Acts of Kindness...

A commitment to myself this year is, that where possible, I will do a good deed or random act of kindness daily. Recently before I could even get out of my parked car, a young man (39) approached trying to get my attention through my passenger window. I was parked and talking on the phone. I let the window down wondering who he was and what he wanted. He wanted me to know that he was hungry and asked if I could help him. I told him to allow that I finish my phone conversation...

As I walked into Negril on Georgia Ave, one of my favorite eateries while a student at Howard, I told him I would buy him some rice and peas that also comes with a salad. I would have bought him a nice hot meal. He responded by saying "so you won't give me money?" To which I responded no, you said you were hungry. Incredibly, he then asked if could I instead please buy him McDonalds, which is directly across the street. At least he said please... I wrinkled my brow and looked at him in amazement, did not respond and walked in the restaurant. He did not follow.

My first thought was to buy him what I wanted him to have. How dare he tell me what he wanted. Then I questioned my motive. Was it to help and be kind or was it to satisfy some need of my own? Hell, I was gonna' buy him dinner no matter so what did I care what he ate? I took my ego out of it and bought the guy Mickey D's! Of course I engaged him in conversation, told him that most would not take kindly to his choosy begging, if you will, and asked how he got where he is and what was his plan to make a change in his life... At the end of the day, a hungry man got a meal, hopefully a meal that made him happy and I got to be kind. Isn't that what its really all about? But for the grace of God...

Happy Sunday Folks!!!

Whatcha' Reading?

In 2013 my challenge to my Friends is to commit to reading and sharing your new knowledge or literary adventure with others. What better way to expand your mind and similarly provoke that of others?

Currently I am reading Walking With the Wind:A Memoir of the Movement by Congressman & Freedom Rider John Lewis. I am a HUGE supporter of the Congressman, even securing him as guest speaker at my law school graduation and having the honor to pay tribute to him before my graduating class. I want(ed) everyone to know who were/are our REAL leaders, those who took the blows and paved the way so that I could don a cap and gown, walk across a stage and dare to call myself "lawyer". We have real heroes who exemplify strength, courage, dignity, valor and determination. If we don't celebrate them, who will? I want that our history and persons like Congressman Lewis be common knowledge, that their sacrifices be known and appreciated by all. I take every opportunity to celebrate our heroes.

I begin 2013 being reminded and proudly re-walking the winds of the civil rights movement with the road map Congressman Lewis has provided. I invite you to pick up a copy and be reminded that the struggle is not over...

Thank You Congressman John Lewis!


So Whatcha' Reading?



    Walking With the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement

A perspective of the civil rights movement from someone who served on the front lines. Born the son of an
Alabama sharecropper, he became a courageous and heroic Freedom Rider and is now a long term and well respected United States Congressman. John Lewis has lived an extraordinary life and graciously shares his first hand account of the civil rights movement, the triumphs and the struggles, wherein he was arrested more than forty times, severely beaten on several occasions, and is noted for being the youngest person to speak at the infamous March on Washington. He is a walking legend, a true American hero.

Be The Voice...

On Friday I went to see "The Central Park 5", a documentary about the 1989 wrongful conviction,  coerced confession, media persecution and false imprisonment of five innocent Black and Puerto Rican boys for a brutal rape and near fatal assault of a female jogger in New York's Central Park. The real assailant came forth in 2002. Details of the assault and DNA confirmed his confession. Despite being exonerated and having their convictions vacated, the city of NY has yet to apologize or settle a civil lawsuit filed in 2003 on behalf of these young men who physically lost as much as 13 years of their life and so much more emotionally and personally. Family relationships were destroyed, parents endured sickness, even death and one of these boys was tried as an adult and sent to Riker's Island at the tender age of 16. One can only imagine the horror he endured. 

The documentary, which I am careful not to reference as a "movie", so not to suggest in any way that any part of the travesty depicted in the film is a fantasy, untrue or is not a reflection of what happens daily in court rooms and police interrogation rooms across America. Defendants, many of whom are minority, are coerced or intimidated into taking a plea for a crime they may not have committed or at least a crime for which there is insufficient evidence to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Defendants lack the knowledge, the resources and/or the will to fight what has become a very broken legal system that seems less concerned with advancing fairness and justice as it is with advancing careers, personal agendas, notoriety, public opinion and media sound bites. 

These young and innocent boys were demonized in the press, accused of committing "the crime of the century". Their families were destroyed and they were robbed of youth, innocence and life experiences never to be restored. The documentary clearly identifies the cast of characters who orchestrated this atrocity against these boys, the gravity of which by the way, cumulatively is far worse than the crime for which they were accused, as none other than key members of public trust, the NYPD to include minority officers, members of the press for admittedly not doing their job, and Manhattan District Attorney, Robert Morgenthau and his two female assistants, Linda Fairstein and Elizabeth Lederer. That women and minorities can play roles in such atrocities is hurtful and deeply disturbing...

The documentary is highly emotional. In the dark theater one can hear the gasps and expressions of horror and disbelief or name calling at persons on the screen as the story unfolds, a few women even cried. The audience was so moved by the film that at its conclusion, they just sat there. Stoic. Only two persons exited the theater before the credits rolled. I was so moved and emotionally spent by the film and what I know to be true of the legal system that I made an impromptu plea to the other movie goers to not just walk out the theater as though they had just watched a film with an ending but instead to be moved to do something about what they just saw and realize that what happened to these boys is not an isolated incident but a daily occurrence for far too many in our society. A Friend shared that persons who make impromptu speeches in crowded theaters are either passionate or crazy. At times I am guilty of both. For this occasion however, I claim the former. Although unintentional, to unwind and to release my passion and overwhelming sense of helplessness on this evening, following the film I walked more than 40 blocks to catch the bus back to NJ, from the IFC Center on West 3^rd Street in Greenwich Village to the Port Authority at West 42^nd Street. Getting lost in thought, taking in fresh air and enjoying the splendor of Christmas sites and last minute shoppers along the way changed my mood and helped to relax me.

The film is playing in limited theaters around the country. During this holiday season, I strongly recommend that you not only go see the film but get involved and demand reform of our justice system and over crowded prisons that disproportionately affect minority and poor communities. If you are a New Yorker demand of Mayor Bloomberg and the courts that these young men be compensated for the blatant and irretrievable theft of their youth and their innocence.

Yours is the voice that can lead the change. Believe It…        

Getting to Know Lincoln

Prompted by the movie "Lincoln" to learn more about the man and his legacy, on my way home from the theater I stopped to purchase a few noted books on President Lincoln. In my search for literature, I came across a book entitled Douglass and Lincoln, How a Revolutionary Black Leader and a Reluctant Liberator Struggled to End Slavery and Save the Union by Paul and Stephen Kendrick, a Father and Son team. This book seemed a good place to start in my journey to explore and make my own assessment of who was our 16th President and what exactly was his position on Blacks in general and freeing the Slaves. Who knew better than Frederick Douglass? He was there and unquestionably committed to the cause of Black freedom.

As the book traces the history and development of both men, it illustrates an evolution of minds, an evolution of hearts, influence and understanding, it conveys a deep and mutual respect that evolved between these two men. It proved a good read and I recommend it to others whose interests may have been similarly peaked following the movie and the lively, sometimes controversial, discussions that followed.

While I do agree that the movie should have at least referenced the relevance of the Lincoln/Douglass relationship and how Douglass influenced Lincoln's ultimate decision, I still I loved the movie and fully expect that it will receive many well deserved awards. Team of Rivals, The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, by historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, a few chapters of which the movie was based, is next on the reading list regarding this subject as is Forced into Glory: Abraham Lincoln's White Dream, by Lerone Bennett, Jr.

There are many opinions regarding the legacy of President Lincoln and what was his true motivation for signing the 13th Amendment; a desire to end slavery vs a desire to save the Union. While the debate may continue, what is inescapably true is that he lost his life for daring to, shall I say having the audacity to, advance the amendment and his ideology that "mankind everywhere be free". For that, he has undying respect and gratitude from me and, I am pretty certain, from my ancestors... 

Miss Higgi says where there is question or doubt, or where curiosity is peaked, do not rely on the opinion of others. Do the research and READ, READ, READ...  

In the interim go see the movie!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiSAbAuLhqs

                         

Shopping While Black...

On yestereday I was in a local Best Buy. A police officer was working or moonlighting there. When I entered I was disturbed that he was checking the bag of a Black male customer as he was attempting to exit the store. The gentleman had a bag and receipt visibly in hand. There were no sounding alarms indicating theft or that a detector was left on an item. The gentleman was a well groomed and seemin...gly peaceful shopper. As I have never had my bags checked at this same store, during the brief time I was there I watched from afar to see if he was checking or stopping other customers. He was not...


Before exiting the store I approached and asked the Best Buy employee, a Black female, standing next to the officer what was their policy. She seemed uncomfortable and stumbled over an explanation that they check receipts. I told her I had never had my receipt checked and that it seemed the officer did a lot more. I not only shared with this officer that I did not like what seemed like profiling, I also called the precinct to complain to his Lieutenant who assured me he would send someone out to speak to the officer.

The officer justified his action by responding to me that "this is the world we live in". I explained as long as we ALL live in the same world and under the same conditions, I am OK with his behavior. But when application of his actions is selective to certain people or certain conditions, I have a problem... He had no idea I would make a citizen complaint.

GET INVOLVED PEOPLE! We teach others how to treat us...

Save The Children...

This is insanity!!! Can we please take our collective head out of the sand and recognize that we have a PARENTING CRISIS IN AMERICA!

You cannot make me believe that a child can be this crazy and NO ONE knew it! Recently I watched an odd movie, “We Need to Talk About Kevin”. Kevin, like Adam Lanza, the Connecticut shooter in the mass murder earlier today, was mentally disturbed and his parents knew it from early on but never really dealt with it and instead convinced themselves that it/he was not really that bad. Kevin, as did Adam, ultimately committed a mass massacre at school after killing his father and sister at the family home. Life imitating art? Getting harder to tell... Are we to believe there were no signs with Adam? No previous incidents? Of course there were!!!  

Too many are raising our children to believe they are flawless, perfect little "angels" and "princesses", nothing is their fault, a pill will cure all, “no” is not an answer, mediocrity is brilliance, they are born with a voice and an opinion and that NO ONE has the right to correct or discipline them. Parents are afraid of their own damn kids because the government has violated their right to raise their children as they see fit. Children have been empowered to the detriment of those parents who dare open a can of WHOOP ASS on a sometimes deserving child! This is ridiculous!  

Whether gang-banging and shooting up the hood or mass murdering at schools, movie theatres or shopping malls in the burbs’, our kids are crying out for help, for love, for  structure, for guidance. Bottom line, we have a CRISIS in AMERICA and we need to stop fooling ourselves that these are isolated incidents. This is the 2nd shooting this week and sadly beginning to feel more like the norm. Mental Illness is real.

There is no magic answer or some sure fire method to raising healthy children. But as we have rejected the ‘tried and true’ and discarded the blue print by which most of us were successfully raised, can we at least deal with reality and acknowledge that what we are doing is not working?

This is not an indictment of parents. I have not taken on that role and give MAJOR props to most who have. I can only imagine that it is the hardest job in the world and I know full well that you can be the best and still it can all go wrong. There are no guarantees. Be present, be diligent, by all means be committed and understand that ‘time out’ is not an option. My concern is that America is in a crisis. Of greater concern however, is that America is in denial. Our Families, therefore our kids, are breaking and in need of immediate love and repair.

My heart goes out to the families, the community and to a nation that again has been dealt a tragic, senseless and likely avoidable blow. Where/How/When will it end? I’m Just Wonderin’…

May there be peace in America…

We've Been Trying to Save the Children for a long time. Enjoy This Oldie But Goodie by the Intruders; Save The Children:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reKynWXzSQ0

Black Wall Street

Black Wall Street

The best description of Black Wallstreet, or Little Africa as it was also known, would be liking it to a mini-Beverly Hills. It was the golden door of the Black community during the early 1900s, and it proved that African Americans had successful infrastructure. That's what Black Wallstreet was all about.

The dollar circulated 36 to 100 times, sometimes taking a year for currency to leave the community. Now in 1995, a dollar leaves the Black community in 15-minutes. As far as resources, there were Ph.D.'s residing in Little Africa, Black attorneys and doctors. One doctor was Dr. Berry who owned the bus system. His average income was $500 a day, a hefty pocket change in 1910.

During that era, physicians owned medical schools. There were also pawn shops everywhere, brothels, jewelry stores, 21 churches, 21 restaurants and two movie theaters. It was a time when the entire state of Oklahoma had only two airports, yet six Blacks owned their own planes. It was a very fascinating community.

The area encompassed over 600 businesses and 36 square blocks with a population of 15,000 African Americans. And when the lower-economic Europeans looked over and saw what the Black community created, many of them were jealous. When the average student went to school on Black Wallstreet, he wore a suit and tie because of the morals and respect they were taught at a young age.

The mainstay of the community was to educate every child. The main thoroughfare was Greenwood Avenue, and it was intersected by Archer and Pine Streets. From the first letters in each of those three names, you get G.A.P., and that's where the renowned R&B music group the Gap Band got its name. They're from Tulsa.

Written in 1995. Can we get Black to the Basics? Support one another. Support Black business...