File this one under “Why Sonya shouldn’t read old email threads”

Remember that episode of the Cosby Show, when Theo brings home Ds and makes the argument to Cliff that he should love him because he’s his son? Theo just wants to be  “regular people,” and regular people don’t need to excel, right? I’ll refresh your memory. Remember how stupid you felt when, after you applauded Theo's heartfelt speech, Cliff said, "That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard in my life?"

So this morning, I'm reading  email from a PR rep who had previously connected me with the CEO of a pretty cool company. Good guy, great technology. I wanted them to connect me with African American entrepreneurs and small businesses using their product. It took them a while, but he sent me a lovely email saying he’d found a couple of people willing to talk about how they use the products, results, challenges, etc. Cool enough. But since our  communications had pretty much happened in a fog for me, I decided to rewind. (I had done the interview with a migraine the size of Nebraska, followed up by an ear infection and removal of four wisdom teeth–recovering in a Vicodin haze with the first chapter of my dissertation due. Yeah, that's my life.)

The PR rep’s previous email mentioned that he had spoken with SEVERAL DOZEN African American entrepreneurs and small businesses that used their product (several dozen seems a stretch, but he's a good guy, so I'll buy it for a nickel), but that many did not want to participate in my story for fear of revealing their “secret sauce.”

CUE THE RAGE:  Are you kidding me? So these Theos have found a tool that works really well for them, and in this environment of social networking, in which sharing is the smart thing to do because it means growth and survival, they are quite comfortable being "regular people."  You know, getting Ds, hoping we'll just love them because they're well…you know.

I'm not mad because they don't want to speak with me. I'm sure some had legitimate reasons for not wanting their companies to be featured in the mag.  I am also sensitive to the fact that black companies can be vulnerable in certain business spaces (especially technology), and publicity can make them ever more so.  But the crabs-in-a-bucket reasoning just gets me. Really, black people? Hate to break it to you, but the company's technology is a secret only to you. What "secret" are you keeping? From whom?

For the two companies who stepped up and agreed to share their "secret," THANK YOU. Folks can read about them in Black Enterprise magazine and on the site . Hopefully, their generosity and experiences will help others–and them–succeed.

And for the Theos…here's a present for you.

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On a completely unrelated tangent, Im using Zemanta to write this post, and pics of Frederick Douglass keep popping up. WTH??? (and yes, this is the radio version of my blog)