JEREMIAH 12: 8-10

…8"My inheritance has become to Me Like a lion in the forest; She has roared against Me; Therefore I have come to hate her. 9"Is My inheritance like a speckled bird of prey to Me? Are the birds of prey against her on every side? Go, gather all the beasts of the field, Bring them to devour! 10"Many shepherds have ruined My vineyard, They have trampled down My field; They have made My pleasant field A desolate wilderness.…Jer.12

GET AND CONSUME YOUR OWN!

Observing another eating will not assuage your hunger, any more than observing another drinking is likely to quench your thirst. Similarly growing up with someone with certain knowledge, skill, or ability, does not mean that you will acquire the same. In each of the foregoing respects: eating, drinking, knowledge, skill or ability, you must get and consume it yourself!

CELEBRATE COMMONALITIES AND SIMILARITIES

CELEBRATE NATURAL SIMILARITIES AND COMMONALITIES Yesterday, I read a quote from the late, great Stokely Carmichael which said that "politics proceeds from culture, which then turns around and defines culture." I have reflected upon that curious politics-culture turnabout since then. Culture is the soul and the soil of all. All things come from one's culture: politics, trade, family, education, religion, law, government, music, literature, athletics, ethics, bias etc. Nothing stands apart from culture. And each fruit of culture defines it, in turn, just like fruit defines each tree. Yet, the tree of culture is not free-standing. It, too, had its start, its antecedent, its predicate, its seed. That seed of the tree itself required soil, nutrition, air, water, light, to germinate, and to grow, consistent with its divinely ordered life-mission. A "divinely ordered life-mission" bespeaks a mysterious power, force, principle and purpose underlying all things, from the least to the greatest. That divinely ordered life-mission is seen, heard, felt, tasted, smelled, and intuited, continuously, in and outside of man, and on and outside of earth. This force, power, presence, has innumerable name and nuances, being infinite and infinitesimal; omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent. Some cultures call this unnameable essence "God," others prefer "Allah,"; "Yaweh"; "Jah"; etc. Whatever its name, it predates and precedes culture, politics and man. Indeed, they all and each proceed from its prior divine and natural order. So, Stokely's above quote, is limited by its context, which delimitation is circuitous and casuistical; meaning in attempting to resolve dynamics innate in (politics-culture) by self-reference, absent the preexistent and perpetual dynamics of the Creator or God which influences all is fake, vain. The task now for mankind and its burden is to transcend to overcome the confines and constraints of culture; and then to celebrate the natural commonalities and similarities from the One that made us all One.

GRANDSON'S QUESTION: PIANHKI

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piye Our grandson, Jalen, 9, asked me the other day how to spell his father's middle name. I told him that it, "PIANHKI", had several spellings, which are: Pianhki, Pianhky, and the latest one, PIYE. I wrote those names down for him and explained where Nubia was in Africa, and what "dynasty" meant, since Piye founded the 25th. Grandkids can ask the darndest questions from out of nowhere, it seems. Be ready!

unfathomable

http://io9.com/5858043/how-unfathomable-were-your-odds-of-coming-into-being

MY SPIRITUAL JOURNEY HOME

Larry Delano Coleman MY SPIRITUAL JOURNEY HOME 12/28/13 By Rev. Dr. Larry Delano Coleman Inquiry is the root of all understanding. By questions, one learns cognitively. One of my great frustrations with the black church, growing up, was its discouragement of questions, its apparent disdain of inquiry. One was expected to accept, verbatim and without questioning, one’s church’s doctrines, dogmas, articles of faith, rituals, teachings, and perspectives, even if unnatural or illogical. This grated against my spirit of inquiry. I loved science, literature, history. I was full of questions. Questions represented a challenge to the elders of our church, who were of limited education and understanding, themselves. Rev. Christopher Columbus Butler, the pastor at my home church, St. Matthews C.M.E. (Christian Methodist Episcopal) in Meacham Park, Missouri called me “the philosopher”. That characterization discomfited me. Even though I was dubbed such in the presence of my mother, a mighty woman of God, I still felt tacitly demeaned. Now, though, I accept that moniker and fully appreciate that pastor’s perspicacity. When I was twelve, they placed me in the adult Sunday school class, which I enjoyed, the short time I was there. My incessant questions, however, got me removed from that adult class and remanded to the children’s Sunday school to teach catechism to younger children: lessons from approved, prescribed literature. My request to teach a course in black history from Lerone Bennett, Jr.’s BEFORE THE MAYFLOWER in 1967 to the youth of the church was rudely rejected publicly and from the pulpit, by Rev. Butler. He had said “Black is ugly. Stick your hand in a jar of axle grease. Pull it out and look at it. That’s ugly.” After that brazen rebuke, I stopped going to our church, or, to any church, regularly, between the ages 16 to 26. It appeared to me that black church leaders preferred ignorance to insight. On the other hand, I craved wisdom and understanding, even as I loved our unique African American culture. To me, they blended seamlessly together. During the ten-year hiatus, however, I would periodically pop in and out of various Christian venues to see “if they were ready for me yet”. One church that was ready for me was the African Methodist Episcopal Church, (AME) although I did not, as yet, perceive it to be so. Also in 1967, I had attended a three hour lecture led by the renowned black historian, John Henrik Clarke. He taught about eight (8) of us, who had responded to a short article in The St. Louis Argus newspaper. We went on a life-changing five thousand year journey from ancient Nubia to 1967, in the basement of now-Bishop C. Garnett Henning’s, St. Paul A.M.E.; the Mother Church west of the Mississippi River, one unforgettable Saturday morning. The scales fell from our eyes. We saw ourselves in a new light. I recall going to the School of Religion at Howard University, where I was a student, in 1969 or 1970, to audit a course on “Black Theology” being taught by Father Deramus. But, I quickly discovered that course, based on Charles Cone’s book, had less to do with “blackness”—my area of interest—than it did with “theology” and “religion” which I could do without, I thought, largely because exceptions notwithstanding, it was an “opiate of the masses” to quote Marx’s popular canard from that frothy era. Dr. Charles Cone, also an ordained AME preacher, shook up, temporarily traumatized, Protestant theology with his books. Dr. Cone is best known for his ground-breaking works, Black Theology & Black Power (1969) and A Black Theology of Liberation (1970); he is also the author of the highly acclaimed God of the Oppressed (1975), and of Martin & Malcolm & America: A Dream or a Nightmare? (1991); all of which works have been translated into nine languages. His most recent publication is Risks of Faith (1999). I had breakfast with Dr. Cone, along with my wife, Lyla, in Maui, Hawaii in January 1999, where we also heard him preach, during a mid-year conference of the National Bar Association. We found him to be a warm and gracious man with sparkling eyes. Any dogmatic or chromatic theology, be it his or others', is mocked and circumscribed by the autonomic and immanent "nature" of God. This is true whether that theology is “black”, “white”, or otherwise; because, God is all in all! Having been raised in church from infancy, though, there were certain values and preferences which I found to be inescapable. For me, these consisted of good preaching, strong prayers, and good gospel music. So, I loved the sermons of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and others, like him, who used the gospel to address our concrete, day-to-day living conditions. I loved the fervent prayers of righteous worshippers, and I loved old spirituals and gospel music anywhere, at any time. Soon, I began to seek spiritual awakening in diverse fields. That is how I met Dr. Leon Wright, also at Howard, when I was in the law school around 1975. Here was a man who could appreciate my self-characterization as “a child in the wind.” He had studied in Burma among the Buddhists and had reached the depth only attained by 1 in 10,000 priests. I remember very little of what he said. I do recall his patient and engaged presence as I beat my spiritual wings attempting to fly. While at Howard, I also reveled with our gospel choir, and lusted after the portentous and powerful prayers of Dr. Evans Crawford, the Dean of Rankin Chapel. Along the way, I met members of the Nation of Islam, particularly Minister Lonnie Shabazz, Ph. D. in mathematics, who was the leader of Temple No.4 in Washington, D.C. who impressed me with their self-confident discipline. Always echoing in my spirit, however, was a sermon, I had heard on St. Louis radio, by a Reverend Ross, in 1968 which was laden with spirit, love and black historical power. My sister, Schleria, and I jumped into my car and drove downtown, when I was 17, all the while listening to the radio, in an attempt to find Ross’ church. We never found it. The message may well have been pre-recorded. The point is: I was moved by it. We were moved by it. And we, impulsively, moved toward it. Until I read David Walker’s1829 Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the United States, that radio sermon was the most stirring treatment of black historical theology that I had ever heard or experienced. That sermon by Rev. Ross—if that was his name--became the template by which I measured all others. During the summer of 1975, while at Howard Law School, I was a law clerk to Commissioner Benjamin L. Hooks, the first black commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission. Dr. Hooks was both a former judge and a Baptist preacher, and became a latent role model to me. He had pastored two churches simultaneously in Memphis and Detroit, and later became the Executive Director of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). He also owned, in whole or in part, two radio stations in Detroit and in Memphis. Moving to Kansas City in 1976, the “Bicentennial Year,” from Washington, D.C., I visited St. James United Methodist Church where now-Congressman Emanuel Cleaver II was then pastor. It was, then, on Gregory Boulevard. I also visited Unity Southeast Temple, where Rev. Wentworth Jenkins was the pastor, and various other churches, especially Metropolitan Missionary Baptist Church, where the blessed and beloved Rev. Wallace S. Hartsfield, Sr. was then the pastor. Rev. Hartfield, a graduate The Interdenominational School of Theology (ITC) in Atlanta, Georgia, helped me to sponsor the visit of Dr. Charles B. Copher, an Old Testament Scholar, and one of his former ITC professors, to Kansas City to discuss “Blacks in and of The Bible” during the early 1980’s when I was still publishing THE NILE REVIEW newsletter. That Sunday, Rev. Dr. Copher preached passionately at Rev. Hartfield’s church. But, this preeminently black, religious, scholar never mentioned anything about blacks in the Bible, as he’d done so well the day before at the Nile Company's free, public lecture, to my utter amazement! I’ve never ceased to be amazed by black preachers who hide or ignore the black history candle under a bushel basket, when given an opportunity to teach or preach! In the late1970’s, for another example, I recall mailing out over 170 packets of literature to every black church I could identify in Kansas City, offering free black history lectures, and black history book sales. I received one response, which canceled later. Maybe, it’s the people; or, maybe it’s their preacher, that rejects black history. It may well be both! It’s rather like the chicken and the egg dilemma! If they can preach Hebrew history, why not black history, I marveled? During the 1980s, I came into contact with Prince Aciel Ben Israel of the African Hebrew Nation of Jerusalem. This group had migrated from Chicago with Ben Ammi, its spiritual leader and founder, to Didona, Israel, by way of Liberia, during the 1960’s. During this same time span, I also invited Dr. Sulayman S. Nyang, Chairman of the African Studies Program at Howard, to Kansas City to speak about his book, ISLAM, CHRISTIANITY AND AFRICAN IDENTITY. We accompanied this Gambia native to the Islamic Center of Kansas City for his lecture presentation, on his book. There, we all participated in Islamic worship services, including my three pre-adolescent sons: Andre, Imhotep and Kemet. During the early to middle 1980’s, I had finished reading the BIBLE and the QURAN, along with other spiritual works. I had also opened correspondence with, among others, Dr. John S. Mbiti, author of African Religions and Philosophy, Dr. C. Eric Lincoln, author of The Black Muslims In America, and The Black Church in the African-American Experience and with Og Mandino, author The Greatest Salesman in the World, all of whose books I had read and enjoyed. During the same period, I had also taught a black history course through the University of Missouri at Kansas City’s “Communiversity” program entitled, “Black History the Sacred Secret.” In a further attempt to “heighten the consciousness” of Kansas City residents, I had also brought in such speakers as Dr. Ivan Van Sertima, of Rutgers University, who wrote THEY CAME BEFORE COLUMBUS, and who founded the JOURNAL OF AFRICAN CIVILIZATIONS. I brought in Dr. Tony Martin, author of RACE FIRST, a former professor at Wellesley College, from Trinidad and Tobago. I also brought in John G. Jackson, John Henrik Clarke’s teacher, who wrote INTRODUCTION TO AFRICAN CIVILIZATIONS and MAN, GOD AND CIVILIZATION, but who was an unabashed atheist. Yet and still, I was frustrated though by my lack of progress. In 1985, my overflowing spiritual, and ecumenical rapture, resulted in the self-publication of “Exhalations from my Soul” in THE NILE REVIEW’S final issue, with a beautiful cover by my brother, Alvin Kennedy Coleman. I had begun publishing THE NILE REVIEW in 1981, the inaugural issue being “Garvey Lives”. It sold for $1.00 was distributed at a public gathering in Swope Park. Ensuing issues had treated: “Back History: The Sacred Secret;” “Booker T. Washington: Our Great Redeemer;” “Black Power Revisited:” “The Strange Career of Dr. W.E.B. DuBois;” “Commander King: Nonviolent Conqueror;” “Throw Down Time: The Economics of Self-Determination;” “J.A. Rogers Rediscovered;” “Of Malcolm and Muhammad;” “Frederick Douglass, A Lion of A Man;” “The Haitians;” “Call of the Womb;” “The West and The Rest of Us;” “Of Nationalism and Capitalism;” [“Why Black Artists Should Not Perform in the Racist Apartheid of South Africa” by Leon Dixon]; “The Mis-Education of the Negro;” “Notes from the Motherland;” [The Ways Missionaries Did It: An Inside African Story” by Dr. T.Y. Mcharro]; “Black Man, Black Woman: Can the Breach Be Healed?” and, of course, “Exhalations from My Soul,” the textual vortex for future Quantum Inquiry Temple. This tiny newsletter circulated all over the world, and had been well-received by the late, great Dr. Cheik Anta Diop of Dakar, Senegal among others. That “Exhalations from my Soul” essay became my spiritual and theological bellwether. It still is years later. In 1993, I came to confess Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior on Palm Sunday, following a serious illness in 1992, while in St. Louis. While I convalesced at the hospital, I promised Jesus Christ that if he would give me back my life, that I would give it to him. He did, and I did. Having been hospitalized for twelve (12) days, I was blessed to recuperate, upon my release, at the home of my parents in Rock Hill, Missouri: Elvis Mitchell and Margie Dean Coleman, whom I overheard say: “We haven’t had a chance to take care of that baby in a long time.” That ironic statement caused me, a then 41-year old, self-employed lawyer, to laugh, inwardly; yet, I nevertheless reflexively assumed the fetal position in their bed, at the same time! Love is a great and true healer! Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church in Kansas City, Missouri, Rev. Alvin L. Smith, Pastor, became my church home; though, truth be known, I had been mortally wounded, by Rev. Wallace Hartsfield, of Metropolitan Missionary Baptist Church, in the spirit, the prior Sunday. Yet, with a little help from my friend, Elvis “Sonny” Gibson—who told me about Rev. Smith's black historical interest--I was able to stagger into and fall prostrate at the altar of Allen. He had preached “Looking for A Few Good Men,” a powerful sermon named after a then-popular movie. It fit me. But, what got me was the invitation that he read from 139th Psalms: “Oh Lord, thou hast searched me and known me....” Each verse convicted me. I was trapped, cornered. I capitulated. Following a four years as a licentiate, when I attended courses prescribed by the Dean of our Board of Examiners, Rev. John J. Hunter, I was ordained in 1998, as an Itinerant Elder by the late Bishop Vernon R. Byrd in the Fifth Episcopal District, in the former Northwest Missouri Conference. I am still an ordained itinerant elder with supernumerary status in the A.M.E. church, just as I am also still a Missouri attorney (admitted 1977) with inactive status. I have pastored three different churches in western Missouri: Brooks Chapel in Butler, Missouri; Grant Memorial and Ebenezer-Grant, which two later merged together, with my assistance, both in St. Joseph, Missouri. By far, my longest and most significant service was at Brooks Chapel in Butler. There, I organized the Amen Society, a benevolent corporation in 1999, which raised over $30,000, to commission the erection of a black soldier bronze statue on the town square to commemorate the first black troops to fight, and to valorously die, in the American Civil War: The First Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry, which fought on October 28-29, 1862, in a battle known as “The Skirmish at Island Mound” eight miles from Butler. That statue, by Joel Randall, of Edmund, Oklahoma, was dedicated in October 2008, amid fanfare, with funds we few had raised through faith and work. Just prior to joining the A.M.E.’s, my friend and brother, Robert Earl Easley and I, used to study God’s word and to collaborate spiritually with a group of evolving brothers under the aegis of the “Temple of Faith,” a voluntary association, from the late 1980’s through the mid 1990’s. On one occasion, we brought in the late, great school teacher, Jake Patton Beason, from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, author of WHY WE LOSE, who spoke at various venues including the legendary Epicurean Restaurant and Lounge, which was owned by Benny and Calvin Shelby, who were also members of the Temple of Faith. Our greatest activity was “Ceremonies in Black Manhood”, an event for Black men only, which was hosted on the night of December 31, 1989, at Metropolitan Missionary Baptist Church, Rev. Wallace Hartfield, Sr., pastor. Ritualistically climaxing with the hundred or so black men present, and the few black women who would not be dissuaded, coming down the aisle and looking into a mirror in order to “behold the face of God,” this event harkened back to the “watch-night” services attending the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation on December 31, 1862. Rev. Hartsfield befriended Robert and me, even though neither of us, then, attended his church. He saw through us, in love. Now, both Robert and I are ordained ministers in the gospel of Jesus Christ: he Baptist, with me Methodist. In 1991, at the prompting and guidance of now- Past Master, Robert Earl Easley, practically all of the brothers in the Temple of Faith were “knocked down” and raised up Master Masons in Prudence Lodge #6, Kansas Jurisdiction, Prince Hall Free and Accepted Masons. Shortly thereafter, The Temple of Faith disbanded. In 1995, the 2019 prophesy was revealed to me, by the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I had just finished reading about “soteriology”, the study of the history of salvation, in Pope John Paul II’s CROSSING THE THRESHOLD OF HOPE, when the Spirit said, “Look at your notes.” This was on January 25, 1995. I flipped open one of my scriptural note pads, and saw Genesis 15:12-15 highlighted with the annotation “Prophesy for Afro-America” handwritten beside it. Reading that passage, I realized in an instant that the 400 years mentioned therein referred, allegorically, to the 400 year sojourn through enslavement of Africans in America from which they would be liberated in 2019, some 400 years after the Jamestown, Virginia, captivity in 1619. That 1619 date was ingrained in me, after I had read Lerone Bennett, Jr.’s BEFORE THE MAYFLOWER at age 16. I have compiled and organized over 600 scriptural references supporting this thesis, and have published a summary of it in THE KANSAS CITY GLOBE newspaper in April-May 1995. I yet need to publish this prophecy-deliverance , and pray that God gives me strength and power to do so, when it is most expedient to do so, or that a publisher with puissance appears to relieve me of this “burden”, as Garvey says. Now, the Lord has revealed a new thing, which transcends “race” and retribution. In the early 2000’s I was the host of a radio program, entitled “A Little More Leaven” on KGGN-AM Christian Radio, which explored my evolving theological sentiments. I had also co-hosted a KPRS-FM radio show with poet/activist Lloyd Daniel, in the 1980's called “Point/Counterpoint,” a black consciousness version of “60-Minutes'” show. A few legal clients sought me out by reason of these efforts. In 2005, the National Bar Association voted into existence a new section on “Law and Religion” which I had been working on since, at least 1998, when I served as the NBA’s first Chaplain during its Memphis, Tennessee convention. In Charlotte, North Carolina, in 2004, the Holy Spirit descended as scales fell away from the eyes of believers, and able allies/attorneys like Rev. Dr. Kwame Reed, Calvin Allen and Robert Bell rallied to the cause. During the 2005 convention in Orlando, Florida, we presented our petitions for establishment of a section, and I moved for its establishment, which motion was referred to the Executive Committee, the latter voting us into existence during its meeting in Los Angeles. I drafted the petitions for membership signatures, drafted and implemented the bylaws, presided over the opening seminars. I deflected an attempt to deform or destroy the section by Muslims and other self-righteous “mendicants” during the NBA convention in Detroit in 2006. I was voted in as a “Guardian” or board member, and have served as the original historian of the section, from 2006-2012. I also attended our section's first “Church and the Law” Conference in Columbia, Maryland, in May 2010, but sustained a hemiplegic stroke—left-sided---in July 2010, which precluded me attending August 2010's New Orleans convention; our May 2011 “Church and the Law” Conference in Atlanta, as well as our July/August 2011 convention in Baltimore, Maryland. I have also written articles for the section’s newsletter. The journey continues. God ain't through with me yet.

BLACK SHOGUN

http://atlantablackstar.com/2014/09/07/the-world-of-sakanouye-no-tamuramaro-black-shogun-of-early-japan/

SPINOZA'S PANTHEISM

http://www.pantheism.net/paul/history/spinoza.htm Earlier today, I posted a short essay by Albert Einstein, entitled "On Scientific Truth," which provoked some interesting comments, though none of them addressed "Spinoza's Pantheism", mentioned by Einstein in the essay, as a basis for his conception of God. Having read Spinoza's "Ethics" earlier this year, contents of which were posted here, I knew that of which Einstein wrote. Because others may not be aware, I post this website so the curious might be informed. God bless.

SCIENTIFIC TRUTH

Image from http://www.deism.com/images/Einstein_laughing.jpeg. ON SCIENTIFIC TRUTH "1. It is difficult to attach even a precise meaning to the term 'scientific truth.' Thus the meaning of the word 'truth' varies according to whether we deal with a fact of experience , a mathematical proposition, or a scientific theory. 'Religious truth' conveys nothing clear to me at all. "2. Scientific research can reduce superstition by encouraging people to think and view things in terms of cause and effect. Certain it is that a conviction, akin to religious feeling, of the rationality and intelligibility of the world lies behind all scientific work of a higher order. "3. This firm belief, a belief bound up with deep feeling, in a superior mind that reveals itself in the world of experience is my conception of God. In common parlance this may be described as 'pantheistic ' (Spinoza). "4. Denominational traditions I can only consider historically and psychologically ; they have no other significance for me." P.261-262, IDEAS AND OPINIONS by Albert Einstein (1954, 1982)

Moral righteousness bankrupt

In an iniquitous land, where moral righteousness is bankrupt, justice and benevolence are useful only as a foils or disguises for racist, gluttonous evil.

STOP FATTENING OTHER FOLKS' FROGS

"I done been fattenin' frogs fu' othah people's snakes too long now." -- ----Paul Laurence Dunbar's short story: THE WISDOM OF SILENCE Translation:: I've been fattening frogs for other people's snakes too long. Morale: Make provision for you and for yours, as you've done for others too long.

ONE CHRISTMAS AT SHILOH by Paul Laurence Dunbar

http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/One_Christmas_At_Shiloh My gift to you is this special Christmas story from Paul Laurence Dunbar.

REFLECTIONS ON 'DYING DESTITUTE'

REFLECTIONS UPON "DYING DESTITUTE" On this Christmas morning, 2014, having just read of Joseph Bologne de Chevalier of Saint-Georges' virtuosity as a violinist, unrivaled mastery as a swordsman, and adept commander and equestrian, in France in the Eighteenth century, although born a mulatto, I wondered if it were so awfully bad if he also 'died destitute' and not rich, as the account claims? After reading of Bologne of France, I then read of Jupiter Hammond, of Long Island, New York, the first published poet of African descent in America, who was a slave his whole life, yet whose "Penitential Cries" paean to Jesus Christ survives his 1799 destitute death, for centuries. I again wondered if dying destitute is such a bad thing, given one's life's works, that are favorably recalled? Finally, when I reflected upon our Savior Jesus Christ, who was born destitute in a barn and placed in a manger or crib for a bed, from which livestock were fed; who also died so destitute that he was buried in the borrowed tomb of Arimathea, a rich follower; from which tomb he rose, resurrected, on the third day; I again wondered not only if dying destitute was so bad, but if living destitute, like Jesus Christ was so bad as well? I am persuaded, therefore, from the foregoing accounts, of Joseph Bologne, Jupiter Hammond, and of Jesus Christ, that neither dying destitute, nor living destitute, is so bad, when anyone has led a rich, memorable, fulfilling life, like these lives, which transcend the veils of time and space, to the glory of God!

SLEEP AND WAKE

Image from http://soccerathletics.com/wp-content/uploads/…/05/Sleep.jpg. Sleep and Wake The border between sleep and wake is troubled and transient. Inevitably, their struggle is a toss-up in which one side wins, momentarily, only to lose again. There is never a clear victor in this life, nor can there be, both being required for well-being. Their circadian tug of war is akin to that essential lubricious friction in human affairs whereby life is wrought, wrested, and reclaimed by grace from the nether regions of possibilities.

2015: POWERS AND FORCES

As we approach the NEW YEAR, 2015, resolutions are traditionally made. Indulge yourself! Do recall, however, that we are subject to powers and forces that are within us, and without us, which operate upon us, yet, independently of us! Be you through and true. Rejoice as you, feel, taste, touch, smell, hear: gravity, electromagnetism, general and special relativity; the strong/weak nuclear force; space, time, matter, energy, and the Holy Spirit move upon, for, within you, in accordance to God's will.

INFINITE DIFFERENCE

Image from http://www.datacosmos.com/wp-conte…/uploads/…/10/cosmos2.jpg. AMEN Despite all of the stupendous scientific and technological discoveries, with their ever-accelerating advances, that have been made upon the earth during the entire time of its human existence, the difference between what we know, and what we do not know, remains infinite, and will ever be so. Such an infinite difference does not mock man, nor science, so much as it acknowledges God our Creator. Amen.

OUR LIBRARY EXPEDITION

When I was 12, I recall lining up all of my younger siblings in chronological order, and marching up the street to our neighborhood library in Rock Hill, Missouri, which then occupied part of an old house that was later destroyed, when the new one was built. It was quite an expedition for us as we became acquainted with our new community into which we had moved only a couple of months before. Cultivating a love of books and learning is the greatest gift of all, that anyone can give another!

SUPERMAN

“Superman” was an avatar disguised as a writer By Larry Delano Coleman Monday, December 22, 2014 Ahhh, yes! I can feel, hear, and see it now! Daily ritual: After grade school, hurrying home to be in time to watch “Superman” on television. “Faster than a speeding bullet. More powerful than a locomotive. Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Look! Up in the sky. It's a bird. It's a plane. It's Superman! Yes, it's Superman - strange visitor from another planet who came to Earth with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men. Superman - who can change the course of mighty rivers, bend steel in his bare hands, and who, disguised as Clark Kent, mild-mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper, fights a never ending battle for Truth, Justice, and the American Way.” http://www.supermanhomepage.com/tv/tv.php?topic=episode-guides/t-aos Through all the montages, through all the episodes, indeed, through all the years, only now do I recognize this one implacable fact: Superman was an avatar disguised as a writer. Oddly, only now does this manmade, variable, sociological, occupational identity occur to me, hit me, resonate with me. He could’ve been a cop, or maybe a private eye. A lawyer, scholar, or body-builder/personal trainer. But writer? Why that persona? Why that ‘disguise?’ Was Superman more than just a fiction? Was he an avatar? Reflecting back upon that, now, I comprehend that symbols subtend myth and reality, which in some minds blur and conflate, leading to flying leaps from rooftops, by young white-boy imitators with towels tied on their necks. Not non-white me! I could see that Superman was no more ‘real’ than Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, or any other childhood avatar. Lucky for me, I could distinguish, could discern between myth and reality quite young. Some people cannot or do not. Therein lies the difference.

FORBIDDEN: INDEPENDENT BLACK ECONOMIC ACTIVITY

FORBIDDEN: independent Black Economic Activity Independent economic activity by and among blacks has long been historically forbidden, judging from such racist and heinous occurrences as: Wilmington, North Carolina; Memphis, Tennessee ; Atlanta, Georgia; Rosewood , Florida; Springfield , Missouri ; Springfield, Illinois; and Tulsa, Oklahoma . In these cities and other sites, urban and rural, from the 1890s through the 1930s, prosperous, self-supporting black communities were burned to the ground by envious whites on various pretexts--many involving the supposed "honor" of white women--over several days. White law enforcement authorities either ignored or participated in these horrific acts that involved lynchings, forced evictions, land confiscation, unrestrained mob rule, destruction and/or theft of personal property. This deracination of black businesses and business leaders explains, (given the legal complicity of the courts, prosecutors, media, and police), in very large measure, the lack of and the loss of that collective self-help economic tradition and inclination in black communities today. Its roots were destroyed. Where, for example, would white businesses be, if similar atrocities had been committed against such white, iconic business predecessors as Carnegie or Mellon or Rockefeller or J.P. Morgan, and their families and properties? That same spirit of hostility toward black entrepreneurs exists today. It is primarily manifested through state regulatory agencies and other instruments of state police power on all levels in their disparate treatment . Its exercise resulted in, mushroomed in, the so-called "War on Drugs" of the 1980s, under Reagan, that yet continues under both Democrat and Republican administrations. In this domestic "war" hundred of billions of their own tax dollars dollars were spent to abolish independent economic activity among blacks. Blacks were disproportionately thwarted, attacked and penalized by Congress, states, and media, for selling to survive an untaxed substance, as brilliantly outlined by Michelle Alexander in her classic compendium, THE NEW JIM CROW. I posit that it was the "untaxed" independent economic activity of blacks that was the object, not the deleterious effects of the drugs, that was the object or the focus of the Congress and of the powers-that-be in that cruelly destructive war. The public health or welfare of black people was certainly not their concern, then or now! Otherwise, the "War on Poverty," 1965-1973, would have lasted at least as long as the abominable drug war, 1982-2014. Similarly the "untaxed" independent economic activity of Eric Garner is what caused his death in his sale of loose, untaxed cigarettes. To the police he represented the same thing as a drug dealer. So, the product sold does not matter; the color and productivity of the seller does matter. This is a working hypothesis only. If you see matters differently speak up!

LACKING NOT LACKEY....

LACKING NOT LACKEY... Sunday, December 21, 2014 By Rev. Dr. Larry Delano Coleman It was never intended that blacks, or anyone, should be lackeys or lacking. The scriptures declare it: 13 For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened; 14 but by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may supply their lack, that their abundance also may supply your lack—that there may be equality. 2 Cor. 8:13-14 No one, in fact, is intended to be a permanent underclass, pariah, or caricature. All are made in the likeness and image of God. And all that God made was very good! This means, and includes, you and me. So, if you now lack, rest assured that your season of abundance looms with the certainty of the new dawn. And if you now enjoy abundance, rest assured that your lean days loom ahead, inexorably. So, share ratably, with each other, in season, when you may do so in comfort and convenience. You need no risk your own well-being to succor fools, who have caused their own calamity by sloth or inattention. The Book of Matthew 25 speaks to this, in the Parable of the Bridegroom: …2"Five of them were foolish, and five were prudent. 3"For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, 4but the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps. Life’s uncertainties require some prudential reserve for self-protection. Thus, those who try, by preparing appropriately; who make the good faith effort, are worthy of our help. Those who do not try, but who bury their talents in the earth in a napkin, out of fear of loss, are unworthy of our help. They indeed put us at risk, being of little faith, and not striving to gather. Exodus 16:16-18 says: 16 This is the thing which the LORD has commanded: ‘Let every man gather it according to each one’s need, one omer for each person, according to the number of persons; let every man take for those who are in his tent.’” 17 Then the children of Israel did so and gathered, some more, some less.18 So when they measured it by omers, he who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack. Every man had gathered according to each one’s need. “Gathering according to your need” is the divine directive and command. “Some more, some less” recognizes unique differences among men. Under conditions of divine equality, symbolized by the “omer,” no one need suffer. Yes, there are droughts, famines, floods, fires, earthquakes, storms, and other disasters, which befall men and women from time to time. This includes oppression, subjugation, exploitation, even castration by other men. This too has come to pass, has been surpassed and may repass in some form for all men on earth. Nevertheless, the word of God yet abides. For though men may be lacking, for a little while, men need not be lackeys, ever, declares the word of God. To be lacking is no reason to be a lackey. Faith and work deliver all. More gathering and less blathering also help! #30

QUIDDITY IS LUCIDITY

QUIDDITY IS LUCIDITY Property is to essence As integral as to differential; As Galileo is to Einstein As I believe is to I know! Woe to those who hear of that which is "integral" and think it means "important" or vital", rather than that it represents, stands for a concept in calculus:http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integral Of like woe is the fate of those who confuse a thing's property with that thing's essential essence http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essence TRANSLATION: This week I read a snippet from Galileo Galilei involving "properties and essences." That same day, I read a snippet from Albert Einstein that spoke of the "integral and the differential." I sensed , intuited that this was fresh, but did not know how to correlate any of them: Galileo and Einstein ; property and essence; or integral and differential, until now. I looked up two definitions: integral and essence; realized I was in calculus not social policy nor race relations, I.e. "Integration," and smiled--knowing there surely must be others who also ride along, blithely, neither knowing mode of conveyance nor destination of their apparent ride, due to a lack of exact understanding. Such has been the case throughout history, where the same or similar words or symbols have widely dissimilar meanings, causing mutual mistake of fact and law! Such is also the case, when belief is perceived as knowledge; where particular is mistaken for general; and where what is, too often, is confused and is conflated with what it is not. QUIDDITY means "what it is" in logic. Athletes and musicians are known to say idiomatically: "what it is, is what it is", as though to confound the paradox of it all; to invert a thing's stuff upon itself. So also do scientists, and folks just having fun! So have we done here in love. In love.

ENERGY SUBTENDS LIFE AND DEATH

Whether life may be: gift, property, potency, or mystery, it is definitely energy. Yet, its inverse, death, also energizes through the lives and lessons of others who have lived. So energy being invested both in life as in death is the one enduing constant.

DOES 'THE BLACK COMMUNITY' STILL EXIST?

A TROUBLING QUESTION OR IS IT? Is there still a "black community" as formerly understood and lived-in in 2014? Given integration, suburbanization, gentrification, the black community may now be only online, while actual physical habitats are just residuals, largely abandoned by businesses, professionals and bereft of the middle and upper economic classes like before. The "black community" of the '50s and '60s, with its schools, and churches is gone, and what is left is only an impoverished ghetto, crime, dysfunction with the lost idea and ideal of community; consequences of a one-way social policy of integration with whites

ROOTS (REVIVAL OF OLD TIME SUBSTANCES)

ROOTS (Revival of Old Time Substances) was a student group at Howard University, In the early 1970s. It was formed by West Indian and African students, primarily, who were science or pharmacy majors. I attended a couple of their meetings and have long since wondered whether that organizational tradition was yet extant on the yard or elsewhere?

ARTISTIC FREEDOM HAS LIMITS LIKE ALL ELSE

Plato wrote in his book, THE LAWS, that the ancient Egyptians rigidly required that its artists, artisans, and scribes conform to accepted forms and motifs for over 10,000 years. The wisdom of that practice is evidenced in the current Sony-Korea crisis, which jingoists will use as a pretext to fan the flames of war. Our First Amendment did not protect Paul Robeson, WEB Dubois, H. Rap Brown, did it? The so-called McCarthy-era communist scare and purges, and the House's Committee on Un-American activities did not care about any First Amendment, either. Artistic freedom has its limits, or it should, as unrestrained it can be lethal!

HOWARD UNIVERSITY LAW SCHOOL RANKS AMONG THE NATION'S BEST

http://hbcudigest.com/howard-school-of-law-ranked-among-nations-best/

KEEP ON WALKING

Life's journey is not a straight line. Twists and turns, starts and stops, highs and lows, and course corrections are common and expected. KEEP ON STEPPING.

sunlight is daylight

Emerson 's comment on 'days' stirred up my own spirit. He said: "The days come and go like muffled and veiled figures sent from a distant friendly party, but they say nothing, and if we do not use the gifts they bring, they carry them as silently away." P. 438, EMERSON THE MIND ON FIRE by Robert D. Richardson , jr (1995) I then wrote: Days are swift gifts of time, space, and sunlight, that must, by mind, be made to matter, or be forever lost.

PRINCE HALL'S CHARGE OF 1797 TO AFRICAN LODGE, EXCERPT...

EXCERPT from the 1797 CHARGE of the Right Worshipful Prince Hall to the brethren of the AFRICAN LODGE at Metonomy, MA. The great law-giver, Moses, who instructed by his father-in-law, Jethro, and Ethiopean, how to regulate his courts of justice, and what sort of men to choose for the different offices; hear now my words, said he, I will give you counsel, and God shall be with you; be thou for the people to Godward, that thou mayest bring the causes unto God, and thou shall teach them ordinances and laws, and shall shew the way wherein they must walk; and the work that they must do: moreover thou shall provide out of all the people, able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness, and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, or hundreds and of tens. So Moses hearkened to the voice of his father-in-law, and did all that he said--Exodus xviii, 22-24. This is the first and grandest lecture that Moses ever received from the mouth of man; for Jethro understood geometry as well as laws that a Mason may plainly see; so a little captive servant maid by whose advice Nomen, the great general of Syria's army, was healed of his leprosy; and by a servant his proud spirit was brought down: 2 Kings, v, 3-14. The feelings of this little captive, for this great man, her captor, was so great that she forgot her fate of captivity, and felt for the distress of her enemy. Would to God (said she to her mistress) my lord were with the prophets of Sumaria, he should be healed of his leprosy. So after he went to the prophet, his proud host so was so haughty that he not only disdain'd the prophet's direction, but derided the good old prophet; and had it not been for his servant, he would have gone to his grave, with a double leprosy, outward and the inward, in the heart, which is the worst of leprosies; black heart is worse than a white leprosy. How unlike was this great general's behaviour to that of as grand a character, and as well beloved by his prince as he was; I mean Obadiah, to a like prophet. See for this 1st Kings, xviii, from 7 to 16th. And as Obadiah was in the way, behold Elijah met him, and he knew him, and fell on his face, and said. Art not thou, my Lord, Elijah, and he told him, Yea, go and tell thy Lord, behold Elijah is here; and so on to the 16th verse. Thus we see, that great and good men have, and always will have, a respect for ministers and servantsof God. Another instance of this is in Acts viii, 27 to 31, of the [Ethiopian] Eunuch, a man of great authority, to Philip, the apostle: here is mutual love and friendship between them. This minister of Jesus Christ did not think himself too good to receive the hand, and ride in the chariot with a black man in the face of day; neither did this great monarch (for so he was) think it beneath him to take a poor servant of the Lord by the hand, and invite him into his carriage, though but with a staff, one coat and no money in his pocket. So our Grand Master, Solomon, was not asham'd to take the Queen of Sheba by the hand, and lead her into his court, at the hour of high twelve, and there converse with her on points of masonry ( if ever there was a female mason in the world she was one) and other curious matters; and gratified her by shewing her all his riches and curious pieces of architecture in the temple, and in his house: After some time staying with her, he loaded her with much rich presents: he gave her the right hand of affection and parted in love. I hope that no one dare openly (tho' in fact the behaviour of some implies as much) to say, as our Lord said on another occasion. Behold a greater than Solomon is hear. But yet let them consider that our Grand Master Solomon did not divide the living child, whatever he might do with the dead one, neither did he pretend to make a law, to forbid the parties from having free intercourse with one another without the fear of censure, or be turned out of the synagogue. Now, my brethren, as we see and experience, that all things here are frail and changeable and nothing here to be depended upon: Let us seek those things which are above, which are sure and steadfast, and unchangeable, and at the same time let us pray to Almighty God, while we remain in the tabernacle, that he would give us the grace and patience and strength to bear up under all our troubles, which at this day God knows we have our share. Patience, I say, for were we not possess'd of a great measure of it you could not bear up under the daily insults you meet with in the streets of Boston; much more on public days of recreation, how are you shamefully abus'd, and that at such a degree, that you may truly be said to carry your lives in your hands; and the arrows of death are flying about your heads; helpless old women have their clothes torn off their backs, even to the exposing of their nakedness; and by whom are these disgraceful and abusive actions committed, not by the men born and bred in Boston, for they are better bred; but by a mob or horde of shameless, low-lived, envious, spiteful persons, some of them not long since servants in gentlemen's kitchens, scouring knives, tending horses, and driving chaise. 'Twas said by a gentleman who saw that filthy behaviour in the common, that in all the places he had been in, he never saw so cruel behaviour in all his life, and that a slave in the West-Indies, on Sunday or holidays enjoys himself and friends without molestation. Not only this man, but many in town who hath seen their behaviour to you, and that without any provocations, twenty or thirty cowards fall upon one man, have wonder'd at the patience of the Blacks: 'tis not for want of courage in you, for they know that they dare not face you man for man, but in a mob, which we despise, and had rather suffer wrong than to do wrong, to the disturbance of the community and the disgrace of our reputation: for every good citizen doth honor to the laws of the state here he resides. My brethren, let us not be cast down under these any many other abuses we at present labour under: for the darkest is before the break of day: My brethren, let us remember what a dark day it was with our African brethren six years ago, in the French West Indies. Nothing but the snap of the whip was heard from morning to evening; hanging, broken on the wheel, burning, and all manner of torture inflicted on those unhappy people, for nothing else but to gratify their master's pride, wantonness and cruelty: but blessed be God, the scene is changed; they now confess that God hath no respect of persons, and therefore receive them as their friends, and treat them as brothers. Thus doth Ethiopia begin to stretch forth her hand, from a sink of slavery to freedom and equality.

JOB 5:2-7

Resentment kills a fool, and envy slays the simple. 3 I myself have seen a fool taking root, but suddenly his house was cursed. 4 His children are far from safety, crushed in court without a defender. 5 The hungry consume his harvest, taking it even from among thorns, and the thirsty pant after his wealth. 6 For hardship does not spring from the soil, nor does trouble sprout from the ground. 7 Yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward. Job 5:2-7

POLICE ARE MERELY PAWNS

Image from http://www.regencychess.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/pawn2.jpg. The police are merely first-row pawns in the 50 states' faux judicial systems of racial repression that are piloted by prosecutors, that date back to the end of Reconstruction after the Civil War. The real power comes from twin engines: legislation and from judicial decisions. These powerful persons are elected or appointed by the ruling moneyed interests. Their work product is , pretextually, rooted in Constitutional law, but, in fact, it is grounded in the prurient paradigm of 'white' supreme power, whose pernicious premises predate the establishment of the nation. These premises are premised upon the total control of all that matters and of everyone that is dubbed 'American.' This wickedly evil system was ingeniously designed to separate three easily identifiable groups, then seeking to overthrow colonial rule: Africans, poor whites, and indigenes in the colonial era. This design required practicable differentiation in the treatment of these three groups to assure colonial rule. The indigenes were forced out or killed off and their lands were redistributed to the poor whites to settle on and to till. The Africans' status was changed from indentured servants--which was also that of the poor whites, mainly--to slaves for life gradually in the 17th century by judicial decisions and legislation. To justify this disparity, theories of racial inferiority were spawned and implemented culturally to salve Christian consciences, and to reassure troubled republicans, that this modus was morally right and remarkably profitable to participating whites; and fatal for those whites who rejected the booty and bounty of the needed balkanization that it provided. Africans naturally and furiously resisted being drafted as the dray-beasts of American society. This resistance entailed revolts, running away, and buying their freedom. It also entailed their acquiring reading and writing skills, trades, and other forms of knowledge, the better to resist thrall domination. The colonial rulers who later became the national rulers passed more laws to thwart this threat. They passed two fugitive slave acts in: 1793 and in 1850; they handed down the DRED SCOTT DECISION of 1857. But, nothing worked, so the Civil War came. Then later Reconstruction came. And the slavecatchers and slave patrols of old became today's police under the repatched paradigm of white supremacy, and its assorted appurtenances, that is still prevalent today in every pore of national culture

GONE TO SEED

Image from http://www.catalogs.com/…/wp-conte…/uploads/2011/02/seed.jpg. "GONE TO SEED" Passing the baton to the next runner is a critical part of any relay race, whether in track and field or in every day life. No one person can have it all, do it all, be it all, say it all, or know it all. "All" requires more than one; indeed, it encompasses many ones, in an ongoing process of continuity. Preparation for life's relay is the major point of all reproduction, of renewal, although the process itself, is not nearly as important as the final, yet, ever-evolving, product. Reproduction, then, is essential to passing the baton of life along, although, it, alone is insufficient by itself. More is required. The life that life produced must still be nurtured, protected, sustained, and trained. If not, that new life will "go to seed," meaning that it will lose its power, potency, being unfit and unworthy. Better to be plowed under. I learned that expression "go to seed" from my late father, whose father was a farmer and landowner in his early life, in Mississippi, where he grew up. They raised crops as well as livestock on our family's land, which Daddy closely observed. He drew many insights and aphorisms that he later passed along to family and others. To die without bearing good fruit, in human terms, is to fail miserably as parents and providers for offspring. Part of that process is the child's nurture, protection, education and training, as an ongoing transmission. It is never too early to start. Nor is there ever a reason to stop. Learning, loving, teaching, nurturing must be forever ongoing in life's relay race, whether parent to child or vice-versa.

DEMOCRACY IS OVERRATED

In case you had not noticed, democracy, as a system of reliable and impartial governance is fatally flawed, as was its evanescent Greek prototype, which excluded 'slaves' and women. 'Democracy" is mob rule. Witness the trial of Socrates; a 500-man jury convicted him of teaching "foreign ideas to the young," says Plato in THE LAWS, those 'foreign ideas derived from Egypt. Witness Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, that large mob of Jewish elders and scribes preferred the murderer and robber, Barabbas, over him, who had healed and who had taught in the name of God, after Pontius Pilate asked them whom to pardon, "washing his hands" of the intra-Jewish religious controversy. "Democracy" is mob-rule. Look at America! Might is right. White is right. Mob rule. Plato's REPUBLIC based on ancient Egyptian principles involving philosopher-kings and "Guardians" is a much better form of governance. But few have read it; no one applies, hardly....

DOTING ON DESIRE

DOTING ON DESIRE Desire is the fire that burns, lights, cooks, heats, melts, melds, kilns and transforms human will and ambition . Without the burning desire to live, people die, just losing the will to live. Desire activates the processes leading to life, itself, through pairing. Desire fuels the furtherance of desire in the life that desire has produced in life, itself, regardless of conditions. Desire is confidence in deliverance , being the crowning glory of : wish, will, lust, thirst, hunger, longing, striving, joy, invention, & exploration. Desiring is not "sinful". Desire, in fact, is downright desirable. It stimulates and animates all else, which, without desire, would lack any reason to live; would lack any rationale to assist the impetus to overcome life's obstacles. http://biblehub.com/3_john/1-2.htm

AVERAGES DO NOT EXIST

AVERAGES DO NOT EXIST Thursday, December 11, 2014 By Rev. Dr. Larry Delano Coleman Averages obscure reality. Leaving an impression that an average is actual and ascertainable, rather than hypothetical and temporal, mathematical and statistical averages distort the truth of vast vectors of existence. Averages, nee averaging, warp public law and public policy. They engender reliance on illusions that are not. Similarly, any ensuing efforts based on such averages are stillborn, are doomed to fail “ab initio.” While the whole is greater than the sum of its part necessarily, in averaging, the opposite obtains, with the whole actually being projected as less than the sum of its parts—“whole” being the average, itself. This is false, deceptive, and dangerous, creating beliefs based on nothing but speculative estimations. Averages, therefore, are avatars that are not. Straight-up hoodoo! Finding a physical specimen, a concrete representative of an average, is a vain search. They do not exist.

WHEN THE LAW IS THE LAW

WHEN THE LAW IS THE LAW That old statement : "the law is the law" is a gross over simplification warranting further examination. It merely implies that state coercive power may be applied against any person or group with legal impunity, in order to enforce a mandate, whose efficacy may or may not have been effected by the observance of either ethical principles or democratic processes. From such processes, and upon said principles, all just laws rest, and derive their critical moral authority . For absent such moral authority any law is unjust. Directly: no law is just, if it is not intrinsically right, and representatively derived. Similarly, absent the observance of just, ethical, and non-discriminatory principles in a law's promulgation, or execution, it is tyranny disguised as law, masquerading as mandate, unworthy of respect or obedience.

BISHOP HENRY McNEIL TURNER, AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL

LOVE this man, this legendary Bishop Henry McNeil Turner. His A.M.E. POLITY contains stringent literacy and education requirements for our preachers; and for top-to-bottom, Literary Societies in the church. These are practically nonexistent these days, if they ever existed to any extent, when compared to formerly. He was a scholar, an organizer, an African-Christian internationalist, a preacher. Turner launched several AME publications, and trebled the size of our church due to massive increases in the South, after the Civil War. There, the 'fields were white to the harvest, but laborers were too few. He planted the church in Africa. He promoted black artistic conceptions/depictions of prophets and apostles, and once preached a sermon: "God is a Negro." Angell has written a great biography of him. "You may expel us, gentlemen, but I firmly believe that you will some day repent it. The black man cannot protect a country, if the country doesn't protect him; and if, tomorrow, a war should arise, I would not raise a musket to defend a country where my manhood is denied. The fashionable way in Georgia, when hard work is to be done, is for the white man to sit at his ease while the black man does the work; but, sir, I will say this much to the colored men of Georgia, as, if I should be killed in this campaign, I may have no opportunity of telling them at any other time: Never lift a finger nor raise a hand in defense of Georgia, until Georgia acknowledges that you are men and invests you with the rights pertaining to manhood." -- Henry McNeal Turner in his speech on the “Eligibility of Colored Members to Seats in the Georgia Legislature” where he stated “I Claim the Rights of a Man” (9/3/1868) The Georgia Constitutional Convention was held on #tdih Dec. 9, 1867 with 33 African Americans and 137 whites. Turner was one of the elected representatives and delegates who was later expelled. Listen to a reading of Turner's speech by Danny Glover from Voices of a People's History of the United States http://bit.ly/N8hE0l Find resources for teaching about the true and vital history of the Reconstruction era: http://bit.ly/16wihda Image: blackpast.org Zinn Education Project "You may expel us, gentlemen, but I firmly believe that you will some day repent it. The black man cannot protect a country, if the country doesn't protect him; and if, tomorrow, a war should arise, I would not raise a musket to defend a country where my manhood is denied. The fashionable way in Georgia, when hard work is to be done, is for the white man to sit at his ease while the black man does the work; but, sir, I will say this much to the colored men of Georgia, as, if I should be killed in this campaign, I may have no opportunity of telling them at any other time: Never lift a finger nor raise a hand in defense of Georgia, until Georgia acknowledges that you are men and invests you with the rights pertaining to manhood." -- Henry McNeal Turner in his speech on the “Eligibility of Colored Members to Seats in the Georgia Legislature” where he stated “I Claim the Rights of a Man” (9/3/1868) The Georgia Constitutional Convention was held on ‪#‎tdih‬ Dec. 9, 1867 with 33 African Americans and 137 whites. Turner was one of the elected representatives and delegates who was later expelled. Listen to a reading of Turner's speech by Danny Glover from Voices of a People's History of the United States http://bit.ly/N8hE0l Find resources for teaching about the true and vital history of the Reconstruction era: http://bit.ly/16wihda Image: blackpast.org

JUST SAY 'HELLO'

JUST SAY "HELLO" "You had me at 'hello', you big oaf," is a memorable line from a popular movie, "Jerry McGuire." Its other famous line: "Show me the money." That famous "hello"-- line reminds me of an experience that I had at, age 18, while working in St. Louis, one summer; it may resonate with you. I happened to be looking out the window of our tall building, when I beheld the most beautiful woman that I had ever seen in my life, entering a women's boutique across the street. My heart palpitated, and the next thing I knew, was that I was on the elevator heading down to meet her! Hurrying across the street, lest I should miss her, I hesitated before entering. After all, what the heck would I look like browsing, in a woman's store, panting for breath? Settling down somewhat, I entered the store, and saw her. She looked up at me and resumed her inspections. We were the only 'shoppers' in that tiny shop. But, my courage failed me. I did not know what to say or how to say it. So, after sauntering around, aimlessly for a while, I watched her leave without giving me another look. "Hello" would have beat nothing, you big idiot, I scolded myself. Yet and still, I was later mollified by the fact that even the great Smokey Robinson once, himself, sang "The words from my heart get caught up in my throat." Been there. Done that! "hello!"

THE CALL

THE CALL What one calls something--or when--can either attract or intimidate, totally apart from its special properties . Calling something a "problem" immediately frightens away many. Calling a "problem" a proposition, instead, makes it more palatable. Calling something math or geometry has the same affect on too many folks, who have been conditioned to fear math and geometry. They freeze. Calling someone "out of their name" causes many fights, conflicts, and controversies, including fatalities! Care in what one calls something is the basis of product research, and marketing, multibillion dollar industry. Calling something or someone calls forth imbedded sensory imagery. That call encompasses denotations, connotations, implications, and ramifications, which influence one's physiology, history, memory, family, education, socialization and beliefs. Care in calling forth or calling for is crucial. Remember :"Open says me" is not the same as "Open oh sesame!"-- by a long shot, as the fable famously teaches! What makes the call also matters. "Deep calls unto deep." In another place, the Bible notes: "A certain sound of the trumpet." Also "Many are called but few are chosen." Not all can hear the call: "my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me." says Jesus. Early each morning the muezzin issues the call to prayer to Muslims from the minaret of a mosque; they respond. Hearing the call is one thing; obeying the call, or responding to it, is quite another. That part is your call entirely!

SCRAP THE GRAND JURY

SCRAP THE GRAND JURY PROCEDURE ENTIRELY.... England Has Avoided Eric Garners and Michael Browns by Doing What the U.S. Won't The U.K. has made a huge change to their justice system — and America is trailing behind. MIC.COM|BY MIC