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Posts filed under: 'Teens'
B. SCOTT…drag QUEEN…
I just happened to come across this person while writing my last blog. And after watching some footage of him I knew I had to write something on him.
His name is B. Scott and he classifies himself as being androgynous… kind like what Michael wanted to be… somewhere between being male and female.
I have seen few people who have pretended to be as happy as B. Scott pretends like he is. When I was in 'the life' I thought I was happy too. But I never pretended like I was over joyed with it. Over a period of time I just came to accept it… which I guess if you finally settle upon 'this is who I am' you tend to do. You just start to kind of accept it. Which is what B. Scott said he finally came to do.
Though I have seen thousands of gay guys and women who acted like they were super dupper happy being gay. I had also seen them …many of them in the tears because they wished they could be like everyone else.
When I watched this video on YouTube by B. Scott… the 1 below… it really prompted me to write this blog. Because there were a few things that he said that really gave me insight as to who he is… and why.
(I've got to find the right video) But in the YouTube video B. tells of how people used to say to him when he was a little boy, 'You so pretty you should have been born a girl.'
In hearing that it made me think of my son, who at the age of 13… 1 day broke down and started crying saying to me that I would never be a grandmother. Then he said that he must be 'gay' because everyone told he that.
How could I defeat what he was saying?
At the time I was not saved. I was speechless and did not know what to say. I was shocked.
Today I would rebuke that devil and call the devil and liar. But that day… I was speechless. I did not know what to say.
I must confess to being 1 of those gay mothers who was seriously homophobic… terribly. But I never pushed my thoughts nor my fears over onto my son. Well, I hope not… certainly never intentionally. But there was a period in my life when he could nothing right. I hollered at him about everything. I did not realize that I was doing that though until a woman who was part of my film shoot on my short film… a niece to Florida of 'Good Times'… pointed it out to me and talked to me about it. She said, 'Why are you always yelling at him?'
I never realized that I did. But I am glad she brought it to my attention. I might have drove my son away… but thank God that did not happened. That big headed boy took me out to dinner last night… to very expensive sea food restaurant that we both like. But I do not love him because he treats me to thing… or buys me stuff… I love him because he is 'my son.' And I thank God for him.
I had never heard anyone call him that… that word… 'gay.' Though I think they were careful not to do so while I was around… as I would not have liked it. Though I must say that at an early age I started to feel like I was seeing certain signs of it. But here is where I want to tell you how the devil works.
You are not seeing anything that the devil has not put in your mind. Your young children know nothing about sex… but the devil will toy with your brain and make you believe you are seeing things which are not there.
You don't believe me????
Let me share with you this. One night while in my apartment in downtown Brooklyn…. as I was leaving the living room to go towards my bedroom I looked down at the floor. Upon looking down I saw the floor was covered with large water bugs everywhere. I mean swarming with them everywhere. I quickly looked up and said to myself, 'the devil is a liar.'
I don't know where that came from… but that is what I said. Then I looked back down at the floor and there were no water bugs anywhere. It had all been a figment of my imagination… brought about from the devil knowing that I had a fear of those things. Which came about by the fact that occasionally I would see a water bug in my apartment… something that my landlord refused to believe.
But that night the devil had decided that he was going to drive me mad… meaning crazy by presenting to me a ton of those horrible things crawling all over my apartment floor around me… and they covered my entire apartment floor. But I did not go crazy. God kept my mind… because He did not let me fall for it. I merely shut my eyes for whatever reason… (as I did not know it was God's doing at the time)… I just started believing that they were not there. You would have had to seen them. They were so real.
This is how I know that people can see things… which look as real as anything you can touch or feel… and it not really be there. It was just something that the devil presented to me… and had made it appear real to me because he knew I was afraid of those things. Of which New York seems to me have quite a few of them.
The woman in the above link killed her 4 year old son because she believed he was gay. The devil truly had her mind that she would have done such an insane thing. But he does and can plants seeds in your head… and make you see and hear things which are not really there. And if you are not careful… and you let them take root in you… you will believe what the devil has planted and will act out in whatever way he wants you to.
One day I heard a friend of mine yelling at 1 of her grandsons… 'Put that rope down, boy. You ain't no girl.'
What does having a jump rope in your hand have to do with being gay?
So, what if a little boy wants to jump rope. It does not mean he wants to grow long hair and become a girl.
But my friend did not realize that she was planting seeds… that 1 day would grown into just what she was asking for.
I had wanted to badly to tell her that what she and other members in her family were doing to him in regards to calling her grandson a 'girl'… or saying to him had some 'girl in him' was wrong. But I knew they would not listen to me… so I did not. But now in hindsight I realized I should have tried …if for no other reason other than for her grandson's sake.
We must speak LIFE to your children. And do not let anyone speak DEATH to them… not even in joking. Calling your boy child a girl is speaking death to him… or your girl child a boy. Don't do it. Encourage them to have fun… let them enjoy themselves as children without you putting all your own sexual hangups upon them.
So, when I watched and listened to the above video of B. Scott I realized just how he had come to be and why. I understand him… not so much because of what my son had said to me. But because I understand how little children can become confused as to who they are if people keep pushing them in some other direction by saying ignorant things to them that makes them believe what people are saying about them. And I guess that does kind of fit directly with what my son had said to me.
My entrance into 'the life' was very different… it had nothing to do with anyone calling me a 'boy.' Because frankly I never looked like 1… nor did I ever want to be 1. Though I wasn't much of a baby doll playing little girl either. I don't think I tried climbing trees… but I did try my hand at trying to fix a couple of things when I was young.
But being the oldest my youth was superseded by my having to learn how to do things at an early age… like washing dishes. I do not know how old I was when my father pushed a chair up to the kitchen sink… but that was the beginning of my years of me being our family dishwasher. Then I was taught how to cook… and the list goes on and on…
I was introduced to sex at a very early age. Not via any family members but outside of our home. Only twice had it happened. But it happened before I had a voice or knew I had a voice or any idea of what was happening. That is not to say I was an infant. I was just a very young innocent child of maybe 6…7… or 8. And the 2 times it happened they happened at varying times… not close or together. Maybe a year or so apart… can't remember that part.
I made mention on 1 of the times in 1 of my other blogs not so long ago. It was a time that I almost got gang raped… but God said 'no.' That was the first time that someone took advantage of me. But those 2 experiences marked my life forever… and how I think and feel about people who take advantage or abuse children.
But contrary to what many people may say or think… sexual preference many times may not have anything to do with what you were indoctrinated to… or let me say it this way first introduced to sexually.
Though I have spoken to many gay guys and they had the opposite experience… and some women too. It did lead them into a life of homosexuality. And a lot of times it happened to them with someone who took advantage of them sitting in some position in the church… lived in their apartment building… was a close friend to their mother or father… and 'yes' even sometimes it was a relative… or a daughter or a son of the 1 their parent's friend. One of my times was such a case as that. My mother must have known… as she never went to visit that friend ever again.
But going back to this guy B. Scott in watching his videos I felt sorry for him… because I understood him in ways that many people will never get to. And I also recognized his gaiety… or supposed happiness… really to be his sadness.
Love you, B. Scott. And hoping that 1 day God will do a work in your life like he did in mine. I hope the same for my son…. and the many sons and daughters dealing with identity problems… issues… or sexual confusion.
And I hope your laughter and smiles will become 'real'… and turn into a joy that surpasses all understanding 1 day.
And that 1 day you will look into a mirror and see how really handsome you are… and start loving the 'real' you' and not that the ones who were agents of devil told you were… but who God really made you to be.
Well, God bless…. I am really supposed to be doing something else right now. But I just wanted to take the time to do this blog really quickly. I hope that it falls upon fertile ground…
Thank you for reading this blog…and my others. Please be sure to continue to share this blog site with your family, co-workers and all your friends… "pass it on…" www.bsmith101.wordpress.com ©2014
2 comments April 17, 2014
If it had been a Saturday Night Live skit from beginning to end then maybe it might have been funny. Except for the fact that someone's life was grievously taken this whole thing was anything but a joke.
I really do believe that the prosecution… the DA office… should first of all be investigated. Because this trial was one of the biggest disasters since Ojay Simpson. From the picking of the jurors to that supposed medical autopsy doctor something was seriously wrong.
Why in the first place were 6 women chosen for the jury, and primarily, if not all of them, white?
One could hardly call that a group of George Zimmerman's peers. None of them appeared to me to look in anyway like George Zimmerman's true peers… whom I would believe to be men about his age, of similar backgrounds etc.. etc.. And on what merits were those women chosen?
Based upon things said by Juror #37 once it was all over… if she can be believed… they all went into the jury pool already with their minds made up before they were even chosen to be jurors. And some like Juror #37 … I have no doubt also had hidden agendas like coming out with their own book deals and television interviews.
So, just how did such people make the cut and end up in that jury box?
Why would anybody question supposed jurors saying… 'Knock knock, whose there?'
What kind of jury selection did that of retarded examination of possible jurors bring about?
Maybe the prosecution was just trying to determine who was brain dead from who wasn't. And he chose the brain dead.
When you truly look at this case you have to ask yourself was the prosecution for Trayvon Martin's family… or was the DA office working against them?
When doctor KooKoo… don't know his name and I am not going to try to find out. But when that man took the stand… now the whole thing really went into the Twight Light Zone.
Was this man really a doctor?
Had he not ever been prepared by the prosecution office for this hearing before hand?
Did he really know anything about doing or handling an autopsy?
To all these questions the answers appears to be a resounding 'NO.'
From the moment that autopsy doctor opened his mouth the lawyers supposedly representing Trayvon Martin, the victim in this case, should have entered 'OBJECTION' after objection. Through this whole trial Perry Mason and Matlock were probably rolling over in their graves… and they weren't even real lawyers. But I sure could hear some 'objections' needed to be stated.
For 1 thing, the autopsy doctor referred to having conferred with another doctor regarding marijuana. Objection!
Since the other doctor was not there to substantiate that conversation… testimony of such should have been objected to.
Two, that autopsy doctor came to court with some notes which he stated he had prepared the night before. Objection!
Here was a guy who clearly stated that he could not remember the facts of his autopsy. Then why should notes written by him some… what 12 or so months later be allowed in as part of his testimony?
If he could not remember any facts on that autopsy, then clearly any notes written mostly recently would be moot and should have been of no apparent good in this case. Because they would be based upon his present memory or recollections as opposed to when he actually performed the autopsy.
Thirdly, the autopsy doctor was confrontational… and I don't know how long he had been in this country… but he kept acting like he didn't understand English. So, then how good was a testimony of anyone like that… who might not be really sure about what he was saying?
One has to wonder whether or not the autopsy doctor was paid off?
And if he worked in my department… after that performance on the witness stand… whether he was either performing to be highly incompetent or really is highly incompetent… I would have sent him packing. FIRED!
That guy was definitely highly unprofessional. And I cannot help but wonder if it was not just an act on his part.
Nextly, one really has to wonder….
'WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD THE PROSECUTION CALL this woman to testify?
Did they not go over her testimony with her?
Did they not know what questions to avoid… like 'what did he say about the man watching him?' Her response…. 'He called him a creepy ass cracker.'
Could that testimony not be any more damaging to this case?
She had to have say that to the prosecution before they even put her on the stand. So, they knew it would be damaging to Trayvon, for the jurors to hear that.
It appears that the prosecutors in this case purposely set about to sabotage it. Not once… not twice …but time and time again.
There are various other parts of this case which just do not add up. Such as why the prosecution did not push further with all those witnesses on Zimmerman's side which claimed it was 'Georggie's voice' that they recognized as the person screaming.
We live in a time of vast technological equipment. Equipment that is able to do voice recognition… voice separation… voice isolation… voice tracking… voice this and voice that… Including removal of any additional sounds outside of what you are focusing on. They have equipment that can do just about anything you want it to do… including voice distortion and correction.
So, then why was no technical equipment used in this case to determine who the possible screamer really was?
Equipment could have been rolled into that court and that recording played over and over for those witnesses… recordings mixed with fake voices screaming to see if they could determine the real recording or the fake. Experts in sound and voice could have been called in to testify… but they were not. Nor was any equipment used to decipher whose voice it really was that had been screaming.
I listened to the 911 calls with the screams in the background… and coming from years in radio I have a very good ear. And those screams did not come from a 27 or 28 year old man. Nor was the voice non-African American. And on top of all of that… just ask yourself who screams for help when they have a gun in their hand?
Remember, now… that there was no evidence that Trayvon's hand was ever on Zimmerman's gun. There was no evidence in fact that Trayvon ever even touched Zimmerman. The forensic people found no traces of Zimmerman's DNA under Trayvon's nails… nor any bruises on his hands or knuckles.
The other issue in this case was the fact that there was so much 911 evidence in this case was against George Zimmerman. On 1 recording of a 911 operator, she clearly asked Zimmerman 'are you following him?'
To which Zimmerman answered 'yes.'
That operator told Zimmerman to stop following Trayvon and to get back into his car. Which George Zimmerman certainly from the outcome in the death of Trayvon… totally ignored.
Also, based upon the merits of that 911 recording alone Zimmerman was clearly stalking Trayvon. Therefore, Zimmerman was the predator… a man with a gun who approached an unarmed young person, who later was found shot to death by him. One bullet straight into his heart.
I have no doubt that George Zimmerman perpetrated a hate crime against Trayvon Martin. And that his call to 911 was a systematic attempt on George Zimmerman's part to build a scenario for that 911 operator, for circumstances that he would later claim provoked him into the killing of Trayvon Martin. An act which I believe came across Zimmerman's sick mind probably from the moment his eyes fell upon the young black teenage, Trayvon Martin, walking in the darkness of night… in the rain on his way home from the corner store.
The statements that Zimmerman made in his 911 call clearly show a concise and calculated mind working, at setting up a painted picture of the young black teenage male, whom he was following claiming that he 'looked like' a criminal and 'was out to do' something illegal. While on the contrary, Trayvon Martin was just a kid who happened to be on his way home from a local corner store. And it was Zimmerman who was the 1 working with a criminal mind… and a blind intent to kill a young innocent boy.
There are many people who believe that George Zimmerman was protecting himself… standing his ground, if you will. As Florida has a law called 'Stand Your Ground.' Meaning you have a right to protect yourself if you feel that your life is threatened.
Zimmerman had taken self-defense classes, was carrying an armed weapon, and he had aspiration of being a cop and/or lawyer like his dad, who just so happened to be a judge. Trayvon Martin had not taken any martial arts classes, and was only carrying a small bag of candy and a can of ice tea. Based upon that… who do you really think was more lethal?
I sincerely hope the Federal Government steps into this case, because the 'Stand Your Ground' Law is a very dangerous piece of law. It reminds me of the ol' south when white men would purposely go out seeking to start trouble with a black man or woman. So, they would step in front of them or do something to elicit some type of response from the victim, via their coercion of them. Whereby many black men and women were either killed, endangered, terrorized, houses burnt down, lost their businesses, and/or chased out of town etc…
Such laws as Stand Your Ground were and are not meant to protect all people… just certain people. And this case involving the brutal murder of Trayvon Martin is a clear indication of that.
What right more or is necessary …or does this law of 'Stand Your Ground' give to anyone, that has or is not given already by the Declaration of Independence in this country?
The Declaration of Independence states 'all men'… not some have more rights than others. It states that all men are created equal… with certain unalienable rights. And it begins by saying… We hold these truths to be self-evident. It then goes on to say…. that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
Unalienable rights… what are those?
The right to defend ourselves is a right given to each and everyone of us. Whereas, such laws as 'Stand Your Ground' are intended and are only applied for certain people… and not for others.
Back in the days… lets go to the days after slavery when supposedly the slaves had been freed. Yet, they were not allowed to look white people directly in the eyes. And often were taunted into some type of reaction for which they may have been killed… whipped… spat upon… mocked etc…
One could hardly say that they… those black folk then did not have a right to respond to such actions to provoke them. But based upon certain imposed or otherwise implied or 'understood' laws, mostly in the old south… laws not written but understood based upon you… meaning black folk… knowing 'our so-called place.'
Did not Trayvon Martin have a right to go to the store, and a reasonable right then be able to return home safely without some mad man shooting him down killing him for no apparent reason… other than his skin color?
Where were the rights of Trayvon Martin ever addressed in this case of the City of Sanford vs. George Zimmerman?
If indeed, Trayvon had been straddling Zimmerman in a fist fight.
Did not Trayvon Martin have the God given right given to him by nature, if no other law could protect him… than the law of self-preservation?
Why should Travyon Martin then have been demonized for trying to protect himself against someone whom he perceived to be a perpetrator who was out to kill him… when Zimmerman walked upon him and shoved that gun up in his face?
There was not 1 point or place where you can truly say that the prosecution truly tried to win this case. They did a lousy job of picking jurists. They failed to object to various infractions and irregularities as they appeared in this case. And they never seemed committed to win at all.
If the truth be told this case never should have been held in Sanford, FL… but in some other county if not state. The authority and connections of Zimmerman's judge father made this case an impossible case to get a fair trial in such a small little town… with so much at stake, and so many hands easily washed.
This is 1 of those rare times that I must say I disagree with Bill… That is Bill Crosby. Bill says you can't prove that Zimmerman is a racist. Yes, that might well be somewhat true. But you can't prove that he isn't a racist either. Ooooh, wait a minute…
Wasn't it Zimmerman who did all that racial profiling of Trayvon Martin in his 911 call, before he actually shot him to death?
That alone gave you a keen insight as to what or how George Zimmerman felt about young black males. And his actions spoke the rest.
Anyone who would have racially profile someone as in-dept as George Zimmerman painted that picture in his 911 call, of what Trayvon Martin looked like, his demeanor… his supposed behavior… etc. cannot be considered anything less than a racist. And there is no way of getting around that.
Zimmerman said that the person he was 'following' was someone who looked like he was up to no good… that it appeared as though he's on drugs or something… he's black or Hispanic… he has his hands on his waistband (meaning like he was packing a gun). And then Zimmerman said… 'these @#!# they always get away.'
In the CNN story below the person being interviewed states that the Trayvon Martin case was not a case of racial profiling, because racial profiling can only take place when someone is involved in law enforcement. I am a dissenting voice to this theory and statement with regard to this case. Because that definition can be extended to include anyone 'believing' he is a law enforcement officer. There is no secret about George Zimmerman and history of fantasying becoming a cop.
A psychologist should have been brought into this case who could have clearly said that George Zimmerman portrayed certain traits, habits, and forms of behavior and language that indicated he felt he was operating as a cop. When taken into perspective even George's scio-background, family history, and his history of prepping himself and taking up martial arts etc. all unquestionably show Zimmerman to be a man possessed with a deep rooted desire to be cop, or someone involved in some matter in law enforcement. Hence, his position as 'CAPTAIN' of the neighborhood watch.
It is quite clear that George Zimmerman wanted to be a police officer. When that avenue did not open up to him… he then tried to study law. And that failed too.
So, the next step was to join the neighborhood watch. It is not hard to draw a correlation between that and George actually being a cop on the beat. George Zimmerman was clearly and unequivocally a wanna-be-cop, and all his actions and language on the night, in which he confronted Trayvon Martin, attest to it. And this is not a large leap or even a very short hop to get to.
The other thing about Zimmerman… he obviously suffers from a feeling of wanting to be a hero. He appears to be the kind of person you read about who goes to work in a hospital…and awaits an opportunity to unplug somebody's life support machine… then quickly plug it back in just in the brink of time, then claim that he saved that person's life. When in reality he was the person who had thrown the person's life into jeopardy in the first place.
It is not hard to see that Zimmerman was… or is… a loser. Perhaps even a black sheep in a family, of what seems to be full of people who are professionally involved in law enforcement in varying capacities. But everything and time that George tried to do in order to get in… it would appear that he just could not make the cut.
I had a dispute with a friend over George's weight. Because at 1 point there arose this question of Zimmerman's weight as opposed to the weight of Trayvon Martin. Which of course should have also been a key point in this case.
When Zimmerman finally turned himself in… some 45 days after the killing of Trayvon… it was apparent to me that Zimmerman had gone on some type of crash diet during those days. The issue was whether or not Zimmerman weighted considerably more than Trayvon Martin? Even in the picture of above of Zimmerman being lead into court … you can see that the suit he is wearing is a lot larger than he is. However, during the hearing walla… a much fuller fatter Zimmerman, and his clothes seem to fit him just fine. Meaning Zimmerman's body mass between the time Zimmerman shot Trayvon and the time Zimmerman finally went to trial… shows Zimmerman at his true weight and mass, when the young teenager was shot to death. But, of course, Zimmerman's side had good reason to want to dispel the fact that Zimmerman was much heavier in body weight to Trayvon. Hence, Zimmerman's miraculous weight lose before turning himself into the police department in Sanford. Otherwise, that story made up by the Defense Attorneys of a helpless and fearful George Zimmerman at the hands of a Trayvon Martin just would not have played out. Nobody would have believed that.
So, George had to lose that weight. Which, of course, as you see in his court pictures that he totally gained back.
Then there is the camera footage of Zimmerman that night following the supposed fight that lead to the untimely demise of a young Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman's head had no cuts or lacerations.
If the truth be told there were a lot of 'so-called' myths that the Zimmerman team wanted to dispel… and some they wanted to seriously promote.
Some myths about Zimmerman…
- 1. He always told the truth
- 2. His family was full of truth loving people
- 3. Zimmerman didn't stalk Trayvon
- 4. Zimmerman was really in fear of his life
- 5. Zimmerman feared Trayvon was going to kill him
- 6. Zimmerman was a good law abiding citizen
- 7. Zimmerman had great reasons to believe his life was in danger
Some myths the Zimmerman team wanted to promote about Trayvon…
- 1. Trayvon was a wayward kid
- 2. Trayvon was a trouble maker
- 3. Trayvon was an addict
- 4. Trayvon was out looking for trouble
- 5. Trayvon was out to kill Zimmerman
- 6. Trayvon beat Zimmerman
- 7. Trayvon had a right to be killed
Let me stop right here. Who has ever seen anybody who fell to the ground hitting their head?
When did they get up with a cut or cuts?
I have hit the ground and have seen people bang their heads and they always ended up with a knot in their head. Big bump. The harder they fell the bigger the bump on their head. But never did I see a straight cut appear in anybody's head, from someone falling to the ground and hitting their head.
Here again is a big problem that I had with the forensic evidence in this case. These are the kinds of things that real professions are called into Court to testify about. But this case had no real forensic people. No big wig specialist… like in the Ojay Simpson case.
Those cuts on the back of George Zimmerman's head could have clearly been blown up and recognized as having not been done by some type of fall to the ground. And lugging all the concrete sidewalks in the world into court could not prove otherwise.
This case had so many missed opportunities on the part of the DA office… you really have to wonder if they ever intended to try this case to win it?
And that answer here again would have to be a resounding 'NO.'
Clearly, Trayvon Martin's case biggest opposition or problem were the very people who were supposed to be seeking justice for his murder.
I really do hope that Mr. President, Barack Obama, sends in the Feds to take on this case. Because Trayvon Martin truly deserves justice. He had done nothing for which his young life should have been stolen from him. And by his cries for help… he dearly did not wish to die… or deserved to.
Bill Cosby, Charles Barkley, Shari… whatever her name on the View, President Jimmy Carter… and many others who felt that this case and its verdict was just… definitely missed something. This was no 'new thing.' It is something that we as black folk in America have long had to deal with. Trials like this one are not new. And we have come to recognize them when we see them… and know them when we hear their verdicts.
All of this… the trial and the circumstances which brought about the trial are all historic. Even to the having of some black folk who want to say 'Oh, it wasn't racist.' When it clearly was nothing but racist. Race had everything to do with Trayvon Martin being killed… and there is just no getting around it.
I was really hoping… as we always do… that the jury would do the right thing based upon the shear merits of this case… and also having full knowledge that Zimmerman was a liar. Also, being fully aware that it was Zimmerman not Trayvon who had been the provoker. But in looking back over the court pictures… where Zimmerman does an awful lot of smiling for a man, who should believe he might be found guilty, and have to spend the rest of his life inprison. Too much smiling in fact…
So, now looking over these pictures and seeing this smiling Zimmerman, it appears to me now that Zimmerman knew how this case was going to go to end up right from the very start. That is really very unfortunate… money and power play a big factor in the outcome of a lot court outcomes. But I guess having a father with connections… goes a long way to assuring a favorable outcome.
I just finished watching a video of Geraldo Rivera talking about the Trayvon Martin case. It is funny how much people change over time. I thought Geraldo used to be a lot smarter. Based upon Geraldo's take on this case, any one of us could have been shot dead and would have been alright. Based upon Geraldo's assumption, if we look just like some black guys who were supposedly vandalizing that neighborhood then it is okay to kill you.
Now, how stupid is that… and ignorant?
I don't know how long the myth that all black folks look alike has been going around in America… but it has. We know we don't look alike… but to some people we all look like criminals …murders… crack fiends… and welfare fraud people etc…
Shame on Geraldo. He must be trying to get a new tv show or renew his contract. Some people will do and say anything… for a little money. He must need it real bad… And he sure looks old.
Guilty by looking like a criminal. Trayvon was dressed just like most teens dress, black or white… Hispanic or Asian etc… You see them all day long with hoodies everywhere… going to school… coming from school… riding skateboards… on bikes. When did wearing a hoodie mean you were a criminal?
And though I do not like the style… it is a style for the kids… shagging pants. A hoodie and shagging pants does not make anyone a criminal. Much less worthy of dying. And because somebody's house or neighborhood is having problems does not mean you go out shooting anybody you think looks like the type who did it.
Where is the justice in that?
I pray justice and peace for the Martin family… and America.
I have to admit that on this topic Mike Tyson spoke saying something that I very much can agree upon… or with him on. When asked what he thought about this case… Mike said, "I don't know any more than what I have seen on television. But I do know that kid should not have ended up dead."
In happening to catch a segment of The View, they were discussing the trial and I have to say that I truly admire Elizabeth Hasselbeck's stance on this, and her outrage is truly worthy of my mentioning. As a mother ever woman should be highly upset regarding the circumstances of this case, and the cruel, brutal and cold blooded murder of Trayvon Martin.
I did… but I have mostly done so on Facebook.
The other reason is I sprang my right foot. It has been a few weeks now. I had pain in it before… but not realizing it after I stepped into a hole and twisted my foot that I had done damage to it. Which while at a convention in Baltimore I had plenty of time in between limping around, and trying to stay off of it… I spent a lot my down time watching the case on TV. Because there wasn't much else I could really as my foot was killing me.
My foot is still bothering me. I understand it takes about 16 weeks for a sprang foot to heal. So, I am trying to stay off of it as much as possible still.
And the other reason it took me so long to write this blog was, of course, the weather… ALL THIS HEAT.
It has been soooooooo hot and humid here. The humidity was almost unbearable. Every time I got up to do the slightest thing… sweat would be pouring down my face… my nose… my brows etc… I was showering up to 6 times per day. Because I cannot stand to be sweaty… even with an aching foot. Yeah, pain or no pain into the shower I went. But the weather has broken now. And I hope it stays this way.
I certainly hope you fared well… better than me in all this heat… and got done all you needed to do. Have a good rest of this week… and I will catch you again soon. I've got to go put my foot back up.
And again I thank those of you very much who have ventured out and purchased my book… which can be ordered on-line at any number of websites… just google THE BISHOP'S WIFE by Bernadine Smith… and see for yourself. And you can also read excerpts from my book on-line as well at Barnes&Nobles Nook, amazon.com etc…
Thank you for reading this blog…and my others. Please be sure to continue to share this blog site with your family, co-workers and all your friends… "pass it on…" www.bsmith101.wordpress.com ©2013
Add a comment July 25, 2013
Another Post I never got around to Publishing… SOUL TRAIN MUSIC AWARDS a couple years ago… TEXAS STABBINGS & EXPLOSION at BOSTON MARATHON
Talk about not getting around to POST… when I finally came back to this blog it was I don't know how long. Now, after that it has been several weeks more …had to add the tags and things. And finally today here it goes…after a bomber or more…struck at the Boston Marathon today just as the runners started crossing the finish line.
I almost wrote… I'm just shaking my head… but it takes more than that if we ever expect to get a handle on this. And it goes beyond insanity to some type of morbid inner nothingness that these people have who go out and do these type of things.
Well, nevertheless…. here is another Post that I just never got around to publishing for one reason or other. After briefly reading through it I thought that I might share it with you…it seems that I felt like sharing some more of myself in it to you… wonder why?
I rarely like telling much about myself… though I must say that you really cannot tell it by reading many of my blogs. But for the record… I cannot remember at all when I wrote this but it was a while back… so today I am feeling great and the day is sunny and beautiful.
Now, here is that blog which I failed to published some time ago…
Not feeling well today… but I am not complaining. Because I have had many more days when I didn't feel bad at all. And not many people can say that.
I am just a touch under the weather. And because I am not accustom to being sick… it tends to bother me a little more than most people.
The other thing is… I do not take medication. Not at all. Well… almost not at all. There have been times when I had to breakdown and swallow something… or go in and have them give me a shot or something… but not often. And believe me when I say… I have to be in an awful lot of pain and/or discomfort for me to do it.
Otherwise, I just suffer whatever it is that is bothering me… until it goes away. Not many people can do that… or attempt to do that. Since so many people rush to go grab up a bottle of this or that at the slightest on-set of something they think may be bothering them… they never even try to fight off anything.
But this is just a little slight cold. A sliver of dust must have gotten into my system while I was helping my brother move some furniture that he chose to move from my parent's house into his new apartment. And since I am allergic to house dust… and it didn't take much before I started itching then a tickle came into my throat. But as soon as the dust gets out of my system I will be up and about again.
But this past weekend I had a chance to catch the Soul Train Music Awards. Needless to say… I did not know most of acts or the awardees. But, of course, I did recognize Anita Baker and Ron Isley as they paid tribute to them.
But I waited around watching because I had never seen Eryka Badu perform before… and boy…oh, boy… What a disheartening show it really was.
For one thing how can anyone who portrayed herself as being so Afro-centric ever have lighten their skin?
Well, that is exactly what Eryka Badu has done… or so it appeared to be the case to me. And she looked terrible. At first I didn't even notice it… because it was kind of subtle and her face was camouflaged by the hat she was wearing. It cast a shadow over her face.
We have all read about black women in Africa and the West Indies doing it… but to see that Eryka Badu has stooped to bleaching????
It is insane. If anything I have always wanted to be darker… but lighter no. A cousin of mine slipped and started calling me 'light' and I totally disliked it. She was trying to anger me. And she did the moment she let that slip out of mouth.
Needless to say, Eryka has always been a bit wired and out there. She likes doing things to grab attention… I guess you could say. I remember when she first came onto the music scene… everybody thought that the very long dredlocks she was sporting then were her own. But low-and-behold… over a period of time we all came to find out that it had been a wig or more than likely dred extensions. After that I think she went to having no hair at all.
But seeing Erykah Badu with lighter skin… was discussing to me. Talking about a mindless woman… who evidently hates herself. I wouldn't want attention that bad. And whatever song that was… that she song on the Soul Train Music Awards… if it was intended to catapult the re-emergence of her singing career?
I think not. For all it was worth she could have stayed home. But I must say that I did love the hat… and that was about all I liked about this whole supposed Soul Train Music Awards.
For the most part most of the music on the Soul Train Music Awards show really wasn't even 'soul music' any more. But a bunch of that 'neo-soul' junk.
So, in watching the Soul Train Music Awards… I began to feel that we are loosing our identity…our musical identity and authenticity. An identity and authenticity which has marked and ruled… in my opinion the whole music world in this country since we came to these shores as slaves brought to America. And my did we bring something with us.
Some of the best and most authentic music America has ever had really came out of a revised culture whose roots were founded in slavery. Much like the food we developed here called 'Soul Food.' Hence, Soul Music… the Blues… Doo-Wop… Gospel Music… Rhythm & Blues etc… etc.. etc…
In watching the Soul Train Music Awards show I felt that soul music had been replaced by a bunch of people who neither wrote lyrics or played real instruments. People who only looked black, but were trying very hard to appear as weird and way-out as they possibly could be. This because it would seem that everything today concerning music is about branding and images… and far less than about true talent… real vocal skills or any skills as far as being a musician or a real song writer. What happened to artists with the talent of a Little Stevie Wonder or a Prince?
Based upon what I had seen those type of talents had faded far far far away.
None of them… this group or now generation singers seemed to want to have any connection to the music that put Motown on the charts, or Philly on the map… or Chicago, Detroit, Memphis, New York, and LA. Or that had made other urban places hubs for the rich urban soul sound and melodic tones that had come to be called 'soul music' or 'rhythm & blues" …or even "gospel."
While watching the Soul Train Music Awards… there were no Anita Bakers or Ron Isleys awaiting in the crowd to hear their names called for award. In fact, the only soulful talenst on the show was Anita Baker, Ron Isley, Pebo Bryson, Chante Moore, Rochelle Ferrell, Jeffery Osborne and a few others. But clearly the 'soul' that had been in the history of Soul Train is now gone.
Everybody wants to be a cross-over artist… some neutral detergent that appears to be black or African American but actually doing some white thang.
The whole time I sat watching the Soul Train Music Awards… which is something I have not watched in years… or any other music or movie awards show in years. As I had long ago felt that they had been watered down to appeal to more less urban audiences.
But it was frightening for me to see such a lost of what seemed to me to be a vast depreciation of what has always been ours… our real musical genius and talenst… gifted voices and fantastic lyric writing… such as that of Barry White and Issac Hayes… Holland,-Dozier-Holland, Ashford & Simpson, Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield… etc…etc… all to be turned into something which sounded a lot more like that puff of glitter disco music and digitized junk. And I must say that I see the exact same thing happening to gospel music.
In gospel music there has developed a vast desire to be played on something 'called' Christian Radio stations… which in my opinion is nothing but a bunch of rock music stations playing rock music and calling it 'Christian Music.'
It would be a shame to loose the richness of our music… and the history that our music carries with it to the junk I bared witnessed to on the Soul Train Music Awards. Outside of the tributes to some real Soul legends… there was nothing on that show I would have voted to give 1 award to.
One day we will look up and no one will know what 'soul music' was or that it had ever been. They will not know that there had been such groups like Blue Magic, the Dramatics, Delfonics, Temptations, Supremes, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, the Manhattans, Teddy Pendergrass, Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, Chi-Lites, Rufus featuring Chaka Khan, Phyllis Hyman, Najee, Kirk Walham, the Sylvers, Michael Jackson, the Jackson 5, the Sugar Hill Gang and the list goes on and on and on… And those are just those from my era there tons more before them.
Who can forget when James Brown first cried-
"Say it loud I'm black and I'm proud."
Or, "Baby, please don't go."
Or when Curtis Mayfield song these words-
"If I had a choice of colors."
Or Nina came with-
"To be young gifted and black."
Maybe there is no need for such lyrics like these today anymore. But that can't true… particularly after what I just said about Eryka Badu and skin bleaching. But then how about-
"La-la-la means I love you… I love you."
What about –
"They're smiling in your face…all the while they want to take your place."
Will soul music die like jazz has died?
There are no more jazz artists like Max… Coltrane … Gillipsie… or Yusuf LaTiff… or Miles …. any more.
Or how about a Junior Parker… or another B.B. King… or Muddy Waters… or Bo Diddley and their special blend?
Now, I must admit that these days I am strictly into gospel music… but having a history in the radio industry it is hard for me to not realize the importance of preserving this cultural history. It is ours… and our children need to be recipients of at least knowing of that it once was. We cannot just forsake everything.
These musical forms and artists are long gone… Well, more or less off the musical scene… the ones I just mentioned above. And soon along with their names will the memories of Blue Magic, Phyllis Hyman, the Dells, Temptations, Supremes, the Staple Singers and everybody else either before them or who came after them like Chak Khan, Earth, Wind & Fire, Emotions etc. be forgotten too. To be replaced by a bunch of people who have forsaken moving bass beats for neo- tinty sounds that have nothing soul about them. Music you can hop and jump up and down to… like we used to watch those young white kids do on those afternoon after school dance shows like the Dick Clark Show. But they can't really dance to. And I guess that is really the point… its not meant to be danced to… but just to make some money.
Forget art… What does art have to do with it?
No wonder the Soul Train Musical Awards show didn't resemble anything like their old award shows… or for that matter… didn't come close to emitting anything I would have called 'soul'… outside of having a tribute to a few past 'soul' artists. What a real shame…a legacy gone to naught…
I hate to say it… but little wonder Don Cornelius took a gun… When you sell off something your control of it goes too… Truly the history of Soul Train will never be the same…
Thank you for reading this blog…and my others. Please be sure to continue to share this blog site with your family, co-workers and all your friends… "pass it on…" www.bsmith101.wordpress.com ©2013
Add a comment April 15, 2013
A PARENT'S WORST NIGHTMARE…Sandy Nook Elementary School
Wrote this on my Facebook page….
"Can't imagine getting up early in the morning and rushing to work…and seeing my children off to school…only to hear my child's teacher's son came to school with a gun shooting to death his own mother…and stealing away the life and breath of my baby as well…and 17 other poor little children unfortunate enough to be that boy's mother classroom.
And he takes his own life without enough courage to face me…
My, Lord…when will this come to an end?
Had that young merely taken his own life first…
This current situation is more than sad….
Christmas for those parents will never be the same…nor their lives…
I pray a peace that surpasses all understanding come to them all right now…in Jesus name…"
No… I think not. It cannot bring back all… or even 1 of those innocent lives which it so ruthlessly took. Twenty-six people… 16 or 18 little children… between the ages of 5 to 10… whose parents will never forget yesterday… when they woke up their child was alive. And less than 3 or 4 hours later they were not.
Add a comment December 16, 2012
Creflo and His Daughter… the 911 Call…. VENUS & SERENA Taking it all at W
When I first heard this story I have to admit that I just casted it off as a plain unruly child picking up the phone and calling 911 on her father…
Because she could. And because that is what the law tells them.
You know the law?
The law that prohibits parents from chastising their children. A law which many times clearly has made parents victims due to unruly children. Because if the child doesn't like what the parent has done …or says… all they have to do is drop a dime… or in other words… pick up the phone and call the police on their mother or father… or both of them.
The information when this story broke was that Creflo and his daughter had been in a dispute… which arose upon his daughter asking him… her father… if she could go to a party.
I have heard of many children who wanted to go against their parents … then decide that they would settle the matter simply by picking up the phone and calling the police on their parents.
So, of course… I thought this was just 1 of those stories. Where a 15-year-old spoiled child decided that she did not like that her father told her 'no' she could not go to the party. So, she therefore picked up the telephone of him… or popped open her cell …and called the police lying on her father… telling them that he had choked her.
That is what I believed and that is how I thought that it had happened.
So, I never felt that Pastor Creflo Dollar had really done anything wrong.
But it was not until I heard his recounting of the incident before his congregation… and after listening to his daughter's 911 phone call… that I must say that I am not entirely sure that maybe the daughter did lie.
Here is her 911 call:
Now here is Creflo's account of that situation:
Since I know neither of the 2 parties it is hard to determine what and what is true. But it was Creflo's own words and how he just seemed to literally throw his daughter up under the bus regarding the whole incident while speaking to his church, in his accounting of what his daughter said had happened, that stuck me as… hmmm. He virtually called her a liar and continued to pounce upon her. And that is what I felt was odd.
I do not believe a loving father… or any parent angry or not get before people and begins to pounce upon their children making their child appear bad or evil.
As a parent I have at times found myself angry at my son… and didn't like something that he said to me . But there are ways that parents handle these type of things privately. Though at times I have had to admonish my son that he needed to tread lightly a couple of times while in public… as since he has reached his 30's he has at times needed to be reminded 'that I am still the parent.'
While speaking Creflo took the opportunity to turn his message on its heels making himself the victim.
There is no doubt that this present system of taking the control out of the hands of parents to properly chastise their children… has made many parents almost helpless when it comes to their interactions with their own children.
It is clearly stated in the Biblical text that parents should not spare the rod. Without following the instruction of God our children will become unruly… untrained… disorderly… and lack moral standards. But with proper training… love… and guidance our children will make us glad. It is Biblical text…
I knew a young mother… she had at lease 4 children and I doubt that she was older than 24 or 25. One day in passing she informed me that she was having problems with her youngest child in school. And she told me that they wanted to medicate him… I counselled her against that.
The little boy was bad… and very busy. But I told to not let anyone give any of her children anything that would alter their mind… because it would rob her children of their lives. And she told me how her oldest boy had call 911 on her… and how afraid she now was of trying to disciple any of her children in the least.
I was shock as her oldest child, who was at the time was just about maybe 9 or 10… was a very likeable and handsome boy. He often stopped by my yard to speak with me as he passed by. I found him very pleasurable… and never would have thought that he would have imagined to do such a thing. But he had… the that incident scared his poor mother enough into not doing anything for any 1 of them, for fear of 1 of them ever picking up the phone on her again… and her children being taken away.
It is clear that the law against parents chastising their children binds the hands of good parents… people who love their children and only want to see that they do well.
No one enjoys little children who have no training at all. They are like little animals… and as they grow up to they become even worst.
I was once investigated. My son and I laugh about it today… but when it happened that thang scared me to death because all I could see was that 'they' were going to remove my son from our house. That would have destroyed me… I doubt that I would have stayed around to let such a thing happen to my child.
But the investigation was dropped when it was discerned that it had no merit.
My investigation stemmed from my son not doing academically well in school. So, the school suggested that I allow them to test him to see why. I was young and foolish then… don't let the school do any type of psycho-analyzing of your children. Because they sit in rooms asking your children about everything but what they told you they were going to do. And that is what brought about my dilemma… my son had not called anyone on me… but the school began questioning him about me… whether I whipped him or not etc…etc… etc…
Needless to say I have since learned. I am not the smartest but that situation taught me something… and I learned it shortly after I gave my permission for that school to tell me why my son's grade were not so good.
How innocent was that?
That nearly had my son removed from our home… and placed into foster care. There is something wrong with this system… and it truly works against parents… good parents.
I did not stop chastising my son… but I did tell him that if he ever told anyone that I whopped him that I would kill him. And that is what we laugh over today. He tells me that I was always threatening to kill him…
"Boy, I'm going to kill you!"
It was kindda the way folks spoke back then. Most parents said it… but none really meant it.
However, the world has changed today… different kind of parents. And that is truly sad… and what has brought about this problem.
Well, God bless… and have an enjoyable evening.
Just in case I don't write anything else for a while let me just include this.
Serena Williams took Wimbledon winning the Women's Single… then turning right around and grabbing the Women's Doubles title with her sister, Venus.
Venus was turned away in having lost early in the Women's Single matches… largely due to her illness which renders her to be tired. But the illness did not stop her when it came to the Women's Doubles finals match, where both little sis and big sis walked away with the big one together.
I am very happy for them both. I love their family. Just love seeing the love… appreciation and unity they all have… and through the situations and turmoil they still WIN!
Together Serena and Venus have won 13 Grand Slam Doubles titles together… and with Serena's Wimbledon Single's win a couple of weeks ago… the have between them 10 Wimbledon Single wins… with each of them having amassed 5 a piece.
Now, how good is that????
Thank you for reading this blog…and my others. Please be sure to continue to share this blog site with your family, co-workers and all your friends… "pass it on…" www.bsmith101.wordpress.com ©2012
Add a comment July 23, 2012
THE TIMES…Pastor Zackery Tims and Nicholas Ashford… gone…
First Zackery Tims …and now Nicholas Ashford.
Oh, I know… I know that Nick was not known for writing and singing gospel music. But no one can deny that he did come from a strong gospel background… that sometimes even managed to show up in his song writing and way of singing.
And what songs they were. He was gifted… and what he didn't have …his partner and later to become his wife… Valerie Simpson had. Together they wrote some of Motow's best known music. Songs like 'Ain't No Moutain High Enough,' 'It Takes Two,' 'Reach Out and Touch Somebody's Hand' ….just to name a few. And I do mean just a few… because their list does indeed truly go on and on.
For a while Val and Nick could be caught holding down the evening drive-time radio slot at WBLS,in New York City. In fact, 1 afternoon I decided to drop by BLS with the hope of getting in to see Vinny Brown, an old friend and co-worker who at the time was the Program Director for the station. While waiting …to my unexpected surprise as I happened to look up… standing before me were 2 people I would have had to be totally blind to not to have recognized from the very moment my eyes came up on them.
"Val and Nick," I heard myself say… as my head jerked back slightly in surprise.
It just kind of eased out of my mouth… I hadn't realized they were handling BLS's on-air drive-time shift at that time. So, I was really surprised to look up and see them, standing right there before me… close enough for me to just reach out and touch them. Nick slightly smiled at me… while Val kind of looked off.
From the time I hit college Nick and Valerie had been busy in recording studios. So, I had looked at and played just about every album of their's. Definitely a sign of the time… because most of the kids don't even know what an album was …or a 45 for that matter. But yes …I had played Val and Nick for many years. And it didn't hurt for me to be a big fan either… which meant as often as I could I would sneak them in on my music lists rotations.
As the years went on I didn't have to continue to ease… I just played them… back to back …or however I wanted. Them and Phyllis Hyman… Donnie and Roberta… Friends of Distiction… Dells… Roy Ayres… George Duke… and whoever else I wanted to program. Including Motown's Temptations, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye… and just so much good music… The kids don't even have a clue… they have nothing like it today.
Nobody writes good music any more… they don't even know what it is to have anything called 'good lyrics.' They… the kids are too busy buying beats. A lot of which are stolen from times gone… times that music like that during which Val and Nick came from …and wrote during.
Though they …Val and Nick had long since turned their attention to other things …such as going into the restaurant business… New York's Sugarbar and I forget what their first restaurant was called …it had been on 22nd Street also in Manhattan.
And whenever traveling home on I-95… as I passed Stamford, CT… my mind would always run across them, as I knew that for a while at least they had made their home in Connecticut.
Having their number I called them once while seeking investors for 1 of my feature film projects. Though I failed to reach them initially… you will never know to my surprise… how thrill I was to receive a call back from them concerning the message that I had left. Val told me that they were just getting ready to open up another restaurant… which was to become the Sugarbar. So, they couldn't afford to do it at the time. She appologized and told me maybe the next time.
I hung up not at all feeling let down. All I could think was… wasn't that nice for them to take the time to call me back?
This is my all time favorite song by Valerie Simpson and Nicholas Ashford.
While living in Chicago… Millie J… used to visit a friend of mine by the name of
Jean… who was Tyrone Davis' sister. Millie had come to town to perform and while talking with Jean… I overheard her say-
"While I was coming through the airport guess who I came across? These two people walking around holding hands. I didn't even have to look twice. I knew right off it was nobody but Nick and Val."
They had that something special… kind of like what Michelle and Obama have. A total appreciation for each other… and a desire to always be in touch with one another… as though they cannot do or bear to be without each other.
Just a few seconds ago, a friend of mine informed me that Nick had dealt with sustance abuse. Never knew that …or ever heard that. So, I don't know for sure. I have not seen him or Val for years now. But I know their music anywhere or anyhow I hear it.
Personally, I cannot imagine Val without Nick. She loved him… and held on to him. And he loved her… and held onto her. And together they held on to each other …a profoundly good example of 2 people who truly walked in love with one another. I certainly pray her strenght in the Lord… and that of their children and other family members.
I had heard his testimony. And what an awesome testimony he had had regarding how God had saved and pulled him out of a messed up life of drug addiction… and having come from a home where nobody knew the Lord. How God had put someone in his path that gave him an invitation… and 1 day for whatever reason Zackery Tims, some 8 or so years ago… called a man on his job who had invited him to come and go to church with him. And that night he got saved… and his life was forever changed.
A megachurch Pastor having a congregation of more than 4,000 members in the Orlando, FL area… on this past Wednesday, Pastor Zackery Tims was found dead on the floor of his Time Square hotel room. The first information said… heart attack. But later information started circulating… that a white powder sustance… cocaine had been found on him.
I had long ago stopped watching him … or some reason or other. I cannot remember why… but it always seems to me that as you watch some of these television evangelists… you like them in the beginning, but then they begin to shift. And everything about them and what they are preaching changes.
I cannot say that about Pastor Tims… because I cannot remember what prompted me to stop watching his program. And it might not have had been anything with him… but a time conflict between the show schedule and my schedule.
His eyes lately were watery or shiney… glossy I guess you could say… whenever I would happen to catch the tailend or some part of his show. And I am not just saying that because I am hoping that after the autopsy is finally released… it will show any drugs in his system. Because I am not… if anything quite the opposite.
I would hate to think that he would have been drawn back… into something that he was blessed enough to have been released from. But when you think back to the events that lead to his divorce… you have to think… Well, maybe.
He was involved with a stripper for a year… that is what the article read. But if it read a year… then it is possible that it was for a longer time than that. While he was engaging in adultry with her… it is very likely that he was also indulging in other things too. And while that relationship may have ended… and who really knows… But if he was drinking or indulging in drugs as well… it is not so likely that he also just stopped abusing either. And do note I said 'if'… because I don't know.
I didn't know him… or much about him except what most of you who also watched the Word Network knew about him. But I was watching the day he leaped upon the top of his pulpit podium to dramatize something he was preaching. I did think that was very odd… and all I could think was-
"That is suppose to be holy. How could he jump up on it?"
But it would seem that not much is still considered to be holy any more in church. I see preachers with baseball caps and hats on in the pulpit… and sweat suits and sneakers. Anything it seems goes today… whatever… however… whenever. My, Lord…
Whatever happened to reverencing the house …and the things of the Lord?
UPDATE: SUNDAY, January 15, 2012…As of New Years Eve this year Pastor Paula White has been chosen the Board of Regents of New Destiny Christian Center. And it would seem that since the autopsy done on the body of Pastor Tims was never released to the public…that drugs had indeed been found in the blood system of the late Pastor Zackary Tims.
With the announcement of Paula White becoming the chosen replacement… Well, it did not seem to sit right with Pastor Tims ex-wife. Tims' ex-wife claims that Tims' and her children are being robbed of their inheritance. You can read more on that by CLICKING the LINK below.
Since I am on the subject of Pastors… and since I did write a blog on it. Let me just note here that I read somewhere… or heard it… that Bishop Eddie Long quietly settled his cases with the young men who had filed law suits against him, for supposedly taking sexual advantage of them while they were under his religious leadership as young teenaged boys.
The settlement is said to have been $15 million total going out to the young men in question.
Perhaps it is a sign of the times… but I sincerely hope not.
Visiting with a niece and enjoying myself. Can't you tell?
I have so much time on my hands that I decided to take some of it to write this blog. I rarely have much time these days. I am on assignment… and must pick up my pace. I have to stay busy in the things of the Lord. And at the end of the day… I just want to be ready when He comes.
And for as long as I can remember that has not changed.
I still love this picture… It is sooooo refreshing looking.
Speaking of which… while talking with a cousin this evening… she told me that they were buckling down for a bad storm that they… the insurance claims agents of the company she works for …are being prep for if it should hit us this week on the east coast.
Better get out and pick up a few things for just in case. And no need to wait until the last minute… do it now since you have gotten some advance info.
One other thing… while here. My niece took me by Dr. Martin L. King's house and the Center for Non-Violence. Took a picture with a tour guide who informed me that every house on his street was bought by the Federal Government… and the only house on the street that is not owned by the Federal Government on that street is the King house… which is still owned by the King family. But the house is open for tours …which are done on the half-hour.
It was amazing watching the people… black and white touring the grounds of the King's house and the Center for Non-Violence. And it is all free… parking and everything without any hassles.
Mrs. Coretta Scott King was a very smart woman. A woman who was determined that her husband's death was not going to be in vain… or forgotten. And I mean she did it… and she didn't do it half-stepping either.
Well, God bless…
Thank you for reading this blog…and my others. Please be sure to continue to share this blog site with your family, co-workers and all your friends… "pass it on…" www.bsmith101.wordpress.com ©2011
4 comments August 23, 2011
Land Court… Me… and the Judge… and God…
Today I had a court date in Land Court. Blessingly, God blessed me not to have to travel to our state capitol to have to do it.
By the time I got off the bus… jumped the train… then walked up the hill… I could barely walk into the courtroom the last time. In fact, I could hardly stand when they called my case before the judge.
Seeing that the judge suggested that we do our next court date by phone in order to make it easier on me. At first I was resistant to that idea because I felt I could better sway the judge… be more effective or otherwise do more and better for my case by standing before the judge than I could over the phone.
But I forgot 1 key factor.
It is not me… that I now depend upon when I walk into a courtroom… or anywhere else for that matter… but the Lord.
I have come to know that if you truly trust Him… then you have to act like you trust Him. It is not about saying 'I trust the Lord.' But it is about putting that into action… showing it forth so that it may manifest to be so.
So, I longer study… or pour over anything pining or worrying about the outcome. I never try to even think about what it is that I am suppose to dred… because I do not think about. I do not let it interfere with my days or nights any longer… because God has said 'cast our cares upon Him.'
And let me tell you… that when you do… you will not believe the outcome.
Truly… truly cast your cares upon Him.
Well, today when I got up… I went about my normal routine. I read a chapter in my Bible. But I decided not to eat anything… I just wanted to mediate on God and what was going to be ahead of me in a couple of hours… that court conference call.
For the first time I glanced over the documents that the lawyer representing the City had sent to me. Pulled out my calculator and started examining the figures for the past 4 years of property taxes owed. Trying to find some discrepancies… and when you are dealing with figures there will always be some somewhere.
Finally, the phone rang. It was the court.
As the judge began to speak to me she informed me that the lawyer for the City wasn't feeling well. I'm thinking wow… it's over there will be a postponement for another date… and it will give me some more time.
I knew I needed time because no matter which way it went I was going to have to come up with some money. So, I needed time in order to save up an amount that might be agreeable… since there was no issue that the property taxes due. And so…the issue would come down to how much can you pay now… if any… and work out some kind of payment arrangement.
So, I was happy to believe that the case was going to get pushed back again.
But then the judge said that the lawyer for the City has laryngitis and is having trouble speaking. But if you have any problems hearing or understanding just interrupt and I will have her repeat it.
When the lawyer talked I couldn't understand a word she was saying. I turned up my phone and it was worst. But I decided to listen as closely as I could.
In order to try and save the voice of the City lawyer… the judge had me do most of the talking. In beginning I suddenly remembered our last court session and what questions I had posed about the total amount of taxes owed upon my parent's property. There had been places in the statements from the City where the amount owed leaped 2 to 3 thousand dollars from 1 quarter to another. So, of course… I questioned this along with some other points I had found in the documents sent to me.
By the time our session was over the judge said send copies of what you have to the City lawyer, and I am sure that the 2 of you should be able to work out something. And if not the court is always here.
And then the judge said-
"And you can get those documents to her when you can. And send copies to the court."
So, the judge did not schedule another court date and she left it up to me as to how soon I could send the documents in question.
No payment schedule was set.
No return court date.
And through it all the lawyer for the City never said anything… because she could not talk. She had laryngitis.
It is amazing. A few months ago the City lawyer had sent court notices to me and all my siblings that they were in possession of my parent's house… and that we had 30 days to respond. And when I called the number and spoke with the man handling it… he demanded $2,000 now in order to stop the process.
And about 4 months later… that process has yet to see the light of day.
And the ultimate decision lays in the hands of the court… and the judge had just finished giving me some more time.
God is truly something.
Some may say why do I give all the credit to God?
First, you would have to know when events are beyond your control there can only be ONE somebody who can turn them in your favor. And that somebody is God.
I write this blog for those of you going through something. Tons of people are going through foreclosure still and so many other things. And though it may seem bleak… or impossible for you to overcome… I implore you to just turn it over to Jesus and see for yourself … first hand just what I am talking about.
No lawyer… or doctor … or even judge… can beat God at what He does. And every lawyer…. doctor … and judge… and everybody in between have to submit to the will of God… like Pharaoh.
God hardened Pharaoh's heart… until He decided to soften it. And when God softened Pharaoh's heart… Pharaoh did as God desired him… he let God's people go… the Israelites. But it was all God's will… the hardening to not let the people… and the softening to let the people go.
And it was God's will in land court today… what that man working for the City had said to me some months ago has not gone to naught. I did not have to pay him $2,000 …and that was back in January when he told me that. It is now March… and I am still here and nobody has a hammer over my head anymore… demanding anything from me by way of my parent's property taxes… or other funds.
That is not to say… the taxes or anything else is not owed. But it is to say… that time is on my side… through the sheer grace and mercy of God. I yet have time to set my parent's house in order. Thank you, Lord God…
Well, God bless…and hope you enjoy the rest of your evening.
Sometime during the course of your day just take the time to look up and observe the beauty that God has planted up there for you to enjoy.
Oh, yeah… been sharing the house with 1 of my nieces. My sister put her out.
She is only 16 and has gone totally crazy over some boy.
Beautiful girl…smart and everything… and I do mean everything going for herself. 'A' student… on the honor society at school… captain of the school soccer and volleyball team… And BAMB!
All of it down the toilet after meeting this boy. Who happens to be 17 and in the 10th grade. LOSER. And she has had sex with him… and now she is out in the streets with me… sharing the roof over my parent's house.
I can't wait until my sister gets over being mad. Noooo… but really I love my niece to death. She is not bad… totally not. But recently she has made some very bad choices.
So, currently she is in 'in-house' at school because she has skipped tons of classes. Her grades have dropped from the 'A's' to 'E's.'
How do you do that?
The spirit of lust. People have lost their homes and families… marriages… children… all of their friends etc… etc… all because lust caused them to do some ugly… and bad things.. say some things… and forced everyone who truly cares for them to turn away from them.. simply because the person cannot hear… nor can they see. They have eyes to see… but cannot see. And ears to hear …but cannot hear.
So, I thought she was going home Monday… But my niece slipped up again. She went missing for 4 hours while she was at school.
Of one thing I am sure… my niece wants to hurry and get out of here. Because her aunt is no joke. Sometimes you just gotta seem to meaner than you really are. And none of my nieces or nephews play with me. But… they love me the most if the truth be told. I know they do… and it is because I love them… I have become to be an enforcer. But I do it all in love… and I can laugh and have fun with them and still enforce.
Now my niece is counting the days when she can go back home… and I know they can't come soon enough. It is all she can talk about-
"Auntie, do you think my mom this… and my mom that."
Mom come and ge your daughter… she is driving me crazy.
Thank you for reading this blog…and my others. Please be sure to continue to share this blog site with your family, co-workers and all your friends… "pass it on…" www.bsmith101.wordpress.com ©2011
Add a comment March 11, 2011
Alicia Keyes baby-mama drama …and everything that glitters…
Somehow I thought Alicia Keyes was smarter… maybe even a bit wiser.
When I was growing up I never thought to look outside of my home for my role models. But the kids today like to pattern themselves after everything and everybody they see.
Their whole attire is based upon watching people in music videos. That whole thing that they do with fingers…like we used to throw up the peace sign. It's from watching the guys on the videos. Grinding and grabbing at their stuff…its from…
Well, you get the point.
I have read a couple stories on this romantic little couple…Keyes and her hubby to be.
But how does that happen?
He's in divorce court…not even un-married yet dropping sperm all over the place while hanging a ring around her neck. Well, I mean on her finger.
He is on the verge of having 3 sets of kids…children from 3 separate women… 4 in total whenever Alicia gives birth to hers.
Here is a guy where all you have to do is look at his track record and that should give you reason to ease back from him. What kind of man is he that has 2 children with the woman who has him in divorce court, and before settling that matter he impregnates another woman and says-
"Lets get married."
And I thought I was disappointed in Vivica Fox when she hooked up with 50¢. I thought she was too classy for him…just what I thought about Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown at first. Though I still think that Whitney had more going for her than Bobby Brown, and over a period of time I began to see where neither Whitney or Vivica were quite what I had thought.
Which goes to my point that you should never idolize people who you do not personally know. If you don't really know them then you do not a true perspective as to who they really are. And that old saying really is quite true-
"All that glitters is not gold."
Meaning though they may shine…be famous…popular…or whatever but what you see and believe to be good may… Well, it may be something totally different from you think you see. And I am starting to think that about Alicia Keyes.
The guy doesn't even look like anything to me. But from the articles Alicia is totally smitten by him. And she has to be to want to…or to have allowed herself to fall into the predicament she is in. Pregnant with child by a guy who already has 3 children by 2 different women…and is currently still married.
I hate to say it…but it sounds so 'ghetto.' And I say that knowing that many people who live in the 'ghetto' do not all act 'ghetto.' That is to say that they come out of what is called a 'ghetto,' but they do not act or behave in a manner that reflects the negatives of that environment…or the stigma we have come to associate with certain elements within 'ghettos' or poorer neighborhoods…such as the character played so realistically by Mo'que in the movie 'Precious.'
Within 'the hood' baby-mama/baby-daddy drama is something well documented…whether you witnessed it on the street or happen to hear someone conversing over a cell phone. You know it when you hear it. It is in the tone of the conversation…the shouting…the emotions…and usually the cussing and swearing.
Amazingly, just like Alicia and this guy, Swizz Beatz. The name alone gives you a clue that there is nothing there. But going back to my initial statement…a few months into a fresh new romance everyone looks as in love as Alicia and this guy in this picture. But then comes the drama.
And I have no doubt that it is going to come…if history has anything to say about it.
And we all know that history as a way of repeating itself…and clearly the guy's history speaks for itself.
The mere fact that he had no respect for Alicia by at least waiting until he finalized his divorce to impregnate her and to set a ring upon her finger…speaks loud and clear. And it ain't saying 'love.'
Oh, you may say-
"Oh, he is just trying to do the right thing."
The right thing?
The right thing was to respect the mother of his 2 children whom he is currently attempting to divorce before dropping a ring on somebody else…and making the other woman pregnant. And Keyes is definitely the other woman in this scenario.
If one went back in time it is possible that the woman who this currently his wife…may have at the time found herself on the other side of the table. And had been the other woman in that scenario between him and the mother of his first child.
It is a know fact that if you meet up with someone this kind of way…where you take them from some else… Well, sooner or later you will find yourself in the same predicament. While the person moves on to the next one.
This guy strikes me as someone who likes to fraternized with women who have made it or are their way to making it. Hint…hint… All gold digger are not female.
The ex-wife to be is a singer too…somebody named Mashonda. Since I do not listen to R&B any more…or rapp…or anything much outside of gospel music…I have never heard of her…or him. But in watching a music video or 2 of his… he definitely has to hook up with someone. Because his talent, if you want to call it that…is not nothing. You might consider him to be another…uhm… Bobby Brown.
So, he was in dire need to go to the next level. And I guess you can say he did just that when he somehow managed to rope Alicia into his web of romance.
At first glance Alicia struck me as clean cut…intelligent…gifted…and a young woman of high standards and morals. But she seems to have believed the hype and sunk into the life of supposed stardom… rapp culture… and whatever else. She seems to have lost some of that style… innocence… and intuitiveness I thought she had.
So, how come she didn't see this guy coming?
How could she have fallen so deeply under his spell?
Her style changed… her talk changed …she changed. She started showing more…and leaving less to your imagination.
Maybe it was a desire to become more like…say a Beyoncé. And for a while I had thought that it was going to Alicia and whatever Beyoncé's husband is named.
Then I had thought it was going to be Alicia and Common. But Serena Williams tied that up.
But personally she looks smart enough to be a lawyer's wife… or some doctor's wife. But somebody with a brain seemed to be what I would have thought Alicia would have wanted. Somebody like a Barack and not a Swizz Beatz.
But maybe like Vivica…Alicia wanted a thug. Just somebody able to throw her down and sex her all night long. But I would have thought that she would've wanted far more than that.
Maybe someone she could converse with. Somebody who could do more than flash and throw his hands up in the air… or spin a couple of turntables. Somebody who knew something about responsibility. Somebody who could really love and respect her. Somebody who felt so deeply about her that he would not dare pull her into a mess.
What happened to her common sense?
Why would she want somebody who would pull her down?
Didn't she see what happened between Janet and her ex-husband?
How about how far Whitney fell messing around with Bobby?
Is she oblivious to what has been going on around her concerning messing with married men…and baby-daddies?
Doesn't she realize that depending upon what state they live in that his children could pull a piece of her earnings too?
Yes, that is right. Once his way of life increases under the influence of Alicia's money… she could be forced by the court to aid him in supporting his other children due to her income.
So, then what would possess Alicia Keyes to want to tie herself down to a man who already has 2 set of children?
I know that it is hard to find men today who do not have any children… but there are some. Some fine decent men waiting on a fine decent woman. Who work and are more than capable of support his queen to be.
What happened to choosing one of them?
I see Alicia carries expensive bags… which cost thousands of dollar, like Chanel, Veneta, Louis Vuitton etc…etc… then why go bottom shelf when it comes to choosing a mate?
And she wouldn't take a bag that somebody else owned. So, why do that when it comes to a man?
Why would Alicia Keyes want to let herself in for all the baby-mama drama that is sure to come out of her relationship with this guy, Swizz Beatz?
I don't really know Alicia's background but I have heard an interview or 2 where she has talked about her schooling and music classes. And it never struck me that she came from the 'ghetto.'
But one thing is for sure… she is beginning to act like it.
And let me just state this…that 'ghetto' is more a state of mind than being. Because I know people who live in a variety of places including what would be called the 'ghetto.' But they do not possess a 'ghetto' state of mind.
No respectable woman would set herself up for failure…except perhaps the woman Ruby Giuliani married after he finally divorced his wife. What a mess that was… the guy had no respect.
How do you bring your mistress into Gracie Mansion, the Mayor's mansion in New York City, where your wife and young son live to do your thing with her?
What kind of woman was she?
I guess Giuliani was just too cheap to get a hotel. But he did not impregnate her… least ways not that we know. And just prior to his attempted run for the White House, he married her.
As to whether they are happy or not… I can't answer that. But I do not believe any woman can can sleep peacefully at night knowing that have hooked up with someone with a wandering eye. If it wandered 1 time…it can and usually wanders 2 or 3 times. And in Alicia's case maybe 4… if someone steps up to the plate with more money and appeal.
Because that is clearly the kind of guy this guy strikes me as. Otherwise, Alicia wouldn't be pregnant right now. And he probably worked hard at that… he needed to seal that deal.
And he did.
I do not wish Alicia ill… but I just do not see it working out. History always repeats itself, and someone's nature is their nature. But God…only if God steps in and changes them. And this guy has z history that is speaking loud and very clearly.
But going on to my initial point regarding role models. Like Serena and Venus… I had thought Alicia as a good and decent role model. But this thing about being out-of-wedlock, pregnant and messing with a married man has definitely put a dimmer on that.
The problem is …is that because Alicia is in the public eye she does bear a certain level of responsibility. I have no doubt that she realizes that there are many young girls and young ladies who follow her closely. And for them she sets a kind of standard of excellence and determination.
Her lifestyle and choices like that of many celebrities gets digested, and incorporated into the being of those who follow them. Becoming pregnant by a married man…
Well, it is something most people do not brag about. It shows a level of insecurity… carelessness… and a balant disregard for the other woman on the other side.
This scenario is weighted in history. Its outcomes can be read in newspapers time and time again, due to all kinds of crazy acts of revenge… hatred… threats… kidnappings and murder plots. It is not a pretty situation …and under it no one can truly find happiness.
Because what started wrong in the first place …can't help but end up wrong too.
Then that is not to say that errors or lapses in judgment can't happen. But never compound a mistake.
Okay, Alicia may be pregnant…but should she really marry the guy?
No. She made a mistake. But she does not need to make another mistake… by marrying the wrong person.
Sure she is pregnant with his child. But if he was worth anything that would not be the case.
Clearly, Swizz Beatz lacks certain morals. I know that sounds like a foreign word to some. But morals stand for something. And anyone without them…
Well, would you really want to trust them with your heart?
Apparently, 2 others did. And you can see what was the outcome.
Why should the 3rd…Alicia's relationship with him be any different?
And don't say-
"Oh, he might really love her."
Might is the operative word. He might …and then again he might not. She might just be another trophy to him. Might be just another target for his ego …and something for him to laugh about while chatting with his boys.
As is often in this kind of case… the man walks out on the other woman eventually…leaving her for the next one. It is an endless cycle for those who have no moral consciousness going from 1 woman or young girl to the other.
I pray that women wake up.
In the Biblical story in the Book of Genesis… Leah eventually did…wake up…but it was not until after she had bore Jacob 5 sons. She kept hoping child after child that Jacob would love her.
Today, we this scenario still plays itself out over and over again. In the story of Leah and Jacob …you can assume that Leah did not love herself very much. The text said that she had a tender eye… whereas Rachel was beautiful. And she could clearly see how much Jacob loved her.
It had to be painful.
Hence, any woman…or girl who loves herself is not going to just allow someone to use them with the hope of winning them over. Or baring a child for them with the hope that this will tie a person to them.
I had a Jamaican cousin who passed last year. Since I really didn't know her I was informed by 1 of her sisters-
"I don't know what happened to Marva. She was never ever like that before she met him."
Before my cousin Marva 'met him,' my other cousin shared with me…she was happy and carefree. She loved life… and was always playing practical jokes. But then she 'met him.' She loss the essence of who she was.
He did not love her… but he kept stringing her along. Because he knew he had her. She gave him a child… but yet she could not keep him. There were other women in his life …but she refused to let go. Then he married another woman… and my cousin's life caved in on her.
Suddenly, nothing mattered. Not even her own child. Her thoughts were consumed with him. Her desires were all for him. Then he shun her… cursed her …and stopped seeing her as regular.
And she began attempting suicide.
She succeeded last year when she finally turned a bottle of bleach up to her mouth. This time there was no doctor that could help her.
They could not pump her stomach. It burnt up her insides. And they could do nothing to help her but watch her suffer…for days… my aunt (her mother), her husband (her father) and her other sisters.
But at the funeral they realized that she was now at peace. But what a sad way to go. And what a horrible way of trying to find peace.
What could possess someone to love someone so much…more than than they do themself… or her child… to attempt on several occasions… and then to final succeed in killing themselves?
Could anyone on this planet be worth all that?
His life went on. But her's ended…and ended horribly.
It had been compounded by 1 error after another.
There are some people not worth being bothered with. And particularly if they can somehow manage to cloud up how you feel about you.
I was once so in love. I do know how it feels.
I loved this person so much. She had me. And when it was other… I spun into my own web of depression… remorse …loss …and pity. It came across my mind…that thought of suicide.
Everywhere I turned I saw couples. Everywhere I looked I saw people walking hand in hand. Spring was in the air… and so was love. And I had no one…I was alone.
The one I cared for had cast me off. And I was floating …drifting in my mind. Reality was lapsing from me. I saw that which I wish I had. And it was all around me. Happiness …chatter… the glee of being with someone you loved.
But there I was alone.
And yes… it came to me. To kill myself … and to bring it all to an end.
But instead it was overcome by another thought.
I began thinking that maybe 'the life' wasn't for me.
I began thinking that being in 'the life'…meaning 'in a gay lifestyle' was not some place where I could be happy. And maybe I needed to try the other way?
I tried it.
But I didn't like it.
But I emerged from it pregnant.
I thought of abortion.
So, I called the hotline. But when they started talking about 'partial anesthesia' or 'full anesthesia'… I knew that either way it was going to hurt.
So, I just decided to go through with the pregnancy. Truly, that was my thought process. And that is why I now have a son… who I must say is a far better person than his mother.
And my goodness… what would this world be like if my son were not upon it?
I made the right choice. And it is God's desire that we have freedom of choice… so we can exercise our right to make 'the right choice.'
And I am glad that I made another choice.
It took me years to get here. But I made the choice to walk in liberty …and to come out of darkness. And I am so happy that I did.
Oh, well… I have got to end now. Because I am really supposed to have watched a movie… and now I'll be up and working on a legal paper.
So, I really must get moving. Enjoy your day tomorrow.
In closing let me say 1 more thing… Alicia at 29 years of age should be wiser. I say all of this because I have no doubt that a lot people will read this blog. And I would just be wrong if I did not speak truth…with the hope that someone might hear. Or that it might help someone…including Alicia.
God bless.
THE BISHOP'S WIFE is now on sale…
Thank you for reading this blog…and my others. Please be sure to continue to share this blog site with your family, co-workers and all your friends… "pass it on…" www.bsmith101.wordpress.com ©2010
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1 comment June 1, 2010
Gary Coleman passing… Parenting and those who claim to know…
I have long held that most of the supposed authorities giving out information on how to treat, displine and handle your children…are really a bunch of people who do not know what they are talking about.
Now, today I happen to come across this article…which…
Well, it proves my point.
The above LINK to the article is written by a mother who states that she is a Professor at some big time university…where she and her husband taught. And I say 'taught'…because he is now deceased, but she still teaches there…wherever it is.
Probably in New York…or at Yale…or some place. Some place like NYU…or Harvard…M.I.T. Or Georgetown…or Princeton. But I bet you it is somewhere on the East Coast. Somewhere near Greenwich… or out in the Hamptons.
And I tell you why.
In this woman's article…this Professor… she states that she told her daughter that it was okay for her to drop out of school.
Yes, I did say that. This she plainly states in her article where she says that she told her daughter, who wanted to drop out of high school…that it was okay to do so. In fact in the article the woman states this…."school wasn't working for her. So, I even encouraged her to drop out."
The so-called 'parenting expert' also states in her article that she is the author of numerous books on parenting.
Now, do you get my point?
For some years now these so-called 'parenting experts' have been telling this country how to care, chastize, woo and cuddle their child. Most of them mind you have never even had a child yet they sit around articulating on various talk shows, radio programs and in new articles how 'we'…real parents should care for our children, and their discipline.
They are the ones responsible for why laws were written about what types of discipline are and are not allowable or acceptable. Laws which have given way to some of the most unruly children to walk the face of this earth. Many have no matters…and some even lack basic unbringing.
I am not, however, critiquing or criticizing all children or teens…or anyone outside of this mother who happens to claim that she is an expert in this matter. Clearly something is wrong with the picture of 'child/parent relationships' today. And this corrupted picture basically has stemmed from a lot of very bad advice from a bunch of people running around who nothing about children. And neither do most of them had any children of their own…or like this woman who wrote the above article…they failed to be able to control their own children.
So, they give in to them…and up on them.
What parent in their right mind is going tell their child in these days and times…or in past times that its okay to drop out of high school?
No one. None of them did. Though in past times many children did not have the leisure of pursuing a full education based upon family demands. But these days have changed and so has the criteria to be capable and compedent to be a part of today's work force. It has grown and gotten much higher. You need more education today…more than ever before. And particularly if you want what is called a good job…and higher pay.
Evidently, this woman is either very rich… or she has heavily insured her daughter and plans for some type of accident. Because either that or she must be planning on taking care of her daughter some how for the rest of her life. Because without a college education…and many times above… her daughter's life is going to become very hard.
Anyone who does not have an appropriate education today is as good as doomed. There is no about it…or buts about it. Everybody can't go to Hollywood and become the next $20 million movie star…or make mega making music song deals.
I am sure that that this woman's daughter is never going to be the next Whitney Houston or Barbara Streisand. Her daughter doesn't stand a chance unless her mother has some money. It is highly unlikely that this woman's daughter will succeed at much of anything if her mother's attitude has always been-
"Oh, well if you can't do it that's okay. Just quit."
What parent tells their child that?
What do these so-called experts know?
People who want their child or children to succeed in life push them. They push them to get up in morning…to make their beds… to clean their rooms… to brush their teeth… to comb their hair… to take a bath…etc. Parent's push their children…and after a while the hope is our children will start pushing themselves. They must learn to get up…and make their way in life. They have to learn to clean their rooms on occasions… and how to take a bath and brush their teeth…and comb their hair without anyone having to push them.
And I do not mean by being mean and cruel to your children…or be overbearing in your desires for your children. No, not in that way…where the children come to dispise you because all you care about is that "A" or the winning of the ball game. No, not at all like that. But the kind of pushing that parents must do in order to get their children up and going…and to engage them in life.
It is called 'growth and development.'
We grow…and develop over time. I am sure that over time even I have grown in the writing of these blogs. My first blogs are nothing like they are now…be it in their overall appearance…content…the amount of time I spend on creating them…and my total effort in doing them. I have grown…and so have they.
But I learned how to grow through my parents pressuring me to always do my best…and to never give up. Needless to say…I didn't always like it…but it worked. Speaking of which…when my son spent 4 years in 9th grade…
Yes, I did say 4 years in 9th grade. I told him this-
"I don't care how long it takes you to finish high school. You can sit there until you get old and grey if you want to. But you are going to stay there until you finish or until somebody walks up to you and taps you on the shoulders to tell you to get out. But you are going to stay there until then."
And I meant every word of it.
It was not that my son was a bad child. But he was a social butterfly. I sat in on many of his classes just to ensure that he was doing his doing what he was suppose to be doing in school. And I often travelled in from New York… getting off the inter-state bus to catch a city bus to the whatever school he was at.
If you want your children to succeed you have got to commit yourself to their success. And you have to do it without surrendering. I never surrendered. Today my son is very successful. He successfully finished high school and then went on from there. Today he makes lots of money doing what he loves. But it did not come with me giving up on him or giving in to him.
It takes education to end up in life doing what you love. Must people work doing what they have to…and oftentimes doing something that hate (and that is many times regardless of their education if they chose to study something just for the money). But those who are educated can pick and choose what it is that they want to do…and at what price. That is the beauty and difference that education can make.
This is not to say, however, that only people with good education succeed. Because there are many examples today and yesterday that prove that point as well. But, however, that road is not an easy one… and it becomes complicated with a lot of 'no's'…and plently of road blocks.
During the last year of my son's 4th year in 9th grade whenever he asked me for anything I would just merely say-
"Four years-9th grade."
That ended any further discussion about whatever it was that he was asking me for. Oh, how I loved that time…I did not buy one single thing for him that was not a need. He asked me for new pair of $100 sneakers…he asked me for a beeper…he asked me for all kinds of things. But he got none of them… no Christmas gifts…birthday gifts…nothing. Nothing…not that I would have bought him a beeper or spent $100 on a pair of sneakers anyways. But I still remember his face when I would say that to him…4 years-9th grade. But he made it out of 9th grade. And from that point on he began making the honor roll.
It took some time but it got there. It hit home… my saying that to him. It must have given him pause to sit back and think about the time he was wasting. He had thought of school as a fun place not a learning place. It is alright to have fun in school, but not whern it disrupts others…or hinders your learning…or that of those around you. My son did not hinder others…he just was busy not doing his work.
But after that first time of making it onto honor roll there was such a shift in my son's attitude towards his school work. He started taking pride in himself and his school work. He even began to brag that he was the smartest boy in his class. And from that first moment on the honor roll he just kept on out performing all of them…because it felt better than sitting in school doing nothing…and everybody now looking up to him, and asking him to help them.
At the end of the day no child wants to do anything. I know I didn't. We would have all rathered to have sat before the TV all day watching cartoons or drawing and coloring on paper…where as today's kids play all kinds of computer games…game boy and things like that. And if they could they would never set it down… or go to school if their parents let them.
So, enter this woman…who I guess is proud… Well, she states that she is proud. She feels that she has done some great thing by telling to her daughter to quit school. I would beg to differ.
And just like I said when I started this blog. It just goes to prove all along what I have always believed about these so-called 'child experts.' They do not have a clue. And nobody should be listening to them.
And before I forget…the reason I said that the woman (the mother) was probably some Professor from NYU or some other North Eastern college, was because her view seemed to be quite East Coast liberal. It was…or is quite liberal, which I think is how a lot of former flower children/hippy…or should I say ex-hippy…or ex-flower children liberal Eastern Professors think. And particularly if they have money…or come from families with money.
If you have money then it really doesn't matter. You can say something dumb like tell your child to go ahead and just drop out. Because you have the finances to provide and care for that child for the rest of his or her life. And being that this woman has a daughter… Then she can do it right up until the time her daughter gets married.
Well, I was wrong…the woman who wrote the article teaches at some school in California.
But the point that made the whole article ridiculous for me was the fact that the woman…this 'child/parenting expert' was proud of herself for telling her daughter she should just drop out of high school. This she told her daughter because her daughter wasn't doing well, and she didn't like school.
Boy, if ever parent thought like this woman more than 3/4 of the school population would no longer be attending school.
What child doesn't think that they hate school?
I didn't…but that is beside the point. I guess I would be part of 1/4 attending school. But I don't think I would really count. Because I only liked school because it got me out of the house and away from my sisters and brothers. When you are the oldest of 8 siblings…you fall in love with school real quick.
Now, back to this woman who wrote the article…this supposedly well educated woman…a woman of letters… having a doctorate in her field…which in turn gave way to her the claim to proclaim herself an expert in the first place. And this woman also writes books telling parents what to do concerning their children.
Real parents stand up. You better take those books by these so-called experts and throw them into your incinerator. Because clearly this woman doesn't know what she is talking about. She doesn't even have a clue. Her head must be stuck in the ground. And her hand is definitely not on the pulse of what is important in the real world.
And she teaches college students?????
If your child is going to succeed…they will need to be educated. And I hope that whoever your child is…I hope they are not in any of this woman's classes.
Throughout history the levels of man's success has always been measured and linked to his hard work and level of education. And education has always set the standard for the classes…separating those who have juxtapose to those who have not.
While listening to Bev Smith last night on her late-night radio talk show over the internet, I heard that Gary had been emitted into the hospital and was in intensive care.
If ever you have considered getting your child involved in the entertainment business Gary Coleman's life is definitely one which should give you pause and is worthy of another consideration.
If ever there was a group of child stars who did not fare well it was the group of child stars that appeared on the show with Gary Coleman. We all remember "Diff' rent Strokes." It ran all the way up until Arnold began to turn old before our very eyes…and therein laid his delima.
Size-wise he never grew much but his feature stopped ceasing to be as cute and lovable…I guess you could say. Which I have no doubt had a lot to do with his medication and kidney problem. But then too there were those storylines. They got to where they were just plain dumb. And so the show over time lost its appeal and audience.
But there was something going on in the background. Drugs came into their midst. Then drinking added to the drugging. But we never could tell…least ways I couldn't. But it affected the lives of the 2 other child stars on the show…more so than it did Gary.
Todd Bridges who was always good-looking, along with Dana plato all became sister and brothers. Willis…the character that Todd played on the show, was supposedly Arnold's real brother, who both end up being adopted into the rich Drummon family. Where Dana, Kimberly Drummond on the show, becomes their sister. Todd later reported that he and Dana experimented with drugs together while working on the show.
Dana later becomes pregnant by some boyfriend and got fired from the show. Like Gary Coleman, she too was adopted. And from articles that I have read…the woman who adopted her was hungry for money and really never cared much for the child otherwise.
Dana's life like Willis' and Gary's was sad following the end of their years as stars on Diff'rent Strokes. Down and out Dana moved to Vegas with her baby. She found herself in a beat-up trailer park…and one day steped into a video store to rob it with a gun…got jail time…and she later died of an overdose.
Like Willis, Dana was probably the product of child abuse. She had the typical scars of a sexually abused child. Following her departure from Diff'rent Strokes she posed nude in a layout in Playboy…and later turned to staring in pronography.
Willis' inner demons began to plague him following a friend of his father taking advantage of him sexually as a very young kid. Years later he found himself suffering from anger management, drinking and problems with drugs…and doing time in jail on weapons charges.
Dana at the age of 14 was already drinking and drugging long before she hit the set of Diff'rent Strokes. It is amazing that watching them you would have never guessed any of the inner turmoils in any of their lives.
No one can ever tell me about the demons which chase children long after the abuse stops. What a different life and end she might have had.
Arnold…or Gary suffered with kidney problems…a problem which attributed to the lack of his growth in stature. And he also became a very angry man as the years went by. Often he was dragged into court stemming from incidents where he hit or punched a fan.
He was no longer that cute or funny little child star…but a little short man…out of work and turned against his then family. His adoptive parents he took to court claiming that they had robbed him.
Though he tried at different ventures…everything failed. And for a very brief time he even tried to pursue a college education…but that too failed.
Whenever his name came up in the news you always wondered who he had hit next?
It seemed that the whole world had turned against him…and he against it.
I think the one shinning moment through those years was when he and Willis teamed up on a movie showcasing their lives and the turmoil that followed after Diff'rent Strokes was ended. I have no doubt that that movie will pop up somewhere now that at the age of 42 Gary Coleman is gone.
Willis…or Todd which is his real name… has since gotten his life back on track. And often I have heard him talking about God in his life. I hear that he has a re-occuring role on a soap opera. I certainly wish the continued best for him…along with his continued growth in the Lord.
Yesterday I spent most of my morning resting for my afternoon studio shoot. About 1 o'clock I was up and rushing. But by the end of the night I was tired… but quite satisfied. I had gotten most of what I wanted… and everybody who said that they would… Well, they showed up.
Now, I am on my way with that. And I feel good.
And in case you are wondering why I have not said anything about my book, THE BISHOP'S WIFE, lately. Well, for one thing I was hoping to be in New York promoting my book at the Book Expo America this week. And since you know I was in the studio shooting footage last night… So, you know that that didn't happen…no me and New York City this week.
The other thing that happened…and perhaps you have experienced this. My flash drive died. It CRASHED…and I had all most all of website files on it. And I do mean it crashed…and I had failed to back-up those files anywhere else.
So, for the past 2 weeks I have been praying over my flash drive…and continuously sticking into this computer and that computer hoping for just anything to happen. But it has not. So, I have been trying not to think about.
What good would it do for me to get all upset over it?
Because like you may have…I have learned this lesson more than once. And yet I continue to do it.
I never save anything on a back-up. And dealing with computers…which are very tempermental…you are taking a large risk if you don't back-up everything someplace else.
And so…I have learned that lesson again. But I think that this time is the last time.
Enjoy your night and have a beautiful day tomorrow…and Monday, Memorial Day. I am going to try and get some sleep now.
Tempertures here are climbing again. And it has been real hot here. Better pull out the sprinkler if you don't have a pool…get yourself some Italian ice. I love them…and popsickles too.
Oh, yes…
Today while waiting on bus. I was joined by some high school seniors in their caps and gowns. And they looked beautiful…and their was an air of excitement and happiness in each of their eyes, as well as, upon their faces.
And I just had to compliment them on their achievements, and tell them how well and beautiful they all looked.
It was beautiful.
The weekend before last we were in Jersey at Drew University cheering for my brother as he walked across the stage accepting his doctorate degree. This past weekend a niece and cousin graduated from college. And this coming coming Wednesday another niece will be graduating from college.
My parent's children are all growing up…and our family is expanding in many different ways. In our growth and knowledge of the Lord…in our family size…and in our educational knowledge. My partents time and efforts were vested well.
So, it has been busy around here with all the graduations. All of the graduation receptions…and all of the tears of pride and joy…and happiness for them. Hope you have had the opportunity to do the same. And if not this year maybe next. But it does not come with people giving up…or parents telling their children its okay you can just quit and drop out of school.
What a road map for desaster.
And…God bless.
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Thank you for reading this blog…and my others. Please be sure to continue to share this blog site with your family, co-workers and all your friends… "pass it on…" www.bsmith101.wordpress.com ©2010
Add a comment May 29, 2010
Two 5 year olds…raped…and murdered… and on Obama and the detainees…
I recalled with I was taken advantage of…back then they didn't kill you. Well, they sort of did. They killed you alright…but you were like the walking dead. They stole something from you…you didn't know what or even that they had stole it. But you knew something was wrong with it.
So, you just never told anybody. Never whispered a word…just kind of hid it down deep inside…if you could. And if you couldn't…then those kids became problem kids…some even predators preying upon other kids.
The life of a child can be hard…and particularly so when viewed as a sex object…something to fill someone's sick preverted fantasy or sexual obsession.
Upon just coming up onto the internet this evening I have read and watched video about 2 very young girls… both of them age 5. One white and one half and half…mixed…half white and half black. And both of them were sexual violated and then murdered.
Two very beautiful young children…and their lives were destroyed at the tender age of 5. Forced into acts that no child should have to endure…or be forced to become party to.
One buried alive and the other the autopsy is forthcoming.
How dare anyone steal their lives from them.
How dare someone rob them of becoming teenagers…going off to college…and hanging out at a movie with friends.
How dare somebody steal their womanhood from…their motherhood…their promise…and now has robbed us all of them and what they might have achieved.
I have no doubt that they both suffered traumatically. People who kill people suffer from a deep sense of needing to feel powerful. Can you imagine being mentally that small that children give them a sense of power when taking their life.
Then there are those who kill children just so that no one is there to tell the story…as to what and who did what to them. What cowards they are.
They are man enough to do it…but not man enough to stand up for having done it. So, they kill the victim…they murder the innocent child…the woman or whoever. And they set out doing it…again and again…and again until they slip up and somehow get caught.
They are like the bank robbers of old…who kept on robbing banks until they got caught. Went to jail…got out…and sooner or later went right back to robbing banks…until they caught again…or shot down.
Does alerting neighborhoods that there is a sexual predator in their neighborhood really work?
I think not.
Do most of these men go back out and start seeking children all over again?
Paedophiles and sexual deviants clutter most neighborhoods. The only problem is…is that most of them are never caught. Because most children don't tell. And a lot of women who get raped don't either.
Then there is this other factor… a lot of them look like your husband…and/or brother. In fact, they are your husband…and/or brother. Most men have had sex with somebody who was not of legal or consenting age.
I have a friend who often during some of our conversations has laughed to me about how while in college he had had sex with a 14 year old girl we both knew. And for the life of me I have always wondered why he thought it was so funny?
And why would anybody want to laugh about such a thing?
There are certain things if I were guilty of them…I would not talk about them.
It's illegal!
Having sex with children is illegal in this country. And in most countries.
Outside of it being taboo…what could possibly be interesting about having sex with a 5 year old child…or a 3 year old…or any child…or teenager? And in South Africa…they have wide spread incidences of men having sex with infants. Yes, INFANTS…claiming that it is because they have a fear contracting AIDS by having sex with women.
This whole topic is really more than I can bare. I guess because it hits so close to home. I had not only been sexually molested as child…twice…and before I reached 4th grade…but I came very narrowly close to being gang raped by a group of maybe 20 if not more men…had not it been for the grace of God.
I spent my life from that point on…until I was in my mid-20's abstaining from sex. There were those who asked me…and there were those who tried to force me. But I said 'no'…and I resisted where I had to.
But I never allowed anyone ever again to take advantage of me…or to use me again like that.
When I had those experiences I was too young to even know what was happening to me. I knew nothing about sex…or sexual intercourse. I had never seen it…the act before…or anyone indulging in it. So, it was very foreign to me. I could not wrap my little mind around it…much less even know that it was wrong.
Though my abusers were not violent towards me…they did steal my innocense. But they steal more than innocense today. They bully, beat, violate and then butcher the child.
I had read many years ago in a book or a publication of some sort…that 3/4 young girls experience some type of sexual abuse. And that a quarter of the men have been propositioned by another male or experienced anal sex.
Since so many men…particularly black go into the prison system today…that figure is probably far higher now. Because a lot of men today also indulge more freely in what they call 'man love.' Some openly while many others on the DL…the down low. And the same can be said for more women today…in terms of lesbian hookups…getting themselves a girlfriend. It seems to be the rage (the new in-thing).
There seems to be a growing obession with sex…and deviant sexual behavior…and violent deviant sexual behaviors.
It has become a growing practice for sexual offenders to 'snuff people out'…killing them while engaged in sex or following it.
Those 2 little girls looked so innocent and so beautiful.
How could a mother sell her child out as prostitute?
Her little 5 year old daughter…her own flesh and blood?
Can there be that much hate…and bitterness in anyone?
Yes…sadly, yes.
I am sicken by all these things. And whether you believe it or not…it is a spirit…very very dark spirits sweeping across America. And I guess the world.
And I was going to talk about Obama and the detainees being imported to the main land…USA. Which I think might be a big mistake. But I guess I will discuss that in another blog.
But let me just point out real quick…that the errors committed by the Bush Administration in the handling of those prisoners…in that many of them were just swept up and secretly flow out from their homes, family and country. Some who were innocent of any crime. But now all violently anti-America…and Americans. And who would not be after what they have all had to endure in Quantanamo Bay?
The past treatment of those prisoners makes them high security risk and threats upon American soil. The bitter taste put into their mouths via the Bush Administration can't be turned around by any acts of kindness. And particularly not among people who willing do not mind killing themselves to kill you.
So, no they are too dangerous to be brought into this country. America has many other options…and we should be considered. Because those people for the most part will have to be locked away for life. Because they will pose too great of threat…in terms of them trying to get revenge for any and all preceived wrongs that were brought about when they were initially imprisoned. And of course…due also to their gross treatment under the past administration.
Lets face it…I doubt that few of them are not bitter over the situation. And I would be too…and so wouldn't you.
Well, hoped you had a beautiful day. Started off fine but then turned cold. And we are inching our way towards Thanksgiving. I know that I am looking forward to it. And hope that you are too.
Thank you for reading this blog…and my others. Please be sure to continue to share this blog site with your family, co-workers and all your friends… "pass it on…" www.bsmith101.wordpress.com ©2009
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Add a comment November 17, 2009
Gang rape… assualt …murder… and fear
I rarely read the newspaper…and have stopped watching television. So, the means that I accquire the news these days is usually when I go up over the net and see a news flash. Most of the time I pay little attention to them…but then there are those which draw me in. And I find myself having to read the story…and not out of real interest…but because I find the headline hard to believe.
Today, I came across one of those attention grabbing headlines. The headline read something like this…'Gang Rape and nobody helped.'
How could such a thing happen?
What has happened to mankind?
The incident took place during a high school homecoming dance outside in some alleyway or something on the school grounds…for 2 hours long this raping continued. And kids stood around watching, while others jumped in to participate while a 15 year girl was repeatedly raped by up to as many…if not more than 15 to 20 people who in some way participated in this incident or stood by watching.
What would possess somebody to stand around and want to cheer on or watch such a thing?
Why didn't someone call for help?
Or run and go tell somebody?
What is going on in the minds of our young people that they could get caught up in such a thing…and then become party to it by standing around and doing nothing…or worst…jump in and become more than a watcher?
Everyone of those kids should be pulled into court…and facing some type of charges.
Many were busy lighting up their cell phones taking pictures of the crime…and even videotaping it…a type of criminal voyeurism. But no one called for help…or tried to stop what was going on.
I cannot imagine such a thing. There is not anything that I can see going on…that I would not try to stop…or somehow help in some way. I have seen men fighting their girlfriends…and gotten involved. I have stopped fights between kids. I have gotten between mama-bady-daddy drama. And did it because I just can't turn a blind eye to anything that I feel is wrong…or harmful…or potentially dangerous to someone.
I don't have a fear of getting involved. But I know that many people do not think like this. And I know that many people may feel that I am putting my ownself in jeopardy. And if I stopped to considered that…I might act like everybody else.
But I am glad that I do not. I've got nieces and nephews…and a son that I have to think about. I just don't want anything to happen to them. So, let me try to clean up the problems now. Later might be too late…for them and me.
But how could I not help somebody?
Or try to?
But I have never ran towards anything in order to be an observer…not even as a child.
That is something which I cannot understand. Why would I run towards gun fire to see what is going on…or just to see who got shot…and laugh excitely about it?
Now, that is stupid to me.
Or, why would I rush to see people fighting?
That's dumb.
If anything…I go to see if I can help…and whenever I am near a fight I go to break it up. Not to laugh and cheer anything on.
But this is the mentality of people…and it is definitely the mentality of of the kids. Everything is a joke…or funny. But somebody being raped…or killed is not a joke. And certainly not funny…nor is it entertainment.
This kind of thinking is dangerous for all mankind. If the new group of adults coming into this world are a bunch of desensitized robots…uncaring…unfeeling…unthinking…uncompassionate ids….where will this world be?
How safe will any of us be…as the world falls into their hands?
I once had a lover who had been gang raped and sodomized…and who knows whatever else. But I cannot tell you the impact it left upon her…and her life. Every time she went to the bathroom she re-lived that situation. That thing lived with her…it was in her insides and something she could not shake. Though she was successful…as an actress…and part-time music teacher…that incident marked her private life. That gang rape greatly colored her life in the in-between time.
She was not big in size…small stature. So, I can imagine just how helpless she must have felt…not to mention the terror of it. She never really talked about it except to say that it had happened. And I did not push it.
So, how could someone…20 or more people witness something like that and not do anything?
How could we…any of us be safe if everyone walking around us only cares about themselves…and have no compassion for anyone else?
There is a great need for serious consideration to be given for where will mankind be and the type of world and societies will dominate this planet in the next 20 to 30…or 50 years from now. Everyting is a joke. Blood…rape…murder…crimes of every conceivable kind and inconceiveable kind are happening today…and very high rates…escalated rates. And nobody is paying attention to it.
And not only a need for serious consideration…but something has to be done now regarding the attitude of our youth to crime and criminal acts. And high officials should be concerned now about what affects desensitizing our teens to blood and criminal acts via computer games, movies, music videos etc. will have upon the increase of future criminal acts and the types of crimes prepetrated…and to what degree these crimes are acted out.
Some feel that the lack of anyone getting involved had to do with fear. But if their fear is that great…then they should fear how much worst it is going to be if people continue to allow criminal acts to take place without something being done now.
They don't have any fear yet…let the criminals continue acting out as they are acting out.
Fear only empowers those perpetrating the crimes. Fear is the biggest thing that they have going for them. That is why the Bible says….'Fear not.'
The last thing you want to do…even with an animal…is appear to be afraid. Or in other words…fearful.
What happens when fear is taken out of the equation?
Then you have power…because the power ceases to be in the hands of him or them that are trying to terrorize you. It is one of the first lessons you learned really early in life. Usually while you were in grade school when it came to bullys…who were only as big and as bad as you let them be. But did you ever finally stand up to one…and saw how quickly the tables turned around between you and them?
While living in Chicago…I was at wits end. I was being stalked…something I would suggest that no one try to do today. Because I am no longer that person…believe me.
But I became a nervous wreck under that situation. My fear absorbed me…totally. I was well on my way to having a nervous breakdown behind it…had it not been for the Lord. I could not walk down the street without stopping everytime I heard someone walking behind me. Being in a large city like Chicago…this happened quite often as someone was always behind me…just not normally the person who was terrorizing me. In the evening when I went home…I would throw open the door to my apartment before entering and step in like police detectives…leaving the door wide open behind me. I would go from room to room peering in trying to make sure no one was in my apartment…which definitely left me open for the person to enter into my apartment behind me. But when fear has you…it has you…and you do not think clearly. And when you are not thinking clearly…you leave yourself open to a whole lot of the things… anything can happen to you.
I was tormented by fear. So much so…that by the time I finally got through it I vowed never again. I lived in darkness…afraid to turn on my lights in apartment at night…afraid to answer the phone (this was at a time before Caller-ID). I will never go back to being in that state again. Under any circumstances…or by anyone.
But at the end…the tables turned. It took a dramatic turn…and had not God intervened I might probably be in prison now…and there for the rest of my life. Because I would have killed the person. I snapped…and in my snapping the tables turned…and my perpetrated went fleeing from me. When I think of it now…it is so Biblical….'and I will make you enemies flee 7 ways before thee.' And that is when it ended…when I finally stood up to the person…the phone calls…the following …the threats….everything…and I vowed 'never…ever again'
And I have never feared anything…or anyone ever again.
And this is how I know how big a weapon fear is.
And those who use it…count upon it being so. They dominate neighborhoods…housing complexes…streets…cities…etc…using fear.
So, the more that people cease to do anything…if indeed they are fearful…because I believe that most of them just don't care…as long as it doesn't involve them or their family. But those who are fearful of doing something to stop or aid somehow a victim of a criminal act…the more you empower those who perpetrate the crimes. Thereby, in the end causing yourself a greater harm…because you did nothing. And those that you fear become stronger and more more aggressive if they are allowed to continue. It is an unending situation…better to deal with it sooner rather than later.
If nobody cares about your neighborhood…then you should. Because you do live there too. And you should never allow anybody to chase you up or down a street…or make you run…or have you afraid to leave your home.
What happens when you become the victim?
And you will…one way or another…if you allow crime to fester unrestrained…or actively sought to be kept down.
I was pretty sick reading about that man who had imprisoned his own daughter in a very small basement space for over 20 years of her life…breeding kids with her. And all of this while living just above his daughter in the house with his wife…her mother. That story made me sick for such a long time…so much so I could not talk about it…much less write about it. But it is an example of the type of stories that we are reading and hearing about today. But if this is what is going on today…hideous crimes…stomach turning crimes. How much worst will these stories become in the future…if this trend continues?
Criminal activity is on an increase everywhere…and much of it we never even hear about until somebody leaks something. And many others because the value of the poor people who have fallen into the hands of some very sick people…well, their lives were just not worth looking into.
So, no investigation were ever initiated.
Take for instance this story….
It is very unfortunate when police officials pick and chose who is or is not worth looking for. So many people go missing without the police going out to look for them while they might have been found yet alive. But if they…any of these poor women in this story been some rich socialites, or high city officials or lawyers…or anybody with any degree of money or some type of clout…no amount of expense or time would have been spared on their behalf.
There is an imbalance in the world…and it stretches all the way around the world.
I know I have told this story in an earlier blog here… www.bsmith101.wordpress.com. It is when one night…late night…actually early morning…when my cousin, Vincent, was on his home from having been out clubing. As he neared his apartment…in the dark of night he heard a woman scream out for help. He went running in the direction on the cries and came upon the woman and her perpetrator. He grab the man and flung him to the ground…and then held him down until the police came.
My cousin was a very tall and handsome gay male. I have no doubt that most of his life he had to deal with people snickering about him as he was very effeminate. But he never hesitated to step aside for a woman…or get get up to offer his seat to a woman or elderly person… or help you remove your coat…or pull out your chair and hold it for you as you sat down. He was more a man than most 'so-called' real men. And not only was he a very nice…but also a very decent person…and caring in every way. He really was someone who would give you the shirt off his back. And if it cost him…he gave to you regardless if he had suffer.
You could not have met a better person than him.
He would have never ran towards a fight to stand and watch it…but to pull the people apart. Nor would he have stood around and watched a young girl or anyone being raped. I wish I had a picture of him…to put in this blog. He was a hero. And we need more like him.
Reggie Jackson of the New York Yankees was the same way. His name had found its way into news headlines for more than baseball…more than once because of some acts of heroism on his part…when he went to the aid of someone.
More people need to do it…and things would change. Just think of 9/11…what not would have happened if the people on those first 2 airplanes had been more like the people on that 3rd airplane?
In looking up information of the gang rape…I happened to come by this story. Though I had seen this picture of this woman many times…I never knew her story. But it is sick. In fact, it is more like beastiality.
She is a socialite…who married a man…wealthy man. He had built a jungle on his property and had a great love for his cats…the type known as 'lions.' So, as she started to age and as a means of re-capturing his attention she decided to disfigure herself like this purposely. She is called the 'lion woman.' Because she went under the knife to have her face disfigured into that of a lion.
It is beastiality…in its highest form.
I think she likes it even more now…with all the attention that having it done has given her. Talk about… what women won't do. Nobody is worth destroying yourself for.
What a sick mind…and it truly shows what having too much money and nothing concrete to do with it…can bring about.
Finally, in closing… I got an comment today on my Chastity Bono blog…which has been getting a tremedous amount of hits lately. This particular person was very disenchanted with my statements regarding Chastity and her sex change. But he used a very interesting word while stating his point.
That word was… 'transitioning.'
Evidently, this person felt that Chastity's…or Chaz as she is calling herself these days…decision to undergo that surgery to remove somethings and to add some other things… Well, that it is just a simple little transition in life. To a degree we all have to go through some transitioning in our lives, I guess… overcoming some disappointments…some losses…some set-backs…aging….etc. But the altering of ones sex is a bit more deeper than a simple little transitioning phase. And I think most would agree with me about that.
I was reading something on a quakco doctor…one that performs a lot of these type of operations…sex changes…who is now a supposed woman himself. After having undergone the operation himself many years ago…it seems that all of his partners have been women who 'underwent the operation.' He became a woman…and they became supposed men. Which means…they kind of ended up in the same kind of situation that they would have been in…in the first place had they merely remained what they already had.
I wouldn't let anybody who is not clear headed put a knife to me. Most of these surgeons are quakes and definitely…these so-called plastic surgeons.
We are living in a sick world…truly. And we should all be concerned about where this world is going…meaning….in which direction it is headed in. Things are being turned upside down.
And I am not really trying to pass judgement on anyone. Because we all do crazy things…and years later wake up having lots of regrets. I still regret some things…many things in fact. And in the process I have grown. But thank goodness I did nothing that committed me for my whole entire life to a big mistake. I was fortunate…no bless…because many can't say that.
We can't change people's decisions about things concerning themselves…and what it is or isn't that they want to do. Nor can we force things down people's throats…or should we try. That is one of the greatest beauties of God…choice. He desires that we should have it…and with the hope that we make the right ones.
Well, the day is almost over. Its been quiet and I am trying to finish up on some things. I want to complete some things before the new year comes in. I want my book, THE BISHOP'S WIFE, to be out and available for sale…my website launched. And a couple of other things settled too.
So, I am looking forward to transitioning into 2010…working on some other and new things. And to be well on my way to doing more for the Lord.
And I look forward to it.
THE BISHOP'S WIFE is now on sale…CLICK this LINK to purchase my book. You do not need a paypal account to purchase, and you can purchase using a debit card. Thank you.
Thank you for reading this blog…and my others. Please be sure to continue to share this blog site with your family, co-workers and all your friends… "pass it on…" www.bsmith101.wordpress.com ©2009
Add a comment November 2, 2009
Obama's speech to school children…21 murders Milwaukee
Really, what was all the fuss about?
Why were some so desparately against Obama delivering a speech to our school children?
What kind of brainwashing were all those Republican conservatives worried about?
Every opportunity our children can get to hear from someone who can encourage and inspire them…it should be availed upon them. And what a great thing for the President of this country to take the time out of his busy schedule to go to a local high school, and to impart his own personal story to them…and not only to tell students how important education is to them…but also to be a living and shining example of the heights that education can bring them.
What I wouldn't have done to have been a student in a school where the President of this country happened to stop by to challenge us to be successful. And then to take the time to step down off the stage and to shake their hands…certainly an event those students in the Wakefield High School will remember for the rest of their lives.
Any parent who was suckered into keeping their child home for the purpose of missing President Obama's speech to students…was seriously mis-informed. And their child missed out on something not only historic…but great and beneficial to them.
Some things are just absurb. And certain controversies utterly ridiculous.
Imagine parents sending notes to schools and telling school districts that they did not want their child to hear Obama's speech to students.
Imagine school districts making decisions not to allow any of their students to watch or hear it.
Then imagine a world full of bias, pomptous, ignorant and quite foolish people. Oooh…you really don't have to imagine that. Just take a look around…the world is full of them…many sitting in high positions.
It is hard to believe that it has taken 21 years for the police in Milwaukee to final solve a string of serial murders.
After 21 years…Milwaukee police have finally apprehend a supposed murder of some 9 black women.
Perhaps the fact that they were as called in the news article and other media 'a bunch of prositutes and addicts' had something to do with the reason why no real attention was given to this case.
Over a period of 21 years, I have no doubt that perhaps there may have even a couple of 'copy cat' murders thrown into that pan. And why not?
After all, the police couldn't have really cared in the first place because the victims were poor undesirables. That's what they were…undesirables…least ways maybe that is what the police in Milwaukee felt about them.
Just trash…waiting to be thrown out or away.
Of no real human good…the lot of them.
So, their murders went barely touched for some 21 years. City finances and that sort of thing, you know. The money couldn't be spared…and there were more important things to do with the city's money. ..than to stop a slew of murders against black women.
They were black, you know?
So, what did it really matter?
And then for the Milwaukee police department and city officials to want to pat themselves on the back for having finally possibly solved a 21 year old murder spree…how pious and self-righteous of them.
How strange it is that we don't apply an equal value upon all life. People have blown up abortion clinics and killed abortion doctors… calling themselves pro-life. Yet, they would not get out to call for justice and demand that the police do something in regards to tracking down a murder of young black women.
It reminds me very much of the Atlanta child killings. How long did that go on before the police really began to do something about it?
And yet…I have never believed that they arrested the right person or perhaps the only person responsible for all those young boys and a few girls who were killed throughout the city of Atlanta from the period of 1979-1981.
There is a great injustice when skin color determines the amount of urgency, resources, effort and monies put into a case.
While school has started I am very happy to say…you won't find me in any classrooms this fall. Well, not taking any classe anyways.
No, because I am just to busy still looking forward to the day that my book, THE BISHOP'S WIFE, rolls off the press. And when it does…I will be out promoting it.
Well, I' ve got to get some sleep now.
Hope you enjoy your day.
Well, God bless… and enjoy the rest of your weekend.
Thank you for reading this blog…and my others. Please be sure to continue to share this blog site with your family, co-workers and all your friends… "pass it on…" www.bsmith101.wordpress.com ©2009
THE BISHOP'S WIFE is now on sale…CLICK this LINK to purchase my book. You do not need a paypal account to purchase, and you can purchase using a debit card. Thank you.
Add a comment September 9, 2009