The Awful Grace of God. - Shery Bailey

“The Awful Grace of God.”
by Sheri Bailey

On April 4, 1968 it fell to presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy to announce the death of Martin Luther King, Jr. to a crowd of people in a Black community. In testament to the sincerity of his words -- where he spoke was one of the few cities that did not burn in the aftermath of pain and grief that gripped the country in the wake of Dr. King’s murder.

The words of this white man of privilege who himself would be dead by an assassin’s bullet a mere two months later carried the power, poetry and brevity of Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address. The simple use of poetry as in “Fourscore and seven years ago” instead of “87 years ago” identified Abraham Lincoln as a man capable of keeping the Union united.”

And like Lincoln ’s two minute speech RFK’s words on an inner city street corner were not immediately recognized as ones that would survive the ages. Some of what he said to the people there were some words from a favorite poet whose words give title to this essay. He implored this group of men and women, boys and girls to not react in anger at the “awful grace of God.” He spoke of the loss of his brother to violence and said that he could understand why Black people would have anger and hate in their hearts against a white man but he hoped that they would not. He asked them to “Say a prayer for understanding … compassion.” And he continued, “These are difficult times. We have had difficult times in the past. We have difficult times to come. But let us do as the Greeks said, “To tame the savageness of man and make gentle the light of the world.” Let us dedicate ourselves to that. Let us pray for our country. Let us pray for our people.”

On July 7, 2008 I was working on Juneteenth business at the home of Juneteenth’s board president Ernest Lowery when suddenly his wife came into the office and said, “Sheri, I don’t want you to be upset but someone hit your car and there’s a woman here who is an eyewitness.” Confused I went outside where Kara Cuffey started explaining how she was driving behind a grey Dodge pick-up when suddenly a white male, early 20’s hit my car and sped off. With her young teenage daughter in tow they followed the assailant until they were able to get the license plate (VA tags ......................................(Info' removed by the Imani Foundation.). I got all of this information from the Chesapeake Police Department. Thank you, Officer Jancewicz and Detective Weir.

Now I was truly exasperated by the fact that I had been assaulted by a thoughtless stranger, but my witness balanced the situation. What looked like buzzard’s luck was really good luck. And then I had profound luck. Detective Weir paid the Hill family a visit. Fortunately, the incident was so insignificant to (Name removed) that he had not bothered to run his truck through a carwash. Consistent with my ’93 Honda Accord parked on the right side of the street was evidence of maroon paint chips on the passenger side of his truck. And then Detective Weir told me something that blew me the hell away. Master Hill sports a Confederate flag emblem on his bumper sticker!

Now here’s the deal. Whenever I see the Rebel cloth, I go ballistic. I speed up, give ‘em finger, mouth the word “@$*%0le” and generally put myself and whoever else is nearby in grave vehicular danger. My daughter, now a college sophomore, vividly recalls grabbing the dashboard and hanging on for dear life when she was dependent on me for all her transportation needs. And because this is Virginia this was a fairly common occurrence during her formative years.

The biggest ones are in S-folk. The most on front porches are in P-town. C-peak has the most KKK types and VA Beach is a wild combo of poor and rich racist trash. Norfolk is the best place not to be offended and we don’t know enough about the rest of the region.

And now (Name removed) who can be reached at (Number withdrawn by Imani Foundation) has hit my car and made me realize that it’s not about me giving him the finger. It is about me using my God-given gifts in ways that encourage openness and decency. Today and everyday hungry children die in a world full of food. Torture and rape are allowed by the law of the land. Fear is the master of all, but I want to be a part of the healing that comes with forgiveness.

I want to be a part of a Kwanzaa performance on Saturday, December 27th from noon to 3pm at the Norfolk Public Library Lafayette Branch surrounded by Lakewood Park , Willard Model Elementary School and the home of James and Jennifer Cooper at 1705 Cromwell Drive . There’s plenty of parking, but very little space inside the library. Reservations are strongly encouraged. Call 757.397.5963 for more details. Please come and enjoy the holiday season with the Juneteenth Players.

My job is to share the stories of the past with accurate, entertaining lessons about today’s times. A scared young man using a symbol as a shield against his deepest fears is to be pitied. On the backs of daily acts of courage we will lift up those who would be burdens. And in those times when the world makes the least sense we must try to understand the awful grace of God.

sb
juneteenthva@yahoo.com

Stop Saying I’m Diseased!

Stop Saying I’m Diseased!

As a Black woman, I'm so sick and tired of every time there is a media story about HIV/AIDS, a Black woman is featured predominately front and center. For example, Black In America, which was watched by nearly 5 million people in CNN’s two-day airing, dedicated nearly the entire HIV/AIDS segment enforcing the poster person to be a Black female, but there are numerous other examples.

Making a Black female the face of HIV/AIDS is a radical form of racism at its highest level and more proof that there is a conspiracy to keep Black women without love. This image of Black women creates more negative stereotypes that Black women are diseased and along with being loud, fat, bitches and hos, who are overbearing, booty-bouncing, undesirable she-men, no wonder Black women are the least married; sadly unbeknown, Black Women Need Love, Too! (http://www.blackwomenneedlovetoo.com/)

The trickery to take the stigma of HIV/AIDS from being a White male homosexual disease to being a Black female heterosexual disease is consistent with racism in America. I cannot allow this type of deliberate prejudice to continue, especially since this is a big fallacy and here’s why:
According to http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/113244.php , the fastest growing group of HIV/AIDS cases TODAY are young Black males between the ages of 13-24, which is quite upsetting since I'm the mother of a 13 year old son to whom I tell NOT to ever have backdoor sex, with a boy or a girl, because that high risk behavior is very likely to cost you your health and ultimately, your life. This is advice that must be spread wide and far to lessen the number of infections in the Black community and worldwide among all groups of people.

The latest so-called breakdown of HIV/AIDS infections (figuring in one of four who are undiagnosed, of course, the vast majority being added to the Black heterosexual tally) is as follows (http://www.cdc.gov/ ): 53 percent is homosexual and bi-sexual men, and trip this, 4 percent homosexual men that inject drugs, why not just say 57 percent?? Thirty one percent is high-risk heterosexual sex, which is code for backdoor sex. Ladies, DO NOT allow this even with a condom because condoms break easier in the anus than in the front door, and twelve percent is injection drug use. These are all the main transmission routes of such a deadly disease. Over 80 percent of women with HIV/AIDS got it from heterosexual high-risk sex.

Since the beginning of this epidemic (circa 1981) through 2005, only 19 percent of all HIV/AIDS diagnosis has been women and a mere 16 percent of women have died from this dreadful disease. In other words, 81 percent of all diagnosis is MEN and 84 percent of all AIDS deaths have been men. http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/women/resources/factsheets/women.htm#3

HIV/AIDS is NOT a female disease! Black women have NEVER encompassed the highest number of HIV/AIDS cases—the quote was “Black women are the FASTEST growing group of HIV/AIDS”, which is no longer true, meaning Black women were growing in numbers fastest, but are not the most. Then why are Black women positioned predominately everywhere when this virus is discussed? The answer is RACISM and MISOGYNY at its finest.

Taking all this into consideration, backdoor sex accounts for nearly 82 percent of all transmission routes, but it seems everyone is afraid to tell the truth. I suppose, it’s easier to let people continue to contract and spread this disease and die? Ladies, common sense demands we stop booty-bouncing, booty posturing, and laughing at butt jokes, because this is not funny, people are dying!

I would like to remind everyone that I posted the high risk of backdoor sex on myspace.com blog over a year ago. I also contacted the Magic Johnson Foundation to alert the public about the huge hazard of backdoor sex, but of course, too many of us are more interested in being politically correct than telling the life-saving truth. Also, while conducting an interview on a popular blogtalkradio.com show, I was shocked and amazed by the arrogance of ignorance in regards to the dangers of backdoor sex. The response was my interview was banned because too many refused to acknowledge truth, and consistent with a popular mindset, defensiveness was the result. Lastly, I asked a friend, who is a gay activist (no confirmed cases of women to women or lesbian contraction of the virus) to help spread the word about the dangers of backdoor sex. I was told she couldn’t believe that people didn’t know the dangers of backdoor sex. Well, isn’t that quite obvious, due to the alarming rates of HIV/AIDS cases.

The arrogance of ignorance is mind-blowing, along with the fear associated with telling the hard-to-hear-truth is very disappointing and cowardly. Plus, it is like being an accomplice to murder for all the HIV/AIDS agencies to withhold the truth from the masses, when the obvious culprit (backdoor sex) is being hidden from the public at large.

So, I’m asking all of you to spread the word that RECEPTIVE BACKDOOR SEX is THE riskiest form of sex, whether performed on a male or female, and backdoor sex has at least a 50 times higher transmission rate than penis and vaginal sex. Plus, it is 500 times harder for women to spread this disease to men than it is for men to give it to women (deposit of teaspoons of semen vs. small slit in penis for fluid transfer). http://www.sfcityclinic.org/

Of course, AN ANSWER is using condoms, but it is not safe sex--only SAFER sex. Abstinence without injection drug use is the best way to stay clear of HIV/AIDS, but the species must continue via heterosexual front door sex, so let’s have safer responsible committed sex with someone to whom we know loves, honors, and cherishes us enough to NEVER cheat.

Also, it has been brought to my attention; males as well as females are participating in backdoor sex as an exchange for vaginal sex to prevent pregnancy. It's so very unfortunate that too many people don't understand the dangers of backdoor sex, which is much more deadly than getting pregnant. It’s safe to assume, they use no protection.

BTW, the number one cause of death for Black women between the ages of 24-35 is HIV/AIDS, so ladies you have been warned! The fact is, too many Black women are having too much backdoor sex. Black males have told me they didn’t know that a Booty-Call meant front door sex, so they went for the backdoor thinking it was the “in” thing to do. And Ladies, when dealing with men who have served time in jail, do not have any sex with them until you KNOW they don’t have HIV/AIDS by getting tested. Everyone must participate in educating our family members, friends, and associates with this life-saving article. Without HIV/AIDS, young Black women would be among the healthiest.

TOGETHER WE WILL CHANGE THE WORLD!

"Pearl Jr" pearljr@trutalk.us

(http://www.blackwomenneedlovetoo.com/)

818 716-7838

Beliefs - I Believe

I believe a birth certificate shows that we were born; a death certificate shows that we died; pictures show that we lived.

I believe - That just because two people argue, it doesn't mean they don't love each other. And just because they don't argue, it doesn't mean they do.

I believe - That we don't have to change friends if we understand that friends change.

I believe - That no matter how good a friend is, they're going to hurt you every once in a while and you must forgive them for that.

I believe - That true friendship continues to grow, even over the longest distance. Same goes for true love.

I believe - That you can do something in an instant that will give you heartache for life.

I believe - That it's taking me a long time to become the person I want to be.

I believe - That you should always leave loved ones with loving words. It may be the last time you see them.

I believe - That you can keep going long after you think you can't.

I believe - That we are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel.

I believe - That either you control your attitude or it controls you.

I believe - That heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences.

I believe - That money is a lousy way of keeping score.

I believe - That sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you're down will be the ones to help you get back up.

I believe - That sometimes when I'm angry I have the right to be angry, but that doesn't give me the right to be cruel.

I believe - That maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you've had and what you've learned from them and less to do with how many birthdays you've celebrated.

I believe - That it isn't always enough to be forgiven by others. Sometimes you have to learn to forgive yourself.

I believe - That no matter how bad your heart is broken, the world doesn't stop for your grief.

I believe - That our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become.

I believe - Two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different.

I believe - That your life can be changed in a matter of hours by people who don't even know you.

I believe - That even when you think you have no more to give, when a friend cries out to you, you will find the strength to help.

I believe - That credentials on the wall do not make you a decent human being.

I believe - That the people you care about most in life are taken from you too soon.

I believe - That when you focus on only yourself and material possessions, you miss out on the true definition of wealth.

I believe - The happiest people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the best of everything they have.

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Graduation Rates Between Black Males and White Males

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GIVEN HALF A CHANCE: Report Highlights Huge Gap in Graduation Rates Between Black Males and White Males

Over the past twenty-five years, the social, educational, and economic outcomes for black males have been “more systemically devastating” than the outcomes for any other racial or ethnic group or gender, according to a new report from the Schott Foundation for Public Education. The report, Given Half a Chance: The Schott 50 State Report on Public Education and Black Males, examines the disturbingly large gaps in graduation rates between black males and while males. It also highlights the resource deficiencies that exist in schools that black males attend.

“This report sheds light on a national crisis and puts valuable information into the hands of public school advocates and stakeholders, who can use it to hold the stewards of the nearly 15,000 U.S. school districts accountable for eradicating systemic failure as well as open avenues of opportunity to millions of black male students,” said John Jackson, president and CEO of the Schott Foundation for Public Education.

In examining graduation rates, the report finds a national graduation rate for black males (47 percent) that is 28 percentage points lower than the graduation rate for white males (75 percent). In ten states, the difference in graduation rates for black males and white males is 30 percentage points or more, as noted in the table below.

Largest Gaps in Black Male and White Male Graduation Rates

State Black Male Graduation Rate
White Male Graduation Rate
Difference

Wisconsin
36%
87%
51%

Nebraska
44%
87%
43%

Illinois
40%
82%
42%

Michigan
33%
74%
41%

New York
39%
75%
36%

Connecticut
51%
83%
32%

Wyoming
41%
72%
31%

Oregon
58%
89%
31%

Indiana
43%
73%
30%

Ohio
49%
79%
30%


In addition to low graduation rates, black males also have “consistently low educational attainment levels, are more chronically unemployed and underemployed, are less healthy and have access to fewer health care resources, die much younger, and are many times more likely to be sent to jail for periods significantly longer than males of other racial/ethnic groups,” according to the report.

But in a few states the report finds that black males actually graduate at higher percentages than white males, for instance in North Dakota (89 percent to 84 percent), Vermont (88 percent to 75 percent), and Maine (85 percent to 75 percent. According to the report, schools in these states are more likely to have greater resources, such as talented, caring teachers, well-trained and numerous support staff, and protective and supportive administrators. They have challenging curricula, high expectations for all students, and an expectation of success. These states also share another characteristic: they all lack large black populations. According to the report, this is a key factor because black males in these states are more likely to be educated in a diverse educational environment. “This underscores the fact that when black males are given access to schools and resources similar to those given to white males their performance levels improve,” the report notes.

Turning its attention to school districts, the Schott Foundation finds that the worst problems for black students are concentrated in a few large metropolitan areas. In these districts, which contain racially segregated schools and are attended mostly by black students, very few students—of any race—perform well. But the report finds that there are irregularities between white and black students even within these schools. It notes that schools attended mostly by black students “do worse on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, suspend and expel disproportionately more black male students than white male students, and assign more black male students than white male students to special education.” Graduation rates in these districts are tragically low for both white and black males, as shown in the table below.

Lowest-Performing Large School Districts for Black Males

School District Black Male Graduation Rate
White Male Graduation Rate
Difference

Indianapolis (IN)
19%
19%
0%

Detroit (MI)
20%
17%
-3%

Norfolk (VA)
27%
44%
17%

Rochester (NY)
29%
36%
7%

Pinellas County (FL)
30%
50%
20%


Thankfully, some large school districts, although not many, do a good job of graduating black students. Specifically, the report points out Fort Bend, TX, which enrolls over ten thousand black males and graduates over 80 percent within four years, and two large suburban Maryland districts, Baltimore County and Montgomery County, which have large enrollments of black students and graduate them at a rate comparable to the national average for white male students.

“If black students did poorly in all schools, we would plausibly seek solutions to the problem of their achievement among those students themselves,” the report reads. “The same would be the case if, in schools with majority black enrollments, black students did poorly and the other students did well. But in reality, black students in good schools do well. At the same time, white students who attend schools where most of the students are black and their graduation rates are low, also do poorly.”

The complete report, which outlines the work that the Schott Foundation for Public Education will undertake over the next five years to change the current educational trajectory of black males, is available at http://blackboysreport.org/.

Straight A’s: Public Education Policy and Progress is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, D.C., and around the country. The format makes information on federal education policy accessible to everyone from elected officials and policymakers to parents and community leaders. The Alliance for Excellent Education is a non-profit organization working to make it possible for America’s 6 million at-risk middle and high school students to achieve high standards and graduate prepared for college and success in life. To learn more about the Alliance for Excellent Education, or to access past reports, visit http://www.all4ed.org.

No More Essays - Davey D

No More Essays About CNN's Black In America
by Davey D (mrdaveyd@aol.com)

In response to the numerous essays and articles circulating about the lack of depth and insight of CNN's recent series 'Black in America'

I will say this again and again.. I grow tired of these type of articles as well meaning and insightful as they are...If we don't like what CNN did, in the age of You Tube, camcorders, reality shows and independent film festivals in every city-DO YOUR OWN.. It doesn't have to be a big production.. Hell, forget Black in America', kick off your own series called 'Black in your hometown'.. or 'Black in your neighborhood'.. Do a series called Black in Oakland, Black in Detroit.. Black in Compton etc. After you put this together, you can gather everyone to a local church and show a short film highlighting the heroes and sheroes from your town. Highlight the people, places and perspectives CNN overlooked. Get your own host, your own guest, break down your own analysis.. There are all sorts of shining examples of this...
We can start with local d-boys and gangstas who woke up and got tired of not seeing CNN or the local news give a fair shot to their ilk. They got tired of local media not showing gangstas in their way that they felt was just...so what did they do? They started making their own damn DVDs. Go to any barbershop in 'any hood' throughout the US and you can get all sorts of upfront and close DVDs detailing the exploits of local cats from the hood and their underground world...Can we say Smack DVDs? Can we say Stop Snitching DVDs? Can we say Real Gangsters DVD? The list is long.

We can sit here and pass judgement and moan and groan about their content or lack thereof all day, but one thing I will say, is that those young brothers walking around with gold teeth and sagging pants found a way to communicate to the rest of the world their points of view. And like it or not they been successful.
Don't believe me? Ask why BET, The History Channel and National Geographic all have shows focusing on gangs and gang life? Why do you think shows like American Gangster are so popular? Don't get it twisted, these corporations saw thwe success young cats from the hood were having with the sale of those dvds and decided to tap into that market. Ya better ask somebody and take a cue.

Now considering that CNN was most likely hitting the Black middle class with their recent series, that means we are talking about church goers, the civil rights crowd, the young urban professional class, Bill Cosby fans etc. Many of these folks have money and resources.

Instead of complaining, why don't we have people pooling resources to do their own Black in America series? Instead of putting on another expensive Jack and Jill type awards dinner where everyone dresses to the nines, why not take that money and pay some young film students to make us look good by putting together a film or series about us? Why not pay them to at least do some editing for us? What's the hold up? What example are we setting for the rest of the world that in 2008 we are still complaining about CNN and not doing our own series?

Can't somebody do a series and interview people like Rev Jeremiah Wright, Minister Farrakhan along with their local pastor and do a series called 'Black in the American Church? can we have all these people on the same show without the over the top, distracting, racist analysis of a Fox News? Can't somebody hit up entrepreneurs like Earl Graves, Dick Parsons, along with local businessmen and women and do a series called Blacks in the Business world? The possibilities are endless. I say no more essays and more direct action..

And finally for those who think I'm just writing.. think again.. I'm already doing my own series.. I went out and brought my first camera a few months ago, way before CNN announced their series. I started documenting my own stories.
I along with many others were following on the heels of activists like Malik Raheem who felt like the real story of New Orleans and the Katrina disaster wasn't being told, so he and folks from his Common Ground organization, got some cameras and documented the 200 plus viligante killings that took place in the aftermath.
The name of the film whicjh they gave away for free was called 'Welcome to New Orleans' That was our CNN..

We are following in the footsteps small films like Audio Rebellion put together by Fred Hampton Jr, Minister of Information JR and their POCC organization that focused on revolutionaries in our community.
They showed what happens when the community gets upset with elected officials and documented Congressman Bobby Rush being confronted by Chicago's southside resident They are now working on parts two and three.

We are following the efforts put together by those on the Luv 4 Self network and filmmaker Opio Oskoni who were annoyed with rap star Flava Flav and what they saw as his 'bafoonish' TV show and decided to do a show film called Turn Off Channel Zero to counter the negative images. It was well recieved and shown all over the country.
Professor Griff from Public Enemy was the main feature.

We are following the lead of Hip Hop pioneer Popmaster Fabel who was tired of Hip Hop's history incorrectly being told so he went out, got a camera and started documented all sorts of early history around the gangs that proceeded Hip Hop.
Five years later he has finished up this incredible film called 'Apache Line from Gangs to Hip Hop'. .

Many of us are following the lead of then up and coming film makers like Byron Hurt who got tired of misogyny in Hip Hop and decided to do his own film addressing the issue called 'Beyond Beats and Rhymes'.

We are following the lead of people like Raquel Cepeda who was upset with brothers wearing diamonds purchased from that sleaze bags like Jacob the Jeweler, so she got together with some rap artists, boarded a plane to Sierra Leone and did her own film 'Bling A Planet Rock'.

How about a Letter to the President that documented the intersection between Hip Hop and politics put together by film makers QD3 and Thomas Gibson?

I can go on and on citing examples.
Hell I can take it way back and bring up Public Enemy's PETV series before there was a such thing as DVDs.

Here they had people like Sista Souljah delivering news and views for Black people..Or even better lets take this back to the days following the LA Uprisings after the Rodney King beatings in 1992 and the film Straight from the Streets put together by Keith O'Derek. That was our CNN where he documented the historic gang truces that took place.

Time for us to step it up and do our own thing and stop expecting CNN, Fox News and anyone else who routinely exploits us to suddenly do right by us.
Like I said before, why worry about CNN when we have us?
http://www.daveyd.com