The Orlando Mass Shooting

The lull from mass shooting deaths did not last long.  Six months after the San Bernardino incident, Orlando joined the list of communities where mass shootings have taken place.  This time the targeted location was a nightclub which catered to the gay community.  It was a place where people went to enjoy themselves free from judging eyes or comments.  As of this writing, 49 lives were taken with others in critical condition.

The Republican presidential candidate was being interviewed via phone this morning on a national news show.  When asked if he still did not favor a ban on assault rifles, the candidate said "people need those weapons to defend themselves."  He stated that bad guys had the weapons so the good guys needed access to them too.  I pulled up the list of mass shootings via the internet.  In all cases there was no mention of any of the victims fighting back with their own AR-15 to defend themselves from the shooter.  The shooter in the Orlando murders used an AR-15 which has come to be the mass murderer's weapon of choice.  Allegedly there are over 3 million AR-15s in circulation in the United States.  Never has the AR-15 come to the defense of those being shot at in these mass murders.

The logic that people need assault weapons to defend themselves doesn't seem to be supportable with instances where a person having an assault weapon with them saved lives.  People purchasing a personal AR-15 as a family defense weapon shows how much faith people have in the police to protect and serve.  Three million AR-15s in circulation sounds like it's every man and woman for himself.  It's an admission that the police can't protect you from harm, so look out for yourself.

Congress obviously isn't going to come to the rescue and pass legislation outlawing assault rifles.  It would take an assault on the Capitol building itself or the families of Congressman by terrorists before that happened.  Will it be necessary for businesses to place armed personnel outside venues with their own AR-15 or other assault weapon to keep future mass murderers away?  Will screening to enter a public event require creating a safety zone which can only be entered after you are prescreened a block away from an entry point to an event?

I noticed a difference in the response by the presidential candidates when asked what needs to be done to stop these acts of violence.  The republican nominee stated that President Obama should make certain remarks against muslim extremists or resign.  The democratic nominee first offered condolences to the families of those involved, then gave some thoughtful remarks on what steps should be taken.  The republican nominee did not offer condolences and barely acknowledged the grief the families of the victims must be going through.

Since the authorities are doing nothing, it falls onto each of us to look out for ourselves.  If you go to an event make note of the security at the event.  Before you go in, ask yourself if the security is enough to stop someone with an assault rifle?  Even before buying a ticket to an event start inquiring as to what will be done to protect your safety at the event?  If the answer is not adequate don't purchase a ticket.  As with most everything, businesses will not take action to upgrade security unless they are economically impacted by a major loss of business.

If it comes down to tracking every individual who has purchased an assault weapon then let's do it.  What should an individual who has an AR-15 or other type of assault weapon fear from having to be tracked?  I would like to know which of my neighbors has one, wouldn't you?

The government has chosen to not get involved in policing who has what weapons.  So we are left to our own means to protect ourselves.  Most of these mass shootings have occurred at public locations not at private homes.  It doesn't do any good for Mr. or Mrs. Homeowner to purchase an assault weapon when their is no evidence that acts of terrorism are aimed at individual homes and families.  Do we have to attend the Super Bowl, the Olympics or a comparable event before the security of those attending is ramped up to a level where an individual can feel safe?

Lastly, for those purchasing assault weapons, tell us whom you really fear?  Are you anticipating some type of social upheaval by the poor, the disenfranchised, the homeless, the hungry, or certain other groups of people?

Ali Did It!

He did it.  In Louisville, Kentucky Muhammad Ali brought us all together.  At his memorial ceremony were people of different races, religious beliefs, and political parties.  Women, men, children.  All gathered together to pay homage to a man who really was the people's champ.

I ventured to Louisville twice this week. Departing my home around 4 a.m. on Wednesday I made the two hour journey to stand in line with many others to pick up my allotment of 4 of the 14,000 free tickets Ali had made available to the public for the Friday memorial service.  My early arrival resulted in my being able to receive my allotment of 4 seats.

As I expected after all the tickets were handed out in about 1 hour, a few people attempted to sell their tickets for money.  Journalists were quick to pick up on the story including one from the Louisville Courier.  I responded to that journalists and offered to work with him to give at no costs two of my tickets to someone deserving of attendance at the service.  I waited.  No response from the journalist. So I sent him another email.  This time he responded saying he had been busy and not able to respond to my message.  He then said he would not be able to assist in identifying any one in particular I could connect with to give them my tickets.  I thought "typical journalist.  Quick to write a negative story, but too busy to do the work to bring a happy ending to a negative situation."

Myself and a friend departed for Louisville around 4 a.m.  Friday morning to park downtown in a prime parking spot I had found Wednesday.  Instead of going to the remote free parking area identified for those attending the ceremony, I wanted to be be able to walk to the funeral procession and the ceremony. That plan worked out well.  The environment around the KFC Yum Center even in the early morning was amazing to see.  News correspondents and various networks had camera crews in position to report on the event.

After having breakfast we walked to an area where we could watch the Ali funeral procession as it made Ali's last tour through Louisville.  I met several people from Great Britain who had made the trip across the Atlantic Ocean to pay respects to Ali.  While awaiting the procession to arrive I met a gentleman from Iowa.  I also took part in a conversation with a black physician who with his wife, a former Federal employee, had driven into town for the funeral procession.  I still had the two extra tickets to the memorial ceremony in my pocket.  I had told my friend earlier that I wanted us to give them to someone who didn't have tickets to the ceremony.  I offered the tickets to the physician.  He was surprised of course and when he told his wife she was brought to tears.  So much for needing the assistance of a member of the press to do a good deed.

The funeral procession arrived shortly thereafter.  It seemed to glide quietly off the interstate off ramp down onto the street level where a large crowd had gathered.  The crowd surged towards the street starting a chant of "Ali, Ali, Ali".  I noticed the diversity of people in the crowd.  Ali had brought us all together were my thoughts.  For a moment in time we had something in common.

At the memorial ceremony the theme of Ali uniting us together continued.  The diversity of speakers talking about Ali was noticeable.  Native Americans, a Republican Senator, members of various religious faiths all together sharing the same stage.  Muslim greetings and prayers being sent over the networks covering the event, from an arena in the United States of America.  This was the best of what America in it's present form could be.  A peaceful gathering of the variety of people in this world who had come together for a common purpose.  Ali did it.

Tear Down The Walls

Tear Down The Walls

Their currently is a climate in these United States of America for building more barriers and walls between people.  As if we didn’t  already have enough man made, legal, social, religious, and other types of barriers. That includes the building of physical and emotional walls.  One candidate for the office of President of the United States advocates building of a wall along the border between the United States and Mexico.  In thinking of the history of the development of the United States one thinks of what would have happened if Native Americans had constructed a wall along the Atlantic shoreline to keep settlers out?

When history does not favor those in authority, history is ignored, overlooked or even changed to rationalize past behaviors.  I still think of those families now well off economically in this country who have ancestors who may have taken advantage of Native Americans and/or who owned slaves in this country.  Do those families talk about that part of their family’s history?  Is that history discussed at family reunions?  On occasion the government of the United States has apologized for various incidents where the government authorized or contributed to mistreatment of people.  Our government needs to once and for all purge itself of past incidents it never truly have disavowed.  The annihilation of the Native American culture was a Hitleristic type act.  In this country we have all types of museums but is there a museum celebrating and remembering the Native Americans and what they contributed to the land currently known as the United States of America?

There are many who support the Presidential candidate who wants to put up physical walls to keep people out of the United States.  They know from the experiences of Native Americans that giving people from outside the country an opportunity to improve their lives may take away opportunity and resources from those people already here.  The descendants of those European-Americans do not want to be in the situation that Native Americans were in.

The world has long been a globe consisting of borders, lines drawn on maps to separate us into our appropriate quadrants.  Countries, cities, towns, states.  We have taken what God gave us and due to our human faults developed a system where little is shared.  We need our individual “stuff”.  We refuse to take actions that can bring us closer together.  We often find it hard to just disagree and compromise on issues that we cannot agree on.  We hide behind our labels, “conservative”, “liberal”, “socialist”.  Democrat, Republican, Independent.  “Majority rules” is seen as some perfect method of resolving issues.  If more than half of a group favors one direction on an issue, somehow that is the correct choice?  History has shown that is not always the case.  The only thing majority rules proves is that we firmly believe the principle regardless of how faulty it is. If something is a foundation of your belief, you really don’t want to look at it with skepticism and doubt.

The time seems appropriate to start moving towards actions and decisions that bind us more together.  Continued belief in a system where there is a “loser” or a group of people are pushed to the side does nothing for us as a collective.  Conflicts continue, wars continue.  Isn’t it time for another approach?

Memories of Muhammad Ali

My earliest memories of Muhammad Ali are that of he and ABC network sportscaster Howard Cosell engaged in "verbal" boxing during interviews.  Ali was articulate, self confident and normally wearing a suit and tie during the interviews.  I was about 10 years old and Ali had just begun his legal battle with the government by refusing to report for induction into the Army during the period of the Vietnam War.  It was a bold and courageous action on his part.  His beliefs as a Muslim were not consistent with joining the Army to be trained to kill people he had no arguments with.  Ali at that time was in his prime as a boxer.  He would go on to lose 3 years out of his career because he was banned from boxing because of his refusal to report for induction.

During those years of the late 1960's and early 1970's Ali was one of the public role models black youth had in the United States.  He spoke his mind and always tried to present himself as a professional.  As a 13 year old in California I recall all the hype leading to his fight with Joe Frazier.  Everyone was talking about the event.  Ali lost the fight but didn't lose his appeal.  He continued his career and eventually reclaimed the title from George Foreman.

While in college I recall his losing to the young upstart, Leon Spinks, and then returning to defeat Spinks months later.  I only recall seeing Ali in person once, that being as he walked into an event at Black Expo with his entourage in Indianapolis one summer.  When I think of Ali, I think of courage, class, athleticism, and humor.  Yes, his health may have suffered from his occupation of boxing.  But, he gave his all and did not keep social and legal barriers from blocking him from achieving his goals.

74 years of greatness.  Now the legend continues.

Roots: The Second Take. A Black Man's Opinion

Tonight, a remake of the "Roots" mini series makes it's way to the television screen.  I recall watching the original version as a college sophomore in the 1970's while attending a college where European- Americans were the majority.  Seeing a visual depiction of the main character, Kunta Kinte, being taken away from his life, family, and traditions in Africa was an emotional experience to view on television.  Visually seeing a depiction of how Africans were forcefully brought to the land of Native Americans (now called the United States of America) and forced into slavery was something I had never imagined.  The mistreatment and abuse of Africans by European-Americans who were supposedly civilized and intelligent is difficult to understand or comprehend.  What race of  moral civil people would condone slavery as a viable means of promoting progress?  What kind of people would then move on to annihilate an entire civilization of Native Americans?

After viewing the original "Roots" some 40 years ago, my viewpoints and attitudes towards European -Americans was not improved.  Instead I wondered if "they" had left us alone who knows what the future would have been for many Africans and their families?  But, life is made up of many "what ifs?"  We all have to deal with the reality that events occur because they are destined to happen.  Not everything in life has a happy ending.

As this remake of Roots occurs, I am personally stalled in trying to document my family history.  With the help of others, I've been able to track descendants back to 1814.  Those being my great-great grandparents who were slaves in Tennessee when the Emancipation Proclamation was issued. United States Census records helped me to track who they were enslaved to prior to the Proclamation.  I understand that it would take some extraordinary research to be able to track my African descendants prior to 1814.  That documentation of the selling of people as property may have been lost or documentation not kept.

As with many African American families, there appears to have been some interaction in my family line between European-Americans and Africans brought to the "United States".  My guess at this point was that it was an interaction forcefully done to my great grandmother's part of the family connection as she was categorized as being a mulatto.  A mulatto was defined as someone who had one parent who was African and one who was European-American.  I wonder if European-Americans discuss  at their family reunions those events when their European-American descendants raped African women brought into slavery?

In my opinion most of my family members do not care about the family tree or our heritage.  They are product of a society and surrounding culture that does not want us to think about or dwell on the facts of our family history.  Our "American" culture does not want us to think about the major immoral and selfish actions which has lead many to declare that the United States is the greatest country in the world.  Those making such "greatest country" statements need to pause and consider just how the United States moved into such a position.

As I read books about the early Presidents of the United States, I am struck by how unjustly and immorally each President dealt with the issue of slavery and how European immigrants to this continent dealt with the Native Americans who already lived here.  It is not a part of the American story that is proudly discussed when someone says the United States is the greatest country in the world.  I would challenge any one to honestly make that statement if they review the facts of how the government dealt with Native Americans and the institution of slavery.  For African-Americans the promise of the Emancipation Proclamation and Reconstruction did not last long as the selfish side of European Americans quickly returned to ensure European-American dominance in the United States.

The timing of the remake of Roots is interesting.  Of course I believe this generation of African Americans hasn't been exposed to the full story of our history.  But, I also believe the media and entertainment industry attempts to keep us in a mode of "slavery topics only" mode when it comes to telling the experiences of African Americans.  I hope film makers and others with the finances to make movies back more stories of the development and experiences of African Americans since the Emancipation Proclamation.  Those are the stories I would like to see depicted on television or movies.  Especially those that define how African Americans overcame social, cultural, racial and economic barriers to become successful.

I don't want to see more stories about slavery, black athletes and black entertainers.  Yes, their stories are important.  But, the African-American experience is not limited to tales of slavery, athletes and entertainers.  So tonight we will be shown a recycled story of our days in slavery and a small part of life after slavery.  It's something, but for me it will be, "yeah I already saw this.  Show me the story of the African American experience that we haven't seen."

Choices - Mentoring Our Youth

Choices.  That will be the topic of discussion during the upcoming months I will spend mentoring a group of Indiana Public School boys in the 5th through 8th grades.  The program, under the auspices of the 100 Black Men of Indianapolis will start back up this Fall even as this year's cycle concludes. After being a mentor for 4 years I've worked in the background the past 3 years.  I've helped out performing the administrative support and grunt work needed to support the mentors who spend time in the classroom with the students.  Now it's time for me to return as an active mentor to share my experiences and knowledge with the youth who want to improve.

The program does what it can to reach as many as students as possible.  It's not a perfect program, but it beats doing nothing to help mold today's youth into leading a positive life.  I have four months of preparation ahead of me.  My goal is to share, teach, and inspire.  Share my experiences and how good and bad choices shaped my life.  Share the critical decisions made by several family members and how those decisions shaped and impacted their lives.  Teach what others either taught me or what I learned through trial and error.  Inspire others to move along the appropriate path to accomplish their dreams.

As I prepare it gives ample time to reflect on my journey.  One event I will share with my students happened when I was 10 years old.  I shared a bedroom in what must have been an 8 x 10 sized room with my older two brothers.  Each of us had a plain bed with no headboard.  It was just a metal frame bed with a thin mattress on it.  It may have been a slight upgrade to the kind of beds prisoners sleep on in jails.  The beds were set against 3 of the 4 walls in the room. We shared a 4 drawer dresser.  There was no television in the room.  No tables, no radio, no games.  Three beds and a dresser.  The only light was the ceiling light.

I recall sleeping in my bed with several size D batteries beneath my pillow.  The reason?  At night rats would come out and gnaw on the wooden dresser. The gnawing sound was of course annoying when you're trying to sleep late at night. To stop the rats from making the gnawing sound I would throw one of the size D batteries against the dresser.  The noise would stop for awhile.  Then it would start up again. My response was to fling another battery at the bottom of the dresser.  From prior nights I had learned to have an adequate supply of batteries stashed under my pillow in case my rat nemesis didn't scare off easily.

I think of those days now and realize that those events served as inspiration and motivation for me.  I was motivated to find a way where as an adult my living condition would be better.  It inspired me to realize that two of the avenues for a black youngster to aspire to success at that time were closed to me.  First, I did not possess great athletic skills for a career in sports.  Secondly I did not have a great singing voice to become an entertainer.  During the 1960s when I was growing up, it was the heyday of Motown in the music industry.  But I knew that Berry Gordy would not be signing me to a recording deal.

I will share with my mentees that I came to the realization that education was my ticket to a better life in my future.  That's the choice I made.  I hope to have my mentees pause and look at their life, then be motivated and inspired to seek education as their path.

I want to show my students that my decision to follow the education path has resulted in my now leading a comfortable life as a retiree.  The background of my students will be similar. African American or Hispanic boys from low income families.  Hopefully some will be from two parent families.  The majority will qualify for free lunches.  That itself will dictate that the mentoring program will need to either be during student's lunch period or on the weekend where food can be served.  One thing the current program learned is that an after school mentoring program without a component to feed the students is a losing battle when the student is hungry.

Choices. It's important to show our youth that they can control their destiny.  They need guidance and the attention of others to help them move their lives forward.  If you have some free time consider getting involved by becoming a mentor in your community.

Re Post - Senators From Indiana Respond to Supreme Court Vacancy Issue

This is a repost.   Technical issues resulted in some paragraphs not being seen.

In addition to my blog on the Senate avoiding taking action on President Obama's Supreme Court nominee, I sent a letter to each of my Senators. Senator Dan Coats (Republican) and Joe Donnelly (Democrat).  Both responded with well crafted form letters created by members of their staff.

Senator Coats who himself is lame duck Senator, provided the standard Republican party line response.  Senator Coats said:

"With the President and Congress divided on which direction to take our country, I believe the best course of action is to let the people decide.  The next President, with input from voters in the November election,should fill the current Supreme court vacancy."

Well if he really feels that way, I suggest Senator Coats resign now as he is not serving the state of Indiana by avoiding action on an issue of importance.  Senator Coats goes on to say:

"One of the most important responsibilities of a United States senator is to provide this input on judicial nominees.  "I take seriously my responsibilities to determine the best way to offer my "advice and consent" regarding lifetime appointments to our nation's highest court.

Senator Coats believes that doing nothing nothing is his way of providing input.  And he takes doing nothing seriously. as he should for being paid $174.000 a year for that honor.

Senator Donnelly's response was only a  tad better.  Donnelly said he would carefully review the nominees qualifications.  But he is doing nothing to ensure the process moves forward.

The U.S. Constitution is being interpreted as saying "advice and consent" as meaning no action need be taken.  So maybe I'll explore the idea that I don't need to pay anymore  Federal taxes until a new President is elected?