Posts filed under: ‘King Family‘
BERNICE KING I STAND WITH YOU… SHIRLEY TEMPLE and more…
I have been trying to find the time to get around to writing this blog ever since I heard the latest on the 
dispute between the King siblings.
What bothered me the most was that everyone seemingly is coming down on Bernice King, the youngest of Dr. Martin L. King, Jr.’s children, over this latest controversy in her family amongst her and her brothers.
Looking at the pictures it appears that Martin L. King, III has jumped ship. At one point it had been him and Bernice against Dexter King, their baby brother. Dexter and Martin 3 want to take out of the hands of Bernice their father’s traveling Bible, and what has to be any families most valued treasure if we could all get 1… Dr. King’s Nobel Peace Prize medal.
Who in their right mind would dare part with these 2 things?
There are just some things you simply cannot put a price tag on.
Perhaps, some down and out someone or other might think differently. Or just some plain greedy kids… out to liquidate everything they can get their grubby little hands on of their mother’s and father’s estate.
Is it not enough that the court ordered Bernice to surrender to Dexter personal cards and letters written 
to their mother by their father… items that Mrs. King had personal given to her youngest daughter?
Now, here comes Dexter again… and this time Martin 3 is with him. They are in the boat together to snatch out of their sister’s hands their father’s Bible (the Bible that President Barack Obama placed his hand upon when he took his oath for his 2nd term in the White House) and Dr. King’s Nobel Peace Prize.
How low can you go, Dexter and Martin 3?
Unless you have been there you will never understand how hard it is to stand when everyone around is 
grabbing for what they can get… and all you can think of ‘my parent’s are gone.’ Dealing with loss can be very difficult. And especially when the responsibility somehow falls upon you… be it a sense of duty or whatever… but you are the one who ends up trying to maintain what you see as what your parent’s desire would be.
I clearly understand Bernice King and her decision to try to keep her 
brothers from selling off every piece of their family legacy to the highest bidder.
And why should she?
We have all heard of down and out athletes and actors selling off their championship rings or Academy awards… when left with no other options. But this is something else. It is just pure and simple greed driving Dexter boy and his older and brother, Martin #3.
It is always very unfortunate when the value of your things winds up meaning more to your children than you… or what your desires would be… or the remembrance of you… or in this case have a higher cost than the King legacy and remembrance of their mother and father to some of them.
Bernice King has every right to try to hold onto the precious memories and legacy of 
both her mother and father, without having gifts which her mother gave to her… entrusted her with …being lost to a couple of greedy brothers who care nothing about the King legacy, or even how bad they are making their family and themselves looked by forcing the hand of their baby sister in this matter.
I heard an interview where Andrew Young, a man who I thought used to be a King family friend, commented on this matter by merely snickering at it and saying, “They sue too much.”
You know what Mr. Young?
When you have to take somebody to court ….or they want to take you to court. Baby, you better learn how to fight. Cause if you don’t learn how to swing back… then just crawl into a hole and pull some grass over you and die.
Thank goodness Bernice has not decided to die. When you honor your mother and father, and their memory… you don’t try to sell off precious things that belonged to them, because you cherish them. Those things were a part of them… and they should remain in the King family to get pass down. Many people today can’t even put their hands on old family pictures or 8mm films that may have been taken of them as children. Because somebody in their family grabbed them all up and years later discarded them… or they somehow got lost.
I long for a picture my mother had taken of me and my sister many years ago. We were just young children then. My sister took my parent’s picture and cut it up throwing away my half of that picture while keeping herself. Today not even that part exist. There had been other copies of that picture which my mother had sent to various relatives, but I have never been able to track not 1 down….or put my hands on them some 50 or more years later because they too were probably destroyed.
The problem
in this story is one of greed. Dexter boy has been selling off everything… every piece of the King family estate he can since the passing of their mother… down to making the Federal government pay him for the use of his father’s image and likeness in the creation of his 
monument in Washington, D.C.. One would have thought that the honor and recognition given to his father in the creation of the Dr. Martin L. King, Jr. monument in D.C. would have filled him with joy. That he would have been eager for the King family to assist anyway it could. But no… 
not Dexter. He saw it as a money-making opportunity and milked the creation and erection of a monument to his father for every dime he could get out of it… including forcing them to pay for the use of any of Dr. King’s quotes.
http://theatlantavoice.com/news/2013/jul/16/mlks-youngest-son-weds-longtime-girlfriend/
[LISTEN] Bernice King Sets Record Straight on the King Family Feud
Why anyone would want to throw stones at Bernice King for standing up to her brothers in their pursuit to sell off what has to be two of the most valued possessions of both their mother and father, Dr. King’s Bible and Nobel Peace Prize… is crazy. Clearly, those people do not know the whole story. 
But it has always been my experience to know that it is usually the good person… the person who is trying to do the right thing… the one who is innocent of trying to do wrong that gets blamed for starting the whole thing and is singled out as the culprit in the eyes of almost everyone looking in on matters like this. I have been there… and in many ways I still am. Trust me me I know.
So, yes… I side with Bernice King. I cheer you on Bernice King. Do not give up the fight. Fight the 
fight… it is well worth fighting. And I pray you God speed and victory in this matter. As there are some things you just do not sell off… like your birth right. And the right of any 3rd or 4th generation King’s etc. to not have to go to a library or museum to see an award presented to their grand-father or great great grand-father, because his kids sold off everything. Some things really are too sacred.
And I also pray for a changed mind and heart of both Dexter King and Martin #3.
In regards to Martin #3… I have no respect for him.
I recall going into court trying to fight for my father. I went in thinking that 2 of my other siblings were on my side. That is what they pretended… that is until we got before the Judge. When we got before the Judge they said nothing. They offered nothing not 1 agreement to anything to what I was saying. I was left out there all alone trying to fight for our father to be returned home, and they said nothing. I later came to realized 
that they never wanted daddy back home in the first place. The house was divided and everybody had grabbed what they wanted. My father’s house had been invaded and taken over… and daddy was forced out of his own property. A fact I never knew until some time after that court hearing.
It is amazing how quickly we can forget all the sacrifices and all the good times… and how much our parents poured into us. If Dr. King had not struggled… if he had not 
marched… if he not sacrificed his life… what would they have to fight over?
What would we all have to celebrate?
The car… the family house… everything that every family at the end is forced to fight over… I suspect they might have fought over that. Because there will always be at least 1 who sees a bigger picture than just self and… and thank God for that. They see more than what they can get out of the passing of supposed love ones. Always 1… and it appears that Bernice King is the 1. And yes… I stand with her.
http://blackamericaweb.com/tag/bernice-king/
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2009/10/rev_bernice_king_elected_presi.html
On another note on the King family. Dexter has gotten married. This is really not new news. But I 
know it is not mentioned or talked about but if the truth be told… Dexter is really not the marrying kind. Everything for him is show. His wife is a supposed ex-lesbian. 
But I have known people who were gay who married with each 1 doing their own thing.
When I first encountered this it was a couple of the weirdest 2 people I had ever met. The guy was flamingly gay… and between them they did have a child. I really don’t know how she managed it?
But I figured out that they had been great friends and this is what laid the foundation for them agreeing to get together as husband and wife.
I also remember when once a lover of mine had been offered quite a considerable about of money from a man, who at the time was a boss of mine (he owned the radio station). His son was very very gay and t
he father wanted a grand child… an heir or something I guess. So, he proposed an offer to my girlfriend of this substantial amount of money to marry his 1 and only child
, this gay son. And no she did not do it… as it was totally out of the question. But the point here is… is that there are some people who will do anything in order to have their gay children reform… get married… have children… even if it means they will not give them or leave them a dime unless they do. Then there are some people who get married for various other reasons… other than love. It’s called a ‘marriage or convenience.’
Well, God bless… it has been snowing… snowing… And I have been out shoveling… shoveling… I 
hope you have been keeping warm and dry.
I must say though… that all this snow is beautiful.
If you are out there in the snow please remember safety rules. Drive with care and caution in the snow and ice. Apply brakes when riding on icy roadways lightly… come to a nice and easy stop by slowing up. Do not slam on your brakes… it will send your car sliding out of control.
I like this little cartoon thing that one of my friends made. I makes me laugh every time I look at it.
Guess I’m moving a little bit too fast. I had all but forgotten about it being BLACK HISTORY MONTH. So, in celebration of Black History Month let me just quick tell you about a young lady in England. The youngest person to ever become a barrister (that is practicing lawyer in their terms). Her name is Gabrielle Turnquest. She is from the States, Florida to be exact… and she is just 18 years old. Amazing. To be young gifted and black… is definitely where it is at.
Happy BLACK HISTORY MONTH….
And let me not forget that this week Shirley Temple passed (Shirley Temple Black) at age 85. I cannot begin to tell you the countless Saturdays I spent watching Shirley Temple dance and sing her way down long stair steps… or try to cheer up a friend. She was more than just a favorite… Shirley was my friend.
http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20787230,00.html
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 February 15, 2014
THE TIMES…Pastor Zackery Tims and Nicholas Ashford… gone…
First Zackery Tims …and now Nicholas Ashford.
Oh, I know… I know that Nick was not known for writing and singing gospel music. But no one can deny that he did come from a strong gospel background… that sometimes even managed to show up in his song writing and way of singing.
And what songs they were. He was gifted… and what he didn’t have …his partner and later to become his wife… Valerie Simpson had. Together they wrote some of Motow’s best known music. Songs like ‘Ain’t No Moutain High Enough,’ ‘It Takes Two,’ ‘Reach Out and Touch Somebody’s 
Hand’ ….just to name a few. And I do mean just a few… because their list does indeed truly go on and on.
For a while Val and Nick could be caught holding down the evening drive-time radio slot at WBLS,in New York City. In fact, 1 afternoon I decided to drop by BLS with the hope of getting in to see Vinny Brown, an old friend and co-worker who at the time was the Program Director for the station. While waiting …to my unexpected surprise as I happened to look up… standing before me were 2 people I would have had to be totally blind to not to have recognized from the very moment my eyes came up on them.
“Val and Nick,” I heard myself say… as my head jerked back slightly in surprise.
It just kind of eased out of my mouth… I hadn’t realized they were handling BLS’s on-air drive-time shift at that time. So, I was really surprised to look up and see them, standing right there before me… close enough for me to just reach out and touch them. Nick slightly smiled at me… while Val kind of looked off.
From the time I hit college Nick and Valerie had been busy in recording studios. So, I had 
looked at and played just about every album of their’s. Definitely a sign of the time… because most of the kids don’t even know what an album was …or a 45 for that matter. But yes …I had played Val and Nick for many years. And it didn’t hurt for me to be a big fan either… which meant as often as I could I would sneak them in on my music lists rotations.
As the years went on I didn’t have to continue to ease… I just played them… back to back …or 
however I wanted. Them and Phyllis Hyman… Donnie and Roberta… Friends of Distiction… Dells… Roy Ayres… George Duke… and whoever else I wanted to program. Including
Motown’s Temptations, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye… and just so much good music… The kids don’t even have a clue… they have nothing like it today.
Nobody writes good music any more… they don’t even know what it is to have 
anything called ‘good lyrics.’ They… the kids are too busy buying beats. A lot of which are stolen from times gone… times that music like that during which Val and Nick came from …and wrote during.
Though they …Val and Nick had long since turned their attention to other things …such as going into the restaurant business… New York’s Sugarbar and I forget what their first restaurant was called …it had been on 22nd Street also in Manhattan.
And whenever traveling home on I-95… as I passed Stamford, CT… my mind would always run across them, as I knew that for a while at least they had made their home in Connecticut.
Having their number I called them once while seeking investors for 1 of my feature film projects. Though I failed to reach them initially… you will never know to my surprise… how thrill I was to receive a call back from them concerning the message that I had left. Val told me that they were just getting ready to open up another restaurant… which was to become the Sugarbar. So, they couldn’t afford to do it at the time. She appologized and told me maybe the next time.
I hung up not at all feeling let down. All I could think was… wasn’t that nice for them to take the time to call me back?
This is my all time favorite song by Valerie Simpson and Nicholas Ashford.
While living in Chicago… Millie J… used to visit a friend of mine by the name of
Jean… who was Tyrone Davis’ sister. Millie had come to town to perform and while talking with Jean… I overheard her say-
“While I was coming through the airport guess who I came across? 
These two people walking around holding hands. I didn’t even have to look twice. I knew right off it was nobody but Nick and Val.”
They had that something special… kind of like what Michelle and Obama have. A total appreciation for each other… and a desire to always be in touch with one another… as though they cannot do or bear to be without each other.
Just a few seconds ago, a friend of mine informed me that Nick had dealt with sustance abuse. Never knew that …or ever heard that. So, I don’t know for sure. I have not seen him or Val for years now. But I know their music anywhere or anyhow I hear it.
Personally, I cannot imagine Val without Nick. She loved him… and held on to him. And he loved her… and held onto her. And together they held on to each other …a profoundly good example of 2 people who truly walked in love with one another. I certainly pray her strenght in the Lord… and that of their children and other family members.
I had heard his testimony. And what an awesome testimony he had had regarding how Go
d had saved and pulled him out of a messed up life of drug addiction… and having come from a home where nobody knew the Lord. How God had put someone in his path that gave him an invitation… and 1 day for whatever reason Zackery Tims, some 8 or so years ago… called a man on his job who had invited him to come and go to church with him. And that night he got saved… and his life was forever changed.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20092873-504083.html
A megachurch Pastor having a congregation of more than 4,000 members in the Orlando, FL area… on this past Wednesday, Pastor Zackery Tims was found dead on the floor of his Time Square hotel room. The first information said… heart attack. But later information started circulating… that a white powder sustance… cocaine had been found on him.
I had long ago stopped watching him … or some reason or other. I cannot remember why… but it always seems to me that as you watch some of these television evangelists… you like them in the beginning, but then they begin to shift. And everything about them and what they are preaching changes.
I cannot say that about Pastor Tims… because I cannot remember what prompted me to stop watching his program. And it might not have had been anything with him… but a time conflict between the show schedule and my schedule.
His eyes lately were watery or shiney… glossy I guess you could say… whenever I would happen to catch the tailend or some part of his show. And I am not just saying that because I am hoping that after the autopsy is finally released… it will show any drugs in his system. Because I am not… if anything quite the opposite.
I would hate to think that he would have been drawn back… into something that he was blessed enough to have been released from. But when you think back to the events that lead to his divorce… you have to think… Well, maybe.
He was involved with a stripper for a year… that is what the article read. But if it
read a year… then it is possible that it was for a longer time than that. While he was engaging in adultry with her… it is very likely that he was also indulging in other things too. And while that relationship may have ended… and who really knows… But if he was drinking or indulging in drugs as well… it is not so likely that he also just stopped abusing either. And do note I said ‘if’… because I don’t know.
I didn’t know him… or much about him except what most of you who also watched the Word Network knew about him. But I was watching the day he leaped upon the top of his pulpit podium to dramatize something he was preaching. I did think that was very odd… and all I could think was-
“That is suppose to be holy. How could he jump up on it?”
But it would seem that not much is still considered to be holy any more in church. 
I see preachers with baseball caps and hats on in the pulpit… and sweat suits and sneakers. Anything it seems goes today… whatever… however… whenever. My, Lord…
Whatever happened to reverencing the house …and the things of the Lord?
UPDATE: SUNDAY, January 15, 2012…As of New Years Eve this 
year Pastor Paula White has been chosen the Board of Regents of New Destiny Christian Center. And it would seem that since the autopsy done on the body of Pastor Tims was never released to the public…that drugs had indeed been found in the blood system of the late Pastor Zackary Tims.
With the announcement of Paula White becoming the chosen replacement… Well, it did not seem to sit right with Pastor Tims ex-wife. Tims’ ex-wife claims that Tims’ and her children are being robbed of their inheritance. You can read more on that by CLICKING the LINK below.
Since I am on the subject of Pastors… and since I did write a blog on it. Let me just note here that I read somewhere… or heard it… that Bishop Eddie Long quietly settled his cases 
with the young men who had filed law suits against him, for supposedly taking sexual advantage of them while they were under his religious leadership as young teenaged boys.
The settlement is said to have been $15 million total going out to the young men in question.
Perhaps it is a sign of the times… but I
sincerely hope not.
Visiting with a niece and enjoying myself. Can’t you tell?
I have so much time on my hands that I decided to take some of it to write this blog. I rarely have much time these days. I am on assignment… and must pick up my pace. I have to stay busy in the things of the Lord. And at the end of the day… I just want to be ready when He comes.
And for as long as I can remember that has not changed.
I still love this picture… It is sooooo refreshing looking.
Speaking of which… while talking with a cousin this evening… she told me that they were buckling down for a bad storm that they… the insurance claims agents of the company she works for …are being prep for if it should hit us this week on the east coast.
Better get out and pick up a few things for just in case. And no need to wait until the last minute… do it now since you have gotten 
some advance info.
One other thing… while here. My niece took me by Dr. Martin L. King’s house and the Center for Non-Violence. Took a picture with a tour guide who informed me that every house on his street was bought by the Federal Government… and the 
only house on the street that is not owned by the Federal Government on that street is the King house… which is still owned by the King family. But the house is open for tours …which are done on the half-hour. 
It was amazing watching the people… black and white touring the grounds of the King’s house and the Center for Non-Violence. And it is all free… parking and everything without any hassles.
Mrs. Coretta Scott King was a very smart woman. A woman who was determined that her husband’s death was not going to be in vain… or forgotten. And I mean she did it… and she didn’t do it half-stepping either.
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 ©2011
4 comments August 23, 2011
Rev. Bernice King to head SCLC…Haiti…
I have been so busy lately trying to stay warm…that I really haven’t 
thought about much of anything else. But checking through my stats for this blog I did notice that a lot of folk had come on my site looking for information on the Kings.
So, thinking that maybe something new had come up with their legal battles…Bernice and Martin the 3rd against Dexter…I decided to go up onto the internet to find out if there was something new. And to my surprise…I saw nothing new about their court battles…but that the stories were about the baby girl. Dr. Martin L. King, Jr’s 
youngest child was now going to head up the organization which her father had not only headed in the 60’s, but was also one of its founding members… the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
It has not been easy…and my guess is Bernice would say that would be an understatement. What with watching their mother battle illness… then her passing… and then just about on the heels of their mother passing…
Yolanda died too… her only sister and the oldest sibling. And 
on top of all of that… Dexter started acting up and getting crazy. Which forced her and Martin the 3rd to have to go into the courts against him…and thereby thus bring private family matters came out into the open… opening them… a very private family… up to public scrutiny and commentary. That had to be hard decision to make.
No, it could have been easy. But yet she kept on going…and doing. And I have no doubt praying.
It is amazing.
She was just a very young child when her father was so brutally shot down
and killed during the summer of 1968. The summer that saw so many riots around the United States upon the announcement of his death. A man who had stood for non-voilence and peaceful resistance…he 
had been murdered.
Bernice was all of 5 years old only when it happened. 
Hardly able to clearly understand… much less comprehend truly what it all meant…or how even her father’s dying was destined to change a world…and this country for ever. But
I’m sure she heard her mother crying many a night over it.
Now, today she is stepping into her father’s shoes. At age 37 Rev. 
Bernice A. King, who holds both a Divinity degree and a dregree in law has become the first woman to ever hold the top post at SCLC. What a great way to honor the 
memory of Dr. King as we all celebrate his birthday this coming Monday.
Though there has been much controversy 
among the remaining members of Dr. King’s immediate family… his children… Martin the 3rd, Dexter and 
Bernice… this I am sure would make him smile. They both would be.
Poised…confident… well spoken… and a member of the 
New Birth Ministry under Bishop Eddie Long… as well as having been a law clerk under Judge 
Hatchett… and of course having been under the mentorship and leadership of her own mother, Mrs. Coretta Scott King… I see a new era in black leadership rising in this country. It has 
been long over due…a new guard is on the horizon. And it feels like a breath of fresh air.
It gives me great pleasure to write this on the King family… or a member of it. And I look forward to writing many more.
I had seen some of the headlines…but had just not taken the time to read 
anything on it…mostly because it just kept slipping my mind. I would get busy reading or doing 
something else...and then…well, you know… I would forget… that is until my son called me and began speaking to me about it. He told me that an estimated 500,000 people had been killed. For such a small island that has to be nearly a quarter of Haiti’s population.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2010787604_haiti14.html
http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/americas/HAITI-RECOVERY-81427942.html
http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/special-reports/Haiti-Earthquake-81317947.html
http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/Thousands-Feared-Dead-After-Haitian-Earthquake-81311282.html
http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/americas/Scientists-Explain-Haiti-Earthquake-81356387.html
Many many stories of are pouring out of Haiti of untold thousands upon thousands still being trapped. The Richter Scale hit 7.0
with a series of after shocks measuring at 5.9… with the International Red Cross saying that perhaps over 3 million people have been affected by the massive earthquake.
We can all remember still…I am sure… that massive mounting wave that rose up out in midst of the Indian Ocean back in 2004…which hit 11 different countries with so much force that everything near the shorelines for 25 or so miles inland was wiped out into the sea… including families, businesses, homes, belongings etc… perhaps leaving many of them feeling the affects probably still, while additionally trying to recover from it mentally and physically after having lived through such a terrifying and destructive thing.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/12/1227_041226_tsunami.html
I guess before it has all been said and done…we are bound to have much more devastation to come in our lifetime…and beyond if there is a beyond. The forces of nature are reaping havoc upon us in ways we are incapable of fighting. And Kartrina was just another example of it.
It can surely not be argued that we have not been one of Mother Nature’s best friends. And we are starting to see… and feel the a
ffects of it.
Or you can look at this way.
Prophesy coming to pass.
There is no dispute that within the text of the Bible all these things… including wars have been prohesied long before we got to this point , some more than 2,000 years ago. When I think of both Haiti and New Orleans…I 
think of 2 places steeped in the culture of witch craft and voodoo. When I think of those 11 countries hit by the Tsunami…I think of child sex trades and exploitation.
It is not a secret that many people get on airplanes flying out from this country to foreign shores, to indugle in many things illegal here in America…such as having sex with children. Though such laws have not stopped a lot of people from doing so… such as…Roman Polanski. A man who should have been locked away years ago…when he confessed to having sex with a 13 year old girl. Film director or not…the man should have been locked away. And the same for Woody Allen.
I once watched a film produced by some independant filmmakers. The most beautifully shot film visually that I had seen in a while. I was very impressed by it…visually. The lighing…the colors…just everything about it. But…
It was a 
movie about young children…very young children…super young children…some younger than 4 who were put into the sex for hire business. Children standing in shop windows waiting on someone to walk by and pick them out…like they were buying a suit or a pair of shoes. And shop window after shop window with little 
children standing in them…bunches of them…as if they were live little manakins on display.
It is hard to believe that such places assist…much less that they can so freely exploit their children in such a way. With families making decisions to give out their own children for a few dollars claiming that the hardships in their countries left them no other choice.
It is not hard to believe that God would destroy such places.
Most of these countries trafficing children… or where such practices are openly
allowed… are 3rd World Countries… such as Africa… Indonesia (which less than 2 years ago was hit by its own major and highly devasting earthquake)… China etc.
Even in terms of Haiti…besides the witch craft and practices of voodoo…it is routine to see one tele-evangelist after another showing pictures of children while pleading 
for financial support from viewers… and not only while in Haiti but other countries as well. When I look at those pictures of those little children I feel sorry for them. 
Because I know that many times these children are not only being used as a means to pull upon people’s sympathy. And I have no doubt that once those camera lights go off and their little pictures are taken… most of children fall prey to sexual abuse by the the very ones who claim they are their to help them.
It is sad all the way around. It is sad…very.
We… I have no doubt that we cannot begin to imagine the vastness of the devastation
which has hit Haiti.. .nor its awful after affects now and for years to come. Not to mention the danger that many Haiti’s people have fallen into by criminals and others who seek the exploit this time and Haiti political problems.
Many American artists…and partically all Haitians living in this country still have roots in Haiti…by way of love for their country and family members still there…such as Lauryn 
Hill, Wyclef Jean and others. It is very likely that within the whole of Haiti there is not one family whose lives have not been touched by this earthquake…whose strong and very high magnitude shook that small French speaking island just off the coast of Florida this past Tuesday…with such force that it almost virtuely destroyed Haiti’s capital city, Port-au-Prince.
Those who can please let us all remember them is our prays…and send support to Haiti.
The images and stories flowing out of Haiti since the earthquake are saddening. Limited medical supplies and those who can care for them coupled with criminal elements…make it even harder upon those who somehow managed to survive…barely escaping with just the shirts upon their backs. Little children left orphaned… amputations…shortage of water…and no place to lay for the night or out of the blistering sun during the day. Missing persons…destroyed property…everything gone. Encompassed by the smell of death…while listening to the wailing crys…screams and moans of emotional and physical suffering all aound…while wiping at your own tears at the very same time. How hard it must be to go through such devastation.
If you would like to donate CLICK this LINK…http://cogic.net/cogiccms/default/
It is a little after 4:30 in the morning and I stayed up all night doing this. 
Well, I didn’t really get started until after 1. And now I am hungry…and need I say it…have to go the bathroom.
The bathroom is not going to hold out…but my stomac
h will have to. Because as much as I hate to say it…I desparately need to shed some pounds. My hair is falling out. My nails are getting too long. I think my teeth might be a touch too yellow. My toes are freezing. And…oh, I am a disaster. I truely am.
Will this weather ever break?
My son tells me on Friday…we are scheduled to get into the 50’s. Do you think it might be a bit too soon for me to begin singing ‘Happy days are here again...?’
Do you think?
Well, I just signed up for a blogtalkradio slot. This should be fun.
Perhaps since you have been reading these blogs…you have often thought about what it would be like to talk to me personally. Judging by reading some of the responses to my Juanita Bynum blog…and perhaps my blog on Chastity Bono…some of you may just be dying to get at 
me. Well, soon and very soon…you may just get that chance. Because yes…your girl will soon be coming to you live, baby. Bet you’ve been waiting for that.
Well, have a beautiful day. I hope you got a whole lot of warmth wherever you are. And please let us pray for all these people who are going through hard times right now. There are so many people suffering from all type devastating thing…earthquakes…loosing homes…loosing their jobs…speaking of which. I spent most of day today observing an on-line class on how to make 
ice cream. I actually have had the idea rolling around in my head for a couple of years now. But somehow I fell upon this internet site…and the next thing I know they were emailing me about a ‘free training session.’
Did somebody say ‘free?’
Yes, I did. And you know I took advantage of their offer. 
Today could not come fast enough. Though I over slept and missed the first hour and half. I managed to learn enough in the remainer of the session to more than make up for it…and to let me know that my consideration of the idea was not a bad one…not at all. I tell you this… in this time of unsurety you really have to be looking at your future options too. Look into the future…. and see where you would like to be. And what you will need to do to get you there.
Now, start working towards that.
I am a believer that everybody should consider going into business for themself. Or perhaps you have aspirations of being a writer. Go for it. Do it…but you can’t if you don’t start somewhere. And I am one of those people who strongly believes that you can’t wait to start something…or hold back talking about ‘waiting on until you get the money to do it.’
You will be waiting forever.
I’ve got to wait… until I get the money…or some money 
to do it…is one of the biggest excuses for never doing anything.
Sometimes as the door closes in your face…because you have lost your job…or can’t find one…or had some other set back… then it just might be because it is time for you to become your own boss… run your own company… do something that you really like to do.
Think outside of the 
box… and don’t despair… there is something special waiting just around the corner for you. And it is that success you have always been looking for… had hoped would come… that real career that you have been putting off.
Just do it. And I would love hearing about it.
I’ll give you more information about when, how and where you can link up to me regarding to my blogradiotalk broadcasts… on both your ipod and by listening in to me right here over the internet. You know… try as best I can… I just cannot seem to get out of radio…and stay out of it. Oh…well..
And I almost forgot 1 other very important thing about my up and coming blogtalkradio program… You’ll able hear it right here too… right on this blog page…as I plan to add a link to the program. However, if you listen via your ipod or directly over the net to the live broadcast…you will be able to call in and talk with me over the air. It should be interesting. I look forward to chatting with you soon. And yes…there will be guest…perhaps you would like to be one. Send me a note via my comment box.
I
just love these pictures. So, I may just leave them up all winter long.
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 ©2010
THE BISHOP’S WIFE is now on sale…CLICK this LINK to purchase my book. You do not need a paypal account to purchase, and you can purchase using a debit card. Thank you. 
4 comments January 14, 2010
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
Weighing in…Chris Brown…Lil’ Kim… Man/Woman Tennis star… Will and Jeda…
I had a conversation with my son who was telling me that Chris Brown’s girlfriend, Rihanna, should not have started it. Then he commenced to tell me that she had hit him first…as if my son had been in the car with them and seen the whole thing.I was irritated that my son under any circumstance would find it okay for Chris or anyone of the male species to do what that boy did to that girl. He beat her…and one could say it was almost unmercifully done so.
I have really been trying to stay away from the subject because I do not know either him or her…nor much about them or their careers outside of this incident. But what did bother me was my son’s attitude and position on the subject.
I did see the pictures which had been released by the police showing how badly Rihanna, a young singer, had been beat at the hands of her boyfriend, Chris Brown. As young role models for thousands of teens 
who follow them closely…the incident sets a bad example and sends all the wrong messages to young teens regarding dating, abuse, power and acceptable male/female interactions…as well as, how to resolve issues and problems in a relationship.
Rightfully so, everyone with endorsements behind Chris Brown should drop him…as I have heard that for the most part they have.
I have no doubt that it has made Chris Brown think twice about his actions concerning taking his fist to fight his girlfriend…when males possess more than enough power to restrain and resist any attack against them from most women. So, yes…I believe that loosing all those endorsements have given Chris much to pause and consider.
So, much so that I have no doubt either that it has mostly been him trying to re-unite with Rihanna and get back their little relationship…because when you loose the kind of money I hear that Chris has lost since the story surfaced…not to mention his music being pulled from radio stations…and police charges.
If they don’t play you over the radio…your videos…it is all that is wrote for you…it is goodbye from there…the career is over.
You have got to have air time in order to sell music or anything else. Not to mention the legal charges. Yeah, I am sure…Chris went running to patch up that little miss understanding between him and Rihanna. I am sure…and real quick.
I wonder if he bought her a rock the size of the one Kobe bought for his wife?
Clearly, the type of anger exhibited by Chris Brown, a very young man of about 19 years of age…shows that he is indeed in need of intervention before it is too late…because someone at such an early age like him who exhibits that kind of rage or anger…may kill the next woman.
And my son has it all wrong…and I don’t care what he says.
And I better not catch him out there trying to beat up some woman. Or he will have to fight his mother next.
http://www.cbc.ca/arts/story/2009/03/20/rihanna-abuseawareness.htjhtml
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/deadlineusa/2009/mar/16/rihanna-usaml
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1607405/20090320/rihanna.
And will people please leave Will and Jada alone.
I think they are a beautiful couple.
Stop trying to bad mouth them with a bunch of nasty little rumors.
The Bible says…we can speak life or death into any situation…by the sheer power of the tongue.
What do they have to prove to us?
There are some people just jealous…and they seek to destroy any and everything thing or anyone they envy.
Out of all those Hollywood families…and Hollywood types…you do not see Will or Jada hanging out…or getting into trouble. Nor is there any bad press about them anywhere…or has there ever been. And then…along comes these ugly rumors.
Well, if you can’t find anything bad…I guess you just want to create it.
I admire and respect the Smith’s…Will and Jada…and their beautiful 
family. They are wonderful parents and excellent role models. I guess that might be why…the real reason why the rumors are flying.
Can’t believe that there are decent people in the world. But there are…look at the Obama’s another example of a great black family.
We do exist.
I really have paid little attention to her lately. Though I did read that 
she 
and Biggie’s mother are currently going at it.
Biggie’s mother said, “Lil’ Kim is a white woman in a black woman’s body.”
I guess that 
really must be the way Lil’ Kim thinks…as my son was telling me that she wants to look like Barbie (you know the doll).
How sick is that?
Since, Lil’ Kim showed up on Dancing with the Stars…with her new nose…people have been buzzing. In my opinion she has already wrecked the 
good looks she used to have…when she did the other things that she had done…including the over-sized boob job. If she keeps it up…she’ll be another one who won’t be able to leave the house without people running from her in fear…like Michael and 
some others.
Personally, I think Lil’ Kim’s best
years were when she was with Junior M.A.F.I.A…after that it has all
been down hill. And she has been fighting to stay afloat ever since.
Who in their right mind would really want to do this to themselves?
Talking about Biggie’s mother…what mother makes a movie about her deceased son showing him having sex all over the place?
I didn’t see the movie…but my son is pretty good critic when it comes to some things. And I just happened to overhear a conversation about the movie…and everybody was agreeing on the same things. So, it has to be true.
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1603801/20090129/lil_kim.jhtml
And yes, the women on the tennis circuit have a good reason to be concerned over the 22 year old German, Sarah Gronert, who was born having both the male and female sex organs. Though a couple of years ago she had the male organs removed…she still remains stronger than any average woman because of her biological makeup.
Because of her biological makeup…having been born…both male/female…she does possess greater strength and endurance than
other woman could possibly have. And this would, therefore, give her a greater advantage over all of her contenders. Though they state that she has only won 2 tournaments since becoming a pro-player…it doesn’t mean that she wasn’t holding back her added strength until she really stepped into the big time…as she is only listed as being seeded as #619, compared to Serena being #1…and Venus #4 in the women’s world of tennis.
This reminds me of that story I shared with you a while back in another blog about the woman…who was really a man…who came to Salsa Soul, a lesbian organization, and joined…well, sort of. She had gotten really involved in the organization for a few months before the story of who she really was got around to all the members. Or I guess I should say…what she really was got around to all the members.
Though like Sarah has done…she was planning on having the operation. But unlike Sarah, however…she had not been born having dual sex organs…what they call in the new articles…male and female genitalia.
http://www.momlogic.com/2009/03/tennis_gender_controversy.php
http://www.tennisforum.com/showthread.php?t=351579
As I mentioned in my original blog on that story…the reason I refer to him as ‘her’…is really because that is what I met him as. Up until that point I had not met anyone like her. He was highly confused as I have come to now know and understand…as well as, I was. He wanted to live his life as a lesbian.
Yes, that is what I said…you have to read my original blog to come to understand the story.
But it was when she was appointed to become a board member of Salsa…that is when all the sisters and what was left of the founding mothers of the organization flew into Salsa one night and demanded a special meeting. They were not having it…and finally had it voted upon…that no one other than a ‘biological female’ from birth could become a board member of Salsa Soul Sisters, Inc.
Though she looked on the surface like a woman…I have no doubt that she possessed superior strength…but mentally could never really think like a woman…because it was not who she really was. All of her experiences had been different etc…etc… And besides…legally he was still a man…at that time.
My opinion on the subject. God does it best.
Even in regard to all that plastic surgery…God does it best.
The body is in constant evolution…from the time we are born until the day we die…our features change…age…mature. Sometimes for the best…many times for the best…but to some who would like to keep what they have…sometimes for the worst. But yet…God does it best.
Finally, I found this article to be highly bias and racist.
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/SPORT/02/13/equal.pay.tennis/index.html
Here it is a woman journalist writing that women’s tennis has become boring and that women should not be paid the same amount of money as the men players. Had the top female players not been black…er- African Americans…I wonder if anybody would be complaining about the amount of money they were paid for winning tournaments?
I highly doubt it. These issues only come up when it is about us. It is a shame that we cannot celebrate each other…and our gifts…without bias-ness and racism showing its ugly head.
Following her win in the Australian Open…the female champion, Serena Williams…took home $1.3 million. Now, is anybody but me and Serena happy about that?
And oh, yes…Dexter King signed EMI to rep him. Yes, I did say ‘him.’ He signed a deal for EMI to police the licensing of his father’s likeness, his 
intellectual property etc…etc…
And he signed the agreement without the knowledge of his 2 other siblings…Martin the 3rd and Bernice King.
So, yes…little greedy Dexter is still at it.
How unfortunate for the other 2…but it is a wonder how the mother, Coretta Scott King, had removed Dexter from the foundation following several disputes with him over the direction he was trying to take the Dr. Martin L. King, Jr. Center for Non-Violence… at that time of which she was highly not in agreeance with.
Why would she have restored him as the head of the center if she knew then the type of disagreeable and selfish spirit that Dexter possessed?
Bernice and Martin the 3rd have a very long battle…that frankly without 
God…they are very likely not going to win. But it is when things seem the bleakest that God loves to step in.
So, Martin and Bernice…never become discourage…fight to the end. And even then continue to fight…because the tide always turns.
There was a point in our family matters…that I was told by my son-
“Ma, you’re not going to win. You should just go back to New York.”
At that time everyone on the planet would have agreed with my son. But God 
turned the table around. All the road blocks and stumbling blocks were swept away…and I am the one left standing. But for more than a few years it seemed that everything and everyone was against me. But it is true…you don’t need anybody else as long as you have the Lord on your side.
But I had considered what my son said…but conscience wouldn’t let me do it. It would have been far easier to have turned and ran from what was going on with my parent’s estate…and I figured- No, I knew…I was part to blame as I had never tried to intervene from the on-set though I was aware of the problems. But it was easier for me to look the other way at that time…until I was forced to come home and confront all the issues and problems that I had tried to avoid and had looked upon blindly for years.
I have had to pay for my errors…and have to work to build the bridges to bring our family back together. But I am the oldest and it is my responsibility…to not allow us to all fall apart from one another. Families are important…not really should they be allowed to be torn apart. But there comes a time where every ill thing must be addressed and corrected…and fallout does happen. In the end the family will be a lot stronger for it if it survives. But it has to happen…if indeed the family is to survive at all.
I have been so busy working on building my web site. As Fridays have rolled by…I have pushed hoping that by that weekend I would have at least posted a page or 2. It is not that I have not completed more than a few pages…but I am just such a stickler about everything. Everything has to be right…perfect…correct…the music…the photos…the navigation system…the color schemes etc. You name it and I become obsessed with it…but at the end of the day…you will not only like the site…but enjoy it. And that is all I will say on it for now…and hopefully by this Friday…I will have some pages posted. I’ll be working on it…believe that. Enjoy…
THE BISHOP’S WIFE is now on sale…CLICK this LINK to purchase my book. You do not need a paypal account to purchase, and you can purchase using a debit card. Thank you.
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 22, 2009
More Dexter King drama 5…Thanksgiving jetlag…
That Dexter King is a greedy little boy.
What I have never liked about some people…I really have a distaste for people…grown children who can’t make it through this world without living on others…namely their parents.
They have been educated…sent off to school. But still they can’t make it on their own. Or maybe they don’t want to. They want everything that the parent has got…and actively set out to get it. And many times while the parent is yet alive.
They desire to live off their parents…be it on the memory of their parents…on their parents earnings…or financial resources…or businesses. Whatever it 
is…and however it is. They seek to do it. If the parent has a business which the parent got started then the child decides they will take it over. And they (if more than one child) set about removing the parent.
That whole removing thang…is really the main problem. Because if an aging parent is not careful the child or children will remove their name from off of their own bank accounts (the parent’s name from the parent’s bank account)…and off everything else if they can.
And I am not crazy. It is true.
I have seen it first hand and have had documentation of it.
Over time the chid takes over handling all the parent’s personal business…the putting in or pulling money out of the bank for the parent. They start writing the checks drawn against the parent’s bank account…at first supposedly taking care of the parent’s bills for them. Which at first all might seem helpful and quite loving and attentive of the child. And it may even be very convenient for the parent. But parents beware.
It is a set-up for disaster.
It is the biggest mistake any parent can make. Before they know it nothing is their’s anymore…everything has been changed. And the child has taken over.
The parent will be standing around wondering how did it all happen?
It hurts.
Yeah…I imagine that it hurts really bad when you see the people that you breath life into…fed and clothed grow up to be your own worst enemy. But it does happen.
It’s family matters.
Sometimes it starts as the parent starts aging. Sometimes it starts after one of the parents passes. But it does happen. And before long the parent will start fearing the child who now begins to terrorize them…and telling them that they aren’t dying quick enough.
It is sad. And there is really no real way to protect against it. It has to go to the nature of the child. And oftentimes this nature is never revealed until it is too late.
Enter Dexter King. There was a point where his mother, Coretta Scott King, had removed him from being the head of the Martin L. King, Jr. Non-violence Center. Dexter at that point claimed that she had done so because “they had had differences in opionions.” So, it would seem that his only two remaining siblings 
share those same differences now also.
The below articles only prove my point about ol’ Dexter boy. CLICK on the LINKS BELOW to read.
What a shame. Imagine how powerful he could be…if only he…and they could live up to the legacy.
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/atlanta/stories/2008/11/14/king_obama_images.html
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/atlanta/stories/2008/10/30/king_siblings_book.html
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/oct/18/king-siblings-open-about-rift/
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/atlanta/stories/2007/05/16/0516king.html
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/shared/news/nation/stories/2006/01/MLK_CENTER_0117_COX.html
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/atlanta/stories/2008/10/24/king_mlk_dispute.html
Fees sought for King images on Obama items
T-shirts featuring President-elect Barack Obama and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. are shown for sale on an Atlanta street. The King family wants a share of proceeds from such items.
Who wouldn’t have expected black folks to create t-shirts and other merchandise with both Dr. Martin L. King, Jr and Barack Obama side by side.
Are not they both icons in the black community?
Aren’t black folks equally as excited about Obama as they now celebrate Martin?
I can understand being ridgid about it…if say Nike was doing it. But not just some brothers and sisters trying to spread the word and generate some bread (money to put food) on their kitchen tables. I think Martin would be proud and properly smile about it.
Imagine the long miles Martin L. King, Jr. walked. The amount of churches he had to visit. The number of 
preachers he had to try to placate just in order to get one little thing done. And to have it calumniate in a ‘Barack Obama.’
Oh, yeah…I know he would smile…and be proud to be on that t-shirt or that cap…or that carrying bag with his picture right up ther next to Obama’s picture.
Baby…yeah….he smiling…
So, yeah…I think he would smile to know that some 40 years later…after his “I have a dream” speech that a tall tan black man would stand up in a square of Chicago and be accepting the nomination to be President of the United States. In fact, he would not only be smiling…but poking out his chest…saying-
“Yes, I always knew it wasn’t going to be in vain.”
I know he would.
I know that Dr. Martin L. King, Jr. be down right proud to be displayed on a t-shirt or on a baseball cap…or on a silk-screened carrying bay…his picture right there…right next to that of Barack. And nobody can tell me differently…because I know Dr. King would be proud indeed.
As in the words of Langston Hughes…who wrote “A dream deferred.” It ain’t deferred any more, baby.
And yeah…I said it.
Dexter King is a very greedy little boy. And I do mean ‘boy.’
Instead of trying to chase down folks and trying to get his share. He really should be out scouting down the best t-shirts and other merchandise and striking a deal for the copyrights. Some of those t-shirts are fabulous.
Well, God bless. Hope you had a great Thanksgiving.
I am so tired I don’t know what to do. I stayed up until 5 AM this morning working on a class presentation. But I got it done. Missed my 8 o’clock class though. But the presentation went very well. It was worth 
the 
lost of a little sleep.
Now, I can close my eyes…without having to worry if I will get up on time. My next class is not until 9:25 AM tomorrow morning. And I’m going to get some much needed sleep now.
And needed it is.
I made 10 apple pies this past holiday and boiled the sweet potatoes for the 14 pies that my son made and baked. We had more than enough…and we are still enjoying them. Plus everybody got to carry home at least one apple and one sweet potato each. We have a very larged and highly blessed family. All praises be to God most high.
…pass it on…’ www.bsmith101.wordpress.com
God bless…and thanks for reading ©2008
Add a comment December 1, 2008
The King Family Matters…continues 4
I have gone into court on many occasions and felt that I should have won 
where a Judge decided against me. In life there are many battles. Though we have to pick and choose our battles…as it is not possible to fight everything all of the time. And when fighting them…we always have to be prepared to loose.
Loosing is as much a part of the process as anything else. There are times in life when we loose and there will times in life when we win. It is a fact. And if you are in sales…they will tell you that ‘it is the law of averages’…meaning sooner or later either is bound to happen.
Bernice and Martin L. King III were recently in court with their brother Dexter who sued them to have their mother’s letters released to him. As he claimed his mother’s letters are part of his father’s estate. Since he negoiated a book deal for $1.4 million for his mother’s memoirs it stands to reason as to why he would want those letters to be in his possession.
At this particular hearing the Judge sided with little Dexter.
http://www.ajc.com/cherokee/content/metro/atlanta/stories/2008/10/31/coretta_scott_king_letters.html
One of the best things the court has incorporated in it…is the appeal 
process. It is not often used as it can be a much harder battle…just preparing the proper paperwork and submitting it as the court requests it to be formatted can be overwhelming in of itself. But the state Court of Appeals are a near final step…you can always go back into court and ask the Judge to reconsider his discision by setting it aside. Which many times though you may get a court date, some Judges just won’t change their minds…not unless you really come up with some evidence which can really sway them to the other side…and that is provided that the Judge is willing to listen to it in the first place. Some Judges can be very difficult and quite hardnose.
Then, if you are still not satified because the Judge failed to change his mind, you may inform the court that you are going to appeal…and BAM! You submit the court with your Notice of Appeal. And you are on your way to the state court to appeal that decision, verdict or whatever the argument or contested matter is of that case.
Now, little Dexter has been busily selling off as much of the King estate as he 
can while lavashing himself with million dollar property in California…LA to be exact, as he desires to enter into the movie business ad plans on relocating. Well, he has pretty much actually done that…moved from Atlanta for the sandy beaches of LA. And also for the stage lights of the Hollywood sets…well, this not quite. What he doesn’t understand about the movie business…is that he looks too much like his father to make it in Hollywood. The only person he could possibly play would be his father…and I do understand the magic of make-up and all of that…and there are not enough movies being made about Dr. Martin L. King, Jr. to bring his son’s dream into reality.
The point I am making regarding casting of movies….Martin L. King’s face is 
known around the world. No one would belive or accept a character who looked like Dr. Martin L. King, Jr. as any one else outside of being Dr. Martin L. King, Jr.. In order for it to work his son would have to be able to beat Densel acting, 
where he could assume a role and make that role, or character come so alive in a way that in the viewing of the movie the audience didn’t see Dr. Martin L. King, Jr. but whatever character Denzel…I mean Dexter was playing. And that is not an easy task.
So, Dexter will never make it in LA as an actor…and you can tell him…I said it. If it were possible Yolanda King who studied drama and was an actor would have been able to find success in the business. But even as woman…she looked very much like her father. In a business where people suspend reality…it is 
hard to do that when you are looking into the face of Civil Rights icon and trying to imagine or see him as anything else but that Civil Rights icon…and that is exactly what Dr. Martin L. King, Jr. was, and still is…a Civil Rights icon.
The current letters which the court gave Dexter access to are letters written to their mother from their father during the Civil Rights Movement.
Because Rev. Bernice King is supposedly legally over their mother’s estate, it is interesting to me that the Judge would have awarded Dexter with that decision. And Dexter is in control of the Martin L. King, Jr. Center for Non-Violence and his father’s estate.
You have got to have the right lawyer or lawyers. And I am going to tell 
you something that lawyers hate. Sometimes you have to kick the lawyers to the curb and better go in fighting for yourself…if you have the skill and ability to do it.
Who better to represent you…than you?
But without the proper verbal skills or confidence…and the ability to restrain your emotions…you better not try it. At times in court I have been good…but during family matters I many times just break. Family stuff hurts.
I don’t think that I am all that confident…and believe me when you start standing in front of the Judge having to defend yourself it is even worst. They have terms…legal terms that will fly right over your head. And I should know…because a few of them have flown over mine.
There were times when I wish I had done or said that…at the time it came to me but I didn’t do it. Later afterwards…I could have kicked myself time and time again for not having done so…because it cost me the case. Or I wished I had been smarter.
The first case I ever won was a case I took into Small Claims Court. I had bought a car. The ad read ‘great running condition’ etc…etc… And when I tested the car it ran beautifully. But the next day when I went back to pick it up and give them my money…the car never ran properly. I have no idea what it was…or what they did to it…but I ended up buying a beautiful looking vehicle…but mechanically it was not the vehicle I had tested.
I quickly found the newspaper ad and file my complaint in Small Claims. Small Claims Court is very much like Judge Judy’s show presents it to be. You stand up there and tell your side, show what you have to back it up…then the other side talks…and after a while the Judge ususally says you’ll receive your decision in the mail…whereas on TV…Judge Judy renders a decision during the show.
So, I presented my complaint before the Judge and I got my decision in the mail. And guess what?
The Judge was very nice to me. I had won. But I not only won my money back…but the Judge let me keep the car too. And those people who had sold me the car they paid me all of my money back sending me weekly amounts until I had totally received it all back. And I 
got the car fixed. It was a beautiful Bonneville convertible, 1968. I could not get out of the car without finding notes on from people interested in buying it from. But this ended being a very expense lesson for the people who sold me that car.
Judges as a rule are not that overwhelmingly kind or generous. So, for a very long time I walked around thinking how I was so smart because I had won…and won like that. But now I have come to realize…that I am not that smart at all…but just exceedingly blessed. I have a very dear and good friend who sits high and looks low…and sees and knows everything.
I never won that case. God did…He won it for me. And many times you go into court…you should really consider Him. I have had many different outcomes in court…but each one whether I have won them or lost them…I 
knew that God did it. If I didn’t win, I knew that there was something in that case that God desired to show me…or have me consider.
I almost always take everything as a learning experience. I may not always like the outcome of the set of events…but the lessons behind them have lead me not to do somethings again…or seek to do somethings a lot better. And each time I have always found that they were setting me up for the case…which oftentimes were bigger and more important…like our Appellate case in Carolina now.
The lawyers have a this saying, “Only a fool is his own lawyer.”
And unless you are a very quick learner and can adapt quickly…and also…this is a very important point…have the ability to speak up for yourself…and can be quiet while the Judge is talking or listening…unless you can do these things think twice of going into court ‘pro-se’…which means representing yourself. You have to be concise, to the point and extremely well thought out…and certainly able to prove your case for real evidence…whether a paper trail or bills or some type of contract etc… You must be able to prove your case. And need to definitely pick your fights.
And if it is a case that you get to make a decision as to whether the jury decides or the Judge…go jury. Twelve or 6 people give you a better chance at winning.
Recently, I had a case thrown out of court. I brought it against a local doctor and hospital here. I knew the probability of my winning the case was low…but I just could not let it go. For what that doctor did to me…he definitely deserved to be sued. And though I knew I was entering into a very
steep up-hill battle…I decided to file my complaint any how. Which is what I did…because the way I figured it out even if I lost…and here is another point.
You have to really be careful at bringing a case that you might loose because the other side will turn around and levy all their court fees, lawyer fees and everything else they can against you. And you could end up having to pay a lot more than what you thought.
But I decided to go forward with my case against that doctor. The case never got very far because to get specialist and all of that costs money…but I knew one thing. I knew that all legal cases become public record…and that is what I sought to do. I knew I couldn’t probably win one way…but I got him the other way. My complaint against him was and is public record. Now, any lawyers seeking to bring a case against him and are looking for amunition against for another complaint…well, they will come upon my case and be able to read in full detail why I bought that law suit. That is why I did it.
We are hoping that everything works out well for the King Family with regard to their current battles. It is very difficult dealing with family matters. And not all times does the right or the truthful party win. But one thing is for sure God 
will work it out for your good.
God bless…and be encouraged all.
Talking about God. If you read my blog on my parent’s furnace almost exploding. Yes, I am suppose to be in cold…as the furnace is gone. But God gave my parents the wisdom not to have the heat and hot water tied into one. The hot water tank is separate…which mean I still have hot water. So, if I have to go through the winter without the furnace…I can. Because I still have electricity and I still have the stove.
So, God is soo soo good. And I cannot thank Him enough.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/04/books/04arts-RULINGISISSU_BRF.html?ref=arts
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/race_relations/jan-june97/king_1-15.html
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2008/apr/05/cant-stop-a-movement/
…pass it on…’ www.bsmith101.wordpress.com
Please be sure to share this blog site with all your 
Thank you for reading.
…pass it on…’ www.bsmith101.wordpress.com
God bless…and thanks for reading ©2008
Add a comment November 6, 2008
The King Family embattled…3 The Book deal…
There is one t
hing about death…it brings about a whole other set of new found problems.
It is bad enough that a parent dies…or some aunt or uncle…but if there is anything to be gained by that passing therein lie the problems. Before the dying person’s eyes are closed the problems start to show up…and if the self-interests begin before that…then the dying or aging party is in real trouble. I have seen it happen…and I am going through it myself.
I would have never believed that I would be in the situation in which I now sit. I have been in and out of court due to family matters. Some of those times it was me bringing the charges and others it was them. But let me tell you this…there is nothing more painful than family conflicts. There is nothing worst than having to be forced to do things such as taking legal actions against a sibling or other family member…when you really don’t want to…but there is in many cases is no other choice but to do so. This I know because I have been there…and still am. But if you don’t the repercussions of in-action would be far more devasting…and much sadder when in time you look back to reflect on what you should have…could have…but didn’t.
I turned a blind eye on many things saying to myself-
“Their there and I’m here in New York.”
And I called myself letting them handle it…never dreaming to what depths they were ‘handling’ it. I know for sure…it destroyed my father. And I had been no help to him…because I turned a blind eye to it all…even when I saw and witnessed things for myself. And now…I greatly…greatly regret it now.
But finally when I was forced to go home to face the mess which I had so conveniently shut my eyes to for years…which perhaps in the earlier stages would have cost less, headaches, heartaches and financial dismay had I merely stepped up early on. But by the time I was forced to deal with it…the evilness had become rooted…and my battles are great. And have caused me many many tears and many many sleepless nights…and days.
There is no way that I would believe that great consideration has not been taken on what going back and forth into court and having to bring one action after another against their brother Dexter would mean to their family legacy…and the memory of their mother and father, Coretta Scott King and Dr. Martin L. King, Jr.. But just like myself…Bernice and Martin, the third, either have to do it…or sit back and allow Dexter to destory everything that their mother fought for…along with totally annihilating the memory of their father, 
Dr. Martin L. King, Jr., who gave his life for a cause in this country…which should never be forgotten.
These things are very unfortunate…but they happen.
And they begin happening at the saddest moments in most people’s life…while having lost a very dear love one…their parent, be it mother or father…or them both.
These things keep us up at night…and find us constantly in prayer. But along with prayer action must be taken…the prayer merely aids as a reminder that we serve someone who is greater than money. But also prayer keeps us from having to go to jail…because that is how deep family matters can get…and many times people do end up in jail behind family disputes and all kinds of other family matters.
The latest set of legal problems facing the siblings of the Dr. King’s family…is that a law suit was again b
rought against Dexter to keep him from selling his mother memoirs.
At the center of this current feud is $1.4 million book deal that Dexter signed with Penguin books, however, though Dexter may well be the head of his father’s center, the Dr. Martin L. King, Jr. Center of Non-Violence, in Atlanta, GA, it is Bernice King who is the head over their mother’s estate. Yes, here we go again. So, then why is Dexter seeking to sell something, yet another piece of their family legacy off…and believe me…he is busily trying to sell off as much of the King property, papers, photos etc…as he can.
Which all seems to be for guess who?
Yes, for Dexter. His own personal gain. Without regard to the King family legacy and what it means to their family…his other siblings…or African Americans at large. It is all for personal gain.
Clearly, Dexter sees the works of his mother and father as nothing more than mere assets to be liquidated and sold off to the highest bidders. All of which are means or his way of getting rich on the backs of his parents memories. 
What a shame that that is all he can see his mother and father’s legacy as.
It is sad to think this…that Dr. King would have such a son…a man who gave his life as a sacrifice so unselfishly. But there is at least one…if not more Dexters…in every family. Those who want whatever they can get…and he or they want it before the others get a chance to lay a claim or say anything otherwise.
I have seen it in our own affairs. I know it destoryed my father…who would think that after working all their lives to raise a bunch of selfish and self-serving children…that they would grow up to be selfish and self-serving enough to push you out of your own home…that you worked for…that you bought…that you fought to maintain. But it happened…and this is when I had to go home…to fight to try to get my father back into his own home. It is quite sad when you become only a dollar sign to your children…very sad indeed.
I know about the pain of family matters. There can be nothing worst…than family disputes. And they are ususally over money. And if you say things….that is because certain things equal money. So, yes…it is always about money…and greed. And very much about selfishness.
It is sad…but it will be only sadder to sit around and let reckless people destroy everything…which ususally later in life everyone including the trouble-makers will regret. And if you don’t believe it…just go to some family reunions and listen.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/14/books/14bio.html?ei=5070&emc=eta1
http://www.ajc.com/search/content/metro/atlanta/stories/2008/10/02/MLK_feud_book.html
Presidential 
Election is so important. If you are not register get registered today. And if you plan on being away get you absentee ballot…but don’t miss out the signal most important election of 21st Century.
In our town today is the last day to register. As my son is planning being out of town to go to Memphis…I told him to be sure to put in his absentee ballot. For days he has forgotten to do it. So, today after getting out of my class, I went by his job to get him so I could sit in the car downtown while he ran in to take care of his absentee ballot. But by the time I had gotten there…he had already gone.
This November is going to be soooooo important. It was worth the walk to his job to ensure that he got his ballot in.
Not to mention I was talking with a cousin of mine in Philly…and she had been going to senior citizen homes and aiding them with getting their voices heard. I think that was fabulous. And I know that those seniors all appreciated it.
Vote. It was something that many…even right here in America had to fight for.
Well, enjoy your day. It’s been nice out for the past couple of days.
Please be sure to share this blog site with your friends.
…pass it on…’ www.bsmith101.wordpress.com
God bless…and thanks for reading ©2008
Add a comment October 15, 2008
King Family/Dexter, oh… Estate Matters 2a
What would mommie think of you?
And I will not say ‘all of you’…I have heard that enough times myself in regards to our family situation. But when a member or members are wrong…or doing the wrong thing or things…there are few or little options…short of going to jail because you killed them. Just ask me…
And no, I am not currently sitting on Death Row because I did in a sister or brother or two…thank goodness there is a God. But had I not been saved…I might well be in jail…and possibly on Death Row. Because that is how intense family affairs can grow.
It is extremely painful and hurtful to have to go into court…and side against someone who is a sibling or 
other family member. But there are times when it must be done.
I have sat in court and tried to hide the tears knowing that I did not want to be there. But courses of events brought on by sisters and brothers forced me to do it in order to not loose my parent’s property…because it was all that was left after they had ran through everything else.
And though they didn’t want to pay anything to save the property…they didn’t want me to do so either. In fact, they openly proclaimed several times how they didn’t want anything to do with the property…but they would rather loose the house to foreclosure than to see me with it…or try themselves to save it. And it was never and has never been about me having it…not for me.
It had been what my parents had worked for it. They had labored, saved, struggled…and sacrificed for it and our 2nd house 
which was lost years later. How were we going going to just sit around and loose what 
they had worked so hard for…at a time when black folks could barely get mortgages and had to work hard for every dime they got?
And to see a nearly 2 hundred thousand dollar house go down the drain for less than 5 thousand dollars in arrears…with 2 mortgages less than $350/per month combined. 
How could I do that?
How could I allow that?
I could not…and I would not let my parent’s house go to a bunch of people who knew nothing of my parents or the legacy that they desired to leave for their grand-children and great grand-children unto the 4th and 6th generation…and beyond.
So, yes…I sat in court trying to secretly wipe away tears…sad that I had to be brought there to the court house because of greed and everything else negative that can crawl in between families when people die.
Only to get before the judge and become so overwhelmed with emotions that the tears overtook me. I know how it f
eels. But it has to be done.
What a mess this is. And it is not a joke either…and it only gets worst. But truth will prevail…but you must be steadfast and maintain your interigty.
Don’t look for everybody to understand…because they are going to tell you are 
wrong. 
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/US/07/11/mlk.suit/index.html
Take confidence in yourselves and pray for your brother that he might see the errors of his ways.
You will cry.
It does hurt.
But let nobody destory what you father died for…and what you mother fought to bring into being…that his life would a testament unto the world through the generations.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/topstories/2008-07-19-4280470445_x.htm
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-07-11-2082097636_x.htm
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1077/is_3_58/ai_97823533
If the information in the LINK BELOW is true…Dexter might find himself looking at jail time. Uncle Sam does not play. And the sad part…he has emptied out many estates…i.e. Sammy Davis, Jr….Redd Foxx…James Brown…etc…and settled a lot of family disputes.
http://www.ncrp.org/downloads/NCRPinTheNews/undefined.pdf
Dexter’s counter-law suit…
http://www.11alive.com/rss/rss_story.aspx?storyid=120031
http://www.zimbio.com/Martin+Luther+King+Day/articles/474/Dexter+King+Being+Sued+Siblings+Converting
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4182/is_19990113/ai_n10126384
Family matters hurt. Be encouraged…and always endeavor to do the right thing.
God bless…
The mud slinging is yet to begin. ‘pass it on’… www.bsmith101.wordpress.com ©2008
Add a comment August 21, 2008
Family King… Estate matters…2
I recently wrote how shocked I was to find out that Yolanda King had passed last year at the age of 51.
In fact, I woke up this morning thinking just how blessed I am. And it is not just that I am alive…but I have a son, I have a slew of fantastic nieces and nephews, a wonderful and encouraging church family, the best of friends, cousins etc…and then I was gifted with the very best of parents…and have always had the best of everything. So, yes I awoke this morning thinking…how blessed I am.
Though I was shocked about Yolanda’s passing, I am not, however, shocked about the problems the siblings are currently having. When you listen to Bernice King speak at Yolanda’s Home Going service,in the youtube footage in my last blog…there was a sense that something was going on among them.
That is very unfortunate.
Bernice kept expounding on ‘listen to the voice of the Lord and give no heed to another.’
When people die there are a mixture of emotions which surface…among them are greed, selfishness and a sense of ‘I’m going to get mine before anybody else does’…just to name a few.
When you are forced with having to deal with loss…greed and selfishness are not 2 things…along with anything else negative…that you want also on your emotional plate of loss and grieving.
For some…death brings their families closer together…but for more it drives them apart. The court is loaded with families seeking legal relief regarding family issues which arose upon the heels of someone dying.
Just a few seconds ago I was chatting with a friend…the one who is hooked on youtube and is emailing all those old R & B/Soul singers…and she informed me that Bernice and Martin, the third, had filed a law suit against their brother, Dexter King, for mis-managing family funds and the funds of their father’s center, the Martin L. King, Jr. Center for Non-Violence, in Atlanta, of which Dexter now heads.
There is nothing like death to bring out the absolute worst in people. You will see and hear things you never would have thought would be coming from people you loved, trusted and never would have expected would be acting as they are now acting.
Estate matters hurt. And more often than not they have to be dealt with through the courts…either Probate and/or Civil Court.
Regarding our own estate affairs on several occasions I have had to go into court to pursue some sort of action, such as becoming the Executor of my parent’s estate. I needed to become the Executor of the Estate for one reason…because somebody has to be over the property….the property simply cannot regulate itself. And the other reason that really prompted me to seek the Executorship of my parents estate was this. Somebody had tried to take out $40,000 against my parent’s property…which was luckily declined. This and worst are the kind of problems you can come face to face with when people start dying…and greed, selfishness and I’ve got to get mine… all enter the picture.
It is hard to be at odds with family members…but it happens…and often. And these fights are never kind. No, on the contary they can be downright hateful and vicious…and surprisingly so. But someone has to maintain the high road…the right road. Somebody has to stand for truth and what is right…yet forsake the spirit of hatefulness and viciousness…though it is being showered upon you. Otherwise, you will become just like the wrong party or parties…and no one will be able to decipher you one from another. And that they might not be able to do anyway by the time the other side gets through dragging your name through the mud.
Just look to be demonized…if you are the one trying to do the right thing. By the time you are really in the midst of it…they will…or he or she will…have you looking like the culprit to anyone who will give them an ear. And everybody will come to you…and ask what are you doing?
Why are you tearing apart the family?
You will be the thief the robber and everything in between.
It will take much crying. Many nights of soul searching…and living in isolation. But prayer can conquer anything. And lots of it.
And one other thing…having someone who will listen to you…who can offer wisdom and counsel you through it. Someone who will not prosecute you…because they have already become contaminate by buying into what the other side was saying…because they bought into the lies.
I have found that you have to be able to voice you pain…your strife’s…the turmoil’s that you become faced with during life which keep you up all hours of the night…or all night.
Just to be able to have one somebody…to be able to tell it all to. Unloading verbally your problems can be an awful good feeling and somewhat of a healing tool in a time of need. That is what my friend whom I have shared with you that we believe is in the process of passing. When I coundn’t find anybody else with whom I could discuss it with…she gave me her ear…and she counseled me through it. And I never once found her counsel lacking.
My problem was that I was in New York…and I kept saying-
“Oh, I’m not there.”
So, I allowed them to do what they were doing without me interfering.
I had no idea what was going or to what level…until I was forced to go home…even I was constantly questioning family members about it.
And God made it so I had no choice in the matter. I was evicted…so, I had to go home.
Once there I came to find out that the very person I relied upon to keep me inform about matters at home…had been lying to me. In fact, I came to find out that he was one of the culprits and he became one of my biggest antagonizers. And that he had apparently never heard that inheritance comes after death.
Following the passing of my mother, my father took it very hard. And it doesn’t help anything seeing your children clamoring for everything they can 
get…grab and snatch from you…and you haven’t even closed your eyes yet.
That has to hurt…after working all of your life for a bunch of people who suddenly become like strangers to you…can be, I have no doubt, devastating. Yes, he became quite devastated…my father just eventually shut down and gave up.
Money and things can make people change…and go crazy. And my parents had money and they had things…and nothing they had was cheap.
We grew up living very well.
And I know I said it in my other blog on estate issues…but maybe we had too much. One thing for sure we had no appreciation…and those who had some didn’t have enough of it to make difference on my father’s behalf.
If you would care to read more this story CLICK the LINKS below.
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/atlanta/stories/2008/07/12/dexter_king_lawsuit.html
Some people may not understand why Bernice or Martin are going after Dexter. But I do.
Dexter just bought a 4.16 million dollar home in Malibu…that’s Cali…in a ritzy suburb of LA…if you want to get specific. But he heads the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center in Atlanta?
It really doesn’t sound like Dexter intends to spend much time in Atlanta…doing his job and assisting in keeping the family legacy going.
No, it sounds more like Dexter has the glitter of Hollywood more on his mind…and a highly expensive pallet to go with it.
On the surface it sounds more like little Dexter is out to deplete the family estate of all its funds…and is acting like he can’t understand their lawsuit against him.
I don’t know why not…since he is the one spending the all the money. And has probably been more like they have been trying to call him.
I have seen some of the best…they grew up with me. And when I stood in court beside them and heard them speak…if I hadn’t been privy to what we were in court for…forget the judge…I would have believed them. And they were in court talking against me.
If they, Bernice and Martin, don’t stop Dexter…he is going to run straight through every nickle and dime they have and everything else. And whatever is left after he gets threw trashing the all the funds…that will go up on the auction block…just like it is in our situation.
It hurts…and people may not like it…may sit on the sideline surmising the situation…those outside of the King family. And even them themselves, Bernice or Martin may not like it. They might like having to do it…in fact I know they probably don’t. But if they don’t do it they will have to reap the consequences of the reckless disregard of their brother…as I now am after turning a blind eye to the situation until I was forced into it and had no choice but to deal with it…and try to get this upside down situation…rightside up again.
Many might not understand it…and may never 
understand why Bernice and Martin are doing this…filing a law suit against their brother. In fact, people will say-
“Dragging the family name through the mud like that.”
But is there a cause?
You get a relative…a sibling…or relatives or siblings…who is out to plunder and destory everything that your parents worked for…and/or out trying to ruin your family name…and lets see how you would handle it. Short of going to jail…the only other way is by going to court. And that becomes public even if your name is not King.
Thinking about my last blog where I discuss my friend who had MS.
I really felt a bit guilty. I think I made it seem as though I had been some kind of great friend. When in fact I had not.
After writing that blog, I laid down and thought about it.
During our first year on campus we had been great friends. But during that second year…well…
I had become some kind of radio super star. I found some new friends and rarely even spoke with my friend other than in passing. But yet she continued to be nice and pleasant towards me.
Where we had hung out together before during our first year on campus…during that second year and beyond we did not. I didn’t have time for her…I was…well…too busy making a name for myself at the campus radio station. And when I wasn’t there…I was…well…sitting around clowning and playing cards with my new friends. And I never thought of my friend much during those latter years…until I found out she was sick.
I think about that now.
If I could rewrite that history…I would.
I didn’t value our friendship. For that matter…I didn’t value her.
I made mention of this to another friend of mines this evening. And I said-
“You know I really need to write that…because really I wasn’t a good friend. And I think I made it sound as if I had been.”
And she said-
“Yes, but we were all 18…20 years old then.”
Treasuring people is not something that should come with maturity. But it should be iinstinctual and begin from day one…when or as people come into our lives.
That first year was nice…but boy what fun we could have had those other years…if I had only been wiser…and a real friend.
When my friend needed me…I was weak…and useless.
I will never forget going to visit her one day while I was working at a local radio in her town, which gave me cause to have to see her more regularly. But I will never forget getting there and finding out she had suffered 3rd degree burns all over her body. Simply because she had tried to bathe herself. There had been no one there to help her. The home health aide who was suppose to be there with her many times would not even show up or would leave early leaving my friend alone many times, as I later informed by my friend’s mother.
It angered me that no one paid attention to stuff like that…and that no one cared. That person…that home health aide whom I had never once seen in the few times I visited with my friend during the time I worked at that radio station…she should have never been allowed to do that. And not only that but my friend by this time was in such a state that she really needed round the clock care.
When I think back on it now…struggling that way kept my friend out of a nursing home and also near her daughter whom she adored…and who had virtually became the parent to her mother. She was just a young kid mostly caring for her mother almost virtually herself. And today she too is suffering with MS.
But my friend…she had managed somehow to wheel herself into the shower. But she could not regulate the water properly…nor remove herself from up under it when it grew too hot. 
My, Lord…
Just knowing that about the aide…I should have agitated for my friend for better care…or something. But not even that did I do.
I know you are waiting on some more Chinese…and I will give it to you…it’s coming. If only I can find my Chinese book.
Started really cleaning the house today…so any day now I should put my hand on that book. That is all I am going to say…except also my friend to whom I was talking with this evening pointed out to me how I spelled Collin Powell’s name wrong. Good looking out…now if I can just figure out how to correct that…I will. Thanks.
Got to get into New York on Sunday…it is my Pastor’s Anniversary. This will also give me a chance to visit with my friend who we believe is passing.
Wouldn’t it be great if God just lifted her up off of her sick bed. And gave her to speak again…to walk again…and to eat again. It is great to know that God is capable of doing all things…including that. And for Him that would just a light thing.
Well, God bless…
Before getting off the line with my friend…we started talking a little bit about politics.
It has been a bit tooquiet politically don’t you think?
It just means to me that those sneaky Republicans are busy planning how to rig the 
election. I have never seen a more dishonest bunch…outside of some of my own family members. I’m just kidding about some of my family members…but it could be a true statement…might be true. But they are mines anyhow. I can kid somewhat about it now…but believe me it has been a very trying time when you have to deal with family woes.
But going back to the underhanded crafted and shameless Republicans. The only way McCain stands a chance…is a fix. It’s the only thing they can do 
because Obama is light years ahead of him.
McCain can’t out talk him, can’t debate him…doesn’t have his youth, zeal or appeal. It’s like Buggs Bunny running circles around Elmer Fudde.
Look for the big fix…and all of the dirtious tricks they can pull out of their hats and anybody elses to start hitting the air waves soon. ©2008
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