For the longest period in our community, I’ve said that if more people did a fraction of what they say they can do, there would be a different reality in black communities across America. There are three types of people in our society: Those who watch things happen, those who make things happen and those who wondered “what happened?” There’s something to be said for people who can “make it happen.” They are far and few in between. The collective black community, nationwide, lost one last week. Journalist turned Public Relations specialist, Pat Tobin, lost her long battle with cancer. In losing her, we lost a major link in our social and professional network. That was Pat’s specialty, putting people, with resources (an important qualifier), together. Pat was a master networker and expert promoter. She promoted her clients so well, that she herself became a brand-long before people understood how to brand themselves. The difference between Pat and other people, however, is that Pat could make the best of the opportunity. She knew what the client needed and had the answer when they asked her, “So, what you got?” Pat Tobin helped others build and add value to their end-game -making people better and enhancing their impact.
Everybody wants to be at “the party” to be seen, or be in the room with the stars and the powerful, but few know how to be heard-when they open their mouths, they really have nothing to say. In the 1980s, the only real voices in our community were entertainers, athletes, preachers and politicians. The former two tried to dance and sport away our misery, and the latter two sermonized the community’s misery. But that was it. The misery remained. Even blacks in the black media had lost their voice. Pat Tobin helped people understand their talents, the resources at their disposal and the opportunities that could avail themselves if people properly positioned around like minded people. Pat Tobin’s weekly networking receptions were legendary.
The difference between a white boy with a Harvard degree and a brotha with a Harvard degree is the size of their social network. It really is not just what you know, but who you know and what you show (can deliver) after you make the contact. White graduates inherit their fathers (and grandfathers) social network, which ultimately represent their business contacts. Black graduates, most of the time, have to build their own. Pat encouraged people to network with a purpose, and to get to know, at least, one person you didn’t know. That’s how you built your social and business network.
I run into people everyday that “talk” about what black people should be doing, what we need to do, and how come we don’t do this or that. I hear this particularly from our politicians and preachers who are the most disingenuous-in terms of the impact they make. We are the most “prayed up” community in America and we still have the most problems. We have 10,000 more black elected officials than we had 40 years ago and our communities are still just as deprived. Preachers and politicians talk more about changing people’s lives than making it happen. I tell them on a regular basis, “I’d rather see a sermon than hear one.” Pat Tobin didn’t just tell people how to work together, she showed people how. She was a living testament, and practiced what she preached. More people knew Pat Tobin than knew her clients because she had it like that. She didn’t just talk about networking, she pulled her clients into her network and she made things happen. She was an example of the sermon you saw (see)-not the sermon you heard (hear). Thank you, Pat, for your example showing many of us how to make our impact felt. 
God bless Pat Tobin and her family. She will be missed.
- Anthony Asadullah Samad, Ph.D., is a national columnist, managing director of the Urban Issues Forum (www.urbanissuesforum.com) and author of the new book, Saving The Race: Empowerment Through Wisdom. He can be reached at www.AnthonySamad.com.

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