my favorite magazine, black webmaster called me

they wanted to interview me for their 50 over 50 issue. i was all, wtf.

they said anyone over 50 in IT grew up without the internet, without cell phones, and without very good computers, and still ended up in tech.

that was interesting to them.

i said, I KEEP TELLING YOU IM NOT REALLY IN TECH. but they never listen.

Black Webmaster: What makes a good team?

busblog: a good team usually has a strong but flexible leader, and a variety of people who can do multiple things well. and the best teams communicate well, trust each other and like one another.

BW: How do you get a team to like each other?

busblog: if it’s truly a team they will love each other naturally. being successful helps.

BW: You are known for being brutally honest. Did you ever wish you were White?

busblog: maybe it was different for me since we were the only black family in town, but from an early age i recognized the advantages that i had over my friends. and even though my relatives taught me what to look out for from others, they were from the South, and those things weren’t happening where we lived outside Chicago. what i did envy was long hair.

BW: Long hair?

busblog: i thought it looked cool. maybe the movies and tv shows were convincing me that it was cool, but i bought into it. i do remember wanting long hair when i was a kid. that changed when i was at my first boy/girl party. 6th grade. a bunch of girls cornered me right after we played spin the bottle. one after another they wanted to feel my afro. 6-7 of the prettiest girls in school playing with your hair and noone else’s will do wonders for you. i never wanted a haircut again. and i never wanted to be anything but me.

BW: That sounds good but, that’s hard to believe.

busblog: i had this uncle, he reminded me of Snoop Dogg before there ever was a Snoop Dogg. coolest dude ever, in my eyes. his life ended tragically but when he was alive he would drive me to the store in his car which had an 8-track and a separate EQ that lit up, especially so at night. One thing that always stuck with me. He said, “don’t ever forget, you have soul.”