Facts you need to know | Tyra Garlington

Where did you get polished?

Posted on February 7, 2017 by Tyra Garlington • 0 Comments

This Black History Month, I want to recognize a lesser known African American educational legacy. I was inspired by the book called Certain People by Stephen Birmingham written in 1977. Dr. Charlotte Hawkins Brown, the first president of Palmer Institute, watched as her students arrived by Pullman and chauffeur-driven limousines. She used to say, “That anybody who is anybody sends their children to Palmer. They come to us, and we polish off any rough edges”. Palmer Institute was, in other words, the first and only private black coeducational finishing school in America. Established in 1902 in Sedalia, North Carolina with……
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Five Secrets To Jumpstart Your Year

Posted on January 18, 2017 by Tyra Garlington • 0 Comments

“If only…” These two words paired together create one of the saddest phrases in the English language. Here are five choices that ultimately lead to this phrase of regret, and how to elude them: 1. Wearing a mask to impress others. – If the face you always show the world is a mask, someday there will be nothing beneath it. Because when you spend too much time concentrating on everyone else’s perception of you, or who everyone else wants you to be, you eventually forget who you really are. So don’t fear the judgments of others; you know in your……
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Who I am does not mean how you treat me.

Posted on June 28, 2016 by Tyra Garlington • 0 Comments

She is twenty-one now. She has graduated college with honors. Her family is proud of her. She has a good job lined up. However at unseen levels, she is missing in action. Never telling her parents has been a way of protecting them. Never telling anyone else has been a way of protecting herself. But those choices are not working. She is in a long-term relationship with shame. Sometimes her pain is incomprehensible. There seems to be no possible resolution. Her rape has left ever present residue. The memory of that night lives in a personal backward facing time machine over which she……
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What are you leaving behind?

Posted on April 26, 2016 by Tyra Garlington • 0 Comments

“The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living.”[1] Was Cicero profiling you? “I will never forget the gut-level conviction he had that we are all expressions of God and that we all should step up and live our God selves. And now that he is gone, I remember the haunting lines of a song he sang beautifully though he did not write, What if God was one of us?”[2] This is Harriette Cole remembering Prince this week. Based on what I have researched and heard since his death leads me to believe that Prince’s biggest……
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Do you have any idea how I feel about you?

Posted on March 1, 2016 by Tyra Garlington • 0 Comments

I care. I really do. Last week while in a meeting, the gentleman sitting next to me leaned over and whispered, “I really enjoyed your blog last week. I thought I was the only one.” He had no idea what that meant to me. He was a stranger. He didn’t know that I wonder if my words connect, encourage and let someone, anyone talk about sometimes uncomfortable things and to understand that no matter what, they are not alone. So take a look in this mirror and see how I see you and why I feel the way I do.……
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I can’t shut up. Children are our future.

Posted on February 2, 2016 by Tyra Garlington • 0 Comments

Imagine: “Tears streaming down, her heart is broken. Because her life is hurting, so am I. He wears a frown, his dreams are troubled. And because he stands alone, his dreams will die. So humbly I come to you and say. As I sound aloud the warfare of today Here me I pray. What about the children? To ignore is so easy, So many innocent children will choose the wrong the way, So what about the children? Remember when we children? Were it not for those who loved us And who cared enough to show us Where would we……
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Did you know that the ugly duckling was always a swan?

Posted on January 26, 2016 by Tyra Garlington • 0 Comments

Most people think this children’s story by Hans Christian Andersen is a story of transformation when in fact it is a story of misperception. I know I did. I kept thinking as a little girl that the ugly duckling somehow turned into a beautiful swan. I landed on this thought as I was walking through the grocery store and overheard a lovely young lady say to her companion, “I sent my photo to AmIUgly.net last night.” “What?” My head snapped. I could not believe what I was hearing. As soon as I got home I googled amiugly.net. The AmIUgly subreddit homepage delivered 102,000 results……
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I’m sorry, I forgot to explain.

Posted on January 12, 2016 by Tyra Garlington • 0 Comments

As I turn to face the New Year I am hesitating less about pursuing my passions. In this life season I am passionate about the strength to be vulnerable and the courage to be authentic. Admittedly I am not always successful. And I have learned to look at my imperfections as unique gifts of opportunity. Today when I look around I see a world struggling to breathe. Yet I believe in each of us is the ability to provide life-saving air. Each of us is a potential encouraging game changer even as we live life full out on our own……
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You need to know this!

Posted on November 24, 2015 by Tyra Garlington • 0 Comments

Especially if you are planning to celebrate Thanksgiving … I know, its long, but give it a look anyway. On October 3, 1863, following the civil war with a union victory, President Abraham Lincoln made the following proclamation. “The year that is drawing to its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which……
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REWIND: Thank you for your service then and now featuring LT. COL. (RET.) George Bodie.

Posted on May 27, 0202 by Tyra Garlington • 0 Comments

Journalist and author Isabel Allende reminds us that “We don’t even know how strong we are until we are forced to bring that hidden strength forward. In times of tragedy, war, and necessity, people do amazing things. The human capacity for survival and renewal is awesome.” My goal is to provide information about, and exposure to, a diverse set of perspectives about war experiences that breed transformational leadership. We explore the impact on their family, necessary services provided, and social, cultural, and political cohorts. In this podcast, you hear about transformational leadership from an African American man, a veteran officer from……
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