Busy Bee in the City

So much going on and I'm loving every minute of it! In brief, I met Senator Warner of Virginia this week and also DC bred award-winning author, Marita Golden. Pictures are below. ScholarCHIPS' Inaugural Awards Ceremony was a tremendous success! It was such a pleasure to meet all the youth whose applications we had spent tireless hours reading, reviewing, and then interviewing them. (Now back to fundraising! lol) They all had sweet, appreciative, and humble spirits! Also, I got an article published in a Go Green Magazine entitled Visions at Elon. Here's the link! Please check it out! http://www.elon.edu/docs/e-web/bft/sustainability/visions62012.pdf

For pictures from the ScholarCHIPS Ceremony at GW, please stay tuned and visit https://www.facebook.com/ScholarCHIPS

Met Senator Warner of Virginia via the Jefferson Awards for Service! ) 6/20/12

Award-winning author, Marita Golden is to the right of me. 

I am the second to last on the far right. 

I also met the founders of Fitness for Life and Heels and Helmets.

This was WOMA's 'Wine, Cupcakes, and Berries Gathering 6/24/12

                        ScholarCHIPS Inaugural Ceremony...all my friends came out! 6/23/12

Inaugural Signing of the Certificates Pics

After all the hard work, which is still not finished...THIS IS ONE OF THE NICE PARTS! The first signing of the first ever ScholarCHIPS, scholarship recipients! Grandma says to me as a joke..."Who do you think you are President Obama?!" lolz why...YES, but of course! :)

The Ceremony is THIS SATURDAY from 3:00 to 5:00 PM at the GW School of Business on 22nd between G & H streets, Duques Hall, Room 651. A reception will follow.

Decisions...Decisions...

Have you ever had to make a decision that made you sweat like a pig?...or...or one that made your heart pound so hard and so fast it felt like you were going to vomit your heart out your mouth? lol Yeah...disgusting right? It may not have been a life or death situation but a decision that may have meant the end of a relationship or the end of a job, etc....but the good news is every ending has a beginning! I do not think I have ever experienced what I just have. That same feeling I mentioned before.
You know, being 19 and being the founder of your own business, or non-profit should I say, there comes a time when you have to make a decision. A BIG ONE! THAT'S SO WEIRD! In times like these I have to grow up fast. In the midst of adults who have lived more than a quarter of their lives...the buck stops with me...WHAT?! It's a scary reality. But I know God would never give me anything He knows I would not be able to handle. Though I felt like my heart was beating out of me...it didn't :) I'm proud of myself though. This is the mere beginning/introduction to my adulthood. I heard you...'Welcome to the real world!' you say, huh? Oh well, It really sucks sometimes. DECISIONS. For every action there is a reaction....At least I can live with and be proud of the one I just made.

The Life-Changers are the TRUTH tellers: I Met One

You know it when you've met them! Amazing in every way...smart. funny. the perfect balance between work and play...silliness and seriousness. Im not talking about a soulmate. Nah, but just that awesome person in general you know is so amazing (and I don't use that word lightly) you know will be in your life for a very long time. His name is Richard Tafel. He is gifted in seeing through the lenses that most don't and often refuse to see through. You know that "Starfish" tale that every non-profit is so fond of?...the motto, let's say. You know..."If we can help one we're making a difference" Well, Tafel, who is also an ordained Reverend who graduated from Harvard Divinity school, believes that's not enough. We MUST do more...we must think bigger. We must look at the source of the problem and not simply try to through a band-aid over an issue and call it 'fixed' or 'better.' That just doesn't fly anymore. With a new day and age requires a new approach to solving problems, granted there is nothing new under the sun, but you catch my drift.
Tafel, founder of Public Squared is that amazing person I met and I know I met him on purpose. A fine coach of rhetoric (or rather oratory) and logic. "You have to get 'em in their heart but also in their minds." He was not afraid to tell me the TRUTH! And you know I love TRUTH. The best people...that will add the most value and knowledge to your life...those people you will blossom as a person by being around them are those who do not beat around the bush but at all times are willing to spit out the truth even when it hurts.
Tafel is a genius in his own right. I therefore introduce him to some and present him to many! Please check out his phenomenal op-eds here: http://thepublicsquared.com/in-the-media

My 1st Standup Comedy Show: Yazzie in Goodie Two Shoes

Introducing Yazzie in...."Goodie Two Shoes"

Ladies n gentlemen....Give it up for YYYYAAAAZZZZIIIIEEEEEE (In deep intro voice)!

I had so much fun doing this as a trail run. Let me know what you think. If you have a minute to laugh some stress away please watch! HILARIOUS! (Dont be too critical...it's my FIRST!) I had to fake like I had a real audience. lol

Judiciary Square, Naturalization Ceremony, Life Sentence

All I have to say is WOW! I attended a Naturalization Ceremony at the District Courthouse for the first time today and boy oh boy...I have to say, it was very moving. Approximately 110 people were "naturalized"or officially became U.S. citizens today. But what really blew my mind was seeing her up there....Who, you say?! My mentor....THE JUDGE! That's when it hit me that one of my mentors is a District Court Judge, very prominent, respected and known in her field. Following the Naturalization ceremony she had to sentence a man to life on account of the jury's decision. The man was from Afganistan I believe, and had been charged with producing and trafficking millions of kilos of heroin and then taking those millions and funding the Taliban and terrorists. Crazy huh? Yep...this is just an average day for me. lol No I'm totally joking :) I'm so blessed and grateful to have had these experiences and to be under the wing of one of the few people in our country who makes judiciary/legislative decisions every single day that impact all of our lives. CRRRRAAAAZZYYY. Or like they say now, this is CRAY!
Great day...now time for a cold shower and a nap. Back up n' at em tomorrow...lunch with a former graduate from Harvard Divinity School. This is going to be exciting.

Residual Hustlin,' Skewed Gratification

Some will not like me for this video and may hate me, but TOO BAD! I Must tell the truth. This so called "new/re-defined business model," "residual income business model" or whatever you please, is nothing but a hustle. Ok FINE...it's not a pyramid scheme or a scam or illegal or a get rich quick scheme, BUT IT'S WRONG AND DIRTY no matter how you flip it. It is not okay to coerce your family and friends whom you are supposed to love, respect and trust, who supposedly have the same for you to make money directly off of them. JUST WATCH!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cENICf1ZXBk&feature=g-all-u

ScholarCHIPS Inaugural Awards Ceremony Flier

Washington Post Follow Up Article

Hey there! Back in 2010, Washington post columnist Petula Devorak wrote a story about ScholarCHIPS and that was before we had t-shirts, an official website...and long before we were actually giving out scholarships! She was generous enough to do a follow up story and it appeared in today's Post on the front page of the metro section. What's crazy to me is that it even has a quote from my father!

Though the story focuses on me...I DID NOT DO ANY OF THIS ALONE! I thank each and every one who has played a part. I hope you get a chance to read it and let me know what you think...I also hope to see you at GW School of Business June 23, 2012 from 3-5pm for ScholarCHIPS Inaugural Scholarship Awards Ceremony!

Here's the Washington Post Article Link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/college-student-who-knows-pain-of-parents-incarceration-gives-back-to-kids/2012/06/04/gJQAiZwjDV_story.html

SPOKEN WORD DOUBLE WHAMMY! Enjoy

Homeless Man Asks, Want Some Fresh Krispy Kremes?

Well, yesterday was quite the day for me! In the evening as the sun was going down, on my way home from an awesome networking social outing, I found myself being stopped by a homeless man holding up a deluxe box of a hot, fresh batch of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts asking "Aaayy, do you want a fresh Krispy Kreme?" ...Not what you typically find yourself being asked from homeless guys. However, this guy intrigued me. Pulling out my ipod earphone, I asked smiling, "Why are you giving out Kripsy Kremes?! He said they were just given to him and he couldn't eat all of them. I rejected the offer, but I could not help but to be curious about HIM. This guy looked rather young and was very handsome...clean cut...he did not exude any unpleasant smells either.
Now I know you are already thinking...WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU YASMINE?! Well, now...that's where YOU'RE WRONG! He had two things to give me that are priceless to me and rare to find nowadays and that is his unadulterated TIME AND WISDOM, or as he called is WISE-DOME! He was a very intelligent man...so smart that he made a joke saying, "I hope you don't go posting online that 'I met a homeless guy today,'" but I would be a fool not to share what I learned.
He was so smart, and he has been through so much. He was the oldest of four or five kids and said he practically raised his sisters like they were his daughters. His family suffers from alcoholism and depression. The funny thing is my family does too...not everyone, but it runs in the family. You just never know how or where you may end up...he worked as a security guard at several places. Poor baby said that he ended up in a Psych Ward by the age of about 14 or 16 he said....He grew up in DC, like me, and went to Coolidge high school or COOL-I-D-G-E, as he said it, about five blocks from my house. And he also  went to the same middle school I attended, Paul.
Before you know it, I was sitting on a stoop at Union Station being schooled and entertained all at the same time by this homeless man. But when I was talking to him, he was not homeless...he was just a man...a friend. He said he was about to turn 40, yet he looked no older than 25...Black man, fare-skinned, muscularly built, clean cut, beautiful smile...AND BOY COULD HE SING! Though his parents gave him a common American name, he calls himself his name in Hebrew. I CANNOT GET OVER HOW WISE HE WAS...He even inquired about my ScholarCHIPS T-shirt...I always wear so proud wherever I go! That will probably be the FIRST and LAST time I am ever offered fresh Kripsy Kreme Doughnuts by a homeless man (who I hope will get back on his feet soon), but I certainly hope this is first of many times, a homeless man will give me his free wisdom! Have you ever heard that saying..."Treat people right...because you never know...you may be entertaining an angel"?...If I ever thought I met an angel in disguise, he would be it! YES! HE WOULD BE IT!

Washington Post ScholarCHIPS Follow Up Story

Just so you know...ScholarCHIPS will have a follow up feature story in the Washington Post in Petula Dvorak's column in print on Tuesday June 5th and online Monday, June 4th...STAY TUNED!

WELCOME TO THE UNITED SNAKES...Land of the Thief, Home of the Slave

How could I have forgotten to share this with you! This rap is a masterpiece. I discovered it in my Music and Propaganda Class...powerful stuff and what makes this piece all the more exciting is that is was written, sung, and produced by a white rapper named Brother Ali :) Is humorous, yet true and so deep!

(I apologize in advance for the occasional profanity, but it brings the message home)