As a husband of AMW, you just can't get things for free without giving me feedback right? So there I went pestering him with Pros and Cons and I'm glad the kind hubby happily obliged with my long interrogation!
Watsons Men Shower Gels are formulated with ion-moist 4men, a powerful moisturizing agent for deep hydration to prevent skin dryness after showering.
Watsons Men Energising Shower Gel is infused with minerals and an energetic scent that is gentle to skin yet long-lasting to energize your body throughout the day.
Watsons Men Fresh Blast Shower Gel contains a mix of peppermint, geranium, musk and sandalwood scents to refresh your mind and body, while added menthol provides a cooling sensation.
Watsons Passion Shower Gel contains a mix of lavender, crane grass and amber scents provoke your mind and body, while added sea salt helps to rejuvenate skin after showering.
Comes in 3 variants where guys can get to pick the scent they want. Mr. AMW's favorite is the energizing variant.
Doesn't leave an oily-feel to the skin. Very important for ALL guys!
Skin doesn't feel dry after every shower.
The scent isn't long-lasting and I can't tell when Mr. AMW uses this particular shower gel.
For someone as picky as Mr. AMW in terms of bath products, this passed his standard. He likes the scent and the way it doesn't dry out his skin and best of all, there's none of the greasy-feel!
Shower gels are best used with loofah or bath sponge.
Buy these shower gels and give them as gifts this Christmas!
Once signs of irritations occur, stop usage immediately.
Guys who like the clean after-bath feel yet want their skin to stay moisturized.
Available in Watsons in Watsons Your Personal Care Stores and SM Department Store Beauty Section. Each shower gel costs around Php200.00 or less. Like Watsons Philippines on Facebook for more product updates and promos.
Do the men in your life use shower gels?


For details of these, see the latest newsletter.
NEW – Heart Sutra Study Group Monday's starting 2 May, from 6:00pm to 7:15pm For those students who would like to dive deeper into Lama Mark's treasured teachings on the Heart Sutra, we are forming a Heart Sutra Study Group. We will use the teachings and practices to further our realisation of Emptiness over the next three months….
Guru Rinpoche, in the form of Orgyen Kalden Drendze: From the the Drikung Yangzab Dzogchen tradition as revealed by the great 19th Century teacher Chemchog Nüden Tsäl. Empowerment to take place on Friday, 18th March at 7.30pm. No charge. May make Gift/Dana to Lama.


Preparing your own tax return has become a challenging task. Tax laws are complicated and constantly changing. It is easy to overlook deductions or credits that you are entitled to. Computer software is no substitute for the assistance of an experienced tax professional.
Our staff completes a minimum of 40 hours per year of continuing professional education (CPE) to ensure we are fully aware of the ever changing tax laws.
We interview all of our new clients and ensure you receive all deductions and credits allowed. All returns are reviewed by our tax department for accuracy and will be electronically filed for a quicker refund.
Our staff is always available to offer tax planning advice including payroll withholding adjustments and potential deductions to limit your tax liability for next year.
Ask us how we can prepare your tax return and maximize your refund.


This gorgeous scarf is knitted in 100% chunky luxury Cashmere giving the scarf a truly incredible soft hand feel. The traditional cable pattern featuring ribbed end detailing gives our scarf lovely texture and authenticity. Our yarn is the equivilent to 8ply Cashmere giving this scarf a chunky look. Length is 115cm by 14cm wide approimately which makes them very versatile and easy to wear.


text:
Q: wikiprep MediaWiki::DumpFile namespace I am trying to use wikiprep with support of MediaWiki::DumpFile to parse wikipedia dump.
The problem is it doesn't work.
wikiprep -format composite -compress -f enwiki.xml.0001.gz
Can't locate object method "namespaces" via package "MediaWiki::DumpFile::Pages" at /usr/local/share/perl5/MediaWiki/DumpFile/Compat.pm line 148.

But I do have namespaces.
...
<siteinfo>
<sitename>Wikipedia</sitename>
<dbname>enwiki</dbname>
<base>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page</base>
<generator>MediaWiki 1.25wmf23</generator>
<case>first-letter</case>
<namespaces>
  <namespace key="-2" case="first-letter">Media</namespace>
  ...

I don't understand how to run this parser.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Malta has just sneaked into Tripadvisor's list of Top 10 Southern European hotspots, published yesterday. Tripadvisor, a leading online review site of all things travel and tourism across the world, gave Malta 10th place in a list that includes prestigious, glamorous, glitterati hotspots such as Cinque Terre (Italian Riviera) and Nice.
What's interesting is that out of the myriad Mediterranean holiday islands, only Santorini makes the list. The Balearic Islands may have been knocked off by this year's Basque separatist bombings. Then again, how do we second guess Tripadvisor's rankings? The site may work in wonderous ways like Google search!
The listing is a small accolade for Malta as the country has made a concerted effort in recent years to reposition itself as a place with some caché. The islands now have some upmarket options for travellers – great World Heritage, amazing diving, top notch dining out and a few designer-styled hotels – alongside the bucket, spade, sun, sea and bucket-shop travel they've been associated with since the late '60s.
Malta needs its core, traditional bread and butter tourism sectors, but its increasingly better preserved and presented heritage deem it more than a regular sunny Med destination. Tourists, and Tripadvisor are beginning to see this too.
The country's general (though gradual) face-lift (roads, street furniture, paving, greening, and attractive open-air public areas) plus its interesting mix of activities to tempt various tourist sectors have helped pull it into the rankings alongside far more manicured and established hotspots.
Long may it sit in listings like these, and hopefully not feature too often in the negative reviews on Tripadvisor, which is a popular place for travellers to mouth off in about destinations' less positive aspects.


text:
export CLASS_NAME="com.splicemachine.tutorials.spark.SparkStreamingKafka"
export APPLICATION_JAR="splice-tutorial-file-spark-2.6.1.1736.jar"
export SPARK_JARS_DIR="${SPARK_HOME}/jars"

CURRENT_IP=$(ifconfig eth0 | grep inet | awk '{print $2}')
SPARK_IMAGE=${SPARK_IMAGE:-"splicemachine/tutorial-spark-kafka-consumer:2.0.3"}

echo "spark.driver.host                 $CURRENT_IP" >> $SPARK_HOME/conf/spark-defaults.conf
echo "spark.mesos.executor.docker.image $SPARK_IMAGE" >> $SPARK_HOME/conf/spark-defaults.conf

exec "${SPARK_HOME}"/bin/spark-submit \
  --class ${CLASS_NAME} \
  --files ${SPARK_HOME}/conf/hbase-site.xml,${SPARK_HOME}/conf/core-site.xml,${SPARK_HOME}/conf/hdfs-site.xml \
  "${APPLICATION_JAR}" \
  "$@"

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


The Montparnasse Pendant Light by Astro is a modern take on a traditional lantern design, in bronze or polished nickel finish enclosed in a clear glass shade.
With its IP44-protection Montparnasse is prepared for wind and weather and allows a wide range of lamp choices - add a filament bulb to complete the look and impress with aesthetics.
Astro offers a 3 year guarantee on all exterior lights; however this does not apply to any installed within 5 miles of the coast or in high salt environments.


text:
Iraq Sunnis doubt new political deal will bring reconciliation
Sunni politicians applauded goals set down in an agreement hammered out by the country's top leaders under intense American pressure but expressed doubt that the US-backed prime minister would actually see them through. In a step toward implementing a deal reached on Sunday, US and Iraqi officials announced Monday that coalition forces would increase the number of detainees released during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which begins next month. However, the deal did not convince the main Sunni Arab political bloc to take back the government posts they abandoned this month over differences with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shi'ite. On Sunday, Maliki and four other senior leaders declared that they had reached a consensus on a number of issues, including freeing detainees held without charge, easing the ban on former Saddam Hussein supporters in government posts, regulating the oil industry and holding provincial elections.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Howard Berkes Howard Berkes is a correspondent for the NPR Investigations Unit.
Stories By
Howard Berkes
10 Years Later, Remembering One Of The Nation's Worst Mine Disasters
September 23, 2011 • You may not remember the Jim Walter Resources coal mine disaster because it happened in the shadows of Sept. 11. More than a dozen miners were killed in multiple methane gas explosions.
A Qatari woman walks in front of the city skyline in Doha, Qatar. Kamran Jebreili/AP hide caption
Kamran Jebreili/AP
IOC Welcomes Qatar Olympic Bid, Despite World Cup Scandal
September 3, 2011 • Organizers of Qatar's World Cup bid were accused of paying bribes to FIFA. But the Olympic Committee said its process is transparent and they're not worried about corruption.
Feds Still Finding Problems At Old Massey Mines
August 31, 2011 • Federal regulators discovered false reporting of accidents and injuries by mine operators.
Polygamist Leader Warren Jeffs Has Pneumonia
August 30, 2011 • The 55-year-old leader of the nation's largest polygamist group has been sedated, pharmacologically paralyzed and placed on a ventilator as part of his treatment for pneumonia. Convicted of child sexual assault, he's serving a life sentence.
Warren Jeffs arrives at the Tom Green County Courthouse in San Angelo, Texas, on July 29, 2011. Tony Gutierrez/AP hide caption
Tony Gutierrez/AP
Polygamist Warren Jeffs In Critical Condition
August 29, 2011 • Jeffs, who was convicted of sexual abuse three weeks ago, was hospitalized after a three-day fast. Texas prison authorities said he was in critical but stable condition.
Sen. Hatch Can Exhale; Rep. Chaffetz Won't Oppose Him For Senate
August 22, 2011 • Sen. Orrin Hatch may be breathing a sigh of relief with the numerous reports that Rep. Jason Chaffetz has decided against challenging the six-term senator.
This Oct. 2, 2009, file photo shows Chicago 2016 supporter Patti Nugent reacting after the announcement that Chicago was eliminated as a possible host city for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. Morry Gash/AP hide caption
Morry Gash/AP
United States Says No To 2020 Olympic Bid
August 22, 2011 • An Olympic committee spokesman said the U.S. was focused on other things, including negotiating a new revenue-sharing arrangement with the International Olympic Committee.
Trouble For FLDS Follows Polygamist's Conviction
August 19, 2011 • "Come clean ... or you are going down with the wicked and the damned," two former leaders of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints say in a message to followers of convicted pedophile Warren Jeffs.
President Barack Obama talks as he has lunch at The Old Market Deli in Cannon Falls, Minn., during his three-day economic bus tour. Carolyn Kaster/AP hide caption
Carolyn Kaster/AP
White House Overstates Rural Role In Military
August 17, 2011 • The White House has been saying that 44 percent of military recruits come from rural America. White it's true that rural Americans have disproportionately sacrificed during war, experts say the White House estimate is grossly overstated.
An undated FBI sketch of D.B. Cooper. HO/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
HO/AFP/Getty Images
D.B. Cooper Update: FBI Says No DNA Match With New Suspect
August 9, 2011 • The FBi says DNA on a tie found on the highjacked plane doesn't match that of the new suspect. But it also says the new evidence still doesn't rule out that Lynn Doyle Cooper is D.B. Cooper.
A law enforcement officer, left, escorts Polygamist religious leader Warren Jeffs, center, and his defense advisor Deric Walpole out of the Tom Green County Courthouse in San Angelo, Texas. A jury convicted Jeffs of child sexual assault Thursday. Tony Gutierrez/AP hide caption
Polygamists Condemn Warren Jeffs' Sexual Abuse
August 5, 2011 • One coalition says the decriminalization of polygamy would help root out child sexual assault among those practicing "the principle."
Lynn D. Cooper's grave site in Pine Butte Cemetery in Bend, Oregon, about 22 miles from Sisters, Oregon. David Nogueras/Oregon Public Broadcasting hide caption
David Nogueras/Oregon Public Broadcasting
FBI Cryptic, Family More Vocal About D.B. Cooper 'Suspect'
August 4, 2011 • The family of the suspect keeps dishing out details, but as they emerge so do doubts about their story.
A 1971 artist's sketch released by the FBI shows the skyjacker known as 'Dan Cooper' and 'D.B. Cooper'. The sketch was made from the recollections of passengers and crew of a Northwest Orient Airlines jet he hijacked between Portland and Seattle. Anonymous/AP hide caption
Anonymous/AP
ABC News: New D.B. Cooper Clues Come From 'Niece'
August 3, 2011 • Marla Cooper told the network she is convinced her uncle L.D. Cooper was the man who parachuted off a hijacked plane with a $200,000 ransom in 1971. To this day, the case of D.B. Cooper remains the only unsolved hijacking case.
An undated FBI sketch of D.B. Cooper. AFP/Getty Images hide caption
FBI Reveals More About New Possible Skyjack Suspect
August 2, 2011 • The FBI said the new suspect died more than 10 years ago of natural causes and that the FBI has been investigating this lead for more than a year.
FBI: 'A New Suspect' In D.B. Cooper Skyjacking Case
August 1, 2011 • The man known as D.B. Cooper became part of American folklore after parachuting from a plane he hijacked with $200,000 ransom. Cooper's stunt sparked wild speculation about his possible survival or death, and his identity. Now, the FBI says it has a new lead.
FBI Says It Has 'A New Suspect' In D.B. Cooper Skyjacking Case
More from Howard Berkes


The story begins as fifty-five percent of my high school graduating class leaves the comforting halls of Principia Upper School to attend the comforting campus of Principia College. I was left with a decision to attend a college in which I knew I would succeed in all dynamic areas of my life: athletics, performing arts, social life, and academia, or to attend what seemed like a dark void of 30,000 pacific north westerners.
I share many similarities with the 530 undergraduates who now attend Principia College. For some odd reason the majority of students at my high school were made to believe that all other students attending the different colleges around the nation were the same, and therefore we held no similarities with them. In David Brook's "Social Animal", he writes about human nature in group settings: "Most people assume that the groups they don't belong to are more homogeneous than the groups they do belong to". I could see that my fellow classmates were creating a homogeneous category for the rest of American colleges and students. Just like Brook's character, Harold, I was comfortable and capable of seeing groups from the inside. I knew that I could shatter the supposed homogeneous category to find unique individuals with the same hobbies, passion, and most importantly, values.
Despite my confidence in seeing groups from the inside, I wasn't ready to jump head first into the University of Washington, until I received a letter from the Honors Program. The honors program gave me access to a smaller community within a larger one. It gave me a challenging liberal arts education within a state of the art, global research institution.
I have a very close friend who is a fantastic dancer. She is currently attending Boston Conservatory, the third best dance college in the country and she is guaranteed to create masterpieces. One powerful connection that bonds our friendship is that we both have been following our passion for practically all of our lives: dance for her and zoology for me. As we talked in the back of our French 5AP class (sorry Madame), looking forward to each other's lives, I was aware that the rest of her education is designed exclusively for dance. In no way do I doubt that this is the perfect pathway for my friend, but I realized that my traditional education is too short to spend exclusively on zoology. I would have the rest of my life to pursue this passion of mine. The honors program raises the standard of education and politely forces me to be a well-rounded, interdisciplinary, whole man.
Brooks explains how the majority of citizens are "taught to think vertically, moving ever upward, whereas maybe the most productive connections were horizontal, with peers." I understand that honors program is reflected in this theory, as the value of the program comes from the friends you make, your interactions with professors, and involvement with the community. I am, as Brook would put it, a "social animal" so I am not concerned about how to work horizontally. It all begins with a smile, a joke (good or bad depending on the day), and another smile. Although thinking horizontally seems like sitting in a stagnant bathtub, it is extremely progressive and rewarding. Thinking of others, befriending piers, and all other communal interactions construct a horizontal plane that rises exponentially in comparison with an individual; you craft pillars of support in which you may lean on.
I look forward to the challenge of the honors program. It will take great discipline to focus on the balanced education that the program encourages as opposed to the single subject mindset that I am trained to follow. Taking part in the honors community guarantees that I will leave the University of Washington with the opportunity to destroy a previously conceived homogenous group, to take part in a whole man education, and to build platform of support from the honors community.
I love UW! I have been having a great first quarter in all aspects of the UW experience. UW was not the ordinary choice for many of my fellow high school peers, but I am so grateful I saw through the big school "mask" to find what I believe to be a gold mine. My high school talked about the whole man who was formed through a balance (note key word: balance) of social life, academics, arts, sports, and spirituality. Likewise, I'm going to examine the differences between the whole man that I became in high school and the whole man that I am discovering today.
I feel like I have done a good job of balancing social life with the other aspects of my UW experience. I think it's important to relax and meet as many people as possible in the first quarter because I can imagine some students running out of those opportunities as classes get more specific and challenging. My hall (Lander 8) does a lot of fun activities together and I consider us a very close hall. I like the times when we hang out in the lounge; scattered around doing homework, playing video games, chatting, or watching the latest of our favorite TV show.
Academics are the key stone of this institution and sometimes it is easy to forget that it is simply one ingredient of the whole man. They should be considered with the utmost importance, but never as an overwhelming burden that can affect the other ingredients to a happy experience. I feel like I did well in this first quarter's classes, but there is much room for improvement. The class sizes are large resulting in the usual low mean test scores. Sometimes it's easy to be satisfied by anything above the mean, when instead I feel like you should be satisfied with your best work.
In high school I was an active member of the performing arts community, participating in choir, theater, musicals, and jazz band. I tried out for the Collective (the UW improve club) and did not make the team. This would have been my only avenue for this performing passion, so this quarter I did not spend much time with the arts. I guess I could say this was disappointing, but I would have made it if it was meant to be.
Sports were a large part of my high school career and the only way I can see athletics continuing at college is with a diligence to pursue. I think I did well at putting myself out there in the sport community. This quarter I enjoyed trying out for the men's club soccer program (didn't make it), playing volleyball, Frisbee, two intramural sports, indoor and pickup soccer. Despite failing to make the men's soccer club, I met some guys to play pickup with and when we play it's my favorite part of my week. Through my first quarter of sports I learned that if you get yourself out there, then good will happen (even if it isn't what you were expecting).
I want to a religious boarding private school and religion played a large part for my 4 high school years. Now that I am on my own it's my turn to personalize my religion and make it my own. I have enjoyed being a member of the CSO (Christian Science Organization) and attending church. I feel you learn a lot more about spirituality when surrounded by fewer of the same denomination.
I feel like I have found a great balance for my five favorite areas (perhaps with a bit more of the arts). Overall I am extremely grateful to be here at UW. I love the weather, the geography, and the smell! When I walk to class I am overwhelmed that I get to go to school in Washington, such a cool state!


How do you determine the releases shown in the discography?
I thought it would be a simple Album artist check, but that seems not to be the way you do.
I have an album "Various artists for the masses", which is full of Depeche Mode titles reinterpreted by various artists.
I have tagged this album with album artist = Depeche Mode and release type = "Tribute to" (one of my custom types), since I wanted to see it in Depeche Mode's Discography - but it does not show up in there.
It should be a check for album artist only.
Can you please share a database with this setup so that we can review it further?
This will of course needs to be improved for the artist detail page somehow. We will analyse this further.


Maggie Anderson's work impressed upon me the need to economically empower America's black community. Her book Our Black Year: One Family's Quest to Buy Black in America's Racially Divided Economy, shook me to the core with its examination of the way money flows out of black communities and into white communities, perpetuating inequities set into motion centuries ago. The riveting story of how she, her husband, and their two daughters endeavored for twelve months to buy everything they needed -- from groceries to clothes to gas – exclusively from black-owned businesses illustrates the dearth of opportunity in black communities. Because of Maggie's work, I now strive to locate and support black-owned businesses, example number one being this website, created by Social Hubris.
Barbara Beckwith was one of the first names I heard as I set out on my journey. A friend of a friend had recommended I take a course she co-led, White People Challenging Racism: Moving from Talk to Action. Still a little nervous that my ignorance would make people see me as not worth talking to, I steeled my nerves and called her. Her humor and sense of camaraderie put me immediately at ease. As I described my experience of waking up, she kept saying, "Me too! That happened to me too! I felt just like that!" Barbara, also a writer, supported me throughout the entire process, reading my work as it progressed, going to events with me, and being my roommate at conferences. She used both my writings and personal interactions with others to point out how my language and social habits could be perceived as racially insensitive, often weaving in an example of how she'd once done the same thing and commiserating with me about how hard it can be to change these habits. We now work together to develop, promote, and co-lead the course that first led me to her.
Dr. Stacy Blake-Beard, a professor at my alma mater, Simmons School of Management, crossed my path when a mutual friend introduced us. She asked to read my book, and, like any good professor returned it to me full of blue-inked comments, questions, and ideas for improvement. After two meetings to discuss her thoughts on the book I felt as if I'd taken an entire course with her. I credit Stacy as the one who got me to think about the importance of context. Using herself as an example, she said "I can be simultaneously empowered and otherized because all of my identities are with me all of the time. I show up as a woman and an African American and a professor and a wife and a mother all at once. Given the context, one of those identities will be at the fore. So in India people see me first as an American, while in America people might see me first as a black person." This insight has trained me to always consider context when individuals are seeking to understand and/or challenge their racially charged experiences.
Angela Giudice fell into my life in a moment of complete crisis. It was the winter of 2011. I'd just completed what I thought would be my final manuscript when a national debate arose about the role of white people in the anti-racist movement. I wondered whether I should just walk away, and if maybe my particular blend of upper-middle class whiteness might have no place in the world of racial justice. Angela, a highly respected long-time racial justice activist and former VISIONS Inc. consultant, pulled me aside after a meeting one day and said in her gentle West Virginia accent, "Hey, I'd love to read what you've written. I'll bet it's great." Truth be told, I was about ready to toss it in the shredder, tail between my legs. Thankfully I sent Angela my manuscript. A week later I received a voicemail saying, "Wow Debby, this is a great start." A great start! And I'd thought it was done. Under Angela's tutelage, I reworked the manuscript three more times, each round using the text to explore what I wasn't telling and why. Waking Up White would be a very different book without the coaching she offered to pull ideas and stories out of the furthest corners of my memory.
Paul Marcus is one of those rare people who everyone seems to be able to relate to. As executive director of Community Change, Inc. and a born educator, Paul has gently and deftly guided me in my learning by asking pointed questions. He's suggested books and films and invited me to events and meetings he knew would challenge me in ways I needed to be pushed. Of the many understandings he's given me is the delicate position I've put myself in by using so much privilege to challenge privilege. I've learned never to talk to Paul without pen and paper in hand lest I miss some gem in his seemingly endless flow of quotes, metaphors, analogies, stories, and history, all of which he uses to help other white people understand racism and their role in it. Among his many accomplishments is one of the most efficient and effective presentations I've seen about how racism works. In a mere three hours, it brings into focus the key intersecting elements that hold racism in place. He loves comparing the film The Matrix to racism, and I hope someday to fully grasp the blue pill / red pill phenomenon.
Dr. Billie Mayo, a former public school educator turned racial equity consultant, attended an all-day workshop I'd also signed up for in 2010. New at the racial justice scene, I felt jumpy and out of my element. From across the room, I observed Billie's calm, observant style. I noticed how intently she listened and that the few times she spoke the whole room stopped to listen. She used her words sparingly and to great affect. Among the wisdom she shared that day was this simple phrase: "Race isn't a cause, it's a part of becoming fully human." Though I didn't fully grasp the concept that day, those words awakened a sleeping part of my consciousness, giving me an early clue about why I so longed to connect across race. Her belief that there is but one human family and that racism creates barriers to its inherent and healthy oneness, has been a pillar of my own journey.
Dr. Peggy McIntosh made famous the term "white privilege" with her 1988 essay White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack. When I reached out to Peggy early in my process, she advised, "You must write about yourself and only yourself. That's what you know best and people will find it compelling." Throughout my writing process, I'd hear her voice interrupting me to ask, "Are you speaking from your own experience here?" Since our first meeting, she has shared with me writings, cautioned me about misusing my privilege, and stressed to me the importance of language. A favorite example of her use of language and imagery is the idea that one doesn't unlearn racism, but rather can try to outgrow aspects of it. "I see that I will never outgrow what I have come to think of as my hard drive attitudes and assumptions, "she explained," but when I install the alternative software I discover that I have outgrown some of them or can talk to myself about figuring out how to outgrow them. The alternative software allows me to see or study them." From a background similar to mine, she's modeled for me how to engage in this work without falling into white, upper-middle class habits without recognizing this.
Dr. Eddie Moore, Jr brings unparalleled intensity to the work of racial justice. A wearer of multiple hats, Eddie founded and continues to direct The White Privilege Conference, serves as director of diversity at the Brooklyn Friends School, and travels nationally and internationally to conduct training sessions, workshops, and keynote speeches. He has modeled for me what it looks like to be warm and gentle while vigorously challenging people's deepest beliefs about themselves and their place in the world. Eddie's approach emboldened me to make a habit of asking friends, colleagues, and clients of color to hold me accountable and tell me when I'm overstepping my bounds or enacting my whiteness. Though as a child I was taught that "honesty is the best policy," I credit Eddie with being the one to show me honesty's full potential. A private K-12 educator, administrator, and diversity director, Eddie has developed a particular passion for the insights and strengths young people bring to the work of social and racial justice. Along with everything else I've learned from him is to make time to ask young people for their perspective on issues and to encourage them to make their voices heard.
Verna Myers' charismatic storytelling and sense of humor make her one of the easiest people for me to learn from. A Harvard Law School trained lawyer, Verna consults with law firms around the world striving to attract and retain legal talent of color. Her ability to bear her soul while weaving humor, storytelling, analysis, and data into her work has influenced and affirmed my own style. Her deep understanding of the way bias and fear wreak havoc on the best of intentions added tremendously to my understanding of intent and impact. The chapter title in my book, "Getting Over Myself," is a direct quote of hers from a conversation in which we laughed over my lifelong need to be seen as having it all together. Her book, Moving Diversity Forward: How to Go From Well-Meaning to Well-Doing is full of cartoons, do's and don'ts, and anecdotes from her own life. I think it's an ideal follow-up to my book.
Dr. ShellyTochluk's book witnessing Whiteness came out just as I was embarking on my journey. Thirsting for insight into whiteness, I tore through the book, spellbound by Shelly's honest insights about herself, interview-style conversations with people of various races, explanations of the social dynamics that complicate cross-racial relationships, and guidance for white people on how to take action to challenge racism. At one of my first conferences, I ended up eating dinner with Shelly, having the opportunity to share with her ideas for my own book. She listened closely before offering this advice:"I could imagine it as a series of short essays, each around a different aspect of racism." This concept stuck with me and you'll notice its influence on the final product. That first interaction I had with Shelly was typical of the generosity and solidarity she brings to this work. Among the many ways Shelly gives to the racial justice community is the extensive free online set of workshop agendas and resources to support groups working to understand and work towards racial equity in their own communities.