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  • Politics Is Like Hiring A Hitman
    by Scott Woods inPolitical on2020-08-13

    For me, politics is like hiring a hitman. I have values and things I care about. I care enough about them to at least bother voting for 5 minutes every year for one issue or another. And because I care at least that much, I vote for people who align with the ability to realize the things I care about.

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  • Punching Above Our Weight
    by Roger Madison Jr. inPolitical on2020-07-24

    I believe our vote is the punctuation of our voice. Without that resounding exclamation mark, I believe our voices are just incoherent noise.

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  • BLACK PROGRESS AMIDST SOCIAL CHAOS
    by Roger Madison Jr. inPolitical on2020-06-16

    Recent events have raised the profile of historical injustice and inequities here in the USA. The entire world has taken note of the fact that BLACK LIVES MATTER.   We invite all of our friends to engage in actions that result in the greatest movement for change in our history. It is imperative that we take advantage of this opportunity to affect a positive change by ACTING IN OUR SELF-INTERESTS.

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  • Living in a Black No-Man's Land
    by Roger Madison Jr. inOur Community on2019-10-28

    There are many narratives that define the Black experience in America in this 2nd decade of the 21st century. Our striving over the centuries of our sojourn in this nation is a tapestry of every human experience -- oppression, enslavement, forced assimilation, dehumanization, exclusion, segregation, isolation, struggle, perseverance, achievement, excellence, celebration, mourning, despair, progress, setbacks, lynching, assassination, genocide, terror, self-hatred, low esteem, pride,...

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  • Fighting Racism
    by Scott Woods inOur Community on2018-10-25

    I had a boss who was racist. Not an outright bigot, of course; her toolbox was more subtle than most. We bumped heads a lot over inconsequential things. She frequently couldn’t keep my name out her mouth. Lot of gaslighting. You know…2018 style. I tried a lot of ways to combat or navigate her issues. None of them worked, and that’s saying a lot because I’m really good at fighting racism. But at the end of the day – every day – she was my boss, I had to deal with her, and that was that. Finally I...

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Everything has a price...what is yours? by Lady Charmaine Day

Everything has a price. What is yours? Do you know for what price you can be bought or sold? How much does it cost to lose your soul? Sanity can be measured. It is the ease at which you are able to breathe and sleep at night. It is the amount of frown lines you have in your face, it is the words that you never say and are never spoken about you in love and tenderness. For nothing, you give everything you have to go after the 5ws. The who, what, when, where, and why of the world. And the 5ws are:

Who...Who do I know, Whose network do I belong to, Who am I (my title, my position), and Who am I with (dating or married to).

What... What you look like. What you have.  What you own.  What you are (I am Doctor Jones etc.). 

When...When do I get the next thing. When did I accomplish what I have now.  When I get "X" then I'll be happy or satisfied (but upon getting x you never are) and your life is driven by what age you accomplish something.

Where...Where do I live. Where do I work. Where do I or my family accomplish our daily active living.

Why...Why do I get what I have (the world calls it the halo effect when you get what you do because of a certain reason that most people have a favorable bias towards).

Thinking that once you have it, it will come. The it being the happy ending, the happiness that you had wanted all your life, the feeling of satisfaction, the never ceasing smile. But upon getting it, because that is what you tied your sanity to, you are never satisfied. Because you see, all of those are things, idols, things that you worshipped versus god and god said not to worship any other god but him.

I have been there and done that. My price, what I worshipped and got for the wrong reasons: husband, six figure income, title, car, house, all for the "right image". Who was I posing for? The world. The world wasn't feeding me, financing me or f***ing me so why did I give up my sanity for the right image? At the end of the day, when all of that was gone (all the "right image things" everything that I thought would make me happy), no one who was looking came to save me, except one. God.

God. The hand I let go of to pursue the right image, was the only one extended to me to stand back up. And when I dropped the S from my chest for being my own savior and superwoman and picked up the J for jesus, I truly began to live. I was 34. For 34 years I was the dead walking. Being alive, happy, content, fulfilled, I can honestly say, I never knew that before I surrendered to god for relationship.

Today, we are in the middle of hard times. When hard times occur, it is survival of the fittest. Companies use "the times" as an excuse to clean house and do whatever they want to reform and to make a profit. And you, you are left to fend for yourself. To battle the corporate mind games of being in the rat race. To deal with the high cost of barely surviving. And if you are doing it in your own strength, just like you have done it all this time, how far do you think you are going to get? WHO DO YOU THINK IS IN CONTROL? WAKE UP!!! God is in control. And he is not bothered by the sign of the times. Because for those who call his name he will hear them and give them his grace, love, favor and mercy. While plagues may come over other houses, they will pass yours by. Humble yourself and find God.

And the way back is simply to ask for forgiveness and to seek his face.

And to stand. Stand on scripture. Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Jesus Christ who strengthens me". Stand on this word until you are the word and the word and you are one.

Remember as you come and you go, ask God to order your footsteps. Pray for everything, your home, your job, your family, your friends, your happiness and for peace. Nothing good will be withheld from you, if you believe and have faith in God, not yourself. I can tell you, that serving God and not relying on myself to get through life is easier. I don't get stressed by what I see because I know he's got me. Having a relationship with God and tying my self-image to this one fact: I am a Christian, God has me, gives me peace of mind and the confidence that I will be safe and secure throughout life's trials and tribulations. That my fate is not determined by man but God gives me peace. A peace of mind that you can not buy. And I want that for you. Now is the time to make sure that your most valuable asset is your relationship with God and your most used resource is the bible. Seek comfort in the fact that whatever you may face in this world, it will not overcome you because God will help keep you and protect you.

Remember, stay blessed.

:)

Lady Charmaine Day