Wow - the good, the bad and the NYC baby! So much to tell including stories of men masturbating at/directly in front of me (well, one actually thank god - not plural!!!), amaaaazing Hip Hop in Education seminars, meeting Jesse Jackson at Occupy Wall street, watching and recording Mos Def, Pharahoe Monch and Joel Ortis while being just seconds away (See here),  seeing a New York sunset from the highest building in Manhattan and that's not to mention the running around Brooklyn, The Bronx and Manhattan meeting and working with some incredible people and organisations....

I will add and update some more this week - you can keep up to date with my goings on via my Facebook page  Dominy Dominizle Roe or follow me on twitter @theedominizle   Peas & Love x

These pictures were taken from Ms Wellen's class at Murray High School, Virginia -  that classroom is the epitome of knowledge, wisdom and most importantly, LOVE. 

William Glasser says using the below habits will help us to build, develop and maintain relationships and using the red habits in picture furthest below will do the exact opposite. If anyone in Ms Wellen's class is using 'red behaviours' she will stop the whole class from doing what they are doing and remind them of the importance of using 'yellow behaviours'! WORD!

Before I start on my NY story - which already is crazy... - I want to highlight some of the fantastic work being done by Murray High School in Charlottesville, Virginia. So, they are a Quality school which means they embed the values of William Glasser's Choice Theory in how the school is run. This means the below axioms are the principles of their school... working with at risk and previously 'NEET' as we would say in London. They are simply revolutionary.

1.         The only person whose behavior you can control is your own. 

 2.         All we can give to or get from another person is information.     - i.e we can interpret what other people say, have feelings, opinions about it etc but inevitably it is simply information.

 3.         All long-lasting psychological problems are relationship problems.  A partial cause of  many other problems, such as pain, fatigue, weakness and some chronic diseases is relationship problems.  - i.e we haven't built the ability to have positive/productive relationships or communicate through things in an appropriate way etc

 4.         The problem relationship is always part of our present lives.  ?????

 5.         What happened in the past that was painful has a great deal to do with what we are today, but revisiting this painful past can contribute little or nothing to what we need to do now: improve an important, present relationship.

 6.         We are driven by five genetic needs:  survival, love and belonging, power, freedom and fun. 

 7.         We can satisfy our five needs only by satisfying a picture or pictures in our quality worlds.  Of all we know, what we choose to put into our quality worlds is the most important.    - Glasser believes that each of us start to build a Quality World from a very young age and every behaviour/action/thing we do i life is because of what is in our quality world - future goals, ideals, morals, people we want relationships with, those we don't, even materials - houses/cars/clothes etc etc etc

8.         All we can do from birth to death is behave.  All behavior is total behavior and is made up of four inseparable components:  acting, thinking, feeling and physiology.    - Glasser believes that by changing our thoughts we will change our actions which can then lead to a change in our feelings - i.e we are in control of our feelings... or at least we can be when we 'choose' to be! As re-iterated in axiom 10

 9.         All total behavior is designated by verbs, usually infinitives and gerunds, and named by the component that is most recognizable.  For example, I am choosing to depress, or  am depressing, instead of, I am suffering from depression or I am depressed.

 10.       All total behavior is chosen, but we have direct control over only the acting and thinking components.  We can, however, control our feelings and physiology indirectly through how we choose to act and think.

 *11.     Almost all relationships can be resuscitated by giving up the seven deadly habits, even if only one party stops using them.  If both are willing to do this, literally, any relationship, even a marriage, has a good chance of being saved.

It's not just the walls of Murray High School that are lines with inspiration. Rooms are brimming with excitement, love and intelligence... Not just from the incredible teaching staff but students too.

With a philosophy of Choice Theory behind all of it's teaching, communication and existence, Murray High School is not only innovatively changing the way we build, maintain and develop relationships with each other, they are installing notions that most education seems to have lost... A given that exists in all of us, just maybe we weren't all so lucky as to have someone help to ween it out... intelligence! 

Just check out some examples of students Quality Work.

Eeeek.. so much to tell you about the amazing  Murray High School

Just quickly popped on to show you this for now though A Tribute to Daniel Memorial

Peas & Love x

An example of inspiration H2O

This is an example of something wonderful...

At Murray High School, we are more than GRATEFUL

to Dr. Glasser

for his creation of Choice Theory, Reality Therapy, and Lead Management.  We believe that these three concepts together create the perfect school environment.  Indeed, they create the perfect environment for developing relationships that matter and that will last for a lifetime.  From our perspective, this is what happiness and success are based on, in schools, in businesses,

and in our personal lives.

This is a quote from Charlotte Wellen at Murray High School and the words that drew me from London to a small town called Charlottesville... it was here I discovered a magical place, a school at that... welcome to Murray High School...

The Fish Philosophy.... I thought you might be interested in one of the many amazing things I took away from Daniel Memorial on my last day thanks to Director of HR and the man that made my experience at Daniel so great, Doug Standard... it's called The Fish Philosophy and it is a major factor in what maintains and inspires such a positive moral in the staff at Daniel. It is based on these 4 principles which are pinned up around the staff areas.

Daniel staff also use this little fish to stick on their colleagues door as recognition when someone has helped/supported them.

The theory of this is based on the love and laughter that the staff on a fish market in Seattle - despite waking up at 4am every morning and handling smelly fish all day they spend the day laughing and inspiring people with their positive attitudes...!

Love this video and the song and all that it says....

If I Could

This is my friend Lucinda at Daniel Memorial, Florida doing the english accent....

Lucinda goes english!

Peas & love

So my time in Jacksonville, Florida has come to an end... I am at Charlotte airport waiting for a flight to Charlottesville where I will meet Charlotte!! lol!

Thanks to Julia and her husband

...this week has been jam packed with amazing food, experiences and a wonderfully comfy bed where... yes you've guessed it... I miss my alarm every morning yet Julia and Matt can hear it from their bedroom... I just don't understand... lol! They really have been incredible though; so generous and hospitable - new friends for life me thinks!

Working at Daniel this week has also been amazing - so insightful. Thank you to everyone there. My week broke down like this

Monday: Home visit to a Theraputic Foster Parent with Licensing Specialist Julia Kalinski (AKA host for drifters like me!).  Foster parents have to undergo evaluations to check they are following correct procedures as well as just checking that the home is still a suitable environment for a child. Therapeutic foster homes are for children presenting more challenging behaviour such as suicidal threats, physical violence to others and so on. We met the foster mother and I left like 'oh she was wonderful, so inspiring bla bla bla'.... Turns out later that week complaints were made. It was clear role as 'Licensing Specialist' for Daniel Memorial defines what she is - a specialist in her field!

One thing I realised this week through talking to various professionals is just how detrimental that lack of consistency can be for a child. On going into any new environment of course they are going to portray behaviours that have taught them to survive... if everyone in their path gives up as soon as they show these behaviours rather than working with them to learn new tools, their sense of trauma will just get worse and worse. Let alone them feeling that no-one cares. When Daniel Memorial licence Therapeutic Foster Parents they are obliged to sign something saying they will give a substantial notice period, if any, if it is decided the child needs a higher level of care.

Being so holistic, Daniel also offers that higher level of care in the form of a Therapeutic Group Home which I visited in the afternoon and spent some time learning about some behaviour models as well as the set up of such a home and the importance that is placed on structure - from regular daily routines to just being on time for things.


Tuesday: All day in court listening to various cases of neglect, abuse, termination of parental rights. I nearly cried at least five times and could not help but feel so angry... the amount of people that have children and are not fit to parent. Granted I am not a parent and haven't always had the best role models of parenting however.... then you get to thinking, the problem is often so much bigger than that ... then you evaluate the problem and potential solutions and can't help but come right back to PARENTING!! Not just from parents themselves, wider families, friends and communities... It's far more complicated than it sounds... This day really inspired me though and has got me thinking about some potential ideas for when I come back to the UK...

Wednesday: Also mega inspiring; I spent the afternoon with the Statewide Inpatient Psychiatric Program... This is similar to the Therapeutic Group Home but for those with more severe mental health needs. It is however much less regimented than other inpatient programs. Most of the kids here were 8-12 yrs old although vary between 5-17 yrs old. How about I wanted to bring two of the boys home with me... yes, I re-evaluated my lack of tolerance for younger children lol! They were so cool - really interested in England etc and the amount of self awareness being in SIPP had clearly given them was phenomenal... they showed me their 'coping sheets' a small piece of paper that they all had to fill in with various things they can do when they need to calm down... most of them included 'a hug'.... what does that tell us....


Thursday: Learnt about yet more of the services that Daniel offer to families and children... Behaviour Management Program for young people in the justice system (equivalent of UKs Youth Offending Team but called Department of Juvenile Justice, I had to cringe though as Americans call young offenders deliquents as opposed to the more refined english term 'young offenders'!! Hehee!

I had another meeting with Jim Clark - Daniel's President and spoke with one of Daniel's commissioners who hit the nail on the head by saying 'we can get parent's to by into Coca Cola but we don't seem to have found the right marketing campaign for parenting classes'!

Friday - I spent the morning being inspired by the counselling in schools program that Daniel runs and discussing ideas of how to engage parents and the community with the school and learning. I also ate yummy birthday cake!

Peas & Love

A week in and all is wonderful! The first week at Daniel has been amaaaazing already - I met the president of the organisation

I have also met some wonderful people - Julia, who I fell in love with when I read this on her wall and she invited me to live with her by the beach for my final week! I am moving in today!

and Alison who took me for real 'southern' food.

and one of the most hardworking case managers there probably is, who drove me up into the countryside to do a home visit with one of her families (and introduce me to a wonderful 10 yr old girl), Briana. Briana and her husband also took me out to eat on Friday night and there was a live reggae performance - LOVE!

Briana is going to kill me for putting this up but here's a video of us attempting to play a so called musical instrument... lol    .... Horn play!

I have also met a whole host of Daniel's senior management team who are wonderfully inspiring, I will report on them more later this week, for now goodbye hotel (which does happen to have a wonderful view as you can see below) and hello beach and Julia's house.....!

So... I arrived! I'm not going to lie, my first experience in the states was HORRIBLE! The flight arrived at Miami airport late and then passport control took hours to get through - American Airlines were sooo mean as I'd flown in with BA (despite my connecting flight being with them?!). So I missed my connecting flight  to Jacksonville - even though a lovely lovely lady spoke spanish to a family in front and then a the few more people in front let me push in - and worked myself into tears at the airport! Lol!

With that out of the way I accepted I had missed my flight, qued for a further hour or so and then was re-booked onto a flight. I think the initial emotions were more down to anxiety about the hotel still being open when I arrived, not knowing the country/anyone in it! I was completely, in true Fairbridge style, 'out of my comfort zone'!

Nevertheless, the views on the flight over were amazing, I have had an extra day to settle in due to it being labor day and my contact at Daniel Memorial emailing last week to say this means I start on Tuesday. I used yesterday to familiarise myself with the city of Jacksonville - apparently it's the biggest city in America (in terms of size not people) - everything is so spread out so I walked the two and a half miles into the town centre and treated myself to a proper American homemade burger - it was amazingly tasty! Today I walked to the local 'grocery store' and then spent the day by the pool as it's been 29 degrees. I am completely refreshed and excited about meeting the staff at Daniel Memorial tomorrow....

P.S I also got talking to a guy by the pool today who is an ex-Crip (Crips and Bloods gangs in America) and spent some time in prison alongside the guys that assassinated Malcolm X.....

Bringing the Streets to Life on Streetlife


After co-hosting the Tdiddy&Spice Show - so much love to my Team Tdiddy N Spice for giving me a platform - I have recently presented a couple of radio shows on my ones lol! However, given that I've had some amazing artists in the studio - 4 of them yesterday - I guess I can't really say it's on my own. Each of the artists that came in did not fail to blow me away with their live performance presence, love for music and life and ability to hold a great conversation. Not forgetting my wonderful film crew KND Promotions for capturing the magic on film and providing the wonderful Mrs Wilson-Brown with a camera to snap away. We are off to the editors later this week and all will be revealed....!

First to the mic, and in the studio before I was even there, was the righteous reggae singer Yisrael. Growing up in Tottenham and being attached to a community of people there meant that a brief talk of the riots inevitably came up. Yisrael was wise, insightful and as ever real about what had happened yet optimistic about how he can make a difference to help move forward. Then came his softly sang live acapella resulting in the silencing of the studio. Flawless.

Next up was the young inspiration that is Genesis. A rapper that switches us the stereotype of rapping about women and has a voice with depth, soul and mad rhythm. We spoke about inspirations and leaders musically and throughout life - he is wiser than his years this one!

We then had to slow it right down, kicking off the second hour with Anthony Hamilton's 'Mama Knew Love', a request from the stunning Randy Valentine. One fourth of the collective J.O.A.T (Jack Of All Trades) and one of a kind! Randy's first single Featuring Jedi 'Singing My Blues Away' was released at the end of July and has sent him soaring in the eyes of the underground music scene. After a recent live performance at One Mic in Shoreditch where Randy wowed the crowd and then leaving us all weak at the knees in the studio, it is clear to see that it won't be long before the rest of the world feel the soulful sounds of Randy Valentine.

Making a dripping wet entrance after getting caught in the rain and enthusiastically ramming coats in my face boasting 'look how wet we got' when they arrived in the studio was the lyrical legend Supa Syaman and his manager! Despite the mega mission to the studio and the lack of time we ended up having to properly debate Hip Hop and it's culture, Syaman did what he does best and gave us some BAAAARRRS! Watch out for the footage to catch the exclusive.. coming soon!

Thanks again to all of the above and Streetlife Radio for making my show full of love, positive vibes and most of all MUSIC!

Rum is Yum!

I am by no means promoting drinking alcohol, however, I very much enjoyed the rum cocktails in Cottons Rhum Shack - Angel - last night... as the above picture shows!

More so than the taste of my 'Rass Berry' cocktail though, I was blown away by the talent of Charm and Shane Anderson on the stage. Last night Cottons hosted their monthly event Live. Organised by Shane - soulful is not enough of a word to describe his sound - Live brings singers and rappers to perform to an audience of passionate and positive bubblers... at least, when the Dj spins his tracks at the end of the show and the dance floor is cleared of tables that is what an initially civilised and soulful affair turns into.... a bunch of bubblers! Loving the music, the atmosphere and of course, the yum rum!

Love to all my lovelies for coming out to share the evening and have some going away drinkies and dances with me. Word!

Blogging Initiation!


Welcome Me! This is the start of my blogging journey. Quite rightly, it was started in the Apple store on my new Mac Book and with the support of my long time muse DJ Fade whilst drinking M&S apple and mango juice and musing at the decor in here..... Yum Yum and very posh!


I have invested in this blog and a Mac Book Pro as companions for the journey across the Atlantic I am about to embark on.... stay tuned....