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As I stood holding family members of Zurana Horton this week, my tears turned to anger as I replayed the imagery in my mind of the mother of 12 being gunned down as she used herself as a shield from the bullets that were flying at the kids being let out of school in Brownsville, Brooklyn.
Here I was in the home of a mother who had already lost two other children to gun violence and now she had to raise grandchildren that would surely be forever scarred by the brutal gun violence that took their mother’s life. I looked around at photos of Zurana and thought about the state of emergency in the Black community and how we won’t turn each other in because it’s “working with the man,” but will instead allow our people to kill each other while our streets are the “Wild Wild West.” I lost my son’s father to gun violence 10-years-ago and I’m so tired of watching more innocent victims like him and Zurana get their lives cut short. Thankfully an arrest has been made in this case but that won’t bring Zurana’s life back.
National Action Network held a press conference and the media asked the same old questions: Whether the elected officials have been accountable and what more the community can do. It makes me want to vomit when I think about how we have to beg people to care about the loss of Black life, and then we have to beg the community to take care of itself and quit the taking of lives.
Why is it that we don’t know where these illegal guns are coming from? Why are we unable to get weapons off our streets? And why on earth is it so damn hard to get our politicians to do something about it?
If Zurana’s tragic death occurred on the upper east side of Manhattan and not Brownsville, Brooklyn, you better believe elected officials and those in power would be singing a different tune. If young white men and women were dropping like flies from bullets in their neighborhood, I can guarantee you all of society would come to a halt until some sort of resolution could be achieved. Now, some people may say that we in the Black community need to speak up and do something to protect ourselves. But after generations of systematically being put down, the post-traumatic slavery syndrome is still affecting us whereby we as a collective think we somehow don’t deserve better.
Well, I’m here to say it’s time we demand better. It is nothing short of a travesty that we continue to watch men, women and children in our community get taken out by senseless violence on a daily basis. The simple act of picking up your children from school should not cost a person his/her life.
People keep people keep asking me why I continue to write about the issue of gun violence. The truth is, every single time someone dies from gun violence I feel like I’m living in the moment when I got the call that my son’s father was murdered, and they had found his body in the bushes where it had been for two weeks. I will never stop talking about the issue of gun violence and nor should we as a community until it ceases to exist.
Well, well, well. Like the old saying goes, “what’s done in the dark …
According to a tell-all book to be released this month, staunch Republican and former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin reportedly had a one-night stand with former Heat/Hornet/Laker brother Glenn Rice.
The book, entitled “The Rogue: Searching for the Real Sarah Palin” by Joe McGinniss, said that Palin and Rice met when she was a sports reporter for Anchorage TV station KTVV and Rice was a 6 ft. 8 forward at the University of Michigan.
The tryst occurred in 1987, and Tea Party Palin was described by a friend as the aggressor, with a pal reporting “she hauled his a** down.”
The book also reports that Palin was once seen snorting cocaine off the top of a 55-gallon drum while snowmobiling with friends as well as smoking pot with a professor.
The 230-page book is due in stores next week.
ARIES
Come on now what’s up, you got your freedom, what more could you want? Think smart Aries this is your month. Even though we are in “Mercury Retrograde” it is in the sign of “Leo” fire sign your cousin. So make the most of the next 3 weeks. You can turn things around now – to be benefit you greatly. Wishing you the best.
TAURUS
Let the stubborn ways go Taurus. It’s Summertime get out and enjoy. Spend a little money, with family and friends. It maybe hot, but your hotter right. Look for a better change in romance, or enhance your relationship. Love is in the air for you right now!
GEMINI
Stop trying to please everyone, and start with it’s all about me Gemini. Enjoy your self, you love the environment you have built for yourself. Work will be hectic for some these next few weeks. I could say hang in there, but I won’t because you know what time it is. New adventures await with you if your willing to try……………….
CANCER
Get it together Cancer, your weak side is over shadowing your intelligence. Please take care of your health this month. It seems there are many possibilities at this time for illnesses with you. Be cautious is to be wise. Get vitamins and plenty of rest daily. Your health is not only important to you but to other folks as well. Remember you are an anchor…
LEO
Just a quick note, it’s all about you boo! It your time, your birthday, your thing! Just remember to be cautious in words and speech. Fire signs have a tendency to speak first and think later. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
VIRGO
Your next – whoo hoo! Talking about shining all month. Gurlfriend/Boyfriend let it rip, you are on a mental, spiritual and physical high all month. Remember patience is a virtue. Your intelligence is really being called forth to assist, clean up, shut up, or move on……..yep that’s you all month.
LIBRA
Well look is strutting all around like you don’t stink. Karma can be a bytch! Did you not think that the lies, manipulation , deceit wouldn’t catch up with you – come one now. Make amends, apologize, and then forgive yourself, and move the hell on!!!
SCORPIO
Man can not eat just meat alone. You now have a seat at the table of life, what are you going to eat my dear? Decisions will have to be made. Your career will receive a boost this month, from a unknown source. It seems what ever that you touch seems to grow, like growing hands. So shall you flourish in your community efforts as well. Growing and expanding is where you will succeed this month.
SAGITARIUS
Again Fire sign – how will lead this month, Mr./Ms Sag? You have all the qualifications of a great leader, yet you sometimes lead with your heart on your sleeve and instead of logical deduction which is what you are good at. Communications this month will be your focal point. Lead rather than follow the norm, changes must be made.
CAPRICORN
Decisions have been made, now take the ball and run with it to your goal. Capricorn through your calculating, inspired, wisdom mind, you have brought forth light. That determination which is what has led you far and wide. Finances are greatly improved this month, enjoy go shopping and treat yourself.
AQUARIUS
Time to enjoy Mr./Ms Aquarius. Summer is still available for small trips out of town. Remember to watch your health during the Summertime, to easy to over eat at all those outdoor outings.
PISCES
Mercury Retrograde during this time, drains you mentally and physically. Please take vitamins and ample rest. The arena pose in front of you now is a lot of hard work all month. Learn to compromise more this month, it will pay off in the end believe me.
The criticism here is subtle. “All this statement does is guilt-trip,” Bennett says.
Depression sufferers may know intellectually that they have a good job and great family. Still, they’re unable to feel happy.
“They may end up wondering, ‘Am I just a spoiled brat?’” Bennett says.
Acknowledging that something’s wrong is often a relief.
“This lets the depressed person know that you can see [the problem] too,” Babcock says. “It’s not something imaginary.”
You’re also reminding them that you’re there to help.
8. “Wait and see how you feel tomorrow.”
That approach might have worked for Scarlett O’Hara. But depression that sticks around for weeks or months isn’t going to suddenly disappear when the sun comes up the next day. The sooner the person seeks treatment, the faster they can start feeling better.
Better to say: “There’s a lot of help out there.”
“Instill hope that there are effective treatments available,” Shadick says.
If this is the first time they’ve been depressed, offer to set up an appointment with their doctor, which can confirm or rule out medical causes for the symptoms.
Because deeply depressed people may be too demoralized to speak up for themselves, go with them on the first visit or call ahead to let the doctor know your concerns, Totten advises.
You can also suggest seeing a mental health professional if the other person is open to the idea. Search online and ask people you trust for referrals to clinics, psychologists or psychiatrists.
9. “It’s all up to you now.”
Depression is very treatable, but full recovery takes time, commitment and support.
Without helping hands, patients may be more likely to feel discouraged and give up when challenges arise, as they inevitably do.
Better to say: “Can I watch the kids while you go to your appointment?”
Or offer to help however you can.
“Be specific about how you see them returning to their old selves,” Bennett says. “That way, they have hard evidence that they’re coming back.”
For example, you might say: “It’s nice to hear you singing in the shower again.” Or you’ve noticed he’s eating better or flashing his beautiful smile.
Your words have tremendous power to help a loved one find help and stick with treatment. At every stage, one of the best things you can say is, “I’m on your side.”
Linda Wasmer Andrews is a freelance writer who specializes in health and psychology. She’s co-author of If Your Adolescent Has Depression or Bipolar Disorder: An Essential… (Oxford University Press).
Could You Be Depressed?
Depression affects 20 million people in any given year and is a serious enough disorder to compromise one’s ability to function normally day to day. Find out if you’re just blue or if you might be clinically depressed.
RIO DE JANEIRO — A gunman opened fire Thursday in a public elementary school in Rio de Janeiro, killing at least 11 children before taking his own life, officials said.
The victims were 10 girls between the ages of 12 and 14 and one boy, the O Globo news website in Rio de Janeiro reported.
The crime shocked Brazil, which had never seen such a mass shooting. President Dilma Rousseff wept when commenting on the incident during a speech to business leaders and requested a moment of silence for the victims.
“This type of crime is not characteristic of (our) country and therefore we are all … united in repudiating this act of violence,” she said.
The gunman, identified as Wellington Menezes de Oliveira, was a 23-year-old former student at the school.
Police said Oliveira entered the school carrying two guns and a suicide note. He told officials he was there to deliver a speech and then opened fire on students.
O Globo reported the gunman was shot by police in the leg and then killed himself with a shot to the head.
Officials told O Globo that 18 children were hospitalized after Thursday’s shooting.
The man left a letter explaining his actions, O Globo said, including a reference that he had contracted the AIDS virus. Other details were not immediately available.
Terrified parents rushed to the school and television images showed them crying and screaming for information about their children.
The number of victims changed during the course of the day but police now say 11 children died.
Three Teachers Mock Black History Month with Rodman, RuPaul and O.J. Black History Month has truly come to a close…and with what three white male teachers would call a “bang.” The school, which is 90% latino, was putting on a Black History Month parade where the children would carry pictures of famous African Americans. Well the bang those teachers were trying to make was in the form of Dennis Rodman (basketball player gone wild), RuPaul (drag queen of all drag queens), and O.J. Simpson (football player done lost his damn mind…acquitted of murdering his wife and her friend, yet still manages to land in jail for armed robbery). It appears that the teachers little jokey joke blew up in their faces. But, the only explosion was their jobs going up in flames. According to the Associated Press, the teachers have been removed from the classroom. But if the NAACP’s Los Angeles chapter president, Leon Jenkins, has anything to say about it, they will be fired. It all happened Friday at Wadsworth Avenue Elementary School in South Los Angeles. One of the parents, Sharon Tinson, told AP she was shocked to see O.J., but she “just laughed.” She has two daughters that attend the school. She also said, “Simpson, like Rodman, was a great athlete before falling from grace. RuPaul simply has an alternative lifestyle, she added.
Teach me to walk
Teach me to talk
TEACHERS
Teach me to learn
So I can earn
TEACHERS
Teach me to save
So I can behave
TEACHERS
Teach me life
So I’ll be all right
TEACHERS
Teach me to love
To always look above
TEACHERS
Teach me to teach
So I can preach
Higher ground is where I want to be
TEACHERS
You teach what you have to learn
TEACHERS
Teachers are on strike in different states across the nation. For various reason, pay, smaller
class size, less staff meetings, security, and of course teacher certification (updates).
Why is that the US is number 50 something in world education. We use to be in the top 20
for education. Now foreign countries China, Japan, Germany – excelled pass our children, almost
leaving our children in the mentally challenged state.
Somewhere along the line in history, USA forgot how important our teachers are. And how important
parental participation is. I mayn’t agree with all the teachers terms, but I do realize how important
they are to the children’s development. Teachers want to blame parents, and parents want to
blame teachers, in the mix the kids are the ones that are truly suffering. What about the kids damn it!
“Can we all get along”. When will we as nation put education first, how do we ever expect to lead
this nation to the next 10 years with educating our kids properly. A lot of parents do not have money
to send there kids to private schools, so now here we are public education at it’s worse.
Please support your Teachers, and let them know how important they are in your child’s development.
Go to PTA meetings and voice your concerns, stand-up for what you believe to be right. And
participate with your child or children’s learning process, don’t just leave their learning to the teachers,
you as a parent need to step up to the plate also. IT TAKES A VILLAGE TO RAISE A CHILD!
Thank you.
As I reminisce on the spankings my mother gave me as a child, I wonder if there could have been a better way. I remember the terror in my skull that emerged upon hearing the belt jingling as she walked down the steps, and I remember feeling that there was no purpose to the pain I felt whenever I did something wrong.
But then I think about my life.
I consider the fact that the sons of most of my mother’s friends didn’t do very much with their lives. Many of them are in prison, unemployed, or even dead. Starting as a 17-year-old single Mother in a housing project, my mother has raised a doctor, an Ivy league graduate and a university professor — not bad for a woman who allegedly “abused” her kids by spanking them.
I also think about the little kid that we all know in the supermarket. The boy who tells his mother what to do, throws boxes of cereal across the aisle when he doesn’t get what he wants, calls his mother names in public because she pissed him off. I think about his mother, feeling as helpless as a prison inmate, forced to live under the ruthless dictatorship of an angry 3 year old. I think about how this child wouldn’t have lived past the age of four if he were born and raised in my mother’s house.
Unfortunately, we’ve becoming a country that has forgotten that sometimes learning to respect authority is not a comfortable process. Parents need a credible threat to support their ability to effectively run their households. Spanking should not be the only way to maintain control, but it should certainly be a part of a good parental arsenal.
As it stands, our nation has an obesity problem, we are falling behind in education, and we are financially gluttonous. We’ve raised our kids to enjoy the spoils of excess and instant gratification. It only makes sense that in this kind of world, any kind of serious discipline is frowned upon, and parents feel the need to become best friends with their kids.
I’m not here to pretend to be an expert on parenting, but an examination of our parental outcomes might lead us to naturally conclude that strong, disciplined parenting is clearly a necessity. Whether spanking is a part of the plan or not is up to the individual. If your teenager is telling you what they will and won’t do or your 3-year-old is pulling rank on a regular basis, though, you might want to reconsider your options.
SIDEBAR:
I agree with the article but do question the point about abuse. Spanking is not abuse. Throwing a child out a two-story window because you are “fed-up” – is abuse, or hitting a child with a drink bottle because you are “fed-up” – is abuse. If parents wait for the “guv-ment” to raise their kids…I’ve only one question to ask them: Which “guv-ment” program do you know is or has been – successful?