BillingsleyBabbles

Dallaa Drives Doggedly To The TOP!!!!!!!!!

2011-06-13T02:05:00.000-07:00

Dirk and Dallas Do It up Big !!!!

2011-06-13T01:42:00.001-07:00

BillingsleyBabbles: African Diaspora Warriors Pass Away

2011-06-07T16:35:00.000-07:00

BillingsleyBabbles: African Diaspora Warriors Pass Away

African Diaspora Warriors Pass Away

2011-06-07T16:09:00.001-07:00

Superior Court Judge Everett Dickey granted him a new trial in June 1997, saying the credibility of prosecution witness Julius Butler who testified that Pratt had confessed to him could have been undermined if the jury had known of his relationship with law enforcement. He was freed later that month.

Cochran, best known representing such clients as O.J. Simpson and Michael Jackson, called the day Pratt's freedom was secured "the happiest day of my life practicing law."

2011-06-07T14:27:00.001-07:00

Tiger Speaks!!!

2010-04-05T08:47:00.000-07:00

Everyone is breathless awaiting an unscripted press conference with the world's top golfer. His dalliances and car accident on Thanksgiving night have been a boon to the publishing and media business. This story has been very well reported, not just by entertainment news people but the hard news jourmalists were running down the Tiger story. What can be left to say? If the reporting on the buildup to the Iraq war had been as thorough, the US may not have launched "Shock and Awe"in the Middle East.

We have heard from the women who were his lovers. I call them the "checkbook mistresses".
We heard from reliable sources as to what Elin's thinking has been.
We have read the texts and heard the voice mails. Tiger's girlfriend from college has had her time to tell all about Tiger and his daddy. Even his kindgaen teacher is suing him for duress inflicthis comments abyCharles Barkley's book

Sunny Day Expressed as Red Raindrops

2008-01-29T09:00:00.000-08:00

Large wet, splashes of delightful, red raindrops in a darkening sky with tiny slivers of the azure blue that was overhead only moments ago. The rain drops are evaporating and turning into streaky clounds way over in the next valley while the brilliant blue and pale afternoon light return to our small patches of playing fields, houses and dreams.

Not Another Clinton Nor Bush Nor Romney: America Is Not A Monarchy

2008-01-28T16:20:00.000-08:00

Clinton was cheated on. Bush, the younger, knew his dad believed he could never be president. Mitt has stepped up for his dad. George Romney was a successful businessman, Michigan's governor but an unfairly derailed 1968 presidential candidate. Hilliary, George W.Bush and Willard "Mitt" Romney all have issues but should not work them out by running for political office. Do what Mr and Mrs John and Suzy Q Public do ...get counseling.

Competent and compassionate psychiatric care may have saved us nearly eight years of wrong headed decisions made by the current president as he tried to overcome his feelings of inadequacy. I have often heard that the Bush family felt that if any of their children had the intelligence and temperament for the job of president; it was Jeb Bush. Based on his governorship of Florida and a few other factors, my money would have been on Jeb to provide a competent White House.

Romney feeling he has to fill father's his shoes is just the stuff that Willard (yes,Willard is Mitt's first name)needs to get on the analyst's couch to sort out. This is another unhealthy urge being medicated with politics. The United States is not a place of inherited offices. Mitt does not have to finish his father's quest because of their bloodlines.

Hilliary Clinton appears to believe she is owed the presidency because she went through thick and thin and much, much adultery. She has "experience". She's a Clinton. Mrs. Hilliary Clinton has formidable intelligence, a fringe of elected office political service and a marriage bed formerly located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Well, just move right back in!

I can not bring myself to vote for another of these legacy candidates.

No More!!!!!! The United States is not a monarchy.

The Ultimate Paying It Forward: Martin and the Social Justice Warriors

2008-01-21T08:23:00.000-08:00

We celebrate Martin Luther King today. He paid it forward with the ultimate, his life. King and many other social justice warriors paid it forward for us to stand where we stand, live where we wish, work at jobs for which we are qualified, vote and love, regardless of race.

A simple question comes to me. I ask this simple question of you: what are you doing today and daily, weekly, maybe quarterly --- okay, a couple of times a year to pay it forward for your children , friends, non-friends and the unborn generations? Usually, you will not have to put your body on the line but there is much work to be done and you may be the one who comes up with the innovative method of scaling over the top of an old barricade. To paraphrase, a warrior is a terrible thing to waste. It could be you or me or your great grandchild that keeps the fight for social, economic and environmental justice going and moves Martin's and the elder civil rights/social justice warriors legacies into true realization.

There is much work to be done. Today, celebrate and remember the past. Tomorrow and the rest of the year envision the future and "Pay it Forward" for yourself, others and our future legacy.

I'll Have What She's Having

2008-01-18T12:55:00.000-08:00

This woman's smile and demeanor stopped me cold. She looked so relaxed, so self-satisfied.

Early King Celebrating: Open Letter to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

2008-01-17T15:06:00.000-08:00

Dear Readers,
I am posting this powerful letter from Partners in Faith again as we begin our reflections on and celebrations of the life of an American whose gifts changed the United States and influenced nonviolent, morally sound revolutions all around the globe. This letter urges us to continue being justice warriors in our daily lives and not to believe the battles are over. Ghandi, King, Harvey Milk and you.

Dear Martin,

Every third Monday in January history compels us to remember and reactivate your legacy.How shall we honor you? And how shall we honor our deepest and truest selves? Nearly four decades have passed since you left your legacy to us, and what a momentous legacy it was. Yours was the vision of a transformed nation, a society that dared to practice the very brotherhood - and sisterhood - that it preached. In a time of tremendous social upheaval you joined the freedom-loving and justice-seeking tradition of your people, black people, and you did so at great personal cost. Using nonviolent direct action, you challenged the existing status quo. In the presence of your enemies - citizen's councils, police dogs, fire hoses, bigoted mobs, half-hearted allies, Christian racists, the FBI - you practiced an insurgent religious faith. You modeled for others the commitment to racial justice and reconciling peace. With your very body and life you led us into the magnificent, multi-colored and multi-ethnic quest of justice, peace and human community. Sore distressed, we the people, have yet to catch up to your radically inclusive vision.

For African Americans, the cumulative effect of the last forty years has been as disturbing as it is dramatic. In the new millennium, our elusive and torturous quest for freedom and equality continues. The full repercussions of radical democracy in the United States are not yet known. The vast majority of whites see themselves as non-racist and live comfortably with little or no real contact with other racial-ethnic people. Oblivious to the obvious (and sometimes the not so obvious), the connection between white privilege and black rage is discounted, resisted, denied. In our houses of worship, in the ivory tower, in the corporate boardroom, in the halls of government, in popular culture and mass media, in states red, purple and blue, in old and new formations, racism lives on.

In the U.S., racial exclusion is still second nature. Racism is who we are. It is our way of life. Sadly, many black people now have difficulty seeing their connections to other black people. We have embraced societal distinctions that separate us by age, education, gender, sexuality and class. We have forgotten the example set by so many courageous souls a generation ago. Mose Wright, Daisy Bates, Jo Ann Robinson, E.D. Dixon, Ella Baker, Bob Moses, Diane Nash, Fannie Lou Hamer, Septima Clark, John Lewis and Bayard Rustin were part of that magnificent movement of blackness that emerged, broke beyond itself, widened the circle of humanity, and called forth women, children and men of all colors and conditions. The painful truth is that we now often violate and oppress our own in the name of religion.

Always, at the center of the heart of the historic black-led struggle for freedom was the black religious experience. Black self-love was upheld as a divine imperative. Local black churches became ecumenical networks of nurture and resistance. At those beleaguered places of our most urgent human need common ground often could be sought and found in the church. But not always. Movement women like Ella Baker, organizer of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, found themselves at odds with the sexism and sexual misconduct of male ministers. An out gay man like Bayard Rustin, architect of the 1963 March on Washington, was feared as a potential threat to the advancement of the race.

Today, in the imperfectly desegregated post-civil rights era, religiously inspired leadership continues to perpetuate a cruel sexual ethic, and in stark violation of their own best sacred inheritance. That black women continue to be relegated to secondary status and lesbians and gays are made to feel unwelcome, unworthy, and uncomfortable in what should be the most caring, compassionate and empowering of communions is a searing indictment against all the black faithful. Martin, like you, we are sometimes uncertain in our leadership. The dominant views on sex, sexuality and gender in the Black Church are undermining community, diminishing the faith and leading many to abandon churches out of sheer moral frustration and exhaustion. Our churches have been slow to embrace gender equality. They have largely spoken only opposition and condemnation to same gender loving people and have been unable to proclaim a sexually liberating and redemptive word. Some black churches have concluded it is in their best institutional interest to participate in "special rights" polemics against this so-called "immoral humanity."

As black clergy we offer here a more hope-filled perspective. In the spirit of Jesus of Nazareth, we the undersigned clergy extend the divine invitation of human wholeness, healing and affirmation to "whosoever" (John 3:16). In the best of the Black Church tradition we say, "Whosoever will, let her or him come." Who is included in this "whosoever?" The "whosoever" of today are the diseased and the dis-eased, the discomforted and the distressed, those who live on the margins of the marginalized, who are the oppressed of the oppressed, the sexually battered and the abused, the homeless and the bereft, the HIV/AIDS infected, who are the young and old, female and male, lesbian and bisexual, transgender and straight. These are they, the children of God. They are our sisters and brothers and partners and friends. They belong to all of us. And they are very much we ourselves.As Black Christian religious leaders what more shall we do?

We must help to forge a progressive agenda for the black community in which race, gender, class, age and sexuality are kept in active dialogue with one another. We must engage one another, prophetically demand more of one another, and prepare to suffer, cry, and toil with each other when it comes to matters of racial and sexual justice, economic and political empowerment, to waging peace. We must be courageous in confronting the social conditions that divide; elitism, poverty, militarism and more await our deepest response. We must continue to look to the ancestors and to Jesus, "the author and finisher of our faith." We must dedicate ourselves to a world where borders can be crossed and a new consensus can be found, where we call our own community beloved and celebrate black people, one unique person at a time. Martin, on your day we vow to take a stand to love all black people. We vow to accept and to honor all regardless of their gender, class, age, or sexuality for we all are the children of God. The power is in our hands. This is where we must go from here.

Respectfully,

****orginal artwork< "titled "Stained Glass" by Laura Etta Billingsley digital media 2007

may not be used without the permission of the artist.

"An Open Letter to Martin"Signers (organizations for identification purposes only)

Rev. Ayanna Abi-KylesProgram of Black Church Studies, Candler School of Theology, Emory University Shrine of the Black Madonna, Atlanta, GA

Rev. Margaret Aymer, Ph.D.Assistant Professor of New Testament
The Interdenominational Theological Center, Atlanta, GA

Randall C. Bailey Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Hebrew Bible
Interdenominational Theological Center

Daniel Black (Omotosho Jojomani), Ph.D.

Professor of English/African American Studies
Clark Atlanta University

Rev. Edward B. Branch, D.Min
Catholic Chaplain Atlanta University Center

Rev. Michael Joseph Brown, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of New Testament and Christian Origins
Emory University
Dr. Lawrence Edward Carter, Sr.
Dean of the Martin Luther King, Jr.
International ChapelMorehouse College

The Reverend Da Vita Carter McCallister, Staff Associate,

First Congregational Church UCC

Rev. Michelle Holmes Chaney Program Coordinator

Interfaith Health Program
Emory University

William T Chaney Jr

Senior PartnerChaney and Associates, LLC

Rev. Jawanza (Eric) Clark

Pan African Orthodox Christian Church-Shrines of the Black Madonna

Pastor Will Coleman, Ph.D.Theologian and Kabbalist Co-director, Black Kabbalah Institute

Sybil Corbin, M.Div.

Rev. T. Renee Crutcher
Spiritual and Creative Director

Sankofa Ministries & Tellin' Our Story Publishing, Inc.

Rev. McClain Dyson
New Bethel A.M.E. Church

Lithonia, GA

Dr. Teresa Fry Brown

Associate Professor of Homiletics
Candler School of Theology, Emory University

Minister Ronald W Galvin, Jr.
Community Organizer

Atlanta, Georgia

Rev. Willie F. Goodman, Jr., Th.D.
Black Pastoral Theologian

Reverend Vivian Green

Rev. Dr. Maisha I. Handy
Assistant Professor of Christian Education

Interdenominational Theological Center
First Iconium Baptist Church

Rev. Renee K. Harrison
Emory University, Ph.D. candidate

Department of Religion

Rev. Wallace S. Hartsfield, II,

Pastor

First Mount Pleasant Baptist Church

Dorinda Henry, MTS

David Anderson Hooker

Min.BaSean Jackson (ssc)

Ph.D Student at Emory University

Rev. Shonda R. Jones

Clergy, United Methodist Church

Assistant Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid

Candler School of Theology
Emory University

Emmanuel Y. Lartey, Ph.D.
Professor of Pastoral Theology, Care and Counseling
Candler School of Theology,

Emory University.

Pastor, Ghana Interdenominational Church,

Atlanta.

Rev. Portia Wills Lee

Trinity African Baptist Church

592 Veterans Memorial Highway

Mableton, GA. 30126

Stephen Lewis

Program Coordinator, Pastoral Leadership Search Effort (PLSE)

The Fund for Theological Education

Reverend Dr. Mark A. Lomax, Pastor

First African Presbyterian Church

Assistant Professor of Homiletics

Interdenominational Theological Center

Herbert R. Marbury,

University Chaplain

Assistant Professor of Religion

Clark Atlanta University

Rev. Timothy McDonald, III

Pastor,

First Iconium Baptist Church

Rev. Veronice Miles

Minister of Christian Education,

Greater Bethany Baptist Church

Graduate Student,

Emory University

Graduate Division of Religion

Reverend Susan C. Mitchell

Co-Pastor

Sankofa United Church of.

Deborah F. Mullen, Ph.D.

Reverend A. Nevell Owens

Rev. Chauncey R. Newsome

Assistant Pastor

First Iconium Baptist Church

Rev. Jeanette Pinkston

Associate Pastor

Saint Philip AME Church,

Atlanta, GA

Alton B. Pollard, III, Ph.D.

Director, Program of Black Church Studies and

Associate Professor of Religion and Culture

Candler School of Theology

Emory University

Reverend Derrick L. Rice

Co-Pastor

Sankofa United Church of Christ

Rev. Fert Richardson

Pastor

Suwanee Parish United Methodist Church

Rev. Marcia Y. Riggs, Ph.D.

J. Erskine Love

Professor of Christian Ethics

Columbia Theological Seminary

Rev. Aaron NaeemRobinson

Rosetta E. Ross,

ChairDepartment of Philosophy and Religious Studies,

Spelman College.

Rev. Melva L. Sampson

Project Manager

Sisters Chapel

WISDOM Center

Spelman College

Rev. Roslyn M. Satchel, Esq.

Executive Director

National Center for Human Rights Education

Rev. Dr. Teresa E. Snorton

CMEMinister

Co-Chair, First African Community Development Corporation

Dr. Dianne Stewart, Departments of Religion and African American Studies

Emory University

Dr. Lewis T. Tait, Jr.,

Senior Pastor,

Imani Christian Center

The Rev. Dr. Eugene Turner

Retired,Presbyterian Church USA

Minister

President of the Board of Johnson C. Smith Theological Seminary,

Atlanta, GA

Rev. Lamont Anthony Wells

Senior Pastor,

Lutheran Church of the Atonement

President, Southeastern Synod Black Pastors Conference

Min. Michael J. Wright

Gayraud S. Wilmore

Emeritus Prof. African American Church History

Interdenominational Theological Center, Atlanta

Reverend Bridgette D. Young

Associate Dean of the Chapel and Religious Life

Emory University

http://www.us.net/epf

EQUAL PARTNERS in FAITH is a multi-racial national network of religious leaders and people of faith committed to equality and diversity. Our diverse faith traditions and shared religious values lead us to affirm and defend the equality of all people, regardless of religion, race, ability, gender, sexual orientation or gender identity. As people of faith, we actively oppose the manipulation of religion to promote inequality and exclusion. Join us and help us promote a more inclusive vision of religion and society. Equal Partners in Faith1040 Harbor DriveAnnapolis, MD 21403 Phone: 877-501-4194 Fax: 1-443-782-0273

Email: EPFinfo@aol.com Web: www.us.net/epf

The Oval Office Is Not Hilliary Clinton's ' I'm Sorry Present' for Gennifer Flowers

2008-01-14T17:46:00.000-08:00

You do not get to be the President of the United States because your husband slept with Gennifer Flowers, Monica Lewinsky, Elizabeth Ward, Jane Doe number four and propositioned Paula, the state worker, for oral sex. The presidency is not a conciliation; it may be a deal that Hilliary made with Bill but the republic of the United States of America and its citizens DID NOT.

Sleeping with the the President of the United States is not a job qualification for running for the office. The United States is not a small South or Central American junta. Nearness to power for a feminist like Hilliary or myself, both trained at fine New England women's colleges, is not power itself. I know Wellesley College encourages its women to stand on "their" own two feet. Maybe, Hilliary Rodham Clinton was really a disciple of MalcolmX ---"by any means necessary".

More power to you , Mrs. Clinton. Sleeping next to power means --well, --- it means that you slept next to power. It is not experience it is exposure.

We Have The Whole World In Our Arms

2008-01-13T11:00:00.000-08:00

The blended cultures, voices and beauties of the people of this earth are like the threads in this photograph. The endless variety and configurations of nations, races, religions and mindsets could be seen as the warp and weft of a loose tapestry always in the process of being made and unmade in uncountable permutations.

Queen Victoria At Mumbai Zoo

2008-01-07T16:02:00.000-08:00

Welcome to 2008

2008-01-01T04:27:00.000-08:00

Sit back on this lovely settee, and try to get your head right; have a little more of the hair of the dog that bit you last night. I've got the turkey in the oven and its got the house smelling really good. As Miss Betty Davis used to say "we're in for a bumpy ride" !!

The financial pundits are out in force on the morning chat shows 'cheer leading' that 2008 is going to be a positive' in the black year. Well yeah .... (CIA wire tap program) just found where the weapons of mass destruction are in Iraq; there's a mushroom cloud from Iran and their plan to attack the United States within 24 hours is operative and best of all, Dick Cheney telephoned me personally so I could meet deadline on this column to verify that I was right all along about that his duck hunting "accident" was no "accident". He'd wanted to shoot that fellow for years and now he was in a positon to do it and get away with it. Cheney offered to show me how to shoot at the White House's shooting range, I demurred.

The mortgage debacle/ results in many foreclosures>>>>> reduced homebuilding>>>reduced home buying>>>>less major purchases ...less jobs .....reduced shopping for small items due to high energy prices>>>>low confidence housing values not growing>>>.
dollar delvalued>>>>LAYOFFS >>>>> CARPENTERS ... Tradesmen
HOMEBUILDERS ...fear invades others . The carpet guy isn't buying 12 coffees and 2 1/2 dozen donuts every morning; putting $2.50 in Karen's tip jar and Karen's lost ten other good, regular blue guys this month. Recession, at least, a short lived one.

This is micro economics the way they taught me at my fine New England women's college.

** Both sides of the isles, Republicans and Democrats have covered up their crimes and misdeeds via the power of their offices.

The Bloodcurdling Truth

2007-10-25T03:45:00.000-07:00

Citizens, draw near and hear the drumbeat to war in Iran by George Bush, Dick Cheney and other members of the Neo-Con cabal. I am truly frightened as the buildup for invading Iran gets stronger and stronger. Over the last year Rice, Bush, Cheney and others have trumpeted the impending nuclearization of Iran. Iran is getting the bomb tomorrow and training its launch on the United States by the Bush reckoning. Here in its entirety is the Los Angeles Times opinion piece on this urgent matter:

Straitjacket Bush by Rosa Brooks LA Times Columnist

The president's warmongering remarks on the Iranian threat suggest he is psychotic.
Really.

October 25, 2007

Forget impeachment.Liberals, put it behind you. George W. Bush and Dick Cheney shouldn't be treated like criminals who deserve punishment. They should be treated like psychotics who need treatment.
Because they've clearly gone mad.

Exhibit A: We're in the middle of a disastrous war in Iraq, the military and political situation in Afghanistan is steadily worsening, and the administration's interrogation and detention tactics have inflamed anti-Americanism and fueled extremist movements around the globe. Sane people, confronting such a situation, do their best to tamp down tensions, rebuild shattered alliances, find common ground with hostile parties and give our military a little breathing space. But crazy people? They look around and decide it's a great time to start another war. That would be with Iran, and you'd have to be deaf not to hear the war drums. Last week, Bush remarked that "if you're interested in avoiding World War III . . . you ought to be interested in preventing [Iran] from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon." On Sunday, Cheney warned of "the Iranian regime's efforts to destabilize the Middle East and to gain hegemonic power . . . [we] cannot stand by as a terror-supporting state fulfills its most aggressive ambitions." On Tuesday, Bush insisted on the need "to defend Europe against the emerging Iranian threat."Huh? Iran is now a major threat to Europe? The Iranians are going to launch a nuclear missile (that they don't yet possess) against Europe (for reasons unknown because, as far as we know, they're not mad at anyone in Europe)? This is lunacy in action.

Writing in Newsweek on Oct. 20, Fareed Zakaria, a solid centrist and former editor of Foreign Affairs, put it best. Citing Bush's invocation of "the specter of World War III if Iran gained even the knowledge needed to make a nuclear weapon," Zakaria concluded that "the American discussion about Iran has lost all connection to reality. . . . Iran has an economy the size of Finland's. . . . It has not invaded a country since the late 18th century. The United States has a GDP that is 68 times larger and defense expenditures that are 110 times greater. Israel and every Arab country (except Syria and Iraq) are . . . allied against Iran. And yet we are to believe that Tehran is about to overturn the international system and replace it with an Islamo-fascist order? What planet are we on?"

Planet Cheney.

Zakaria may be misinterpreting the president's remark about World War III though. He saw it as a dangerously loopy Bush prediction about the future behavior of a nuclear Iran -- the idea being, presumably, that possessing "the knowledge" to make a nuclear weapon would so empower Iran's repressive leaders that they'll giddily rush out and start World War III. But you could read Bush's remark as a madman's threat rather than a madman's prediction -- as a warning to recalcitrant states, from Germany to Russia, that don't seem to share his crazed obsession with Iran. The message: Fall into line with administration policy toward Iran or you can count on the U.S.A. to try to start World War III on its own. And when it comes to sparking global conflagration, a U.S. attack on Iran might be just the thing. Yee haw!You'd better believe these guys would do it too. Why not? They have nothing to lose -- they're out of office in 15 months anyway. Après Bush-Cheney, le déluge! (Have fun, Hillary.)But all this creates a conundrum. What's a constitutional democracy to do when the president and vice president lose their marbles? The U.S. is full of ordinary people with serious forms of mental illness -- delusional people with violent fantasies who think they're the president, or who think they get instructions from the CIA through their dental fillings. The problem with Bush is that he is the president -- and he gives instructions to the CIA and military, without having to go through his dental fillings. Impeachment's not the solution to psychosis, no matter how flagrant. But despite their impressive foresight in other areas, the framers unaccountably neglected to include an involuntary civil commitment procedure in the Constitution.

Still, don't lose hope. By enlisting the aid of mental health professionals and the court system, Congress can act to remedy that constitutional oversight. The goal: Get Bush and Cheney committed to an appropriate inpatient facility, where they can get the treatment they so desperately need. In Washington, the appropriate statutory law is already in place: If a "court or jury finds that [a] person is mentally ill and . . . is likely to injure himself or other persons if allowed to remain at liberty, the court may order his hospitalization."

I'll even serve on the jury. When it comes to averting World War III, it's really the least I can do.

Columnist Biography:
- Rosa Brooks

Ms Brooks may seem scary, over the top but she's not scary or over the top enough because America is being marched off to an invasion of Iran by our President. There is no respect or support for this action in Europe or elsewhere( Israel, maybe?). The Russian President Putin went to Tehran to try to interject another perspective to the Iran situation but it appears to have fallen on deaf ears. I believe that this foolish foray by Our Fool in Chief will not just alienate allies, neutrals and enemies but will draw hostilities/attacks upon the US soil or our troops on foreign soils.

Grandather's Son Is Bush's Trojan Horse

2007-10-06T21:12:00.000-07:00

The cordial, more centrist President George H.W. Bush given the privilege to replace Justice Thurgood Marshall thrust upon us Clarence Thomas. Bush located a man with intense self-hatred and extreme animus to the Black community to replace a Justice of high stature and support to and from the Black Community and other under served groups in the United States. He WAS not qualified ----his judicial experience was minuscule. Thomas is the Trojan horse of Bush, a black face with radical conservative views. Bush appears to be racially fair but puts "his" Black man on the bench. Bush selected the Black man who has always existed in America; the servant of Bush's principles who is a member of the community of color but not part of their struggle ...only advancing "the bosses" agenda.

Being a gitchee boy from Pin Point ,Georgia has so scarred Clarence Thomas that he is still enraged from that time through his Senate confirmation hearings and sixteen years on the high court. Thomas per his book " My Grandfather's Son" is not happy about his distant past, his recent past nor his current situation. Affirmative action's assistance in his life made Thomas feel so inferior and he does not want one more Black , Latino or White woman(the group who benefited most from the program)to face his chagrin. Successful grandpa provided young Clarence Thomas with strong financial support , a private school education and a good work ethic. That independent hard working Black man, Thoma's grandpa, may have become a millionaire if some of the racial barriers he faced had been eased by some sort of assistance (government or do gooders) to address those barriers.

Being a Justice on the Supreme court is for a lifetime, I entreat Justice Thomas to remember the compassion of a grandfather who took him in as he considers his decisions and opinions on the court.
Make your granddaddy proud.

Wishing For Peace In Iraq

2007-07-11T08:14:00.000-07:00

The status of the war in Iraq right now is represented by the fractured peace sign posted here. I hope I will soon be posting a complete and whole peace symbol to commemorate the US troops withdrawing from Iraq. Believing that the United States removing itself from the mix is no guarantee that the fighting and bloodshed in Iraq will stop ... but there was no civil or uncivil war till coalition troops arrived there.

White Elite Men Give Imus A Pass

2007-04-11T02:59:00.000-07:00

Imus is disgusting but more shameful and immoral than him are John McCain, Rudolph Giuliani and the CBS and NBC bosses who are letting him off with a slap on the hand. "Nappy headed hos" can not be spun. The casual way these words dripped off the Imus tongue is not unbelievable but just another slam to African women of America in their 300+ years on these shores. No one wants to say it but I will ---Imus' comments are consistent with the treatment of Black women in the United States. That's why the comedy context fits because his description of the Rutgers players are humorous and comfortable for the Imus and his audience. McCain and Giuliani can let him off the hook with no worries as to backlash to themselves because the know the light in which Black women are seen. If these Rutgers players were predominately white and scathed like this I very much doubt that ANYONE would easily get the joke. I know many will say I am making too much of this but I think the point has to be made that jokes are not funny without a commonly held view behind them. A low place in society for Black women, strong disdain for female athletes and contempt for striving, working class people are some of the common understandings that allow for this "comedy".

NBC and CBS are not going to do too much to punish Imus because of the color green. Follow the money!! Imus is a 50 million dollar franchise ... sells a lot of books, has lots of politicians and media types on his program. The financial loss to NBC and CBS would be too much so Imus is in no real danger. I am happy to hear sponsors are pulling out. Yeah! If a Black woman was felt to be the offender such as Janet Jackson, well, we know how that would go.

The Rutgers players run in with racism in the commercial media is not only painful for them but hurtful and damaging to the rest of us. It teaches people that its okay to say anything in any venue and is particularly hurtful to other Black student athletes. Kids working hard in their sports life and their academic life find out in the most negative way possible that their efforts are not respected. Life in the public square is disrupted; the fissures exposed and deepened. Race in America, land of the free and home of the brave, is touchy and very much unresolved. The racial rift has not healed; it is not even well examined so we really do not need this blowup.

The nastiness and meanness of Imus shtick is sometimes entertaining but this ain't hardly funny. Why would the Rutgers players meet with Don Imus???? The disregard shown to these young ladies does not engender conditions for sitting down with the broadcaster. I bow to their graciousness ...this is beyond my powers as a human. These women are reaching out their hands to heal the racial wounds in our country through this incident. My hat is off to them.

"Bye and bye, Lord ... bye and bye"

First Term Bush Ambushes US

2007-03-30T04:25:00.000-07:00

I have a difficult time accepting that George Bush, the second, "won" the 2000 election.*****He did not win the popular vote; he was installed president by the United States Supreme Court.***** The American public can not really look too closely at the fact that we had an unelected official sitting in the Oval office for four years. The media, our Fourth Estate, our watchdogs who keep the people of this republic informed did not look too closely or clearly at the funny business of the 2000 elections till years later because the truth closely examined would have undermined the whole country.

The Iraq morass/mess the citizens of America find ourselves in brings to mind the saying " don't start out right and you won't end up right!". We began wrong with George Bush ,number two; he began the wrong headed invasion of a nation, a civilization he didn't understand and energetic dedicated young soldiers are caught in the quagmire of Iraq.

Just What Is On My Mind

2007-02-20T06:12:00.000-08:00

The Super Bowl

Attended a very small Super Bowl party, there was two meals, lunch and dinner. It was a 'let's cook together' gathering. Fluffy Belgian homemade waffles with homemade orange butter spread and crispy pan-fried sausages was lunch. I know these are usually breakfast foods but it was indeed lunch. Dinner was two steaks ...one prepared by each of us...oh, the joy of variety! We made a beautiful potato salad and a delightful, garden salad. Our snack for the game was reduced fat Cape Cod potato chips with a very spicy yogurt dip.

We watched the game, paid very little attention to the famous and infamous Super Bowl commercials but HALF TIME ~~~~ Wow Wow Wow!!!! Prince is a king, he was just the cat's meow of a half time performer. The rag he wore on his head so his hair stayed cute till the last song was just so PRINCE,baby. It was pouring the purple rain in Miami but Prince and his crew just danced and sang like it was blue skies and sunshine; never missing a step or a note. As reported previously in this blog, his Purple Badness works me over. I was screaming at my friend's home as if I were in Miami at the actual event; she was screaming, too!!!!!

Crime and Misery Does Not Respect Zip Codes

2007-01-26T03:05:00.001-08:00

01776
Sudbury, Massachusetts

Last week, just as the school day was beginning, a fifteen year old student killed his sixteen year old classmate in the hallway near the bathroom at Lincoln-Sudbury High School. The town is in shock and the surrounding area is more shocked . Everyone wonders how a brutal stabbing takes place in Sudbury, an upper middle class town. This is not supposed to happen in this zip code!!

Inner city school slayings of other American children make the headlines everyday but not in Sudbury's front yard. If a child is not blonde, blue- eyed or white, in general, is lost or hurt it is rarely more than a one day story. Molly Bish, a fifteen year old life guard, abducted and murdered five years ago has been kept alive in the press. She was a very beautiful blond girl. The media has made the decision to cover blond abductees and murder victims and even, female criminal defendants, mostly.

Last night the parents of the Lincoln-Sudbury High gathered to discuss the details of the murder and the background of the alleged student perpetrator who is a special needs student from Princeton, Massachusetts --- 01541. They comforted each other and asked the school's officials if the student from outside the district should really be enrolled in the Sudbury (01776) high school.

Misery respects no boundaries. Crimes follow no zip code maps but tones and caring in media coverage of incidents in upper income communities is impressive. Its almost as if the media 's attitude and the society's attitude is if you don't live in certain places the losses of your children and loved ones is not important.

I stand in sympathy and solidarity for ALL the parents who been hurt this past week in Sudbury.

Supreme Court Seeks To Legally Resegregate Public Schools

2007-01-16T02:24:00.000-08:00

Hello Readers
I happen to have come across a few sentences in the Boston Globe's coverage of Deval Patrick, the new Massachusetts governor's comments at today's Martin Luther King breakfast that say the Bush administration has taken the side of parents in Louisville, Kentucky and Seattle, Washington who are suing because school assignment has a racial component.

The Washington Post has covered very well the current Bush administration's the systematic removal of as many as possible traditional and long -term staffers in the Justice Department's Civil Rights Enforcement Division. The watering down of its mission to protect us all and minority groups ,in particular, has resulted taking only a handful of anti-discrimination cases and usually, as in this case protecting white rights from enormous(???) minority powers.

Can this nation return to the infamous days before the end of legal segregation ???? The lawsuit now being heard by the Supreme Court and that most reasonable of fellows, Justice Roberts who really only said his name at the Senate confirmation hearings. I believe Roberts may now have the chance to show the true sides of himself that Bush and the Conservatives know well as all of America can decipher NOW. Overturning Brown v Board of Education is the return to yesteryear ,however it may be spun, that many have been waiting for and many, many more than are willing to admit it would be glad for.

***Deval Patrick is a s former Justice department staffer in Civil Rights Enforcement

Merry Christmas

2006-12-25T05:49:00.000-08:00

Dear Readers
You are very dear and appreciated by this blogger. Thanks so much for reading me. I know I was not posting for a while. I promise to right this ship and get back to my feisty self.

As you take time to spend with loved ones and friends ... enjoy enjoy ENJOY!!!! The time together is the gift and the blessings not what you bought. The joys are phone calls, hugs and kisses, telephone calls, Christmas letters and other simple remembrances. Even the family disagreements are a wonderful to have 'cause they make the best stories over a cocktail later (big smile) AFTER the season is over.

Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, Joyous Kwanzaa and a Wonderful and Prosperous New Year.

From My Heart,
Billi

Danger! Danger! Danger Will Robinson!!!

2006-12-22T01:33:00.000-08:00

I am sure young men of color and Black men in particular, in New York City, are afraid of the "fraidy cat", shoot first police there. The reason I call the shooter police persons "fraidy cats" is because they always seem to have to put 41 or 51 bullets into black male flesh to quell their fears of these unarmed brothers. The groom recently killed by NYC police on his wedding day for no reason I can understand; was out doing the pre-wedding celebrations tradition and I guess the police force's fear was enough to end his life and the party and seriously wound a few of his friends.

The robot that warned the stranded television space family of danger would be really helpful to young unarmed black men to let them know a fearful group of NYC police are about to put quite a bit of lead (bullets) into their asses. Black men in New York City : you are warned "Danger Danger Danger Be Careful Out Here!"

Going Backwards

2006-12-17T21:21:00.000-08:00

OOOOhhhhh Trent Lott. The senator has just become top Republican in the Senate replacing Senator Bill Frist who is returning to Tennessee to "the house he was born in". In America there is always a second act, well not always but most of us get a second chance. Being white, rich, and well connected usually provides fellows such as Trent Lott with several second chances in business, higher education, lobbying or political leadership.

A 100th birthday party removed Senator Trent Lott from the Republican party leadership. At the celebration honoring ,segregationist,Senator Strom Thurmond, Trent Lott said if Strom had won his Dixiecrat bid for President back in 1948 , "we wouldn't have had all these problems over these years,either."

Like Mel Gibson every excuse and explanation was made, Senator Lott was not drunk. He said of himself and other Mississpians "we voted for him". We're proud of it". It was finally excused as one son of the South, making another very old, son of the South feel good about the good/bad(Jim Crow) old days. If Senator Strom Thurmond had become president, the entire US might be still segregated.

Lott returns to the Republican leadership in the senate and the country goes backward not because of what is coming out of his lips but because of what is in his heart and mind. There is no law that can control the feelings inside each of us nor should there be such a law.

Why Women Love Prince So Much

2006-11-06T08:03:00.000-08:00

Sitting here this morning trying to figure out why this purple crazed munchin gets to me so much as I listen to old Prince songs on my cassette player, its his intelligent, humorous sexiness. Prince turns all my dials !!! He says things slyly ~ hotly ~ in his falsetto voice ~ in his bass voice AND he's pretty. That pretty part at first, could appear to be a problem but all the women know his carefully put togetherness is for each and every one of us ~~~ personally.

All smart men know the center of a woman's sexuality is her brain. Prince works the brain over and over and titilates the other sensuous centers with his provocative licks on the guitar, piano and drums then teases with his voice. I can hardly type and listen. One ardent Prince fan who is a friend of mine has moved to Minneapolis to be closer to his Purple Badness (you know who you are). The women surrounding Prince are the real deal they are not props. I want to be a Prince woman but I am not his type although he is my " special" type.

More big, manly men than one would think are undercover Princes; I fondly remember a coquettish fellow named Chuck who really turned the tables on me. What a fond memory. This is a shout out to the King of sensuality and humor.

Can You Say Dubba ????

2006-11-03T11:51:00.000-08:00

From the LA Times:
"Rosa Brooks: Was Kerry right?
The military isn't full of poor, uneducated kids, but it doesn't look anything like America"
November 3, 2006

I thought the Kerry "botched" joke was right on the the money both in the way it was taken and in the way Kerry says he meant it. Our commander-in-chief, Dubba, who attended Harvard and Yale defended the American borders as a member of the Civil Air Patrol while Senator Kerry volunteered to serve in Viet Nam. Brother Vice President Cheney has no military service under his belt; I think (???) he got a college deferment to avoid going to war. Please write me if I have my facts wrong.

The United States military does not even recruit on Ivy League campuses because they KNOW there will be no takers. Only 1% of the offspring of members of the Congress are wearing the uniform. Most households earning over $60,000 do not send their sons and daughters off to possibly get their heads blown off. America is not the military and military is not America. The poor are not over represented; the military does not take high school dropouts in some branches and limits to 3 1/2% the number of recruits who haven't completed high school in others. The poor are highly represented in the groups of young people who do not receive high school degrees. Most officers are college educated and many hold graduate degrees in higher percentages than the general population. Karl Rove does not have a college degree ---smart rats like him don't need them.

The presidents who serve the country with their bodies and their hearts on the line for us; send our sons and daughters to war much, much, much less than the presidents who do not serve.

Can you say Dubba????

Technical Problems

2006-10-30T21:21:00.000-08:00

Dear Readers,
I am having technical problems which is that I technically have NOT been in my chair in front of my computer banging out my blog. I get my ideas from the newspapers, television news and other blogs and sometimes, readers suggest a topic. I ALWAYS have an opinion; sometimes, I am just too steamed to write it down. So in the favor of my readership, I've held my tongue but no more. What's a blog for if not to raise a little HELL ! ? ! ???! ! !

One entry I wrote that did not make it to the blog because of a blogger.com technical difficulties was about Condoleezza Rice. Damn good!!!! More incredible, I had some positive things to say about her. Having a positive thought or feeling about Rice is highly unusual for me as of many of my circle know. Condoleezza impressed me at least temporarily. More on Secretary Rice in a future posting.

Please keep coming back to billingsleybabbles.blogspot.com. I have lots more to say. Thank you for reading me.

winter squash

2006-10-24T16:09:00.000-07:00

Autumn has truly fallen for me today; I cooked an acorn squash and filled the center of it with chili. It was sooo good ~~~ a sweet golden squash brimming with a spicy, delicate turkey chili. This dish is a metaphor for life sweet and spicy. Cool nights bring out the urge for stews, soups and other cold weather foods.

Seasons changing and particularly, fall, is one of the simple joys. As time falls back to Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) this weekend, the Northeast plunges into darkness by 4:15 pm. By the time its dark when you leave for work and dark when you return home, the winter season's pleasures dim. The snow comes down, the Hawk --- cold temperatures and brutal , biting winds --- comes out and we are looking good fares to the Caribbean and Florida.

Fannie Lou Hamer's Six Degrees of Separation

2006-10-21T22:18:00.000-07:00

Fannie Lou Hamer's name and recognition of her place in history has come to me in many ways over the past few weeks. I am researching the artwork of Faith Ringgold; her painting "Sunflower Quilting Bee at Arles" has Fannie Lou Hamer pictured in it at the quilting bee. Shortly after I began doing the background of this painting, the documentary, "Eyes on the Prize" began airing on my local public television station. One of the first segments of the film I watched covered Fannie Lou Hamer making her speech at the Democratic National Convention in 1968. The theme song of the film keeps playing in my head and Mrs Hamer's famous words " I'm tired and I'm sick of being sick and tired" are stuck in my head, too. The civil rights activist and movement ground breaker for African American voter registration in Mississippi in the 1960's spoke plainly but so strong and clear on her vision of equality in America. Last night on the Tavis Smiley show , the actor James Cromwell (the farmer in the movie "Babe") spoke about his early acting experiences doing theater in Mississippi and Louisiana where he encountered Mrs. Hammer at one of his performances. Mrs.Hamer spoke up and out at the Q&A portion of the play.

Earlier today, in a meeting, Fannie Lou Hamer's eloquent words popped into my head but not out of my mouth. Hearing Fannie clearly say, "I am tired and sick of being sick and tired" made me feel think that's how I feel, too.

Beginning with a painting, next a film, a television talk show and in my research today about Faith Ringgold; Fannie Lou Hamer was mentioned and in my heart and head her famous words expressed my feelings.

Six degrees of separation between me and this courageous warrior, Mrs. Fannie Lou Hamer.

Deval Patrick Fights Back

2006-10-15T21:07:00.000-07:00

Today, I attended the Deval Patrick rally on the Boston Common. What a perfect fall afternoon it was ~~~ lots of people, good cheer ,a beautiful blue sky and Mr Deval Patrick kicking a little Healey ass. He said ' don't worry about the negative ads and attacks; I'll handle that!!' Deval asked the crowd( around 5000 strong) to support him for the next 23 days to get to the Governor's office and to continue to support him after he arrives in the Governor's chair. Because >>> TOGETHER WE CAN!

Deval Patrick said that he and his wife, Diane stand firmly with his sister and brother in-law who have repaired their lives and continued together as a family raising children. Patrick emphasized that he and his family are as flawed as any other family but that his sister,her husband and two children did not need to be raked over the coals by the press because they are related to a man running for governor. I say "Amen" to that. I say to the Herald I believe a great disservice was done in exposing Patrick sister's wounds. What does his sister being a victim of crime tell us about the candidate ~~~ only that the Patricks are like any other family . Shame on the Boston Herald !!!

Patrick emphasized his accomplishments and put into perspective the reasons behind the attack ads of the Healey campaign ... Nothing else to talk about. I still do not know why Healey is in the race for governor ??? I am quite disappointed that Kerry Healey believes that a Karl Rove style, low down dirty campaign, will work in Massachusetts.

Deval Patrick has a vision for the Commonwealth and I want some of that. I want to be part of putting Massachusetts right. If you do too, pull the Deval Patrick lever on November 7th.

TOGETHER WE CAN !

Superman Really Lived

2006-10-10T05:02:00.000-07:00

Hawk (J.D. Jackson)

Superman was real. He really lived and breathed. He actually walked and talked and dwelt among us, his own.

Yet, overwhelmingly, his own received him not. Instead, with all too few exceptions, his own used the deadly kryptonite-like trio of unbridled jealousy, greed, and white supremacy to vilify, ostracize, and even crucify him in the world court of public opinion. Collectively, they tried to bury him under a mountain of lies in a relentless attempt to white out the huge depth and extensive width of his mighty deeds and to silence forever his thunderous voice, which he consistently and courageously used to demand justice, freedom, and equality for all people on the earth.

But the monstrous devices that his enemies used against him and the fecal-filled mountain of relentless character, financial, and unsuccessful physical assassinations under which they tried to bury him completely proved to be almost totally unsuccessful. Muscular and broad-shouldered, barrel-chested and booming-voiced, this man, the real Superman, disarmed the devilish devices used against him and burst through the seemingly rock-solid mountain under which his foes tried to bury him. He did so virtually unscathed and definitely unafraid but more steel-willed than ever to stand firmly on, to live out fully, and fight even more vigorously for his life-long, globetrotting convictions in the pursuit and hopeful realization of the ideal that all men are brothers and should act and be treated that way.

And just who was this Superman? A native of earth not some distant planet, he could neither fly nor stop locomotives. He was neither bulletproof nor perfect. But history, most especially his granddaughter's book The Whole World in His Hand, provides a short list of his many, mighty deeds. The son of a former slave, he was a much-heralded college and professional football player and an all-around college athlete in basketball, baseball, and track; a brilliant academic student, who graduated Phi Beta Kappa and the valedictorian of his college class at Rutgers University; a graduate of Columbia Law School and practicing lawyer; an international star of the movie screen and theatrical stage, the recording studio (with records still selling) and the concert stage; a legendary orator; a musicologist; and a linguist, who studied, spoke, and wrote in more than (20) languages, including African languages and Russian, Chinese, and Arabic!

More importantly, however, this man of steel will, the real Superman, was an international hero to the world's oppressed. That was due primarily to his life-long involvement as an activist who traveled around the globe to give his unflinching support to the racially-, economically-, and politically-oppressed people worldwide. Most prominent among them were everyday laborers and those in progressive labor unions, those persecuted in fascist-leaning countries around the globe, the colonized people of Africa and Asia, and, of course, his own heavily-persecuted people, African Americans, in his own homeland, the United States of America.

As such, the real Superman used his singing and speaking voice, his written and his spoken words, and his huge physical presence and laser-sharp mental faculties to right the wrongs that he witnessed and believed blanketed the world. That meant that he also used his world-famous name to promote world peace and global unity and positive solutions to death-dealing crises around the world when all too many of his contemporaries remained silent and decades before many of today's singers, actors, and/or activists were even born or thought that raising their voice in protest was fashionable or profitable.

Faithfully following his convictions resulted in Superman, an associate, if not a friend, of many world leaders (Russia's Stalin, India's Nehru, China's Mao, and Africa's Jomo Kenyatta and Kwame Nkrumah, among others) and to such stellar 20th century personalities as the preeminent African American scholar-activist W. E. B. Du Bois and the world-renowned scientist Albert Einstein, a friend of over 20 years--paying a heavy cost both physically and financially. But it can truly be argued that, as he did in life, now, though dead, he honestly deserves the long-overdue, golden crown of honor and respect due him for living such a long-lived and meaningful life of self-sacrifice on behalf of his fellow human beings.

So, again, just who was this man, this real superhero, the real Superman? Surprisingly, he is a person who no movie studio seems to deem worthy enough of a blockbuster, big-screen movie. But, in short, he was a multi-talented, multi-genius and giant of a man, who strongly believed in talking straight and walking tall. No fair-weather friend to the oppressed, he was none other than the late but great, African American Paul Robeson, the real Superman.

This was featured in "The Black World Today"(www.tbwt.org). I thank the author for his permission republish it here in my blog. Excellent work,Hawk.

More Money Than Substance

2006-10-09T23:20:00.000-07:00

Kerry Healey the current Lt. Governor of Massachusetts is running negative ads about her opponent Deval Patrick that highlight his work as a lawyer. She states that as a lawyer, Patrick defended a "cop killer" and now that man is eligible for parole in Florida. The ad asks is that the kind of person we want for governor of our state. The answer is hell, yes!!!

Patrick was successful as a lawyer, at Harvard and at the Justice Department under President Clinton. I want a successful truly selfmade man to be the top executive of Massachusetts. We need statesmanship, leadership and someone with the life experience to scrap as hard as necessary to do a good job as Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Healey's negative ads decry a excellent advocate for the defense. Patrick's defense of an accused criminal resulted in a reduced sentence from execution to a sentence that allows the "cop killer" to be eligible for parole.

Yes, the crime was vicious and uncalled for but Deval Patrick defended the man under the laws of the state of Florida and the judicial practices of the United States. The American legal system is known and revered as the most fair and open and just legal system in the world. Our system is adversarial, prosecution against the defense. Our laws require every person accused of crimes to have council and the same quality of defense as the richest man or woman in our nation( fat chance of that "really" being the case). Patrick and his "cop killer"client went the through 'rough and tumble' the of Florida's courts and they prevailed. For this Deval Patrick is being battered and blamed with Healey's huge media buy( the commercial seems to be on all the time). Blamed for doing his job. Blamed for defending a man who killed a policeman. Blamed for honoring and participating in the judicial system of the United States that is a light unto the rest of the world.

Kerry really has nothing to show for her time in office so she must attack. Deval Patrick is holding fast to his promise not to go negative in responding to the terrible and low down attacks on him. When one really has nothing to say, Kerry Healey has turned ugly.

More Money than substance!!!!!

Unintended Outcomes

2006-10-08T18:45:00.000-07:00

JOYS
TRAUMAS
SADNESS
CONTENTEDNESS ( in short bursts)
ECSTASY
GLEE
GOOD FOOD ( lots of it )
TOGETHERNESS
LAUGHS
LOVE ( in abundance )
TEARS
TOUGHNESS
VACATIONS
VOCATIONS
EDUCATION
IGNORANCE
IMPATIENCE
KINDNESSES
UNKINDNESS
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> FAMILY LIFE

Lamb Shanks Moroccan Style

2006-10-07T04:57:00.000-07:00

I am trying something a little off my usual culinary path. I've got the Prince CD playing and I am off to North Africa in my humble kitchen. I've made leg of lamb in this style before(that was quite a while ago) so I hope the Moroccan cooking chops come back to me. I am using a recipe from the BBC food website ~~~~red wine, tomato puree,lots of garlic and my favorite spice, cumin as well as ground coriander. It is so different than the way lamb is usually prepared but the wine and tomato combination create a moist tasty, well seasoned lamb dish. The lamb is served with plenty of the sauce over couscous. Dear readers, I am not the best braiser but I shall soldier on in pursuit of strengthening my prowess in the preparation of Moroccan/North African cuisine. The spice/herbs combinations of Moroccan cooking are unusual but sensuous and well flavored but not hot.

As Jacque Pepin would say "here's to happy cooking".

Musings in the Morning

2006-10-04T06:01:00.000-07:00

Good debate last night. Everyone acquitted themselves well. I was particularly proud of Grace Ross who is an old friend of mine. All the candidates brought unique points of view. Healey was particularly strong although she appears to be running against herself as we have had Republican governors in Massachusetts for over a decade. Christy Mihos was energetic and managed to get quite a bit of information in with each of his answers. What a shame his family(sisters and brothers) are not supporting him and they let it be publicly known. The statesman-like quality of Deval Patrick let me know he'll be a wonderful governor; he pledged to work cooperatively with the powers on Beacon Hill for all of Massachusetts.

TOGETHER WE CAN!

Beleaguered Bush

2006-10-02T04:30:00.000-07:00

Enemies of the Bush administration said the Bushies were lying about why the US is at war in Iraq and about the civil war currently going on there. Democrats and a few others said DUMP Rumsfeld. Per Bob Woodward's new book, State of Denial, Andy Card, former white house Chief of Staff gave Mr. Bush the same advice, DUMP Rumsfeld. Andy Card may have been dumped because of this advice given or maybe, he just left the ship before it sank.

When enemies and trusted friends gave President Bush the same directive, come clean with the American public and clean house and start over with fresh minds, eyes and hearts to solve this mess, MORASS; Pres Dubba did not listen.

Can all these diverse voices be wrong? Here's hoping Bush will listen, even at this late date, to get America on the right path in Iraq and elsewhere ~~~~!!!!!!

Considering the Gubernatorial Race in Massachusetts

2006-10-01T20:36:00.000-07:00

Dear Readers,
I shall be discussing details of the election of the next governor of the Commonwealth.

First,the Republicans and Kerry Healey; I personally have no idea why Healey is running for office. I always saw Healey as a stunt pick for the Lt. Governor candidate that Mitt Romney commandeered when he threw Jane Swift under the bus. Healey was a hedge against the backlash that might occur over candidate's and the Republican party's horrible treatment of Governor Jane Swift ~~~'Mitt's got the money and will run Jane over with a tank if she attempted to oppose him in a bid for the corner office' was the position taken. Kerry is a follower not a leader; she has been a policy wonk for the Republicans and I believe being called up to the Lt. Governor's slot was as much a shock to her as it was to me and to other voters. She looked shellshocked to me and I thought maybe she felt shame for being a sop to women voters but was willing to take one for the team. I repeatedly said to myself and to others " Kerry who???". "Where did she come from and what political experience did she have", I asked myself. So I have no idea, none at all, why this person is running now. Mitt Romney did not accomplish anything as governor. Why would voters reward his assistant ?????

Republicans in the past and now have considered being governor of Massachusetts as a stop on the road to somewhere else. Weld left midterm when Jesse Helms put the thumbs down (blue card) on him and prevented him from being US ambassador to Mexico. His successor, Paul Cellucci left midterm when he wrangled a job as the US trade representative to Canada. Governor Jane Swift made national news when as the successor to Cellucci; she gave birth to twins while in office. Swift did not leave midterm but the public turned viciously against her for being a pregnant married woman while in office. Governor Willard " Mitt" Romney was aspiring to the 2008 presidential race attempting to best his dad who was a governor and a senator. I do not believe Mitt "good hair" Romney will make it on the broader national stage for president but who knows?

I've made up my mind to vote for Deval Patrick. He has a vision for Massachusetts that gives me hope. Just look a the Republicans' record and decide for yourself. The slogan for Deval Patrick says " Together we can" and I believe together we can make the Commonwealth a better place to live and a light for the nation.

What A Marvelous Day! ! ! !

2006-09-28T03:01:00.000-07:00

As I am sure you know: every day above ground is a good day. Yesterday was spectacular, I returned at the local museum as a docent-in-training and was warmly greeted by new docents and old docents. Hugged as many folks as I could and boy, did it feel wonderful . I can not say enough about how great it was to be back. My heart was warmed to the very inner cockles of my being.

The day continued to get better when I spoke to an old friend whom I had not spoken to in nearly twenty years. So very nice to renew old acquaintances; a very fine day indeed. The weather was glorious New England fall ~~~ beautiful blue skies, a few puffy, billowy clouds and that just right temperature.

The universe and the planets were truly in place for me ...

Tell the Truth and Stomp the Devil

2006-09-25T07:37:00.000-07:00

Well I am mystified and totally confused, saw Bill O'Reilly out flakking his new book which portrays himself and other right wing radicals like him as reasonable, "traditional" people ???????

I know this is a lot of question marks but this is how amazed I am to hear someone from the network that is the mouthpeice for the White House claiming to be unbiased and even critical of Bush.

Did I miss something? Have there been some radical changes made over at the Fox network ????

Bill Clinton was interviewed by Fox's Chris Wallace this weekend and he was asked a question which blamed him for the bin Laden debacle. Former President Clinton attacked Chris Wallace for that question and demanded to know if Wallace or anyone at the Fox network asked the President George W.Bush et al the same questions. He really took Chris Wallace to the wood shed and let him know he was tired of being blamed for Osama bin Laden not being captured over six years after Clinton left the top office and five years after 9/11/2001.

That's what it means to "tell the truth and stomp the devil".
Bill O'Reilly should try telling the plain unvarnished truth. Do "traditional , reasonable" men have to pay off female producers for sexual harrassment because she had the goods on him and would have gone public if Fox and Bill didn't pay her off ???????

Feel free to use the phrase:

TELL the TRUTH and STOMP the DEVIL

Season's End

2006-09-24T07:41:00.000-07:00

Last Day Of Summer

2006-09-23T04:24:00.000-07:00

I cannot fully express the joy of yesterday; a wonderful New England summer day. Awareness of the close of summer brought out fathers and sons, granddads pushing babies in strollers, mothers and sons riding bikes ~~~everyone was out enjoying the last hurrah before fall starts.

Cool nights and warm days of blue skies with a few billowy, cotton candy, white clouds; I basked in yesterday's glory. I read my mail in the gazebo in a patch of sunlight. Hmmm hmmm, the season went out with a bang.

Marvelous!

A Lie is A Lie is A Lie

2006-09-21T04:14:00.000-07:00

Hello Dear Readers,

I just do not not get the Bush administration. Do Bush, Cheney, Rumsfield and Alberto Gonzales( the yes-Yes man) know what a lie is or more importantly do they not know that American citizens definitely DO know what a lie is? A Canadian citizen deported to Syria and held there and tortured(called the program by Mr. Bush) for ten months was mistakenly placed on the terrorist watch list by his government and deported (RENDITION) by our government. Canada set the ball rolling with its error ... Syrian born, Mahar Arrars, must be a terrorist because he's vacationing in Tunisia ...And the US kept it going by not checking the Canadians assertions and then deporting/renditioning the man to Syria. They say its not the US"s fault although the CIA or FBI did not notify Canada before Arrars was sent at 3:00 am on a plane to Jordan and then driven to Syria ~~~ THIS IS A LIE !!!! Canada was not notified till October about a action taken in late September.

what happened to the coalition of the of the willing and the American security service's communications to foreign security services ? ? ? ? ?
In regards to Canada they admit their mistake, their part in this matter and are asking for a candid and truthful admission to our part? ? ? ?

sounds fair and necessary to keep the support of US allies with us and to maintain the coalition of the willing in America's first strike policy.

A LIE is A LIE Is >>> is a LIE.

Brigade Crossing the Bridge

2006-09-19T09:10:00.000-07:00

Please vote for Deval Patrick in today's primary election; the polls close at 8 pm. Be part of the Patrick brigade crossing the bridge to victory. We need your help to make Massachusetts a true
c-o-m -m -o-n-w-e- a-l- t-h
for all citizens.

Together we can!

Crossing the Bridge to Victory

2006-09-18T05:36:00.000-07:00

Well, here we are, one day (pre-primary) before you get to exercise your privilege as an American to vote for the candidate of your choice. You are the bridge Deval Patrick must cross to succeed. I like being a plank in the bridge of Democracy. I feel to be fully a citizen ...voting is not only my privilege but also my duty. Please get out and vote >>>>>

Be a plank in the Bridge of Democracy. Vote for Deval Patrick!!!

Together we can!

Patrick is Primary for the Commonwealth

2006-09-15T06:31:00.000-07:00

i feel we need a new and true direction for Massachusetts. the Romney/Healy team fought Matt Amorelo like dragonslayers and now their man at the Turnpike Authority is over there cutting perks.
a woman is slain in the Big Dig tunnel by faulty engineering and the Republican answer is to save money for taxpayers: I THINK NOT !!!!!!!

this taxpayer is looking for some answers like commitment and dedication to this enormous engineering behemoth not just rotating the personnel.

this taxpayer is looking for the whys and wherefores of this tragedy.

this taxpayer wants to hear daily updates about the Bechtel, Modern Construction, and other contractors for their failures on the Big Dig as they sucked the entire American public dry with their large fees for shoddy, substandard work.

this taxpayer is looking for hope for the future of the Commonwealth.

i believe i have found it in the candidacy of Deval Patrick. i have confidence that he can ride the unicorn that is government service.
Why do I call it the unicorn??? because government ... city, state and federal is an unique animal that must be understood and conquered by our next governor and all elected officials.

A mighty GAP needs to be filled. Deval Patrick has convinced me he is the tamer of the unicorn, the right person to put our state back on top. He has been a public servant before and understands the primary function of all government is to serve and care for citizens in many varied ways.
join me Tuesday at your local polling place Pull the lever for Deval Patrick for governor.

Together we can!

Deval Patrick Signs of Hope

2006-09-14T19:23:00.000-07:00

I have become involved with the Deval Patrick for governor campaign. So dear readers, you'll be hearing about him from me quite a bit. "Tighten up your seat belts, folks!!! You're in for a bumpy ride" as stated by Betty Davis.

Here in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for me politics is a blood sport. I love it and believed wholeheartedly in Tom Reilly. I believe that governing is a very unique space. Americans have bought this spin that business success equals governing success. REILLY HAS SHOWN HIMSELF to be inept at being the Commonwealth's leader through the missteps of his campaign. So I looked elsewhere and I found Deval Patrick ~~~my Signs of Hope.

Patrick's retail politics impressed me even before I began to review him as a possible choice for my vote. I looked at Gabrielli and I listened a bit to Mihos and Grace Ross.
Deval Patrick's earnestness, willingness, to go door to door asking citizens for their votes and his platform to return Massachusetts to its former glory and beyond sold ME.

Vote in Tuesday's primary election. Vote your choice. I will be voting for and supporting Deval Patrick. I believe he will bring optimism back and translate his ideas to governing and more important real statesmanship from Beacon Hill.

Thanks for reading
Billi

Blessed Be I am BLESSED

2006-09-14T09:38:00.000-07:00

Boston is known as the Hub; to many it is the Athens of America because of the large number of colleges and

universities located here. Harvard, MIT, Simmons (my alma mater), Wellesley, Northeastern, Boston College

and Boston University just to name a few. I remember a salty joke told by one of my favorite professors that

describes Maine as the Hub with Boston and all the rest of New England as its constellations.

I am a constellation. My Hub is my family and friends, acquaintances and professionals whom I encounter who are all deeply religious believers and devoted people who are my blessings. I am magnificently BLESSED by their prescence and prayers for me. I am aware of the God of my father and mother, sisters and brother, uncles and aunts and cousins, friends and acquaintances.

There is not a luckier girl in the world than me nor a more grateful woman than me for the intercessation of the prayers of my circle. That is how I am also a Hub ~~~ the superb folks who are surrounding me with love and prayers and good intentions in their various denominations and religions are connected to each other for through me.

wOwie I am a H U B !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Blessings to you and yours today and always

Fifth Time Around

2006-09-12T02:15:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was harder for me than previous anniversaries of 9 / 11 / 2001. S0 many many many emotions:

Sadness

Wonder

Anger

Beauty

Respect

Surprise

and most of all access to these emotions. I was very numb and shocked at what I watched on that morning's live newscasts. A glorious, crystal blue skies, September day now known as September 11th. I had to shut down and compartmentalize my stuff to handle the Terror against the US(us). The day was carefully, creatively and respectfully observed by so many people in groups, formally or informally. I saw a beautiful mixture of expressions that reflected the good parts of America.

I am sending the white light to banish even a small tiny piece of the somber grief felt yesterday and many many days since 9 / 1 1/ 2001.

Pesto and Paintings

2006-09-11T09:11:00.001-07:00

I made pesto last week with local basil from the Natick farmer's market. I did not use any cheese, not Parmesan nor pecorino ...Does it still qualify as pesto?
My cooking Goddess, Julia Child, always emphasized to "your own tastes" so to me is pesto.

To me, cooking is an art form as much as a sonnet, sculpture or even, a huge installation at a modern art museum ~~~ and you get to eat it. The combination of good ingredients , artfully combined to make something pleasing to the eye as well as the palate; well, "you just can't beat that even with a stick"as my Mama says.

I can never understand it when people boast loudly and over and over "I don't cook". If you do not cook fine , its not your interest or strength, okay. I consider cooking my privilege to do and share with my friends, neighbors and others. Challenge cooking is really my forte' , to see if I can prepare something spectacular from unusual or unexpected ingredients. Some friends, you know who you are, ask "what did you substitute in this recipe ? ". I am a Julia Child devotee and I was well trained via her television cooking programs that the true gourmet comes from doing what you want with classical French technique. I am NOT a food snob.

I love it all different cultures, all techniques and all the people who introduce me to their milieu or inspire me to in a new foodwise direction.

Never Forgetting and Remembering Nine Eleven

2006-09-10T14:54:00.000-07:00

Let us never forget the loss, the hole in the hearts of all Americans from our common tragedies. The attacks on the Pentagon and the Twin Towers and the stopped cold attempt that ended near Shanksville, Pennsylvania have wounded all of us.

The attacks gave us a few moments of true Unity as a nation, society and a republic.

Never forget the damage ... the hole in your heart/soul and the wounds to all the countries who have grieved our losses. Always remember the suffering of other societies, peoples and nations as they have held the United States in their hearts, minds, souls and permanent memorials.

All pain is the same .. we ALL bleed RED. Let's never forget nine eleven 2001 but always remember our fellows around the WORLD as they bleed with us and for us.

Peace be with you and especially with every person who lost a sister, brother, mother or father or friends
at all the now sacred GROUND ZeroS

God Bless America

Make it so ...

Yeah Yeah Yeah!!!

2006-09-09T16:19:00.000-07:00

Hello all
I have been a little bit under the weather for the last few days but I am really sick to death of the the Bush crowd and their election season hollow scare tactics of the "War on Terror".
Many things done in the name of the people of the United States on the Bush watch are the sorts of actions that will create a horde of terrorists so LARGE that no amount of first strike doctrines, planting democracies in the Middle East and Arabia and constructive engagement in Asia
will be able to Conquer.

Do you hear me,

as GOD is my witness this terror tactic is hooey

(legitimate threats do
exist),

if the American public buys this "load"

...WE get the government we deserve !!!!!!!!!!!

What Does This Say About America

2006-09-07T05:54:00.000-07:00

What does it say about America when:

President Bush was granted the presidency by the US Supreme Court;the only man in America's history to be installed even though Al Gore,his opponent, won the popular/ numerical (more votes than Bush)vote
No far reaching ,dig down deep investigation was done to find out what went wrong with the country's elections processes
What went wrong in Florida and other irregular ballot/election stuff in Ohio and New Mexico???
Mitt Romney(Mass governor) and George W. Bush are working out their stuff about their legacies, being bigger and more successful than their fathers. (Go to therapy do not work this out on the American political stage!!!!)
When the public airwaves are stolen by greedy major corporations and we do not protest allowing private use of our airwaves without any obligation to us,the citizens
Only blonde young women who face tradgies are covered by our major media (Jon-Bennet,Natalie Holloway, Nicole Simpson, Molly Bish and the Utah abductee, Miss Smart)
You must at least, be white to be well reported on in this country, Land of the Free and Home of the Brave; Lacy Peterson was well covered but a Latino woman killed exactly the same way found in the same bay, pregnant, barely a whisper
Mark Furman,former LA detective and certified racist who refused trial prep by the black attorney, Chris Darden(prosecutor) has become a celebrated author and bon vivant to movie stars and media star friends

What does this SAY about America

of the people

for the people

by the people ?????????

Homemade vs Homestyle

2006-09-05T22:40:00.000-07:00

Abuse is currently taking place in our commercial foods system. When I visit my local supermarket there are many foods especially in the prepared foods area things are marked "HOMEMADE"

Well Well whose home is it made in???????

Eating at my local favorite(Italian) restaurant ,many times dishes are marked homemade. I can understand this a little better. But how far does my local place have to go to call an entree "HOMEMADE" ??????? Pasta made on the premises, okay I can see that; but the term "Homestyle" seems more appropriate. If you live above the store as many families who have a food business do, then it is truly "homemade".

Food made in the home is a gift of love and caring and sustenance made by the cooks in our families. Let's respect and appreciate it. Demand that products made in room sized vats at factories are labeled "homestyle".

Homemade is what your mama, daddy or granny make and serve to you at home!!! Rare and rarer these days ...

Rainy Day in New England

2006-09-03T13:17:00.000-07:00

Rainy and Blue so Here is Some Color
for You

Billi

Intellectual Pursuits Creating Erotik Responses

2006-09-02T19:30:00.000-07:00

Bring
EVERYTHING
EVERYDAY
EVERYTIME

Fish and Grits Getting It Right

2006-09-02T08:28:00.000-07:00

In my tender years, my mother used to make her vision of this dish on Sunday mornings. She would bake a whole red snapper in the oven with onions, bell pepper, celery and tomatoes or tomato sauce until aromatic and flaky; it was then served over grits or rice. A truly delicious meal and a memory maker (obviously,I'm writing about meals served in the sixties). Love on a plate.

I next encountered this dish in the Bahamas influenced city of Miami, Florida ( in my twenties).
Delicious, savory and prepared with the magic ingredient,dried thyme. This bahamian version used fish heads sounds iffy but trust me very, very delicious. And it was all cooked in one pot the fish and the grits. This is my definitive version because I was a young woman trying her hand in my OWN kitchen. Today when I make fish and grits, I use Bernetta Hanna's recipe with salmon fish heads from my local supermarket. I gourmet it up just a little bit but is really close to Miss Bernetta's.

Whatever is served in Boston at The Brothers restaurant in Mattapan , a Boston neighborhood, is NOT fish and grits to my understanding. It's just not what I expected to be served after trekking over 25 miles to eat The Brothers much talked about and praised "fish and grits". By the way The Brothers are siblings not "brothas"; a Greek family serving a mostly Black clientele.
They have been featured on the Today show and their food is good. A generous serving of fried haddock and a generous amount of grits is not my fish and grits.

Maybe its a regional 'thang' ...

The Unicorn ~ Town, City, State and Federal Government

2006-08-30T11:47:00.000-07:00

We, Citizens of the United States, get the Governors, Mayors Senators and other public officials we deserve. Look at Governor Arnold Shwarzanegger who never was even a dog catcher; now the head of the state of California because the voters were pissed at Gov. Gray Davis. An economy that size being managed by an over -the -hill former actor!!??!! The obscure California law for getting corrupt lawmakers recalled was used as a dirty political trick to elect the guy who paid for the recall vote. Arnold was the choice of the people
I trust and respect the will of the electorate ~~~ this the land of the people,
for the people and by the people We get the government we deserve!!

Norman Laliberte' ~ Fun Stuff Art

2006-08-29T08:52:00.000-07:00

Today I am looking over a large postcard for the Laliberte' 2004 show and reception at the

Danforth Musuem of Art( Framingham,MA). This guy is just having big fun creating his pieces.

There are humorous little nuggets throughout the pieces in this show. Norman uses acrylic on

canvas and found objects. For me this just great because I love anything that is multi media.

Multimedia reminds me of Miss Patton, my elementary school art teacher, who so good at

getting her students to make art from "found" materials.

Laliberte's drawings look simple and sophisticated at the same time
The paintings always had his initials or name somewhere in the piece ...loved that!
the found objects were everyday things and some more obscure things
Colors he used made each painting whole ~ combining the painted part with the dominoes or copper bits or wooden letters or electrical boxes attached

I can't put up a painting from that show here; but I can tell you the name of Norman Laliberte's painting used for the postcard:

love has its own language

Look him up find the beauty and the humor. He made my heart smile and kids love the work, even going so far as to touch it (of course, that is not allowed). What a pleasure to see children connecting so strongly to Laliberte's work.

Good News and Bad News

2006-08-28T16:31:00.000-07:00

I am so grateful to have recently connected with some childhood friends. So sweet and delectable are the memories made with the friends of my youth.

I am also thankful for the Daily Kos, a wonderful site, that tells us what governments, the international corporate world and powerful "Think Tanks" (that advise them ) DO NOT WANT YOU TO KNOW.

yeah yeah yeah I hear friends and others saying "I don't like politics"

Most people want deal with messy/nasty politics and issues as little as possible

By design the politicos want to turn off as many voters as possible

Smaller numbers of citizens/voters to manage during campaigns,referendums and all other civic matters is their Goal

You may not like politics but nearly every decision you make economically, socially, educationally sometimes even spiritually is being controlled, swayed or recorded by the political/corporate/talking heads complex.

So you may not like the hurlyburly/attack ads/ mind numbing details of "politics" ...that's good news for the powers that be

They've got you/us exactly where they want you!!!!!!!!!!

Bad News:

Boston Red Sox's David "Big Papi" Ortiz is at Massachusetts General Hospital for an irregular heart beat. I am no baseball fan but I am a "Big Papi" fan

'Holler'

Pundit for the People

Oh Happy Day

2006-08-25T06:47:00.000-07:00

I am very happy today. A sister and I have reconnected in a special way ... a stronger sisterhood. I have three sisters. Also several sisterfriends who have been pivotal in my life:

Sisters

Lisa
Renee'
Jamie

Sisterfriends

Norma
Angela
Linda
Nadine
Vivian
Marsha
Shirley
Arlene
Roseline

Thanks for your love,support and constancy.

My Reaction to Juan Williams on Bill Cosby

2006-08-22T03:19:00.000-07:00

This is from my "new" favorite newspaper,The Washington Post. Juan Williams writes :
"famous basketball players, rap artists, drug dealers and the idea that women are at their best when flaunting their sexuality and having babies.

In Washington, where a crime wave is tied to these troubled young souls, the city reacts with a curfew. It is a band-aid. The real question is how one does battle with the culture of failure that is poisoning young people -- and do so without incurring the wrath of critics who say we are closing our eyes to existing racial injustice and are "blaming the victim."

Recently Bill Cosby has once again run up against these critics. In 2004, on the 50th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education decision, Cosby took on that culture of failure in a speech that was a true successor to W.E.B. DuBois's 1903 declaration that breaking the color line of segregation would be the main historical challenge for 20th-century America. In a nation where it is getting tougher and tougher to afford a house, health insurance and a college education -- in other words, to attain solid middle-class status -- Cosby decried the excuses for opting out of the competition altogether.

Cosby said that the quarter of black Americans still living in poverty are failing to hold up their end of a deal with history when they don't take advantage of the opportunities created by the Supreme Court's Brown decision and the sacrifices of civil rights leaders from Martin Luther King Jr. to Thurgood Marshall and Malcolm X. Those leaders in the 1950s and '60s opened doors by winning passage of the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act and fair housing laws. Their triumphs led to the nationwide rise in black political power on school boards and in city halls and Congress.

Taken as a whole, that era of stunning breakthroughs set the stage for black people, disproportionately poor and ill-educated because of a history of slavery and segregation, to reach new heights -- freed from the weight of government-sanctioned segregation. It also created a national model of social activism to advance the rights of women, Hispanics, gays and others.

Cosby asked the chilling question: "What good is Brown " and all the victories of the civil rights era if nobody wants them? A generation after those major civil rights victories, black America is experiencing alarming dropout rates, shocking numbers of children born to single mothers and a frightening acceptance of criminal behavior that has too many black people filling up the jails. Where is the focus on taking advantage of new opportunities to advance and to close the racial gap in educational and economic achievement?

Incredibly, Cosby's critics don't see the desperate need to pull a generational fire alarm to warn people about a culture of failure that is sabotaging any chance for black people in poverty to move up and help their children reach the security of economic and educational achievement. Not one mainstream civil rights group picked up on his call for marches and protests against bad parenting, drug dealers, hate-filled rap music and failing schools.

Where is the civil rights groundswell on behalf of stronger marriages that will allow more children to grow up in two-parent families and have a better chance of staying out of poverty? Where are the marches demanding good schools for those children -- and the strong cultural reinforcement for high academic achievement (instead of the charge that minority students who get good grades are "acting white")? Where are the exhortations for children to reject the self-defeating stereotypes that reduce black people to violent, oversexed "gangstas," minstrel show comedians and mindless athletes?

In order to face this century's class battles, young minds need the self-confidence that comes from examples of inspiring historical personalities, such as a black woman born into slavery who made herself a national leader, Sojourner Truth, or a black man living under rank segregation, A. Philip Randolph, who defied corporate power to break segregation in organized labor. Frederick Douglass had to teach himself how to read before standing up to defeat slavery. These examples should empower young people to believe in themselves and to organize across racial lines and build institutions with a solid footing in the nation's political and economic power. This is real black culture, and it is based on strong families creating determined, self-reliant young people.
The defining challenge for this generation of Americans dealing with poverty is putting the next generation in a position to move even higher. Individuals must now use the opportunities made available to them by the sacrifices of past generations if they are to achieve victory in America's long and still unfinished civil rights movement."

Juan Williams is a senior correspondent for National Public Radio, a political analyst for Fox News and author of "Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Years, 1954-1965."

I feel this an inside the house/tent conversation that every group, race and clan has among themselves. As my friend, Roseline wisely says often:

"If the house don't sell you, the street can't buy you."

Brother Juan let's take this back on home ~ me, you, Michael Eric Dyson and Dr.William Cosby

... let's not give others the log to bash our heads in!!!!

Peace,
Make it so.

Morocco Sunrise

2006-08-22T00:44:00.000-07:00

this is a painting created on my computer. when I started it I did not know where or how I would reach this place. I just put down what was in my heart , soul and mind. the title comes from another painting that evoked Morocco ( lost in a system crash). my art teacher, a genteel woman of a certain age, whom I greatly admire said I needed a process. studying with Caroline showed me how abstract expressionists work from a realistic painting over stages till they got to abstract paintings, often seen but little understood. I have no process just doing what feels good to me; so here it is for your consideration. like it or don't like it ~ it is how I felt on the day I created it.

Simple Beauty

2006-08-08T09:13:00.000-07:00

This photo is so exquisite I had to share.
Who knew that a blossom could be so sensuous?

Marvelous + Delightful + Accessible to ALL

E N J O Y

Viva Gremolata!!!

2006-08-02T14:38:00.000-07:00

Today was a day to stay in the house and make cool foods:

Chopped 3lbs of onions in the food processor for the freezer
Made gremolata (garlic, lemon, parsley and lemon peel ) ..didn't like the bite
Whipped up American chop suey with (threw in a few beans)
I just have to adjust all recipes to my taste substituted ~ ground turkey for the usual beef
Today's secret ingredient ~unsweetened cocoa powder in the chop suey
Broccoli corn muffins ... "yummy"
Homemade Cole slaw with a pinch of a jalapeno pepper for col0r and zing
Peach ice tea

Made a large quantity so there's enough for more than one meal and packed up a quart for my sister and nephew

yes!!yes!! I got my cook on today. CHOW DOWN!!!

Open Letter to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

2006-07-30T01:31:00.000-07:00

Dear Martin,

Every third Monday in January history compels us to remember and reactivate your legacy.
How shall we honor you? And how shall we honor our deepest and truest selves? Nearly four decades have passed since you left your legacy to us, and what a momentous legacy it was. Yours was the vision of a transformed nation, a society that dared to practice the very brotherhood - and sisterhood - that it preached. In a time of tremendous social upheaval you joined the freedom-loving and justice-seeking tradition of your people, black people, and you did so at great personal cost. Using nonviolent direct action, you challenged the existing status quo. In the presence of your enemies - citizen's councils, police dogs, fire hoses, bigoted mobs, half-hearted allies, Christian racists, the FBI - you practiced an insurgent religious faith. You modeled for others the commitment to racial justice and reconciling peace. With your very body and life you led us into the magnificent, multi-colored and multi-ethnic quest of justice, peace and human community. Sore distressed, we the people, have yet to catch up to your radically inclusive vision.

For African Americans, the cumulative effect of the last forty years has been as disturbing as it is dramatic. In the new millennium, our elusive and torturous quest for freedom and equality continues. The full repercussions of radical democracy in the United States are not yet known. The vast majority of whites see themselves as non-racist and live comfortably with little or no real contact with other racial-ethnic people. Oblivious to the obvious (and sometimes the not so obvious), the connection between white privilege and black rage is discounted, resisted, denied. In our houses of worship, in the ivory tower, in the corporate boardroom, in the halls of government, in popular culture and mass media, in states red, purple and blue, in old and new formations, racism lives on.

In the U.S., racial exclusion is still second nature. Racism is who we are. It is our way of life. Sadly, many black people now have difficulty seeing their connections to other black people. We have embraced societal distinctions that separate us by age, education, gender, sexuality and class. We have forgotten the example set by so many courageous souls a generation ago. Mose Wright, Daisy Bates, Jo Ann Robinson, E.D. Dixon, Ella Baker, Bob Moses, Diane Nash, Fannie Lou Hamer, Septima Clark, John Lewis and Bayard Rustin were part of that magnificent movement of blackness that emerged, broke beyond itself, widened the circle of humanity, and called forth women, children and men of all colors and conditions. The painful truth is that we now often violate and oppress our own in the name of religion.

Always, at the center of the heart of the historic black-led struggle for freedom was the black religious experience. Black self-love was upheld as a divine imperative. Local black churches became ecumenical networks of nurture and resistance. At those beleaguered places of our most urgent human need common ground often could be sought and found in the church. But not always. Movement women like Ella Baker, organizer of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, found themselves at odds with the sexism and sexual misconduct of male ministers. An out gay man like Bayard Rustin, architect of the 1963 March on Washington, was feared as a potential threat to the advancement of the race.

Today, in the imperfectly desegregated post-civil rights era, religiously inspired leadership continues to perpetuate a cruel sexual ethic, and in stark violation of their own best sacred inheritance. That black women continue to be relegated to secondary status and lesbians and gays are made to feel unwelcome, unworthy, and uncomfortable in what should be the most caring, compassionate and empowering of communions is a searing indictment against all the black faithful. Martin, like you, we are sometimes uncertain in our leadership. The dominant views on sex, sexuality and gender in the Black Church are undermining community, diminishing the faith and leading many to abandon churches out of sheer moral frustration and exhaustion. Our churches have been slow to embrace gender equality. They have largely spoken only opposition and condemnation to same gender loving people and have been unable to proclaim a sexually liberating and redemptive word. Some black churches have concluded it is in their best institutional interest to participate in "special rights" polemics against this so-called "immoral humanity."

As black clergy we offer here a more hope-filled perspective. In the spirit of Jesus of Nazareth, we the undersigned clergy extend the divine invitation of human wholeness, healing and affirmation to "whosoever" (John 3:16). In the best of the Black Church tradition we say, "Whosoever will, let her or him come." Who is included in this "whosoever?" The "whosoever" of today are the diseased and the dis-eased, the discomforted and the distressed, those who live on the margins of the marginalized, who are the oppressed of the oppressed, the sexually battered and the abused, the homeless and the bereft, the HIV/AIDS infected, who are the young and old, female and male, lesbian and bisexual, transgender and straight. These are they, the children of God. They are our sisters and brothers and partners and friends. They belong to all of us. And they are very much we ourselves.

As Black Christian religious leaders what more shall we do? We must help to forge a progressive agenda for the black community in which race, gender, class, age and sexuality are kept in active dialogue with one another. We must engage one another, prophetically demand more of one another, and prepare to suffer, cry, and toil with each other when it comes to matters of racial and sexual justice, economic and political empowerment, to waging peace. We must be courageous in confronting the social conditions that divide; elitism, poverty, militarism and more await our deepest response. We must continue to look to the ancestors and to Jesus, "the author and finisher of our faith." We must dedicate ourselves to a world where borders can be crossed and a new consensus can be found, where we call our own community beloved and celebrate black people, one unique person at a time. Martin, on your day we vow to take a stand to love all black people. We vow to accept and to honor all regardless of their gender, class, age, or sexuality for we all are the children of God. The power is in our hands. This is where we must go from here.

Respectfully,

"An Open Letter to Martin"Signers (organizations for identification purposes only)

Rev. Ayanna Abi-KylesProgram of Black Church Studies, Candler School of Theology, Emory UniversityShrine of the Black Madonna, Atlanta, GA

Rev. Margaret Aymer, Ph.D.Assistant Professor of New Testament
The Interdenominational Theological Center, Atlanta, GA

Randall C. Bailey
Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Hebrew Bible
Interdenominational Theological Center

Daniel Black (Omotosho Jojomani),
Ph.D.Professor of English/African American Studies
Clark Atlanta University

Rev. Edward B. Branch, D.MinCatholic Chaplain
Atlanta University Center

Rev. Michael Joseph Brown, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of New Testament and Christian Origins
Emory University

Dr. Lawrence Edward Carter, Sr.Dean of the Martin Luther King, Jr. International Chapel
Morehouse College

The Reverend Da Vita Carter McCallister,Staff Associate,
First Congregational Church UCC

Rev. Michelle Holmes Chaney
Program CoordinatorInterfaith Health Program
Emory University

William T Chaney Jr.
Senior PartnerChaney and Associates, LLC

Rev. Jawanza (Eric) Clark
Pan African Orthodox Christian Church-Shrines of the Black Madonna
Pastor Will Coleman, Ph.D.Theologian and Kabbalist
Co-director, Black Kabbalah Institute
Sybil Corbin, M.Div.

Rev. T. Renee Crutcher
Spiritual and Creative DirectorSankofa Ministries & Tellin' Our Story Publishing, Inc.

Rev. McClain Dyson
New Bethel A.M.E. ChurchLithonia, GA

Dr. Teresa Fry Brown
Associate Professor of HomileticsCandler School of Theology, Emory University

Minister Ronald W Galvin, Jr.
Community Organizer
Atlanta, Georgia

Rev. Willie F. Goodman, Jr., Th.D.
Black Pastoral Theologian

Reverend Vivian Green

Rev. Dr. Maisha I. Handy
Assistant Professor of Christian Education Interdenominational Theological Center
First Iconium Baptist Church

Rev. Renee K. Harrison
Emory University, Ph.D. candidateDepartment of Religion

Rev. Wallace S. Hartsfield, II, Pastor
First Mount Pleasant Baptist Church

Dorinda Henry, MTS

David Anderson HookerMin.
BaSean Jackson (ssc)Ph.D Student at Emory University
Rev. Shonda R. Jones
Clergy, United Methodist Church
Assistant Dean of Admissions and Financial AidCandler School of Theology
Emory University

Emmanuel Y. Lartey, Ph.D.Professor of Pastoral Theology, Care and CounselingCandler School of Theology,Emory University.
Pastor, Ghana Interdenominational Church, Atlanta.

Rev. Portia Wills Lee
Trinity African Baptist Church
592 Veterans Memorial Highway
Mableton, GA. 30126

Stephen Lewis
Program Coordinator, Pastoral Leadership Search Effort (PLSE)The Fund for Theological Education

Reverend Dr. Mark A. Lomax, PastorFirst African Presbyterian Church
Assistant Professor of Homiletics Interdenominational Theological Center

Herbert R. Marbury, University Chaplain
Assistant Professor of Religion
Clark Atlanta University

Rev. Timothy McDonald, III
Pastor, First Iconium Baptist Church

Rev. Veronice Miles
Minister of Christian Education, Greater Bethany Baptist Church
Graduate Student, Emory University Graduate Division of Religion

Reverend Susan C. Mitchell
Co-Pastor Sankofa United Church of

. Deborah F. Mullen, Ph.D.

Reverend A. Nevell Owens

Rev. Chauncey R. Newsome
Assistant Pastor
First Iconium Baptist Church

Rev. Jeanette Pinkston
Associate Pastor
Saint Philip AME Church, Atlanta, GA

Alton B. Pollard, III, Ph.D.
Director, Program of Black Church Studies andAssociate Professor of Religion and Culture
Candler School of Theology
Emory University

Reverend Derrick L. Rice
Co-Pastor Sankofa United Church of Christ

Rev. Fert Richardson
Pastor
Suwanee Parish United Methodist Church

Rev. Marcia Y. Riggs, Ph.D.
J. Erskine Love Professor of Christian Ethics
Columbia Theological Seminary

Rev. Aaron Naeem
Robinson

Rosetta E. Ross, Chair
Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Spelman College.

Rev. Melva L. Sampson
Project Manager
Sisters Chapel WISDOM Center
Spelman College

Rev. Roslyn M. Satchel, Esq.
Executive DirectorNational Center for Human Rights Education

Rev. Dr. Teresa E. SnortonCME
MinisterCo-Chair, First African Community Development Corporation

Dr. Dianne Stewart, Departments of Religion and African American Studies
Emory University

Dr. Lewis T. Tait, Jr.,Senior Pastor, Imani Christian Center

The Rev. Dr. Eugene Turner
RetiredPresbyterian Church USA
Minister
President of the Board of Johnson C. Smith Theological Seminary,Atlanta, GA

Rev. Lamont Anthony Wells
Senior Pastor, Lutheran Church of the Atonement
President, Southeastern Synod Black Pastors Conference

Min. Michael J. Wright

Gayraud S. Wilmore
Emeritus Prof. African American Church History
Interdenominational Theological Center, Atlanta

Reverend Bridgette D. Young
Associate Dean of the Chapel and Religious LifeEmory University

http://www.us.net/epf

EQUAL PARTNERS in FAITH is a multi-racial national network of religious leaders and people of faith committed to equality and diversity. Our diverse faith traditions and shared religious values lead us to affirm and defend the equality of all people, regardless of religion, race, ability, gender, sexual orientation or gender identity. As people of faith, we actively oppose the manipulation of religion to promote inequality and exclusion. Join us and help us promote a more inclusive vision of religion and society.

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Phone: 877-501-4194
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Web: www.us.net/epf

Little Girl at Carnival

2006-07-27T20:37:00.000-07:00

I wonder what she's thinking?? She is here because here I found this photo intriguing :

not happy ~ not sad
age 5 - 7
early spring morning or breezy fall afternoon
just a pretty little girl
does she respond to Catlyn, Bianca or Imani
a still moment in the hubbub of a carnival

Thanks to Gerla for permission to use the photo.

I'd love hear your thoughts.

What's It All About Billi

2006-07-27T05:00:00.000-07:00

As I journey into the blogosphere, I been reading about bloggers in the Washington Post :

"More than half of bloggers are younger than 30, and a majority use their blogs as a mode of creative expression, the survey found. Money-making possibilities motivate only 15 percent of bloggers, and most blog on a variety of topics, with 11 percent focusing on politics.
They are also less likely to be white than the general Internet-using population, and more than half live in suburban areas, according to Pew.
"The motivation comes from within; it tends to be very personal. They're not out to change the world."

Nightline (ABC) covered Markos Moulitsa Zuniga, the uber-blogger who publishes Daily Kos. Its a great blog and influences the nation politically and earns a good living for Kos. Something to aspire to, maybe. He raises money for politicians and is out to make sure liberal is no longer a dirty word. I love that! Kos is the bane of Connecticut Senator Lieberman reelection campaign. I really love that! ! ! Keep holding his feet to the fire! Kos is also generous to fellow bloggers threading their blogs into the Daily Kos as he sees fit. An enormous help in upping visits to other blogs. Just so many ideas that need to be said in the public square. Love it!

I wanted to blog because there were so many things I wanted to say:

Iraq is IN A CIVIL WAR NOW

Bush" lied LIED lied" about why the US was going to war in Iraq not confused ,not misled the American public .. LIED

Mitt Romney's first name is Willard and he did not even use it during his swearing in ceremony as governor; I distrust him because of that

The Faith Based Initiatives office is payola for the Christian right base of the GOP

The Civil Rights division of the Justice department is systematically removing core personnel who have a traditional view of these issues replaced with staff who never ever in their lives believed there was a lack of civil rights for some groups of America

Celebrity news is the opium for the masses to keep our minds off serious issues so the world corporate power structure can do anything it wants

Birmingham at Dusk

2006-07-26T13:52:00.000-07:00

All my artworks and perhaps, those of other painters too, are snapshots of my feelings or my impressions of a place, person or event. My favorite comment about my art is :
" I wish to be hung"( no double entrendre) on the walls of offices, residences and galleries. I have sold very little of my greeting cards, paintings or prints. I will try to change that this fall by participating in a local Art on the Common show/sale.

"I am sensitive about my sh t."
Erika Badu

Send the white light for me and remember these humble strivings in your prayers and meditations.

Peace
Make it so ...

Murder In Boston and Philadelphia

2006-07-24T17:00:00.000-07:00

Today I am in shock and grief, Anna Perry,a 20 year old Boston woman lighting a candle for her slain brother was murdered on the same day and same exact spot, four years later. How does her mother handle a loss like that? Will Smith was in Philadelphia this weekend marching for peace to highlight the more the 220 murders that have been committed in that city. Philly is on target to a 300+ murder rate for 2006. Boston's murder rate surged upward in January with four kids working in an in-home studio being killed by one of their friends. The parents felt a recording studio in their home was a positive pasttime for their son and his buddies; the studio's sound proofing prevented them from hearing the sound of the bullets. Have the mild winters of late not cooled our brains enough. Do we have to kill each other????

The Art of the Conjurer is Lost

2006-07-21T06:35:00.000-07:00

The ancients, magicians, witch doctors, prophets, movie/television stars even philosophers never let us see their process. Effective because we did not know how we were healed, enlightened or entertained. The behind the scenes specials, probes and reveals have destroyed the magic. Poof!!! Its all gone.

We now know :

David Letterman, Martha Stewart, and Ellen Degeneris' mothers intimately

The interior contours of Katie Couric's colon

Rush Limbaugh takes viagra to his boys only weekends in the Dominic Republic

Tony Blair's lawyer wife (the first Lady of Britain) has a mob "tinged"financial advisor

In 1994 Prince Charles wanted to be a ' tampon who lived inside Camilla's trousers'

Ryan Seacreast and Oprah and her best friend,Gayle are not gay

The list of facts that you would rather not know is surely different than mine. Mystery is powerful, intriguing and sexy .

Why?? Why?? Why??

2006-07-20T13:14:00.000-07:00

I just can not wrap my mind around it ...why did Good Morning America(GMA) have the pornographer who sued Michael Jackson on their air today ...

He's a sleazy porn guy
The lawsuit came to a draw
GMA and the pornographer are trading on Jackson's fame because the paltry story would not have been covered otherwise
Its tasteless

...Why did the NAACP repeatedly invite George Bush to speak at their convention

As Maya Angelou says"when someone tells you who they are, believe them"
When an invitation is turned down over and over ,that means 'Hell No'
Now 5 1/2 years later Bush wants "unity" between the GOP and African Americans
Being dissed repeatedly; the warmest possible offer to join the Republican Party

...why is Barry Bonds the only baseball player referenced or seriously investigated in the steroid scandal

Take a look at Mark McGuire his photo is under steroids in the dictionary
Jason Giambi admitted to steroid use but is rarely discussed
I think the sporting public's desire for results at all costs puts some of the blame for all this steroid use on us

Glad I got this stuff off my chest!

My Mama is Sick

2006-07-17T08:37:00.000-07:00

Today my mama is being released from the hospital after an emergency room visit and an overnight stay. The heat is brutal in the entire country and I hope the doctor is making a good decision. So send the white light, prayers and well wishes that Miss Hannah gets better soon. She is in good spirits and I am taking her a watermelon.
My family finds summer fruit soothing

Big Dig Tunnel Collapse Is A Many Headed Snake

2006-07-14T12:43:00.000-07:00

Getting rid of Matt Amorello will not kill the beast! The problem is we have no visionary, public or private like the iconoclasts who shepherded the Golden Gate bridge, the Hoover Dam and the Panama Canal into being.

Bechtel Parsons is one head of the snake;Mass Continental (major contractor in the collapsed area), the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority and the Governors are other heads of the snake. A piece needs to taken out of all of' them. We are lacking a civic Knight devoted to the Big Dig to bring the citizens,Government and the private firms building the project into accord. We are missing consistent leadership and devotion that made other projects worldclass accomplishments.

The Cradle of Democracy

2006-07-13T07:12:00.000-07:00

Wow!! The land of Jesus, Mohammed and Abraham is on fire. Two warfronts for Israel and the fledgling new government of Iraq is going swell. I have no idea of how to solve this but I can see how the"shock and awe" push to Baghdad has just cooled the region right down. The Palestinians did have a legitimate election; expressed the will of the people but the Israelis, Americans and rest of the international community will not accept the results.

Starting to BLOG

2006-07-12T06:19:00.000-07:00

Hey !!! I started a blog. Will I be a faithful poster?!?
My family and friends have said I needed one for years
... they were just tired of listening to me