Life, Leadership, and Legacy

101 Tips for Emerging Justice Leaders, Second Edition

Resmaa Menakem

• Publisher: Black House Publishings
• Year: 2017
• Edition: 2
• eBook ISBN:
  9780998424835
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Industrial & Organizational Psychology
• Index: Psychology

It happens that once in a decade or so, a powerfully written, hard-hitting book is presented that reveals knowledge and expertise on an evolving topic of national and international concern. Life, Leadership, and Legacy: 101 Tips for Emerging Justice Leaders by Resmaa Menakem is that book. It is an expertly written book of tips as to how prospective and existing Justice Leaders can advance in life while pursuing their goals and dreams; then move into high leadership positioning, while moving their desired legacy forward. Life, Leadership, and Legacy: 101 Tips for Emerging Justice Leaders is a book for emerging Justice Leaders who become stuck or disengaged while performing their services in the communities they serve. Resmaa presents 101 tips on how to efficiently move into fulfilling positioning for the emerging Justice Leader as well as promote the skill sets that aids individuals in understanding the dynamics of those they serve, thereby creating a sense of fairness and justice for all in a win-win situation.

Life

Winning is great, sure, but if you are going to do something in life, the secret is learning how to lose. Nobody goes undefeated all the time. If you can pick up after a crushing defeat, and go on to win again, you are going to be a champion someday.

– Wilma Rudolph

1) Self-care matters. Make sure that you matter to you.

Self-care has impacts on your health directly. Self-care can aid you in experiencing sensations that refresh, focus and energize you. When you develop self-nurturing routines your body naturally responds with an increase in rational thought processes, memory and determination are more focused, and our relationships are better off for it. Develop self-care plans that incorporate pre-event, during event, and post-recovery strategies after high-activation endeavors.

I am a feminist, and what that means to me is much the same as the meaning of the fact that I am Black: it means that I must undertake to love myself and to respect myself as though my very life depends on upon self-love and self-respect.

– June Jordan

2) Develop a yearly wellness plan.

Develop a holistic annual wellness checkup plan. Schedule doctors’ appointments like the OB, mammogram, or prostate checkup, and refill your prescriptions and go pick them up. Although it sounds routine, these are the things that get pushed off our calendars so quickly. Do a new plan at the beginning of each year. Here are the top health concerns for justice leaders to make sure you ask about and address: diabetes, depression, anxiety, asthma, sarcoidosis, lung cancer, breast cancer, high blood pressure.

If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.

– Maya Angelou

3) Cultivate meaningful relationships.

Spending eighty-hours plus with your cell phone and computer each week doesn’t count as relationship building. Social interactions with live human beings can add fulfillment and interest, fend off anxiety, and even help with healthily living longer. Real human connections tend to make us happier overall. Happiness can help us be more productive. That date night and time with friends are good for connecting and good for the business of life.

No matter what accomplishments you make, somebody helped you.

– Althea Gibson

4) Practice mindfulness.

Take time with a higher knowing, time with self, and time to be still and process. Take a break every twenty-five minutes: stand up, take seven breaths, and walk. Going at a fast pace is sometimes considered to be a mark of success. Speed can take its toll on you and your relationships. Taking time to quiet the internal rumblings can feel unproductive, but this time should be cherished and protected.

Breathe. Let go. Remind yourself that this very moment is the only one you know you have for sure.

– Oprah Winfrey

5) Spend time with a healing professional.

A good, competent healing professional provides a safe place to be you; to be honest about everything that’s going on in your life. A healer helps you be gentle and softer with yourself. A healer helps you get to know your better self. When you need to choose a healer, interview as many as possible because when it comes to healers, “FIT” is necessary.

When people told me I’d never make it, I listened to the one person who said I could: me.

– Shannon Sharpe

6) Let go of toxic relationships.

Toxicity can show itself in different ways, but regardless of the differences, toxic people must be removed. Sometimes these people are family members, friends, and people we love. Many emerging justice leaders have limited time and resources. Toxic people in your life can manipulate that time and those resources. You must think about the relationships in your life. How do they make you feel? How do you react to those people? Are you avoiding interacting with certain individuals and activities? These may be indicators that you’re involved in a toxic relationship. Sometimes a good friend or healer can help you navigate through toxic relationships. Racism, sexism, bias and white body supremacy can also take a deadly toxic toll on you.

I am a woman who came from the cotton fields of the South. From there I was promoted to the washtub. From there I was promoted to the cook kitchen. And from there I promoted myself into the business of manufacturing hair goods and preparations… I have built my own factory on my own ground.

– Madam C.J. Walker

7) Do fun stuff.

What do you love to do that charges your batteries? What is fulfilling to you? If you had all the money you needed, what would you do with your time? The life of a justice leader can be challenging and grinding; be sure add some fun things.

When it gets harder to love, love harder.

– Van Jones

8) Go book yourself.

You are an excellent, unique novel. Journaling allows the novel to be written and unfold. Take notes during meditation, or write down inspirational quotes from friends. Write out stream of consciousness thoughts and then go back and study them. Journaling is about learning and relearning the self. Journaling forces you to slow down and process feelings and experiences. Journaling helps you transform the rawness of your unconscious mind.

You’re not obligated to win. You’re obligated to keep trying to do the best you can every day.

– Marian Wright Edelman

9) Contemplating vs. complaining.

Contemplating is the art of looking at or viewing with continued attention; observe or study thoughtfully. Some justice leaders get this confused with complaining. When you spend time complaining about the obstacles you are facing, you are wasting so much time being negative that you are losing chances to move forward. Instead of thinking of challenges as problems, think of them as opportunities. You might believe there is no correlation between complaining and relational success when, in fact, there is a connection. Life gets better when you know the difference.

You don’t make progress by standing on the sidelines, whimpering and complaining. You make progress by implementing ideas.

– Shirley Chisholm

10) Being happy is about attitude, not aptitude.

Balancing a justice mission-driven spirit with demands of family and life requires the right approach. An active but settled mind and body, happy upbeat attitude will help you succeed. It has been proven that a person living in a happy state gets much...

Table of contents

• Foreword
• Introduction
• Life
• Leadership
• Legacy
• Bonus Tips and Quotes
• Justice Leadership Planning Questions
• Justice Leadership Solutions
• Author’s Story
• Co-author’s Story
• Acknowledgments