Dennis Kimbro - Daily Motivations for African-American Success: Including Inspirations from Famous African-American Achievers

Dennis Kimbro has taken Napoleon Hills masterpiece and set it on the cutting edge. By combining ideas for achievement with his own innate wisdom, Dennis Kimbro has, in fact, redefined successnot just for Black America, but for anyone lucky enough to read a copy of this book. It will long stand as the definitive guide for anyone in search of success. Think and Grow Rich: A Black Choice is a triumph, not only for the writer, but also for the reader.

H ARVEY M ACKAY
Author of
Beware the Naked Man Who Offers You His Shirt
and
Swim With the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive

Think and Grow Rich: A Black Choice is the perfect updating of a classic, a must-read for Black America. Kimbro and Hill have created a sensible and powerful guide to getting ahead that will long stand as the guide not only to reaching, but also explaining, success.

A HMAD R ASHAD
Network Host

This book should be required reading for all African Americans truly committed to the pursuit of happiness and fulfillment.

Black Enterprise

A Fawcett Book
Published by The Random House Publishing Group
Copyright 1993 by Dennis Kimbro

All rights reserved.

Published in the United States by Fawcett Books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.

Fawcett Books and colophon are trademarks of Random House, Inc.

www.ballantinebooks.com

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 93-90037

eISBN: 978-0-307-79741-4

v3.1

Were a special people, Were the best and the brightest our ancestors ever produced!

JAMES WELDON JOHNSON, WRITER

Who are we? Were African Americans, and we are achievers! We are mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, nieces, and nephews. We are doctors, lawyers, teachers, writers, and entrepreneurs. Were African Americans, and we are achievers!

We are jet black, blue black, dark brown, brown-skinned, medium brown, yellow, high yellow, light-skinned, fair skinned, light, bright, almost white, redbone, but Afro-American to the bone. Were African Americans, and we are achievers!

We have climbed the highest mountains, scaled the highest heights. We are visionaries, innovators, dreamers, creators, leaders, builders, and doers. Were African Americans, and we are achievers!

We made it past slavery. Weve been hurried and hassled; discouraged and downtrodden. Weve provided an unpaid service to this country by serving others first and ourselves last. Yet we are survivors, overcomers, those who have endured. Though were the last hired and the first fired, we know the meaning of perseverance. We know a setback is a setup for a comeback. Weve survived the end of the world, and now handle miracles by appointment only.

On a scale from one to ten, we are one hundred! Were African Americans, and we are achievers!

I am an African-American Achiever.

I know who my real Father is.

REVEREND CECIL CHIP MURRAY, A.M.E. CHURCH, LOS ANGELES

Former heavyweight boxing champion Joe Frazier once said, Prayer is just as important as roadwork. The ex-champ beat the odds by utilizing hard work, self-confidence, and unshakable faiththe power within.

Dr. Georgia L. McMurray, who has been stricken with Charcot-Marie-Tooth atrophy, a congenital degenerative disease that has left her completely paralyzed, is one of the nations top educators. From her motorized wheelchair she continues her research and remains committed to championing the causes of young adults, particularly teenage mothers. Dr. McMurrays remarkable life proves that a physical challenge of any kindwhether an early pregnancy or a rare diseaseneed not be a limitation to excellence. Much in demand, she closes her speeches with a prayer: I ask God for strength to continue the journey.

The Archbishop Desmond Tutu continues to fight the greatest enemy known to mankind: ignorance. Armed with nothing more than an unconquerable faith, Bishop Tutu refuses to bend or bow. On more than one occasion he has mentioned that God will see me through.

Joe Frazier, Dr. Georgia McMurray, and Bishop Tutu understand the Universal Law of Spiritual Power that governs their lives. They know that the vitality of the Creatorthe designer of the universepermeates every fiber of our being. Infinite Intelligence guides us to health, happiness, and prosperity. Chase your dreams! Climb the highest mountain. Call upon the spiritual power that rests within.

I know who my Father is. Today I will step out boldly and conquer new worlds.

Weve been called colored, Negro, black, everything. Why cant we just be free?

PAUL MOONEY, COMEDIAN

Most people havent the slightest idea of who they are and what they are. When questioned about their true identity many are equally confused. Who are you?

Historically we were called nigger before we had the right to vote, nigras when just a few of us went to the polls, colored folk when our numbers began to swell, and Negroes when we began the great migration north in the forties and fifties. But who are you? With power in the 1960s came selfrespect. Black, it seemed, was the final step on the road to dignity and equality. Not so, say many leaders and social activists of the day. African American, it has been said, is the proper term. But again, I ask, who are you?

Each of us sooner or later will search for our true identity. For example, wetbacks became illegal aliens and then undocumented workers. The old became the elderly and now senior citizens; the crippled became handicapped, disabled, and now physically challenged.

If any of the above labelsAfrican American, black, Negro, or coloredseems symbolically out of place, then of course it should and must go. But if you told me that you are a mind with a body, a spiritual being, a part of the great I AM, you would be closer to the truth. You would be in line with the African proverb that states, if you dont know who you are, anyone can name you; and if anyone can name you, you will answer to anything.

I know who I am: a child of God. And I can do anything!

There are some countries so backward that their people dont spend money until they have saved it.

A. G. GASTON, ENTREPRENEUR

Theres an old fable about a man who was riding across the desert at night. As he crossed a riverbed, a voice came out of the darkness ordering him to halt. The voice then said, Now, get off your camel. The man did so. The voice then said, Pick up some gravel from the riverbed. The man complied. Finally the voice said, Now mount and ride on. In the morning youll be both glad and sorry.

As the sun rose, the rider looked at what he had picked up and discovered it was not gravel at all but a handful of precious gems! As the voice had said, he was both glad and sorry. Glad he had picked up a few and sorry he had not carried more. Like most fables, this one is based on human nature and has specific meaning for those fortunate to live in this land of opportunity.