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

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

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

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

Welcome to 2008

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!!!

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

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

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 ????

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

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

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.