Freedom, you asking me about freedom, you asking me about freedom! Well I’ll be honest with you, I know a whole lot more about what freedom isn’t than about what it is, cause I’ve never been free. I can only share my vision with you of the future about what freedom is. The way I see it, freedom is the right to grow, the right to blossom, freedom is the right to be yourself. - Assata Shakur

Now therefore , Our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name. I Chronicles 29: 13

Pardon me for sending this message out so late.,I had my first final exam this morning. I really like to get into the message of the day in the mornings, I really like to vibe with the word and sometimes that takes a while. However this morning I had to get into Property Law and ready myself for the exam; easements, mortgages, future interests, that sorta stuff. Today’s scripture is very short but powerful to me. Last Monday I felt as if I truly knew nothing and I was unprepared for the exam that I just recently got out of. While no grade has been submitted yet, I am confident in the knowledge I put forth.

I could thank myself, and I could thank my friends who helped me prepare for this exam. However most of my thanks has to go to our Creator for the effort he put forth in helping me get through this test. He gave me the mindset to prioritize my studies and allow the information to flow through my brain. He has afforded me kind friendships that looked to help me with material they saw that I was struggling with. He even spoke to the Professor and made sure that he made a fair exam that I would be able to articulate the necessary arguments. So I praise his glorious name and remind myself that all things are possible through him. Peace and Grace be unto you.

God is good, all the time!

So the lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand sheassess. Job 42:12

I use today’s verse to illustrate the blessings that the bible teaches us our Creator will bestow upon you if you are faithful to his word. The scripture comes from the story of Job; where Job’s life had been turned upside down while the devil continuously meddled in his life. Despite all of the negativity, hardship, pain and suffering Job endured, he remained faithful to God. For that, he was blessed more in the latter part of his life than he was in the first part of his life. Might I add that the first part of his life was not too shabby either; so he was ballin in the end!

I use this story because today I was given some sad news. A fraternity brother of mine emailed me and asked me to pray for his family, his church family and his pastor for this morning their church had burned down. A year ago, I would have been like “man that’s messed up” and then continued on in my day probably never giving it much thought again. However today I was upset to hear such information. People have lost their spiritual place of worship, and everything that church was doing for the community around it is put on hold for just a second during these trials and tribulations. That’s upsetting when you understand the type of impact a church can have on a community. So I got down to pray and while praying I realized it was just a test. This church and congregation will be even more blessed in the second part of their existence than they were in the first, if they remain faithful to the Lord and his ways. I see a new and improved building in their future, more ministries that reach out to the community around them, and an undeniable faith placed in the people of the congregation when they get through this together. So I pray for this church and congregation but I know that they know they will be blessed ten fold just because of their faith. Might be some hell in the hallway but they will find that other door of opportunity that the Lord has blessed them with and they will overcome these obstacles. Peace and Grace be unto you.

Where there’s a will there’s a way

You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.
Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal. Isaiah 26: 3-4

I remember being in junior high school and hearing Prodigy of Mobb Deep rap “there’s a war going on outside no man is safe from, you can run but you cant hide forever, from these streets that we done took, you walking wit ya head down scared to look, ya shook!” While I lay in bed this morning, refusing to get up I thought the same lyrics only I said there’s a war going on inside, inside ourselves, our own personal demons. We really can’t run from them even though we attempt to by suppressing our feelings and acting as if things aren’t truly bothering us. Prodigy rapped about the streets that he and his cohorts took; the demons that exist within us, the skeletons in our closet they take over the streets of our lives. Our minds, our hearts; they produce doubt and and low self esteem causing even more pain and strife in our lives.

So what do you do? Well we can keep running until the day it all catches up with us and we’re to fatigued to even fight back. Or we could trust in the Lord; but really trust in the Lord. I mean you can go to church and hear beautiful gospel songs, a mighty word that makes you jump and shout and go home and still feel empty. Trusting in the Lord starts with trusting in yourself and trusting that he made you the way you are supposed to be. Trust that the experiences that he takes you through, he is taking you through because you can handle them and he has a great reward for you when you pass his test with flying colors. I know I’ve been stressed out; went to church, felt good there, came home and was stressed out. Three weeks later, still stressed out until we really hear the words in today’s passage. Trust in the Lord forever for he is our ROCK. Trust in yourself because the Lord breathes within you and face the war going on inside because with his grace you are safe from it and you will prevail. Peace and Grace be unto you.

Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.

YES WE CAN. SI SE PUEDE

Excerpts from Daily News:
THE CHOICE in Tuesday’s Democratic presidential primary is not only the one between a white woman and a black man. It’s a choice between the past and the future.
But the long slog through 44 primaries and caucuses has confirmed for us that Sen. Barack Obama’s vision of change - and the way he plans to pursue it - is what we need right now. Badly.
Contrary to Sen. Hillary Clinton’s campaign slogan, we believe Barack Obama is more likely to be “ready on Day One” to lead us in a new direction. Because of his experience.

It would not be content with eking out slim victories by playing to the narrow interests of the swing voters of the moment while leaving the rest of the country as deeply divided as ever. Instead, an Obama administration would seek to expand the number of Americans who believe that they have a personal stake in our collective future - and that they have the power to change things.

http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/20080417_VOTE_FOR_BARACK_OBAMA.html

My “Fascination” with Greeks (Response)

Earlier today I was introduced to an article written in Blacklisted Magazine (http://www.blacklistedmagazine.org) discussing one woman’s opinions on Black Greek Lettered Organizations at the University of Florida. She later responded to my posting of her article with this comment, “Please keep in mind that the critique in this article, is specific to my University– and I did that mindful of the fact that I couldn’t speak for every cluster of BGLO’s. (I’d be willing to wager that some of the same critiques ring true, however).”

Unlike the typical reply to such an article that looks to minimize the efforts and necessity for members of Black Greek Lettered Organizations and defame this young lady as a possible “reject”, or “hater”, I wish to engage her in an intellectual discourse surrounding her topic of choice. Initially her article looks to speak to the efforts or lack thereof of the National Pan Hellenic Council members at the University of Florida, and having attended Temple University in Philadelphia; I have a very limited view of the dealings at the University of Florida. However her response on my blog attempted to over-generalize these views and place them upon the many members of these organizations throughout the world.

I have several issues with this article that I will address throughout this response; first and foremost I have an issue anytime someone presents us with a problem, however is not kind enough to afford their readers or the audience that they wish to engage with any type of solutions. We all know the saying, “if you are not a part of the solution than you are a part of the problem”. Secondly, I find the tone of this article to be divisive and condescending to not only members of these organizations, but also the black students of the University of Florida as a whole. Lastly, I wish to present a record of current achievements and community service that members of these organizations have engaged themselves in and highlight their social activism, which was grossly neglected in the previous article.

I do not wish to rebut every element of this crafty article, for that would be asinine for her article represents her experiences. I do however find her male on male sexual harassment, and hazing assaults to reek of ignorance to a system she clearly has no direct dealings with. I would only ask that as a journalist, writers take a more objective role in the information that they put forth, both informing their public and stating the issue they wish to address and not presenting a highly biased work of literature.

I.
Throughout the article “My “fascination” with Greeks”, the young lady presents many issues that she finds with the caliber of undergraduate members of bglo’s at the University of Florida. She finds that these young individuals lack a consciousness or awareness surrounding different issues that affect people of color. Ms. Albert contends that these circumstances should have warranted support from the Greeks to collectively enjoin the student body in fighting these issues as well as bring attention to the school’s administration about such situations. Having not been a member of the student body at this institution, I will take her account of such a lack of response from the Black Greeks as fact.

However, nowhere in her response do I see that she attempted to address this issue with the Greeks and possibly gain their support in these battles of social activism at the University. Nor do I see this article creating a healthy dialogue between herself and these organizations on this campus to promote future support of such issues. So here we have a well-defined problem with no solutions, this is problematic for many reasons. It is clear that people are disappointed by the lack of support from the Black Greeks on this campus. However, by looking to “blast” them and their feeble efforts rather than engage them this article stands to do less good for the overall community who could benefit from a healthier discussion that creates an alliance rather than dissention.

II.

“Did they starve the consciousness out of you during hazing?” I have never seen a conversation be productive when you start the dialogue attacking the person you are hopefully seeking to come to some sort of common ground with. Bro. Dr. Cornell West said it best when he said that we as black people “must engage in a love language”. Meaning, we can no longer condemn each other and speak harshly towards one another and expect to affect real change within the communities in which we live.

Not only did the writer call the Black Greek members “shallow and self- serving”, she extended this assault to the entire community of black students as a whole, calling them “shallow and disengaged”. Such rhetoric only furthers the divide between our people and does little to combat the ills that plague communities of color.

I am confused by such verbal assaults, because as she invokes the need for activism and awareness amongst people of color at the University, I see this writer more so utilizing the ways of the oppressive media to effectively get her points across. To simply gloss over those who are making a difference, those who are engaged, and hone in on those who are not is no better than when people make pre-determined judgments about our people as a whole based on the actions of the “few”. Is there anything different when someone assumes that a young black woman is a promiscuous, gold-digging, uneducated woman simply because these are the common stereotypes and sometimes actions of young women of color? While I am sure that this intelligent young lady is none of the above, she has to understand that her assertions and generalizations on members of these organizations and black people as a whole is a microcosm for how blacks are treated and misrepresented in this very country that we live in.

“BGLO’s, like other university organizations, will be judged as a whole, not just the sum of its more progressive parts.” Do we like when we as young black students are striving for more progressive ways to better our communities but we are wrongly compared to those who sell drugs, prostitute and wish to further degrade our communities? This is not only unfair, it is unimaginable coming from a woman of color who daily has to face these types of discrimination not based on her own actions but the actions of others. Let us be more objective in our opinions and remember in order to engage those members of her campus it would beseech her to engage in healthy discourse with solutions rather than adding insult to injury.

III.

Lastly, as a member of a BGLO in the Philadelphia area, I will gladly enlighten you as to whether or not these assertions that you have made about Black Greek Life ring true in my experiences. While I would be lying to say that none of these organizations have members who are more concerned with the social and less of the community service and scholarship that they were founded upon. This is not the rule; it is more the exceptions that we unfortunately allow to slip through. We like to call them “shirt wearer’s”. No, actually my experience has been one of watching the women of Delta Sigma Theta garner upwards of $7,500 in monies raised for Sickle Cell Anemia alone, which we all know is a disease that affects the black community at a rapid pace. I have watched the men of Phi Beta Sigma host an annual Ms. Ebony Temple Pageant, where the contestants win scholarship money to help finance their education and many of the proceeds go to local churches and charities that the young ladies find to be beneficial for the betterment of the black community. A member of Zeta Phi Beta from Temple recently started her own magazine, Avenue Report, in which she caters to young professional men of color, educating us about financial literacy and health issues amongst a host of other topics.

We can’t escape the good old stepping stigma, so the Greeks of Temple mentor and help the students of the Young Scholar’s Charter School learn the art of stepping while stressing the importance of higher education, we simply call it Project G.R.E.E.K. The men of Kappa Alpha Psi and Omega Psi Phi also engage the young students of North Philadelphia, a highly impoverished area, with scholastic support and mentorship. The ladies of Sigma Gamma Rho are staunch fundraisers for breast cancer and although this is not their national program, they revolve many of their events, banquets and fundraising around building awareness to this topic. Social activism, the young women of Alpha Kappa Alpha are looking to follow their illustrious leader Barbara McKinzie in attacking issues of social injustice including but not limited to the Jena 6 incident, the Don Imus incident, and issues surrounding misogyny in hip hop. Not only has their national President condemned defamatory statements and social injustices in the media, they recently gave Howard University $1 million dollars toward restoring some of the University’s facilities. While also encouraging their members to utilize their spending habits to fight racial discrimination and the disrespect of black women. These young ladies continue to represent the standard of what it is to be a lady, while selflessly raising funds and awareness for issues endemic to women of color.

Lastly but certainly not least, the men of Alpha Phi Alpha are continuously engaged in providing service to the local community members of North Philadelphia. Along with the members of Omega Psi Phi, these young gentlemen brought awareness to the Millions More Movement and mobilized students to this historic event. Weekly, the men of Alpha Phi Alpha can be seen mentoring the inner city youth at the Y Achievers program. Darryl Matthews, General President of Alpha Phi Alpha, was one of the many black leaders on hand the day of the Jena 6 protest and rallied the people to fight such acts of discrimination. At Temple we do not currently have any men of Iota Phi Theta, however I have worked with members of their alumni chapter and I felt their strong commitment to the upward mobility of people of color as well.

Members of BGLO’s are often very involved in service, however our commitment to our communities is something that is within our hearts. Such service is not always blasted around campus to receive accolades but more so heavily concentrated in neighborhoods where our existence is vital to the successes of our youth. While the article I am responding to may be completely factual, I pray that you will take a different approach so that we may move forward together rather than apart. Please continue to allow your voice to be heard for there are many issues in our communities that I believe we can address as whole rather than separate entities. Peace and Love!

Youth’s SPEAK! is one of the many new additions that will be added to the blog in the upcoming weeks. Our children provide such a wealth of knowledge in respect to all walks of life. We stand to learn a lot from them, if we ourselves would choose to listen.

The following video is a clip of young high school students speaking about our hopeful future President Barack Obama. These you students amazed me with their knowledge and their ability to articulate their thoughts on such topics. Pass this video on, let’c continue to support our youth, they are our most valuable asset!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9IldaegAB0&hl=en]

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.  Jeremiah 29: 11-12

While riding to school today I was bumping (playing loudly) Tupac’s “Only God can Judge me”! Deep words, that’s a deep statement, it means we are only letting God be in control of our lives and not allowing anyone else such power over us. Then I looked to the scripture and the Lord says “for I know the plans I have for you”. I may have no idea where I will be, what type of situation I will be in within the next 3 days but the Lord does. He knows the plan he has for me, he knows the path that he has set forth for me. So I can not be bothered with the judgments and thoughts of other people because they do not have my best interest at heart. What I need to be worried about is building a closer relationship with God so that i can understand the plans that he has for me. Understanding that there will be highs and lows but ultimately he is just trying to prepare me for my greatest good.

The Lord says in this scripture that his plans are for us to prosper not harm us, that he has plans to give us hope and a future. That’s the type of company I would like to keep, a superior being who is watching out for me, watching my back at all times. So we have to give glory to God, we can all think about situations that clearly could have went a completely different way for us. We are not that great that we change our destiny through the universe, instead we have been blessed by a God who protects and cares for us unconditionally. Then you will call upon me and I will listen to you. I have learned that prayer is not just when you lay down and go to sleep. Throughout our day we must communicate with God, I mean we communicate with everyone else. Today I look forward to surrendering my issues to the Lord and knowing that it is only he that can judge me. I don’t mind his judgment because I know that he has my best interest in mind. Peace and Grace be unto you.

That which does not kill me can only make me stronger

Letter to a young black female

What’s up young lady. You may not know who I am but I know who you
are. You see, I see your potential, I envision you accomplishing all
of your dreams and goals. Anything that you set your mind to can and
will be yours if you just Believe!

Believe in what you may ask? Yourself! Believe that you are the
intellect which has governed civilizations for century upon century.
Believe that you are the standard of beauty and not whatever images
the media shells out at you. Believe that there is no task too big
or too small that you can not reach for and achieve.

Realize young lady that women have always been at the helm of
everything great. James Brown said it best, “this is a man’s world but
it wouldn’t be nothing without a woman or a girl”. You have so many big
sisters to look up to, so many sources of inspiration that have
provided the framework of the strong work ethic known as womanhood.

Notice I call you young lady for these terms that I hear you referred
to are not your names. You are a Queen who must demand respect, your
mere presence should command respect. You must first respect yourself
however, and respect your fellow sisters as well. Together you young
ladies make up the future table of leadership.

God made you to be special, he made you to stand apart from the crowd.
So fear not if you feel isolated or alone, look back to your big
sisters who have changed the landscape of history, they once felt
alone too. I write you this letter to show my admiration for you, to
pay homage to the beautiful gift that the creator is bestowing upon
us. Follow your dreams and believe in your path young lady, for the
very thought of you reaching a tenth of your potential is an
inspiration to us all!

Truly yours,
Cedric D. Shine (your #1 fan)

March 13, 2008

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Phillipians 3: 13-15

The way the Lord allows the word to resonate in my life is so amazing at times that I really have to sit back and be thankful. The theme of this verse is “pressing toward the goal”, preparing yourself to reach your own greatest good. In this scripture it says to me that I may not know all the answers, I may not fully comprehend my goal or my gift from God but I am moving towards it. In order to move towards it, I must leave what is behind me behind me, I won’t lose the lesson but I can not dwell on past situations so much that they cause a hinderance in my future. We have all gotten ourselves involved in situations that weren’t beneficial to us, the problem is we then entertain ourselves about why we should have seen this coming, and why this and why that. None of that is helping us attain our goal, take the lesson and keep it pushing!

Just like the scripture says, “press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called”. The goal that he has for you is multi-faceted, the Creator wants you to use all of your talents, all of the talents that he has given you. And he grants us with little victories along the way, we must remember to be thankful for the little victories as well. I have an older sister who is studying for her nursing boards, it is in the Lord’s will that she will become an RN, he has other goals for her and us as well. But he blesses us by letting us graduate from schools, by allowing us to get the jobs that we want, the homes that we want, the soul mate that we need. All of these are small victories and if we continue to live in his way we will continue to live the good life, and achieve such victories. Lastly, it says all mature minds should take such view, and if we are thinking differently God comes into our life like right now and reminds us that no matter what strife we see he has a plan and he will continue to help us press towards our goals. Just by putting him first and having the courage to believe that we can achieve places us on the path to accomplishing our many endeavors. Peace and Grace be unto you!

Seize the day, put no trust in tomorrow!