Oh, How The Mighty Have Fallen!

Praise the Lord everybody!  Happy New Year!

One of my New Year commitments is to re-commence by Monday Messages.  As I sought the Lord for direction in this new season in my life, one of the things He clearly spoke to me is to go back and pick up the things that He has already commissioned me to do.  Some of us are asking God for more but we've not learned how to manage that which we have already been assigned to do.  More on that later.

It's no secret that my beloved Seminoles suffered a very bad loss on New Year's Day.  Everybody knows that the Lord speaks to me through football games.  As the Oregon quacks began to run away with the game, I started walking the floor speaking in tongues.  I got some oil and anointed Jameis, the offensive line and the defensive line.  My tv so slick if I try to pick it up it'll slip out of my hands.  I did all the things that USUALLY work when FSU is about to lose. I even called Jimbo and threatened to break up with him.  Nothing worked.

One of the things I said to God is, "Lord, you know our haters are waiting on us to lose.  They will laugh at us, they will pick at us, they will make me wanna cuss.  God, don't let us be ashamed before our enemeis."

Despite my prayers and yes, I admit it, even my tears, we still lost.  We lost.  Lawd, have mercy WE LOST!  

Am I the only one that has prayed, fasted, believed God for the victory only to have my prayers fall to the ground?  Am I the only one who cried out to God asking Him to deliver only to have it seem that God had turned a deaf ear to my cries?  

How many of you have been living life on the edge, walking by faith and one day the rug was snatched from underneath you?  Let me raise my hand.

2014 was a rough year.  The funny thing is, however, that I went into it with such high expectations.  I had Word after Word, prophecy after prophecy about how God was going to do this and God was going to do that.  I forgot that warfare always follows a Word.  

And there were so many people who were secretly hating.  Some were openly hating.  Like they did FSU.  When you are great and/or destined for greatness, you will always have haters.  And sometimes, God will allow you to fall before their faces.  Sometimes, He will allow you to be embarrassed.  Sometimes He will allow the news to get out that you lost your job, your house, your car, your husband, your wife, your weave...tee hee.  

But be encouraged because God never allows you to lose anything unless He is coming with something better.   

There are those who think the Seminoles should hang their heads in shame, not just because we lost but because of the way we lost.  Never mind that we are STILL 29-1 and have the best record in the country.  I'll take 29-1 over 4-8 every day of the week.  Devils.

There are those who think you should be ashamed because of what you've gone through.  THE DEVIL IS A LIE!  Don't you be ashamed of anything.  In this life everybody shall have a valley experience.  The mountain top is not a place where you can dwell all the time.  When you fall, cry, kick, scream...do whatever you have to do to get through the moment.  Then dust yourself off, pick yourself up and head back up the mountain.

This is not the season to tuck tail and run.  This is the time for you to get back to the drawing board and get some new marching orders.  Regroup.  Re-assess.  Reevaluate.  One defeat does not change who you are in God.  It is simply an opportunity to get your head back in the game.

It's not over for the Seminoles and it's not over for you.  WE WILL BE BACK.  YA HEARD ME?

When the mighty fall, there are those that will rejoice because they know that they will NEVER walk in those shoes.  They want to feel equal with you but they know they can't.  The most important thing to note is that when the mighty have fallen, we always get back up and we get back up with greater wisdom, greater power and greater anointing.

According to Isaiah 61:7 "For your shame you shall have DOUBLE..."  So the people who are laughing at your hurt, your pain and your calamity today will have to pick their lip off the ground tomorrow because God is setting you up for the comeback.  He's getting ready to prepare a table before you in the presence of your enemies.  That's why they lurking.  That's why you've got people watching you. That's why you have page watchers and Facebook stalkers. God needs an audience for what He is about to do.  They came to see one thing but God is going to show them something else.  

Tell ya neighbor in your Eddie Long voice, "Watch this, watch this."  LOL.  Hallelujah!!!!

Until next time, may the Lord God bless you real good

Single Mothers: You are NOT the Father!

"Mama, will you come and play football with me?"
I can't tell you how many fingernails I broke running routes with my son in the backyard.
I taught him how to throw a football.  I enrolled him in track.  I taught him the proper form for runners.  I was at every football game and every track meet.  I did all of the things that fathers should do with their sons.  But I am NOT his father.  By sheer definition, it is impossible for me to be a father.
A father is  a MAN who has begotten a child; a MALE  parent.
I am not a man nor do I desire to be.  I am my son's mother.  I am not, nor will I ever be able to take the place of his father.
There are a plethora of reasons that women are left to raise children on their own.  Some of those reasons are out of our control.  Some of them are not.  
As women, we can control who we give ourselves to.  We can control our own reproduction by properly protecting ourselves.  If by chance, you made poor decisions about who you gave your heart and your kitty to, forgive yourself and forgive the man too.  But do not try to put yourself in his place because those are shoes you can not fill.
There is a sinister plot of the enemy to devalue the role of men in the family.  Admittedly, some men have contributed to the ill feelings that women often harbor towards men.  Father's Day, however, is not the time to cast those dead beat stones.  Father's Day is the day to celebrate the men who stepped up to the plate and accepted their responsibility like real men.  If your "baby daddy" or ex-husband is not one of those men, that doesn't give you the right to to take credit for "being the man"  in your children's lives.
You are the woman.  Be proud of that and stop being greedy.  Your day was in May.  This Father's Day, allow God to heal you of any hurt you have experienced because of failed relationships and broken dreams.  If you will release the anger and pain of the past, you can make it and you will also be in a position to receive love from the next man who comes into your life.  
I'm telling you what I k-n-o-w, know,  the only person you hurt by holding bitterness in your heart is you.  
You are NOT the father.  Let these men enjoy their day.

Committee approves 'Stand Your Ground' changes

October 8, 2013|By Aaron Deslatte, Tallahassee Bureau Chief

TALLAHASSEE -- Lawmakers advanced changes to Florida's controversial "stand your ground" law Tuesday in the wake of the George Zimmerman trial and a summer of protests after his acquittal in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin.

But gun-rights groups and several Republican members of a Senate panel that passed the changes expressed doubts about the bill's provision that would allow lawsuits against people acting in self-defense if they negligently injure or kill an innocent bystander.

That was one of several recommendations that came out of a task force appointed by Gov. Rick Scott last year following the Martin shooting. But Sen. John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine, said he didn't think the change was necessary and voted against the bill, along with Sen. Rob Bradley, R-Fleming Island.

"What we're saying is we're putting them in jeopardy even if they're trying to defend themselves," Thrasher said.

The lawmaker largely responsible for drafting the 2005 law – which allows citizens to use deadly force without trying to retreat if they feel their lives are in danger -- opened the two-hour hearing with a defense of it.

"Florida's Stand Your Ground law has been the subject of intense public debate and scrutiny," Sen. David Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs, told the Senate Judiciary Committee, which passed the bill, 7-2.

"I think everyone has found it is an excellent, common sense law. But it is not perfect."

Simmons, who served on the Scott task force, said innocent bystanders deserved protection in cases where someone might spray bullets in the air or otherwise act with "negligence."

Simmons' bill, (SB 130) is being combined with similar legislation (SB 122) sponsored by Senate Minority Leader Chris Smith, D-Fort Lauderdale, although the two still have differences over how much protection to provide for people who use deadly force. Those differences, they said, would be worked out later.

"This has truly been an effort in which we have taken this issue, dealt with it in a bipartisan constructive manner and I believe reached a consensus thus far," Simmons said.

The legislation was inspired by problems exposed in the Martin case. The black 17-year-old was followed through a Sanford gated community by Zimmerman, a Neighborhood Watch volunteer. The two confronted one another, with fatal results.

Zimmerman was acquitted of second-degree murder last July. Though he did not claim "stand your ground" as a defense at trial, his earlier assertion of the law triggered massive protests and demonstrations and the verdict prompted a sit-in at the Capitol.

The bill would require sheriffs and city police departments to set guidelines for "neighborhood watch" programs like Zimmerman's and to restrict members to observing and reporting suspected crimes.

"After what happened in Sanford we want to send a message to neighborhood watch programs ... about what is acceptable behavior," Smith said.

Another Shot At Justice: New Trial Ordered For Marissa Alexander

This is a re-post from http://madamenoire.com/306644/new-trial-ordered-for-marissa-alexander/

It looks like Marissa Alexander, the woman who was sentenced to 20 years after firing a warning will have a chance to get the justice that she was initially denied.

The Associated Press is reporting that a Florida appeals court ordered a new trial for Alexander. The 1st District Court of Appeal ruled that the judge did not properly instruct the jury handling Marissa’s case. But the appeals court also said that the judge was right in blocking Alexander from using the “Stand Your Ground” law to rationalize her actions.

Which further highlights flaws in this law. If an abusive husband, who already had a restraining order placed against him was in her house threatening her, was not the time to defend yourself, then when is it?

If there was anything good that came from the acquittal of George Zimmerman, it was the fact that it sparked discussion about “Stand Your Ground” and the cases that can and cannot use “Stand Your Ground” as a defense. Even though Zimmerman’s attorneys have said time and time again that this was not a part of their defense, Zimmerman himself was well aware of the law and it prompted discussion about its use and fairness. This is how many of us learned about Marissa Alexander’s case and the outcome of her first trial.

We’ve reported, on several occasions about the unjust incarceration of the Florida mother of three. Alexander was brought to trial and sentenced to 20 years after her then husband Rico Gray physically assaulted her on August 1, 2010, a week after she’d given birth to her youngest daughter. She testified that she escaped to the garage attempting to leave the house but the garage door was not working. She found a gun, which she had a permit for, and went back into the house. Gray confronted her again in the kitchen, charging at her “in a rage.” She fired the gun in the air and was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

And while Zimmerman killed a child and walked away free, Alexander, who had never been arrested before, was incarcerated and has already spent over a year in prison.

Hopefully now that the law has come under attack and we’ve seen the way it doesn’t actually protect anyone, the outcome of her second trial will be different.

- See more at: http://madamenoire.com/306644/new-trial-ordered-for-marissa-alexander/#sthash.fP3AgTld.mtga93NL.dpuf

Duval County School named after KKK leader asked to change its name

A petition with some 75,000 signatures is demanding the Duval County, Florida school district to change the name of a high school that is named after Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Confederate  general and the first  “grand wizard” of the Ku Klux Klan.

According to Marsha Oliver, chief of communications for the Duval County School District, however, it doesn’t matter how many people sign the petition because the process for changing a school’s name is community-based and the ultimate decision resides with the school board.

The school board was asked by the School Advisory Council in April 2007 to change the name but the panel voted 5-2 against it. The board’s membership has changed since then.

The school was named after Forrest when it opened with white students only in 1959, a name suggestion that came from an organization called the Daughters of the Confederacy. Now, more than half of the school’s students are African American.

The change.org petition was initiated by a man named Omotayo Richmond, who wrote the following to explain his action:

I moved to Jacksonville from Long Island 12 years ago. Since then, I’ve put down roots here. I’ve helped raise a beautiful daughter here. This place is my home now, and the people who live here deserve better than a high school named for the first Grand Wizard of the KKK.

That’s right, Jacksonville is home to Nathan Bedford Forrest High School, named in honor of a Confederate general who infamously slaughtered Black Union soldiers who’d already surrendered and who was a founding member of the original Ku Klux Klan. The school got its name in 1959, when white civic leaders wanted to protest a court decision that called for integrating public schools.

I don’t want my daughter, or any student, going to a school named under those circumstances. This is a bad look for Florida — with so much racial division in our state, renaming Forrest High would be a step toward healing.

Five years ago, the school board voted 5-2 to keep the name. But a lot has changed in five years. All five members who voted for Nathan Bedford Forrest have been replaced. There’s a new school superintendent who publicly stated that he would support a push from our community to change the name. Now is the time to right a historical wrong. African American Jacksonville students shouldn’t have to attend a high school named for someone who slaughtered and terrorized their ancestors one more school year.

In the end, I want my child to be able to go anywhere in Jacksonville and be proud of where she is. That can’t happen with Nathan Bedford Forrest High School. Please support changing the name today.

I for one say that it’s about time because this is long overdue.  While they’re at it, they should consider changing the names of Robert E. Lee and JEB Stuart too – Confederate TRAITORS!

BREAKING NEWS:George “Dough Boy" Zimmerman in custody after threatening his wife with a gun!

George Zimmerman was taken into custody today after police said he threatened his wife and her father with a gun.  I guess they looked “suspicious.”
What an idiot.  But I told y’all that God will have the final say.  For Georgie Porgie, the worst is yet to come.

George Zimmerman’s Wife Says He Has ‘Beaten Down Her Self Esteem’

George Zimmerman’s Wife Says He Has ‘Beaten Down Her Self Esteem’

The Florida investigative journalist who is the first reporter to sit down with George Zimmerman’s wife, Shellie, said that during their “stunning” hourlong interview, the acquitted killer’s wife said that her husband has “beaten down her self-esteem,” but she is “looking forward to getting her life back.”
Christi O’Connor spoke with ABCNews.com today about her experience locking down an interview with Shellie Zimmerman as the media focused its attention on her husband, who was acquitted of second-degree murder charges in the death of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed 17-year-old, in Sanford, Fla., in February 2012.

What a world class jerk.  Click the link above for the full story

Hobbs' Hump Day Hot Topics

On this day 50 years ago, Dr. King opened what would become his most memorable speech by saying:

"Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon of hope to millions of slaves, who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice...But one hundred years later...the life of the colored American is still sadly crippled by the manacle of segregation and the chains of discrimination."

Reviewing this opening paragraph by King forces me to ask: How much has changed from that day in '63 until now?

It would be impossible for anyone to suggest that there has not been significant progress in many respects for blacks in America over the past 50 years. Public accommodations, including hotels, malls and restaurants, are no longer separate. In '63 there were five black members of Congress, today there are 44 members.
In '63, the very thought of a black president was a fantasy but today, the Obama family has been a reality in the White House for four years.

Over the past 50 years, the black middle and upper classes have earned more academic degrees and money than at any time in history.

But a popular question that is often asked is what would Dr. King think if he was alive today? Had King lived, he would be 84 years old and very likely proud of the aforementioned accomplishments. But lest we forget that once the ink was dry on the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, acts that provided legal protections long overdue while eliminating Jim Crow laws, King switched his focus to poverty and the War in Vietnam. While King and President Lyndon B. Johnson shared smiles and hugs after Johnson signed the sweeping civil rights legislation into law in 1964 and 1965, the truth is that by 1967, the two men were not on speaking terms. Many of Johnson's white Democratic supporters who had previously supported King began to shun him after he called Johnson's escalation of the Vietnam War immoral. Further, as King began touring Appalachia and other hamlets of poverty in rural white America, he began to realize what we now know, which is that poverty knows no color and that in a nation with the material wealth that we have, how is it possible that people can go to bed and awake hungry, or ill afford to become ill as they lack adequate medical insurance when they are sick; that people are stuck in sub-standard housing or no housing at all?

These questions are often politicized and answered along well defined "liberal" vs "conservative" cliches with conservatives blaming liberals for wanting government to solve all problems and with liberals blaming conservatives for lacking compassion.

But these typical political arguments do not matter as much as what is within our hearts as human beings. Whether one is a Christian or not, the age old response from Cain after he slew Abel, "Am I my brother's keeper," is still very relevant. Should I be happy with my blessings if I know that others are struggling to survive? Do enough of us even ask anymore what can be done to ameliorate the issues of systemic poverty? Or, to query whose job is it to assuage the societal ill that is poverty; is it the responsibility of the government and if so, is it done through programs like the WPA and CCC under President Franklin Roosevelt? Or, is it done through the private sector, a sector, mind you, that is bent on making profit for its shareholders. While many corporations have foundations, how many of those foundations are specifically focused upon poverty and the sub-issues that result from poverty?

To that end, I suspect that King, today, would realize that the American dream is still very much a work in progress for a great many Americans. I believe that he would be disturbed by the increases in crime in communities across America including the scourge that is violent crime in black communities. I think that he would be dismayed that even in the wake of Trayvon Martin's murder that more young black men die from gang related violence than by being killed by law enforcement or what was the norm in his day, racist whites. And last, I believe that King would certainly take some black parents to task for failing to raise their kids in a manner to help them move upward.

But I also believe that King would be critical of the still pervasive systemic racism that finds police focusing more on minority communities for a number of criminal offenses. I believe that he would speak out about income inequality among men and women as well as red-lining and other traps, such as the balloon mortgages from the late 90's that saw disproportionately more minorities struggle to pay back home loans that lenders knew or should have known would lead to foreclosures.
And while it may dismay some of President Barack Obama's supporters who call this president the fulfillment of King's dream, I believe that an alive King would be dead set and vocal in opposition to the president's militaristic stances over the past four years, stances that once again has America on the brink of war in Syria simply because the president drew a red line on chemical weapons that he was right to denounce while refraining from hinting at possible American military involvement.

Toward the middle of his "I Have a Dream" speech, Dr King said, "We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now." That urgency still exists as far as many of the issues that I touch upon in this blog. Indeed, the very ideas of liberty and freedom, which King interposed during his powerful finale 50 years ago by projecting a series of "let freedom ring" posits, remain lofty concepts that revert back to the Founding Fathers. This week, Time magazine placed Dr. King on its cover and called him a "Founding Father." High praise, yes, but well deserved when considering how King's words served to rattle the conscience of the most important demographic in America---the "fence sitter," one who is lukewarm and neither cold nor hot. The ones who knew back then that the images of young black men and women being beaten senseless on television sets was wrong and yet did nothing to address it.

Today, the lukewarm reside among us all with respect to eradicating poverty and espousing a foreign policy that does not make us the world's cop ad infinitum. So as we all commemorate and smile about how far we have come since Dr. King revealed his dream in '63, let us commit ourselves to working to end the nightmare that far too many Americans and those who depend us for leadership around the globe continue to experience.

Chuck Hobbs, Esq., host and lead commentator for Generation NEXT is a trial lawyer, award-winning freelance writer and lecturer based in Tallahassee, Florida.  During the past decade he has appeared in a number of high profile cases including the 2003 gambling trial of former Florida State University quarterback Adrian McPherson and the 2006 Florida A&M University (FAMU) Kappa Alpha Psi hazing trial, both carried live on Court TV; the 2009 Rachel Hoffman murder case featured on Dateline NBC as well as his work as co-counsel in the 2011 wrongful termination of FAMU Marching 100 Band Director Dr. Julian E. White, who was initially fired and quickly reinstated by the university following the hazing death of drum major Robert Champion.

Zimmerman's wife pleads guilty to perjury

Shellie, “Miss Piggy” Zimmerman, the wife of acquitted murderer,  George “Fat Boy”  Zimmerman, pleaded guilty yesterday to a misdemeanor charge of perjury.

She will be placed on probation for one year and is required to file a letter of apology to Judge Kenneth Lester.

That’s it?  SMH…

Say That

"Trayvon Martin voters have the potential to become a critical mass influencing several important issues, including stand-your-ground laws, racial-profiling laws and stop-and-frisk policies. Typically, the voter turnout in midterm elections is dramatically diminished from presidential-election years. We can, however, make sure that in the upcoming midterm election Democrats, Republicans and independents across the country turn out to vote for Trayvon Martin amendments. Trayvon voters have a clear cause: capturing the passion over the devastating verdict returned in the trial of George Zimmerman and transforming these feelings into actions that can and will make a difference.
Simply put, this is your chance to vote for Trayvon.” ~ Benjamin L. Crump, Esq

Alan Williams, Florida Democrat, Sponsors “Stand Your Ground” Repeal

"It's not about gun control. It's about self-control," Rep. Williams recently told a radio station. "We hunt too. But we don't hunt young men minding their own business."

An outspoken critic of Florida's "Stand Your Ground" has officially filed a bill to repeal the controversial self-defense law.

Back in 2005, Florida was the first of 21 states to enact "Stand Your Ground," which allows people in fear of serious injury to use deadly force to defend themselves rather than retreat. It expanded on Florida's previous self-defense law, the castle doctrine, by permitting use of such force outside of one's home or vehicle.

Monday Rep. Alan Williams, (D-Tallahassee) sponsored HB 4003, which repeals "Stand Your Ground." He sponsoredthe same bill last year, which died in the Criminal Justice Subcommittee.

"It's not about gun control. It's about self-control," Williams recently told a radio station. "We hunt too. But we don't hunt young men minding their own business."

The law has come under particular scrutiny after the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the death of Trayvon Martin. Although it was not officially used by Zimmerman's defense team, its language was included in the jury instructions and it was the reason police did not arrest Zimmerman for two months after the shooting.

After Zimmerman's acquittal, Williams announced plans to also file a bill clarifying the "Stand Your Ground" statue language, which is notoriously applied inconsistently across self-defense cases.

Last year a similar bill significantly revising "Stand Your Ground," sponsored by Chris Smith (D-Fort Lauderdale), also died in the Criminal Justice Subcommittee.

In fact, to this point, nearly every effort to change the state's self-defense law has been a dead-end.

In April 2012, a governor-sanctioned task force found that no major changes to the law were necessary. The finding was not surprising considering the consulting members consisted of the original drafters of "Stand Your Ground" and a handful of other known supporters.

More recently Gov. Rick Scott rejected activist group Dream Defenders' request for a special session on "Stand Your Ground," despite their 31-day sit-in protest outside his office.

Dream Defenders even gathered enough Democratic support to initiate a polling of lawmakers on holding a special session, but it was rejected by an overwhelming two-to-one majority.

House Speaker Will Weatherford has agreed to a hearing on Stand Your Ground in the fall, but he also appointed staunch supporter Matt Gaetz as the hearing chair.

And the push to keep the law as written was recently refueled by a questionable "unanimous" vote of support from Florida law enforcement. Florida sheriffs has since come out in opposition.

I applaud Representative Williams’ efforts to keep this issue alive, however, this is an exercise of futility.  Hopefully, what can come from this is a compromise in the form of an  amendment of  the SYG law instead of total repeal. 

Conservatives Are Calling For a Boycott of the Butler? Really?

Please take several seats.

Jane Fonda's turn as Nancy Reagan in the new film "The Butler" is allegedly angering veterans across the country.

An infamously vocal liberal, Fonda sparked controversy in 1972 when she visited enemy territory in North Vietnam and was photographed sitting on top of an anti-aircraft battery. That picture and her opposition to the war — she was once quoted calling American soldiers murderers — earned her the nickname "Hanoi Jane."

Fonda, 75, said she expected her casting to ruffle a few feathers.
"I know people say, 'Oh my gosh, Jane Fonda is playing Nancy Reagan,'" she told reporters while promoting the film last month. "But I don't think that whatever difference there might be in our politics really matters. As an actor, I approach her as a human being. I happen to know that she's not unhappy that I'm playing her."

But the Academy Award winner isn’t exactly doing all she can to alleviate the controversy.

According to a Fox News report from April, Fonda said veterans should "get a life" after hearing about the planned boycott of the movie. She reportedly said she knew her role would "tweak the right. Who cares?"

She also wore a "Hanoi Jane" T-shirt during a press junket last month to promote the film, according to the New York Post.

“The Butler” raked in $25 million  this weekend.  Those who are angered by Miss Jane’s appearance in the movie weren’t going to the movie anyway.  I echo, Jane Fonda’s sentiment:  Get your life!

Stand up for Trayvon Martin by amending ‘Stand Your Ground’

By Benjamin L. Crump, Published: August 16

Benjamin L. Crump is lead attorney for the family of Trayvon Martin.

As I travel the country, many people tell me they wish they had been on the jury in the criminal trial of the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. I tell them that although they did not have a vote in those proceedings, they do have a vote in establishing Trayvon’s legacy.

This vote, your vote, will be historic. It starts when you sign the Change.org petition by Trayvon’s family to amend “stand-your-ground” laws in 21 of the 31 states where they are on the books. It continues when you cast your vote in the 2014 midterm elections and each election cycle beyond until we make history by passing a Trayvon Martinamendment to the stand-your-ground laws in every state that has them. These actions will make you part of new voting bloc: The Trayvon Martin voter.

Trayvon Martin voters have the potential to become a critical mass influencing several important issues, including stand-your-ground laws, racial-profiling laws and stop-and-frisk policies. Typically, the voter turnout in midterm elections is dramatically diminished from presidential-election years. We can, however, make sure that in the upcoming midterm election Democrats, Republicans and independents across the country turn out to vote for Trayvon Martin amendments. Trayvon voters have a clear cause: capturing the passion over the devastating verdict returned in the trial of George Zimmerman and transforming these feelings into actions that can and will make a difference.

Simply put, this is your chance to vote for Trayvon.

Why is it critical to amend stand-your-ground laws? The Trayvon Martin amendments are common-sense legislation that would alter such laws to prevent the initial aggressor in a confrontation from being able to later claim self-defense. Stand-your-ground laws were not enacted to allow aggressors the opportunity to get away with murdering an innocent person, although this is, unfortunately, what has happened. Law enforcement officers initially cited Florida’s stand-your-ground law in their refusal to arrest Trayvon’s killer, Zimmerman, in February 2012. In large part, this law permitted Trayvon’s killer to walk out of the courtroom and back into society. Passing these amendments would prevent this type of tragedy and protect others, especially children, from being profiled, pursued and killed by aggressors.

In asking the United States to start a conversation about the tragic circumstances of Trayvon’s death, President Obama expressed his concerns and the need to review stand-your-ground laws. Sen. John McCain and other prominent Republicans have joined Obama in questioning stand-your-ground statutes. Even former Florida governor Jeb Bush, the Republican who signed the state’s stand-your-ground legislation into law, has voiced concerns. Regarding the shooting of Trayvon, Bush said in March 2012, “ ‘Stand your ground’ means stand your ground. It doesn’t mean chase after somebody who’s turned their back.”

Throughout history, positive change has come from tragedy. Society has learned that with time and through action, protests and national movements, change is possible. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 began in large part because of the brutal murder of another unarmed black teenager, Emmett Till, in Money, Miss., in 1955. It took nearly a decade before this tragedy resulted in the passage of the historic civil rights legislation. Emmett’s mother, Mamie Till Mobley, eventually got to see something positive emerge from something very painful: an acknowledgment that her son’s death was not in vain.

The 1963 murder of Medgar Evers, another unarmed African American, led to positive change. During his life as an activist, Evers organized voter registration campaigns, demonstrations and boycotts to end Jim Crow laws in Jackson, Miss. His death was an influence for the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

Even as we fight today for change, and may expect it to manifest immediately, it is important to understand that this process will take time. We should not, however, allow that to be a discouragement. We Trayvon voters must maintain a united front againststand- your- ground laws and continue to fight even at times when our efforts feel overlooked. No matter how seemingly impossible the task, if Trayvon voters remain steadfast, Trayvon’s parents, Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton, will eventually see something positive come out of something very painful : an acknowledgment that their son’s death was not in vain.

Bible Study Tonight on Talk Shoe

Hobbs' Hump Day Hot Topics

BAYARD RUSTIN: AMERICAN HERO

Perhaps few of the pejorative terms that have been used to describe President Barack Obama both before and during his historic presidency is that of a "Marxist" or "Socialist." While many of his opponents who use these terms probably could not define the terms if their lives depended upon it, suffice it to say that in some circles, the phrase has stuck to the president like white on rice.

Well, today's announcement that Bayard Rustin will awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom will certainly start the drum beat again from the extreme right as many of the vocal leaders of the same will scream "a-ha!" Obama is a Socialist after all!

When Rustin receives his posthumous award this fall he will join a distinguished group of Americans including baseball legend Ernie Banks, television mogul Oprah Winfrey and former President Bill Clinton, to name a few.

But none will draw the enmity that Rustin will in death as he did in life because of the fact that he was an openly gay black man during a time in which homosexuality was only whispered about if acknowledged at all, and because he was a committed socialist during the advent of the "red scare" age in which politicians and entertainers alike all feared being outed and shunned as communists.

If you have read to the last paragraph and still don't know who Rustin is fret not; Rustin was a graduate of Wilberforce University in Ohio where upon graduating in the late 1930's, he set about the cause of civil rights during an era in which Black American troops fought against Nazism abroad while living in a rigid race based apartheid system here at home. Rustin organized sit-ins and freedom rides during the 1940's, almost 20 years before the terms became forever etched in the American English lexicon during the height of the Civil Rights Movement. Rustin later served as one of the top advisers to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr and as we begin to celebrate the 50th commemoration of the March on Washington that King led in 1963, lest we forget that Rustin was one of the chief architects of the original march.

The FBI, then under the leadership of J. Edgar Hoover, in seeking to undermine Dr. King's credibility, focused squarely upon Rustin, so much so that during a meeting at the White House in June of 1963, President Kennedy scolded King about having "communist infiltrators" within his organization and that because of that, the lines of communication between his administration and King was in jeopardy. Not soon thereafter, Rustin's role within the movement begin to wane, but the six years that he had spent advising King and devising grand marches and protest actions still loom large five decades later.
The very fact that Rustin's name is not immediately associated by non lovers of Black History facts goes to show that political fears of a socialist takeover of American politics has often left key figures and players on the sidelines. At least with respect to Rustin, now he can come out of the historical closet and take his place among the noted luminaries of the 20th Century.

RUBIO ON OBAMACARE

Speaking of Socialism, one area in which some conservatives have dogged the Obama administration has been in comparing the Affordable Care Act, or "Obamacare," with socialized medicine. Never mind that some forms of socialism have existed by law since the 1930's including the so-called "third rail" of politics, Social Security, as well as Medicare and Medicaid since the late 60's; again, by calling Obamacare "socialism" and in seeking dozens of times to repeal it in the House of Representatives, Republicans continue to advocate no solutions for making the law better as they only focus upon methods to prevent or delay its October 1st roll out.

Yesterday, while attending an invitation only breakfast with Senator Marco Rubio at the James Madison Institute, a think tank located in Tallahassee, Florida, I was able to listen as Rubio, a key contender for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, described his plans to stall the short term budget next month. Rubio said unequivocally that he does not wish to see a government shut down, but that the only way that he could see the president avoiding the same is to ensure that Obamacare receives no funding.

Well, knowing that such is a non-starter for the president, most Democrats and even some Moderate Republicans like I, I felt compelled to bring to the public square that which I learned in private yesterday and note that yes, the "kick the can" approach with regard to short term budget votes simply allows the rigid partisanship and refusal to budge to remain while federal workers---including the military---pension holders and beneficiaries all could be in limbo.

As I've said before, if such is the case, then the pay and benefits for all executive, legislative and judicial branch employees should be on hold, too, until those elected to serve can figure out how to compromise as opposed to posturing.

CORY BOOKER WINS NOMINATION FOR SENATE

You want to see the second potential black president of the United States? Look no further than Cory Booker, the former Newark, New Jersey mayor who has garnered national prominence for his work in ameliorating the aims of that city. Yesterday, Booker won the Democratic nomination for the US senate and is a favorite to win the seat vacated by the late Frank Lautenberg outright this October. Booker is unabashedly liberal and during a future presidential campaign would have to very likely move his politics closer to the middle, nevertheless, his keen analytical mind, courage and ability to articulate grand visions and ideas certainly make him one to watch from the Democratic side of the aisle. Kudos!

HOLDER TO DECREASE SENTENCES

This past Monday, Attorney General Eric Holder---at long last---announced that the Justice Department will seek to end lengthy incarcerative sentences for low level drug crimes. For many years I have lamented the fact that state and federal prisons are filled with men and women who are drug users or low level dealers. This never ending game of "cat and mouse" finds people in a revolving door that becomes more costly each year to house the same in custody.

While I, for one, would like to see an outright end to the so-called war on drugs and see the same made legal and taxed for revenue purposes, until such gains enough of a nationwide foot hold, eliminating lengthy prison sentences is a good first step, with a second smart step being the removal of all mandatory minimum sentences that tie the hands of prosecutors and judges who cannot use their discretion to fashion an appropriate sentence.

Why do I say end the war on drugs?

Consider the following facts from today's NY Times: "there are 1.57 million Americans in state and federal prisons, an increase of more than 500 percent since the late 1970s, at a cost of $80 billion annually. In 2010, more than 7 in 100 black men ages 30 to 34 years old were behind bars. The federal system alone holds 219,000 inmates, 40 percent above its capacity, thanks to strict sentencing guidelines and mandatory minimum sentences. Of these inmates, nearly half are in prison for drug-related crimes."

The evidence is crystal clear that the war on drugs is not only costly to taxpayers, but that it is having a devastating impact on the black community. As such, I tip my hat to the first black attorney general who serves under the first black president for starting the ball rolling in addressing a system that so disproportionately impacts so many people of color.

Chuck Hobbs, Esq., host and lead commentator for Generation NEXT is a trial lawyer, award-winning freelance writer and lecturer based in Tallahassee, Florida.  During the past decade he has appeared in a number of high profile cases including the 2003 gambling trial of former Florida State University quarterback Adrian McPherson and the 2006 Florida A&M University (FAMU) Kappa Alpha Psi hazing trial, both carried live on Court TV; the 2009 Rachel Hoffman murder case featured on Dateline NBC as well as his work as co-counsel in the 2011 wrongful termination of FAMU Marching 100 Band Director Dr. Julian E. White, who was initially fired and quickly reinstated by the university following the hazing death of drum major Robert Champion.

30 Month Prison Sentence for Former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.; Wife Gets 1 Year in Prison | Black America Web

30 Month Prison Sentence for Former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.; Wife Gets 1 Year in Prison | Black America Web

Mary Mary Gospel Singer Admits to Trying to Stab Cheating Husband - Christian Blog - Christian Blog

Mary Mary Gospel Singer Admits to Trying to Stab Cheating Husband - Christian Blog - Christian Blog

Judge Sentenced to 28 Years For Selling Black Teens to Prisons

Judge Sentenced to 28 Years For Selling Black Teens to Prisons

Cover Up In Escambia County: The Real Story of the Devon Walker Beating

On July 26, 2013, Devon Walker along with his wife Tiffany decided to go out to eat with two white female friends.  They decided to go to O’Riley’s, an Irish Pub in Pensacola, Florida, that serves a mixed racial crowd but the crowd is predominately white.  While there, a young white man began to flirt with one of the white female friends.  Meanwhile, two men get into a physical altercation and are thrown out of the Pub.  After the two men are thrown out, their respective girlfriend’s get into an altercation as well, presumably because of what ever conflict their respective boyfriend’s were involved in. 
The young white guy who is flirting with Devon and Tiffany’s white friend, decides to play peacemaker and attempts to intervene in the altercation with the two girlfriends.   When this happened, security put the girlfriends and the young white man out of the Pub thinking that he was involved with the fight instead of trying to break it up. 
Eventually, everyone decided it was best to leave.  The young white man, however, wanted an opportunity to continue flirting with Devon and Tiffany’s friend so he invited the two white ladies to his trailer.  Understandably, the young ladies were not comfortable going to his house by themselves and said that they would not go unless Devon and Tiffany could come as well.  He agreed.
After the entire party got back to the house, the younger white man gets drunk and begins to use racial slurs. Tiffany told Devon she wanted to leave.  At this point, the younger white man realizes that the young ladies would leave as well.  In a drunken stupor, he yells at them that if they leave he will call the police and say that Devon robbed him. 
The older white man tells the younger white man to go back in the house. The older man stayed outside and continued talking to Devon, trying to apologize.  The younger man, however, went in the house and called the police as promised.  While Devon, Tiffany and the two young ladies are outside talking to the older white man, the police arrive. 
At this point, the younger white man comes out the house yelling, “This nigger tried to rob me!  This nigger tried to rob me!”
The “officers” sent everybody except Devon and Tiffany away.  They told the two men to go back in their house and they told the two young ladies to leave.  Once they were left alone with Devon and Tiffany, the two officers savagely and brutally beat Devon as his wife watched in utter horror.  She did, however, manage to record a portion of the beating with her cell phone.
Devon was taken to the hospital and no charges were filed at that time.  Only after 12 days passed and a social media campaign had been launched did the Escambia County Sheriff’s Department decide to arrest him.
Now, ECSO claims that Devon Walker’s injuries were minor and caused by the alleged physical altercation in the trailer park.  If that is so, how do they explain this picture which is NOT photoshopped:

And if Devon received these injuries from the alleged trailer park altercation,  then why were the two men not arrested?
If Devon injured the two men, where are the pictures of their injuries and why did it take ECSO twelve days to arrest him?
Escambia County Sheriff’s Office must think we are stupid. 
Realizing that Pensacola, Florida, is about to become the next Sanford, Florida, they have taken a preemptive strike and issued press release full of blatant lies.  Included in their press release, was this picture:
which is a hundred years old.   The picture that should have been used was the more recent picture at the time of his booking:

Of course, if they had used this picture, we would be able to see that his injuries still have not healed.
Somebody is lying and I’m the lie detector.  “For there is nothing hidden which shall not be manifested; neither was anything kept secret but that it should come abroad.”  Mark 4:22.
There will be no cover up in Escambia County. 
Read one of the four versions of the incident report here.

Well, Looky Looky: Guess Who’s Coming to the Doak

Florida State University announced today the appointment of Stan Wilcox, senior deputy athletics director at Duke University, as the institution’s new Director of Athletics, following a national search.

Wilcox was formally introduced during a news conference today at 5:15 p.m.

Florida State University President Eric J. Barron cited Wilcox’s remarkable depth of expertise in the oversight of athletics programs, business acumen, understanding of marketing, NCAA compliance, and experience in strategic fundraising initiatives as well as his track record of student athlete academic success as the reasons for the selection.

“I am excited about the future of Florida State’s athletics program under the direction of Stan. His exceptional portfolio of strategic planning and fundraising experience and his reputation as a motivator, effective communicator and facilitator, as well as a commitment to the education of our student athletes made Stan a clear choice,” said Pres. Barron.

Wilcox, who holds a law degree from Brooklyn Law School and a bachelor of arts in economics from University of Notre Dame, will plan and direct the overall administrative and operational activities of intercollegiate athletics for Florida State. The nationally acclaimed 20-sport athletic program has a budget of $75.2 million. As part of his duties Wilcox will ensure compliance with NCAA, Atlantic Coast Conference, and university rules and regulations.

“I am thrilled and very thankful to Pres. Barron for affording me this great honor. I have followed Florida State athletics from afar and through the ACC Conference; and have always been a big fan of FSU’s student athletes on the field and in the classroom,” said Wilcox. “I look forward to continuing in the great tradition of previous Florida State athletic directors as well as addressing the challenges and opportunities that this outstanding athletics program will hold. Go ’Noles!”

Prior to his role at Duke, Wilcox served as deputy athletic director at his alma mater, Notre Dame, from 2005 to 2008, where he supervised 11 programs ranging from strategic planning initiatives to football to women’s soccer. He also served as associate commissioner of the Big East Conference from 1994 to 2005, providing leadership and conference oversight for NCAA governance. Following completion of law school, Wilcox worked as a legislative assistant with the NCAA from 1989 to 1994.

This is historic and groundbreaking for obvious reasons and I applaud President Barron for his commitment to cultural diversity while pursuing quality candidates.  I, along with others, have been very critical of my alma mater in that African American representation is very low among high ranking administrators at FSU.  This, however, is definitely a step in the right direction.  These kinds of decisions is why we will ALWAYS be one step ahead of those crocodiles in Gainesville.  GO NOLES!