Blurry Eyes

To the blacks browns reds and yellow periwinkles teals and fuchsias

If you want to be in advertising, there is one thing to remember

Don’t be afraid

Of hardwork, rejection, racism, responsibility, sexism.

Don’t be afraid of being the only one on the room.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions, find answers. Listen. Hear. Trust.

Don’t be afraid to follow. Don’t be afraid to lead.

Don’t be afraid to learn. To grow. To mature. To change.

Don’t be afraid to try. To fail. To try again. Fail again. Try again and fail again. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.

Don’t be afraid to be smart. Clever. Witty. Funky. Hard. Street. Elegant. Beautiful. You.

Don’t be afraid to be fired.

Don’t be afraid when you hear the word nigger.

Don’t be afraid to remind them that right after the black jokes come the jewish jokes the polish jokes and the fat jokes.

Don’t be afraid to master the craft. To master the game.

Don’t be afraid when they don’t understand your accent, dialect, or slang. Your heroes, your sex symbols. Your style. Your music. Your people. Your culture. Your you.

Don’t be afraid to take criticism.

Don’t be afraid to be wrong. To be right.

Don’t be afraid to speak your mind. Stand up for what you believe and pay the consequences.

Don’t be afraid to be a team player. Don’t be afraid to be the peon. The rookie. The junior. The helper. The pair of hands. The intern. The student.

Don’t be afraid to not be the victim. Don’t be afraid to not take it personally. Don’t be afraid to call a spade a spade.

Don’t be afraid to have a personality. An opinion. A point of view. A perspective. An objective. A positive attitude.

Don’t be afraid of those who are threatened by your presence. Or feel you don’t belong. Or those who need you to fail for them to succeed.

Don’t be afraid to understand the difference between racism and insecurity. Between racism and power. Between sexism and chauvinism.

Don’t be afraid to forgive. To apologize. To be humble.

Don’t be afraid to surrender. To win. To lose. To fight.

Don’t be afraid of titles, awards. Salaries. Egos. Offices. Windows. Ponytails. Clothes. Jewelry. Degrees. Backgrounds. Lifestyles. Cars. Beach houses.

Don’t be afraid to compete.

Don’t be afraid of not being popular.

Don’t be afraid to work weekends. Holidays. Birthdays. Sick days. Personal days.

Don’t be afraid to work twice as hard. Twice as long. Twice as good.

Don’t be afraid to get more out of this business than this business ever intended on giving.

P.S and under no circumstances whatsoever are you to be intimidated. Because some will try.

-Quoted from Charles Hall (an African American Copywriter and film director)-