The past 3 years of my life have brought about a lot of job. Graduating from college, new career opportunities, and even relocating to the city I've always dreamed of. The past year I've had the feeling that something big is about to happen in my life. Nothing bad but definitely life changing. I'm the type of person who worries about things I cannot control. My spirit feels and anticipate these changes but I find that I am actually scare of it? I know that doesn't make sense. In my mind I feel I can do anything and have anything. The possibilities are endless but the thought that God just might actually bless me with the things I've always wanted actually scares me. Again I know this does not make sense. Others recognize potential and talent in me that I am not even aware of. The fact that this could open to the doors to possibilities that I've never even imagine terrifies. What am I scared of? The sad part is I don't know. Heck I don't even understand it myself. So what do I do about? Well I'll do what I've always done. I pray about and continue to let God lead me.
So I open the floor for discussion. What could possibly be the reason for one to feel this way? Lets talk.....
Friday, September 30, 2011
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
We Need More Teachers Like This: OG Puts A Young Blood & Crip In Check After Trying To Fight In The Classroom!
SOURCE
This is what I like to see. Its bad enough that teachers have to deal with issues that parents are not handling, but to see a teacher that can handle their students is refreshing. When I was growing up I had teachers that dealt with the issues in their classrooms. I know that teachers are overwhelmed with a variety of problems beyond their control so in situations like this they often call security and send these students to the office. The end result detention and more likely suspension. Where's the life lesson in that? Sure its a form of discipline but this teacher hear set these students straight and gave them something valuable to walk away with. It is up to these young men as to how they will handle this going forward. Again its easy to throw the book at our youth but much more is needed. It was refreshing to see a man set these kids straight. He told them how it was going to be and gave them the option to leave if they had a problem with it. I applaud this teacher and hope to see more like him.
South Carolina man says new photo ID law will prevent him from voting
Posted on 06.8.11
By David Edwards
Categories: Activism, Featured
Larry Butler told SC Progressive Network that South Carolina’s new voter photo ID law will prevent him from voting. The state won’t issue him a driver’s license because he can’t produce the necessary documentation. Butler does not have a birth certificate because he was not born in a hospital and the elementary school he attended burnt down many years ago so the required records are not available.
Opponents argue that voter photo ID laws unfairly target minorities and the poor who are less likely to have photo identification.
Watch this video from SC Progressive Network, uploaded June 7, 2011.
By David Edwards
Categories: Activism, Featured
Larry Butler told SC Progressive Network that South Carolina’s new voter photo ID law will prevent him from voting. The state won’t issue him a driver’s license because he can’t produce the necessary documentation. Butler does not have a birth certificate because he was not born in a hospital and the elementary school he attended burnt down many years ago so the required records are not available.
Opponents argue that voter photo ID laws unfairly target minorities and the poor who are less likely to have photo identification.
Watch this video from SC Progressive Network, uploaded June 7, 2011.
My Thoughts:
Situations like this are not uncommon and I feel will become more prevalent as we get closer to the general election. Various states have or are either in the process of changing their voter registration laws to make it more difficult for people to vote. One has to ask why? It can't possibly be because of fraud, there's been all kinds of fraud for years and I don't believe for one second that they are all that concerned about it. As promised I will keep it real and state what I honestly feel whether its right or wrong.
Never before have we had a black president and never before have we had a black president running for re-election. His election to the highest office in this country has shown America and the rest of the world that racism and ignorance is still alive and stronger than ever. Yes things have changed but people of color cannot be so naive to think that his election alone would change things for the better in terms of race relations or the perception of people of color. We still have to continue to do our part to implement the change we so desperately want. President Obama can't do it alone, especially when you have Congress working against him. So as it stands we have an all out declaration of war where the objective is to keep President Obama from being re-elected by any means necessary. To hell with our economy, healthcare, or education. To hell with social services for the needy. To hell with the struggling middle and lower class. That is why it is important for each and everyone us to pay attention and stay informed with what's going on in Washington as well as our local governments. When its time to go to the polls we will know the issues and know what and who we are voting for. Even more important is that we all go out and vote. It is becoming more important than ever that we all show up to the polls. At times it feels our votes don't matter but it goes deeper than that for me. I know what my people went through just for someone like me to have the right to vote. In my opinion it is a slap in their faces for me not to vote considering the struggles and hardships they endured considering some of them still never earned the right to vote.
So my final thoughts and hopes are that we educate care ourselves so that we can't be taken advantaged of and we take our knowledge to the polls and vote!
Lets discuss...
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Something To Think About....
I saw this posted on Facebook moments ago and had to share it. Truly something to thinking about...
Friends With Benefits Part 1
While watching a Lifetime movie The Tenth Circle, topic of friends with benefits came up. I could not help but ask myself is this arrangement really among friends and is it truly beneficial? Is sex between two people who aren't married, or in a relationship for that matter really benefiting either party? Your physical desires may be met momentarily but then what? That desire is determined to return. What about your emotional being? What if someone develops feelings for the others? Are they true feelings are just effects of the relationship? What about the long term consequences?
I consider myself a christian woman who is still learning and growing spiritually. I know I want to get married one day so the consequences of a friends with benefits relationship is not even worth it to me. Many people fail to realize or even consider for a moment the spiritual implications of engaging in this type of relationship. These types of relationships tie you to someone who God never intended you to be with and in a way in which you were never meant to be connected. As a result you delay that marriage you've always wanted. Do you think God will bring your future spouse into your life while you're sleeping around? As long as you engage in those types of relationships there is no room for your spouse. Many people will disagree and argue that there are people that can handle that type of relationship but I really don't understand how that can make someone happy. Why settle for sex with someone you don't love instead of spending your life with someone and having the whole package?
This has been on my mind for a while and I am just beginning to scratch the surface on this topic.
Let's discuss...
I consider myself a christian woman who is still learning and growing spiritually. I know I want to get married one day so the consequences of a friends with benefits relationship is not even worth it to me. Many people fail to realize or even consider for a moment the spiritual implications of engaging in this type of relationship. These types of relationships tie you to someone who God never intended you to be with and in a way in which you were never meant to be connected. As a result you delay that marriage you've always wanted. Do you think God will bring your future spouse into your life while you're sleeping around? As long as you engage in those types of relationships there is no room for your spouse. Many people will disagree and argue that there are people that can handle that type of relationship but I really don't understand how that can make someone happy. Why settle for sex with someone you don't love instead of spending your life with someone and having the whole package?
This has been on my mind for a while and I am just beginning to scratch the surface on this topic.
Let's discuss...
Monday, September 26, 2011
Troy Davis: In My Feelings
I like to believe that everything happens for a reason. It is times like this that frustrates me to a point because I want to know that reason but just can't seem to figure it out. What comforts through it all is to know that God is and always will be in control. In these coming days we are going to continue to experience the evils of this world and I believe things will get worse. Does that mean people can't do better? Absolutely not! There is always room for improvement and we can always do better. Many will see this as a call to action and many are starting by calling for an end to the death penalty. My wish is that we take that passion that moved us to advocate for Troy Davis and use it to bring about our own change. Too many times we rely on others to implement the change we so desire. We should take this passion to the polls during each and every election. Today everyone talks about keeping it real. Well lets do that for a second. Sybil on the Tom Joyner Morning Show said it best. These politicians work for us! Election time is there performance evaluation. Throughout their terms we voice our opinions but we have to follow through. If they're doing the best that can be expected then rehire them. If not fire them and give someone else a chance. Do your research! We have to stop allowing the media to tell us how we feel. We have take it upon ourselves and research the issues and develop our own opinion based on the facts. Most importantly I think we have to stick together. I think about the Civil Rights Era and how they would boycott until something happened. That's the type of action that needs to take place because these politicians are definitely not looking out for us.
I could go on and on about this and the topic would probably change numerous times along the way but yours truly has to be to work in the morning :)
More thoughts to come....
He was 14 yrs. 6mos. and 5 days old --- and the youngest person executed in the United States in the 20th Century
George Junius Stinney, Jr.,
[b. 1929 - d. 1944]
In a South Carolina prison sixty-six years ago, guards walked a 14-year-old boy, bible tucked under his arm, to the electric chair. At 5' 1" and 95 pounds, the straps didn’t fit, and an electrode was too big for his leg.
The switch was pulled and the adult sized death mask fell from George Stinney’s face. Tears streamed from his eyes. Witnesses recoiled in horror as they watched the youngest person executed in the United States in the past century die.
Now, a community activist is fighting to clear Stinney’s name, saying the young boy couldn’t have killed two girls. George Frierson, a school board member and textile inspector, believes Stinney’s confession was coerced, and that his execution was just another injustice blacks suffered in Southern courtrooms in the first half of the 1900s.
In a couple of cases like Stinney’s, petitions are being made before parole boards and courts are being asked to overturn decisions made when society’s thumb was weighing the scales of justice against blacks. These requests are buoyed for the first time in generations by money, college degrees and sometimes clout.
“I hope we see more cases like this because it help brings a sense of closure. It’s symbolic,” said Howard University law professor Frank Wu. “It’s not just important for the individuals and their families. It’s important for the entire community. Not just for African Americans, but for whites and for our democracy as a whole. What these cases show is that it is possible to achieve justice.”
Some have already achieved justice. Earlier this year, syndicated radio host Tom Joyner successfully won a posthumous pardon for two great uncles who were executed in South Carolina.
A few years ago Lena Baker, a black Georgia maid sent to the electric chair for killing a white man, received a pardon after her family pointed out she likely killed the man because he was holding her against her will.
In the Stinney case, supporters want the state to admit that officials executed the wrong person in June 1944.
Stinney was accused of killing two white girls, 11 year old Betty June Binnicker and 8 year old
Mary Emma Thames, by beating them with a railroad spike then dragging their bodies to a ditch near Acolu, about five miles from Manning in central South Carolina. The girls were found a day after they disappeared following a massive manhunt. Stinney was arrested a few hours later, white men in suits taking him away. Because of the risk of a lynching, Stinney was kept at a jail 50 miles away in Columbia.
Stinney’s father, who had helped look for the girls, was fired immediately and ordered to leave his home and the sawmill where he worked. His family was told to leave town prior to the trial to avoid further retribution. An atmosphere of lynch mob hysteria hung over the courthouse. Without family visits, the 14 year old had to endure the trial and death alone.
Frierson hasn’t been able to get the case out of his head since, carrying around a thick binder of old newspaper stories and documents, including an account from an execution witness.
The sheriff at the time said Stinney admitted to the killings, but there is only his word — no written record of the confession has been found. A lawyer helping Frierson with the case figures threats of mob violence and not being able to see his parents rattled the seventh- grader.
Attorney Steve McKenzie said he has even heard one account that says detectives offered the boy ice cream once they were done.
“You’ve got to know he was going to say whatever they wanted him to say,” McKenzie said.
The court appointed Stinney an attorney — a tax commissioner preparing for a Statehouse run. In all, the trial — from jury selection to a sentence of death — lasted one day. Records indicate 1,000 people crammed the courthouse. Blacks weren’t allowed inside.
The defense called no witnesses and never filed an appeal. No one challenged the sheriff’s recollection of the confession.
“As an attorney, it just kind of haunted me, just the way the judicial system worked to this boy’s disadvantage or disfavor. It did not protect him,” said McKenzie, who is preparing court papers to ask a judge to reopen the case.
Stinney’s official court record contains less than two dozen pages, several of them arrest warrants. There is no transcript of the trial.
The lack of records, while not unusual, makes it harder for people trying to get these old convictions overturned, Wu said.
But these old cases also can have a common thread.
“Some of these cases are so egregious, so extreme that when you look at it, the prosecution really has no case either,” Wu said. “It’s apparent from what you can see that someone was railroaded.”
And sometimes, police under pressure by frightened citizens jumped to conclusions rather than conducting a thorough investigation, Wu said.
Bluffton Today - 'Crusaders look to right Jim Crow justice wrongs' by Jeffrey Collins
Photo: South Carolina Department of Archives and History
[b. 1929 - d. 1944]
In a South Carolina prison sixty-six years ago, guards walked a 14-year-old boy, bible tucked under his arm, to the electric chair. At 5' 1" and 95 pounds, the straps didn’t fit, and an electrode was too big for his leg.
The switch was pulled and the adult sized death mask fell from George Stinney’s face. Tears streamed from his eyes. Witnesses recoiled in horror as they watched the youngest person executed in the United States in the past century die.
Now, a community activist is fighting to clear Stinney’s name, saying the young boy couldn’t have killed two girls. George Frierson, a school board member and textile inspector, believes Stinney’s confession was coerced, and that his execution was just another injustice blacks suffered in Southern courtrooms in the first half of the 1900s.
In a couple of cases like Stinney’s, petitions are being made before parole boards and courts are being asked to overturn decisions made when society’s thumb was weighing the scales of justice against blacks. These requests are buoyed for the first time in generations by money, college degrees and sometimes clout.
“I hope we see more cases like this because it help brings a sense of closure. It’s symbolic,” said Howard University law professor Frank Wu. “It’s not just important for the individuals and their families. It’s important for the entire community. Not just for African Americans, but for whites and for our democracy as a whole. What these cases show is that it is possible to achieve justice.”
Some have already achieved justice. Earlier this year, syndicated radio host Tom Joyner successfully won a posthumous pardon for two great uncles who were executed in South Carolina.
A few years ago Lena Baker, a black Georgia maid sent to the electric chair for killing a white man, received a pardon after her family pointed out she likely killed the man because he was holding her against her will.
In the Stinney case, supporters want the state to admit that officials executed the wrong person in June 1944.
Stinney was accused of killing two white girls, 11 year old Betty June Binnicker and 8 year old
Mary Emma Thames, by beating them with a railroad spike then dragging their bodies to a ditch near Acolu, about five miles from Manning in central South Carolina. The girls were found a day after they disappeared following a massive manhunt. Stinney was arrested a few hours later, white men in suits taking him away. Because of the risk of a lynching, Stinney was kept at a jail 50 miles away in Columbia.
Stinney’s father, who had helped look for the girls, was fired immediately and ordered to leave his home and the sawmill where he worked. His family was told to leave town prior to the trial to avoid further retribution. An atmosphere of lynch mob hysteria hung over the courthouse. Without family visits, the 14 year old had to endure the trial and death alone.
Frierson hasn’t been able to get the case out of his head since, carrying around a thick binder of old newspaper stories and documents, including an account from an execution witness.
The sheriff at the time said Stinney admitted to the killings, but there is only his word — no written record of the confession has been found. A lawyer helping Frierson with the case figures threats of mob violence and not being able to see his parents rattled the seventh- grader.
Attorney Steve McKenzie said he has even heard one account that says detectives offered the boy ice cream once they were done.
“You’ve got to know he was going to say whatever they wanted him to say,” McKenzie said.
The court appointed Stinney an attorney — a tax commissioner preparing for a Statehouse run. In all, the trial — from jury selection to a sentence of death — lasted one day. Records indicate 1,000 people crammed the courthouse. Blacks weren’t allowed inside.
The defense called no witnesses and never filed an appeal. No one challenged the sheriff’s recollection of the confession.
“As an attorney, it just kind of haunted me, just the way the judicial system worked to this boy’s disadvantage or disfavor. It did not protect him,” said McKenzie, who is preparing court papers to ask a judge to reopen the case.
Stinney’s official court record contains less than two dozen pages, several of them arrest warrants. There is no transcript of the trial.
The lack of records, while not unusual, makes it harder for people trying to get these old convictions overturned, Wu said.
But these old cases also can have a common thread.
“Some of these cases are so egregious, so extreme that when you look at it, the prosecution really has no case either,” Wu said. “It’s apparent from what you can see that someone was railroaded.”
And sometimes, police under pressure by frightened citizens jumped to conclusions rather than conducting a thorough investigation, Wu said.
Bluffton Today - 'Crusaders look to right Jim Crow justice wrongs' by Jeffrey Collins
Photo: South Carolina Department of Archives and History
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