Beryl, My Hurricane Teacher
July 12, 2024: Big Hugs for my Houston Peeps - Part 1 of 9
Even before Hurricane Beryl devastated Houston, TX, and surrounding areas, significant change emerged in my life. Many of those changes were further punctuated in the hurricane's wake. At one point, it was estimated that around 2 million people endured triple-digit heat without gas, power, or the Internet. Texans are a resilient bunch, but it is expected that we will see more heat-related illnesses and deaths than were caused directly by the hurricane's winds, which had a penchant for downing pine trees.?
As of this writing, it is day four, and heroic efforts by emergency responders to save lives, restore essential services, perform repairs, and clean up have now provided 1 million people with essential services (about 50%). Long lines at gas stations, exposure to heat, and general misery have caused people’s patience to evaporate in the Texas sun.
To my fellow Texans and particularly Houstonians, I know it has not been easy, and I have been in the thick of it with all of you. I know it can be tempting to lash out in anger and frustration at everyone around you, but I hope that the stories I will share with you can show you what is possible when we connect and be humane to our fellow humans. While it is true that the bad luck life throws at you can make you miserable, we are not alone in that misery, and by connecting with others and serving them, you can create a bit of luck of your own.
July 7, 2024: The Call - Part 2 of 9
Some of you might find this triggering, and I apologize; it is not my intent. This is just one part of providing context to my original proposition—that despite the luck we are granted, we can still find ways to connect with others, serve others, and create some luck in our favor.
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The outcomes of our lives come down to the luck we create and the luck we are granted. Even when the heavy hammers of life fall on us, we humans keep moving forward because we believe that our efforts will produce positive outcomes despite where we started in life. It really isn’t our fault that we start a life where we do, but having faith in what life can keep us in the game of life. And when we have the right people in our lives who encourage and support us, we can grow to become who we were meant to be.
Like the rest of us, I have had heavy metaphorical hammers and anvils fall on my person. But as my godfather taught me, “Do your best.”? Sometimes you realize that one’s best is not enough, but that does not excuse us from continuing to try. The importance of not taking things personally, not making assumptions, and being impeccable with your word is up there with doing one's best.
The evening before Hurricane Beryl was probably one of the heaviest hammers delivered, but it was not entirely surprising.
I'm paraphrasing for my children who struggle with difficult conversations: "Your messages destroyed a foundation we had. What we have is history. We are total strangers. You abandoned us. It's your fault. We don't believe you. This is all lies. You have not been a present father, and we think mom and step-mom are right about what a terrible person you are."
Hard words were spoken in a long-awaited conversation. The real conversation was about how the family needs to be supportive and there for each other.
The truth is that I destroyed a facade, not a foundation, which always angers people.
My words in that conversation were direct, but my text messages were even more poignant. I understood that I was being excluded despite my best efforts to be a part of my children’s lives.
Tired of the lies, I finally confronted my children. Finally, they were honest about how they felt. One mother would fill their lives with activities and vacations and with narratives of “The children are busy and have no time for you,” while at the same time telling the kids, “Your father is busy and has no time for you.” Their mother and stepmother’s obstinacy and self-interest trumped the children’s well-being in having sufficient time with their father, with predictable and unfortunate consequences. Yet, each and every child also made self-interested choices to stay with their respective mothers, and mothers made little to no effort to allow fathers access to their children.
A narrative develops in the mix of self-interest and subjective reality: Someone must be blamed, and it couldn’t possibly be the mother who was there, so it must be the fault of the father who was not there. So it is conceived in the mind of a child.
Father’s contribution and presence, evidenced in many photos, refrigerator posters, and long nights caring for his sick children, was downplayed as “history.”
The children’s decision to not inform their father before they left their father’s home at the strong encouragement of their step-mother and the delirious delight of their mother eight years ago (an important time in their life) while their father’s birth family was dragging him through court proceeding after court proceeding. This was done with intent and secretly without the father’s knowledge. Nor was it accidental when the mother filled the children’s schedules and free time with everything except crucial time with the father. Given that they were a few years from college at this point, and given the general attitude of the court system towards a father in this situation, there was no point in going to court. The children, stepmother, and mother chose without consulting or even considering the heartbreak it would cause the father or the long-term impact on the children. The father was relegated to the role of Azazel, the scapegoat.
Years of estrangement would result, with children not contacting or rarely communicating with their father but pretending that everything was ok when it wasn’t. Or they would come up with excuses that they were busy with school or with their life and with stepmother falsely reassuring father that everything was ok when it really wasn’t. To have step-mom falsely relay that the children are busy and everything is ok when they forget about important dates, like father's birthdays or Father’s Day, or when father tries to call. There is no return call or the refrain, "We are too busy," my gut told me something was wrong. But I was always falsely assured by the other parent(s), "Everything is ok."
Everything was not ok. It was all a lie, and my children suffered for it, as did I.
However, my direct communication produced the desired result, leading to a three ?-hour conversation that resulted in my apology for hurting feelings but a weekly conversation for now with all my kids (which is far better than what has been happening). The only opportunity children have for perspective, and a better life going forward is to leave the open and honest lines of communication open. False narratives are not dispelled overnight, and lies told over and over again tend to be believed in the absence of evidence to the contrary.
I would spend the night looking through the recently denigrated “history” - photos and posters of "My Dad is My Hero," which I proudly keep on my refrigerator wall to this day. I would spend the night before Beryl agonizing over this untrue narrative I had just heard from my son's lips, with my other children in agreement. Being separated from their stepmom for many years has been difficult, as has been the sense that I cannot count on my own flesh and blood to even be concerned for my well-being, much less to be there for me. That is not hyperbole, although I wish it were.
July 7, 2024, would start a series of the most sleepless nights of my life. This struggle would express itself in the storm that roared ashore early the next morning. I would metaphysically wrestle with my former self, resurrected by the power of the false narratives relayed, created, and fed by the mother and stepmother for my children.
Unleash the storm.
July 8, 2024: The Storm - Part 3 of 9
In the storm's aftermath, I can hear the salespeople at my alternate work location trying to explain why this Category 1 Hurricane had a much worse impact than previous storms.?
So, I spoke with one person who is a former military at this site, and we came to similar conclusions:
1. There was a lack of good information and warnings via text, e.g., "Hurricane in the Gulf, start watching your local weather news!" Interestingly, we started seeing a lot more emergency messages after the storm, which were not even related to the storm. If Texans and we Houstonians had received some of these messages, the outcomes would certainly have been different.
2. Underestimating a Gulf hurricane - especially when labeled as an insignificant “Category 1”
3. Consequent lack of preparedness on the part of many individuals and businesses who procrastinated even when they did know what was coming (See #2)
4. The nature of the storm, which saturated the ground and then blew over trees. This storm had an appetite for pine trees. See #5.
5. Pine trees weakened by dry spells or prior storms - evidenced by a notable number of pine trees that went down
This storm caused much more chaos than necessary, and a combination of factors played their part. Better communication, preparedness, and good property management regarding tree health and maintenance would have gone a long way toward preventing as much damage as was caused.?
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I was one of the prepared ones. I had plenty of food and water to comfortably last four weeks and six weeks of stretching it lean. Lessons learned from the storm have certainly caused me to put a few extra things on my shopping list and ensure that before a storm, I have things on my person instead of in storage, and I have plenty of fuel and backup transportation in place.
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As I watched the storm from the inside of my shoebox apartment, one of many living in underprivileged neighborhoods here in Houston, I thought to myself, “Is this the best you can do? Throw down the hammer the night before and think that a storm will frighten me. You don’t scare me; you can’t hurt me, so do your worst.”
I saw some people walking in the middle of the storm, and I recall telling myself, “Some people really do want to die.” And then I saw people running as a huge burst of wind struck along with the crashing and banging that followed.
“Maybe today is the day that I die, but I did my best in my life, and if I join my ancestors as part of my purpose this day, I have no regrets.”
The eye of the storm gave the usual false assurance that everything was over, but it wasn’t. After one more round of wind and drenching rain, it was over.
I have included some photos showing the aftermath of the storm from Monday. As the storm was happening, there was a brief period when I heard a powerful gust of wind that almost sounded like a distant train. It lasted for about 15-20 seconds, and the windows shuddered. Then it was over. I spoke with my neighbors about it several days later, and they remember hearing it also. The way trees fell in our neighborhood leads me to believe that we had a microburst with strong winds like a tornado, but it didn't last as long.
July 13, 2024 @ 12:32PM Correction: Carrigan Chauvin (https://cw39.com/author/carrigan-chauvin/ ) from CW39 here in Houston, TX was kind enough to speak with me about this event and it appears we had what is called an eye-wall mesovortex hit our neighborhood. More about this here: https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/james-d0c-m-3826333_mesovortex-wikipedia-activity-7217944611997011968-iGM2
I have been through many storms, but this was likely the closest I have ever been to a microburst and, potentially, a life-ending event.
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Perhaps I have had too many near brushes with death, many I have never told my children or exes about.
I received many calls from friends and colleagues about how I was doing, but not one call from my children or their mothers.
This will likely come up during our weekly discussion about what it means to be family and, for some, what it means to be a friend.
I would venture outdoors into flooded streets and parking lots,? primarily because I wanted to see if anybody needed help or, worse if there were any dead bodies to identify and prepare for pickup.
Where Miracles Are Born - Part 4 of 9
Fortunately, only property was damaged in my neighborhood. Nobody died.
Miracle #1: If you woke up this morning, that is a win. Not all of us did.
I reminded my traumatized neighbors, some of whom lost or had damaged vehicles from the falling pine trees, "This could have been worse." They looked at me confused, some a bit angry.? I then said, "Nobody died. You can always replace property, rebuild, and clean up. But we can't bring the dead back."
Heads started to nod, and with gratitude, we realized that we had indeed survived.
Miracle #2: Remember that life is what matters.?
Our company, Dark Gravitas Inc., serves the underserved and underprivileged communities here in Houston through technology platform development, internships, and training in IT, cybersecurity, and AI. We also connect people with vehicles to reconnect them with the economy. It was time for me to attend to business.
After taking a break and consuming rations and water, I inspected our small fleet of vehicles. Fortunately, there was no damage, but one vehicle was trapped inside a garage unit. I knew a storm was coming, and I relocated vehicles the night before away from where I felt pine trees would be most likely to fall, and they were fully fueled. This saved at least one of my vehicles. It was luck in my favor, in a sense, but now I had a trapped vehicle. Fortunately, I had a backup vehicle and drove through the rubble to get to FM 1960, a main thoroughfare in our neighborhood, to see if 5G was working.
5G networks near FM 1960 were working very well, but I didn’t see I had a reservation for the trapped vehicle until the next day.?
I witnessed long lines at the gas stations and people trying to get fast food. Unprepared and suffering for it.
Miracle #3: Even a miracle needs a plan.
July 9, 2024: Cancer Free - Part 5 of 9
I didn’t notice our trapped vehicle's reservation until the next day.
Our emergency action plan called for relocation to a second site, but that site also had no power or Internet.?
Still, this site afforded a safe location for my vehicles, so I began the process of relocating to the new location so customers could continue to get their vehicles.
In this case, I was tempted to cancel and had an adequate excuse for canceling the reservation. This hurricane caused fuel shortages due to a lack of fuel or power to pump fuel out of the ground from the storage tanks at the station, and I might need an extra vehicle before this was over.
But I felt that I should call my rental guest and was able to reach her. I told her I normally don't ask what the vehicle is being used for, but given that we are in the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl, I wanted to know what she had in mind, given that she was 45 minutes away from us.
She told me: "My mother is going to be cancer-free today, and she is going to ring the bell. I wanted this vehicle for her special day."
I didn't have to think long. I told her, "I will do my best to make this day happen for you, but I need another vehicle. Is that ok?"
She agreed and also informed me about her timelines as I updated her on the status of the new vehicle every thirty minutes or so.
I called Lynn Patterson at Fred Haas Nissan here in Houston. We had been discussing expanding my fleet despite my company's "underfunded" startup status. I told him about our situation, and he sprung into action to get us a vehicle for our fleet while I started onboarding it through Turo.
The clock was ticking, and it was now around 8:00 a.m. Lynn told me that their dealership had power and Internet, and we could work to make this happen for my guest.
So, a phone call before the reservation turned into a call with Lynn to get a vehicle. The guests had to start their Uber to Fred Haas Nissan at 10:20-10:30 to leave for their mother’s event by 12:00. I confirmed with the guest as soon as we knew we could make arrangements for the vehicle. I onboarded as quickly as I could with Turo and Lynn. Amber and the team at Fred Haas were making this woman’s special day with her mom happen.
Miracle #4: The path least taken opens paths least considered.
Onboarding the vehicle with Turo was relatively straightforward. I went through our SOP to ensure the essentials were ready for onboarding, and I pestered Lynn about VINs and temporary registration plates as the clock was ticking. It was a team effort.
As soon as we knew the vehicle would be ready, I called my guest and informed her she could take the Uber ride, 40-50 minutes away, to retrieve her vehicle.
Many Turo hosts didn't have vehicles available in several areas, perhaps due to Hurricane Beryl. I knew our startup was on the right path by serving an underutilized and underprivileged community, but I may have underestimated the geographic scope and market.
Miracle #5: Rejoice that you discovered the opportunity to serve despite your errant thought process.
After many calls with Turo and Lynn, my guest arrived. I met them outside and showed them to the showroom floor. My guest was with her two lovely children.
I thought about my kids and cried inside.
It was an eternal three seconds.
I then got back to the task at hand.
I was still crying inside.
I saw Lynn in the hallway, and we made the final preparations.
My guest needed to leave her home, damaged by the hurricane, by 10:20-10:30 to arrive at the dealership, where she needed to leave by noon to get to her mother's ringing of the bell in time.
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We had the vehicle ready to go at 12:02 PM, and we took pictures.
I made it clear to my guest that Lynn had made this day happen.
Lynn made it clear that I had made it happen.
She was on her way in a brand new 2024 Nissan Kicks with only 3 miles on it, with her children safely inside.
I told Lynn as she was leaving, "This is why, despite my decades in cybersecurity and IT, why I am in this business. This is what it is all about."
The eternal quest is to become more than a great company, but an excellent one.
Miracle #6: Seek your why, and you will find it. Ask the universe for your purpose, and you will get an answer.
“To know the price of everything and the value of none is a terrible tragedy" Oscar Wilde
"Making money is a terrible reason to run a business." D0c
Indeed, money is simply the fuel that makes the car run. Where the car runs is determined by the driver's intention and purpose.
So, while great companies make money, excellent companies create purpose and meaning.
Miracle #7: Excellence, its own epiphany on the best kind of life to lead.
I continued my work at the dealership until late that evening in the afterglow of what had just occurred.
July 9-10, 2024: A Long Night - Part 6 of 9
That evening, I would return home, power out, and wrestle for one last night with that last conversation with my children.
Like many of you, an arbiter of truth lives in me. That arbiter weighs the evidence of the meaning of our experiences, and a trial is held between the person we think we are (who I was), who we are (who I am), and the person we want to be (I will be). That arbiter is a combination of these three personas; because they are one, there is no peace within us until there is agreement between all three. All must emerge victorious, or nobody does.
My visions and dreams were distorted, contorted, and confusing images produced by my brain to communicate truth using symbols occurred for several nights.
At the crux of it all was a simple query: Had I failed as a father? The arbiter weighed the evidence.
"Who I was" went through a thorough history of my errors and mistakes and laid them before the arbiter as my adversary.
"Who I am" explored how I was reborn and grew from these errors and mistakes, showed evidence of my best effort despite impossible choices, and ultimately laid down "Who I was" to rest and be resurrected as "Who I am." The "Who I was" zombie should be allowed to rest once more. This was laid before the arbiter.
"I will be" was the tiebreaker for the arbiter, who showed incontrovertible evidence that left no doubt about the excellence of this father when not facing the impossible but in a loving and supportive environment and partnership in the possible realm of what we call the future.
"Who I was" didn't have to wait for the arbiter's decision as we looked at him, and he looked at us. He laid himself to rest in the book of record, and we became one in agreement again.
It was over; I prevailed and woke up fresh and ready for the day.
Miracle #8: We are more than who we once were, reborn for abundance in our purpose.
July 9, 2024: An Education on Terminal Uniqueness - Part 7 of 9
I spoke with a colleague I deeply respect but had not spoken to in many years. I enjoyed his probing questions that forced me to think, and I learned new things. Such conversations are always welcome.
Terminal Uniqueness came up, and I took the time to research it. It is closely related to substance abuse, addiction, and recovery. I had read about this in my psychology books under different names (i.e., personal exceptionalism, unique invulnerability, special snowflake syndrome, unique suffering, unparalleled experience, isolation through uniqueness), but had not encountered terminal uniqueness.
There are so many names for the same condition.
He also considered me a highly gifted individual and asked if I felt I struggled with this.
I didn’t have a great answer. It was entirely possible, and that meant self-assessment time! I have certainly had experiences nobody can understand, but I think 90%+ of my experiences are quite understandable. Two of us can see the color blue, but each of us experiences it differently. It doesn’t mean we don’t know blue when we see it, but we can process it differently.
In retrospect, he was overly generous. High giftedness is meaningless if the hammer continuously falls on your life or if you don’t have the support you should expect from others. The universe sometimes gives us luck, but that is also a learning opportunity and an exercise in resilience toward being a better person.
Miracle #9: Realizing how precious it is when people have your back, and calling them to let them know how much that means to you.
I enlisted the help of ChatGPT to do a personal assessment, as shown in the table below.
Self-Assessment
I did my own self-assessment based on what others close to me have written about me or have told me in comparison to the table . And it led to some deep reflection in some of these areas.
Self-Perception
Balanced.
Emotional Regulation
Resilient.
Relationships
Not a simple answer.? The short answer is that he is not close to family but James Sr. has good, deep friendships. He is also highly regarded by his colleagues and business partners, as evidenced by numerous LinkedIn recommendations and other accolades.
The long answer is more complicated.
Birth Family
James Sr. was abused and emotionally abandoned growing up, and that is well documented. James Sr. would ultimately reject the purported values and ethics of his parents and birth family and find guidance elsewhere, notably from a Seventh Day Adventist Church community and “godparent” figures, Marvin and Waloma Fehrenbach, pillars within that church. He repeatedly notes their influence on the direction of his life and his desire to fight to be a better human being.? Notably, while James Sr. ultimately rejected the literalist theology of any church or religious organization, he has maintained a deep sense of humanistic values to this day, which helps him connect relationally with various individuals from different faiths.
His birth family clearly despised him growing up and loathed him as an adult, as is clearly documented in their treatment of him in court proceedings. Ultimately, he prevailed in those proceedings. Unlike members of his birth family, he was found to have a reputation for integrity and credibility when it came to the facts.
James’ Families
His marriages thus far have not been successful. A closer inspection of the facts and evidence shows good cause for James Sr. to either exit or maintain a healthy distance in those relationships, even though his children currently blame him for those relational failures. Without going into too much detail, alleged physical and emotional abuse towards James Sr. was a contributing factor for him leaving the marital homes on both occasions, fighting for custody of his first two children who ultimately and secretly “left” their father’s custody entirely in 2016 with strong encouragement by the step-mother, James Sr.’s second wife, whom the children maintain good relations with. There is a third child from the second marriage, but James Sr. chose not to fight for custody. Ironically, despite his best efforts to remain in his children’s lives, the outcomes have been the same for James Sr. - alienation from his children regardless of his best efforts to be a part of these children’s lives - placed into the impossible situations of either tolerating continued abuse and mistreatment to be with his children, or to distance himself from the abuse and mistreatment and risking alienation from his children. All of this is clearly complicated but understandable and something that people could probably identify with who have gone through similar situations.
C-PTSD & Trauma Re-enactment
Subconsciously, it appears James Sr. has selected mates that will ultimately mistreat and abandon him, likely a conditioned response from his earlier childhood. James Sr. has sought out treatment over the years for this C-PTSD related to “trauma re-enactment” (a.k.a. - “attachment trauma”). Not only would he ultimately find stability to the extent that his therapists told him that they enjoyed their conversations with him but that he no longer needed to attend (i.e. - you have the tools to live a good life and keep using them!), and coupled with some extraordinary experiences coupled with his “death” and “rebirth” as D0c, one could say the person that was is not the person that is or will be. Stated in another way, after his spiritual awakening, he is not even remotely close to the same person he once was.
Current Relationships
As D0c, he has established a reputation for integrity and truth in several formal and career settings while being perceived as a supportive and caring leader, coach, and mentor when the opportunity presents itself. He genuinely cares about people, but like all of us, he has been taken advantage of to varying extent by those closest to him, so he has a tendency not to let people get close until their character withstands the test of time and experience and distances himself from those who betray that trust. Like others, he has also experienced unfair treatment by those in authority on more than one occasion. However, this treatment has made him more empathetic towards such individuals, which is valuable in his opinion. In other words, he is highly selective in his relationships, establishes boundaries and ground rules and is nothing like what he once was. Furthermore, the companies he runs focus on providing profitable services to underserved communities, whether it be educational or transportation services and D0c envisions more beyond that.
To summarize, D0c’s relationships largely consist of a very close and long-term friendship that resembles family, several good friends and colleagues, and business relationships. We expect the quality of relationships in D0c’s life to grow over time as he becomes more involved in the community.
Response to Criticism
D0c often says, “Feedback is the breakfast of champions.”
That sums that item up quite nicely.
Problem-Solving
D0c is respected as an exceptional problem solver.
Sense of Belonging
D0c is exceptionally gifted in connecting with others and finding common ground but understandably struggles with feelings of isolation and disconnectedness from time to time. He has had a subjectively unique experience, but he knows it is one that people can objectively understand if they take the time to untangle the complex, interrelated facts about his past. D0c’s experience is that most people struggle with having the patience or time to listen, so he is grateful not to share and would rather connect with others over a few cold ones at a local bar. This is a departure from his earlier life, where he would share too much and, at times, would essentially be told to stop and that nobody cared on more than one occasion.
Nobody cares, an oft-used refrain from those who:
The importance of family for D0c cannot be overstated, but a sense of belonging must be made in the proper context and audience, a lesson he has learned well.
D0c also realizes there are some communities that he will never fit in with. At the same time, this is not the same as “not fitting in anywhere.” There are a number of communities where D0c would fit in quite nicely.
Self-Esteem
D0c believes each sentient human life has inherent and immeasurable value and that our value does not consist in the abundance of things but rather from reacquainting ourselves with the abundance that exists within all of us and the purpose for which the universe intended us to fulfill.
Adaptability & Perspective on Challenges
While D0c has decades of experience in cybersecurity, he is not afraid to switch professions and has worked a number of different types of jobs in his life. His identity is not tightly bound to his profession. The purpose of life is to live, and we live by embracing the wondrous lessons all around us that would be made clear to us if we understood that challenges are for our good and growth.
Life Satisfaction
D0c finds purpose in the apparently small things and generally enjoys a peaceful, solitary life. He makes time to speak with others when they make the time to speak with him. Although he is quite satisfied and content on his own, he relishes the opportunity to learn something new from others, hang out after work, and see each day as a special gift.
It will be left to the reader to decide the state of D0c’s mind, their subjective discomfort with what is shared in this article that nobody was forced to read, or whether this was all an exercise in bad judgment. However, D0c values the …
Miracle #10: ... Epiphany or the importance of living in the light of grace and goodness that enables you to confront truth and reality and not live in the darkness of fear over what others may think of you once they see it.
July 10, 2024: We Are More Than Our Pain and Failure - Part 8 of 9
D0c met a few people that are worth mentioning.
A gas attendant worker who was shaking and smoking at the time when the lighted signs were on, and she had to tell hundreds of people, “We have no gas.”
She was clearly shaken.
D0c said, “Thank you for showing up today. People can be assholes, and I feel sorry for them, and I feel sorry they have mistreated you. I am grateful you chose to show up.”
Tears and a long hug later, that life was better for today than before.
A security guard without power and comfort for days in southern Houston was able to speak with D0c.
D0c said, “Thank you for showing up today. Sometimes, we think we are alone in our suffering that nobody cares. I am grateful that you chose to show up.”
Tears and a long hug later, she promised to keep a good eye on his vehicles at the new location and expressed interest in cybersecurity internship roles.
Miracle #11: Pain and failure are but lessons and opportunities to connect, grow, and learn how to be there for others.
I encourage all of you to consider what your energy brings to human existence and to be the person who cares enough to be grateful and kind despite your own suffering, difficulties, or areas of focus. Make the time to be available and supportive when people are ready for it.
Dark Gravitas Inc.: Who We Are - Part 9 of 9
I originally founded Dark Gravitas Inc. as a training company. But I have learned from the late Muhammed Ali that “if your dreams don’t scare you, they are not big enough.”? I am completely out of my comfort zone most days and love it.
Our vision is to create a world where all are economically free using profitable and sustainable means.?
Our mission is to use our technology platform expertise to connect those lacking economic freedom to tangibly impactful vehicles toward economic freedom. Educated people are better taxpayers, and public policy should support everyone’s growth.
Currently, we are connecting individuals with vehicles to help them make a living. We provide training and take on interns in areas like cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and other emerging technologies. We are also developing content and curriculum to this end.
But that is just a start. Our appetite for service is not constrained. I want it to be a vehicle for underserved and underprivileged communities. We are all the wealth of nations, and we cannot be whole until all are economically free.
We are Dark Gravitas Inc. (DGI) because we are more than the dark honor of our past and pain; we are committed to truth and strive toward excellence for ourselves and those we serve. Our underfunded startup seeks like-minded individuals to invest in and join us as we endeavor to expand and change the world, one person at a time. In the meantime, I will be doing odd jobs, consulting gigs, etc., to keep the lights on and the dream alive. We are also big fans of Jamie Kern Lima and are choosing to believe in our worthy destiny.