On my 2023 Bingo Board was to read more. And this year’s theme was quality, not quantity. I wanted to pick up some books that I could think about, and I accomplished that with a few fillers in between. If I had to pick my favorite three books that were new to me (as I’ll read my old favorites again and again) I’d pick “How to Kill a City” by Peter Moskowitz, “Hustler Harder Hustle Smarter” by Curtis Jackson, and “Lean In” by Sheryl Sandberg. I got something different from each of these 2023 reads.

How to Kill a City explained how gentrification is as American as apple pie, and sometimes they sprinkle structural divides for good measure. For example, in some cities, developers build highways to separate the have and have-nots and make it extremely hard for the have-nots to get to the other side. I’ve seen this in Minneapolis when I went to the Eco District Summit some years ago, and I don’t have to travel out of Pittsburgh to see the effects of gentrification.

“This country was founded on displacement—on the idea that white men have a greater right to space, and even to people’s bodies, than anyone else. That’s taken the form of slavery, segregation, the genocide of Native Americans, and now, to a certain extent, gentrification. As one Bushwick activist group called Mayday says in its chants and the signs it puts up around the neighborhood, gentrification is the new colonialism,” Moskowitz writes.

It also taught me that the suburbs were built with hyper individualism in mind and for the first time most of the poor people in a metropolitan city live in the suburbs.

Last but not least, the book touched on how corporate cities are a bad idea. It’s literally the bad place. A great example of what happens when corporate cities leave or don’t do well, it messes up the entire town built around it. Building a whole town around one business like coal, steel, or lumber would start out great until that company collapsed, decimating an entire town.

Then I picked up Curtis Jackson’s (50 Cent) Hustler Harder, Hustle Smarter. I enjoyed how it was written like a conversation with the author. One of the takeaways from it is branding. Brand yourself and what you do. “As long as I’m always myself, no one can beat me at that,” he explains.

He also touches on facing your fears a lot and being comfortable being uncomfortable. I resonate with that because getting too comfortable in a space is boring and that means I’m not learning anything. If I’m not learning anything, I’m quick to say, “what am I doing here?”

Last, but not certainly least, I did have some takeaways from Sheryl Sandberg’s “Lean In.” She speaks about how there aren’t a lot of women on company boards or in leadership positions.

Especially with tech companies divesting from Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs, it just goes to show that if these big companies wanted more women in leadership positions or in the boardroom, they would make that happen by fostering the talent that they have. Life is so backward right now that some men think it’s sexist to help advance and foster women leaders.

With AI currently always evolving, this is a dangerous time to divest from DEI Programs because that’s how you get biases. For example, some facial recognition software easily noticed white people over black people because it was trained using mostly white people. Another example of AI biases is, “In 2015, Amazon realized that their algorithm used for hiring employees was found to be biased against women. The reason for that was because the algorithm was based on the number of resumes submitted over the past ten years, and since most of the applicants were men, it was trained to favor men over women.”

All that to say that right now is the time more than ever where we need diversity in technology, as technology is everywhere and diversity should be everywhere too. If you look around your boardroom, and it’s just white people, you’re comfortable, and you’re not trying, and you may be missing out on innovative opportunities.

“Don’t leave before you leave.” Chapter seven of the book talks about how young women always have their eye on the nearest exit knowing they’ll have to choose between family and career one day, so they don’t want to climb the ladder knowing in their mind that they can’t stay. Sometimes women don’t even have a partner yet, and they’re thinking about their exit strategy for a family. It made me think a little, like have women been quiet quitting before it was even coined? Also, women would not want to leave if companies treated women better. For example, maternity leave, leadership opportunities for growth, some kind of assurance that flexibility is there, and she’ll only have to use that exit in case of an emergency.

My last takeaway from “Lean In” is that corporate America is a little screwed up. You used to be able to thrive by working hard and doing your best. I’m not saying don’t do either, but nowadays with inflation you’re just surviving. And if folks are getting annual 3 percent raises and inflation is so much higher, this person is trying to climb a ladder where it will be impossible to reach the top before burnout sits in.

Ask most millennials, and you’ll find with student loan debt, rent (because the best time was to buy a house when we were 12), food, and maybe childcare, your budget is screwed and you most likely need a second job. Please don’t tell a millennial to work harder because at that point it’s an insult. Most folks have a side hustle for the side hustle just to enjoy a “want” occasionally because operating on “needs” is dangerous.

All three are good books. I’d probably read them again. When it comes to what I want to read for 2024, I’ll probably find some finance books as I have a few money goals I want to hit, but I have to find a book that talks about finances like a conversation and not judgmental like the author is trying to sell you something after you already purchased the book.

Scify is also on the to be read list in 2024. I also have Bossy Pants sitting on my desk. Someone local sent me a book on Pittsburgh and gentrification, and I’m going to finish that. There’s so much to read, and I’m going to try to get through all of it. Because if I’m not learning I’m not growing and people, places, and things need to grow.