The Black Card? But I can guarantee he would say that he’s not a racist. I believe he may not intentionally be racist, but his silence and especially his comment allows question of his unconscious views on racial discrimination and intolerance.
OK, I’m trying not to be insensitive towards the woman who was crying because at least she had the guts to stand up and speak out against discrimination. The couple before her may be nice, but very typical. Countless of times have I stood alone in the presence of many people who do not look like me defending someone who doesn’t look like me being discriminated against.
I’m not afraid of the racist or the bigot, because the outward busyness of these actions are the inward indicators of the insecurities, low self-esteem, selfish and timid cultural attitudes one has for themselves. Projected it on others is just an indicator of their own deficiencies.
Too often many people are too afraid to stand up for what’s right. We’re more willing to sit on the sidelines and say how wrong it is after the fact instead of standing in defense of equality.
So I ask how racist are you? This may have been staged as a social experiment in this video it is a part of life for many people. I’m not suggesting you might be a racist or bigoted, but what would you really do in this situation? Don’t consider the socially acceptable response, be honest as some of the people who did nothing were in this video were.
What is the irony of hate? When the hater doesn’t know what or who he really hates.
I wonder what White Supremacist are saying about the Republicans who are portraying President Obama as Hitler. Isn’t Hitler a hero to them? I don’t think the Republicans protesting realizing they are insulting White Supremacist by comparing a Black man to Hitler.
Then I wonder what Republicans think about the racists and White Supremacist claiming to be Republicans? Don’t they realize that this is the same party that once supported a diverse democracy?
The only justification you have to stop and look down at someone is that you are going to help pick them up. Consider others, before you complain about what you do or don’t have and what’s wrong in your life. There’s always someone who has a greater story to tell.
And if you believe in God, Believe in God. We are so quick to affirm the voice of defeat, instead of the voice of victory.Quit putting people down and start lifting them up. You’ll be surprise how high you’ll go.
Women; have you ever had some guy ask you to do some ignorant mess, something that you didn’t want to do or knew it was wrong, but he told you “if you really loved me you would…”?
Whether or not you did it, it wasn’t if you really loved him, but how much you loved yourself. In addition to how much he really loved you, because someone who really loves you wouldn’t ask you to do something against your will or what they knew was wrong or ignorant.
The same is true for Men. Dude; when your girlfriend, wife, boo, sweetheart or whatever call each other ask you to do something you know isn’t right or fair, it is your responsibility to be a man and have the vision and testicular fortitude to tell her NO. She may not like it and get upset with you, but you have to know who you are in the relationship even when the other person does know.
Now this doesn’t mean that it’s your way or no way, and the man is always right, because that’s not true. You have to learn how to communicate with each other, even when you know the other person isn’t going to like it. It’s about love. Not I’m right and you’re wrong, but what’s best for both of us.
Love them enough to want to walk with them instead of for them. Men when you’re wrong, be man enough to say “I’m Sorry”. Then make it mean something by not making the same mistake again. Women, when you’re wrong, be a woman and admit it. There’s nothing wrong with being wrong as long as you learn from the mistake and not repeat it.
Love isn’t perfect, so we shouldn’t be too surprise when we make a mistake. The longer you keep seeking the perfect love or wishing your love one was perfect, the longer it will be before you realize who loves you more. This doesn’t mean you should take any one who comes along, but when you love yourself it is easier for love to find you.
I know this may make be salt on an open wound for some of my Republican friends, but I still love you. I just wanted to take a moment to smile today. So for those who will choose to offer bitterness instead of acceptance I offer this picture as a reminder that change does happen.
I want to share one more thing for those who I know are fuming right now. Those who curse me throughout the year. Those who have had nothing good to say about anything and mysteriously silent when I hold the mirror down low enough where you can see yourself to take a minute to smile. Barack Hussein Obama, Jr. is the President of the United States of America. BTW – My America. Your America. Our America. The thing about it is that he did it by your rules. So be happy, the American Dream is real. Real not just for you, but for me too.
Well I just wanted to take a moment to celebrate one of my greatest motivations in life, my son. Today he will be five years old and like I’ve done on this day since he was born I attempt to do again today.
Since I’ve began blogging on a regular basis I’ve periodically made some sort of reference to my son. This will be our last birthday where it is just me and him, because very soon I will have to say it’s just the four of us, because he will have a brother. Just another reason to love.
So in this brief message to my son who I’m writing this for, I just want to say that Daddy loves you and thanks you for all that you continue to do. You are the newer and better version of me.
You make life fun. Mom & I love you very much. Happy Birthday son.
If you love your child/children then show your love with respect towards them. If you love your child/children, demonstrate it by forgiving them. If you love your child/children, then be the example of the minimum you hope they will be. If you love your child/children, then illustrated it by listening to them. When you get upset, frustrated or annoyed with your child, take a moment to see yourself in them before you react or respond.
Stop getting so mad and upset with your children and start loving and forgiving them when they make a mistake or bother you in some way. Appreciate who they are and not what you wish they were. Because if you are honest with yourself, you’re not all your parents wanted you to be.
We all get irritated at times with our children by some of the things they do. We all make the mistakes of responding in anger or frustration on occasion towards our child/children, but do you have the parental courage to love your child enough to say, “I’m sorry”. I’ve often found myself apologizing to my son when I responded to him in frustration or anger and in return he has told me that he forgives me. This has help both of us develop a stronger and more respectful father/son relationship. By apologizing when I’m wrong it empowers him to trust what I’m telling him, because I’m not afraid to admit when I’m wrong.
Being a good parent doesn’t mean you’re right 100% of the time. Love them enough to admit when you’re wrong. How can we expect them to be honest with us if we’re not honest with them?
When you begin to consider the fact that a child is not promised and are not exclusively yours, you begin to realize that whatever they’ve done to make you mad or frustrate you is small in the scheme of life. Love them while you can and they will appreciate you forever.
A child doesn’t need to be biologically yours for you to show them love.
When was the last time you told your family and friends how much you sincerely appreciate them? Not for what they do or have done for you, but for who they are. We all live busy lives and often fail to take the time to just check on people for no other reason than you were just thinking about them.
I just like many others get caught up in the everyday activities of living. One of the many things I’m learning that I want to share with all who actually read this is to remember to cherish the things in life that are not promised. What isn’t promised are the people in your life and those who you have interacted with in some way?
We waste our lives away concerning ourselves on the past instead of focusing on the future. If I could change the mistakes I’ve made for a more suitable or comfortable outcome I would, but I can’t dwell on it. Accept people more for who they are instead of what you would like them to be. When we are honest with ourselves we soon discover that we are not all that we ought or have the potential of being. If I can hope for anything for those who read this is that you forgive me for the mistakes I’ve made and love me for who I ultimately try to be.
So when I email, text, instant message, write or call you out of the blue just understand that I’m just thinking about you.
I love this little video clip. I wish I could hear more. I believe I’ll always be a fan of DJing. Some may not understand it or never got into it, but it was fun.
Hip Hop and specifically DJing was my anti-drug, anti-thug, anti-gang, anti-crime. I never had time to get in trouble, because when I wasn’t in school or church I was DJing. All of the hours spent in my room with my headphones on just spinning records. It was the lead motivation for me to even consider audio engineering as a career, a career that didn’t materialize for me, but I tried.
Anyway, I just want to offer this clip as my 2009 tribute to Jason Mizell, Jr. aka Jam Master Jay of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame group RUN-DMC.
This is just a passing thought that I would like to share about life up to now.
If I succeed in nothing more in life let me reach the end of this journey knowing that my children will think about me and smile. Not because I’m their father, but because what their father was to them. Then I would have succeeded in life. Let those who knew me remember me with the times I made them laugh or smile. I would like to have people think about the words I spoken and the ones I have written as a reminder to always think and consider others, because it’s not always about you.
Perhaps one or two people who helped me along my way will see how much I appreciated them. Hopefully the few people who disagreed with me may see the same appreciation I have for them too, because it is not always about being first, the best or even the worse. The appreciation will come from knowing that I tried and considered.
In the end, it’s not about who you are or where you’re from or go, but what you are about. Some are money, some are about power, but who’s about considering others? It’s not about what you have, but what you have done for others.
To live a life successfully you must accept yourself. This means everything. It doesn’t mean engaging in foolish pride and leading others to believe that you are something more than what you know your not. It means acknowledging your own faults and transgressions and excusing the same in others. When you can accept who you are you tend to have little problem accepting others.
Living life successfully also means discovering what you were born to do. We often set out to achieve many things in life, but later wonder why weren’t we as successful as we imagined we would be. Perhaps that’s not what you are called to do.
Once you discover what it is you are called to do you are driven by it. You’re always going to be successful in what you’re passionate about. A successful life is not contained in what you may leave, but the way you live.
If you could measure your life to now, what would be its sum?
Will it equal a shallow forgiveness with deep intolerance for those not like you in some way? Will your jealousy measure high and compassion for others rank low? Will you measure long on selfishness and short on generosity? When you are thought of what will people remember most about you? This is the measure of a successful life.
Since we do not know when our time is due, what can you achieve? How are you living? Are you living life successfully?
Before quitting her job as Governor midway during her first term, Sarah Palin promised to help elect other Republicans to office. There are a few Gubernatorial races going on this year and it seems that no one wants to ask Sarah out on a date to campaign, except the Governor of Texas (Go Figure) Rick Perry.
What doesn’t make much political strategic sense for Sarah Palin is to campaign for another Republican during a Republican Gubernatorial Primary? I know its Sarah Palin and logic is not relevant in many decisions, but it’s a Republican Primary, not General Election. Has anyone bothered to ask or even mention the scenario of if Kay Bailey Hutchinson wins the Republican Primary? What do you think the Democrat candidate’s strategists are going to do? Use you to help defeat your fellow and female Republican Kay Bailey Hutchinson; a woman who would have been a far better Vice-Presidential choice for John McCain.
Personally I want Gov. Perry to lose and Kay Bailey Hutchinson to lose to, but I rather see her elected than Perry re-elected. There’s not much too many Democrats can do to save Texas from the Republican control, but I wish my fellow Democrat well. Having Sarah Palin may be a blessing in disguise, because you can use her to do your dirty work for you. When she ruins Perry’s chance, you can use it against Hutchinson.
This is not a political wise move Gov. Perry, but have at it. Let’s see how Sarah works out for you.
Now I absolutely give up. You’ve got to be kidding me Sarah, Not Republican Enough?
NY State Assembly Representative Dierdre Scozzafava is the Republican running in the State of New York’s 23rd U.S. Congressional District special election that is being held on November 3, 2009. Her challengers are Bill Owens (Democrat) and Doug Hoffman (Conservative).
Now what have become interesting about this special congressional race is not the candidates necessarily, but who has endorsed the candidates, in particular the Republican and Conservative candidates.
Side-note: This is a conservative district in New York, but I guess since the Republican Party is so unpopular or have aligned itself with the extreme and outrageous that it’s more politically socially acceptable to cast yourself as a Conservative instead of a Republican. That’s like having a Liberal candidate instead of just calling themselves a Democrat. Whatever floats your boat.
Newt Gingrich and other state Republican leaders and notables have publicly endorsed the Republican, Dierdre Scozzafava. She enjoys the usual support from the N.R.A., Newt Gingrich, Congressional Republicans and NY State Republican leaders. This is typical and expected. She’s a Republican and they support the Republican candidate. I see nothing out of the ordinary politically in my opinion.
But then we have Sarah Palin who weighs in via Facebook Notes “Sarah Palin: Support Doug Hoffman” by taking a political swipe at her fellow Female Republican Dierdre Scozzafava more so than the typical jab at the Democrat when she said…
Doug Hoffman stands for the principles that all Republicans should share: smaller government, lower taxes, strong national defense, and a commitment to individual liberty.
Political parties must stand for something. When Republicans were in the wilderness in the late 1970s, Ronald Reagan knew that the doctrine of “blurring the lines” between parties was not an appropriate way to win elections. Unfortunately, the Republican Party today has decided to choose a candidate who more than blurs the lines, and there is no real difference between the Democrat and the Republican in this race.”
Sigh…
Side-note: Umm Dick, you don’t say that the Republicans have already lost. That’s called speaking defeat before they’ve even had a chance to win or lose.
Not only Sarah Palin, but that Dick Army is even going against his own party’s candidate. This brings up some interesting questions I think Republicans and Conservatives should be asking themselves.
So why are some Republicans going against other Republicans? Sarah, I’m not even a Republican and I know the 11th Republican Commandment by the very person you referenced, Ronald Reagan during his 1966 Gubernatorial Campaign, “Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican.”
Sarah I know you are not suggesting that there is a Republican political machine that props up unworthy Republican candidates for office?
The important question for New York Republicans/Conservatives to be asking or finding an answer to is this. Who do Republicans believe in this race; the Republican or the Conservative?
Who do you think is benefiting from all of this? I dare you to make a politically strategic guess.
Normally I would try to inject some level of consideration, logic and even some political strategy into the equation, but what’s the use. The people who look up to Sarah Palin will not listen anyway and the people who support Newt Gingrich will only be suspicious of anything I have to say anyways, even though we agree on this point. I wish you well in your decision.
To my fellow Democrats, gently inject the question of the obvious division within your opponent’s campaigns but answer it by not focusing in on your opponents political ideological split, but what you have to offer.
Some may get upset with me, but I’m not attacking the GOP, your fellow conservatives/republicans are. The strategy I’m suggesting is not new, but hasn’t been perfected by any party. I’m just making a suggestion.
We all have the desire to be seen, heard, understood and appreciated. Conflict is often due to some form of miscommunication or ineffective communication. You and I have the ability to resolve many of the conflicts in our lives and the lives of others when we take the opportunity to listen and consider what is being said. Regardless of the logic contained in the arguments you can peacefully gain control of a situation by listening and offering consideration.
When you offer a degree of affirmation to someone you begin to gain their trust and attention. If there is not an overwhelming degree of certainty to their concerns you can then work together to find what is true. This is true even if you’re dealing with someone who chooses to be an enemy instead a friend.
There is a profound desire we have in any conversation to be heard. So we have to become more focused on listening more than we insistence on talking. Then remember that there’s always some area that each party can affirm to be true about the other position taken. Then you begin to introduce civility, logic and reconciliation to the discussion.
We often try to fix someone’s situation and be their teacher instead of learning and teaching each other. You can not become a teacher until you have become successful as a student. When you are willing to become someone’s student, eventually they’re willing to become yours.
Why should The Church, whether it is Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Jewish, Catholic, etc exclude or discriminate someone because of who or what they are?
I am a Christian, so I can only speak in reference of my own beliefs. As a Christian and more importantly as an individual I personally respect those who subscribe to a religious belief system and those who do not. How I understand Christianity, if God is no respecter of persons and if Jesus said the greatest commandment is love, then I can’t form a valid reason why The Church should exclude, discriminate or hold a bias against any one for who or what they are. But that’s my opinion. What is yours?
When I check out Romans 2 (NIV) & Matthew 7 (NIV) I have not found a reason yet that I should discriminate. So why do we find so many instances where Christians and their Churches participating in discrimination? You name any taboo issue and you can find a Christian or a Church who is or has worked against it.
I know someone doesn’t believe me, so let me just throw out a few. Racism… If this isn’t one of the most obvious then I’ll respond with, “What is 11 o’clock on a Sunday Morning?” Alex.
Pick a church, any church on any given Sunday and see how segregated it is. Yeah, there are some churches that have a few sprinkling of other cultures within its members, and that’s good. But it only takes a few conversations with people to get a sense of the true church that’s within its members.
Now since I’ve already started something, let me go on and really get myself pelted with the verbal stones and just ask my fellow believers this question. Can an openly gay man or woman with no intentions or interest in changing or hiding their sexual preferences welcome to be apart of your church?
Now I already know what some of the responses are going to be, but listen to what I’m asking you. This is a good indicator of what church you’re going to. For those who will still come at me for asking such a question I have to counter by referencing my original question at the beginning of this post.
I have friends who do not believe in God, but have enough respect to recognize that I do and we’re still friends. Even when we disagree on matters of God we have managed to maintain mutual respect for each others beliefs. This is the same for my friends who are Muslim, Jewish, Catholic or Agnostic. It is what I believe that motivates me to respect others for who they are and not discriminate or hold a bias against them for what they believe or practice. I haven’t found a valid reason why I should discriminate, have you?
Instead of being upset by the question, question yourself and see how you respond.
Do you role models, mentors and those who influenced you the most need to look like you and/or agree with you?
Regardless of your position, just briefly explain why.
I can say that the vast majority of those who has greatly influenced me, who are role models and those who has mentored me have looked like me. There are some who were not the same race or gender as me who has played an important part in my life, but I’ve noticed the tendencies of people including myself to be more influence by people who look like themselves or generally agreed with them.
I know this may make be salt on an open wound for some of my Republican friends, but I still love you. I just wanted to take a moment to smile today. So for those who will choose to offer bitterness instead of acceptance I offer this picture as a reminder that change does happen.
Well I just wanted to take a moment to celebrate one of my greatest motivations in life, my son. Today he will be five years old and like I’ve done on this day since he was born I attempt to do again today.
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