HAUNTED BY HER EYES… AND THE EVIL IN THIS WORLD

Ever since reading the caption under this little girl’s picture on a posting on my Facebook page… I have been haunted by her eyes.

But as I looked at her face it seemed to tell a story… of much sadness… weariness… and age.  She looked tired and older that her physical years… like an old woman.  A young face but so old.

I think what impacted me ever so much about this story is the fact that she was homeless with her mother… and I guess other siblings… living in a shelter.

Living in a shelter???

What?

Here?

In America????

Little children living in a shelter???

It is not that I am naive.  Because many years ago as I happened to be crossing a busy Manhattan street down near Macy’s… walking towards me was a woman pushing a baby carriage and a couple of other children along side of her.  But from the moment my eyes fell upon them walking towards me… as we were both going in opposite directions….  I could tell that that woman was homeless and her children too.  So, I have seen it… though you don’t often hear about it.  It is something that is hard not to notice when you see it.

I do not think that little children should be allowed to live in shelters… no matter what.  It is 1 thing for parents to have to go.  But I do not think children should be made to suffer that kind of experience when they had nothing to do with whatever circumstance fell upon their parent and/or parents.  Though some might argue that it is because of their children that they are in the state that they are in.  But children do not bring about poverty.  It is brought about by people who are not prepared to deal responsibly with their charge of caring for themselves.   Part of taking care of ourselves is also being able to take care of our children decently.  This is why we have be educated… work… and endeavor to provide even when times get hard.

Perhaps, I am not realistic.  I am not talking about pulling up your own bootstraps.  I’m talking about adulthood takes preparation and serious determination for a successful life.  And we can do that only by advancing ourselves… studying… improving our skills… get into training positions… and endeavoring to move up.

The 1 thing I can still foremost remember about parents of old… they almost all wanted their children to have better lives than they did.  So, they worked to make that happened.    They struggled to make that happened.  They saved to make that happened.  But there is a new parent of so-called parents… and everything appears to be more and more about them.

So, many of these young girls have killed off their children or attempted to kill off their children for the sank of some love interest… or because they were tired of being tied to their children… or whatever other excuse they may have had.  These people are having children without any paternal instinct in them at all.  I am not necessarily talking about Relisha’s mother… because I do not know her… nor do I know the situation that drove her to seek shelter with her children in a shelter.

Based upon the article a janitor working at the shelter where this little girl, Relisha Rudd, lived with her mother… a place where they have been living for the past 3 years.    The janitor befriended the mother who allowed him to take her daughter off… away from the shelter (on perhaps more than 1 occasion).

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/before-relisha-rudd-went-missing-the-8-year-old-longed-to-escape-dcs-homeless-shelter/2014/04/05/e21a020a-bc19-11e3-9a05-c739f29ccb08_story.html

That was more than 3 weeks ago now… Relisha was never returned to the shelter… and it has since been discovered that the janitor killed his wife.  And then later somewhere… or where he killed his wife…  he took his own life.

And the story kind of ends there… except for the fact that they are searching for Relisha.

The police are out searching for her the little 8 year older who was allowed by her mother to go off with 1 of the shelter janitors.   A 2nd grader who lived in an old Washington, DC deserted hospital turned into a shelter for families.  A news article said…  ‘place said to be filled with bedbugs and no playground.’  It probably smelled… and an overall feeling of complete destitution abounded there.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/03/31/8-year-old-girl-missing/7119363/

I cannot imagine what it is like to be forced to go live in a shelter.  It seems to be the last resort for those forced in that situation… next to just plain living on the street.  And many people chose living on the streets if they can… because I have heard them say that the shelters were not safe.

I don’t know this child’s mother.  But as a mother I would not ever have allowed my daughter big or small to go off with some man.  Sometimes when we sit in situations of desperation we might do anything… that under ordinary circumstances we might not allow.  I have no idea what could have been going through this mother’s mind.  The first thought that would have come to me… was ‘why was this person so interested in my daughter?’

There are mothers who will turn their children over to people… because they have an interest in that person.  And the person’s interest in their child gets them attention from that person… because of their interest in the child.

I once knew a mother who used her children like that.  Not being worldly I really didn’t really know what was going on at the time… it is over a period of years that I now realize what I had been seeing.

This woman had a very attractive young daughter who she used to take to the club with her… a lesbian hang out.  An older lesbian woman… much older lesbian woman became interested in the woman’s daughter… who at the time may have been 12 or 14.  I am not sure as I did not know the family at the time.  I can only bear witness to what I saw when I came to meet them.

The older woman was about in her 40’s … approaching 50  at the time she took up becoming involved with the woman’s daughter.  This meant obviously perks for the mother and the daughter.  At some point the young girl started living with the older woman…  I met the daughter when she had moved back into her mother’s house… by this time the girl had developed her own mind and didn’t just want the older woman but wanted to play around with other woman… young girls etc.   She was exceedingly pretty… and knew it… everybody was chasing her.    The old woman truly cared for her and bought her everything the young girl wanted… clothes and everything she owned…  even after the young girl moved out and went back to her mother’s house.  And that young girl was very well dressed from head to toe.

When I met them their lives were different from what I was accustom to.  The mother’s house seemed like Madison Square Garden to me… or Penn Station.  People were coming and going from the mother’s house all night long.  It was like the local drop in center.   It was not until later that I noticed 1 of the younger sons answering the door… which usually was unlocked and people just walked in.  But the young boy sold the person some drugs.  I was taken aback by it.  I had never seen such a thing before… and a young kid doing it.  He was probably all of 9 or 10 at the time.

I was clearly out of my element at the time… way out of it.  But going back to the young girl who at the time I met her… I thought she was 17 or 18…  later I came to find out she was only 15.  But thing was when you entered her mother’s house and then stepped into her room it was like stepping into another world.  Her room was like night and day to her mother’s house… because of how that older woman cared for her… by that I mean ‘took care of her.’  She had everything in her room… she never had to leave it.  She had a refrigerator… and I don’t know what else now.  Can’t remember…  all I remember is the shocked I had when I stepped in the young girl’s room in her mother’s house.

I had seen nothing like it.  She was well taken care of by the older woman… who obviously was so attached to her that she did not mind sharing her with other people… if that was the only way she could keep her.   It was wired…  but the young girl was not the only child of the mother that the mother let people take and do what they wanted.  She had a son… I could tell that the young boy… younger than his sister was obviously gay.  But the mother had a border living in her house.  And the 1 time that I visited their home the young boy and the young man who boarded their were having an argument and sounded like husband and wife.

I never went back to that woman’s house again it was too weird for me.  But I felt sorry for her children… all of them.  So, I would take them out trying to expose them to things that most little children usually do.  I drove them 1 day to the beach… can’t think of what else it has been so long.  But I cannot rationalize how any mother could exploit her children as that woman.  The girl’s mother liked me which is why she invited me to her house.  But their way of living was so foreign to me that I rarely ever went back to that house.  Mother knew that my eye was on her daughter which is why she invited to their house…  but when I found out her daughter’s real age…  there was a boundary that I could not cross and didn’t.  But I got to see a side of life I might not have ever otherwise… a dark side… a side where anything goes… and everything is alright if you show me some attention too.  That I think is how that young girl’s mother thought.

I do know that being homeless works on many people mind… and they become unglued.  They loose it mentally.  One can hardly blame them as the burden of homelessness must be so great… that it could tear most of us to pieces just thinking about it.

When I think of homelessness I often think of the lady who I used to pass everyday when I walked through the tunnel from the World Trade Center to the subway train going home or heading to someplace in Manhattan or going to Jersey.

She sat quietly on a large run to the left side of the wall between the Path and the ‘A’ train.  I have always wondered whether or not she made it out on the day that the airplanes flew into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, on 9/11.  But much like this young girl, Relisha…  memories of that woman many times haunted me.  I often wondered if there was something that I could do for her?

How the elderly woman became homeless I do not know.  She appeared to be very proud.  I once stopped to offer some food and she became very angry at me telling me she did not want it.  And she meant it… as she became very angry and I realized then that I had offended her by offering my food to her.

There is so much happening to young children today.  Every time you finish reading 1 story that is haunting and detestable to you… there pops up another even worst.

It would be my hope that Relisha is found unharmed… but the likelihood of that is bleak.  Perhaps it was conviction of his own conscious that had her kidnapper take his own life.

The story was sad enough just reading that she… this beautiful little child was living in a shelter.

I cannot imagine how many other children are living in shelters around this country or in this world.

Sometimes we get so caught up in the joys of our own lives… that we totally forget or are obvious to all the sadness that is in this world.  And there is much sadness in this world… whether it touches us personally or not.  But we should all be touched …or moved by it to try to help or make a difference in the lives of others less fortunate than we… somehow….

Just saw while looking info on this story that Mickey Rooney has passed.  There was hardly a Saturday afternoon that Mickey was not in some movie on our television.  I guess I could call him 1 of Saturday friends… just like Shirley (Temple) and Tarzan….

Mickey was 93….

http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/07/showbiz/mickey-rooney-obit/

Since writing what I did above about Relisha Rudd the 8 year missing in Washington, DC… and though no one is saying it… thought to be dead… as they have on camera Relisha’s kidnapper purchasing large trash bags and buying lye.  Meaning he… if he did… killed her put her body into a trash bag and buried her pouring the lye all over her body to dissolve her away.  My, Lord…

I watched the video below where the mother speaks… and truthfully speaking you can tell the mother has problems.  She appears to be slow… if you know what that means.  She says she allowed the man… the kidnapped to take her because he did not seem to be the type of person who would do anything like that.  Many times it is exactly the people who appear ‘not’ to be ‘the type’... who are ‘the type.’  It is part of what gives them the thrill of doing whatever evil they do… because they know no one would believe ‘they would do something like that.’  I have never once heard a news items where someone was discovered committing heinous crimes or mass whatever’s where no one said ‘he just didn’t seem like that kind of guy.’

I would have to believe that this man may have had an obsession for little girls.  Many men do.  R. Kelly is not the only 1… or all by himself.  One thing that has aided in this kind of thing is the law becoming extremely lax when it comes to filing cases against men or boys… teenage or otherwise… who indulge in having sex with under age young girls.

Once I read a news article about a little 12 year old girl who had to be separated from her 17 year old brother.  The 12 year old was pregnant by him… and she was head over heels in love with her brother who obviously had been having sexual relations with his little sister for many years.  The young girl was so attached to him sexually that they had to remove her from him via court order for them to stay away from each other.  At 12 and having grown up being abused by her brother… I doubt that the young girl really understood the breath or the width of that order… or why it was being enacted.

They say the eyes are the window to the soul.  When I first looked upon this young girl’s picture all I really noticed were her eyes… and the sadness within them.  She looked old… worn… and had traveled many miles….

I posted a picture of her on my Facebook page and here is 1 of the comments I got concerning it… or this story…

Myra: This case makes me sick!!! The police should be concentrating on her family!! The last video shown of her was dated 2/28/14 shows her with the man in hallway of hotel wearing pink boots then last week the news reporter was interviewing the child’s grandmother and she shows the pink boots. She was last seen 3/1 so how did the grandmother get the boots?? The school reported her missing 3/19/14 not even her mother reported her missing!!! Then his wife’s body was found 3/20/14 so she knew too that’s why he killed her! The the coward kills himself without disclosing where she is! Somebody knows and needs to come forward’! Sickening

We must work to save the children… from despair… from homelessness… from abuse… from people who really can’t care for them or protect them properly…

Well, God bless…. its getting late and I am getting hungry.  I’m supposed to be working on another project for client.  And here I am writing this… but it was on my mind.   Enjoy your day and the rest of this week… and I think Spring is really in the air this time.

Thank you for reading this blog…and  my others.  Please be sure to continue to share this blog site with your family, co-workers and all your friends… “pass it on…”  www.bsmith101.wordpress.com  ©2014

Add a comment April 8, 2014

OBAMACARE HERE TO STAY… SHUT-DOWN AND CRUZ JUST ANOTHER PASSING MOMENT…

In the past few weeks we have celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington, 9/11 and who knows maybe the first time that America government will actually come to a complete halt… per the calamity of having the wrong people in office.

http://50thanniversarymarchonwashington.com/

The Republican Party makes their boast of their history but in recent past history and  by present deeds they leave much to be desired.  Many of them are so busy trying to align themselves for a possible Presidential bid that they will do anything to get their name and face out there… even if it makes them look and sound like a fool.

Now, having said that… along comes this guy called Senator Ted Cruz, of Texas… talking big and making waves, just as his recent past counter-parts had, namely people like Paul Ryan, Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachmann etc…etc… and that list goes on and on.

What the Palin, Bachmann, Ryan and Cruz’s and multiple others…. of those wanna-be’s have in common is a deep burning desire, that binges on lunacy to the point of self-destruct… because all they have in mind is… I just wanna be President of the United States… or I just want everybody to know my name, and hence,  receive some level of power or pull to sit on top of some big Capitol Hill committee.  So, they will obstruct… try to undermine… destroy… disrupt… and yes, even threaten to bring to a halt everything on Capitol Hill and around the country… while they have a temper tantrum attempting to do it… or read children’s story books for hours while trying to hold up the workds (i.e.  Cruz)… or do whatever their ‘it’ is.

Where do these people come from?

Well, they were birth out of a joke many of them… this group of extremist Republicans.  A joke called the ‘Tea Party.’  They see themselves as self-made patriots… savers of America… slayers of the big government… and the restorers of our American way and values.  When in reality America is the last thing that they have on their minds.

In essence they are just a bunch of wanna-be’s… spoiled brats who somebody… or maybe nobody… birth something in them that they could be the next Commander in Chief… President of the United States of America… el honcho grande.   Yes, that is how they see themselves… when in essence the real fact of the matter is… is that they are all a bunch of big time losers… with no more brains than a bag of rotten potatoes.

Or is that tomatoes?

I get so tired of these guys… and gals… who want to undermine Obama and everything that Obama attempts to do… by taking aim at our government itself… to destroy it just in order to show Obama up.  They care about nothing but their supposed end game… get Obama… make Obama look bad… block Obama… attack Obama… etc… etc…

The problem here is that they are too dumb to realize that Obama is really smarter than they are.  Because you see they really do not see Obama as being smart at all… but just as somebody who got into the White House on a lark.  Hence, Romney’s inability to recover from his stunning defeat following the announcement that he had lost the 2012 Presidential race to Obama.  They, Romney and his crew… were soooooo sure that President Obama would not make it back into the White House for a second term, that Romney had not even prepared a concession speech.  Now, that should tell you that these people, those against Obama… that they don’t see the world as it really it… but only as small as their very small little circles are.

Oh, sure they have money.  Some even have clout and lots of it… but they lack anything substantial upstairs.  They have no brains… but a whole lot of hot air.   And they operate only and solely upon their own selfish desires and highly inflated ambitions.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/government-shutdown-looms-republicans-democrats-refuse-budge-article-1.1469204

So, we sit here for the 3rd or 4th time awaiting a threat by the Republican Party to shut down the American government.

Why?

Because they hate Obamacare.  No, it is more like they hate Obama.

Did not Obamacare pass the Senate?

Yes, it did.

What is Obamacare…  THE AFFORDABLE HEALTH CARE PLAN… for THE PATIENT PROTECTION AND AFFORDABLE HEALTH CARE of everyone who really needs it.  If Obamacare is for the protection of patients rights…  from being over billed… from being forced out of hospitals when their medical plans run out… or for medical plans failing to cover various health issues or limiting health care to patients… should not a bill been put into place to help those who fall under the mercy of these huge and powerful, and often times mercilessness medical insurers?

So, why would anyone be against it?

Because… and this answer is simple.  Because it was Obama who did it.  It was Obama who got it through the Congress and Senate… who turned the bill into law.  And then they… the Republicans began to call the Bill, Obamacare… and that is their real other issue.  It bares his name… they name they began calling it just as a means of irking Obama.   Oh, my…

Far be it that this medical plan should have to go through the hallow halls of history with the name of the President who did it… Barack Obama.  It is the first Bill ever passed that has ever bared a name of any President who signed it into legislation.  And it is is not that it really bares Obama’s name… not technically…  but as a ruthless joke that has turned on them.

Wherever, speaking about the Bill the Republicans began referring to it as Obamacare.  It was all meant to be poke at President Obama concerning something they vowed never to pass.  But it did pass… and the name of the Bill has stuck with it… as an initiative on the part of the President to bring affordable and caring medical care back into America.

Well, what would be wrong with that?

First of all he’s black… or dare I say it… African American.   Second, he’s the first black man to ever rise to such a position… a position as President of the United States, that many Republicans have come to consider as an easily achievable fete that anyone can now ascertain… based upon Obama having done it.  So, you see all these non-achievers stepping forward saying ‘I’m running for President.’  People who have no more desire to help or aid America or us, her people… the people who live here… than the man on the moon.  They only desire the title of President and Commander and Chief… and whatever that may bring to them.   They are a bunch of people willing to jump on the band wagon merely for the glory of it… and take that ride for a far as it brings them.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/09/25/ted-cruz-obamacare-senate-shutdown-vote/2867141/

The thing they fail to see is that Obama cares.  He truly does. Barack Obama did not run for President of the United States merely for a title… or because he sought a position for fame and glory… but because he felt that our government was in trouble… which it was and still is… and that it needed someone who really cared about her people.  Hence, Obamacare 1 of the first steps in his initiative to revive America was birth.   But the Republicans are attempting to do anything and everything they can to wipe it away and any remembrance of it before it even goes into effect.  The ironic thing about it… it was them who gave that Bill Obama’s name.   And now that that that name has took… they want to do everything they can to un-do it… such an important Bill and it should bare a name that has stuck to it?

Everyone knows the Bill now as Obamacare because that is the name the Republicans gave it.  So, now the Republican rant and rave about the Bill… it cost to much… it hurts small businesses… it… it… it… it… like they, the Republicans… really care.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/20/politics/congress-spending-showdown/index.html

But Obama won’t be bullied.  So, shut it down… shut down the government, you Republicans.  You big… you bad… you do it.  But as you can see Obama is not backing up.  Cruz like Palin and everybody else who has come up against him… or attempted to come up against President Obama… soon always find themselves fading away.  All the detractors and nay-Sayers… they soon fade away.

But it appears that every 15 minutes or so up pops a new 1… some new Republican thinking he or she can take on our President.   Trying to take President Barack Obama on is not nor has proven to be as easy for none of them… and certainly not as easy as they may have thought from the day Obama walked into office.  And in the end… and there is always an end… theirs and not Obama’s.  For they have all soon faded far far away off the radar… one right after another… gone.  Now, that should tell them something.

It is the cost of being too big for one’s pants… or better said… not knowing what size pants you really wear.  They have no idea of what it is to be respectful, when respect is due… and respect is something that always been allotted to all our other Presidents.  But for some reason they feel Obama does not deserve any.   But we are still, after all,  talking about the highest position in our government and the person sitting in that position… the President of this country… whether he be a black man or white… or Indian chief.   Obama deserves respect.   And no matter what they… those Republicans may think about him or say… he has not proven to be too shabby either… not shabby at all.

Being aduls we all sooner or later come to the realization that it is okay to disagree… but one does not have to be nasty or bitter in their disagreement.  Nor demeaning or out and out arrogant… something which many in the Republican Party have no understanding of.  Guess they have not fully grown up… and against their recent actions certainly prove that.  They  are so blinded by hate of President Obama that common courtesy …forget respect… fully and completely fails them.  And it fails them badly… to their own demise.  And this they continue to be trampled upon by Obama at every turn… because they can’t see how their own actions hurt them more than anything Obama can say or do to them.

I say… let us rally behind our President.

Why?

Because Obama is on our side.  It is really hard to believe that today hospitals kick people out because they run out of money.., or refuse to service you if your medical plan doesn’t cover a certain thing.  I remember when the medical business was about saving people’s lives and aiding in keeping them healthy and well… and never turning a back on them.  Obama remembers those days too… before it all became about big business and the bottom line… and making more money and more money.   Health and wellness should never be about that… otherwise it fails to do or serve its primary function, and that is to help sick and/or ailing people to be well.

Well, God bless… well, it is Friday and it has looked like rain all day.  Burst of sun here and there… but I am surprise it has not rained yet, based upon how dark it has been.  It has turned a bit cool too.  I put on the heat because inside it is a lot cooler than outside.  And these old bones can’t take it… and have never been good at taking cold.  Well, hope you stay warm and enjoy your weekend.

UPDATE:  Thursday, October 2, 2013…. today is the 2nd day of the shutdown and no body is laughing.  Thousands have been laid off from their jobs… without pay and no idea as to when the Republican will grow up and throw in the towel.  But if they throw in the towel now… well, better now than later.  But if they throw in the towel now that they have managed to bring our government to a stretching halt they will look like the buffoons they truly are.

But, my goodness, to want to take down the whole government with you while you act like an idiot… really should be an issue addressed around this country during the next few elections.  VOTE REPUBLICANS OUT!

They are truly bad for this country… and so anti-American.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/ej-dionne-why-this-shutdown-is-different/2013/10/02/c8e720e6-2b97-11e3-b139-029811dbb57f_story.html

http://nbcpolitics.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/10/02/20777759-obama-ratchets-up-attack-on-gop-as-shutdown-enters-third-day?lite

I don’t blame President Obama for scratching his head… and wondering ‘How could they be so dumb and selfish?’

Continue to stand your ground, Mr. President.  And let know and see once and for all who they really dealing with.

Well, thank you for reading this blog…and  my others.  Please be sure to continue to share this blog site with your family, co-workers and all your friends… “pass it on…”  www.bsmith101.wordpress.com  ©2013

Add a comment September 27, 2013

POEM… “SOME”…PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA’S FIRST INAUGURATION…2009

Some

came by bus…

some by train….

some by plane…

some by car…

some by whatever…

however….

but they got there.

Some late in the night…

some in the wee hours of the morn…

some by daybreak…

some by noon…

some by midday

some by the time it was nearly through….

some at the end…

but they got there.

Some lined the streets…

some sat on ice cold street curves…

some bundled together…

some crowded the gates…anxious to get in.

Some cried…

some cheered…

some screamed…

some shouted ‘GLORY!’…

some rejoiced…

and some

just gave

God glory.

Some came in furs…

some in overcoats and gloves…

some with ear muffs and thick heavy scarves…

some in knitted caps…

some in baseball caps…

some in boots…

but you made it there.

Some white…

some black…

some Native American Indian…

some hispanic…

some jew…

some italian…

some polish…

some russian…

some african…

some asian…

some muslim…

some christian…

Some young…

some old…

some yet born…

some nearly able to walk…

some barely able to stand…

some barely understanding english…

but they got there.

Some travelled through the night…

some caught early morning flights…

but they got there.

Some slept in cars…

some in hotels…

some in motels…

some with friends…

some out in the streets…

but they got there.

Some came by faith…

some motivated by desire…

some by history…

some by pride…

some by curiosity…

but they got there.

Some will remember…

some will forget…

some will cherish forever

what this day truly meant…

   but they got there.

Though history many not truly relay it with all of its glory…f

or its great importance

and significance…

nor may it be kind…

and some facts left behind…

but you were there…

you made it there out of  ‘no way’…

Through pain…shame,

heartache and

chains…somehow we made it

there.

So, some

travelled by car…

some from afar…

some said ‘no matter how far’…

hours…years…centuries…bondage…hangings…whippings…and burnings…

tar and feathers…

but… we made it…

we were there.

But you were there…you

and some

million…zillion other folk.

You made it  there…you and some more than 2 million

and more poured into that place…that city…those streets…those sidewalks…

the corner stores…

the restaurants….

the Mall of Lincoln Monument…

places that used to not seat us…

feed us…

or give us a place to rest…

You were there…

praising and singing  ‘We’ve Come This Far By Faith’…

to see the dream…

no longer deferred…

to see the courage…

and the pride…

the trust…

the hope…

and to see the promise rise up like Moses…

and the Red Sea once again stand on end…

and destiny again be

fulfilled.

some…

Now, you fill the rest in…

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090120/ap_on_go_pr_wh/inauguration_rdp

http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/National-Mall/photo//090120/480/14c54f52582346ee9379c1ec3ba40a30//s:/ynews/ynews_ts206#photoViewer=/090120/photos_pl/2009_01_18t165729_450x339_us_usa_obama

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28749799/displaymode/1107/s/2/framenumber/4/

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/22887506#22887506

Some…

Some came to get caught up in the moment…

Some to get a touch of the spirit…

And some to celebrate a time long-awaited…

when the tail has finally become the head.

Well, God bless…and in case I make to D.C. this time to celebrate both President Obama’s second inaugural and Dr. King Martin L. King’s birthday… then I will see you there.But if I do not… for those of you who do please celebrate for me too.   And forget to touch Dr. King’s memorial for me…as I will truly be remembering him too on this great day, Monday, January 21, 2013… when we along with all of America…and the world celebrate two great men American heroes.

Add a comment January 16, 2013

Martin L. King Memorial…

Gotta come back and write on this but for now.  Look and hear…

http://blog.al.com/montgomery/2011/10/civil_rights_movement_a_seed_p.html

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2011/10/16/2011-10-16_martin_luther_king_jr_memorial_draws_thousands_in_washington_dc.html

Add a comment October 18, 2011

King saga 6… Dexter… Dexter… Dexter…$800,000+

 I see where I am being hit by folks looking for the latest on Dexter King and the law suits filed against him by his older brother, Martin L. King, III, and his younger sister, Rev. Bernice King.

At present I do not see anything new…except for what I last informed you of…Dexter hired EMI to license the intellectual property of his father.  Meaning that you could start hearing…

“I have…have…have…ah… ah-ah dream” mixed down with some funky beats.   Yes, because that is what ol’ Dexter boy did.  He has made it legal for anybody to use his father’s speeches in any kind of music, song or movie etc….as long as they pay him for it.

Need I say anything more…about little Dexter boy.

The unfortunate part is…is that the law is on his side since his…their mother turned over the day to day operation of the Martin L. King, Jr. Non-Violence Center and everything else bearing their father’s name and likeness over to little Dexter.

The only thing that Bernice and Martin the 3rd can do is try to stop him via the courts.  But unless there is some loop hole…or God intervenes…and He has been known to not only change hearts…but minds.  He changed mine.  

But unless He does not intervene…little Dexter boy has the straight-away…to do as he wills.  However, both Bernice and Martin and the 3rd are still legal heirs to their family holdings and as thus…they are entitled to whatever revenues that come in…even though little Dexter is the head of the Dr. Martin L. King, Jr. Center for Non-Violence.   But since they are also on the board of directors…I just do not see why they do not vote Dexter out of a job.  Undoubtedly, the situation is a bit more complex than that.

How very unfortunate.  Not just for his siblings…Bernice and Dexter the 3rd.   But for us all.   There are some things which should always be protected and held in high regard…and never sold to the highest bidder…or given away for a buck.

All I can say to Bernice and Martin is never give up faith…it is the thing that made your father great…and he is who we know him to be today. 

Faith is the substance of things hoped for…and the evidence of things not seen.  I have hoped…and seen impossible situations turned around in my own legal woes.  Surely, what God is able to do for one…He can do that same work again.  I have been in court where lawyers didn’t show up.  Where judges decided in my favor when I didn’t even know what I was talking about.  But I know He is able…

Keep the faith…nothing worth doing is ever easy.   But it is the end of the road that tells the story.

Now, I am going to really lay down…and get some sleep.   And I don’t want anybody to touch me until some time tomorrow night.

Got the story. 

Well, everybody by this time knows that national government has been involved in building a monument in honor of Dr. Martin L. King, Jr.  on the grounds of the Lincoln Monument.   You know…that place where Obama placed his hand on that old Bible and was sworn in as President of the United States of  America.  Yeah…here.  

Well, ol’ Dex is forcing the society of national monuments to cough up $800,000 to use his father’s likeness in the making of that monument in his honor.  Not to mention that the foundation has been paying the Martin L. King Center…Dexter…all along for the use of the words and likeness of Dr. King in its ads and other various fund raising activity they have used in order to raise the money to build the memorial in Dr. King’s memory.

That Dexter…what a son.  

You would think he would have been out their helping to raise that money for the funding to build a memorial monument in honor of his father’s work and sacrifice…instead of robbing it to line his pockets.   And not dime has he shared with his brother or sister.   So much for the character of  Dexter King.  I doubt highly that his father would be proud.

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/atlanta/stories/2009/04/17/king_memorial_family_fee.html

Now, that some of the major corporations and other organization that pour money into the building of the monument have heard about Dexter’s little licensing agreement…they are re-negoiating their contributions and/or reconsidering them.

God bless…

Thank you for reading this blog…and  my others.  Please be sure to continue to share this blog site with your family, co-workers and all your friends…

“pass it on…” www.bsmith101.wordpress.com ©2009

Add a comment April 18, 2009

Condoleezza Rice’s knockout punch… John Hope Franklin… Ryan Moat incident…

See…I said it.  And she hasn’t proved me wrong.

I love her.

I really hate people who don’t know how to go home and just be quiet.

It is not like Cheney and his friends did anything but put this country into a whirlwind spin downward.  And we have yet to set the turbulent waters still.

Cloaked in secrecy since they went into the White House…it is hard to believe that they had not planned this whole mess from the very beginning.  To get in steal what they could…and cause havoc just because they could.

Or maybe all the chaos was just a shield…to cover up the crime.  You know how the criminals do…create a disturbance or some type of confusion somewhere else to divert the attention from what they are really doing.

Man…you know I never thought of that before.

But what if it was?

What if  9/11 had been cooked up by some of our own people…in high places?

It would certainly address the issue as to why they never really went after Bin Laden.

I  hope with all my heart that would never be found to be true.

I personally believe that every covered record, tape and piece of video…recorded phone calls, messages, emails, faxes, text messages…and everything else used to imprint messages on…or engendered dialogue…including documents…should be thoroughly gone over by some high commission seeking illegal irregularities by the Bush Administration…pacifically the lying and untruthful behavior of now ex-Commander and Chief, George Bush,   and his bully, Dick Cheney.  And they should be dragged before some court or tribunal to face charges of some sort…if for nothing else but for all the lives which have been lost and the families destroyed by an illegal war that not only devastated a country but the world economy…as well as, our own.

What a herculean mess the previous administration has left behind.

From 4.2% under Bill Clinton…to 7.6% unemployment by the time George Bush left the White House.

The number of  Americans living in poverty when Clinton left the White House under 33 million…by time Bush left White House 37.3 million.

When George Bush went into the White House…Clinton had left it the country with a $128 billion surplus…while George left us with a deficit…of $1.3 trillion.

So, how dare Dick Cheney sit around on the sidelines now…sipping his champagne and smoking his big Cuban cigars chirping like a canary over what the Obama Administration should be doing…and is now doing…calling it ‘a risk’…in trying to bring this country out of the Bush/Cheney mess…and to get this country back on track again.

Who put us here…where we are today?

Inflated gas prices…highest ever in the history of America.  Unprecedented number of home foreclosures.  Failed economy…massive job losses…daily bodies flying back from Iraq…corporate thief…Enron…Bear Sterns…Halliburton…war…inflated cost of living…etc…etc…etc…etc…etc…

If only Dick Cheney could have been but so wise in the advise he was shoving down his fellow Texan’s throat…while they both were sitting in the White House.

Who put us here?

And then want to question how Obama is running the country?

Are you kidding me?

I know exactly where Obama is trying to take this country.  OUT OF THE MESS THAT YOU GUYS PUT US IN…that’s where.

Thank you, Condi Rice…tell Cheney to put a lid on it again…and again…

He seems to be the type who just can’t seem to stop talking.

I can’t stand big fat hypocrites.  Particularly, when the hypocrites are the ones to blame.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/03/15/cheney.interview/index.html

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/03/15/cheney.interview/index.html#cnnSTCVideo

How could something like this happen?

On their way rushing to the hospital they get stopped by the police in the parking lot of the hospital while leaping from their vehicle trying to rush inside the hospital.

A cop tells them to stop prohibiting them from going inside.  He tells them that they ran a red light…all this mind you while they had their red hazard lights flashing while rushing to the hospital.

The officer is told over and over and over…”my mother-in-law is dying.”

To which the officer acts as though he is making an ordinary…what they call a routine traffic stop.  And he did so without any kind of concern or consideration regarding the situation of  his captives.  Well, that is what they were to him…because that is what he acted like with regard to them.   He acted as though there was no type of any emergency…and that Ryan Moats was just out joy riding to the hospital.

All the pleading and trying to get the police officer to understand…it all fell upon death ears.  He could have cared less…as you hear in the video because he turned a deaf hear to everything that Moats was saying to him.

The cop threatens to arrest him…tells him that he is going to tow his car…etc.   But the cop does everything but attempt to even try to comprehend…or make any sense out of the situation…as to what is being told him.  Nor did he  offer any help or assistance to the family members of the vehicle of near death mother as they tried rushing to her bed side.

How had this scene might have played out differently…if…

If the occupants of vehicle had not been African Americans but some other race…namely white?

The officer might have ran into the hospital with them.  Maybe…

He might have been a lot more understanding and helpful to them…probably.

But I doubt that the above scenarios…and the way that it actually happened did get played out as it did because of…who they were…or are.  They were black…African Americans.  This officer saw their color…and paid no attention to their situation…or anything else.

And the police chief’s apology wasn’t much better.  Near the end of his apology…he states that to the credit of NFL  player Ryan Moats–

“At no time did Mr. Moats state that he was a NFL football player. Or expect any special consideration.”

What kind of statement was that?

Was that meant to be a compliment?

It is all on tape.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2009/03/26/lavandera.tx.nfl.player.hospital.cnn?iref=mpvideosview

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2009/03/26/lavandera.tx.nfl.player.hospital.cnn?iref=mpvideosview

Historian John Hope Franklin…didn’t know him and never heard of him before.  But  just read something about him…how he had a way of  telling our history.  It really made me feel like I would have liked to have known him.  Would have loved to have heard his name before now…and certainly would have loved to have heard him lecture on our history.  There had been a time when I couldn’t read enough on it.

http://www.lastingtribute.co.uk/tribute/franklin/3050019

There is something about our history that amazes me.  So, many many stories…as varied as the people.  Stories of  lives shattered… broken… and often torn…and yet many victorious.   Stories of a peole who were really a mixture of various people…thrown into chains…transported on ships…carried across the Atlantic…to stand upon auction blocks…and herded like cattle.

Yet, they were able to turn scraps into meals…later called Soul Food.  Messages into songs…that later transformed into gospel, blues and R&B.  People who turned hardship into culture.   People meant to have not to survived…but did.  Kind of like the stories of  the blankets infected with smallpox given to the American Indians.   They weren’t suppose to survive either.

I guess that is kind of why I cried when I saw them riding…strong and tall upon their horses…all dressed up in their traditional headdresses and everything…in the parade for Barack Obama on Inaugural Day.   That was special.   What a sight they were…just like all of us who flocked to D.C. to see…to hear…to cheer…and to cry as we bared witnessed to the dawn of a new American era.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/crime/2009/03/26/pn.anchor.death.cnn?iref=mpvideosview

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/politics-obituaries/5056617/Professor-John-Hope-Franklin.html

Wow…I wish I had heard him.  Had known of  a  place where he had been lecturing…or had booked him myself.

Now, that I have had an opportunity to find more info on Dr. Franklin…I had heard and seen him once.  He was on Charlie Rose…a show I used to love to watch…at a time when I used to watch television.

They said he had a gift…a gift for telling our history.   Wow…I sho’ wish I could have heard that.  Not much of  it going around any more.  Soon, I guess it will all be dead…all our real history…dead and gone…buried when all our elders have all gone to their graves.  Because nobody will be left carrying it on.   Nobody studying it…nobody who thinks that it is now still important…or relavent.

So, now…almost all of the African American Studies departments have been done away with…removed…squashed…vacated…because “ain’t nobody taking the classes no ways.” Yeah, because they need to make room for all of this new stuff…like the history of rapp. ..and hip-hop.

No one taking an interest…too busy thinking about rapp…hip-hop…and baby/mama drama.  I hear those classes are jam packed.

Or maybe we should wait on others…others to come and pick it up for us…and start claiming it for their own.   Like they came and picked  up jazz.   That was on its way out too.  It was dying as the masters began to die.   And would have been dead too…ifin’ they hadn’t.

Our history in this country sprang up out of the toil and sweat…and  out of bearing chains in this country…and there is no reason why we should ever let the memory of those who walked before us…and broke those chains die.  Nor our history prior to slavery ever be forgotten…which so few of us know little if anything about.

Teach it!

Preach it!

Recite it!

Pass it on to your children…because a tree without roots will fade away.   Strengthen the roots.

Don’t let it die.  It is far too important for our children…and the legacy we leave behind.

I had said to myself-

“You are going to go home and go to sleep early tonight.”

And I did get in early.

And I did shower and get ready for bed.

But then I started writing this blog…and here I am at almost ll:30 PM…and I got in before 5.   And I am still not finish yet.

Eleven Native American tribes from all across the country participated in the ceremonies celebrating Obama’s Presidency by marching…or riding if you will…in the inaugural parade and various other events that day and week in Washington, DC.

God bless…

Thank you for reading this blog…and  my others.  Please be sure to continue to share this blog site with your family, co-workers and all your friends… “pass it on “

www.bsmith101.wordpress.com ©2009

http://www.aaanativearts.com/article1632.html

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/Indians-on-the-Inaugural-March.html

3 comments March 27, 2009

Who doesn’t have a clue?

I just finished listening to the most hypocritical piece of garbage I have ever heard…or maybe I should say in a long time.  It has to do with some white woman announcer talking about First Lady Obama who recently paid a visit to a local D.C. school and began sharing with the young students about her earlier years growing up.  Being bright and well spoken the kids in her school and neighbor used to tell her that she ‘talked like a white person.’

This white woman announcer pounced all over that and began saying, “We have trash in the White House.”

Clearly, she is in need of loosing her job…besides having been way off the mark.

For some reason white people just can’t seem to get it right.  They think everything is about them.  They have no understanding of the black experience…yet want to say that they do.

Because we are the only group of people who came here in chains…there is no other group of fellow country men who can quite grasp this with any kind of clear understanding because they never went through it.  Sure, many groups were ostracized, joked about, called names, belittled and many hated…some more so than others…as they came here to this country in search of a better way of  life for them and their family…same as those who came before them.  But their experiences were still not the same as ours.

Having worked on a job…my last job with a bunch of black folks.  The first time in my life I had ever worked with all black people.  I must say it was the worst job I ever had.  They put me through the ringer…and it was all because…as I came to find out over time…because I had a highest level education than anyone else in the building including out of all the workers, other managers and upper management.

I did not talk like them…I did not swear…nor did I stand around telling nasty jokes…and I did my job far above average.   They hated me because I was not like them.   They hated my work ethics…everything about me.   To them…I have no doubt…they felt that I thought I was white.   Because this is something which many black folks have been called when they were smart, or well spoken…good workers… etc…etc…  Which for those of you who may be white…it means they thought that I thought…I was better than them.

So, that white woman radio announcer had not a clue of what she was talking about when she started to bite into Michelle Obama.  Because had she had a clue she would have known that Michelle Obama was telling the students in that class that it was okay to be smart and not to be ashamed of making good grades…and not to worry about what the other kids might call them.   This was indeed what Michelle Obama was telling those students…and vast numbers of African Americans, if not all, hearing that speech knew right off what the First Lady was saying without thinking twice about it.   She was not talking about some ‘white/black thing’…but a ‘black on black thing.’

But white people do not have a clue.  They feel they know us.  Have a handle on how we feel about things…how we operate…behave…and react.  But really…they do not have a clue.

Take for instance shock jock-Imus in the Morning.  He thought he was being funny…that what he was saying was cool and that he could get away with continually degrading and belittling black folks.  And he felt this because of  Pop culture…rapp music…rapp videos…and how the brotha’s talk in the streets.

But he failed to understand that there are other groups of black folks who felt that even the brotha’s and sista’s on the streets, in the videos etc…speak things we too find offensive and unacceptable.  Because the kids…the rappers etc…do not have clue…didn’t mean that Imus could also operate within that same clueless realm and feel it was okay…because as he said, “They say it.”

Like Imus…the kids are clueless.  The kids know nothing about the history behind much of what they say…nor take it, unfortunately, as being serious.   But those of us who know the history…know also the pain…and saw the cost…we know.  And not only take it seriously…but personal.

But…so isn’t that female announcer who would dared to want to call the First Lady of this country ‘trash.’ She is definitely quite clueless…and maybe so to a even higher level.

Would anyone dared to have called Barbara Bush that…and then felt that they could have gotten away with it?

How about Jacqueline Onassis-Kennedy?

Never.

And if you tried…everybody would be up in arms coming at you.

But you can get away with things when you are talking about black people or other minority groups that would never be acceptable or allowable when talking about  someone white who sits in such a high position as the Obamas…or anywhere.

After all the stuff that Bill Clinton did while he was in the White House with Monica…never once did anyone call him outside of  his name.  They may have went after Bill but they never called him anything but Bill Clinton…or Mr. President.

Two semesters ago in a communications class we had to read about the uproar about the making of a TV movie about Ronald Reagan.  The first part of the controversy was about the belittling of an American President…making him to appear erratic…and lost.

The second part of the argument had to do with party lines…the Republicans were staunchly against the TV mini-series about their beloved President Ronald Reagan claiming that the mostly liberal Democrats of the Production’s Executive Directors and writers were trying to tarnish the memory of an American hero, as well as, President…which should not be allowed.

I doubt that any of those people will stand up for First Lady Obama.  But clearly large groups of people should including the owners and affiliates of that radio station that she works for and the syndicated stations she airs on.

Not only did not the woman have a clue as to what she was talking about by trying to under-cut what the First Lady had said to the students…but she was also highly out of order and offensive…and racist.   There was an air about her tone which spoke…”I can say whatever I want about those n…..s and nobody will stop me.  Because they are just n…..s anyways.”

So, it is not Michelle Obama who has a problem.  No, but anyone who thinks and talks like this woman announcer.  CLICK the LINK BLOW…if you want to read more about what this woman had  to say…and you will also hear what it was that Michelle Obama said to the students.   This woman clearly did not have the slightest clue to the real meaning of…outside of possibly pushing up some negative ratings for her radio program.

http://www.blackvoices.com/blogs/2009/03/24/tammy-bruce-calls-the-first-family-trash-in-the-white-house/?icid=main|hp-laptop|dl5|link3|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.blackvoices.com%2Fblogs%2F2009%2F03%2F24%2Ftammy-bruce-calls-the-first-family-trash-in-the-white-house%2F

I wish I were the Program Director or manager at that radio station…she would have been pulled immediately…and sent packing.

And oh, yes…I purposely did not call her by name.  Some people just are not worthy of the bother…I have given her more than enough play…(many of you might not understand that either…but I will let you try and figure it out). She is in dire need of a proper education.

This is America…and we do have freedom of speech.  But she went way overboard.  And for that there should be a penalty…as was in the case of  Imus.  And no appology will do.  We are in the 21st Century…when do people start to grow up?

I get so tired of people saying whatever they want to say whenever it comes to black people…and then have the nerve to feel that there should and will not be any reprecautions for doing so.

Still working on the web site.  I have to admit that it is really shaping up far better than anything I have done in the past.  God is so good…He has endowed me.

And oh, yes…the weather has turned again.  It is freeeeeeezzzzing.

God bless…

Thank you for reading this blog…and  my others.  Please be sure to continue to share this blog site with your family, co-workers and all your friends… “pass it on “

www.bsmith101.wordpress.com ©2009

1 comment March 25, 2009

True to his word…Let the Presidency begin..

Already getting started President Obama signed the order to close Guantanamo Bay, the high security prison housed on the shores of Cuba…where thousands of detainees had been stored and warehoused since post-9/11…not to mention where they had been tortured by the Bush Administration.

Obama also ordered a review of all the trials and then placed a banned upon the harsh methods of interrogation used to extract information from detainees within that prison.

http://news.aol.com/?feature=310532

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/23/us/politics/23GITMOCND.html?_r=1&hp=&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1232650854-OzqyteNFK2JEY7RNpZO+Jg

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/video/2009/01/22/VI2009012201779.html?sid=ST2009012101583&s_pos=list

The behavior of the Bush Administration concerning enemy combatants and those thought

 to be enemy combatants…or possessing information went against the Geneva Convention concerning the handling and treatment of detainees, combatants and non-combatants.  The time has long been overdue for Bush’s policies regarding such matters to change…and the standards lifted once again as to how America carries herself.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/21/AR2009012102009.html

The problem, however, that arises with the closing of Guantanamo Bay is what to do with all those angry prisoners?

And, yes…I can see them being very angry…particularly those who may have been housed in that high security prison system for years now…who may have been innocent of any wrong doing.  But are now more than ready to blow America to smittereens due to what happened to them.  That is what a bunch of bad policies can do.  It creates long time and hardened hatred…and lasting enemies

Two semesters ago I had to pay a visit to the court house in regards to some family matters.  While before the judge…I was ordered to put my hands behind my back.  I could not imagine what was going on.

They were arresting me…and the charge was…  Well…  ‘Not serving Jury Duty.’

The only problem here was…was that I had served my jury duty.  Not only there but in New York a couple of years earlier. 

I protested before the court.  I called it an ‘outrage.’ 

I called it an ‘injustice.’

I proclaimed my innocence. 

But no one heard me.   In fact, they took my actions for a joke. 

I was outraged.  

I was enraged….I was mad…insulted…and had been made to be embarrassed. 

And I knew while I sat down in that cold jail cell after they un-handcuffed me and bent to remove the shackles…that that day was going to be revisited.  And I knew it beyond a shadow of a doubt.   Because yes…I had already made up in my mind that I was going to sue them.

So, I can understand the outrage and anger of people treated badly or unfairly…and those even treated in such as way…without due cause.  You don’t forget.

http://news.aol.com/article/obama-signs-order-to-close-guantanamo-in/314749?cid=12

Well, Hillary Clinton is looking happier these days…and certainly more confident.  And there is little wonder.   Today she was sworn in as Secretary of State.   

Though Hillary was indeed truly a heated contender in her fight to the White House…it is evident that the President saw something in her.  Perhaps he admired her aggressiveness…or maybe her doggit determination.  I imagine that these type of qualities are much needed when dealing various world leaders and other big time politicans.  If so…then she certainly has all the right credentials.

…and in a vote of 18 to 5 of the Senate Finance Committee Timothy Geithner was approved as consideration as Treasury Secretary of the United States of America.  Now, his confirmation goes up for  a full Senate vote in order for him to take over that position. 

http://news.aol.com/article/clinton-takes-the-reins-at-state/314201?cid=12

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-clinton,1,3732593.story

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090122/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/clinton

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=11658795&ch=4226716&src=news

Caroline Kennedy has withdrawn her name from consideration as the replacement for Hillary Clinton’s old Senate seat, as the Senator from New York.  Though the Governor of New York, David Patterson, had been toying with who his decision would fall upon…he has now allowed too much time to slip by.  What seems to me…should have been a fairly easy decision by way of choice…he now longer has. 

Having spent much of her younger years growing up on 5th Avenue in New York…I am sure that Caroline would have brought much to the State of New York.  Whatever the reason…it is New York’s great lost.  Too bad it was not seized upon earlier…it might have made a difference.

Boy, it is amazing that little Carline Kennedy is now 51 years old.   Seems only like yesterday when she and her brother, John, were the 2 little kids in the White House.

http://news.aol.com/article/kennedy-associate-says-decision-was/287640?cid=12

CLICK on this LINK  BELOW to see how Obama’s team is shaping up and where they currently stand in the process of their confirmations.

http://projects.nytimes.com/44th_president/new_team

IBM set to lay off  800 employees.  

I bought an IBM computer a few years back…but haven’t seen any more of them around since.  So, I knew that IBM had folded her hand in the desktop business.  But who knows what IBM sells any more? 

UNIX…Servers…LINUX…Power Systems…massive digital storage systems… 

So, I guess IBM is still pretty much in the computer industry…and as they have pretty much have been in the past…more corporate use…and less commercial consumer use.  Maybe, IBM needs to get it’s feet back into the everyday consumer market again.

Well, God bless…

Thank you for reading this blog…and  my others.  Please be sure to continue to share this blog site with your family, co-workers and all your friends… “pass it on” www.bsmith101.wordpress.com ©2009  

1 comment January 22, 2009

Some…

Some

came by bus…

some by train….

some by plane…

some by car…

whatever…

however….

but they got there.

Some late in the night…

some in the wee hours of the morn…

some by daybreak…

some by noon…

some by midday

some by the time it was nearly through….

some at the end…

but they got there.

Some lined the streets…

some sat on ice cold street curves…

some bundled together…

some crowded the gates…anxious to get in.

Some cried…

some cheered…

some screamed…

some shouted ‘GLORY!’…

some

 rejoiced…

and some

 just gave

 God glory.

Some came in furs…

some in overcoats and gloves…

some with ear muffs and thick heavy scarves…

some in knitted caps…

some in baseball caps…

some in sneakers…

some in boots…

but you made it there.

Some white…

some black…

some Native American Indian…

some hispanic…

some jew…

some italian…

some polish…

some russian…

some african…

some jamacian…

some asian…

some muslim…

some christian…

Some young…

some old…

some yet unborn…

some nearly able to walk…

some barely able to stand…

but they got there.

Some travelled through the night…

some caught early morning flights…

but they got there.

Some slept in cars…

some in hotels…

some in motels…

some with friends…

some out in the streets…

but they got there.

Some came by faith…

some motivated by desire…

some by history…

some by pride…

some by curiosity…

but they got there.

Some will remember…

some will forget…

some will cherish forever

what this day truly meant…

              but they got there.

Though history many not relay it with all of its glory…

it may not be kind…

some facts left behind…

but you were there…

you made it there out of  ‘no way’…

Through pain…shame,

heartache and

 chains…somehow we made it

there.

So, some

travelled by car…

some from afar…

some said ‘no matter how far’…

hours…years…centuries…bondage…hangings…whippings…and burnings…

but…

we made it…

we were there.

But you were there…you

and some

million…zillion other folk.

You made it  there…you and some 2 million

and more poured into that place…that city…those streets…those sidewalks…

the corner stores…

the restaurants….

the Mall of Lincoln Monument…

places that used to not seat us…

feed us…

or give us a place to rest…

You were there…

praising and singing  ‘We’ve Come This Far By Faith’…

to see the dream…

no longer deferred…

to see the courage…

and the pride…

the trust…

the hope…

and to see the promise rise up like Moses…

and the Red Sea once again stand on end…

and destiny again be

fulfilled.

some…

Now, you fill the rest in…

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090120/ap_on_go_pr_wh/inauguration_rdp

http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/National-Mall/photo//090120/480/14c54f52582346ee9379c1ec3ba40a30//s:/ynews/ynews_ts206#photoViewer=/090120/photos_pl/2009_01_18t165729_450x339_us_usa_obama

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28749799/displaymode/1107/s/2/framenumber/4/

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/22887506#22887506

Some…

Some came to get caught up in the moment…

Some to get a touch of the spirit…

And some to celebrate a time long awaited…

when the tail has finally become the head.

At it again…Venus and Serena WILLIAMS…

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/28741576/

Well, God bless…

Thank you for reading this blog…and  my others.  Please be sure to continue to share this blog site with your family, co-workers and all your friends… “pass it on” www.bsmith101.wordpress.com

©2009

Add a comment January 22, 2009

First Lady…Michelle…Inaugural wardrobe

Okay…okay…   I have gotten the message.  

Everybody wants to see what Michelle Obama was wearing today during the inaugral of  her husband, Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States of America.  There has been so much talk about what Michelle would be wearing and who made it…that…  

Okay.  I too have been bitten by all the talk. 

However, I am not a fashion anything.   So, don’t expect much from me.  But she looked fabulous.

So, here you are…feast your eyes…

 Absolutely stunning. 

There can be no doubt that the President has  much to be proud of when he looks upon his beautiful wife.   What a great pair they make.   No country could have better…or any 2 people more meant for each other.

The yellow suit dress First Lady Obama wore to the Presidential Inauguration was made by a Cuban born seamstress by the name of Isabel Toledo. 

Her gown for the Inaugural Balls was made by a young designer named Jason Wu.

 

For those of you who are really into this fashion stuff…these are Michelle’s  shoes in a low angle shot of her gown…which was made of ivory silk chiffon, embellished with crystal rhinestones and silver thread embroidery…etc…etc…  Really sounds like something to behold. 

http://news.aol.com/main/inauguration/article/obamas-dance-to-at-last-at-first-ball/312613

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/20/inauguration.balls/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1872698,00.html

Add a comment January 21, 2009

Talented…

I had never heard a group that I thought more should have made it than these girls.

The Jones Girls…I really didn’t play much by them when I was on the radio…basically, because I was not the one programming the radio stations that I worked on back then.  But if I had…

It is hard to say exactly why their career as a recording group didn’t take off.  It certainly was not because they couldn’t sing.  Because they could definitely sing.  Nor was it because  they didn’t want it bad enough…because they did.   Nor was it because they were from the wrong place…because they came from the Motor City…Detroit.   And everybody comes out of Detroit.    Stevie Wonder is from Detroit…the  Clark Sisters are from Detroit…Rance Allen…Aretha Franklin…Temptations, Diana Ross, the Supremes…Motown…etc…  Almost everybody comes out of Detroit.

In fact, when I first saw or heard of the Jones Girls they were on tour with Diana Ross.   They were so good it was hard not to notice the singers backing up Diana in that show.  And then Diana showcased them…and I have never forgotten their names since that night.  They were more than just talented…far more.  And far better than just good.

And even the Boss Ms Ross knew it…who was far from being shabby herself that night.   And so didn’t Motown to have packaged the Jones Girls on tour with their diva of all divas at the time…Diana Ross.

So, then what happened?

I don’t know.   But whenever I hear ‘Nights over Egypt’….I think of them…those Jones Girls.

It sadden me to read last year sometime while searching the internet for something or other at the time….that one of the Jones Girls had passed some years ago.  And more surprising was the fact that she had died supposedly…based on the information I was reading…that she had died from sclerosis of the liver…due to alcoholism. 

What a sad end to a story I would have thought would have ended otherwise.

http://www.radiocafe.co.uk/jones-girls

http://www.soulwalking.co.uk/Respect2001.html

Valorie Jones died in Detroit on December 2, 2001…she was the middle sister of the Jones Girls.  She was 46 years old.

Have another young nephew who will be heading to DC for Obama’s inauguration on Tuesday.  And I am so happy.

It is so important for our young children to know that nothing can hold them back…block them…or stop them from achieving success in their lives but them…themselves.

I believe in successful living…and living well.   And to do that is very hard to achieve…today…without a good education.

There is something about accomplishments that make you feel good all over.  No wonder Barack Obama’s smile is as pretty as it is….he has managed to achieve one accomphishment after another.  And he never let anything hold him back…or let anybody tell him that ‘he couldn’t.’

 The sky is the limit.  Set your goals and start working towards them now…you just may surprise yourself. 

But remember to be deligent in everything that you do.  And never let anything bearing your name not be done to the best…or to its  highest level.

Well, God bless…

Thank you for reading this blog…and  my others.  Please be sure to continue to share this blog site with your family, co-workers and all your friends… “pass it on” www.bsmith101.wordpress.com ©2009  

For history on Diana Ross CLICK LINK BELOW.http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/people/r/diana_ross/index.html

Add a comment January 19, 2009

Interesting… Obama…Martin L. King, Jr’s Holiday… History

I think that it is interesting that Martin L. King, Jr’s Birthday Holiday should be celebrated the day before Barack Obama is to be sworn in as President of the United States of America.   It is funny to me just how things seem to line up…as if in some kind of historical order.

Considering the years of fighting it took to get Martin L. King, Jr. recognized as an American hero and then to have a day proclaimed in his honor was no light feat.  Stevie wrote the song…Jesse preached about it…the Black Caucus voted on it…the NAACP said it must be…and black folks agreed upon it.  And finally over time it was done.  The Federal Government of the United States of America proclaimed it to be so…Dr. Martin L. King, Jr. Holiday the 3rd Tuesday of every January since 1986, signed into law by President Ronald Regan.

I have decided not to go to Washington, DC on Tuesday…not because I would not like to be there. But to be there simply to say “I was there”…is really not a good reason to be going. But to say…

“I was there to see the manifestation of years of struggle and sacrifice combined with hope come to life…in the life, breath and limb of Barack Obama.”

Now, that would be a good reason for going. I am happy that my family is being represented in the form of my sister…who is definitely going to be one among many to see and hear Barack Obama take his oath and take his place in the corridor of American History as the 44th President of the United States of America. It is exciting.

http://www.thekingcenter.org/holiday/index.asp

Upon having gone down to Memphis this past November for the Holy Convocation of the Church of God in Christ, my son told me how he visited the Lorraine Motel, the place where Dr. Martin L. King, Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968 at the age of 39.

My son said that the day that Martin L. King was shot that the black men around him had refused to allow anything to be touch.  So, the hotel room that Dr. King stayed in was exactly the way he had left it upon leaving his room that day…the cars and everything are in the exact same spot that they were in when Dr. King was assassinated.   And that the site is now a National Museum.

From that time to this…this country has only celebrated the life of one black man though thousands have died through the course of the building up of this country into a nation.  Most of the greatest inventions in this country have been invented by unrecognized fallen black heros and she-ros.  The highest bounty ever put upon the head of a Wanted person prior to the 1900’s  was put upon the head of Harriet Tubman…$40,000 Dead or Alive, in 1852…due to her travels back and forth into the South bringing with her on her numerous trips over 300 slaves into freedom via the Underground Railroad.

When Tuesday comes there is much to be reflected upon…many memories to be thought of.  Some tears I am more than sure…shall be shed.  And they shall be tears of joy…promise…and more hope.

There is much to be thankful for.  I am so happy that Tuesday is coming and I look forward to it with much hope and anticipation for my nieces, nephews and my son…and his and their families for futures to come.

God bless America.

Just found out that another one of my sisters is going…and that she will be taking one on my nieces and nephews.   This is so great…we will talk about it for years to come.   Washington, DC will never be the same…nor this country.  Change is on the way.

Thank you for reading this blog…and  my others.  Please be sure to continue to share this blog site with your family, co-workers and all your friends… “pass it on” www.bsmith101.wordpress.com ©2009

CLICK LINK  below to hear Bill Cosby speak on Meet the Press regarding Obama.  I read in the transcript of that program that Bill said on Election Day he took with him into the voting booth a picture of his father, his mother and his brother, Russell who had passed at the age of 9.  Then Bill said he pulled their pictures out of  his coat and spread them before him and said-

“We’re going to vote now.”

I think that is so beautiful.

On Election Day…I took my ballot and wrote upon the face of it the full names of my mother, father, my grandmother and great-grandmother…and cast my vote in their names…as well as, my own…and for the sake of our family history in this country.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/28604541#28604541

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28605356/

Add a comment January 16, 2009