Reverend Routa Ramblings

Long ago, in a galaxy far away, I started my professional career with one of the “Big” Accounting firms.  It was long enough ago that you needed more than one hand to count the number of said firms.   I worked in the tax division of the Denver office for 13 years before the Firm and I parted paths.  During that time the tax division averaged probably 55 people and the audit division double that.  Turnover at the Firm averaged 25-30 percent annually.  In my years at the Firm I would estimate 900 to 1000 professionals passed through the Denver office. Of those hundreds of people I would not need my full allotment of fingers to count the Black and Hispanic professionals that walked through the double doors (A clue to my Firm).  I was among the less than one handful who reached a management level.  I frequently attended events with personnel from other firms and they had similar workforce profiles. I also frequently interacted with executive personne...

A friend shared with me an article that commented on excerpts of Barack Obama’s Book Dreams from my Father.   Many likely know that as a  10-year old  boy Barack met his father for the first and only time in his life.  The book describes the longing for the father he barely knew. The topic of fathers missing in the lives of children is a theme President Obama spoke to on his first Father’s Day in the White House. The article notes a White House Town Hall Meeting where he encouraged young men to break the cycle: “There is no rule that says you have to repeat your father’s mistakes.  Just the opposite.  You have an obligation to break the cycle and to learn from those mistakes.  To rise up where your own fathers fell short and to do better with your children.” Those words turned my thoughts to my own father.  My parents married very young.  They were 17 when my older sister was born, 18 when I arrived, and 22 when my younger sister came aboard...

This weekend I received a promotional email from SAXX, a brand that manufactures underwear and active wear. I have previously purchased merchandise from SAXX and generally like its products. I was looking for some short sleeve T's for the summer so this promo caught my eye. The ad features a fitness model rocking the T and makes note that the shirt uses a "breathable" performance fabric. I drilled down into the ad, liked what I saw, and decided to order some shirts. End of story, right? The next day I and everybody else on the SAXX email list (I assume) received a further email from SAXX apologizing for this ad. The apology email indicated the following: "We want to reach out with total transparency and personally apologize for a marketing communication that went out to the SAXX community this morning. An email was sent to our subscriber-base that featured a black man and wording referencing the “breathability” of a new fabric. This email was writ...