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!

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Well real rap, I’m disapointed in Barack right now. Here is his quote “”That is why I am deeply disappointed in Father Pfleger’s divisive, backward-looking rhetoric, which doesn’t reflect the country I see or the desire of people across America to come together in common cause.”

Like Barack are you serious, do you not see the monkey t-shirts, do you not hear the backwards muslim rhetoric about you my brother. Do you not constantly see the racism and white privilege that exists in America. Just because I support you brother does not mean that I will allow you to lull me to sleep with this beautiful America, that across the country people who are campaigning for you are not being met with blatant racism.

We can never advance as Americans if we lie to ourselves, If you continue to make it look all peachy keen, how can we ever address the issues and provide plausible solutions. I realize that my vote alone will not get you elected my brother. However, neither will this appeasement of white voters and making them and us believe that their is not some truly divine hatred in this country for your presidency because you are black. My brother we both know better than this.

Father Pfleger, as a white man I am shocked that the media even bothered to condemn your comments, it is only because you are outwardly supporting a black candidate. I noticed that you said some, yes some, not all whites are racist and not all blacks are in jail. Stereotypes rip through our society and are given as false truths. However your portrayal of Clinton seems accurate to me, it’s accurate to the cartoonist who posted the picture below. They weren’t bastardized for their comments, so please do not apologize for speaking what is truth, far too long have we allowed ourselves both black and white to be lied too.

We will never progress if all we do is sweep our problems under the rug! Sounds to me like the same old Washington Politics with this one Barack, WE CAN DO BETTER. YES WE CAN SI SE PUEDE!

People have it confused; if you and your man do a crime and you get caught and he doesn’t and you tell. THAT’S SNITCHING! You chose that lifestyle, you are only telling because you got caught. However if a little girl gets shot in the street and you say you’re not going to “snitch”, a. that’s not snitching, b. you’re a punk and you’ll end up dead soon enough. See because you chose not to snitch you bring death to your own front doorstep! 1

START SNITCHING

We see it glorified in old mob flicks, rap records hail it as the sin of all sins; the number one code of the streets; “don’t snitch”. LOYALTY, I understand the concept very well, but when does it border stupidity and become a cause in fact of the violence and destruction of our neighborhoods. The “Stop Snitching Campaign” was subliminally etched into our minds long before the celebrated t-shirts with stop signs and the word snitching embedded within. Well please forgive me, for I am about to break the ultimate code of honor, I’m about to become the rat of all rats, because my charge for us as a community is to… “START SNITCHING”.

There, I said it, START SNITCHING, start snitching if you want your children to live to see past their elementary school graduation. Start Snitching if you want to stop living in fear as you walk to the corner store. This is heavy, because as a people we have a strong distrust for law enforcement. I mean, why wouldn’t we, after seeing many of our leaders crippled by this system of American Justice. We vividly remember news clips of the Civil Rights Era, watching police officers brutally attack people of color with water hoses and K-9 dogs? Many of us can attest to the “random” car stops, the harassment and brutality that our people face on a daily basis from those who are supposed to protect and serve. Yet I still say START SNITCHING, far too many of our children are becoming victims in the crossfire of drug wars, domestic disputes and other various forms of crime that begat violence.

What do you tell a mother who just lost her 6-year-old child to gun violence and you know what happened? What do we put on your grave when you’re no longer here, “here lies a good man cause he wasn’t no snitch”. No, more like here lies a coward who was too afraid to take ownership of his community and protect the lives around him. Now you’re thinking, “I‘m not snitching because then they are going to come and get me”. I agree, and sadly once again law enforcement does an awful job at protecting those who come forward with the truth. There is power in numbers, if we take a stand as a people we can combat these atrocities. We can put pressure on the legislators to create better programs for those who come forward, put pressure on city hall to allocate sufficient funds to the police department for such programs. Once we become aware of our power we won’t have to live in fear, we will begin to think for the system and have our thoughts implemented, as they should be in the first place. We elect, key word “elect” public officials, they are in their positions to serve us. So if we don’t feel safe it is our duty to get that message across to those who we have elected to make us feel protected. We can employ “effective snitching” by going to city council meetings, arranging town hall meetings and charging elected officials with doing their job and implementing programs that will make our streets safer. Our taxes are what pay the salaries of these elected officials and law enforcement personnel, so essentially they work for us, its time that we remind these people who write their checks and demand that produce results!

I’m talking about taking a stand for the well-being of the children we are raising. We know exactly what goes on around the way from violence to drug dealing and we even know what times it is more probable that these crimes occur. Effective snitching means as a community going to these elected officials and providing them with this information, demanding that they not only look at the information but that they create a plan of action to address it. Jail time is supposed to serve as a deterrent for crimes committed, meaning if you do the crime you do the time. By not snitching and taking a blind eye to the crimes within our neighborhoods, we are sending our people the message that what they’re doing is right and will be tolerated. We’re saying there’s no reason to think before you act because no one is going to tell so you don’t have to worry about prison time. No wonder the murder rates are so high, we have sent a message that people can be killed and we will protect the killers by keeping silent. START SNITCHING, effective snitching, lets be a catalyst for the change that we wish to see in our communities. Let’s Make It Happen!

Cedric D. Shine

Today’s Photo of the day is Sean Bell and his beautiful family. Like I said, give it a few weeks and the hype would die down but the truth remains that in today’s world a black man can be gunned down by those who are supposed to serve and protect him and they can walk away scott free. We all should still be outraged by this hypocrisy disguised as American Justice. So not only can we “NEVER FORGET”, but we have to educate ourselves about our rights and the system so that we can effectively combat these atrocities. NEVER FORGET, SEAN BELL REST IN PEACE!

Photo courtesy of Bossip

Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.- Romans 15:2

“Build him up, publicize him, make him a celebrity!” Those are the words of Malcolm X and they have nothing to with this scripture but they came to mind when I read build him up. Today really is not about me nor was yesterday. It is still about my brothers who have graduated and are starting a new chapter in their life. I had a rough night last night, celebrating can get out of hand sometimes. Then I woke up this morning and I was being mentally selfish. I had selfish thoughts, I was thinking about my own happiness. But the truth is today is not about me, we are about to celebrate with a bbq and enjoy a few more festivities before i head back to NY to be with my family.

Build him up; that’s what we need to do for each other. Before writing this message I was talking with one of my sisters. I’ll commonly refer to my closest friends as brothers and sisters because I really do believe we have that vibe. They say we are all children of God so we are brothers and sisters. Either way she was building me up, speaking the truth as she sees it. She always does this, she’s a great friend. I have to make sure I do the same. Not build people or myself up with false hopes and empty rhetoric but more so truth. Last night my brother and I had a deep talk, there’s been a lot of deep moments going on lately but reading today’s scripture lets me know we are on the right path. We are building each other up! Peace and Grace be unto you!

God is good, all the time!

Courtesy of the Real News Network. The older black woman hit it right on the head!

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You know just because you and someone have different views it does not mean that they are wrong. But after watching some of this video and listening to some of the people’s reasoning I am convinced that idiots should not have a right to vote.

There is a time for everything and 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 uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8

Time waits for no man or woman. Sometimes I feel suspended in time. I learned sometime in this past year that when you are happy, like really bask in your happiness. Smile, be joyful, jump up and down on your bed even. Because unfortunately when you are sad, when its raining outside, it really pours. When that rain comes into your life you have to think about this scripture and think what time is it right now in my life. How did you enjoy the good times you had. Did you really relish in the good times, or did you find yourself making comparisons to how they could have been better times. I get so much out of this scripture that I can’t write it all down today so be sure that I will bring this one back out. I’m looking above at all of the different times in life that we experience and trying to understand how they all merge. After I read one line, I always go back to the top; there is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven.

Who controls the amount of time that we may be building, the amount of time it takes us to heal. Truth is we definitely have no control over these different time periods and I am learning to grow and appreciate each time period that I may be in. Several of them could be going on at one time and we just have to be patient and understand when God feels we have learned that lesson than he will pass us on into the next time phase he has for us. Faith is real wild because you don’t see God, like you cant reach out and physically see yourself shaking his hand. But you trust in him, it’s wild because that is a beautiful trust. We have people in our lives who we can see, and we put trust in them and they destroy it, so this dichotomy makes some people just believe that only they can control. They can’t fully trust in God because they cant see him, they know that some people are untrustworthy so they just look to themselves. We must try not to fall into this trap; for starters God is within us so he is tangible. I just look to the above passage and I think wow there really is a time for everything, I’m looking forward to the beautiful times he has for me. When you get them and if you have them right now please honor and love those times because those memories push us through hard times. Peace and Grace be unto you.

(sings) Gotta find me an angel - Aretha Franklin

Dick Gregory speaks the truth!

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New York Pricks & Dicks at its finest are no more than the murderers of a young family man with ambitious goals and aspirations. Truth is, I am Sean Bell, my brothers and friends are Sean Bell, and you too could be a victim of unjustifiable force by the people who your tax dollars pay to serve and protect; thus making you Sean Bell.

I pray that this time we really do wake up and take this for the issue that it really is. This is not a race issue on it’s face; why yes racial politics are part of the reason things went down the way that they did. However, now that two young girls are being raised without their father we have to look deeper within ourselves, past our skin color and see that this is a humanity issue. Why are young black men’s lives disposable? We get so caught up between black and white that we do not realize that their is a power structure in this country that oppresses people. It often privileges people of caucasian backgrounds and oppresses people of color.

New York Pricks & Dicks serve as an oppressive force upon the many young black males who live within the city limits. In an attempt to “promote safer neighborhoods” they are trained to act a certain way in neighborhoods that are closer to the poverty line than those which are not. You never hear about some wild white boys getting shot in a barage of bullets in a white neighborhood. Why? Because that would be unacceptable to the power structure.

If we think back to the days of slavery you had the slave master but he often had an overseer; an Uncle Tom who he would use to keep negroes in check. Detective Michael Oliver, Gescard Isnora and all of the other black police enforcement who continuously use excessive force on public enemy #1; the black man, are those same Uncle Tom’s. This serves two purposes; 1.) the power structure is still able to control minority men and keep them in check. 2.) They use people who look like them so that their racist power structure is not undermined by political correctness. It looks so much better when its blacks killing blacks rather than whites.

This is not a race issue, this is a humanity issue. White people who are tired of being benefactors to such a racist system and receiving the privilege of not having to be victims of this system should stand with people of color fighting these injustices. This is not the America Barack Obama speaks of; but this is the America that many of us know too well. Couple Hope, Change and groups of different ethnic and racial groups together towards humanitarian issues such as police brutality and we can fight to make this the country the way we would like to pretend that it is!

For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak and not lie: thought it tarry, wait for it because it shall surely come……. Habakkuk 2:3

A close friend of mine sent me this scripture a few nights ago. Prior to receiving it we had been on opposite ends of a conversation about how to handle certain things. So as a fool does, when I received this scripture, I read through it but I did not try to understand it. When our own ignorance is bliss sometimes we do not see when a lesson is being presented before our very eyes. I try not to stay ignorant for too long and I went back and read the word again. I started to allow the words to resonate within me, searching for the reason that this particular scripture had been sent to me.

For the vision is yet for an appointed time. My vision, your vision but most of all God’s vision for the greatness that we will achieve. Many of us get worn out, and frankly become tired because we feel that our dreams are taking to long to come true. Our prayers are lying in wait and while they sit in limbo, we live in the world daily with these thoughts on our brains. It takes a wise person to realize the dream is still in the universe, the prayer will be answered and when it is, it shall speak truth into our lives. However, it is not the time; what you mean it’s not the time Ced? Don’t get mad at me; I’m asking the same question with you. But just maybe if tomorrow we could achieve our greatest good, our destiny. Just maybe at this time in our lives we would not be able to appreciate it or handle the greatness we are to become. The Lord says though it may linger, have faith because his blessing will surely come to us. We are all being tested daily in our ability to have patience and to have faith in the Lord. I’m down to wait; I pray for all of us, that what we receive doubles our expectations and we laugh when we remember that we had little faith at one time and how blessed we have become. How blessed we were all along. Peace and Grace be unto you.

Proverbs are the daughters of experience