New Branding in the Neighborhood

First, Loyola College in Maryland, where I attended and graduated as an undergrad 25 years ago last spring, announced it was changing its name to Loyola University Maryland. (The change will take place a few weekends from now with campus events and fireworks.) New banners are already up and flying high. I am lucky enough to live nearby, a short walk away, so I hope to see and hear some of the excitement, even if I don't attend all of the festivities... It's the latest change in the institution's evolution from a mostly commuter school to one of vibrant campus life and increasing attraction as a destination for students from around the nation.

Now, just up the street and around the corner, at Gilman School, my other alma mater, there is also a change in the works. The prep school's seal has been revised, part of a long tradition of evolution, it seems. The previous version, a round emblem, had looked pretty much the same as it had when I began attending 35 (can that be right?) years ago this month.

The new seal is a basic crest, which had been a part of the circular emblem, but this will look better on a jacket, and its more visibly distinctive in print publications and ads. I was a little shocked at first, especially when I first saw it in use in a magazine ad a few months ago. However, it grew on me, especially when I learned that it's just a step away from (actually more of a step back to) the first seal, created in 1907. So the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Kudos, Gilman and Loyola for keeping things fresh while incorporating the past. After much forward-thinking, yet past-respective construction and expansion on your campuses, a change in branding is logical too.

Remembering Michael Jackson

As his many fans memorialize him today, and others tempt us to remember the scandals and the oddities of the man, I am at peace with the fact that the Michael Jackson whom I remember and admire most is worthy of only praise.

His "Thriller" album was a history-making achievement, with so many sales and so many hit singles, and the title video he created set the gold standard for MTV and music videos in general... The "moonwalk" he first performed on the "Motown 25" television special reportedly prompted a call from Fred Astaire in admiration... Among his charity efforts, he co-wrote the infamous "We Are the World" single... He was honored at the White House by President Reagan... His music truly crossed over boundaries of race, culture, politics and nations...

Yes, there were many faces to Michael Jackson... literally. There's nothing wrong with plastic surgery, and many entertainers, especially rock stars, do like to experiment with their appearance, but such drastic changes prompt questions. Was he not happy with himself? What was he looking to be or to become? Did he even know? Or was he consciously making breaks with the past? Was he making it easy for us to make a distinction between his brief childhood as a poor black kid in Gary, Indiana and the superstar he was forced to become. Falling down on stage, breaking his nose, then later being injured by a freak fire on the set of that Pepsi commercial all, no doubt, played a part in the beginning of medical alterations, but was he also rebelling? Was he not unlike any other young adult, except he was not held back by a lack of resources? Did he desire to escape? Did he want to backpack through Europe or some other foreign land, but couldn't because there was no where he could go without being recognized? Did all of the clamoring public attention force him within and to rebel against himself?

Whatever the reason, Michael Jackson made it easy for us to separate his success from his oddity. Sadly, the more unusual he began to look, the more unusual his life became too... The creation of the fanciful "Neverland" ranch, the friendships and sleepovers with young boys, the courtroom allegations of child abuse, the oxygen chamber story in the National Enquirer, the publicized plea to purchase the bones of the Elephant Man, his unsuccessful marriages, and then his odd behavior with his own children... So many images, PR or not, overtook his talent, popularity and fame to became a part of his infamy.


I prefer to ignore the later, unusal sci-fi images. I prefer, instead, to look back at the beginning and the initial, amazing talent of a boy whose face was just three years away from mine, not light years away from reality... There he was, the tiny lead singer of The Jackson 5, appearing on "The Ed Sullivan Show," then his voice booming from AM radios throughout the early '70s in a string of early hits, and finally, the epitome of success, being immortalized in a Saturday morning cartoon. In 1972, I was 10 years old, and one of the first records I ever bought (yes, a 45 back then) was The Jackson 5's "Rockin' Robin."


It was the boy who looked like me that I admire and remember best. Since his death nearly two weeks ago, the tune "I Want You Back" has been running through my head. As I kept hearing the endless news reports and news magazines discussing his many solo successes, I thought I was the only one who remembered and cared about the early Michael - the little black boy with the amazing talent, launched too early into a world of hype and all that comes with it. Then, walking through Roland Park of all places, I heard "I Want You Back" coming from someone's basement. Some small amateur group was playing the tune's instrumentals, the sound drifting through the tree-lined streets of this upper class, still mostly white suburban neighborhood of Baltimore, as the late afternoon sun eased its way through the leaves. There were no lyrics sung, but the words were speaking to me, to the world, and to Michael.

Somewhere, I hope you're finally back, Michael – back to 1972, and I hope you've found yourself and peace.

See the Jellies!

OK... I've gone through a lengthy period of not updating my blog. So, why now? Well, I took a break from a busy spring of job hunting and freelance projects to go to a special preview of the new jellyfish exhibit at the National Aquarium in Baltimore. The exhibit is expected to be there for a while (3 years or more), but it's worth a visit as soon as you can get there. Fascinating creatures!

Senator Theater's Future Still Uncertain

City helps, but auction will still decide fate.

To the Rescue!

Firemen assist woman who apparently locked a baby in her car near TowsonPlace Target.

Sign Goes Up for 7-11

Hopkins Square site once hoped for retailers like The Gap.

Yes... Me too.

Late in February, my full-time employer announced some impending layoffs. Unfortunately, within a few days I was surprised to learn that my position (Director of Corporate Communications) was on the list, becoming one of over 65,000 people in the United States who lost their jobs in February, due to the ailing economy.

News of a potential $20+ million shortfall in government reimbursements (a major component of the company's revenue) had us all worried for months that cutbacks would soon be taking place. Covering political advocacy was one of my duties during the three and a half years there, so I had firsthand knowledge of the importance of this issue and the ongoing battle for funding. Yet, the cuts in our small Corporate Communications department of four were not expected, and I was one of two people eliminated there. I will miss my connection to the employees, patients, residents and their stories at more than 200 skilled nursing and assisted living locations. My portfolio is now filled with these stories, and I know that the cutbacks in the corporate area, plus other corporate budget-cutting measures, are being made first to make sure the great work at the company's service locations and the care of the customers can continue unchanged. Stepping back from the situation, the small group of us who lost our jobs (possibly as small as .1 % of the company's workforce) seems to be a small sacrifice, and certainly not newsworthy when compared to the hundreds and thousands of others at other companies. This company is still strong and one of the best places to work I have ever experienced.

Wednesday, February 25th was my last day, although I came back to pack up and say good-byes on Thursday... Friends and colleagues may now call me on my cell or at home to reach me. I can also be contacted at the newly-reinvigorated BDL Communications freelance services office (800.937.2164, extension 101).

Standing with Obama

As an African-American man born in the 1960s, being in Washington, D.C. for this inauguration was something I had to do.

I had to be there for those who could not be there for themselves...

I was there for the great-grandmother I knew, who was born less than 35 years after the Civil War, and for her father whom I once met...

I was there for my grandmother and many women like her who experienced the hardships of a segregated 20th century, who lived simple lives but worked hard, day-by-day, to make each next day better for their children and grandchildren…

I was there for my mother and every mother who would ride a bus every day to and from her job in a nursing home for many years, but managed to finance a child’s higher education...

I was there for my father, who was not always there for me...

I was there for the white teenager who called me a name in 1976, and for all those who still use that word, without listening to themselves, only because they have nothing else to say...

I was there for the countless others who sought different lives, different ways to battle society’s ills, only to languish in the seemingly endless cycle of crime, incarceration, self-abuse and neglect. I stood there to help show them that taking the right path is never wrong...

I was there for men like my stepfather, whose prayers and gentle wisdom have been a quiet invocation, always a reminder of what could be, giving me and countless others the power, the strength and the glory to reach that spot on the mall by the Washington Monument, and to stand for four hours on a frigid Tuesday in January to finally see a face like ours facing us, bringing dignity and emotions beyond words...

I was honored to be there with him, with the Lincoln Memorial and the world at my back, as I faced the Capitol in the distance and calmly breathed a warming sigh of joy, relief, pride and eternal hope.

Welcoming Hope

It was a cold, cold day, but everyone who gathered to see and hear Barack Obama this weekend in downtown Baltimore had warmth in their hearts. The crowd of 40,000 seemed to be a representation of Baltimore - predominately black, but interspersed with white... beleaguered by economic and social ills, but proud of its past and filled with hope.

I rode on a bus with white college students headed to the event. I walked past many black men trying to make a buck by selling Obama souvenirs. I stood in line to go through the metal detectors with two young white girls. And at War Memorial Plaza, I stood there (for nearly two hours), flanked by an older black woman there by herself to my left, a white woman with her family to my right, and a younger white couple standing in front of me who gladly made room for a young black woman's little girl to stand next to them where she could see... It was Baltimore, at its best. It was young, old, black, white, middle class, poor, all standing together, creating warmth, united in spirit. It was hope.

When Barack came, he spoke of the support Baltimore him (60%), and he referred to history. He reminded us that when Washington burned in the War of 1812, it was the defenders of Baltimore who held back the British, the greatest Navy in the world, and provided inspiration for the Star-Spangled Banner.

While there were too many reminders of bad things this weekend (visible sharp-shooters on the roofs of several buildings, a huge police presence throughout a city that still has one of the nation's highest murder rates, and a conspicuously absent, recently indicted Mayor Sheila Dixon), there was much good...


The nation's first person of color to be elected President, stood on the steps of a memorial to a war fought by a segregated army, facing a Civil-War era City Hall building, and left on a train car where a person looking like him, not too many decades ago, could only be a porter.

Yes, it is a time of hope. Hope becoming reality before our eyes.

Baltimore Waits for Obamba

Thousands gather at Baltimore's War Memorial Plaza, across from City Hall, as President-Elect Barack Obama makes his way to speak, all part of an historic train ride from Philadelphia to Washington, DC.

Go, Ravens!

I am not known for being a big sports fan, but I will cheer for the home team... especially when they're winning. So, yes, I'm caught up in Ravens frenzy. At work, it's easy to do when the Towson office of Genesis HealthCare offers a jeans and jersey day, where you can wear jeans if you add a Ravens' jersey or anything with a Ravens logo.

We've had a jeans day last Friday before the Tennessee game, and coming up this Friday as the team heads to AFC championship game against the Steelers... This rare (You know I seldom look this athletic) cell phone photo of me was taken by a co-worker during a previous season, but I recently found it when transfering pics to my new Photobucket site, with plenty of other mobile phone pics. T*Mobile eliminated their album from direct web access a while back, so Photobucket is now my container for personal, random and raw pics -- usually taken by mobile phone. I'm still transfering tagging and organizing pics into folders, but look carefully and you'll also see some fuzzy nighttime images of the RCM&D building and the Towson courthouse aglow in purple lights.