Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. Ephesians 6: 10-11

Ok so I’m not having a bad day, just one of those days where things are not working out like I would like them to. The stars are not aligned so to speak. I felt myself becoming overwhelmed in the nonsense and I decided to be late to my next meeting and write this message. It’s not a real meeting more like us going over stuff we already know, so they can miss me for 10 minutes so I can get my head right. Put on the full armor of God, I dig it, because the Lord will protect us. Right now as I type these words and today’s dramas are stressing me two things come to mind. 1. It could be way worst, trust me I know. 2. I think about the experience i had last night with my students and I am excited about what I will be able to teach them.

Stress is the devil’s best friend. It makes your blood pressure rise, you become irritated. You start worrying. While in church the Pastor said if you’re going to pray, don’t worry. If you’re going to worry, don’t pray. Great words on Sunday morning but everyday it is a struggle to remember the good that you have been taught to make it practical. So today even though I would like to blow my lid a little bit and I might just end up doing that. I am thankful that I can take a few seconds out of my day and remember that I have been taught a better way. That I do have options and that if I allow the Lord to strengthen me , then there’s no fuzzy wuzzy obstacle that I can’t overcome. FUZZY WUZZY, you liked that didn’t you, well it made me smile. Peace and Grace be unto you!

No matter how the long the winter, the spring is sure to follow.

Come, my children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD. Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days, Psalms 34:11-12

This is officially the latest Pardon me message in the history of messages. I had the longest day ever and I was constantly on the go so I had no time to write. Around 4pm I was like this is ridiculous, am I ever going to get a chance to write today I thought to myself. Then I thought about where I was going and I realized that something that would happen later on in the day would inspire this message. And what more than our children and their beautiful, innocent faces teach us about inspiration and the hope of great things to come.

I will be teaching these 32 students for the next 5 weeks and if tonight was any indication of what my summer will look like then I can expect an engaging life changing experience. I immediately thought of finding a scripture that deals with our children for they represent our futures. And hopefully the wisdom we have gained over the years can help guide them on the right path and away from some of the mistakes we have made. There were a variety of students there from various backgrounds but as I reflect; no matter who each of us pray to, God brought us together. He brought me to teach them something, and from their youthfulness he wants me to gain something from them. I am more than willing and more than ready; hopefully we all as God’s children will learn the lesson from above and see many good days. Peace and Grace be unto you!

No life ever grows great until it is focused, dedicated, and disciplined.

June 15, 2008 — Anheuser-Busch gave him six figures, Colgate-Palmolive shelled out $50,000 and Macy’s and Pfizer have contributed thousands to the Rev. Al Sharpton’s charity.

Almost 50 companies - including PepsiCo, General Motors, Wal-Mart, FedEx, Continental Airlines, Johnson & Johnson and Chase - and some labor unions sponsored Sharpton’s National Action Network annual conference in April.

Terrified of negative publicity, fearful of a consumer boycott or eager to make nice with the civil-rights activist, CEOs write checks, critics say, to NAN and Sharpton - who brandishes the buying power of African-American consumers. In some cases, they hire him as a consultant.

The cash flows even as the US Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn has been conducting a grand-jury investigation of NAN’s finances.

A General Motors spokesman told The Post that NAN had repeatedly - and unsuccessfully - asked for contributions for six years, beginning in August 2000.

Then, in December 2006, Sharpton threatened to call a boycott of the carmaker over the closing of an African-American-owned GM dealership in The Bronx, and he picketed outside GM headquarters on Fifth Avenue.

Last year, General Motors gave NAN a $5,000 donation. It gave $5,000 more this year, a spokesman said, calling NAN a “worthy” organization.

In November 2003, Sharpton picketed DaimlerChrysler’s Chicago car show and threatened a boycott over alleged racial bias in car loans.

“This is institutional racism,” he bellowed.

In May 2004, Chrysler began supporting NAN’s conferences, which include panels on corporate responsibility and civil rights and a black-tie awards dinner to honor Martin Luther King Jr. Last year, Sharpton gave Chrysler an award for corporate excellence.

In 2003, Sharpton targeted American Honda for not hiring enough African-Americans in management.

“We support those that support us,” wrote Sharpton and the Rev. Horace Sheffield III, president of NAN’s Michigan chapter, in a letter to American Honda. “We cannot be silent while African-Americans spend hard-earned dollars with a company that does not hire, promote or do business with us in a statistically significant manner.”

Two months after American Honda execs met with Sharpton, the carmaker began to sponsor NAN’s events - and continues to pay “a modest amount” each year, a spokesman said.

Courtesy of the NY Post

http://www.nypost.com/seven/06152008/news/regionalnews/rev__al_soaks_up_boycott_bucks_115554.htm

I will say then that I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races - that I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of making voters or jurors of Negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people; and I will say in addition to this that there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality. And in as much as they cannot so live, while they do remain together there must be the position of superior and inferior, and I as much as any other man am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race.– Abraham Lincoln 1858

I remember sitting at my cramped desk at Deauville Gardens Elementary School more than 15 years ago. I was no more than 10 years old but I remember learning of “THE GREAT EMANCIPATOR” Abraham Lincoln. It was taught that Lincoln freed the slaves and being a young black child I should be forever grateful because if it were not for his actions many of my people would still be in chains. Those formidable years of education were filled with large fabrications. A growing amount of Americans never make it to college and thus are forced to mull around the lies and propaganda that our history books sell us, between them and these false history channels we are inundated with the winners version of history which can often be extremely flawed.

For years if you asked me who was my favorite President I would proudly state that Abraham Lincoln was the greatest President that ever lived. I was taught that he liberated blacks out of the chains and physical captivity of chattel slavery in these United States of America, that this man saw blacks as his equals and valiantly battled racist southerners and their disturbing opinions of people of color in this country and drove us to freedom. However as I read his quote above, it seems that Abraham Lincoln was quite the opposite, quite the racist, and very much an oppressor of people of color. He believed that people of color were inferior to whites, why was this quote omitted from my education, why is history painted in such a viciously false manner?

In law school the question to every answer is “maybe”. The teachers say maybe because there are always multiple different ways of looking at things thus giving us various outcomes, nothing is absolute. Did Abraham Lincoln free the slaves? Maybe!

As I look at several photos taken by up and coming Photographer Young District, who has a great eye for capturing the feeling of a moment. While shooting in the Abraham Lincoln Projects on 132nd and Madison in Harlem he manages to capture this historical relationship between people of color and Lincoln. A picture is worth a thousand words and when I look at this series so much comes to mind.

Look at how the sculptor chose to dress the young black man. Lincoln is fully dressed, bow tie included while the young man wears torn clothes with no shoes. He is visibly supposed to be portraying an enslaved young man, dressed in rags praising Lincoln and his fully suited self. The young boy is looking up to Lincoln, admiring him for his courage, his oh so noble character. The young man is forever in debt to Abraham Lincoln for without Lincoln this boy would still be a slave. Now he’s become a new slave, a slave to a warped view of history.

Look at Lincoln, his face is emotionless, in fact he stares past the young man, not even making eye contact with him. Lincoln is comparable to the Santa Clause who sits in our shopping malls during the holidays, it’s just a job and he really could care less about the wishes that the young man whispers to him because he has no intention of making those dreams come true. But that’s just it! Young District has captured the real intention of Lincoln. He’s looking past blacks but using them as a tool to preserve the Union, to preserve the United States of America. And where does this statute sit, it sits right in the heart of a housing development which is the home to many people of color.

Everyday there’s a kid just like me who walks by this statute and is proud. Proud that in a country who bears the dirty stain of slavery, that there was one man who defied the odds. One man who fought to make sure that blacks and whites were equal. The above quote is not found in history books, it’s not found near this statute. However it is found in the emotionless expression on Lincoln’s face. It’s found in the archives of his speeches that let us know that he had no intention on freeing the slaves. In fact Lincoln is quoted as saying “If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that.”

Another deleted quote from the legacy of Lincoln, another example of how we were used as pawns and firepower to defeat the Confederate States of America. Nowhere in this quote is this Great Emancipator championing our rights, speaking out against the destructive and oppressive system of racial inequality, yet he gets this great title in our history. He is known as one of the leaders of the Abolitionist movement, yet he did not believe in our abilities, intellect or right to be treated as his equals. So did Lincoln free the slaves, why of course he did, the Emancipation Proclamation and 13th Amendment tells us so. However, it was a mere accident. Thanks to Young District for allowing his lens to capture one of Lincoln’s greatest misnomers, that he actually cared.

More trash from the same exhibit! Nas said “I have a song called the ‘Fear.’ The full title of the record is ‘The Fear of the Black Man’s Dick.’ That’s some shit you can get comedy [from], or you can get some seriousness from it when you talk about the barbaric castrations that happened in our past … which is very serious, nothing to laugh at,” Nas explains.

Here we have more fear of the black man’s dick, more stereotypes, and an attempt at a political castration. Look at the title’s near what is supposed to be Barack’s anatomy. Once you Go Barack, clearly taken from the phrase “once you go black you never go back”. This gentleman was being creative and utilizing a play on terms representing how many feel that Barack is reaching a new audience. He is making Barack’s campaign comparable to the myth of large black penises. Simply that; a myth! Rather than looking at the wide amount of people that Obama is able to transcend. I know people who are die hard Republicans and they may very well cross party lines this November to vote for Barack because they inspired by his message of change and his sound judgment.

One thing this election process will be sure to show you is the little truck yard minds of many Americans. Stereotypes and biases will never have been so prevalent, code words and racial tensions will continue to be mounted by the ignorant.

It is sad how the bitter fight between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton has divided the Democratic Party. Now here we have a Pledged delegate for Hillary Clinton who has publicly stated that she will vote for John McCain. Thankfully the Democrats have kicked her to the curb, sending a strong message “if you’re not here to unite the party GET TO STEPPIN’ (martin lawrence voice)

For more on this story check here:

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=762052

Dear children, let us stop just saying we love each other; let us really show it by our actions. It is by our actions that we know we are living in truth, so we will be confident when we stand before the Lord, even if our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. I John 3: 18-20
Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is born of God and knows God. I John 4: 7-8
Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love has been brought to full expression through us.
I John 4: 11-12

Good morning, I hope you enjoyed your weekend, I definitely did! My weekend was great and what made it so great was that I was surrounded by love, family, friends and a roller coaster or two lol. I started writing this message in my head last night as I was riding home and I was reflecting on the events that happened over the weekend. It’s way to much to put into this short message but the basis of my happiness came from the love that I shared with my people and the reciprocity of that love by them sharing it not only with me but with everyone around. This morning the word is talking about love, how we must love one another, how that loves speaks volumes to the God within us and how this is what our Creator wants for us.

Yesterday my main man O said the pulpit is not necessarily in the church, it is wherever one or more gather and speak the word of God. I had to reflect on that statement and I started to think of how I had been ministered to throughout the day and did not even recognize it. Ma Greer hit me with some jewels, Heist hit me with some jewels throughout the day and at that moment these people were expressing love for me and allowing the divinity within them to shine through them and to light my life. When we love one another, when we will good things into each others lives we are fulfilling what God had planned for us. That we would live in harmony, caring for one another, helping one another move through life to reach even higher plateaus. I woke up this morning thankful that the Lord has blessed me with people who allow me to love and love me back. Peace and Grace be unto you!

A Stacks, my brother you know I could not forget you, Happy Born day!. Ayinde - meaning we gave praises and he came. Bless you brother and your family you are definitely a blessing. 1

I will, I will, I will, I’LL WORK FOR LOVE FOR ALL MY LIFE!

so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3: 17-19

Ok, Im coming to you live from the Fordham Law Atrium, there are a lot of boring conversations going on around me so bare with me. I’ll be in court all day so I am writing this message at 9:14am but I am sure it will not get to you until after 12pm. Maybe even 1, they are actually calling me now boooo! Ok I’m back, had to find a starbucks while on this quick break. But I am glad I was interrupted because shortly after I stopped writing I got a text from a close friend who is in the hospital. He is dealing with high blood pressure and kidney failure. A young man might I add and at that moment this scripture made a little bit more sense to me. I ask that we all keep him in our prayers.

I told him that by allowing Jesus to dwell in our hearts though our faith we are strengthening our belief, we are strengthening the legacy which he has shown us. I am not sure if I am even wording my thoughts clearly but what I was trying to convey is that by us believing in our hearts through our faith that Christ will pull him through we are strengthening the legacy of Christ, strengthening our belief in the spirit and allowing the Lord to know that we know that he will prevail. The scripture say that our love for Christ, for our Savior surpasses knowledge and allows us to be filled to the measure of all of the fullness of God. I just took it like through my belief and my faith, that God has better days for me and loves me as I love him, I will peak! I will reach my destiny, our dreams and prayers will be granted because of our faithfulness. No matter what a person is dealing with, we can find comfort in two things. One is that we have God and he will never leave us and secondly we have friends and family who engulf us with love even when we reject it. And it is through these two types of love that we conquer our fears, accept our dreams and prosper. I gotta go back to court. Peace and Grace be unto you!

If the glove does not fit, you must acquit!

There is a time for everything, a season for every activity under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. Ecclesiastes 3: 1-3

I told you I would revisit this scripture because I feel it is so rich with knowledge and understanding if only we allow the wisdom to be applicable in our lives. As I was riding the train this morning it was raining, the beautiful blue skies had turned a stark grey. Mentally I prepared for the gloom, in the Western world some tend to de-value the rain and associate it with sadness. However, it’s funny that in other cultures the rain is honored, it is seen as a blessing from the Supreme Being. So all this thinking about the weather made me think of the storm of life and brought me back to this very scripture.

There is time to plant and a time to harvest. We can’t plant all of the seeds that we want into our lives but without the rain they will not grow, our harvest will not flourish. The rain in your life is the same way, it is vital for your growth and continued living. You ever see someone you love wet with rain on their face, with their smile you are reminded of life and growth. Whether the rain is a golden yellow with the light from the sun or that dark grey from the clouds it is still serving a purpose in your life at that moment. Allow yourself to be immersed in the rain, cherish the experience because it is only making you stronger and more beautiful. I think of the storms that I have seen in life, I walked out of every storm a better man. A step closer to the man that God wanted to me be. We are his crops, and without the rain that he showers into our lives we cannot grow and be the full blessing that he wants us to be. Peace and Grace be unto you!

Patience can cook a stone.

Dear Dad,
I wanted to start by congratulating you on your 49th year on this planet and to praise you for the positive impact that you have had on the multitudes of people that you have come in contact with. I hope that you know that your selfless giving and undying efforts to teach and be of assistance does not go unnoticed. Even though we have had our rough and trying times, I am glad that at the end of the day that we can depend on each other. I know that we both see life through completely different lenses. However, I am very appreciative of the effort that you make to help me to see the bigger picture from all perspectives. I am aware that in the society we live in, raising a king is not easy by any stretch of the imagination but I am proud to see that you continuously remain a steady, constant presence in my life. We have both witnessed the consequences of young black males in the inner city that have practically raised themselves due to a lack of a fatherly influence or strong male role model. I am extremely happy that you took the time out to help mold me into the man that I am today. I may not be everything that you would like me to be but I am striving everyday to become the best Chad that I can be and that is one of the jewels you bestowed on me. We have come a long way in our journey as father and son in just one year’s time. Hopefully we can continue to progress and bring out the best in each other and become even closer for years to come. Thanks for being my life line even when the world turns the blind eye. Happy 49th Birthday… I’m sure Pop-Pop would have been extremely proud of you. I love you and God bless you.

-Chad G. Rumble