Maya Angelou's Mom and Me and Mom Book Review

            Though this is Angelou’s seventh autobiography but it’s the first time delving into the complex relationship between she and her mother, Vivian Baxter. This book chronicles their 60-year relationship from California to New York City to Europe to Winston-Salem and Baxter’s impact upon Maya as an adult. After divorcing her father sent Maya and her older brother, Bailey, to love with their paternal grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas, for 10 years. Upon returning to California Maya was filled with so much rage that for the first two weeks she didn’t even address Vivian.  The day her grandmother was leaving for Arkansas, she asked Maya how she would address Vivian. Maya replied’ Lady’. The title stuck. Maya wouldn’t call Vivian ‘mother’ until she helped Maya deliver her son, Guy.

            Mom & Me & Mom differs from all of her other autobiographies because of its referential tone.  Having read I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings there’s a difference.  Even having celebrated her 85^th birthday this past April 4^th, Angelou writes as if she, too, is still learning the lessons that Lady dispensed. Mom & Me & Mom showcases Lady’s evolution from reluctant mother, thug and gambler parlor manager to warm, loving, matriarch not just of her family but the entire Stockton, California community.  In the beginning, when Maya was abused by a boyfriend, Lady used her underworld connections to find him.  Later in life when a Stockton city employee arrived on her doorstep telling her about a family forced to sleep in their car, Lady allowed them to shop her garage full of donated clothing and shower in her house.  The city honored her with a commemorative plaque for her charity.

This is what makes Mom & Me & Mom so memorable because it espouses the importance of her parents must change their style once their children reach adulthood. Angelou admits that Lade ways a horrible mother as a child but a magnificent one as a woman. Whether or not your child is a superstar or note, it serves as a map on how to navigate those murky waters. 

Get Recruited! Book Review

            Ever wonder why you land many interviews but never a job offer? You haven’t seen the process from the recruiter’s perspective.  There’s a difference between job searching and recruiting.  The former is uploading your resume on Monster, CareerBuilder and Indeed.  The latter means cultivating relationships and developing a brand.  Get Recruited! supplies superior insight to increasing your visibility by tapping into the recruiter’s world, a hidden job market of unlisted positions. This book goes beyond burnishing your resume, by helping you network with recruiters, like-minded professionals, create a career advisory board, media kits, business cards and find mentors and sponsors. Mentors and sponsors are meaningful because you’ll need them at every career stage.  When change jobs or receive promotion, you must find new ones.  Graham also says that media kits, business cards and branding specialists aren’t only for Fortune 500 firms. Use them to create your own branding strategy to find the job that you want. Finally, the author shows you how to use various networking levels (friends and family, volunteering, social media, past jobs and organizational memberships) to expand your current network.  Ultimately, Get Recruited! succeeds where other texts don’t by getting you unstuck.  What more can you ask for in a career management book?

In Relationships Everyone Makes Deposits

I responded to a blogger's love versus security question. Knowing that I would piss her off because I take love, I answer love is secure. She snaps Love is not secure-wtf. Oh well, I am not the only one because she then replies that many of her respondents would pick love over security, too. There are too many people especially women in relationships for money. These become abusive because they cannot leave once they sour. Having your own money enables women to exit. When someone loves you, you always feel secure. Finally, good relationships occur when every one makes deposits. Bringing something into this relationship ensures its longevity.