LEGAL POLYMATH AND INDEFATIGABLE LEARNER JOHN M FINNEY

JOHN MORTON-FINNEY Born June 25, 1889 in Uniontown, Kentucky, John Morton-Finney was the son of a former slave and one of seven siblings. During World War I, he fought as a “Buffalo soldier,” an all-black unit of the U.S. Army established by act of Congress in 1866. John Morton-Finney. John Morton-Finney. After an honorable discharge, Morton-Finney—fluent in Latin, Greek, German, Spanish and French—taught languages for several years at Fisk University in Nashville and Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri. In 1922, he moved to Indianapolis where, five years later, he became the first teacher at Crispus Attucks High School when the all-black academy opened its doors in 1927. “In the era of segregated schools,” the Indianapolis Star wrote in 2009, “Morton-Finney built the foreign languages department at all-black Attucks into one of the state’s finest.” He later taught at other Indianapolis Public Schools. Over the course of his lifetime, Morton-Finney earned a total of eleven degrees, five of which were in the law—one from Lincoln College of Law in 1935 and another from Indiana University School of Law eleven years later (his other degrees were awarded for mathematics, French, and history). He received his last degree at the age of 75, from Butler University. An avid reader of classical literature, he could recite Homer, Shakespeare, Cicero, and Chaucer from memory. “I never stop studying,” he told the Star, at the age of 104. “When you stop learning, that’s about the end of you.” Morton-Finney was admitted to the U.S. Supreme Court at the age of 83 and continued practicing law until the age of 107. This amazing achievement (to say the least) led to his induction into the National Bar Association’s Hall of Fame in 1991. He died on January 28, 1998, at the age of 108.

HOWARD BISON

SUBLIME CONCEPTIONS

SUBLIME CONCEPTIONS There is no end-all, no be-all, no got-it-all, anywhere, anytime at all. There is, however, the infinity of eternity subsuming all the above, that we are blessed to share in, to partake of, for a periodicity that is known only to an incomprehensible fact: God, who/which creates and recreates, maintains, sustains, all of the alls, according to God's will.

STOP POUTING ABOUT TRUMP!

STOP POUTING ABOUT TRUMP! "You'd better poke them lips back in! And stop pouting! Or I 'll give you some more to pout about!" This stern parental admonition, or one like it--often, piquantly spiced with expletives--normally ended all sniveling, whimpering, moping that followed our childhood whoppings. Who would want any more of that? That same childhood lesson might well apply to that vast segment of African Americans who may be still moping about President-Elect, Donald Trump's improbable victory, and who may yet be smarting from Hillary Clinton's dramatic loss in the November 2016's Presidential elections. If it is any consolation, it may be well to recall that Donald Trump not only bested her, but he also bested 17 other Republican primary opponents; the Republican Party hierarchy, itself. He even prevailed against and countered the cumulative endorsements of all present and past Republican and Democratic Presidents, as well! The man's election was nothing short of remarkable! It may also offer an extraordinary opportunity for us to capitalize, get capitalized! Trump was not running against black folks. Rarely were black folks ever mentioned by him, except in reference to the blighted inner cities, whose long decay harms residents. This is that he said he would fix by jobs. Stop fighting other folks' battles for them; they are not fighting yours, but profiting! Now that Trump has won, it's time to do as we've always done: figure out a way to profit , to benefit from this singular fact, a "fait accompli!" That means it is time now that we collect ourselves, dry our weeping eyes, as did King David after the death of he and Bathsheba's first son. Solomon was their next son! We too will have to pull our poked lips back in, stop pouting , crying, blaming ourselves for Hillary's loss! We are grieving, snorting, and sniveling about nothing! Let us now move on to bigger and better things, for ourselves, lest another "parental" whopping be unleashed upon us, adding woe unto woe! 

APPRECIATE "YOUR" PRESENT

APPRECIATE "YOUR" PRESENT Saturday, January 07, 2017 By Rev. Dr. Larry Delano Coleman Discontent and ferment froth across the land. Lemmings rush in mass into the sea. Envy of others breeds enmity within. Tipping points are reached. Poles transpose. “John 9:1-3King James Version (KJV) 9 And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? 3 Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.” Appreciating the gift of the present is an exceptional act. Inadequacies, insufficiencies, vulnerabilities, blemishes, defects are present in all. Yet, masquerades and masks of deception, perfection, prevail. “Who did sin?” That we, that I, did not win? “Neither.” None to blame but the Creator, our Creator, your Creator, YOURS. Privileged to be purposed on this plane are you, whatever your consanguinity, your ingenuity, tenuity, ability, disability, reality. Life rewards the living by presence, not by absence. Love yours!

EARTHLY PREFERENCES?

SINCE "THE EARTH IS THE LORD'S AND THE FULLNESS THEREOF, THE WORLD AND THEY THAT DWELL THEREIN," CAN ANY ONE PLACE, PERSON, PEOPLE, PROVE ANY DIVINE PREFERENCE OVER ANY OTHER PLACE, PERSON, OR PEOPLE, CONSISTENTLY WITH THAT PREMISE?

APPRECIATE THE PRESENT

NOTHING BETTER THAN THIS Because planet earth is round, opposites meet, though going in diametrically opposite directions . Riches become poverty in earth's cycle, as poverty becomes riches. Thus: Go east you meet west. Thus: Go north you meet south. Also just beyond ripe is spoiled. And just beyond well is ill. Also, beyond death is life, then, death. Assuredly, just as beyond victory is defeat, so beyond defeat is victory. Thus, "anything any better than this wouldn't be no good," Daddy used to say; meaning by it that all is well right now; in fact, perfect now! Appreciate the gift of the present.