The Way of the Bootstrapper: Nine Action Steps for Achieving Your Dreams - Hardcover

Flake, Floyd H; Williams, Donna Marie

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0062515950 ISBN 13: 9780062515957

Publisher: Amistad, 1999

Synopsis

"The beauty of bootstrapping is that you don't need much," says Reverend Floyd Flake. "You don't need to win the lottery, or receive an inheritance or help from rich relatives to turn your dreams into reality."

He speaks from experience. Raised in the segregated South and one of thirteen children, eight of whom were brought up together in a tiny two-bedroom house, Flake went on to become a member of the U.S. Congress, dean of a major university, and pastor of one of America's largest churches--a church that has become a nationally renowned model of community development.

Yet what is most inspiring about Reverend Flake is his enthusiasm to motivate people to pick themselves up by their bootstraps, rely on their boundless personal resources, and become doers!

What is Bootstrapping?

• A process--to achieve success by making it against all odds.

• A mind-set--to take responsibility for your thoughts, feelings, words, actions, and life circumstances.

• A value system--to transform your relationship with yourself, your neighbors, and your environment.

Bootstrapping is the strategy our ancestors used to raise families, work the land, start new businesses, run the government, build wealth, and care for the less fortunate. The Way of the Bootstrapper shows you how to use this creative and empowering approach to life to fulfill your passions, talents, and dreams.

About this title

Review

The Reverend Floyd Flake, a former U.S. congressman from Queens, New York, is an African American hero in the tradition of great black leaders who worked with all that was available to them--surpassing both racism and low expectations. Flake describes bootstrapping as "a process of achieving success by making it against the odds, through self-directed action. It is a mindset that allows you to rise over and above the ordinary and become an extraordinary person by taking responsibility for your thoughts.... It is a value system that directs your relationship with yourself, your neighbors and the environment." By means of his own experiences, Flake identifies the nine steps of bootstrapping, from "Know Yourself" to "Create a Lasting Legacy." His principles may sound like common sense to some and marching orders to others, but given the sociological and political psychobabble about the imagined intellectual and moral shortcomings of African Americans, Flake's timeless words of wisdom are potent antidotes to the often-lax attitudes that pervade our times. --Eugene Holley Jr.

About the Author

Rev. Dr. Floyd Flake is the senior pastor of the more than 15,000-member Greater Allen A.M.E. Cathedral of New York in Jamaica, Queens, and is also the president of Wilberforce Univeristy in Ohio. Flake is also the founder of the Allen Christian School, which he established with his wife, Rev. Elaine Flake. From 1986-1997, Flake served in the U.S. Congress, and is currently a commissioner on the President's Commission on Excellence in Special Education and a member of the NYC 2012 Olympic Committee. A native of Houston, Texas, Dr. Flake holds a B.A. from Wilberforce University and a Doctor of Ministry Degree from the United Theological Seminary in Dayton, OH. Author of the best-selling The Way of the Bootstrapper: Nine Action Steps for Achieving Your Dreams (HarperSanFrancisco), Rev. Flake lives in Old Westbury, NY with his wife and four children.

Edition details

• Publisher: Amistad
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0062515950
• ISBN 13: 9780062515957
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 272