A War For Our Souls

 

A War For Your Soul-Birmingham version from Erisai Films on Vimeo.

This is deep.  I don’t have the words right now

The Grio: Debating race is a true American pastime

Cheo Tyehimba writes:

Ever since Henry Louis Gates, Jr. was arrested last week for disorderly conduct after breaking into his own home, I've been thinking a lot about Rodney King, who was brutally assaulted and arrested in 1991 by four L.A. cops. Of course, Gates' arrest pales in comparison to King's, but it nevertheless peels back another layer of America's obsession with race. Right now, I'd venture to bet that a producer at some network is booking King for a talk show where he's likely to weigh in on the Gates arrest. His likely comment: "Can't we all get over it?"

Nope. With a black man in the White House and people of all racial and ethnic categories hanging on his every word and reaction to any race-related issue, these are truly "mid-racial" times with no sight of a different hyphenate to describe race relations for years to come. And while the Obama White House is taking steps in the right direction, until our obsession with race gets satiated (can it?), no amount of Obama's playing Twister with his sound-bites will make a difference to the American people. Why? Because debating race is, and has always been, the true American pastime. Like an itchy scab, we just can't leave it alone. The media won't let us.

The media loves a good fight, especially across color and class fault lines, and so it never takes much for a story like this one to elicit a reporting spree. Every day since the Gates story broke, it has consistently ranked as the number one or two positions on Google's "Top Stories" page. Meanwhile, according to Center for American Progress Action Fund, approximately 14,000 Americans are losing healthcare coverage each day, and millions more around the world are clamoring for their stories to be told.

The networks will continue to regularly weigh-in on, counter, and spin headline-grabbing stories at the expense of reporting on more imperative news such as the global economic meltdown, two wars, the threat of an nuclear arms race in the Middle East, mounting terrorist forces, the swine flu pandemic, domestic social issues, and more. When you look at the bigger picture, one must ask: While the Gates incident is certainly a barometer of how far we still have to go with race relations, how much airtime does a small town quarrel really deserve?

For far too many folks, the media continues to dictate what we discuss over dinner, at the barbershop, and nowadays, more than likely, on Facebook. And despite the shuffling of the new media deck, the rule "if it bleeds, it leads" (read: divides, angers, causes controversy) still dominates from far-flung blogosphere outposts to mainstream social networks. Still, putting the race-baiting sensationalism aside, the media can't be singularly blamed for highlighting the inherent flaws in our democracy.

Until we really come to grips with the ever-widening racial and social-economic disparities in America, stories like the righteous black professor versus the power-wielding white police officer will continue to be exploited and used as grist meal for the distracted, media-hungry masses.

Sherraye Speaks – Stop Hatin’

As she walked down the aisle of the grocery store, I couldn't take my eyes off of her. She saw me looking at her and she gave me a look like, "B*$#@, what are you looking at?" I wasn't offended. I ignored her obvious annoyance with me.

I simply smiled at her and said, "Your hair is beautiful!"

And with those four words, her entire expression changed. Her face softened and she returned my smile. Her eyes lit up as she said "Thank you!"

Women are so hateful towards each other. We laugh, snicker, giggle, gossip about each other and we are in constant competition. Some of us have attitudes towards women that we don't even know. We often encounter the sideways looks and snooty glances of other women. How sad.

And what is it all about? Why do we do it?

<b1. Because we don't love ourselves.

It is difficult to see the beauty in others when you feel so bad about yourself. So if you feel inadequate, for what ever reason, it seems to be human nature to automatically criticize others to bring them down to your size.

<b>2. Tick, Tock...Waiting on Clocks

I'm ashamed to admit it but I watched the Flavor of Love fiasco, One, Two and Three. It was...entertaining. Full of what I expected. Women cursing and behaving unseemly, breaking their necks to win the clock from a man that they wouldn't give loose change to if they saw him on a city sidewalk. And I watched the show, laughed at their antics, heck...I even DVRed it in case I missed something.

Anyway, as entertaining as the show was or as pathetic as it was, the truth is, most women, not all, but most women have experienced their own Flavor of Love moments. We may not have played that drama out on TV for millions to watch, but we have all starred in a very similar show.

Don't think so? Well, let's see. If you have ever argued with a woman over your no good cheating man, then you've had a Flava moment.

If you have ever watched your man kick it with another woman in your face and he become indignant when you question him about it, then you have had a Flava moment.

If you've ever had sex with a man, or cleaned his house, or washed his clothes, or paid his credit card bill or lowered your standards, went against your better judgment, turned your self inside out and upside down to make him give you a chance, then you have had a Flava moment.

The circus called "Flavor of Love" and subsequent shows after it, is a microcosm of what women experience on a regular basis. We mostly hate on each other because we are after the same man. So we will claw another woman's out, belittle her, lie on her, start rumors about her, because we want the clock.

<b>This is how we can stop hatin' on each other.

Recognize that you are fearfully and wonderfully made and you are a jewel. When you recognize that, you will stop being intimadated by other women who are fabulous as well. In fact, you can celebrate who they are. You can tell them they are wonderful, beautiful, gifted, talented...

You can also get the revelation that you don't have to compete. What's yours is yours and nobody can get what's yours. And if anybody tries to take it, you go to the One who gave it to you and say, "Look, God. You gave me this and Sister Watermelon over there is trying to take it. Let her know it ain't happening and bless her what her good thing so she can leave mine alone."

Uh, but you can't do that if it's not yours. So make sure what you are trying to hold on to is what you are supposed to have.

Sistas and "Sisters", let's stop the hate. Let's build each other up and stop letting petty differences keep us at each other's throats.

The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world. Let's use our hands to build each other up, not tear each other down.

Sherraye

Derrick Brooks Looking Towards the Future

Former FSU linebacker and current FSU Board of Trustees member, Derrick Brooks is keeping a watchful eye on the process of hiring a new president as well as FSU's appeal of an NCAA sanction that could cost his former college coach, Bobby Bowden, 14 victories.

"We're going to try to do what we can to get the best guy in here," Brooks said about the search to replace T.K. Wetherell. "I've known leading up to his announcement he was leaning that way. We as trustees have to do our due diligence really to find someone to replace (him).

"The president has committed to us he is going to give us the time that we need as trustees to find the right person to lead us."

Brooks supports FSU's appeal in an academic-misconduct case that involved 61 student-athletes and an online music course. Ten sports could be affected by the sanction that covers the 2006 and 2007 fall semesters and the 2007 spring semester. FSU football coach Bobby Bowden, with 382 victories, trails Penn State's Joe Paterno by one victory as major college football's all-time winningest coach.

"We have to (appeal)," Brooks said. "Everyone is making about Coach Bowden's wins. It's much more than that. It's other things that are involved outside of football wins that we're trying to hang on to."

Read the entire article.

Dems Say No to Publicly Funded Abortions

Five centrist Democrats --Reps. Tim Ryan, (OH), Dale Kildee (Mich.), James Langevin (R.I.), Artur Davis (Ala.) and Kendrick Meek (Fla.) -- have written a letter to Nancy Pelosi urging that health reform maintain the "status quo" on federal abortion funding. Here is their proposal:

...we believe that a common ground solution is to include language in the final legislation that makes clear that no insurance company will be required to pay for an abortion except in extraordinary circumstances -- nor will they be prohibited from paying for an abortion, so long as health insurance plans offered in the exchange that choose to provide abortion coverage pay for those services with funds that are separate and distinct from any federal subsidies.

This solution maintains the current status quo in the private market – where insurance companies can choose whether to include this coverage in their plans and individuals can choose which plan (and what sort of coverage) fits their individual needs and values while ensuring that no federal funds are used to pay for abortions.

Lastly, we believe that health reform legislation should not preempt constitutionally permissible state laws that establish pre-requisites that a patient must satisfy before obtaining an abortion, such as parental consent and waiting period laws.

The letter contains no mention of the public plan. But by opposing "federal subsidies" for abortion, these Democrats align themselves with Republican abortion opponents, whose goal is to prevent abortion coverage under any new public insurance options, just as the Hyde Amendment currently prevents Medicaid from funding abortion for poor women.

None of the health reform bills in Congress would repeal Hyde, meaning that as Medicaid is expanded to cover all Americans within 133 percent of the poverty line, the poorest women will still need to pay out-of-pocket for abortion. (A first-trimester abortion costs between $300 and $400.) What reproductive rights advocates are hoping for from health reform is that the new public insurance option will offer some abortion coverage, just as most private insurance plans currently do. But with increasing numbers of Democrats allowing abortion opponents to frame the health reform debate, little short of an intervention from the White House can slow the roll of the abortion grandstanding. So far the administration has shied away from the issue. Here's hoping that in his televised speech tonight, President Obama indicates that he won't allow anti-family planning ideologues to delay reform.

Chris Brown’s apology…

 

No comment. 

Youth in the backfield for FSU

Jermaine Thomas has been thrown into an important leadership role just a year into his Florida State football career.

It helps that the newest Seminoles learning from Thomas are eager and attentive. True freshman running backs Lonnie Pryor and Chris Thompson are also talented.

"I have to do a little extra for the guys sometimes, sharing some of things that maybe other people may have not told me so that they are comfortable with the system," said Thomas, just one of two scholarship tailbacks on roster who participated in games for FSU. "I love their personalities – both are down to earth. Chris is pretty quick and I can't wait to see him get on that field this year.

"Pryor gives us size and he's picking it up quickly too."

Pryor finished with nearly 2,300 rushing yards as a senior at Okeechobee while earning Class 4A all-state first team honors.

Thompson, a two-time member of the Tallahassee Democrat's All-Big Bend team, was hampered a bit by injury in 2008 but rushed for nearly 2,300 yards and 33 touchdowns as a junior at Madison County. Thompson immediately impressed FSU strength and conditioning coach Todd Stroud when he reported for the second half of FSU's summer workout program last month.

"Thompson is an extremely physically mature young man," Stroud said. "He's beyond his years from a physical standpoint. He would be right up there with (true freshmen Jajuan) Harley, (Bryan) Stork and Greg Reid as far as being a guy who looks like he is physically ready to endure the challenge.

"The biggest adjustment for a running back here is the volume of running that we do in training and adapting to it. It's very hard on the lower back. Neither of the guys have really adapted yet so it's been a tough adjustment for them."

True freshmen are not allowed to talk to the media until they make a significant contribution. That shouldn't take long in a backfield that lacks depth following the departure of leading rusher Antone Smith and now Marcus Sims, who in addition to fullback also played some at tailback. Tavares Pressley, who sat out his first season after tearing an ACL, and Ty Jones return with Thomas.

"It is good to have some numbers back there," Stroud said. "You have a big back in Pryor who is a very physical kid and is very smooth and very athletic. Then you have a slasher in Thompson. Very dense, very muscular. Very good change of direction. You have two changeups with a 6-footer who is over 200 pounds (in Pryor) and a compact guy who can make you miss."

Noteworthy

Thompson and Pryor are part of a 2009 recruiting class that now numbers 18. Lineman Aubrey Phillips, who recently left FSU, is headed to Auburn according to AuburnSports.com. The offensive lineman reported to FSU last month weighing 342 pounds and had not participated in FSU's afternoon workout with his new teammates prior to his leaving

Seeking Attention Much, Shaq!

The NBA superstar will star in "Shaq Vs.," a TV series where the All-Star center will challenge top athletes in their respective sports. During one episode, which debuts on Aug. 8 on ABC, Shaq will swim against Olympic superstar Phelps.

O'Neal, now with the Cleveland Cavaliers, also will try his football skills against Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, box retired world champion Oscar De La Hoya, trade tennis volleys with Wimbledon champ Serena Williams and play volleyball against Olympic gold medalists Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor.

O'Neal will negotiate a handicap with his opponents and train for one week leading up to each challenge.

My response:

Get somewhere and sat down. He makes me soooooo sick. The only Omega I can’t stand.

Oh, Michael Steele…

The chairman of the Republican Party on Monday called President Barack Obama's plan to overhaul health care "socialism," accusing the president of conducting a risky experiment that will hurt the economy and force millions to drop their current coverage.

Michael Steele, in remarks at the National Press Club, also said the president, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and key congressional committee chairmen are part of a "cabal" that wants to implement government-run health care.

"Obama-Pelosi want to start building a colossal, closed health care system where Washington decides. Republicans want and support an open health care system where patients and doctors make the decisions," Steele said.

Asked if Obama's health care plan represented socialism, Steele responded: "Yes. Next question."

Obama has repeatedly said he does not favor a government-run health care system. Legislation taking shape in the House envisions private insurance companies selling coverage in competition with the government.

Even so, numerous Republicans in Congress continue to level the accusation at Obama and congressional Democrats, and Steele did so in sharply critical terms.

"Many Democrats outside of the Obama-Pelosi-Reid-Waxman cabal know that voters won't stand for these kinds of foolish prescriptions for our health care. We do too. That's why Republicans will stop at nothing to remind voters about the risky experimentation going on in Washington," the party chairman said. Harry Reid, D-Nev., is Senate majority leader; Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., is chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

The Republican chairman is making his speech at a time when Obama is struggling to advance his trademark health care proposal after a period of evident progress. Two of three House committees have approved their portions of the bill, while one of two Senate panels have acted.

But conservative Democrats have raised objections to some elements of the legislation, and efforts in the Senate to reach a bipartisan agreement have yet to bear fruit. Obama's attempt to impose an early August deadline on both the House and Senate for passage of legislation is in jeopardy.

A Washington Post-ABC News survey released Monday shows approval of Obama's handling of health care reform slipping below 50 percent for the first time. The poll had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

The president, who spent most of last week making his plea for health care overhaul, planned another pitch Monday at Children's National Medical Center. Health care also tops his agenda for a prime-time news conference Wednesday and a town hall in Ohio on Thursday.

Republican officials said they were supplementing Steele's speech with a round of television advertising designed to oppose government-run health care. The 30-second commercial, titled "Grand Experiment," criticizes recent government aid to the auto industry and banks as "the biggest spending spree in our history" and warns similarly of "a risky experiment with our health care."

The GOP ads show children who presumably would be burdened as adult taxpayers with the cost of the health care overhaul. The commercials are being broadcast in Nevada, home of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, as well Arkansas and North Dakota, states represented in the Senate by moderate Democrats. The ad is also being posted on the Internet, in coordination with a grass-roots campaign.

Separately, the insurance industry, which challenged President Bill Clinton's health care effort in the early 1990s, launched a $1.4 million ad campaign, its first TV ads of this year's health care fight. The multimillion-dollar campaign, being aired nationally on cable stations, restates the industry's support for an overhaul that provides universal coverage and its offer to cover people who are already sick. The ad campaign does not mention the insurers' strong opposition to creating a government-run insurance option.

An official disclosed the cost of the campaign on condition of anonymity as the numbers have not been made public.

In his speech, Steele broadened his attack beyond health care to question Obama's truthfulness.

The president "tells us he doesn't want to spend more than we have, he doesn't want the deficit to go up, he doesn't want to live off borrowed money. But he also told us he didn't want to run an auto company. President Obama justifies this spending by saying the devil made him do it. He doesn't want to spend trillions we can't afford, but he says he just can't help it," Steele said in the prepared excerpts.

White House officials spent Sunday defending Obama's health care proposals and stressing that Congress has not yet written the final draft of legislation that would dramatically reshape how Americans receive health care. Instead, they said, Republicans — and even some Democrats — should wait until a final bill takes form.

The Three Greatest Athletes In Seminole History

3. Walter Dix, Track
Quite simply, the most decorated athlete in Florida State history. Dix dominated his sport like no other Seminole ever has. An eight-time national champion, a 17-time All-American and an NCAA record-holder in the 200-meter. Spurning pro contract offers, Dix led Florida State to back-to-back-to-back national titles as a sophomore, junior and senior. He then went to Beijing and collected two bronze medals in the 2008 Olympics.

I’m going to be honest. I had a hard time with Dix. A part of me wanted to put him at the very top of this list. After all, has anyone won more trophies for Florida State University than Walter Dix? He was the key figure in a dynasty run by the men’s track program and stayed in school to get his degree when he could have left much sooner. He might deserve to be No. 1 of all time. But when you see the two guys ahead of him, maybe you’ll understand.

2. Charlie Ward, Football/Basketball
I wish someone could look this up for me, but I don’t know that it would matter. Because I think I know the answer. Has anyone ever quarterbacked a team to a national championship and also played point guard on a basketball team that earned a spot in the Elite Eight? I’m thinking probably not. Charlie was just that special.

He brought Florida State its first national championship and its first Heisman Trophy. He was clutch. He was calm. He was almost impossible to sack when he saw you coming. The signature play of his college career was of course the little flip pass to Warrick Dunn to sew up a 33-21 win over Florida in the Swamp. But remember, he also had to lead the Seminoles down the field in the final minutes to beat Nebraska in the Orange Bowl. Charlie was, without a doubt, the best football player in the nation in 1993. And yet he went pro – and was a first-round draft pick – in an entirely different sport. And he was clutch on the hardwood, too. As a freshman he sank a 30-footer to beat Louisville in the Metro Conference Championship game. He was just an amazing talent. Part of me wishes he would have given the NFL a try, because he was such a treat to watch in football (and the joke when he was a rookie with the Knicks was that he was the best quarterback in New York). But I understand the decision.

By the way, before he became a star under center as a junior and senior, Ward spent his freshman season as the team’s starting punter. That’s how insane an athlete he was – he could, almost literally, do anything. But then again, so could this last guy.

1. Deion Sanders, Football/Baseball/Track
Seriously, who else could it have been? Not only is he perhaps the best cornerback in football history (certainly no defensive back ever altered more gameplans), a two-time consensus All-American, one of the best punt returners who ever lived, an NFL Defensive MVP, a two-time Super Bowl winner, a eight-time Pro Bowler and a soon-to-be Hall of Famer, but he was pretty good on other fields as well.
What gets lost in Deion’s two-sport days during the 1990s was just how good he was at baseball. No, he wasn’t an All-Star and he won’t be in Cooperstown, but he was a very serviceable major leaguer for a number of years. He wasn’t a carnival act (hey, look at the football player trying to swing a bat!) at all. He was a legit major leaguer.
In 1992, he led the NL with 14 triples while hitting .304 for the season. In the World Series that year, Deion hit a stunning .533 with five stolen bases and likely would have been the World Series MVP if the Atlanta Braves had won.
In 1994, he stole 38 bases in just 92 games. In 1997 with the Reds, he stole 56 bases.
As we all know, he is the only person to hit a home run in the major leagues and score a touchdown in the NFL in the same week – will that milestone ever be reached again?
But that’s just his professional career. What Deion did in college will never be forgotten by Florida State fans (the responses to my last blog proved that). From “calling his shot” before returning a punt for a touchdown against Clemson, to terrorizing Andre Rison and the Michigan State Spartans, to intercepting a pass in the end zone against Auburn on his final collegiate play, to returning a pick 100 yards as a freshman to returning a punt for a touchdown against the hated Gators later that year to starring for the Florida State track and field team (he was an All-American in that sport, too) to helping the Seminoles to the College World Series as a starting outfielder. He did it all. He was confident. He was brash. He was unbelievably fast and undeniably talented. There will never, ever, be another Florida State athlete like Deion Sanders.

Sunday Sermon -- The Price of Fame and Fortune

I didn't cry about Michael's death until I heard that there was a possibility that he may have committed suicide. There was talk about how much debt he was in and how much he still suffered from childhood trauma. He was so misunderstood, yet seemingly had such a good heart.

I cried because I could identify with the pain. I understand what it's like to be misunderstood and to be lied on, criticized, ostracized by people who don't even know me. They just HEARD something about me and took it as gospel.

So, I wept for Michael and I wept for me.

There is a high price one must pay to walk in the places that a man like Michael Jackson walked in.

There is a loneliness, a feeling of isolation, insecurity, low self esteem that no one understands. You learn how to smile when on the inside you are dying. You learn how to laugh and tell jokes to mask your pain. Instead of confessing that you're hurting or you're weak, you become combative and argumentative and down right mean to keep people from walking over you. So people think you're tough...but if they only knew.

If they only knew the nights you cried yourself to sleep. If they only knew how many times you contemplated suicide. If they only knew how many notes you taped to the night stand because you made up your mind that tonight is my last night.Me and Mike are not alone.

The Prophet Jeremiah suffered from the spirit of depression and suicide like no other Prophet. When Jeremiah received the call from God, he didn't respond like some of us may have. When we go to service, and someone calls us out and tells us that God has called us to ministry, we feel special. We feel honored. We think it's a wonderful thing.We meditate on the accolades we will receive.We have visions of people applauding when we walk into the sanctuary.We think about world-wide ministry and the notoriety that comes with that.We start looking at airplanes and private jets.We imagine the entourage that will travel with us.We see ourselves living the life.

But Jeremiah saw something different because he knew that the life he was being called to would not be easy. He knew that his ministry would be the object of ridicule, disdain, and persecution.

In fact, God didn't even tell Jeremiah like he told Abraham that "in blessings I will bless thee." No. God told Jeremiah, "And they shall fight against thee..."Jeremiah's whole life was a fight. One battle after another. Not from the ENEMIES of Israel but from the PEOPLE of Israel. He had to fight the people whom he had been called to serve. Now I could stay right there all day.

So Jeremiah suffered from depression and you know how depressed people do. They start talkin' crazy. Jeremiah cursed the day he was born and cursed the man who told his daddy he had a son. He said he wished he had died in his mother's womb and questioned why he had been born in the first place. (Jeremiah 20:14). He lost his will to live.He got mad with God and said, "God you deceived me!" Anybody ever felt like God tricked you into obeying Him? Imma leave that alone.

But Jeremiah and Michael should have studied the life of King David. David also suffered from rejection afer rejection. He was hurt many times but you never read where he became overwhelmed because one thing David knew how to do...He knew how to pray!

He knew how to praise and worship his way into the presence of God.David took his isolation as an opportunity to get to know God. David was not accepted by his family so he would find himself on the side of a mountain, alone with the sheep and he took that time to fall in love with God.

He wrote songs that only God would hear.
He read poetry to the Lord and wept in His presence.
He sang to the Lord and blew Him kisses.
He danced in God's presence when no one was around.

If only Michael had known how to do like David.
Michael could dance his fanny off but if he could have only danced like David danced!
If only Michael had known that in His presence there is fullness of joy.
In His presence, He will give you strenghth for the struggle.
In His presence, He will speak a Word in your spirit that will carry you through.

So when trouble knocks on your door, and it will. When you feel overwhelmed by the troubles of this world, run into the presence of God. Cry in His presence. Weep in His presence. But don't give up in the face of a fight. For the suffering of this present time is not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us.

Til next time....Sherraye