Living Life Abundantly

Should African Americans Get Reparations for Slavery?

When the topic of reparations comes up people get very heated and opinionated… oftentimes without even knowing the facts or history behind reparations. Read the full story

On Saturday 17 year old Laterian Tasby was shot and killed at a Halloween party after a fight broke out. Laterian was an athlete and student leader at San Pedro High School.

He was not a gang member although police say his death maybe gang related. School staff, team mates, and family members are adamant that Laterian Tasby was not involved with gangs. He was known as a hard worker, a mediator, and a peacemaker with a warm personality. Laterian Tasby was trying to make something of himself. He understood the importance of education and took his school work and athletics seriously. He had dreams and goals…but on Saturday his life was taken.

What happened at the party is still unclear and the shooter has not been identified.

According to Read the full story

My friend Hollie sent this to me this morning and with her permission I’m sharing it.

MORE DAMN TOY RECALLS……

OK, me, Hollie….is requesting that we all stop purchasing lead filled toys made in China.

We all know that there are issues between the United States and China (and every other country in the world, thanks to Bush). Clearly they are trying to kills us, by what? Killing our children first and foremost. This will prevent us from having a great military force to fight against them later….you know after we lose half the damn military to the billion dollar a month “War on Terror” in Iraq.

They will try to kill us by any means necessary…poisoning our dogs and cats…they know damn well Americans care more about animals than people (just look at the whole Michael Vick issue).

Please be real with your children and explain why they cannot have their favorite batman toy or their favorite doll. All of the toy companies are manufacturing in China. Reid and I have for months stop purchasing toys made in China. Reid is eight years old, if he can do it so can you. Feel free to call Reid and let him explain it to your child…it may come across better from another kid.

Seriously, please stop purchasing lead filled toys from China. If we stop buying, start complaining Mattel and the other manufacturers will have to make a change. It is not just about the toys, but the life long damage to our children from lead exposure. Read the full story

In the words of Marvin Gaye: “What’s Going On?” Do you care?

I saw this video on BlackHandSide of an all star remix of Marvin Gaye’s timeless classic and was moved. Enjoy

What’s Going On (Dupri Original Mix)
Co-producer – Wyclef Jean
Featuring – NSYNC , Aaron Lewis , Alicia Keys , Backstreet Boys , Bono , Britney Spears , Christina Aguilera , Darren Hayes , Destiny’s Child , Eve, Fred Durst , Gwen Stefani , Ja Rule, Jennifer Lopez , Jermaine Dupri , Mary J. Blige , Michael Stipe , Nas , Nelly , Nelly Furtado , Nona Gaye , and P. Diddy

What’s Going On All Star Re-Mix Lyrics:

Read the full story

My heart has been heavy all week with the fires and the tragedy at the Long Beach Pier. I know that I am not the only one as people have been expressing their feelings about it too. At this point I’m not sure what all I can do to show my support other than to pray… I do believe strongly in the power of prayer and I know prayer availeth much. Along with my prayers I hope what I share today on this blog touches who ever it needs to touch……..

There are hurting people all over the world, some near and dear to our hearts. It is often easy for us to be so caught up in our own lives that we are oblivious to what might be going on in someone else’s life…

Living life abundantly means caring not just for ourselves but for others. To truly experience abundant living we must have compassion and Love in our hearts for our fellow man and be concerned not only for our own best interests, but also the interests of others.

Each day the news tells of horrors and tragedies going on all around us. Too often we flip the channel or move on to whatever is next on our agenda because often the story seemingly has no direct affect or impact on our individual lives.(say a prayer, reach out, send a card, do something…)

What many of us fail to realize is, Read the full story

Remember when Hip Hop songs meant something? remember when there was a relevant message? Today I take you way back with an important blast from the past.

This song burned deep in my mind this morning as I ran a few errands throughout my neighborHOOD. The last verse of the song struck a nerve deep down with an intensity that I’m hard pressed to explain…

If your neighborHOOD is like mine perhaps you’ll feel me…

The last verse of The Message by Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five:

A child is born, wih no state of mind
Blind to the ways of mankind
God is smiling but he is frowning too
Cause only god knows what you go through
You grow in the ghetto, living second rate
And your eyes will sing a song of deep hate
The places you play and where you stay
Looks like one great big alley way
You’ll admire all the numberbook takers;
thugs, pimps, pushers and the big money makers
Driving big cars, spending twenties and tens
And you wanna grow up to be just like them
Smugglers, scrambles, burglars, gamblers
Pickpocketers, peddlers and even pan-handlers
You say I’m cool, I’m no fool
But then you wind up dropping out of highschool
Now you’re unemployed, all null ‘n’ void
Walking around like you’re pretty boy Floyd
Turned stickup kid, look what you done did
Got send up for a eight year bid
Now your man hood is took and you’re a Maytag
Spend the next two years as an undercover fag
Being used and abused, and served like hell
Till one day you was find hung dead in a cell
It was plain to see that your life was lost
You was cold and your body swung back and forth
But now your eyes sing the sad sad song
Of how you lived so fast and died so young

Don’t push me, cause I’m close to the edge
I’m trying not to loose my head
It’s like a jungle sometimes, it makes me wonder
How I keep from going under

The Power of Words

It is amazing how we can all look at the same picture and see something different or hear the same song and hear something different. Perhaps that is the case in Mayor McMillian’s strong disapproval of John Mellencamp’s song “Jena.”

Yesterday, at our monthly U Grow Girl meeting we had a wonderful conversation about how things are not always how they look or seem. We discussed perception and paradigms in depth.

Perception:
immediate or intuitive recognition or appreciation, as of moral, psychological, or aesthetic qualities; insight; intuition; discernment. The result or product of perceiving.

Paradigm:
A set of assumptions, concepts, values, and practices that constitutes a way of viewing reality for the community that shares them, especially in an intellectual discipline.

After seeing the video Jena, the mayor of Jena said

“the Mellencamp video is so inflammatory, so defamatory, that a line has been crossed and enough is enough.”

The mayor is very outspoken about how Jena has been unfairly portrayed as a racist city. We have yet to here him admit or express any outrage over the unfair treatment of the Jena 6. Mayor McMillin seems more concerned with the image and public perception of Jena than with the injustices taking place in Jena.

Maybe the picture that I see is different from the picture he sees. What do you see? I guess its a matter of perception.

It seems that a person who doesn’t want to be perceived as racist would not behave as a racist. Nobody wants to be considered or thought of as racist. I get that.

What I don’t get is:
An elected official offended by a song with an anti-racism message.

An elected official tells a white-supremacist group leader “Your moral support means a lot.”

An elected official failed to recognize that Enough should have been Enough with the tolerance of the known “white only” tree.

It seems that the bigger picture is not whether or not the individual citizens of Jena are racist…the issue is the blatant institutional racism in Jena and many other cities across America. To deny that racism exists, to look the other way, to declare the hanging of nooses as a prank is to enable and therefore tolerate racism. It would seem that anyone offended by anti-racism sentiments is probably pro-racism…

“The song was not written as an indictment of the people of Jena but, rather, as a condemnation of racism, a problem which I’ve reflected in many songs, a problem that still plagues our country today.” — John MellencampPerception Perspective Paradigm

Interesting Email Forward of the Day

Subject: FW: “Walmart Milk!!”

WOW!! I LOOKED THIS UP ON SNOPES AND ITS “PRETTY MUCH” TRUE.
THE GOVERNMENT PROBABLY JUST WANTS YOU TO NOT BE AWARE . PERSONALLY….I WON’T BUY ANYMORE.

WAL-MART MILK: Just in case any of you shop at Wal-Mart like me, you Might want to reconsider buying their Milk after reading this… Please read This and pass along to as many people as you can think of. Mitzi Lyons and Her husband Kyle live in Gainesville, TX.

Their daughter, Marissa, has been experiencing menstrual problems (bleeding every day) for three years and within the last year; she started Producing milk (lactating). They have performed every test, every surgery, put her on birth control and in January were scheduled to undergo a hysterectomy.

NEVERTHELESS,
Mitzi’s dad started researching his granddaughter’s condition on the internet found out about RBST in milk. RBST is a hormone injected into cows to produce more milk. Wal-Mart Great Value milk contains RBST and is the brand that the Lyons family has used for years. Three months ago, they pulled Marissa off Great Value Milk and she quit bleeding and lactating.
Her doctors in Houston are going to write a medical journal discovery about Her case, because the FDA says that RBST is safe. Mitzi asked me to please Share this with everyone I could think of to I hope that save someone the pain and suffering that Marissa has endured. I have pulled my family from Wal-Mart Great Value milk and bought Borden instead. Borden has a label on their milk that states that RBST is not used on their cows.

Please pass this on……

Bovine somatotropin (bST), or bovine growth hormone (BGH), is a specific type of growth hormone that is primarily released by the anterior pituitary gland of cattle. In addition to regulating somatic growth, BGH also influences the amount of milk produced by a dairy cow. Recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH), also known as rBST is a synthetic version of BGH that is injected into a cow to artificially maintain her milk production. — wikipedia

***Apparently this forward has been making its way around since March 2007 some say its just an attack on Walmart. Some say that Walmart sells both RBST and RBST Free milk….. I don’t think it matters if its Walmart or not, the point of the matter is do hormones in milk or other food products have negative affects on people. Does the FDA look the other way as harmful additives, preservatives, hormones, etc… are used by various industries? Do You Know what’s in your milk? Do you know what’s in your food? Do you trust the FDA? Do you say grace before you eat or drink? Hmmmmm email forwards give us so much to consider lol.

Of course I signed the online petition in support of the Jena 6. I received the following email update from ColorOfChange.org:

Dear Marenda,

Thursday was a powerful day. From the thousands of people who packed the streets of Jena, to the thousands who took action all over the country, you stepped up as a community to show your support for the Jena 6 and their families. When we looked at the numbers at the end of the day, we were awed by your commitment. More than 1,250 of you said you were going to Jena. Even more inspiring was that you said you’d bring nearly 10,000 people with you, in cars, rented vans, and hired buses! 6,500 of you signed up to pass out flyers in your local communities; 200 of you held vigils and rallies; and you made 6,200 phone calls to Louisiana officials.

We started ColorOfChange.org after Hurricane Katrina to make sure the next time disaster struck our community, there would be an organized, strategic and loud response from Black America and our allies. Yesterday, you were organized, you were strategic, you were loud, and you made it clear that the disaster of Jim Crow justice occurring in Jena will not be allowed to stand.

Mychal’s bond hearing yesterday was a bitter disappointment. Judge Mauffray declined to release him, or to set any conditions for his release. It’s clear that the fight for justice is far from over, and that it will take more from each of us to ensure freedom for these 6 young men. Thankfully, our movement is now more than 350,000 people strong; and we know that our collective effort in the next weeks and months can make a major difference in how things unfold for these young men. We hope you are in it for the long haul and will continue to push forward and fight on behalf of our young men. We will continue to give you updates and meaningful ways to act on behalf of the Jena 6.

It continues to be our privilege to be part of such a strong and powerful community. Together, we will make a difference for these young men, and for justice in our world.

Thank You and Peace,

– James, Van, Gabriel, Clarissa, Mervyn, and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team
September 22th, 2007

Megan Williams is a Black woman who was kidnapped, kept in a shed, threatened, stabbed, beaten, sexually assaulted, forced to eat animal feces, forced to drink from a toliet, scalded with hot water, choked/tied with a cable cord, verbally abused with racial slurs, and tortured over and over for days by six White people.

Some say this was not a hate crime. Some believe it was not racially motivated. Allegedly Megan Williams knew one of the six kidnappers which somehow disqualifies this as a hate crime.

If race was not a factor why were racial slurs used repeatedly? If this was not a hate crime why was she tortured and abused like this? This is sick and twisted. What is happening in our world? Why are heinous acts of violence like this happening?

No federal hate crime charges in torture case

Six white suspects accused of torturing a young black woman for days in West Virginia will not face federal hate crime charges»

“There is no crueler tyranny than that which is perpetuated under the shield of law and in the name of justice.” —Charles de Montesquieu

A “white tree” at a high school…

Nooses hanging from a “white tree” in protest of Black students sitting under the “white tree”…

A White student beats up a Black student without consequence or repercussion…

Black students beat up White student and are charged with attempted second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder…

Have we traveled back in time? Is this 1957 or 2007? Sounds crazy right? Well its real. What are you going to do about it?

Sign the Petition Now» MARCH ON JENA – SEPTEMBER 20, 2007

Living Life Abundantly was selected to receive its first web recognition, the Power of Schmooze Award! The award was created by Mike at Ordinary Folk and Danielle at Pink Reviews. The purpose of the award is “to recognize those people that are exceptionally adept at creating relationships with other bloggers by making an effort to be part of a conversation, as opposed to monologue.”

Schmoozing:
To converse casually, especially in order to gain an advantage or make a social connection. —Dictionary.com

Note: The Power of Schmooze award is only given by others who have received it, and passed it on. Read the full story