Tuesday Night Election Night

I have been trying to think of what to say about how I felt about Tuesday Night Election Night. But all the words sound inadaquate to me. There are no words to explain exactly how I feel about this special, historic night in my life and this countrys history. Suffice to say that I am beyond ecstatic, beyond joyful, beyond prideful. The only thing I want to say is that I am truly proud to have witnessed this glorius event in my lifetime.

PEACE.LOVE.HAPPINESS

WHY I'M WORRIED ABOUT TUESDAY NIGHT

I am both excited and apprehensive about this coming Tuesday. Excited because a man of color may be elected President. Apprehensive because I know how white folks can be. Just look at 2000. But I'm going to remain cautiously optimistic and trust that there are enough young and unbiased white folks and ALL black folks will vote for Barack Obama.
I know that there are a lot of white folks that will not vote for him no matter what, even if their life depended on it. I also know that there are a few black folks that will not vote for him either. These are the people that I would really like to meet and ask WHY. I already know where those white folks stand but these black folks I do not have a clue as to where their mind is at.
But alas it's in the hands of the Good Lord or fate or Karma, whatever you wish to believe in. But I will be watching Tuesday with bated breath, wringing hands and cold sweats.

PEACE.LOVE.HAPPINESS

WHAT I'M FEELING ABOUT TUESDAY NIGHT

I have been thinking about what happened Tuesday night and the fact that Barack Obama, a Black Man with a foreign, Muslim sounding name, was made the presumptive nominee for president of the democratic party. And I still don't think that it has set in as of yet.
Back in January I didn't think he had a snowballs chance in hell to be the Democratic nominee. And I was not alone in this thinking, just ask Hillary Clinton. I felt the powers that be, white men, would not allow it. But what I overlooked was the will of the people. The people of Iowa of all places. The will of the people of Iowa was that it was time for a change. A time for the people to take their country back from the lifetime politicians and the special interest groups and the big global corporations.
But to say the least I am ecstatic about what happened on Tuesday. Because there was this nagging doubt in the back of my mind that white folks were going to find a way to get rid of him. And they tried, oh how they tried. But Barack and the people kept their heads and in every primary 85 to 95% of Blacks came out and voted for him. What those 5 to 15% of Blacks that voted for Hillary Clinton were thinking about is still a very big mystery to me. I feel somewhere in their lives they lost their identity.
But enough about that I'm trying to find the words that can express the pride and joy I feel about what happened Tuesday night and I can't. But that's OK because there are no words to express how I feel and how thousands, millions of other Blacks feel. God Bless Barack Obama.


PEACE.LOVE.HAPPINESS

POEM, LONGING by SARA TEASDALE

LONGING by SARA TEASDALE

I am not sorry for my soul
That it must go unsatisfied,
For it can live a thousand times,
Eternity is deep and wide.
I am not sorry for my soul,
But oh, my body that must go
Back to a little drift of dust
Without the joy it longed to know.


PEACE.LOVE.HAPPINESS

Obama Clinches Democratic Nomination

By DAVID ESPO and STEPHEN OHLEMACHERThe Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Barack Obama effectively clinched the Democratic presidential nomination Tuesday after a grueling marathon, based on an Associated Press tally of convention delegates, becoming the first black candidate ever to lead his party into a fall campaign for the White House.
Campaigning on an insistent call for change, Obama outlasted former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton in a historic race that sparked record turnout in primary after primary, yet exposed deep racial and gender divisions within the party.
The tally was based on public declarations from delegates as well as from another 15 who have confirmed their intentions to the AP. It also included 11 delegates Obama was guaranteed as long as he gained 30 percent of the vote in South Dakota and Montana later in the day. It takes 2,118 delegates to clinch the nomination.
The 46-year-old first-term senator will face John McCain in the fall campaign to become the 44th president. The Arizona senator campaigned in Memphis during the day, and had no immediate reaction to Obama's victory.
Clinton stood ready to concede that her rival had amassed the delegates needed to triumph, according to officials in her campaign. They stressed that the New York senator did not intend to suspend or end her candidacy in a speech Tuesday night in New York. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they had not been authorized to divulge her plans.
Obama's triumph was fashioned on prodigious fundraising, meticulous organizing and his theme of change aimed at an electorate opposed to the Iraq war and worried about the economy — all harnessed to his own innate gifts as a campaigner.
With her husband's two-White House terms as a backdrop, Clinton campaigned for months as the candidate of experience, a former first lady and second-term senator ready, she said, to take over on Day One.
But after a year on the campaign trail, Obama won the kickoff Iowa caucuses on Jan. 3, and the freshman senator became something of an overnight political phenomenon.
"We came together as Democrats, as Republicans and independents, to stand up and say we are one nation, we are one people and our time for change has come," he said that night in Des Moines.
A video produced by Will I. Am and built around Obama's "Yes, we can" rallying cry quickly went viral. It drew its one millionth hit within a few days of being posted.
As the strongest female presidential candidate in history, Clinton drew large, enthusiastic audiences. Yet Obama's were bigger still. One audience, in Dallas, famously cheered when he blew his nose on stage; a crowd of 75,000 turned out in Portland, Ore., the weekend before the state's May 20 primary.
The former first lady countered Obama's Iowa victory with an upset five days later in New Hampshire that set the stage for a campaign marathon as competitive as any in the last generation.
"Over the last week I listened to you, and in the process I found my own voice," she told supporters who had saved her candidacy from an early demise.
In defeat, Obama's aides concluded they had committed a cardinal sin of New Hampshire politics, forsaking small, intimate events in favor of speeches to large audiences inviting them to ratify Iowa's choice.
It was not a mistake they made again — which helped explain Obama's later outings to bowling alleys, backyard basketball hoops and American Legion halls in the heartland.
Clinton conceded nothing, memorably knocking back a shot of Crown Royal whiskey at a bar in Indiana, recalling that her grandfather had taught her to use a shotgun, and driving in a pickup to a gas station in South Bend, Ind., to emphasize her support for a summertime suspension of the federal gasoline tax.
As other rivals quickly fell away in winter, the strongest black candidate in history and the strongest female White House contender traded victories on Super Tuesday, the Feb. 5 series of primaries and caucuses across 21 states and American Samoa that once seemed likely to settle the nomination.
But Clinton had a problem that Obama exploited, and he scored a coup she could not answer.
Pressed for cash, the former first lady ran noncompetitive campaigns in several Super Tuesday caucus states, allowing her rival to run up his delegate totals.
At the same time, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., endorsed the young senator in terms that summoned memories of his slain brothers while seeking to turn the page on the Clinton era.
In a reference that likened former President Clinton to Harry Truman: "There was another time, when another young candidate was running for president and challenging America to cross a new frontier. He faced criticism from the preceding Democratic president, who was widely respected in the party."
Merely by surviving Super Tuesday, Obama exceeded expectations.
But he did more than survive, emerging with a lead in delegates that he never relinquished, and proceeded to run off a string of 11 straight victories.
Clinton saved her candidacy once more with primary victories in Ohio and Texas on March 4, beginning a stretch in which she won primaries in six of the final nine states on the calendar, as well as in Puerto Rico.
It was a strong run, providing glimpses of what might have been for the one-time front-runner.
But by then Obama was well on his way to victory, Clinton and her allies stressed the popular vote instead of delegates. Yet he seemed to emerge from each loss with residual strength.
Obama's bigger-than-expected victory in North Carolina on May 6 offset his narrow defeat in Indiana the same day. Four days later, he overtook Clinton's lead among superdelegates, the party leaders she had hoped would award her the nomination on the basis of a strong showing in swing states.
Obama lost West Virginia by a whopping 67 percent to 26 percent on May 13. Yet he won an endorsement the following day from former presidential rival and one-time North Carolina Sen. John Edwards.
Clinton administered another drubbing in Kentucky a week later. This time, Obama countered with a victory in Oregon, and turned up that night in Iowa to say he had won a majority of all the delegates available in 56 primaries and caucuses on the calendar.
There were moments of anger, notably in a finger-wagging debate in South Carolina on Jan. 21.
Obama told the former first lady he was helping unemployed workers on the streets of Chicago when "you were a corporate lawyer sitting on the board at Wal-Mart."
Moments later, Clinton said that she was fighting against misguided Republican policies "when you were practicing law and representing your contributor ... in his slum landlord business in inner city Chicago."
And Bill Clinton was a constant presence and an occasional irritant for Obama. The former president angered several black politicians when he seemed to diminish Obama's South Carolina triumph by noting that Jesse Jackson had also won the state.
Obama's frustration showed at the Jan. 21 debate, when he accused the former president in absentia of uttering a series of distortions.
"I'm here. He's not," the former first lady snapped.
"Well, I can't tell who I'm running against sometimes," Obama countered.
There were relatively few policy differences. Clinton accused Obama of backing a health care plan that would leave millions out, and the two clashed repeatedly over trade.
Yet race, religion, region and gender became political fault lines as the two campaigned from coast to coast.
Along the way, Obama showed an ability to weather the inevitable controversies, most notably one caused by the incendiary rhetoric of his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
At first, Obama said he could not break with his longtime spiritual adviser. Then, when Wright spoke out anew, Obama reversed course and denounced him strongly.
Clinton struggled with self-inflicted wounds. Most prominently, she claimed to have come under sniper fire as first lady more than a decade earlier while paying a visit to Bosnia.
Instead, videotapes showed her receiving a gift of flowers from a young girl who greeted her plane.


PEACE.LOVE.HAPPINESS

The Law of the Garbage Truck by David J. Pollay

The Law of the Garbage Truck™

Copyright 2007 David J. Pollay

How often do you let other people’s nonsense change your mood? Do you let a bad driver, rude waiter, curt boss, or an insensitive employee ruin your day? Unless you’re the Terminator, you’re probably set back on your heels. However, the mark of your success is how quickly you can refocus on what’s important in your life. Sixteen years ago I learned this lesson. And I learned it in the back of a New York City taxi cab. Here’s what happened. I hopped in a taxi, and we took off for Grand Central Station. We were driving in the right lane when all of a sudden, a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, the car skidded, the tires squealed, and at the very last moment our car stopped just one inch from the other car’s back-end. I couldn’t believe it. But then I couldn’t believe what happened next. The driver of the other car, the guy who almost caused a big accident, whipped his head around and he started yelling bad words at us. How do I know? Ask any New Yorker, some words in New York come with a special face. And he even threw in a one finger salute! I couldn’t believe it! But then here’s what really blew me away. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, he was friendly. So, I said, “Why did you just do that!? This guy could have killed us!” And this is when my taxi driver told me what I now call, “The Law of the Garbage Truck™.” He said:
"Many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they look for a place to dump it. And if you let them, they’ll dump it on you.

So when someone wants to dump on you, don’t take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Believe me. You’ll be happier."
So I started thinking, how often do I let Garbage Trucks run right over me? And how often do I take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the street? It was then that I said, “I don’t want their garbage and I’m not going to spread it anymore.” I began to see Garbage Trucks. Like in the movie “The Sixth Sense,” the little boy said, “I see Dead People.” Well now “I see Garbage Trucks.” I see the load they’re carrying. I see them coming to dump it. And like my taxi driver, I don’t take it personally; I just smile, wave, wish them well, and I move on.

One of my favorite football players of all time was Walter Payton. Every day on the football field, after being tackled, he would jump up as quickly as he hit the ground. He never dwelled on a hit. Payton was ready to make the next play his best. Over the years the best players from around the world in every sport have played this way: Tiger Woods, Nadia Comaneci, Muhammad Ali, Bjorn Borg, Chris Evert, Michael Jordan, Jackie Robinson, and Pele are just some of those players. And the most inspiring leaders have lived this way: Nelson Mandela, Mother Theresa, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King. See, Roy Baumeister, a psychology researcher from the University of Florida, found in his extensive research that you remember bad things more often than good things in your life. You store the bad memories more easily, and you recall them more frequently. So the odds are against you when a Garbage Truck comes your way. But when you follow The Law of the Garbage Truck™, you take back control of your life. You make room for the good by letting go of the bad. The best leaders know that they have to be ready for their next meeting. The best sales people know that they have to be ready for their next client. And the best parents know that they have to be ready to welcome their children home from school with hugs and kisses, no matter how many garbage trucks they might have faced that day. All of us know that we have to be fully present, and at our best for the people we care about. The bottom line is that successful people do not let Garbage Trucks take over their life. What about you? What would happen in your life, starting today, if you let more garbage trucks pass you by? Here’s my bet: You’ll be happier.

David J. Pollay is the author of “Beware of Garbage Trucks!™ - The Law of the Garbage Truck™. Visit http://www.bewareofgarbagetrucks.com/ to join the No Garbage Trucks! Revolution. His book, The Law of the Garbage Truck™, is due out this summer. Mr. Pollay is a syndicated columnist with North Star Writers Group, creator and host of “The Happiness Answer™” television program, an internationally sought after speaker and seminar leader, and the founder and president of TheMomentumProject.com

PEACE.LOVE.HAPPINESS

DIFERENT STANDARDS by MARCIE SIMPSON

Funny how for so many weeks Reverend Wright's picture and words from as long as ten years age were played over and over, ad nausium, and most people (mostly white) were so outraged. But whatever he said last week that got Obama to stoop to their level about him was not shown. First, I want to know why it took ten years to object to what they claim he was saying--wasn't it just as bad last year as this year? The only difference is that they could twist his words to make Obama out to be something they don't know if he is or not.
Now that Obama has done what they want him to by denouncing Reverend Wright, clips of those last weeks' speeches were so brief that I couldn't catch what words or comments set them off this time.
I still say, Reverend Wright didn't say anything in those first clips that isn't true. I don't particularly like the way he said what he did, but all of it was TRUE. So what else could he have said last week more than that?
For sure, both Reverend Wright and Obama should be better than to allow the media and politicians to play 'Monkey on a String' with them. Neither one should use the other's name in public, because that only feeds the vultures. Reverend Wright could continue to condemn society's and the Government's treatment of us and other oppressed citizens, the way I see it. And Obama should stick to the issues, and policies and solutions to his constituants' needs, since that's what the campaign is about anyway, not whether Clinton or any other candidate said something bad or unfair about him.
Truth outs, especially in campaign rhetoric, and although most people do not think for themselves, voters are not as dumb as we're too often taken for. (For one thing, we have friends like you, who keep us updated on some of the points that are harder to dig up.--Thanks!) Even if you are mostly preaching to the choir.
Most important, the Clinton's pastor and associates must have said something questionable in the last ten years. Will that be aired for a month and nitpicked to be what it isn't? And what about Hillary Clinton's thesis that disappeared? Can't that be dug up by now?
What's good for the goose is good for the gander.
And by the way, since when is a person's religion or faith criteria for holding office? Didn't we bury that dragon when Kennedy was running? And with those 400+ children in Texas foster homes, while the flap-mouths go on about whether teenaged girls willingly submitted to older men and got pregnant--ignoring the laws clearly agains INCEST--what are they telling us? That incest and child abuse and 'white slavery' shouldn't be mentioned when Mormans practice it? That's part of what Reverend Wright was talking about. Let someone Black be found to do half as much!
Let's not forget that Morman doctrine did not allow Black members into their seven heavens until their ball team got so good they were elgible for national competition. But so many people objected on that point, and they were losing lots of money and trophies, that their head preacher just happened to get the word from God that all their heavens were open to Black people after all!
Any day I'm looking for God to give the good word about young girls and incest and forced marriage. And preaching against the wrongs of society!

PEACE.LOVE.HAPPINESS

Let's harness these words And use their powers
To direct enLIGHTenment Into our coming hours
To move the barriers Our enemy has set up
To add nourishment To our empty cup
As a hand up To our fallen kin
Open the doors Let prosperity in
We re just an idea away From success
Alien thinking Is supporting the mess
That has us trapped With no way to move on
Enemy thinking Has us on the run We've got to change
Use our natural mind Free ourselves From Satan and his kind
If we keep on In the same losin vein
The Butt kickin we ll get Will be the same
If we keep on doing what we're doing
we're going to keep on getting what we re getting
From the Yahoo! 360 page of Hiya

PEACE.LOVE.HAPPINESS

OLD AGE IS A GIFT

Old Age, I decided, is a gift..
written by Marcie Simpson of North Carolina

I am now, probably for the first time in my life, the person I have always wanted to be. Oh, not my body! I sometime despair over my body, the wrinkles, the baggy eyes, and the sagging butt.
And often I am taken aback by that old person that lives in my mirror (who looks like my mother!), but I don't agonize over those things for long.

I would never trade my amazing friends, my wonderful life, my loving family for less gray hair or a flatter belly. As I've aged, I've become more kind to myself, and less critical of myself.
I've become my own friend.

I don't chide myself for eating that extra cookie, or for not making my bed, or for buying that silly cement gecko that I didn't need, but looks so avante garde on my patio. I am entitled to a treat, to be messy, to be extravagant..

I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging. Whose business is it if I choose to read or play on the computer until 4 am and sleep until noon ?

I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 60&70's, and if I, at the same time, wish to weep over a lost love .
I will walk the beach in a swim suit that is stretched over a bulging body, and will dive into the waves with abandon if I choose to, despite the pitying glances from the jet set. They, too, will get old.
I know I am sometimes forgetful. But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten. And I eventually remember the important things.

Sure, over the years my heart has been broken. How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers, or even when somebody's beloved pet gets hit by a car?
But broken hearts are what give us strength and understanding and compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.

I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turning gray, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face. So many have never laughed, and so many have died before their hair could turn silver.

As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about what other people think. I don't question myself anymore. I've even earned the right to be wrong.

So, to answer your question, I like being old. It has set me free. I like the person I have become I am not going to live forever, but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be. And I shall eat dessert every single day. (If I feel like it)

PEACE.LOVE.HAPPINESS

UNSPOKEN QUESTIONS OF THE OTHER WOMAN

Unspoken Questions of The Other Woman
by Linda Maria Knight

If I died tonight . . . would you even cry?
Would you remember me & the fact that I loved you while you didn't love me? &
Never asked why?
Would you finally acknowledge me after death, and admit I was your lover and
friend?
Or would you continue to keep my existence in your life a secret to the end?
What if I was in the hospital on my death bed, calling your name?
Would you come to me knowing that just hearing your voice would ease the
pain?
Risk the chance that one of your affairs got exposed & back to your wife?
Or felt you had to be there for someone who loved you unconditionally, your last
attempt to do something right?
What if you hurt me so bad that I just folded up & couldn't take it?
Killed my spirit, as I still respected the promise of silence----would you break it?
Would you acknowledge the fact that I never wanted to hurt another sister?
I've been there, that was never part of the plan
As I remain wet with desire, body on fire aching for someone else's man
What if I died while pleasing you as you ram your dick down my throat?
This shit sounds raw, but would you feel remorse and step up to the plate?
Sisters' this shit ain't no joke!
What if? Would you? Could you? Girl there's too many questions never asked
It's always the popular, attractive, legendary sister that gets kicked in the ass!
So to all my sisters' who are "wife-in-laws, mistresses & personal freaks" we
already know the answers to the questions you've just read
Caught up with a brother with a significant other, shit after he takes a shower &
drops us off or leaves us to clean up---we might as well be dead!
It took me seven days to write these words for my "Ride or Die" sistas.
Yeah somewhere there's an exceptional brother ready to stand up & honor the
fact I / we satisfied his crave
Even though I'm writing for ALL my sistas, y'all gotta know my silent partner
better recognize! Cause I would have no problem reaching out and touching his
ass from the grave!
(c) Linda Maria Knight 2003


PEACE.LOVE.HAPPINESS

TOMOROW IS NOT PROMISED

SOMETIMES, PEOPLE COME INTO OUR LIFE AND YOU KNOW RIGHT AWAY THAT THEY WERE MEANT TO BE THERE, THEY SERVE SOME SORT OF PURPOSE, TEACH YOU A LESSON OR HELP FIGURE OUT WHO YOU ARE AND WHO YOU WANT TO BECOME.
YOU NEVER KNOW WHO THESE PEOPLE MAY BE: YOUR NEIGHBOR, CHILD, LONG LOST FRIEND, LOVER, ORE EVEN A COMPLETE STRANGER WHO, WHEN YOU LOCK EYES WITH THEM, YOU KNOW AT THAT VERY MOMENT THAT THEY WILL AFFECT YOUR LIFE IN SOME PROFOUND WAY.
AND SOMETIMES THINGS HAPPEN TO YOU AND AT THE TIME THEY SEEM PAINFUL AND UNFAIR, BUT IN REFLECTION YOU REALIZE THAT WITHOUT OVERCOMING THOSE OBSTACLES YOU WOULD HAVE NEVER REALIZED YOUR POTENTIAL STRENGTH, WILLPOWER OR HEART.

EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON, NOTHING HAPPENS BY CHANCE OR BY MEANS OF GOOD OR BAD LUCK. ILLNESS, INJURY, LOVE, LOST MOMENTS OF TRUE GREATNESS AND SHEER STUPIDITY ALL OCCUR TO TEST THE LIMITS OF YOUR SOUL.

WITHOUT THESE SMALL TESTS, WHETHER THEY BE EVENTS, ILLNESS OR RELATIONSHIPS, LIFE WOULD BE LIKE A SMOOTHLY PAVED STRAIGHT FLAT ROAD TO NOWHERE, SAFE AND COMFORTABLE, BUT DULL AND UTTERLY POINTLESS.

THE PEOPLE YOU MEET WHO AFFECT YOUR LIFE AND THE SUCCESSES AND DOWNFALLS YOU EXPERIENCE CREATE WHO YOU ARE, AND EVEN THE BAD EXPERIENCES CAN BE LEARNED FROM. IN FACT, THEY ARE PROBABLY THE POIGNANT AND IMPORTANT ONES.

IF SOMEONE HURTS YOU, BETRAYS YOU ARE BREAKS YOUR HEART, FORGIVE THEM, FOR THEY HAVE HELPED YOU LEARN ABOUT TRUST AND THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING CAUTIOUS TO WHOM YOU OPEN YOUR HEART.

IF SOMEONE LOVES YOU, LOVE THEM BACK UNCONDITIONALLY, NOT ONLY BECAUSE THEY LOVE YOU, BECAUSE THEY ARE TEACHING YOU TO LOVE AND OPENING YOUR HEART AND EYES TO THINGS YOU WOULD HAVE NEVER SEEN OR FELT WITHOUT THEM.

MAKE EVERY DAY COUNT. APPRECIATE EVERY MOMENT AND TAKE FROM IT EVERTHING THAT YOU POSSIBLY CAN, FOR YOU MAY NEVER BE ABLE TO EXPERIENCE IT AGAIN.
TALK TO PEOPLE YOU HAVE NEVER TALKED TO BEFORE, AND ACTUALLY LISTEN, LET YOURSELF FALL IN LOVE, BREAK FREE AND SET YOUR SIGHTS HIGH.
HOLD YOU HEAD UP BECAUSE YOU HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO. TELL YOURSELF YOUR ARE A GREAT INDIVIDUAL AND BELIEVE IT YOURSELF, FOR IF YOU DON'T BELIEVE IN YOURSELF, NO ONE ELSE WILL BELIEVE IT EITHER.

PEACE.LOVE.HAPPINESS

COMMUNICATION AMENDMENT: see COMMUNICATION

Don't get me wrong, I love my Black Woman. I think the Black Woman is the saviour of our people, once she gets her act together regarding the Black Man. Black Women have a very hard time communicating with Black Men. This is not something I just thought up but rather through years of experience. I know some or most of you will say I don't know what I'm talking about or I'm just hating on the Black Woman. That would be far from the truth. I hope that any and all women that read this will keep an open mind and take a look at how they communicate with all Black Men.

PEACE.LOVE.HAPPINESS

COMMUNICATION

Communication is a word that has a lot of mileage on it. It went a long ways in the '80s and '90s but sort of slowed down at the turn of the century. Communication between men and women has always been a problem. Women complain that men talk at them, unemotionally. Men complain that women don't talk at all. Both are probably true. I know in my own experience with women, Black Women, that it is true. Black Women do not communicate with a man honestly or openly or with any sense of logic. Trying to get a Black Women to talk to you about what she thinks or feels or wants or desires is like trying to talk to the television. You get a lot of images but no substance. The one thing I've noticed with Black Women is that they are rarely honest with themselves about what they want from a Black Man. They will insinuate or imply or hint or outright lie about what they are thinking or what they mean when they make a statement, usually innocuous, about the relationship between the two of them.
Communication, a big word that has a lot of mileage and is tired from all the abuse it has received along the way.

PEACE.LOVE.HAPPINESS

hi5 - Joseph's Journal

hi5 - Joseph's Journal

PEACE.LOVE.HAPPINESS

TAXES.........UNKNOWN AUTHOR

President Bush said each one of us would get a $1200.00 tax rebate. It was previously slated to be $1400.00, but they dropped it to a $1200.00 tax rebate because of various budget problems.

Now, if we spend that money at Wal-Mart, all the money will go to China, if we spend it on computers, most of the money will go to Korea or India. If we spend it on gasoline it will all go to the Arabs. None of these scenarios will help the American economy.

We need to keep that money here in America....so the only way to keep that money here at home is to go bowling, drink beer, gamble, golf or spend it on prostitution. Currently it seems that these are the only businesses still left in the U.S.


PEACE.LOVE.HAPPINESS

WHO WE ARE

I have been trying to understand the controversy surrounding Barack Obabma's minister. At first I thought it was just another double-standard that white people have so many of. But then I realized that after 400 years white people don't have a clue as to who we are. Which sort of illuminates something I've been wondering about. Which is why do black people try so hard to make white people like them or accept them. It's because we know subconsciously that they don't have a clue as to what we're about. So we do everything we can to make ourselves as acceptable as possible to them. We fry our hair, we bleach our skin, we force integration on them, which really didn't work. We do everything that they do, create everything in their image, like the Black Greek Societies. We did not come from Greece. Although their are a lot of Greeks that are our cousins, like most everyone from the Mediterranean area. But our ancestors are not from there.
We've tried so hard to be acceptable, over 400 years, and it has not worked. White people know as much about us now than they did 400 years ago.

PEACE.LOVE.HAPPINESS

FRIENDSHIP, A PERSONAL OBSERVATION

IT SEEMS THAT NOTHING HAS CHANGED VERY MUCH IN CYBERSPACE, FROM THE OLD DAYS OF BLACK PLANET. PEOPLE STILL COLLECT FRIENDS LIKE OTHER PEOPLE COLLECT SPOONS. THEY ACQUIRE THEM AND STICK THEM IN A CHINA CLOSET LIKE TROPHYS AND FORGET ABOUT THEM.
OR THEY ACQUIRE THEM WITH AN AGENDA OTHER THAN JUST SPREADING SOME LOVE.

PEACE.LOVE.HAPPINESS

TODAY I CRIED, UNKNOWN AUTHOR

Today, I cried..... I voted for a black man and, I cried.I cried for my father and my grandfather and all grandfathers beforehim.
I cried for my uncles, my four brothers, my seventeen nephews,
my two sons, my six grandsons and one great-grand son.
I cried for the blacks I have loved and those that have loved me.I cried for the millions of little black boys (not forgetting the girls)over the centuries that did not, in their wildest dreams, imagine...
that they could run for Office.
I cried for their despair...I cried for all the men and boys incarcerated
who lost hope in themselves and took the low road.
I cried, I cried and I cried...I know that this was "just the primary." But whatever the end result maybe, today I voted in the United States of America for a black man,
and... I cried.
If I should die before the presidential election it will be OK, Becausetoday I voted.
I voted for a black man and I cried.

PEACE।LOVE।HAPPINESS

BROWN v. BOARD OF EDUCATION

BROWN v. BOARD OF EDUCATION
AN OPINION
BY JOSEPH D. BOONE
Circa 1994

THE BROWN v. BOARD OF EDUCATION LAWSUIT, BROUGHT BY THE NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE FUND, WAS A WORTHWHILE ENDEAVOR. BUT IT WAS THE WRONG LAWSUIT TO BRING BEFORE THE U.S. SUPREME COURT.

THE INTENT OF THE NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE FUND WAS TO INTEGRATE THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM SO THAT NEGROES WOULD RECEIVE AN EQUAL CHANCE TO EDUCATION. THIS WAS A NOBLE IDEA, A GOOD IDEA, AN IDEA WHO’S TIME HAD LONG BEEN COMING. BUT IT WAS A MISGUIDED IDEA. TO END “JIM CROW”, SEGREGATION, BY DESEGREGATING THE SCHOOL SYSTEM MIGHT HAVE LOOKED GOOD AT THE TIME BUT UNDER CLOSER SCRUTINY AND HINDSIGHT LOOKS LIKE THE WRONG PATH WAS TAKEN.

THIS OPINION OF MINE STEMS FROM THE FACT THAT RACISM OF ANY KIND IS A NATURAL INSTINCT IN HUMAN BEINGS. RACISM WAS A WELL ESTABLISHED INSTITUTION FROM THE INCEPTION OF THIS NATION. AND TO END RACISM BY PASSING A LAW SEEMED LIKE A GOOD IDEA, AMERICANS BEING A FAIR MINDED PEOPLE, TO THE PARTICIPANTS IN THE PLANNING AND STRATEGY OF THE LAW SUITS BEING FILED IN THE 1930s AND 1940s AND 1950s. BUT WHAT THEY FAILED TO UNDERSTAND, ACCEPT OR ACKNOWLEDGE WAS THE DEPTH OF WHICH RACISM WAS INGRAINED IN THE AMERICAN PSYCHE. THIS DEPTH IS SHOWN IN OTHER ACTIONS BY THE U.S. SUPREME COURT AND BY THE U.S. CONSTITUTION ITSELF.

THE U.S. CONSTITUTION CONTAINS A NUMBER OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS, MOST NOTABLY THE FUGITIVE SLAVE CLAUSE, THE SLAVE TRADE CLAUSE, AND THE THREE-FIFTHS COMPROMISE, WHICH PLAINLY RECOGNIZES THE EXISTENCE OF THE INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY. THERE ARE SEVERAL SUPREME COURT CASES THAT UPHELD THE IDEA OF RACISM IN THIS COUNTRY, FROM PRIGG v. PENNSYLVANIA(1842) TO PLESSY v. FERGUSON(1896) OF WHICH I WILL SPEAK MORE ABOUT LATER ON.

EVEN THE COURT ITSELF DID NOT REALIZE THE DEPTH OF RACISM IN THIS COUNTRY. AFTER THE FIRST BROWN v. BOARD OF EDUCATION(1954) THE COURT ASKED FOR BRIEFS AND ARGUMENTS ON HOW THIS DESEGREGATION WOULD COME ABOUT. THE FOLLOWING YEAR IN THE SECOND BROWN v BOARD OF EDUCATION(1955) THE COURT REALIZED THAT LOCAL OFFICIALS WOULD HAVE TO FORMULATE POLICY TO HANDLE THE DESEGREGATION SO THEY DIRECTED DISTRICT COURTS TO ENSURE THAT THE TRANSITION TO A UNITARY SCHOOL SYSTEM WAS ACCOMPLISHED “WITH ALL DELIBERATE SPEED”. THEY OBVIOUSLY HOPED FOR COOPERATION FROM LOCAL AUTHORITIES IN THE DESEGREGATION PROCESS. SUCH COOPERATION WAS NOT FORTHCOMING. “THE JUDICIARY WAS FACED WITH SOUTHERN SCHOOL BOARDS AND STATE GOVERNMENTS THAT WERE TYPICALLY COMMITTED TO THE PHILOSOPHY OF “MASSIVE RESISTANCE” TO DESEGREGATION.

SO WITH ALL THIS OPPOSITION AND INGRAINED RACISM, EVEN HATRED, WHY DID THE NAACP FIGHT FOR INTEGRATION INSTEAD OF ENFORCING PLESSY v. FERGUSON? IN PLESSY v. FERGUSON (1896) THE COURT HELD, 7 TO 1, THAT STATE IMPOSED RACIAL SEGREGATION IN PUBLIC FACILITIES WAS NOT “UNREASONABLE” AND THEREFORE DID NOT VIOLATE THE EQUAL PROTECTION CLAUSE OF THE FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT. I KNOW THAT AS A NEGRO I SHOULD FIND THIS ABHORRENT. HOWEVER, I AM FORMING MY OPINION BASED ON HINDSIGHT. I, WE, KNOW TODAY THAT A PRIMARY CAUSE FOR THE STATE OF NEGROES TODAY IS THE BREAK-DOWN OF THE FAMILY AND THE “FLIGHT” OF THE MIDDLE-CLASS NEGROES TO THE SUBURBS AND MOST DAMAGING IS THE DISASSOCIATION OR DISOWNMENT OF MIDDLE-CLASS NEGROES OF THEIR ROOTS AND THEIR CONSTANT DESIRE TO LIVE THE “AMERICAN DREAM”. AS WE KNOW THERE IS NO REAL AMERICAN DREAM FOR NEGROES BECAUSE RACISM IS STILL ALIVE AND WELL GOING INTO THE 21st CENTURY.

TODAY THERE ARE ALL MANNER OF SCHOOLS AND CURRICULUMS BEING DEVELOPED THAT ARE PURPOSELY “SEPARATE BUT EQUAL”. NOT ONLY RACIALLY BUT GENDER-WISE ALSO. IT HAS FINALLY DAWNED ON NEGROES THAT THEY DON’T NEED TO BE LIKE “WHITE FOLKS” IN ORDER TO LIVE “AN AMERICAN DREAM”. THAT IT IS NOT ONLY GOOD FOR NEGROES TO KNOW WHO THEY ARE BUT IT IS ESSENTIAL FOR THEIR COLLECTIVE PSYCHE. AND ONE OF THE WAYS NOW BEING LOOKED AT IS SEPARATE CLASSES, EVEN SCHOOLS FOR YOUNG NEGRO MALES. AND KNOWING THEIR CULTURAL HERITAGE EVEN PRACTICING SOME OF IT, FOR INSTANCE KWANZA.

SO MY THEORY IS THAT IF THE LEGAL DEFENSE ARM OF THE NAACP HAD FOCUSED ON MAKING THE “SEPARATE BUT EQUAL” CLAUSE WORK, THE COLLECTIVE PSYCHE OF NEGROES WOULD BE BETTER OFF TODAY. WE HAVE HISTORY TO SHOW US THAT GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY OR LEFT TO OUR OWN INGENUITY WE CAN SURVIVE QUITE WELL, WITHOUT THE AIDE OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, LIKE URBAN RENEWAL. THE QUESTION NOW IS IF WE HAD TAKEN THE COURSE I SUGGEST HERE, WOULD THE WHITE COMMUNITY HAVE LEFT US ALONE TO LIVE OUR OWN LIVES OR WOULD THEY HAVE RESORTED TO WHAT THEY DID TO BLACK COMMUNITIES IN OKLAHOMA AND FLORIDA THAT WERE MAKING IT ON THEIR OWN. AND THAT IS ERADICATE THEM. I GUESS WE WILL FOREVER BE ARGUING THIS SCENARIO. BUT I DON’T BELIEVE THAT NEGROES WOULD BE ANY WORSE OFF IF THEY, NAACP, HAD CHOSEN THE PATH I SUGGEST HERE. IN FACT THERE IS MUCH TO BELIEVE THAT WE WOULD BE A LOT BETTER OFF. WITH INTACT COMMUNITIES, FAMILIES AND PRIDE. WITH A GOOD, HEALTHY SELF-ESTEEM.


PEACE.LOVE.HAPPINESS

INTERVIEW WITH THURGOOD MARSHALL: A SCENARIO

AN INTERVIEW WITH THURGOOD MARSHALL
By JOSEPH D. BOONE
Circa 1994

JDB: JUSTICE MARSHALL, THIS INTERVIEW IS BASED MAINLY ON YOUR INVOLVEMENT IN BROWN v. BOARD OF EDUCATION. BUT I WOULD LIKE TO ASK A FEW BACKGROUND QUESTIONS IF YOU DON’T MIND. SIR, WHEN AND WHERE WERE YOU BORN?

JTM: I WAS BORN IN THE EARLY PART OF THIS CENTURY, IN 1908 TO BE EXACT, IN BALTIMORE, MD.

JDB: WHAT DID YOUR PARENTS DO FOR A LIVING AND WHAT WERE THEY LIKE AS PARENTS?

JTM: BOTH OF MY PARENTS WORKED. MY MOTHER WAS A SCHOOLTEACHER AND MY FATHER WAS A PULLMAN PORTER WHO LATER BECAME HEAD STEWARD AT A WEALTHY COUNTRY CLUB ON THE SHORES OF CHESAPEAKE BAY. MY PARENTS WERE HARDWORKING MIDDLE-CLASS, FOR THAT TIME, AMERICANS. THEY, LIKE OTHERS, WANTED THE BEST FOR ME AND WANTED ME TO DO MY BEST. I HOPE I ACHIEVED THAT GOAL.

JDB: WHAT WAS YOUR EDUCATION LIKE AND WERE DID YOU GO TO COLLEGE?

JTM: I ATTENDED ALL NEGRO SCHOOLS IN BALTIMORE; MOTHER, WHO WAS, AS I SAID A SCHOOLTEACHER, SUPPLEMENTED MY EDUCATION. I WENT TO AND GRADUATED FROM LINCOLN UNIVERSITY, A SMALL NEGRO SCHOOL IN PENNSYLVANIA. I WANTED TO GO TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND LAW SCHOOL BUT THEY WOULD NOT ADMIT NEGROES. SO I WENT TO AND GRADUATED FROM THE HOWARD UNIVERSITY LAW SCHOOL.

JDB: IS THE REASON WHY YOU FOUGHT FOR DESEGREGATION OF THE SCHOOL SYSTEM BECAUSE YOU COULD NOT GET INTO THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND LAW SCHOOL?

JTM: PARTLY, BUT THE MAIN REASON WAS AND STILL IS BECAUSE IT WAS AND IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO. YOU MUST REMEMBER THAT WE WERE AND STILL ARE TALKING ABOUT BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS. AND NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS, GOOD, BAD OR INDIFFERENT, IT IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO. BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS IS JUST THAT BASIC, FUNDAMENTAL, NEVER CHANGING, HUMAN RIGHTS. WHILE IT MAY BE TRUE THAT LAWS AND CONSTITUTIONS DO NOT ACT TO RIGHT WRONG AND OVERTURN ESTABLISHED FOLKWAYS OVERNIGHT, IT IS ALSO TRUE THAT THE REAFFIRMATION OF THESE PRINCIPLES OF DEMOCRACY BUILDS A BODY OF PUBLIC OPINION IN WHICH RIGHTS AND PRIVILEGES OF CITIZENSHIP MAY BE ENJOYED.

JDB: OK, BUT WHY DIDN’T YOUR TRY FIGHTING FOR THE “EQUAL” PART OF “SEPARATE BUT EQUAL”?

JTM: BECAUSE WHEN I JOINED THE NAACP's LEGAL TEAM IN 1936 THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT THEY WERE DOING. ATTEMPTING TO INDUCE OR FORCE IMPROVEMENTS IN COLORED-ONLY FACILITIES. IN ADDITION, AS YOU KNOW TO NO AVAIL. RESISTANCE TO “EQUAL” WAS JUST AS BAD AS OUR RESISTANCE TO “SEPARATE”.

JDB: OK, SO HOW DID YOUR GO ABOUT FIGHTING THE “SEPARATE” INSTEAD OF THE “EQUAL”?

JTM: WE DEVISED THE STRATEGY OF FIRST PERSUADING A PATRONIZING WHITE JUDICIARY TO GRANT FAIR TREATMENT TO A SMALL AND UNTHREATENING CLASS OF COLORED PEOPLE: EXEMPLARY, EMINENTLY QUALIFIED APPLICANTS TO PUBLICLY FUNDED GRADUATE AND PROFESSIONAL SCHOOLS. WE FOLLOWED THESE EARLY VICTORIES BY BROADENING OUR SCOPE UNTIL THEY FINALLY CULMINATED IN BROWN v. BOARD OF EDUCATION, WHICH MANDATED AN END TO SEGREGATION IN ALL PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND, FOR THE COURT AS AN INSTITUTION, EXPUNGED THE SHAME OF DRED SCOTT AND PLESSY v. FERGUSON.

JDB: LET ME GRANT YOU THAT WHAT YOU AND YOUR TEAM DID WAS THE RIGHT THING TO DO. BUT IT, DESEGREGATION, STILL LEAVES US, NEGROES AS A WHOLE, WITH LITTLE TO BE THANKFUL FOR IN TERMS OF RESPECT AND BEING LOOKED UPON AS HUMAN BEINGS EQUAL TO ALL. WHAT HAPPENED?

JTM: YOU MUST REMEMBER THAT WE ARE DEALING WITH PEOPLE, HUMAN BEINGS, A NOT SO PERFECT SPECIMEN OF LIFE. AND AS LONG AS PEOPLE ARE STILL FEELING THEIR ANIMAL ANCESTRY OF FEAR, MISTRUST, AGGRESSION WILL DETERMINE A GOOD PART OF OUR BEHAVIOR. BUT WE ARE MOVING FORWARD, AT A SNAILS PACE PERHAPS, BUT FOREVER FORWARD. SOMETIMES TAKING A STEP BACKWARDS BUT ALWAYS MOVING FORWARD.

JDB: I WISH TO THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME AND INSIGHT INTO WHAT WENT INTO BROWN v. BOARD OF EDUCATION. AND I WISH TO SAY THAT I THINK YOU ARE ONE OF THIS CENTURIES GREATEST HUMAN BEINGS.

JTM: AND THANK YOU.


PEACE.LOVE.HAPPINESS

FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF NINE ELEVEN

NINE ELEVEN
Wednesday, September 11, 2002

THIS MORNING THIS COUNTRY REMEMBERS 9/11 AND VOWS NEVER TO FORGET. AS A NATIVE NEW YORKER I FEEL ANGRY AND HURT AT THE ATTACK ON THE TWIN TOWERS I ADMIRED AS A SYMBOL OF NEW YORK’S GREATNESS. AS A HUMAN BEING I ALSO FEEL THE PAIN OF ALL THOSE PEOPLE WHO LOST LOVED ONES ON THAT DAY. I WILL NEVER FORGET, AS WE ALL SHOULD NOT.
BUT AS A AFRICAN AMERICAN I FEEL A SENSE OF SHAME THAT THIS COUNTRY CHOOSES TO FORGET THE TENS OF THOUSANDS OF MY ANCESTORS AND BRETHREN THAT DIED, PACKED LIKE SARDINES, ON SLAVE SHIPS. THE THOUSANDS THAT DIED WHILE SLAVING IN THE COTTON AND SUGAR CANE FIELDS OF THE SOUTH AND THE CARIBBEAN. THE HUNDREDS THAT WERE MURDERED BY HANGING, WHIPPING AND TORTURE AT THE HANDS OF SLAVERS.
WHY DON’T WE REMEMBER THEM?
THE PAIN I FEEL FOR THOSE WHO DIED ON 9/11 DOES NOT EQUAL THE PAIN I FEEL EVERYDAY FOR THOSE WHO HAVE DIED AND CONTINUE TO DIE FROM THE CHEMICAL WARFARE THAT HAS BEEN WAGED AGAINST THIS COUNTRY FOR OVER HALF A CENTURY. A WAR THAT HAS KILLED TENS OF THOUSANDS OF AMERICANS: BLACKS, CAUCASIANS, HISPANICS AND OTHERS.
THIS WAR THAT WE KNOW WHICH COUNTRIES ARE WAGING IT: AFGHANISTAN, TURKEY, FRANCE, ITALY, COLOMBIA, PERU AND MEXICO. AND THE CHEMICALS THAT THEY ARE USING: HEROIN, COCAINE AND HANNIBIS. BUT THIS COUNTRY CHOOSES NOT TO ATTACK THESE COUNTRIES THAT ARE WAGING CHEMICAL WARFARE BUT CHOOSES INSTEAD TO TALK TO THEM AND GIVE THEM AID.
THIS COUNTRY IS WORRIED THAT SADDAM HUSSIEN WILL ATTACK HIS NEIGHBORS, OUR “FRIENDS AND ALLIES”, WITH CHEMICAL WEAPONS. YET WE HAVE BEEN UNDER ATTACK FOR DECADES FROM CHEMICALS JUST AS DEADLY AS ANTHRAX OR SMALLPOX.
I WISH THIS COUNTRY COULD FEE THE PAIN THAT I FEEL FOR THOSE DYING EVERY DAY FROM THE CHEMICALS OF HEROIN, COCAINE AND OTHER EXOTIC DRUGS AND FOR THE LOVED ONES THAT WATCH THEM SLOWLY DIE.
JOSEPH D. BOONE, CITIZEN

PEACE.LOVE.HAPPINESS

STANDING FOR JUSTICE: MISSISSIPPI and the TILL CASE

Standing For Justice
Mississippi and the Till Case

"Before Emmett Till's murder, I had known the fear of hunger, hell and the Devil. But now there was a new fear known to me - the fear of being killed just because I was black." From Coming of Age in Mississippi, Anne Moody's autobiography.

Black Monday. that was what southern segregationists came to call the day the Supreme Court ruled on Brown v. Board of Education. "On May 17, 1954, the Constitution of the United States was destroyed because of the Supreme Court's decision," said Mississippi senator James Eastland. "You are not obliged to obey the decisions of any court which are plainly fraudulent [and based on] sociological considerations."
In Linden, Alabama, state senator Walter C. Givhan railed against the NAACP campaign to end school segregation. What, he asked his white audience, is the real purpose of the campaign? "To open the bedroom doors of our white women to Negro men."
When the Supreme Court handed down its decision, it did not include instructions on how the order was to be implemented. Desegregation began almost immediately in Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, bout most of the nation waited for the Court to provide specific instructions on how to end school segregation.
A year later, the Court still had not acted. Instead, the justices asked the lower federal courts, closer to the local school districts, to ensure that those districts "admit to public schools on racially nondiscriminatory basis with all deliberate speed the [black children]."
To many blacks, the Court's delay and the vague wording of its eventual decree were a bitter disappointment. "I remember the great elation that I had-how wonderful I felt the country was and the Constitution [after the 1954 ruling]...," said one civil rights attorney. "I felt and equally strong sense of depression and bitterness a year later when the Court came out with the "all deliberate speed' formulation. I had the feeling that we'd won a hollow victory."
President Eisenhower distanced himself from the Court's actions. "It makes no difference whether or not I endorse it," he said. "The Constitution is as the Supreme Court interprets it and I must conform to that and do my very best to see that it is carried out in this country." But later he commented that his appointment of Earl warren was "the biggest damn-fool mistake I ever made." He told one of his aides in the White House, "I am convinced that the Supreme Court decision set back progress in the South at least fifteen years."In Mississippi, unarguable the most supremacist and segregated state in the country, whites' anger over the ruling fueled violent segregationist backlash. Gangs of whites committed beatings, burnings, and lynchings-murder by mob. The Supreme Court decision also spurred the formation of a new kind of white hate group, composed of urban, middle-class whites determined to fight desegregation. They called themselves the Citizens' Council, and civil rights activists dubbed them the "white-collar Klan," after the Ku Klux Klan.

PEACE.LOVE.HAPPINESS

Friendship Is A Strange Thing......Marcie Simpson

Friendship is a strange thing .
We find ourselves telling each other the deepest details of our lives... things we don't
even share with our families.
But what is a friend? A confidant? A lover? A shoulder to cry on? An ear to listen? A
heart to feel?
A friend is all of these things and more. No matter where we met, no matter how long
we've been together... I call you a friend.
A word so small, yet so large in feeling, a word filled with emotion, a word overflowing
with LOVE.
Truly great things come in small packages. Once the package of friendship has been
opened, it can never be closed.
It is a constant book always waiting... waiting to be read... and enjoyed. We may have our
disagreements... we may have our disappointments... we may argue... we may concern
one another.
Friendship is a unique bond that lasts through all tribulations and part of each of us goes
into our friendships... our humor... our experiences... our tears.
Friendships are foundations... necessary for life... and love.
Women are like Apples
Women are like apples on trees. The best ones are at the top of the tree. Most men don't
want to reach for the good ones because they are afraid of falling and getting hurt.
Instead, they just take the rotten apples from the ground that aren't as good, but easy.......
The apples at the top think something is wrong with them, when in reality, they're
amazing.
They just have to wait for the right man to come along, the one who's brave enough to
climb all the way to the top of the tree.
Share this with other women who are good apples, even those who have already been
picked!

Now Men....
Men are like a fine wine. They begin as grapes, and it's up to women to stomp the shit out of them until they turn into something acceptable to have dinner with.

Doesn't that just warm your heart....????


PEACE.LOVE.HAPPINESS

Article about a TV reporter with Vitilago.

This article is about a TV reporter with Vitilago, the same skin condition that Michael Jackson has and as does thousands of people, including myself .

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071223/FEATURES/712230309/1010/ARCHIVES

PEACE.LOVE.HAPPINESS

Toni Morrison's Letter to Barack Obama

Toni Morrison's Letter to Barack Obama

Getty Images

Dear Senator Obama, This letter represents a first for me--a public endorsement of a Presidential candidate. I feel driven to let you know why I am writing it. One reason is it may help gather other supporters; another is that this is one of those singular moments that nations ignore at their peril. I will not rehearse the multiple crises facing us, but of one thing I am certain: this opportunity for a national evolution (even revolution) will not come again soon, and I am convinced you are the person to capture it. May I describe to you my thoughts? I have admired Senator Clinton for years. Her knowledge always seemed to me exhaustive; her negotiation of politics expert. However I am more compelled by the quality of mind (as far as I can measure it) of a candidate. I cared little for her gender as a source of my admiration, and the little I did care was based on the fact that no liberal woman has ever ruled in America. Only conservative or "new-centrist" ones are allowed into that realm. Nor do I care very much for your race[s]. I would not support you if that was all you had to offer or because it might make me "proud." In thinking carefully about the strengths of the candidates, I stunned myself when I came to the following conclusion: that in addition to keen intelligence, integrity and a rare authenticity, you exhibit something that has nothing to do with age, experience, race or gender and something I don't see in other candidates. That something is a creative imagination which coupled with brilliance equals wisdom. It is too bad if we associate it only with gray hair and old age. Or if we call searing vision naivete. Or if we believe cunning is insight. Or if we settle for finessing cures tailored for each ravaged tree in the forest while ignoring the poisonous landscape that feeds and surrounds it. Wisdom is a gift; you can't train for it, inherit it, learn it in a class, or earn it in the workplace--that access can foster the acquisition of knowledge, but not wisdom. When, I wondered, was the last time this country was guided by such a leader? Someone whose moral center was un-embargoed? Someone with courage instead of mere ambition? Someone who truly thinks of his country's citizens as "we," not "they"? Someone who understands what it will take to help America realize the virtues it fancies about itself, what it desperately needs to become in the world? Our future is ripe, outrageously rich in its possibilities. Yet unleashing the glory of that future will require a difficult labor, and some may be so frightened of its birth they will refuse to abandon their nostalgia for the womb. There have been a few prescient leaders in our past, but you are the man for this time.
Good luck to you and to us.Toni Morrison

PEACE.LOVE.HAPPINESS

WHO SAYS WE'RE NOT HATERS?

The link below is to a youtube about a "preacher" in NY, railing about how "negroes" have deserted Hillary Clinton for a half-white Obama. Now this "preacher" is as light skinned as Obama and doesn't have the pureness of Obama's African father. This is a man who doesn't even know who his ancestors are. Obama can trace his ancestry all the way to Africa.
It is a Very Sad commentary on Black Folks.

http://www.youtube.com:80/watch?v=OgtIqeV-6mk

GOOD ADVICE

Chinese Good Luck Tantra Totem
You may not believe in this but the advice is great!

ONE. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.
TWO. Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other.
THREE. Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all youwant.
FOUR. When you say, "I love you", mean it.
FIVE. When you say, "I'm sorry", look the person in the eye.
SIX. Be engaged at least six months before you get married.
SEVEN. Believe in love at first sight.
EIGHT. Never laugh at anyone's dreams. People who don't have dreams don't have much. NINE. Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it's the only way to live life completely.
TEN. In disagreements, fight fairly. Please No name calling.
ELEVEN. Don't judge people by their relatives.
TWELVE. Talk slowly but think quickly.
THIRTEEN. When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smile and ask, "Why do you want to know?"
FOURTEEN. Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
FIFTEEN. Say "bless you" when you hear someone sneeze.
SIXTEEN. When you lose, don't lose the lesson.
SEVENTEEN. Remember the three R's: Respect for self; Respect for others; Responsibility for all your actions.
EIGHTEEN. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
NINETEEN. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it. TWENTY. Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice.
TWENTY ONE. Spend some time alone.

PEACE.LOVE.HAPPINESS

10 Truths About Whites, Hispanics & Blacks

10 Truths About Whites, Hispanics & Blacks

10 Truths Black and Hispanic people know but
White people won't admit.

1. Elvis is dead.
2. Jesus was not white.
3. Rap music is here to stay.
4. Kissing your pet is not cute or clean.
5. Skinny does not equal sexy.
6. Thomas Jefferson had black children.
7. A 5 year old is too big for a stroller.
8. N'SYNC will never hold a candle to the Jackson 5.
9. An occasional BUTT whooping helps a child stay in line.
10. Having your children curse you out in public is not normal.

10 Truths White and Black People know but
Hispanic people wont admit.

1. Hickeys are not attractive.
2. Chicken is food not a pet or a roommate.
3. Jesus is not a name for your son.
4. Your country flag is not a car decoration.
5. Maria is a name but not for every daughter.
6. 10 people to a car is considered too many.
7. "Jump out and run" is not in any insurance policies.
8. Buttoning just the top button of your shirt is a bad fashion statement.
9. Mami & Papi can't possibly be the nickname of every person in your family.
10. Letting your children run wildly through the store is not normal.

10 Truths white and Hispanic people know but
Black people wont admit

1. O.J. did it.
2. Tupac is dead.
3. Teeth shouldn't be decorated.
4. Weddings should start on time.
5. Your pastor doesn't know everything.
6. Jesse Jackson will never be President.
7. Red is not a Kool Aid flavor, its a color.
8. Church does not require expensive clothes.
9. Crown Royal bags are meant to be thrown away.
10. Your rims and sound system should not be worth more than your car.
Send this to 10 people to make someone laugh.

PEACE.LOVE.HAPPINESS