I Remember The Day President John F. Kennedy Was Killed!

I Remember The Day That President John Kennedy Was Killed!

I Remember The Day President John Kennedy Was Killed!

The reason I put these three pictures here is that in the 1960's and 1970's black people put three pictures in their homes. They were of Jesus, Martin Luther King, Jr. and President John F. Kennedy.

 John Kennedy affected my life profoundly. He was in Houston the night before, not far from Prairie View College where I was Associate Professor of Music and we watched him on television. We were soooo proud.

The next day at noon, I was having lunch in Waller, Texas with faculty colleagues. Suddenly in the middle of lunch, I stopped dead in my tracks, left in my car and headed back to campus speeding at 85 miles an hour and I didn't know why.

Suddenly the music on the radio was interrupted with the news that the President had been shot. Tears started streaming from my eyes that I could hardly drive.

JFK was the first USA President to say publicly that it was wrong and unAmerican for a person to be discriminated against simply because he/she is a Negro.

A few weeks later he was killed.

When they announced in the white schools in Texas that the President had been killed, it was reported that the school children cheered.

Later the reporters tried to say that the children cheered because they said that the schools would be dismissed.

Yeah, right, my friends and I all said.

You see, I still had memories of only a few weeks earlier, as a voice professor, I had led two vans of students from Prairie View College to The University of Oklahoma in Norman to participate in a National Association of Singing Teachers voice competition. On the way, in Dallas, Texas, we tried to stop at a drive in restaurant for hamburgers to go. We were chased out of the parking lot by burly white men with axe handles shouting "Niggers!" "Niggers!"

Not one black person that I know from that era ever thought that President Kennedy' death was the result of the Mafia, or the Cubans, or the Communists as some postulated.

Oh No, for us it had a most familiar ring.

In the 1960's,

Throughout the South,  in the homes of black people, even in the poorest black sharecroppers shack, three pictures could be found:

 1. Jesus 

2. Martin  Luther King, Jr. and 

3. John F. Kennedy.

Something Wonderful Is About To Happen!

God's Grace!

I posted this picture of my mother holding me today, deliberately as a symbol of my great gratitude to them for giving birth to me at 7 am on the 7th day of that week in November, 77 years ago when I appeared here as their 7th born child. And the records say that I weighed 7 pounds.

After my oldest sister was born, my parents had two daughters, born between my oldest sister and my oldest brother who both died in infancy.

So, after I was born, the youngest of four brothers born in a row within five years after my sister. Then two more sisters were born making us "The Magnificent Seven" but I was still  the seventh born.

When I was born in 1936, my mother had heard about many mystical things surrounding the number seven. 

Once or twice when I was very young, and maybe she had caught me looking sad about something, she would tell me that I would always be "lucky" as she put it. She said there were an unusual collection of the number seven connected to my birth. She said it was nothing she had planned or had anything to do with. It was something, she said she couldn't help but notice. So, she deduced that it must have been divinely planned.

As described in Wilkepaedia, about the history of the superstitions related to the number seven:

 Almost all of us know that it is a number that is mentioned many times in the Bible. The number seven had its roots in ancient Jewish history, or B.C. times. 

Solomon knew of the Jewish view on the number seven, so he took seven years to build the temple in Jerusalem.

The Torah mentions that the Sabbatical , or holy year, occurred every seven years. 

Even the Israelites were told to march around the walls of Jericho seven times, and their enemies would be defeated.

This view of the number seven continued in the New Testament. 

A disciple asked Jesus, " How many times should we forgive our brethren? " Jesus replied, " 70 times 7". 

Even in the last book of the Bible, the number seven is mentioned on more than one occasion. Revelations 1:16 states," He had in his right hand seven stars." Also in Revelations, the number of seals is seven.

But beyond the Bible, we find the number seven in other religions and societies. The ancient Greeks considered the number seven to be lucky. They believed it to be the perfect number. 

The Arabs carried on this belief and built seven holy temples.The Goths made sure they worshiped the seven deities.

The Japanese also had seven gods. Even the Scottish Masons made sure the number seven had relevance in their rites, and their aprons were made with seven tassels on them.

The number seven even shows up in our country. Has anyone stopped to think why our country declared our independence from Britain during the seventh month? 

There are seven articles to the constitution. And the city of Washington D.C. was built on the 77th longitude. Well, I suppose that last one is a coincidence. I doubt our forefathers had maps with latitudes and longitudes figured into them.

The number seven is the Number that God chose to represent completeness. Seven means that something is whole, full complete or perfect in some cases. Biblical text says it took God seven days to create the earth. It takes seven days to complete a week

In almost every system of antiquity there are frequent references to the number seven.

The Pythagoreans called it the perfect number, 3 and 4, the triangle and the square, the perfect figures.

There were for instance seven ancient planets. The sun was the greatest planet of the ancient seven and next to the sun, the moon, changing in all its splendor every seventh day.

The Arabians had seven Holy Temples.

In Persian mysteries there were seven spacious caverns through which the aspirants had to pass.

The Goths had seven deities, as did the Romans, from whose names are derived our days of the week.

In Scriptural history there is a frequent recurrence to this number. E.g. in Revelation 1:16 -- "and He had in His right hand seven stars, " alluding to the seven churches of Asia. (The seven stars are depicted on a RWM's apron in the Scottish Constitution).

For Masons, King Solomon was seven years building the Temple. It was dedicated to the glory of God in the seventh month and the festival lasted seven days.

So, what is this "Good News"?

It is simply this: we are all connected!

I feel that God in His Grace chose these unusual combinations of this 77th birthday for me to share this simple truth .

My heart is overflowing already as I extravagantly proclaim my love and bathe myself in the synchronicities that abound so freely in my connections to all of you, that I can hardly contain them!

So, fasten your seat-belts, this may be a roller coaster ride for any of you who have ever been even in an insignificant relationship with me You may think your relationship with me is insignificant or casual; to you, maybe, but not to the cosmos. In the entire Cosmos ALL relationships are significant and WE ARE ALL CONNECTED.

I command you to take notice of this high achievement of grace and love that this cascades of sevens demand.

I command you to begin to take note: SOMETHING WONDERFUL HAS ALREADY BEGUN TO HAPPEN!

Look all around you people are AWAKENING! We are all awakening to the realization that we are all connected. We are among the first purveyors of this good news; and you all know it.

You have been commissioned as I have also been commissioned to 

SPREAD THIS JOY.

You will see it everywhere you go. 

Don't become distracted by some activity that may at first seem terrible.

Keep your eye on the big picture. 

Even the news channels on tv will report it. 

The movies coming out of Hollywood and other places all over the world will begin to report it. 

The music people will write and perform will report it. 

And the dances: My GOD!

Some people describe some dances as primitive, and they are right I'd they refer to the fact that dance was among the first means of artistic communication.

Those of you who really need verification of the truth I now share? You will each have unusual things happen to you in the next few weeks or even days after you read this. You will note these occurances to those closest to you. Then you will suddenly make the connection.

AHA, you will say and you will embrace this truth with all your heart if you  do not already.

I love you all. I am you; you are me

My "Hand-Up" For African Youth

My “Hand – Up” for African Youth

Hello, my name is Michael Gordon and I have developed a passion for African Youth. I am pictured here in the Volta Region of Ghana in West Africa. The spirit of these children seems not to be diminished by the poverty and fewer and fewer opportunities in Africa.

These young people for the most part study hard in school (when they have the chance to go to school) and strive to better themselves. In my many trips to Ghana I have tried to help individual students whom I have encountered. But, now, because of my own diminishing health and trying to survive on Social Security income, I need your help in continuing my “Ministry” in Africa.

This is “Paul”, whom I have made my son. I have been able to assist him with room and bard plus school fees all the way through secondary school and Central University in Accra. He graduated last year with a degree in Business Administration. He now wants to assist in developing a project to assure continued support of African Youth. With your help, we can begin a modest (at first), agricultural project that will provide jobs for the youth and export of unusual West African products. This is Moses (in the middle).

Moses is a homeless orphan who had been living in abandoned or unfinished buildings in my neighborhood in Accra. Eventually with my assistance, he attended the Kpando Vocational School in the Volta Region where he studied construction engineering. He just this week received his grade report after his graduation. He has finished with honors and qualifies to attend the prestigious Kumasi Polytechnic College. I have already secured for him housing with a minister and his family in Kumasi. I need your help in making his dream come true.

These are Michael, Jr, Thomas Apraku and me celebrating Thomas’ birthday in my home in Accra. Thomas lived in my home while he attended secondary school in Accra. He is now ready to attend the university. We are still trying to find the funds so that he can attend. His last surviving parent; his mother passed away a few months ago.

This is “Shambala”, my home I built in Accra Ghana to serve as a “bridge” between the USA and Africa. Many students and faculty members have resided there while studying about life in West Africa and developing understanding. A heart attack brought me back to the USA and the house is now being leased by a nice family there. Eventually, my plan was to develop Shambala into a hub of activity coordinating projects of assistance throughout West Africa, I cannot continue this Ministry alone. Want you help me with a modest donation? Please indicate whatever amount you can.

Wisdom House Online: Echoes of Dred Scott in the Oscar Grant verdict

Wisdom House Online: Echoes of Dred Scott in the Oscar Grant verdict

Death At A Funeral - Remake 2010 - Bambooozled

Definition:

defraud, fool

Synonyms:

bamboozle*, beat, beguile, bilk, bleed, bunco, burn, caboodle, chisel, con, cozen, crib, cross, deceive, defraud, delude, diddle, do a number on, do*, double-cross, double-deal, dupe, fast talk, finagle, fleece, flimflam, fudge, give bum steer, gouge, gyp, hoodwink, hose, jerk around, milk, mislead, pull one's leg, ream, rip off, rook, rope in, sandbag, scam, screw, shaft, short, shuck, skin, snow, stiff, sucker, swindle, take, take for a ride, take in, take out, trick, trim, two-time, victimize

This movie, with all of its unusual celebrities had me thinking I was going to sit and laugh and enjoy myself with my senior-rate ticket. I feel Bamboozled. The cheap laughs and outrageous slapstick with emphasis on bathroom , so called, humor was profane. Several times I had the impulse to walk out. It finally came when it seemed necessary for someone (Danny Glover, of all people) to poop on someone's hand. That was enough for me. I found my cane and ambled out of there as best as I could.

Yes. We Did!

The inauguration of Barack Obama as our 44th President was and is all about us.

Remembering Martin and Malcolm

Americans interested in justice should never celebrate Martin without giving equal place to Malcolm. We should not listen to Martin's "I Have a Dream" speech without also listening to Malcolm's answer in his "Message to the Grass Roots," "While King was having a dream," Malcolm said, "the rest of us Negroes are having a nightmare."

Without confronting the American nightmare that Malcolm bore witness to, we will never be able to create the beloved community articulated so well by Martin Luther King. How can we overcome racism if we do not admit how deeply this cancer is embedded in American history and culture? Malcolm, not Martin, is the best source for understanding racism and its consequences in America.

But the Afrocentric lovers of Malcolm must be reminded that destroying racism is not the only goal of the struggle for freedom. We blacks must be free not only for ourselves but also for others. On this point, Martin was right, and we must listen to his counsel. "All life is interrelated," he said. "All … are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly." Neither blacks nor whites or others can be what they ought to be until all realize their full potential.

Blacks must begin with Malcolm, that is, with a healthy regard for themselves-their history and culture as it stretches back to the continent of Africa. But we must not stop with Malcolm. To do so would stunt our growth and thus hinder the realization of our human potential. We must embrace Martin too, as passionately and lovingly as we embrace Malcolm. I know that such a demand will be difficult for many lovers of blackness. But Martin's vision of black people living together with all human beings as brothers and sisters is as important as Malcolm's vision of blacks living together as one. The human family is as important as the black family, because we either learn to live together with others, or we will perish together. We must choose life and not death.

To choose life means to see that racism is not the only contradiction affecting the quality of human life. There are other social evils just as harmful as racism. They include sexism, classism, heterosexism, and the wanton disregard of the earth.

Accenting Malcolm's and Martin's critique of racism is not enough. We also must criticize Malcolm and Martin for their failures, especially their blatant sexism, and their silence on homophobia in the black community and the larger society. If we are going to make a new future for ourselves with others, we will need to develop creative and self-critical leadership.

We must not deify Martin and Malcolm. They were only human beings with assets and liabilities like all of us. If we do not identify their weaknesses and seek to overcome them, then we will perpetuate them.

Let us, therefore, create an America-not just for Martin and Malcolm, or for whites and blacks but for Latinos, Indians, Middle Easterners and Asians and for women in all groups, for gay men and lesbians-for every people, every culture and every faith in this land.

When we can do that, we will have achieved the goal for which Martin, Malcolm, Barack and all freedom fighters have struggled; and we will be able to say what Martin said at the March on Washington, quoting a slave spiritual, "Free at last, free at last; thank God almighty, we are free at last."