Holland played very well as Spider-Man/Peter Parker albeit slightly younger than Maguire’s and Garfield’s renditions. What stood out to me though was how the writers modified the story in comparison to the previous versions where a key thread was the murder of Peter’s Uncle Ben, and his subsequent tending to his elderly Aunt Mae. In this version, Aunt Mae (Marissa Tomei) is much younger, and there is no mention of Uncle Ben up to this point. There were other slight changes to some of the other characters – specifically a more ethnically diverse cast.

In Uncle Ben’s absence, Peter Parker’s mentor has become Tony Stark/Iron Man which we first saw in Captain America: Civil War. It creates a much different dynamic but it causes Spider-Man to contemplate joining the Avengers – a major underlying thread of the story. Speaking of the Avengers, the writers and director did a masterful job weaving the Spider-Man: Homecoming story into the events of Captain America: Civil War and remind us that Peter’s journey is not happening in isolation. The same is true for Michael Keaton’s character the Vulture. His story is also not happening in isolation and instead is a part of the Avengers story arc.

The ending surprised me in numerous ways but mostly in terms of the characters. As Amahl discussed about the Vulture’s suit, I thought the technology was very impressive, particularly the Stark Industries version of the Spider-Man suit and all it could do. I really enjoy how the Marvel writers weave science into their stories in general. Overall I thought the movie was a lot fun and kept the trademark humor and whit of the Spider-Man franchise. Spider-Man: Homecoming does a good job keeping our MCU stomachs full while we wait for Thor: Ragnarok, Black Panther, and Avengers: Infinity War.

Thank you for taking the time to read our review. Our Twitter handles are @amahldunbar and @BWArePowerful. If you liked this review, please do click the “like” button, leave comments, and share it. If you’ve found value here and think it would benefit others, please share it and or leave a comment. To receive all of the most up to date content from the Big Words Blog Site, subscribe using the subscription box in the right-hand column in this post and throughout the site or add the link to my RSS feed to your feedreader. Please visit my YouTube channel entitled, Big Discussions76. Lastly in addition to Twitter, follow me on the Big Words Blog Site Facebook page. While my main areas of focus are Education, STEM and Financial Literacy, there are other blogs/sites I endorse which can be found on that particular page of my site.

Kaep steps away: discussions on Colin Kaepernick’s early retirement from the NFL

While the main areas of my blog are Education, STEM and Financial Literacy, I will occasionally comment on Social and Political topics where I see it appropriate – especially when they relate to principles of my blog – in this case critical thought, and empowering others. This particular topic has the potential to get people fired up due its polarizing nature but I’ve decided to reach my hand into the fire nonetheless. In writing this I’m not seeking to give an opinion that everyone should follow – just to capture the main points and questions from the discussions that have ensued. I have to give credit where it is due in that I decided to write something about this after listening to the YouTube channels of Minister Jap, and Oshay Duke Jackson who weighed in heavily on this – both receiving agreement and backlash from their listeners.

A very recent and interesting story is former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s retirement. I won’t go far into who Colin Kaepernick is as his background is available online via a simple Google search. The entire timeline surrounding his retirement is actually captured in an article written by Dan Wetzel of Yahoo Sports titled, “Colin Kaepernick is making his choice: Activism over the NFL”. It was graciously shared by a Facebook friend.

Put simply Colin Kaepernick was a very electric player in the NFL at the quarterback position who had about three great years with the San Francisco 49ers before his career bottomed out into mediocrity. With his combination of size, quickness, mobility and a strong arm, the tattooed signal caller looked like the future of his position. With his good looks and a unique image/persona, he was also destined to clean up money-wise on endorsements, modeling and in the media off the field.

His ascension sputtered though when his brilliance on the field seemed to stagnate and regress which for me was surprising. His decline was mostly due to defenses adapting to his skill set which hadn’t yet evolved to make him more of pocket passer. The departure of Head Coach Jim Harbaugh back to my alma mater also didn’t help, nor did the dismantling of the roster that surrounded him when the 49ers made their run to Super Bowl XLVII. All in all, in the last year or so, even though he signed a $126 million-dollar contract, it wasn’t clear if he still had the skills to play in the league.

As all of the police shootings of black men were caught on tape within the last two to three years (Philando Castile, Alton Sterling, and Walter Scott for example), Kaepernick’s focus seemed to shift from returning to the All-Pro quarterback he had been, to becoming more of a vocal “Social Justice Warrior” championing the causes of police-brutalized African Americans who seemed to be victimized more and more. During the 2016 season, he made the bold protest at the beginning of 49ers’ games at first sitting during our national anthem, and then later on opting to famously take a knee. The reactions to his protests were mixed everywhere. In the league, some players and teammates disagreed with the protest, while others supported him and joined in. Kaepernick further did other things like vocally showing little confidence in our voting/electoral process which makes me wonder in hindsight if his example impacted the 2016 Presidential Election. Many people actually do follow the examples and leadership of celebrities/pro-athletes, and a low voter turnout on the Democratic side was actually said to have helped Donald Trump win the presidency. In another instance Kaepernick took it a step further by wearing socks to practice depicting the police as pigs – perhaps inspired the “Pigs in blanket: fry em like bacon,” chant by Black Lives Matter in Minnesota in 2015.

In my circle of friends, the question came up as to whether or not Kaepernick should’ve been focusing strictly on football and getting back to where he was a couple of seasons ago. It came up a lot actually. The other question was whether or not he was being a distraction to his team and organization, and if he was permanently burning his bridges in the NFL – a traditionally conservative organization which didn’t like controversies and always sought to, “Protect the shield,” as talk show host Jim Rome always says.

In Black America, points of view varied as they normally do with all things political and socioeconomic. The Pro-Black Activists and the “Stay Woke” folks vocally and fervently supported Kaepernick. Others questioned his motives and newfound interest in Civil Rights issues – particularly because he was bi-racial, raised in a white family and never openly took an interest in such issues before – black on black crime for example which some would argue is responsible for more black deaths. As a result of his protest, many also rallied behind the uncovered origins of the Star-Spangled Banner and rejected our national anthem. Something I interestingly missed but that a mentor pointed out, was that our traditionally liberal US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader-Ginsburg even disapproved of Kaepernick’s protest which was surprising.

But what would be the outcome of Kaepernick’s protests? What good would come of them? He may have been, “Following is heart,” as said by a cousin on Facebook, but were his actions the best thing for him and the people he was looking to help? Some felt that Kaepernick had “won” because he had gotten people talking about him and his protests. Whether or not they would affect real change remained to be seen.

Fast forward to this summer of 2017 – Kaepernick, now a free agent had one tryout with the Seattle Seahawks who ultimately didn’t sign him leading to his retirement announcement. I heard about his retirement on the above mentioned shows where the discussions got very heated. Some of Minister Jap’s listeners for example called him all kinds of names like, “Klansman”, in addition to today’s en vogue black on black slur, “Coon”. The comments in both shows were surprisingly split down the middle in rebuke of Kaepernick vs. rebuking the hosts.

Whatever happens to Colin Kaepernick, I hope that he lands on his feet somewhere and there is a happy ending to his story unlike what some others are predicting. A couple of points stand out to me from Kaepernick’s retirement and the discussions I’ve listened to surrounding it. They are:

For all the younger people witnessing this, think about the long-term effect on your life and job prospects when seeking to make political/social statements. Ask yourself if it is really worth it in the end? Is it the appropriate time? In other words there are consequences to our actions. My former stepfather once told me that a particular black activist back in Buffalo made quite a few blacks in the city “self-destruct” and self-sabotage their careers. In a way the title of the above mentioned Yahoo Sports article is deceptive in that it sounds as though Kaepernick is highly coveted and doesn’t want to play anymore, versus not being wanted by any of the NFL’s 32 franchises.
Change and power in the United States is economic and only minimally impacted by protests and marches. If Kaepernick will no longer command a million-dollar salary and endorsements in addition to his former platform, how will he now effect meaningful change for those he wants to help? One of the arguments on the above mentioned shows was that he could’ve used his salary to build businesses and employ other blacks to make real change – similar to Magic Johnson who has done quite well since his playing days.
Not all black people think alike on anything. Issues over politics and race divide and fragment the race a whole. The fallout and name calling whenever there are differences of opinion are always striking to me.
Lastly even in 2017, there is a genuine distrust of bi-racial blacks by other blacks – particularly those raised in predominantly white households, who then take pro-black stances when it appears to be convenient.

One of the talk show hosts stated that at some point reality will crash down hard on Colin Kaepernick – if and when his resources are depleted, he’ll be forgotten – similar to what happened to MC Hammer once all of his resources were spent. Likewise, the same people he is seeking to help will eventually turn their backs on him even after some of his gestures of generosity such as giving suits to felons. Again, my hope is that he has thought all of this out, and will have a productive life after football. For that stretch of two to three years, #7 was definitely a great one in my opinion.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you enjoyed this you, you might also enjoy:

• Are you Cooning? Thoughts on Black America’s new favorite racial slur, critical thought, and groupthink
• What are you doing with your tax cut? Thoughts on what can be done with heavier paychecks and paying less tax
• Challenging misconceptions and stereotypes in class, household income, wealth and privilege
• Challenging misconceptions and stereotypes in academic achievement
• The benefits and challenges of using articulate speech
• Who will benefit from Apple’s $350 billion investment?

If you’ve found value here and think it would benefit others, please share it and or leave a comment. To receive all of the most up to date content from the Big Words Blog Site, subscribe using the subscription box in the right hand column in this post and throughout the site. Lastly follow me on Twitter at @BWArePowerful, at the Big Words Blog Site Facebook page, and on Instagram at @anwaryusef76. While my main areas of focus are Education, STEM and Financial Literacy, there are other blogs/sites I endorse which can be found on that particular page of my site.

A review of All Eyez on Me

I was originally going to write my next movie review on Spider-Man: Homecoming, but All Eyez on Me came out of nowhere. I first saw the trailer a couple of weeks ago, when going to see Alien: Covenant. I saw the movie shortly after it was released, and subsequently felt compelled to write something about it.

All Eyez on Me starred Demetrius Shipp Jr. who played the late and legendary Hip Hop recording artist/actor Tupac Shakur. I immediately thought Shipp was a spitting image of Shakur when I first saw the trailer, and he didn’t disappoint in the film. Shipp masterfully captured Tupac not only in terms of looks, but also in terms of verbal and non-verbal communication, and even in the way Shakur bobbed around dancing in his music videos, and in the recording studios.

Similar to Straight Outta Compton, the movie tracked Shakur’s early life – going back to his pre-teen years starting with his mother’s membership in the Black Panther Party. It further showed his family’s move to Baltimore, and then his initial move to the west coast. It touched upon his friendship with Jada Pinkett-Smith – a source of controversy as Pinkett-Smith subsequently released a statement saying that the movie wasn’t entirely factual content-wise.

All Eyez on Me further chronicled Tupac’s ascension to stardom first in music and then on the movie screen in addition to the problems that riddled his life and career. Similar to many Hip Hop artists, his career was mired by money issues in addition to violence which ultimately ended his life in 1996 while signed with Suge Knight’s Death Row Records. Similar to most artistic geniuses, he was taken from the world early just as he was on the cusp of going to his next creative level and expanding into other areas; record label ownership and screenwriting projects similar to Ice Cube.

While my favorite all time Hip Hop group is Gang-Starr, my interest in Tupac changed over the years. I was very much a fan of Digital Underground as a young teen and didn’t know he was actually a part of that group until he released “Brenda’s Got a Baby” – a more socially conscious track than most of what the Underground had produced. I took a liking to his track “If My Homie Calls”, and even bought a copy of his record “Strictly 4 My NIGGAZ”. I followed him from a distance as he blew up in movies, and then started to hear about his run ins with the police, the rape charge which put him in jail, and finally when he got swept up into the center of the East Coast-West Coast Feud which arguably took down both him and the Notorious BIG.

Simply put, Tupac was genius. His music embodied the anti-police and black power themes of the Black Panther Party while at the same time telling the stories of young black men in the inner cities. He released conflicting tracks like: “I Get Around”, “Keep Ya Head Up”, and then “Dear Momma” – a source of jokes at the time. The track that really grabbed me though was the solemn and dark, “So Many Tears” which he released when he was in jail and reflecting on his life. He used a double in the video who wore his signature bandana and loose fitting clothing. My favorite track he created once he joined Death Row Records was “Gangsta Party” where he teamed up with Snoop Dogg.

In the mid-1990s as an undergraduate, I interestingly took a liking to Smooth Jazz. As a whole I pulled back from the Hip Hop scene. A bit of a bookworm at the time, I didn’t particularly understand Tupac’s glorification of the “THUG” lifestyle and what it represented though I still respected his articstic brilliance and felt the pain and loss of his death – still unsolved to this day similar to that of the Notorious BIG who was also murdered shortly afterwards.

I would recommend seeing All Eyez on Me. The movie embodied a couple of the principles of my blog; empowering others and teaching others how to succeed – sometimes by teaching what not to do. The movie showed the complexity of Tupac’s life, and similar to Straight Outta Compton, it showed the importance of choices, and being in control of one’s financial destiny – something many recording artists of that era grappled with. Also similar to Straight Outta Compton, if you listened to Hip Hop music in the early 1990s, you’ll find yourself singing along, nodding you’re head, and bouncing your arms up and down in the theater. You’ll also recognize signature scenes from movies like Juice, and Above the Rim which Tupac starred in. Hill Harper plays a prominent role in the film, interviewing Tupac from jail. Interestingly, the actor who played Notorious BIG (Jamal Woolard) in the movie Notorious, reprised his role in this film, though all new actors were used for the prominent members of Death Row Records. There was also a cameo by NFL wide receiver Desean Jackson.

If you’ve found value here and think it would benefit others, please share it and/or leave a comment. I’ve recently started a YouTube channel, so please visit me at Big Discussions76. To receive all the most up to date content from the Big Words Blog Site, subscribe using the subscription box in the right-hand column in this post and throughout the site, or add my RSS feed to your feedreader. You can follow me on the Big Words Blog Site Facebook page, and Twitter at @BWArePowerful. Lastly, you can follow me on Instagram at @anwaryusef76. While my main areas of focus are Education, STEM and Financial Literacy, there are other blogs/sites I endorse which can be found on that particular page of my site.

Father’s Day 2017: Reflections on some of Dad’s money and life lessons

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“You just did something I don’t like. You didn’t count your change. How do you know that the cashier gave you the correct change?”

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A Quick Plug

Hello. Thank you for clicking on this link and I hope you enjoy this essay. Writing a book was the genesis of me blogging and becoming a video content creator. I am close to publishing part one of my book project entitled, The Engineers: A Western New York Basketball Story. Please consider visiting the page to learn more about the project and see promotional content I’ve created surrounding the project. And now on to our feature presentation.

Father’s Day 2017

Last month I wrote a piece in celebration of Mother’s Day, so it’s only fitting that I write something in celebration of Father’s Day as well. The Mother’s Day post was about a specific piece of advice my mother gave me about my engagement and looming marriage a couple of years ago. As jokingly stated in that post, Dad didn’t give me much advice in that particular instance. He did give me lots of guidance throughout my life though. Over on my “Heroes and Quotes” page, his is the first quote which was some advice he gave me at a young age about how to succeed academically.

There was much more though, particularly in way of advice about money, women and other things – lots about money and women. He sometimes consciously taught me things, and some things I learned simply from observation. With two of the key principles of my blog being “Creating Ecosystems of Success”, and “Empowering Others”, I’m going to reflect on some of his money lessons and some of their deeper and associated life meanings/significances – some of which I had to question. As in most cases, I didn’t understand everything that was being said then as I do now.

Being Present and Visible

As I go through some of this stuff, keep in mind that fathers are important – biological, step-, or mentors of all sorts. According to data from Kid’s Count in 2015, 66% of African American kids were raised by a single-parent while the national average was 35%. My parents divorced when I was three-years old and I thus grew up in a single-parent household for the majority of my childhood. While I’ve sometimes looked back and wondered what it would’ve been like to have my father in the house, the blessing was that while he wasn’t physically there, it was important for him to be as visible and accessible as possible.

“Always make sure your children know who you are.” He tried hard to keep up with the words of his own father who died during his teens. It sounds like a simple thing, but as I grew into adulthood myself, went through college and even started dating, I realized that not every father did this, especially in the black community. The results often times were catastrophic with long lasting ramifications, especially in dating or ‘pair-bonding’ – a separate topic all in itself.

Counting Your Change

“You just did something I don’t like. You didn’t count your change. How do you know that the cashier gave you the correct change?” I was an early teen when this discussion took place. I had just paid for something, took the change the cashier gave me and immediately stuffed it into my pocket. A stern man, his words, “You just did something I don’t like,” stopped me dead in my tracks. I didn’t think he was paying attention, but sure enough he was – in general Dad was always paying attention to the most minute details even when you thought he wasn’t. He also remembered things long after you forgot them and would bring them back up when you least expected it.

When I discovered what he was unhappy about, it made sense to me and I started counting my change. I even started calculating in my mind the change I was supposed to get back from cashiers before they gave it to me. The lesson here was to be careful with my money, and to trust no one. Years later he observed that I was in fact careful with my money. I told him that I had gotten the behavior from him. He replied saying something very profound, “Well son, when you have to make child support payments, you have to be very careful with your money.”

Keeping Your Receipts

“You always keep your receipt because you never know when you’re going to have to return something.” I don’t know which came first, this lesson or the change counting lesson, but they weren’t far apart. His father had gotten on him about this when he was younger. He had allegedly gone into lower Manhattan to buy some underwear and returned home without the receipt resulting in his getting scolded.

“When you get paid, you want to account for all of your expenses.” This was an early lesson about budgeting. We didn’t sit down and do one right then and there, and I wouldn’t master it until at least ten years later, but I always remembered the discussion.

Paying Yourself First and Keeping Jobs

“You always pay yourself first.” This lesson came shortly after I started working, though again as a teen, I didn’t grasp the power of this advice until later. It had tremendous implications in one’s prime earning years where diligent individuals save for both emergencies and investments and build wealth while others spend all of their income.

“You don’t quit your job unless you have another one to go to.” Dad gave me this sage wisdom between my junior and senior years of high school after quitting my very first job at the Denny’s Restaurant, near the Buffalo airport. I lasted three months at that job which consisted of washing dishes, cleaning up the restaurant, and taking out the garbage. I didn’t last long enough to have to shovel snow in the winter. The place where I really wanted to work for my first job was McDonald’s. At the time it looked fun to me.

I was happy to have an income, but after a while I grew tired of working at Denny’s – coming home sweaty, greasy, and exhausted. Without talking to anyone, I quit that job right there on the spot with no other job to go to. It was then that I came to the understanding that I had no more cash flow – a sign of immaturity. The only positive thing about that situation was that I was still in high school and wasn’t required to contribute to any of my mother’s household bills. Some adults quit their job without having a replacement and put themselves in a pickle; often burdening those around them.

Saving Money

“You always keep money in the bank because you never know when an emergency is going to arise.” There’s a very funny story behind this lesson and it involves a woman – something very dramatic and stressful according to Dad. For my own safety, I’ll just stick to the lesson. At an early age, Dad stressed the importance of having money in the bank due to unforeseen emergencies which inevitably happen to you, or to someone around you. In this particular quagmire he had gotten into, having some money in the bank helped him get out of it. He also regretted once not having $5,000 available for a mortgage down payment on a house he was renting.

Harsh Lessons on Affording Things

“You can keep dating her if you want to. You might have to miss your electric bill.” This sobering advice came during my first year in graduate school in my mid-twenties. It was one of my first experiences learning something that Dad had talked about for most of my childhood – women and money. At least most of the ones we knew came with a price tag, and wanted to be wined and dined.

I had, unfortunately, taken a liking to someone whom I dated for one to two months who openly admitted she was needy, which I didn’t understand at the time as she had already started her own career. Inexperienced at dating, she grew frustrated with my meager finances and my lack of understanding of what was expected of me. Dad’s advice here, which came in a hurtful and mocking tone, was simply communicating that I needed to determine whether or not I could afford this particular female. I decided that I couldn’t.

It’s an important set of questions for all men to ask themselves when meeting a potential partner. Can I afford her? Does she line up with my priorities? Will she tank my finances? This was also one of the first times I could personally feel the pain, the scars, and the poor fortune my father experienced in the dating jungle after he and my mother split – as there was lots of despair, and little hope or encouragement in his words.

Child Support Payments

“When you have to make child support payments, it forces you to be very careful with your money.” I have to be very careful here as this is a sensitive topic, and my mother generally proof-reads my articles. Throughout my childhood, Dad sometimes lamented about making child support payments – not because he didn’t want to support his children, but because I think he had a hard time making ends meet on his own end. During my childhood, he eventually took a second job in the military to pay the bills. It’s a sensitive topic because while he felt maxed out, my mother felt as though he wasn’t doing enough. And I’ll stop there, but suffice it to say that in many instances men and women see money (and life) differently. In some instances, as the ones being asked to provide, it can seem like your best is never enough – a hard pill to swallow. He and I talked about this a lot as I got older and I started experiencing my own scrapes and bruises with the opposite sex.

What is Real Money?

“The bank is going to want to look at all of your bank statements when you apply for a mortgage, and $2,000 isn’t any money,” Dad scoffed at me, making me feel five feet tall. I was still living with the big guy during my Postdoctoral fellowship. I had started reading Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad Poor Dad series and had joined my local Real Estate Investment Club. I wanted to make an ambitious move and get my first investment property – a duplex which I would live in and eventually rent out for “Passive” income. I needed some help with the closing costs and associated expenses, so I asked him for a loan. It was one of the worst experiences of my life.

Instead of a nice teachable discussion about the ups, the downs, and the ins, and outs of trying such a thing – it turned into him putting me in a proverbial headlock. It dragged on for days and days as he mulled over it, and asked me random pointed questions about it – his analysis and communication styles. After a while I just wanted to drop the whole thing, and I concluded that I never wanted to be in a position to ask his help for anything money-related, though I did once more, and returned to the same conclusion.

In hindsight while it was smart to want to create a passive income stream, it wasn’t a good idea in that particular instance. I wasn’t going to stay in that area long-term, and I wasn’t experienced enough, and didn’t have enough money to manage a property from a long-distance. What was funny was that many people don’t even have $2,000 in the bank they can access quickly. That said, he was right in that it wasn’t a substantial amount of money. He was also right in that prior to qualifying you for a mortgage, the banks do want to know everything about your financial history.

Dad was also jaded in terms of being a landlord from a prior experience, as he once had a tenant in his lower unit – an older woman. According to him, he went downstairs to collect the rent one day, and the woman transformed into a malevolent, ominous, and demon-possessed state. It scared him at the time and forever soured him on being a landlord.

Dad’s Risk Averseness

“I wouldn’t invest in the Stock Market if I were you.” This bit of advice was given to me in my 30s when I expressed that I wanted to buy some stock by the end of that particular year. Because of his own life experiences, Dad was averse to losing money. Coincidentally, one of our closest cousins recommended I get in the game and buy stock, and even today experts like Dr. Boyce Watkins, strongly advocate blacks getting into the Stock Market. So who was right in this case? Who was to be believed and trusted?

This gets back to one of the points I made in my 2017 Mother’s Day post. As we grow into adulthood, I think we all get to a point where everything our parents tell us can’t be taken as the gospel and in some instances must be questioned and or pondered critically. In this particular instance, yes investing in stocks does involve potential loss. An important consideration going in though is whether or not you understand that there is a potential for the loss, and whether or not you can absorb the loss. In other words, do you have emergency money in the bank, and is the amount to be invested allocated for that reason? Can it be easily replaced for another round? This is a much different thought process than simply stating, “You’re going to lose your money if you do that.”

Closing Thoughts

If the tone of this blog post was in part melancholy and mixed, then it reflects our father-son relationship which has been full of contradictions and mystery. When I look back at my youth many of my childhood experiences were marked by concerns over money. I’m not saying that I grew up in poverty because I didn’t by any means. I don’t really remember my mother, whom I spent the majority of my childhood with, talking about money a lot, but I think she shielded my brother and me from some things – sheltering us, as one of my aunts often said. I did look around at peers, such as my best friend and realized that I didn’t have Air Jordans, Starter Jackets, Karl Kani, or any of the trendiest apparel of our cohort.

Most of the money-related talks as I grew up actually came from my father and as you might have gathered from this post, many of them had some sort of pain associated with them. As I’ve gotten older, I understand things much better now. As we get older we start to see that our parents are people who make mistakes themselves, and are not perfect though at one point we may have thought they were. In some instances we start to understand their pains and struggles.

Over the years our father-son relationship has gone through a lot of changes – some good and some bad with multiple ups and downs. Overall I’m grateful for everything my father has done for me, and I tell him that every time I see him now (my mother too). That said, as I think President Obama said years ago, for children whose biological fathers are missing, there can be other fathers too. And even if a child’s father isn’t a good one, or can’t supply everything needed, there can again be other fathers to fill in those gaps. I certainly have many.

There are a lot of podcasts and men’s stations on places like YouTube these days – many talking about the importance of fathers. My favorite in this current station of my life is Paul Elam’s A Voice for Men – content I would recommend for any man still figuring things out in our society – personal values, dating and marriage, and finally gender/societal roles. Fathers are very important if for no other reason than to lend a balanced perspective on the world. This is true for both boys and girls who themselves will eventually both grow into men and women.

Thank you for taking the time out to read this blog post. If you enjoyed this post, you might also enjoy:

• Two well-behaved boys left to figure things out on their own: Reflections on growing up ‘Blue Pill’
• Mother’s Day 2018: Memories of my grandmothers
• Mother’s Day 2017: One of my mother’s greatest gifts, getting engaged, and avoiding my own personal fiscal cliff
• Challenging stereotypes and misconceptions in academic achievement
• The benefits and challenges of using articulate speech

The Big Words LLC Newsletter

For the next phase of my writing journey, I’m starting a monthly newsletter for my writing and video content creation company, the Big Words LLC. In it, I plan to share inspirational words, pieces from this blog and my first blog, and select videos from my four YouTube channels. Finally, I will share updates for my book project The Engineers: A Western New York Basketball Story. Your personal information and privacy will be protected. Click this link and register using the sign-up button at the bottom of the announcement. If there is some issue signing up using the link provided, you can also email me at [email protected] . Best Regards.

Simone Griffin of HomeFree-USA discusses homeownership and the African American community part three

This is the conclusion of my interview of Simone Griffin of HomeFree-USA regarding Homeownership and the African American Community. In part two of our discussion, we talked about some of the impediments of Black homeownership, some things our youth can start learning at an early age regarding financial literacy, and finally, the effect of the housing market boom and crash on African American wealth. In part three of our discussion, we talked about Reverse Mortgages, and general recommendations and considerations for first time African American homebuyers. This entire interview addresses all of the principles of my blog recently added to the site.

Anwar Dunbar: What is a Reverse Mortgage and why are they bad products?

Simone Griffin: They aren’t necessarily bad. It is about the type of reverse mortgage you get and what you need it for. A Reverse Mortgage is for people 65 years and older who wish to borrow against the equity in their home. This is a loan which has to be repaid when the homeowner dies. The homeowner still has to maintain the property, and pay property taxes and homeowners insurance.

Reverse Mortgages can come with high fees, so they should really only be utilized if there are no heirs to the house, or if the homeowner truly has no other money to live on. Let’s say you own your home outright and have no other ways to pay your bills. If you get a reverse mortgage and there’s nobody who can step in and pay that loan off when you die, the only way to get it paid off is by selling the house. You’ve lost way more than you’ve gained. Your family and future generations have just lost a piece of property that they could have lived in.

Consider Brooklyn, NY, where the difference between the average income and the cost of a home is astronomical. Imagine a Black family who bought a home in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood, who may have come in through the great migration from the south and bought a home in the 1960s or 1970s – now those Brownstones are going for well over a million dollars.

In 2010 Grandpa took out a reverse mortgage for $300,000, plus fees. He died last year, and now the family can’t come up with the amount owed to the bank, so the only thing they can do is sell the house. That’s a million-dollar house which they could never afford today, and $700,000 in equity has gone to the bank.

This is why we have to train our people in their working years about how to afford retirement. Aside for a reverse mortgage you can’t borrow for it. If you don’t have anyone to leave the home to and you need the money, then it’s fine. However, it should be a choice, not something you do because you didn’t plan well for retirement; especially if you have kids and grandkids who can utilize that property.

AD: Redlining. Are you seeing a lot of that in DC?

SG: After the housing, boom shady investors went door to door saying, ‘We want to buy your house. We’ll offer you $300,000 cash if you move tomorrow, and we’ll take care of all of the repairs.’ Except that the house is actually worth $500,000. When you’re paying cash for a house, an appraisal is not required. So people didn’t bother to spend the money on one, they just took the $300,000 and ran. If the homeowner had the property appraised, they could have sold it for a much higher amount. Or they could have kept it. Unfortunately, many of the same people in DC with parents or grandparents who purchased houses for $30,000 or $40,000 sold them at the wrong time. Now the neighborhoods are turning and they’re saying, ‘I want to move back,’ but they can no longer afford to.

AD: I used a first time homebuyer’s 3% down program with cash back at closing when I bought my condo. That came with several caveats and nuances that I didn’t understand – I just saw that it was 3% down with cash back at closing. I also bought into the sentiment that I was wasting money by renting and making someone else rich – a common motivation for first time homebuyers. What advice would you give first time African American home buyers who are looking to purchase a home? What things should they stay away from and what would you encourage?

SG: I would encourage them to stay away from Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARMS) and creative financing. A 3% down payment is fine. Right now those the 3% down loans are often an FHA product, which means you have to pay Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI), around 1% of the total loan until you have about 20% equity. There are also 5% and 10% down products that don’t require PMI but the additional down payment may delay your purchase. Using an organization like HomeFree-USA will help you leverage the home buying opportunity since we’re familiar with many different products, as well as different loan officers.

Lenders are now starting to understand the drawbacks that requiring 20% down or PMI brings. As a result, more are offering lower down payment products. Our job at HomeFree-USA is to be aware of these products, and marry them with local, state and federal funds that will help decrease the cost of homeownership for the buyer. Now is a very good time to buy. But don’t fret if you can’t find a product right now – we know where they are.

If there is any way to pay down your debts as much as possible, you should do that. I know this is easier said than done, but if you can do it, it’s incredibly important to your peace of mind and for affordability. People get intimidated by their debt pay down process and what they have to sacrifice. They’ll say, ‘Well it’s two whole years,’ and then I flip it and I say, ‘It’s only two years.’ In the grand scheme of life, the money you can earn from saving or investing the money you’re paying in debt is substantial.

Let’s say you’re paying $200 in student loans every month, and you’re able to get that paid off in one or two years. If you put that $200 into a Mutual Fund, that money will grow over time. You’re paying interest while in debt, so it’s worth it to just drop out of life for two years, or however long it takes, and say, ‘I want this over. I’m paying off these debts and moving forward with life.’ Then you can take the money you’ve saved and use it towards a down payment on a house and avoid things like financing cars by paying cash.

People assume that they have to finance a car and that’s not the case. I’ve never financed a car. I only buy used cars, and each one is better than the last. But many Americans do not take the time to say, ‘I’m willing to put off something that I really want for the greater good (delaying gratification), so I don’t have to spend money financing a car.’ I recommended this to a friend. She didn’t do it and is still not at the level that she wants to be financially. I thought to myself, ‘If she’d taken the year I suggested to not have a car, her company would have paid for transportation to and from meetings, she could have walked, gotten rides, taken the Metro or Lyft, and after only a year would’ve been in a much better position in life.’

She lives in the center of the city. It’s an entirely different situation if you live in Odenton and have to drive to DC every day. But when you live in the city and work in the city, and the metro is only 10 minutes away, there is some leverage. It’s just a matter of being slightly inconvenienced for now in order to get to a greater position later (delayed gratification). And many Americans don’t feel comfortable doing that, but the problem is Black Americans have fewer options than non-Hispanic whites.

AD: That’s absolutely right. I personally have some higher financial goals and decided to get rid of my car for numerous reasons in 2012; living right next to the metro being one of the main ones. Some people just can’t fathom the idea of not owning a car. But I aspire to do things like growing my net worth, and attaining some assets (stocks and eventually real estate, for example).

SG: My father has a condo in the U Street Corridor. I was there this week helping him, and it’s very hard to find parking. The metro, and a bike stand, are both 2 blocks away. There are three grocery stores in the neighborhood and numerous restaurants. Why would you need a car if you lived there? If you live someplace that’s not far from the metro, why not take the opportunity do this for yourself so that you can eventually drive whatever you want? Like Dave Ramsey says, ‘We’re going to live like no one else, so later we can live like no one else.’ Take that opportunity now. But many people just don’t see it as an opportunity which is unfortunate, because where Black people are concerned, we don’t have as much to fall back on.

AD: That’s right. So a lot of this is in how you’re perceiving things, what you know, and what you’re willing to do.

SG: Exactly.

AD: Well, Simone, that was awesome. A lot of people are going to benefit from reading this. Do you have any parting comments or do you want to introduce HomeFree-USA one more time?

SG: To learn more about HomeFree-USA, go to www.homefreeusa.org. My financial blog is www.moneymagnet.homefreeusa.org. If they have any questions they can reach out to me at [email protected]. If your readers are ready to start the homeownership experience, they can contact us at 301-891-8400. They don’t have to talk to me for that.

We have a free class at our Riverdale, MD office every other Thursday, “Five Home Buying Secrets Everyone Ought to Know”. HomeFree-USA is judged by the number of successful and sustainable home owners we produce, not just the number of clients we see. That’s the key difference.

AD: Okay, well Simone, that’s all I’ve got. Once again thank you for this interview and for sharing your expertise and your experiences. If we can do a follow up piece in the future, that’s something I would be very interested in.

SG: Okay, thank you Anwar.

Thank you for taking the time to read this interview. If you enjoyed it, you might also enjoy:

• Simone Griffin of HomeFree-USA discusses homeownership and the African American community part one
• Simone Griffin of HomeFree-USA discusses homeownership and the African American community part two
• Your net worth, your gross salary and what they mean
• The difference between being cheap and frugal
• We should bought Facebook and Bitcoin stock: An investing story
• Challenging misconceptions and stereotypes in class, household income, wealth and privilege

If you’ve found value here and think it would benefit others, please share it and or leave a comment. To receive all of the most up to date content from the Big Words Blog Site, subscribe using the subscription box in the right hand column in this post and throughout the site. Lastly follow me on Twitter at @BWArePowerful, on Instagram at @anwaryusef76, and at the Big Words Blog Site Facebook page. While my main areas of focus are Education, STEM and Financial Literacy, there are other blogs/sites I endorse which can be found on that particular page of my site.