The Anthony Reeves Experience

Me working for the state of Florida in 1994 The danger of ‘assumptions’ is those assumptions may result in assuming realities which do not exist.    In 1995, I was a 25 year old state worker who had been working for the state for almost 3 years.  It was my first job out of college and there were a few times during my time at this job that I was not always the happiest employee.   In 1994, I gained a co-worker (for privacy purposes, I will call him ‘John’) who was an older gentleman.   John had worked in the private sector in Human Resources and he immediately took me under his wing.  We worked on different projects.  John gave me suggestions about making presentations.  I truly felt I was learning a lot under his tutelage and I was excited about working for the state. A few months after John was hired, a young man (for privacy purposes, I will call him ‘Will’) was hired and he also received guidance from John.  Will was a few years ...

  Being born in 1969, I often refer to my generation (or Generation X or MTV Generation) as the ‘Children of the Civil Rights Movement’.   If you are in my generation, most of our parents not only grew up and lived through Jim Crow but they also experienced all aspects of the ‘Civil Rights Movement’ from the Nation of Islam and Black Panthers to Southern Christian Leadership Conference and Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee.   For the Baby Boomers, their worldview would change right before their very eyes.  As such, their world would change from an oppressive segregationist culture to a more inclusive culture.  This experience was truly an exercise of seeing the world change in ‘real time’.    However, what I realized early on in my early years was that I had no idea of what my loved ones had faced.  I had seen documentaries like “Eyes on the Prize” and TV series like “Roots”.  I had access to publications like ‘Jet’ and ‘Ebony’....

  Look at where you are in your life and ask yourself this question:   “Did you get to there in the way you thought you would get there?”   Ask yourself another question:   “Did you expect to be where you are in the first place?”   We are meant for great things and we are constantly striving to try and get to the next level of our lives.  However, we often have, in our minds, this imaginary path we believe we have to travel in order to get there.   What’s even worse is we will either 1) beat ourselves up or 2) feel sad if we think we didn’t get to where we are meant to be in the path we THINK we should take.   I am often asked, ‘when you used to work for the State of Florida as a State Employee, did you ever think, in the future, you would be a Naval Officer, an attorney, business owner, college professor, or a judge’ and I say ‘No’.   People are often surprised when I tell them that I never thought I would be in any ...

  When I was growing up in Pine Bluff, Arkansas during the 1970s, I literally had no clue of the legacy I was living through.   In my world, an integrated society was the norm but there were remnants of Jim Crow that were still in existence that I had no idea was even there. For instance, in 1981, I attended Southeast Middle School.  At the time, it was for 7th graders only and all of the kids who attended a variety of different elementary schools in Pine Bluff attended this school before being split to two 8th/9th grade schools (Belair and Dial).  As a kid, I was excited about attending middle school and meeting all of these new and different kids. I was aware that Southeast Middle School used to be an ALL BLACK High School.  However, it wasn’t until roughly 28 years later that I appreciated the significance of the school.   According to my mother (Who attended Southeast in the 60s), Pine Bluff had a population surge of African American students....

Back in the mid 1990s, one of my best friends started his own production label.  During that time, he had a female artist he was developing named Crystal.  At the time he was promoting her, he had this great opportunity to enter her into a talent contest.   In an effort to create a ‘look’ for her, he decided she would need some back up dancers.  He knew that I was a ‘stepmaster’ for my fraternity so he asked me to get 4 of my brothers in order to perform as her back up dancers.    Now, in my mind, I had stepped HUNDREDS of times in front of audiences big and small.  I had led shows.  I had taught shows. I had created shows.   I truly felt being a ‘stepmaster’ was natural for me.  However, the idea of being a choreographer for backup dancers for an artist trying to get a record deal was terrifying.  I did it because I wanted to help support my ‘brother from another mother’ in his pursuit.  However, I will admit that I wante...

Have you ever played a card game with a group of people who are ruthless? That was my first experience when I was in my fraternity back in college. I had the opportunity to play cards with my frat brothers and these brothers did not care. They were ruthless. They would shred you psychologically and verbally and did not care about the consequences. But it wasn’t just limited to your opponents. Your partners were also equally ruthless because they expected you not to make any mistakes. And this was my introduction to the thickening of my skin. I’m always amazed by people who keep making references to people who have thin skin because my first thought is that they could never be a part of my organization. But then as I went through and interacted with other friends and other organizations, i.e. other fraternities and sororities, I realized that this was not an uncommon situation. They all experience the same level of brutality and their organizations. And then I started realizing that a l...

Easy but NOT so Easy: Transitioning from business owner to employee 08/16 by The Honorable Anthony Reeves | Work : If you are used to running your own business, going back to being an employee again can be traumatic. In this post, I talk about the trials and tribulations of transitioning back into the workforce. https://theanthonyreevesexperience.blogspot.com/2021/08/dont-abandon-your-brand.html

Back when I was running my own business, I didn’t realize I had a brand.   I had an active website, blog, podcast, Facebook, twitter, and youtube site with all kinds of good information.  I was in a place where I was getting a fairly consistent amount of business from my social media efforts and my digital presence. However, when I decided to close my business, I didn’t realize that I couldn’t just close my brand.  My business had been in digital and real world space for almost 10 years.  What was even more profound was the brandI had created for myself.  I started my blog when I was working for someone.  I started all of my other activities as soon as I started my business. To my surprise, even though I was no longer running my business, I found quite a few people curious about what my next actions were going to be.  In my mind, I thought merely closing my doors to my business meant closing the chapters of my life.  However, I truly underestimate...

  I never viewed myself as a mentor.   I have a notorious habit of keeping information as well as my network of friends and colleagues to myself.  I don’t do this because I am being selfish.  I do this because I have never really believed that I have done anything that warranted any insight.  As such, I have this notorious habit of believing that there is nothing I can contribute because, in my mind, I don’t believe I have done anything special. However, a few years ago, I started having these weird conversations.  I would get these ‘can I pick your brain’ phone calls.  They almost always started the same way.  I would get a text, an instant message or an e-mail asking me if they could run something by me.  In my mind, I’m thinking “Don’t know why you are asking me but ok”.   And then almost EVERY phone call would start off with “I know you’re really busy, thank you for taking the time to talk to me”.   Again, I’m thinking “Dude....

  In the summer of 1989 (the summer after I pledged Alpha Phi Alpha), I returned home to Pine Bluff, Arkansas.   During my youth, every 4th of July, my Grandparents would host a Bar B Q at their home.   During that time, my cousin (and my sister from another Mister as well as AKA soror and one of the coolest persons I know), Latitia, noticed a distinct difference in my personality.   I had always been loud but this summer, I was displaying a greater degree of confidence.   To my surprise, she said to me: “I can see that pledging Alpha was good for you.  You are starting to break out of your shell.” At first, I didn’t know what she was talking about but as I thought about it, she was right. As much as I pride myself in being loud and country, I was very insecure (even though I did a pretty good job of hiding it).   However, pledging Alpha at a different university put me in a very different place.  It forced me to interact with brothers I did not k...

I am often amazed by how easily people want to define what they believe is mentally tough. There are a litany of different things that we get exposed to on a regular basis that we have to make decisions that require us to have to endure certain things. And since we are all built differently and we are all equipped to handle things differently, I’m always a little concerned that it is way too easy to want to vilify someone who does not display a level of toughness at the level that the person believes they should. That’s why I hate the phrase, mentally tough. When I hear the phrase mentally tough, I often wonder if there are some people out there who literally think that that means mentally indestructible. Each of us is unique and how we handle things, view things, and deal with them is equally unique. However, for whatever reason, we live in a world where it is very easy for people to draw an opinion about how someone should handle a particular situation. What’s even more concerning is...

Ever wonder why attorneys are so long winded?? 07/28 by The Honorable Anthony Reeves | Legal : Have you ever wondered why asking an attorney a question may result in a long winded response? There is a reason for that and we will talk about that today

  One of the most powerful feelings to have to overcome is the feeling where you were just ‘happy to be somewhere’. We’ve probably all experienced that at some particular point in our life where we are just shocked by the reality that we are in our situation. What becomes even more troubling is when you start wondering if you even deserve to be where you are. You wonder if somebody is going to discover that you have no business being where you are and that you are literally an imposter. Whenever someone approaches me for any variety of different reasons, I have to fight to remind myself that I deserve to be approached. I had to remind myself that they are not merely coming to me out of a sense of trying to make me feel good about myself. They are coming to me because they recognize that I have a skill set and then I have an energy that they can learn from, benefit from, or gain something from. When I look back on the milestones and the things that I’ve done in my life, and almost e...

At age 17, I hadn’t accomplished anything in the world.  At least, in my eyes, I didn’t think I had done anything.   So, when given the chance to go to Army Basic Training, I truly felt I was doing something significant.  I was completely unaware of any of the obstacles or challenges in front of me.  I was constantly worried that I was ‘one day removed’ from getting kicked out.  It’s not that I was failing anything.  It was because I was terrified about the unknown. So, when faced with the task of a 25 mile road march, my mind couldn’t process that type of reality.  At this point, I had already learned a lot.  I had never fired a weapon (I learned how to shoot an M16).  I had never even seen a grenade (learned how to throw one).  And this whole concept of a gas chamber? What is THAT about?   I had passed all of those obstacles. And now, I was faced with another challenge.  A 25 mile road march with more gear on my body that I a...

  Let me tell you about this woman!  NO! NO! That’s not right! Let me tell you about my friend! NO! Still doesn’t capture it. Let me tell you about MY SISTER!  That’s right!  MY SISTER! DANAE AICHER!! On April 28, 2021, she sent me a message letting me that she has been initiated into Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. My heart swelled up.   I couldn’t believe it since she had never gave an indication that she was interested in joining a Sorority (that’s usually how it goes). However, for me, it was more than that. Danae is one of my personal DORA MILAJE (and if you don’t know, I don’t have time to explain it to you.  Go watch BLACK PANTHER!  WAKANDA FOREVER!) I have known Danae since 1991 when she was a freshman in College and I was a senior.   When I met her, I didn’t know the impact she would have but she would.  She convinced her mom to allow my wife to throw me a surprise Birthday party at her  Mom’s house when I was in law school....

6 reasons why you should keep your settlement papers 07/12 by The Honorable Anthony Reeves | Legal : After you settle your lawsuit, you may be thinking of throwing away your settlement papers. However, the paperwork may contain some important information that may present itself in the future. Here are 6 reasons why you should keep your settlement paperwork

In recent weeks, I have been intrigued by the discussions surrounding how the topic of racism should be taught, especially to children.  And as I hear these discussions, I am hearing an increasing chorus of people who appear to be discouraging the discussion of certain unpleasant aspects of racism. What is becoming MORE intriguing is a growing discussion among some with the focus on NOT talking about racism to our children. I understand the desire to avoid messaging of any kind that appears to serve as an indoctrination towards a specific mentality.  I, also, completely understand the desire to protect the innocence of our youth as long as possible.   However, for those who don’t want racism discussed or taught, I have one question: “If you don’t want to talk about racism, has anyone told the racists, yet?” Now, there are going to be some people who will read this post and think I am being flippant but I am not.  And if some of you have children in communities w...

The reality of the Health Scare 07/09 by The Honorable Anthony Reeves | Legal : Have you ever had an abnormal lab report? How about your doctor telling your that you need to see a specialist? How about being told that you need to get a CAT scan, Biopsy, or XRay? Any of these things or all of things can make you feel scared about your health. Here are some things to think about when faced with a health scare