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A Free Online Newsletter About Racial, Gender, Generational Issues
and Finding Solutions
 A Global Mission:
Bronzed Connections is designed to serve as a support network, as a motivational tool with positive undertones. This newsletter is not a resource for "griping" or blaming, but rather a forum for men, women and children to communicate and share varied experiences, to enlighten as well as encourage one another. An opportunity for Americans of African Descent and other ethnic groups to connect with their own race and with other racial groups to find solutions to common problems. Before you can truly embrace others, you must first be willing to embrace yourself. To appreciate and respect other racial groups, you must first appreciate and respect your own.
Bridging the Economic Divide Starts With Bridging the Education Divide
You can become part of the solution
 Click here to become a Bronzed Connections Member
Since all human beings are connected and journeying on the same tracks in life ... just traveling on different trains, the topics presented in this Mears Management newsletter will pertain to local, state, national and international issues . These articles can be helpful to everyone, everywhere who may be facing similar difficulties and having similar concerns.
The original publication of "Bronzed Connections" was issued locally as hard copy November 1, 2006. Excerpts from that issue will be found within this online publication along with additional articles and updates. The decision was made to share with as many people possible. What better way than the global internet system?
Self-Hate is quite prevalent and an ongoing problem, even in 2012.
It is the root of many other unresolved issues.
It's time for us to embrace our differences
and celebrate our likenesses
Please forward this site to your family and friends
So, Is a Rose Still a Rose?
It's hard for a person to see himself or herself as a beautiful rose if he or she is constantly called a weed, just as it is difficult to see that you're really a weed if someone repeatedly refers to you as a rose. NAMES MATTER. Globally, people are mixtures of various races, and our skin tones are all beautiful hues of tanned complexions ranging from very light to very dark. How brown we are is dependent upon the amount of natural melanin that's in our skin at birth and our exposure to sunlight. Since "Bronzed" means tanned, it is appears to be a legitimate description that applies to everyone living here on planet Earth. In other words ... all humans are "people of color."
Bronzed is an obvious term that reflects our external commonality,
which helps us see a connection to each other
that has always been there ...
hidden in plain sight
Although referring to people as "Black or "White" may be considered to be politically correct, it is not always socially acceptable. A major part of the cultural divide stems from the use of these two erroneous descriptives because, by definition, they are total opposites to each other in their meaning ... White means pure and good, while Black means dirty and bad. Unfortunately, many are not teaching the historical truth about how they came to be labeled as "Black" even though "Black" is not their actual color and "Black" is not a race or nationality. The same holds true for the "White" label. Hence, many children dislike the color of their own skin because of the false interpretation of who they are and eventually become adults who might carry on such dislike for themselves.
to ... Bronzed Connections Forum Topics
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Bronzed Connections
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On Bridging The Cultural Divide:
Learning From Other Ethnic Groups
My definition of "The Cultural Divide" is the unwillingness to socially and professionally interact with people of different cultures from your own. It includes the disparities in racial, gender and generational class (status) created by bias and discrimination, by lack of self-motivation and mostly by the lack of knowledge. This phenomenon has been ongoing and difficult to penetrate because many people simply feel more comfortable with others who are playing in the same sand box as themselves. The overall impact is unrest, blame, fear and repression.
Bridging the cultural divide begins with bridging the education gap. And bridging the education gap includes not only advancing academically, but it also involves progressing socially, learning life skills for transitioning into our globally diverse society, getting job training and career development insights. Since it takes a village to raise and educate a child, why limit interactions to only certain villages, especially since one will eventually have to associate and work with others who’re not part of his/her group?
African Americans should consider communicating with other Americans who are willing to mentor and provide clues to reaching goals. Consider communicating with those people born in other countries who come to America and are able to find a way to adapt, to adjust their lifestyles and grasp opportunities that are offered to them or create opportunities when they are not offered any. Many of these people are not only surviving, but actually thriving. Learn from their persistence, their perseverance. Discover how they were able to learn a foreign language, gain citizenship, get an education and/or job training, find employment or create their own businesses, maintain careers, secure homes, take care of their families, etc. Find out how they managed to beat all odds and remove or navigate around the many barriers placed before them.
The differences between one ethnic group and another are often seen as things that divide. But when we’re able to see the connections that we can make by interacting with, communicating and sharing information with people whose culture is different from our own, that’s how social bridges are built, bonds are made and the harmony that everyone claims to want so badly can actually become a reality.
For it is our differences that make us all special. Rather than fearing and running from the unique characteristics of another person, it would behoove us to move toward and attempt to see what lessons that individual or group of people can bring to our life and what lessons we can bring to theirs.
---- Bronzed Connections is being updated ----
Please return to see what additional pages are available
Don't forget to forward this site to your family and friends
Check out BC" forum topics above, and be sure to read the section on "Bridging the Cultural Divide" to see why this could become your favorite website to visit. Don’t forget to bookmark this page and please return because I will be adding more pages about creating racial, gender and generational bonds; developing personal and professional partnerships. Be sure to email this site to your family, friends, coworkers ... anyone you connect with locally and globally. This would be a good conversation starter for those who can’t seem to find anything constructive to discuss while chatting online, talking on the phone or especially when socializing face-to-face. 
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Page written and designed by Ollie K. Mears
Owner of Mears Management
Founder/Publisher of Bronzed Connections
Page last updated January 16, 2012
Physical Address:
21384 Burtons Church Road
Melfa, Virginia 23410
Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 787
Onley, Virginia 23418
Phone: 757-787-7016
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