ORLANDO, Fla. – They say that money can’t buy you happiness, don’t they?
What if the opposite is true? What if this whole time it’s really been happiness, feeling content and secure first, that leads to money second? Regardless, it’s important to listen, because if you were born knowing exactly what to do to succeed, you’d probably already be doing it.
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This week on “Black Men Sundays,” host Corie Murray interviews Orin Saunders, Jonn Thomas and Glenn Greenidge, facilitators of the 2023 International Black Summit taking place next month in Buffalo, New York. That’s pretty far from Florida, granted, but we’re told it’ll be accessible via Zoom, too.
“It’s a conversation being given by life through people of Black African descent. So you could say we’ve been empowered to allow this space to move through us, right? And the purpose of the International Black Summit is to provide an opportunity for participants to bring into being their vision for the Black community and the world,” Thomas said. “...We have this document called the Declaration of the International Black Summit. It’s kind of like our vision for ourselves and the world, and there’s a line in there — in section three, paragraph three — where it says ‘We stand,’ right? And it says ‘We stand for (the) expression of (our) spirituality.’ The next line is, ‘Building economies responsible for funding our community,’ so one of the places we stand is in that world. (...) What’s your vision that’s consistent with building economies responsible for funding our communities?”
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The summits date back to 1991, with Greenidge in attendance from the get-go. According to him, the events deal in current issues which need to be addressed, whether community-wide or individual, marking a big distinction from the average one-sided seminar or conference.
“We actually deal with the issues that are in the space that day, that moment. So a brother might be having a conversation about his relationship, or his finances, or his health or her health or the health of the family, and so we we have these tools that we use that are part of the training that we provide you to look at and to be able to navigate yourself around any obstacles that you have in life that are blocking you from your commitment,” Greenidge said “...So now that you’ve got your vision, now, you know, what’s stopping you? And so we’ve got a bunch of tools called distinctions that we use to navigate that world. (...) One of the words that we use — and we use it in a particular context, it’s an English word and it’s in the dictionary, it’s got a lot of different meanings — but, ‘Trigger.’”
Regarding the term trigger here, Greenidge said it’s important to recognize what could trigger you and cause your mind to wander, adding the goal is to return to the conversation at hand with a sound mind.
“The example I love to use is when I was coming fresh off of a divorce, somebody would say ‘Divorce’ and I’m gone out the conversation. So I have left the conversation, I’m now in my head about my divorce, I’m not even sure what they’re saying and so noticing your trigger, noticing that I’m in a trigger, now gives me some choice and some capability to stay present, because once I’m gone, there’s no conversation, there’s a monologue. (...) So I may notice, ‘Oh, I just got triggered. Hold up a second. Let me get myself back together so I can be present inside of this conversation,’” he said.
Saunders’ two children, Folami and Jumaane, were facilitators of the first International Black Youth Summit in 1995.
Because his children grew up with the international summits and found success, Saunder said they’re proof of the benefits brought about by such cultural exposure and conversation-based problem solving.
“They grew up and they became adults, they became very successful, they went to college,” Saunders said. “We’ve done the summit in many parts of the world, so you know, there were young people from Kenya, from Sudan, there were young people that we’ve done the summit with in Brazil, in Anguilla, Jamaica and all over. So these young people also had a chance to travel and see the world and various cultures, but here’s the deal. They went as facilitators to these countries, that did not go as tourists, they went to bring something to the youth in those countries.”
So, how is it that summit facilitators figure willpower can lead to community betterment?
According to Thomas, if you can realize a vision that benefits your personal economy, you’ll have more opportunities than ever to improve the community around you.
“That’s the main vision of the show, right? So, to bring people together inside this space of generational wealth, inside of this space of economic development, inside this space of financial independence, right? Particularly for Black men. To be in that space, to be generating from there, operating from there, get out of the struggle,” Thomas said.
And how does one get out of the struggle?
Greenidge suggested to look within and listen around, such is the purpose of the summit.
“So, if I want to take my business to the next level, what have I not thought about? What am I not thinking about? And remember that you’re inside the context of other people who have other issues that they’re speaking about, because you came for your particular reason, Jonn came for his, Orin came for (his) and I came for mine; inside of those conversations popping up, I may see something in Jonn’s share, I may see something in your share, that’s gonna make a difference in my business, that I hadn’t even seen. So what we’re doing is we’re opening up the blinders,” Greenidge said. “...The listening that we have for each other, suggestions come up. The universe always contributes to us if we’re listening, and that’s why it’s so important for us to be present, because we may think it’s this thing, but maybe it’s the other thing that we haven’t even seen or had no notion about.”
Hear the full interview and more in Season 2, Episode 30 of “Black Men Sundays.”
Black Men Sundays talks about building generational wealth. Check out every episode in the media player below.