My first blog

I actually just erased a blog that would have been very thought provoking, as Felicia's and Amaryah's blogs are but I figured we can save that for later. I want to blog about something comical, funny, exciting, etc. I think my first blog won't be about anything like that........And I was about to write something else, but that too got erased because it was getting to serious. I want my first blog to be light hearted and simple.

Ok I have a story to tell. I think its funny, but we will see how it turns out on a blog.

Ok so me and a bunch of my friends went to the beach. We didn't go anywhere spectacular, just a beach in Chicago. We get there after a long train ride and about a 2 mile walk. We sat for a while and hung out. At one point we decided to play volleyball, which is extremely difficult in the sand.

Ok here is where the story actually begins. Guys picture seeing a very attractive woman lying on her stomach. Picture walking closer and realiing that this woman is topless, tanning bareback. Sounds cool right. Well this is the exact picture I saw, but as I got even closer I realized that this woman was not a woman but a man.

You can imagine how sick I felt. But when it was all said and done you know it was a good laugh. Got nothing else to say. Next blog coming soon.

Bishop Jakes Hits Home

Bishop Jakes has a blog up on CNN, and its really quite excellent. An excerpt:

I have twin boys who are almost 30 years old now. But when they were very young, I was sitting with both of them in the predominantly white environment of my home in West Virginia talking about things fathers discuss with their sons. I shared with one of my sons, that when I was his age my skin tone was very much like his, very light. In a matter of fact way, I mentioned that as I got older, my skin darkened and changed to become much more like his brother’s skin, which was darker.

My son, whose skin tone was lighter, began to cry profusely. I was befuddled by his reaction, but when your 7-year-old is crying without a reason and you love him, you investigate it immediately! So I asked him why he was crying. He blurted out, “I don’t want to get blacker, Daddy!” He looked at me in total anguish and said something that left me astounded. He said, “Because if you are black they hate you more.” He cried so hard that I took him in my arms so that he couldn’t see that I too was shedding a tear or two, myself. I was hurt for both of my sons, and I was hurt with them.

Fourth of July Reflection

Each fourth of July I think about different things. When I was younger, the holiday meant little beyond seeing some sweet fireworks. As I grow older ( and wiser) I think about more and more things dealing with the holiday.

This holiday commemorates our freedom from England but each year I always think about what it means to other people. To the slaves, the fourth was just another day that pointed out the obvious hyprocrisy of white Americans. To Native Americans (or American Indians) it meant little since their freedom and many lives were lost for the white man's freedom. Even later, the fourth meant little to a segregated America.

What about today? Things are better, of course. But I still think many Americans don't enjoy freedom for various reasons, mainly the lack of opportunities. I find it absoutly frustrating when people are still tied to their jobs to make ends meet. Are we lacking true freedom because of our captialistic society? I heard a radio commerical asking for you to exercise your freedom by shopping at some store. So that's freedom? Being able to buy whatever I want? Well, ok. Then may seem find to many but personally I'm looking for more than that. Also really how can that be true when we are/were one of the richest countries in the world but we also have the highest number of suicides and other mental illnesses. So maybe we're wrong. Not that I in anyway know what's right, but it's just something I've had on my mind this fourth of july.

Anyone wanna ask why they were there in the first place?

Watching CNN (AC360) 07/01...

The story is told of a Caucasian male, Joe Horn, who some would call a hero. In the fall of 2007, Horn called 911 to report two men burglarizing his neighbor's home. After calling 911 for help and being instructed to stay in the house, Horn proceeded to shoot two (illegal) Hispanic Americans in the back as they were escaping. Surprisingly, a jury of his peers chose not to indict Horn for murder because his actions were protected under Texas (where the crime was committed) law. They call it the "Castle Clause"...

Read this carefully...
A Castle Doctrine... is an American legal concept derived from English Common Law, which designates one's place of residence (or, in some states, any place legally occupied, such as one's car or place of work) as a place in which one enjoys protection from illegal trespassing and violent attack. It then goes on to give a person the legal right to use deadly force to defend that place (his/her "castle"), and/or any other innocent persons legally inside it, from violent attack or an intrusion which may lead to violent attack... (Thanks, Wikipedia!)

How is it possible for the jury NOT to indict him? Unless the jury forgot the fact Mr. Horn's life was not being directly threatened by the burglars. Perhaps the jury did not acknowledge the fact that the burglars were not entering or escaping from Mr. Horn's "castle". Or maybe they neglected to remember that in the entire history of America (dare I say the world) property has never been valued more than human life: when is the last time anyone heard of the death penalty being administered for an act of burglary?

So... Mr. Horn lives freely, and is celebrated as a hero while two lives have been lost...

1.) What kind of country do we live in, wheree someone can be given a license to carry a gun and use it in this manner without consequence? What kind of country do we live in where two mens lives are disregarded and the life of a murderer is celebrated? What if every time someone "felt threatened" they were allowd to interpret the Castle Doctrine however they saw fit? What if everyone carried guns and chose to defend themselves as opposed to trusting in the powers and law forces we have established? The world would be a safer place, right?

2) I'm curious to know if the outcome would have been different had two white men been the burglars? I'm curious to know which races were represented on the jury of Mr. Horn's peers. For some reasons I can't help but smell a little racial injustice here. The news media has made this issue entirely about the castle clause and the right of American citizens to bear arms. But why is no one paying attention to the larger issues?

Why did no one ask why they were breaking-in in the first place? Don't get me wrong... I don't suggest that we defend someone committing a wrong in any situation. However, I do not suggest that we end the discussion by naming one party the "good guy" and the other party the "bad guy". If our fallen brothers were still alive, I'd love to ask then why they were driven to burglary to begin with?

Could it be because in the land of freedom and opportunity, they have been all but prohibited from obtaining citizenship and working legally? Could it be because the same people who yell for illegal immigrants to be deported are the same ones who secretly hire them to work for ridiculous wages? What if we could listen to the voices of our fallen brothers? Anyone want to ask why they were there in the first place? I didn't think so...

So, for now the murderer shall remain the victor and the illegal immigrants, the "bad guys".