If You Are Listening

If You Are Listening…

 She is always a little reserved; some may say that she is shy. But I have seen this look before, she is not quiet…she is afraid. She only wants to walk through life quietly without conflict or confrontation; not realizing that what she is doing can not be called living at all. She wants friends, but who would understand the way she is forced to live? She can not even confide in the family and friends that she has now…without the threat of bringing the darkness to their doorway, as well.

  How would she live with the fact that someone she loved may be hurt or even killed simply because they stood by her? So she moves silently…careful not to draw unnecessary attention to herself or her life. She flies under the radar, this self-isolating being of God…praying silently that one day this will all end.

She falls to her knees in desperation. “Dear God, if you are listening…please make him stop”. “Please let me fall asleep forever”. But the next day will look very much like this one…he will watch her; even if he doesn’t speak to her. His presence will speak more loudly than words or actions…”I am here”. “I am not going away”. “I am in control”. “I can not be stopped”. “If you tell anyone, I will kill them…and you will know it was your fault”. And at the end of this day, again, she will pray.

  Understand, her story is not as unique as you may think. Most likely you know someone similar to her, as over 1 million women are stalked in the United States every year. And 89% of femicide victims, the misogynous killing of women by men, have been abused and stalked by their killers12 months prior to their murder.

  What these statistics show is that this is an ongoing problem in our nation. One way of bringing this issue into the light is to remind people that stalking…following…pursuing…and tailing people for the purpose of keeping tabs on them…is not a sign or symbol of love and affection. This is a crime. We need to stop placing blame on the victims of this offense and start pointing fingers at the assailant. We have no reason or cause to continually attack the victim by making excuses for the perpetrator. “If she had said no more loudly…”, “If she hadn’t smiled at him…”, “If she hadn’t worn that outfit”…, “If she had told someone”. She was not at fault…and chastising her will not make the situation get better; all we do when we criticize her…is empower the abuser.

  Stalking is a step below assault and murder. It is compulsive, controlling and violent behavior. We must become aware of this problem…by humanizing the women who are under attack. She could be your mother…your sister….she could be your daughter. Raise your hands up; this is not a big boys club. This is not about brotherhood, it is about mankind. Speak up whenever you can, put your foot down…take a stand against misogyny and femicide.

  Begin today, re-evaluate the way we treat the women in our lives. What starts out small can become enormous…and the beauty in that statement is that we can make it better. Create awareness. January 2012 is Stalking Awareness Month; be aware of this problem. There is no age cap on the female victims, embrace our children. Teach our young boys and girls about respect and boundaries. Guide these young minds and hearts…they are looking to you for support and leadership.

  Show love, by expressing your intolerance of abuse. Don’t make the assumption that the behavior is harmless just because no one has been harmed yet. And if you want to get an idea of what this behavior feels like, on the receiving end…try this exercise: Take down all the curtains, blinds and shades from all of your windows in your home. Leave all your doors wide open…including the front and back door, in fact even leave your bathroom door open; How safe and secure do you feel? How does it feel to think that someone may watch you while you are watching television, eating, sleeping, changing clothes, and bathing? Imagine that every day of your life is like this…are you having fun yet?

  We MUST make a change…in ourselves and then in others. Spend today showing love to all of the women in your life. It can be cold living in the shadows shame and doubt…tell her you love her…let the warmth begin with you.

My Prayer

My Prayer

 

I pray that there

Will never come a day

When I will turn from you

 And walk away

 

I hope that we learn

From others mistakes

And keep striving forward

No matter how long it takes

 

I know that we can walk through life

Holding one another’s hands

Never judging or demeaning

Our fellow woman and man

 

I will open my heart

By closing all doubt

Sharing the love of God

Is what life is all about

 

Life is so fragile and

Sometimes far too brief

But we can rise above offenses

That are sometimes too steep

 

We can smile and create laughter

Among our family of God

Giving support and encouragement

With a smile and a nod

 

Love one another

Why is that too much to ask

When did kindness and peace

Become too much of a task

 

Cast aside the hate we have grown in our hearts

And realize our second nature is not war

Be kind to each other at any cost

Remember the reason we were brought here for

 

No executions or state sanctioned deaths

Are acceptable by His rules

Empathy, compassion, and understanding

Not guns …should be our only tools

 

Once we can embrace the essence of God

And His attributes so divine

There will be no question what we should do

In your heart or even in mine

 

So I wish you love and inner peace

That with which we were made

Love your fellow neighbor

As you love thy self…is the lesson for today

 

Pay close attention to the word of God

And not the will of man

Once you do this it will become clear

You will then understand

 

There is no deed too small

Or no person so meek

Who cannot make a change

To fix a world so bleak

 

Remember the depths of the largest ocean

Started with a small drop of water…until one day

The skies opened up and God started to shine

And He willed it to begin to rain

 

It only takes the will of one man

To create the change that we need

One foot in front of the other

Baby steps…begin to follow His heed

 

Much joy and kindness

May your blessings exceed your sweetest thought

Give thanks daily

And His will be done…not purchased and not bought

 

I leave you with my final note

My humblest prayer

When your neighbor reaches out for you

I pray that you are there

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stop the Violence

Stop the Violence

  Today is Stop the Violence Day. Even in writing that it seems ridiculous to have to say. As children we are taught, from an early age, to be kind to one another. We have religious books that will tell us to be kind to our neighbors, and to want for our brothers and sisters what we want for ourselves. And since I doubt that anyone wants death and destruction brought upon themselves or those that they love…I doubt we are thinking of it in that way.

  Violence has become a way of life for most of our world. And to support the violent action we are often making excuses for it to continue…both on the domestic and global fronts. We will often hear an abusive person making excuses for his/her behavior stating that they were led to that dark place…often by the victim. When we hear such an outlandish statement, we often shake our heads. And we react in this way because it is juvenile for us to believe that another person could lead us into such violence. After all, we are individuals. We have our own minds and thought patterns. We certainly can not be led astray by another individual…can we? We couldn’t become so angry that we would want to strike someone that could be considered weaker than us, could we? We couldn’t actually hope for people to believe that a child could do something so awful that they would need to be battered or bruised…but do we?

  Tempers flare, but we are responsible for those actions. And if we can not control the actions of our bodies or mouths…we should reach out for help. I learned some startling statistics that I wanted to share with you, so that we could see this problem in black and white.

1. In South Africa 1300 women are raped everyday
2. In the United States, 683,000 forcible rapes occur every year
3. Child abuse is reported every 10 seconds
4. Every 9 seconds a woman is beaten
5. 5-6 children will die from complications of abuse every day
6. Most Rapists commit 10 rapes before they are caught
7. 4 million women a year are seriously abused every year
8. 1 in 5 high school girls are sexually or physically abused by a partner

 

  These statistics, while startling are completely factual. There is nothing worse than being abused. This violence has to stop. We are literally killing each other…every single day.

  No one…has the right to put their hands on another living soul. We do not have eminent domain over another person. People are not property. We can not be held or contained and if we are…it is a violation of our civil rights. It is criminal to make anyone do anything against their will…whether spoken or implied.

  I pray that we use this day as an example of how we are supposed to live. We need to learn to live in harmony, with ourselves and others.

Greatest Love

 

   I found the greatest loves of my life when I learned how to love people inside out. I learned that the outer shell was only a peek at the person within. Of course, we must be attracted to something, before seeking the inner being…be it a smile, laugh…or just a sense of humor. However in some rare cases, the inner being will shine through the eyes of those that we may have over looked.

  Whatever brought us to this place seems irrelevant…for now all that matters is that we are here…together. Our inner light is that part of us that connects to others on a higher plain. It is our soul or spirit…our core. I have always been of the belief that our center…or core is the very thing that we started with. Our core comes from God; it is the very loving nature He instilled in us. It is the part of us that allows us to connect to others…similar to how magnets attract one another or how light will attract a moth. It is what brings us together…and sometimes, sadly, tears us apart. The core of us is what hurts when we see another human being in pain. It is the part of us that is moved to protect our environment. Our core is what causes 9000 people to search for an 8 year old autistic boy in Virginia…someone that most did not even know. Our center is the part of us that prompts an illegal immigrant to put his life on the line to save a little girl that he didn’t even know…placing his own citizenship at risk. It is the thing within us that has us get our bone marrow checked to see if we can save the life of one person…which can be a painful process. It is doing the right thing…without a second thought. This is our origin…what every other part of us is based on. This is our purpose under Heaven. And as long as we are listening to our center…our core…our spirit and soul…we are doing Gods work.

  So what happens when we are doing everything else? What happens when we watch someone who is broken down on the side of the road and we just drive past? What happens when we hear someone yell for help and we act like we don’t hear them? What are we thinking when we tell socially acceptable lies…and still teach our children the importance of telling the truth? Why do we make excuses for behavior that we know in our hearts to be wrong? What message are we sending when we punish a murderer by becoming murderers? Where are our hearts when we are telling our law enforcement officers to stop worrying about crimes and just look for people who have a “criminal look”?

  These may seem like extreme cases, but are they really? Or do we just say that to take attention away from the real issue? How do we have balance when the scales of our lives are so obviously tilted? Native Americans believe that within us we have two wolves…one wolf is positive…loving…caring and compassionate. The other wolf is negativity…adversity…violence…anger and rage. In some Native American culture it is said that the wolf that we feed or cater to the most becomes the winner of our internal struggle. This is really the old story of good versus evil. The one that we allow to grow…becomes the victor. But the truth is this…God created all things, ideas and situations. Why would God, who loves us, create something that could eventually lead to our downfall? Some believe that the reasoning is this: He allows us to decide what we want for ourselves. He allows us to make our own noose and decide if we are going to hang ourselves or others. He allows us to make friends or enemies. We are allowed to show compassion or contempt. Why are we allowed to even know of a choice which could cause us or others pain or anguish? Because, we know what the right thing to do is…it is in our core. We have been equipped with the only thing we ever really needed to get by…love. We have always been equipped with the love of our Creator…which arms us with the knowledge that we are supposed to love others also.

  Why is doing the wrong thing so easy for most? Doing what is wrong is easy because it is acceptable and most of the time it is expected. We expect people to cheat, steal and lie to us. We expect people to disrespect us or those around us…so we continually watch for it. We look for deception because we really believe that all people will be tempted to deceive. We expect our fellow man…that was created with the same divine love that we were…to do us some huge disservice. Unfortunately, a lot of the time…we aren’t disappointed.

   Of course, we choose to live this way. We choose to allow people to do the opposite of what we know is right; then we they do this evil…we just nod and smile, as if it is okay. We become complacent. We choose to sit the fence, instead of standing up for anything. And in our complacency…we have failed God. We have said so much…by saying nothing. When our hearts are crying, yet our mouths fall silent and our heads hang in shame…we have betrayed ourselves and Our God.

   The important lesson in all of this is that any injustices that we fall upon silent ears about…are injustices that very well may come back around to destroy us, as well. Never say that any given situation could never happen to you or anyone you know. By now we should all understand that just because we think we have stuffed a wrong in a closet doesn’t mean that is goes unnoticed. God brings everything to light.

  It is our job to defend those who are wronged…no matter who the oppressor may be. It is our job to shine light on those who pray on the defenseless. As people we do our best to stand up for children…and since we were all created from God and are His children…why do we not defend our fellow man? Why do we not stomp our feet and scream to the top of our lungs every time someone is treated with malice?

  War does not create anything…it destroys us all. Do the soldiers of war ever come home feeling happy; and if not, why? War only creates the need for larger cemeteries…larger orphanages…and more wars. And by the way, wars are not only fought with guns. Wars happen at the work place, in our schools and in our neighborhoods. A sharp tongue is worse than an assault weapon. Guns are fired and they kill…where as words can continue to injure and re-injure us. And like in a war…once we have been fired upon…we will retaliate…and it won’t matter if it is justifiable or not.

  Peace starts within us…and once we have it we can share it with the world. We only need to nurture the love that we were created with…and then we give it out to everyone we come into contact with. We smile, greet and acknowledge our fellow man and woman…and with those simple gestures…love blooms. Love is never out of season and you can never have or give too much love. It will feel strange at first…but that is just because we are out of practice. Give love…receive love…Be love.

A Lesson Before Dying

A Lesson Before Dying

 

Perry Cobb, Darby Williams Tillis, Joseph Burrows, Rolando Cruz, Alejandro Hernandez, Verneal Jimerson, Dennis Williams, Gary Gauger, Carl Lawson, Anthony Porter, Steven Smith, Ronald Jones, Steve Manning, Aaron Patterson, Madison Hobley, Leroy Orange, Stanley Howard, Gordon Steidl, Walter McMillan, Randall Padgett, James Bo Cochran, Gary Drinkard, Wesley Quick, Larry Osborne, Johnny Ross, Curtis Kyles, Shareef Cousin, Michael Graham, Albert Burell, John Thompson, Dan L. Bright, Ryan Matthews, Kirk Bloodsworth, Lawyer Johnson, Peter Limone, Laurence Adams, Sabrina Butler, Clarence Dexter  Jr., Eric Clemmons, Joseph Amrine, Jeremy Sheets, Roberto Miranda, Thomas Gladish, Richard Greer, Ronald Keine, Clarence Smith, Samuel A. Poole, Christopher Spicer, Timothy Hennis, Alfred Rivera, Alan Gell, Gary Beeman, Dale Johnson, Charles Ray Gidden, Clifford Henry Bowen, Richard, Neal Jones, Gregory R. Wilhoit, Adolph Munson, Robert Lee Miller Jr., Ronald Williamson, Neil Faber, Jay C. Smith, William Nieves, Thomas Kimbell Jr., Nicholas Yarris, Harold Wilson, Michal Linder, Warren Douglas Manning, Vernon McManus, Randall Dale Adams, Clarence Bradley, John C. Skelton, Frederico M. Macias, Muneer Deeb, Ricardo Aldape Guerral, Ernest Ray Willis, Earl Washington, Benjamin Harris Jerry Bigelow, Patrick Croy, Troy Lee Jones, Jonathon Treadway, John Henry Knapp, Jimmy Lee Mathers, James Robison, Robert Charles, Ray Krone, David Keaton, Wlbert Lee, Freddie Pitts, Delbert Tibbs, Annibal Jaramillo, Anthony Brown, Joseph Green Brown, Anthony Ray Peek, Juan Ramos, Willie Brown, Larry Troy, Robert Cox, James Richardson, Bradley P. Scott, Andrew Golden, Robert Hayes, Joseph Nahume Green, Frank Lee Smith, Joaquin Jose Martinez, Juan Roberto Melendez, Rudolph Holton, John Ballard, Herman Lindsey, James Creamer, and Earl Charles.

  These are my reasons for being against the Death Penalty…all of these names are real people. And these real people have/had real families…that stood by the them while they were on death row. Collectively these individuals served 964 Years, before being proven to be innocent. And one of these individuals served 33 years before being released; while another died before he could be exonerated…so it was done post mortem. But to take even 1 day away from some one, who was not guilty, is tragic. Life is full of one time experiences…you only take your first step one time, lose your first tooth, say mama or dada, you can only buy your first car…one time. And many of these individuals missed so much more than that, and it can never be given back to them. Even if the state compensates some one monetarily for the lost time…you can not purchase a memory.

  Why am I against the death penalty? I am against anything that includes taking another life. I am against any system that has proven time and time again to be broken and unreliable. I am against anything that takes away years upon years of a person’s life for no reason. Killing is wrong…it says that in many different places, even in religious books. And to kill some one to show society that killing is wrong…just seems to be completely ridiculous to me.

  If the Death Penalty is such an effective means of punishment, why don’t all states use it? If the Death Penalty is such a deterrent for crime…why are we still executing?

  If we were able to catch this many people before their respective states were able to execute them…how many slipped through the cracks? How many innocent people have we killed…for the sake of punishing some one…anyone? How do we sleep at night?

  I can completely understand the grief that losing a loved one can cause. I can understand wanting to punish some one for the crime…but will just ANYONE do? The problem being quite simple…the statistics do not lie…race and money are contributing factors when the death penalty is imposed. I researched in several places…and basically all of them verify what the others says…minorities and the underprivileged make up the majority of inmates on death row.

  We are human, we make mistakes…I simply think that with that knowledge…we risk executing people who are innocent. And no matter what anyone says…one life wasted is too many. Not only for the people who are actually executed…but look at the people who have spent countless years away from their loved ones for a crime that they did not commit.

  It is my expressed opinion that anytime some one finds reason to applaud about a state that has killed 234 more inmates than any other state…there may be a deeper problem there. And any politician that finds applause about this humorous…is a dangerous individual; it is never a victory when some one dies…we all lose.

  Killing some one will not make the victim come back to us…they are in peace. So the execution is for us…and what peace is there when we are taking another life? Why would we desire that another family to go through the same pain and anguish that we have?

  There was an inmate in Texas that was executed this past Summer, Mark Anthony Stroman, who was convicted of killing individuals out of grief for the life of his sister who was killed on 9/11. One of the survivors, a muslim man who Stroman shot in the face Rais Bhuiyan, causing him to be blind in one eye, pleaded for Stroman’s life. Mr. Bhuiyan even started a website to try and spare Mr. Stroman’s life, www.worldwithouthate.org.  This was a remarkable exhibit of forgiveness and compassion…only furthering my belief that we can seek revenge or seek a higher power. And even though Mr. Stroman’s life was not spared, the spirit of what Mr. Bhuiyan did spoke in volumes.

  I realize there will be many people that will disagree with my stand on the death penalty, but I stand firm on this issue…killing is wrong no matter who does it.

 

 

 

 

Not In My Name

   On September 21, 2011 at 11:08 PM, Troy Davis was killed by the state of Georgia…even though he may not have been guilty…BUT…

                                                                   NOT IN MY NAME

 3239 people in the United States are currently under a death sentence…BUT…

                                                                    NOT IN MY NAME

 Since 1976, 1269 men, women, children, and mentally ill people have been SHOT, HANGED, ASPHYXIATED, LETHALLY INJECTED, and ELECTROCUTED by the state and the federal government of the United States…BUT…

                                                                    NOT IN MY NAME

 

 Alabama is the only state in our country where a trial judge can override a life sentence and convert it to a death sentence. And approximately 21% of Alabama’s death row was converted to the death penalty from a life sentence by a trial judge….BUT…

                                                                   NOT IN MY NAME

 

 The United States is currently one of the top countries, in regards to executing inmates…BUT…

                                                             I WILL NOT TURN MY HEAD

 No one has the right to take another life…it is wrong. How do we know it is wrong? Because we are executing people to teach them that killing is wrong…and yet the lesson escapes us. We do not have the right to kill another human being. And please keep in mind…some of those human beings…were exonerated after they were already executed and laid in the ground to rest.

  I heard someone say the night that Troy Davis was killed…”An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind”. We cannot change what has happened, no amount of prayers, rallies, parades, or interviews will change what has been done. But we get to choose if the deaths were in vain…we get to stand tall and speak up. If we forget what happened, then we learned nothing from it. The facts are simple…it is more expensive to execute an inmate than to imprison him /her for life. And the death penalty has not deterred crime one bit…or we wouldn’t have anyone to execute. Finally, please never say it could not happen to anyone you know or love. Our system of justice is seriously lacking…if you are a minority or poor in this country, no matter what anyone tells you…you are guilty until proven innocent 9 times out of 10.

 

   Today I ask that you stand with me…not to protect murderers…but to end the death penalty. We are becoming the thing that we hate…we must make a change. THE DEATH PENALTY MUST BE ABOLISHED.

I take this pledge because human rights and human lives are on the line.

 

 http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/site/c.6oJCLQPAJiJUG/b.7741827/k.62FF/Not_in_my_Name_Pledge/apps/ka/ct/contactus.asp?c=6oJCLQPAJiJUG&b=7741827&en=dmIPI6PPJcIYLgOSLbKULiM9LvL9KmN4LtI9LqNaIAK

All Eyes on Georgia

All Eyes on Georgia

  Define irony…Irony is planning an execution for an inmate, whose guilt is questionable…at the least, on September 21^st …which is International Peace Day.

  In 1991, Troy Davis was found guilty of the 1^st degree murder of Mark Allen MacPhail, an off duty police officer….in Savannah, Georgia.  And Mr. Davis was found guilty based on NO physical evidence…no fingerprints…no DNA…no weapon. The evidence that was used to convict Troy Davis consisted solely of 9 eye witness accounts.  Mr. Davis has served 20 years for a crime that he may NOT be guilty of, not a huge shock to many…since there have been countless inmates who have served a decade or more…before being found NOT GUILTY.

  In 2010, 7 of the 9 eye witness accounts were recanted, some of which stated that they were coerced by police to finger Davis.  The judge in the case discounted the recanted testimony, stating that the witnesses had “extensive criminal records” and therefore their testimonies were not valid. One of the 2 remaining witnesses is Sylvester “RED” Coles…the first person, who police suspected of the heinous crime. The judge also stated that Troy Davis failed to prove his innocence in this case.

 So to reiterate…the 7 eye witness testimonies, which were recanted…are not permissible because the have criminal records…however they were valid for the conviction. And the one other suspect in this crime is now an eye witness.

  And on September 21, 2011, the state of Georgia will execute Troy Davis, via lethal injection, unless the Governor intervenes.

 I am not asking you to believe that Troy Davis has been a model citizen, because he hasn’t. Mr. Davis has a police record, beyond this conviction. However, that should have no bearing or weight in this case…since it is not connected in any way.

  I am also not asking you to say that he is innocent. In our Justice system, we do not have to prove innocence…we only need to be certain “BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT” that Troy Davis is guilty. He deserves his day in court…as 7 of the original eye witnesses have recanted their testimony. And one of the remaining witnesses is a probable suspect.

  Let me state also, the death of Mark Allen MacPhail, was a tragic event…and my sympathy goes out to his family. However executing the wrong person…is not justice…it is wrong.

 At this time I am asking for your signature on one of many online petitions, stating that his voice deserves to be heard. Please do not sign if you believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that Troy Davis is guilty, but if you question the verdict, AT ALL…please join us in this cause.

http://www.change.org/petitions/7-of-9-witnesses-say-my-brother-is-innocent-stop-troy-davis-execution-on-sep-21