My Sons... My Daughter

My thirty-three year old nephew posted this picture on his facebook page the other day along with this comment:

"This picture used to be in my house growing up. I really liked it then and I still do now. Shout out to the Pooh Bears in my life."

I have four nephews...sons.  They are gifts from my three siblings.  I gifted them with a niece...a daughter.  They are warm, loving, sensitive individuals...all of them.  They are responsible.  They are kind and caring.  They were the light in their grandparent's eyes.  They continue to make mine shine.  They give generous, unpretentious hugs and never leave me without pressing their soft warm lips upon my cheeks and reassuring me of their love.  They provide friendship and support to one another and have a strong understanding of what the word "family" means.  They struggle.  They work every day to meet mortgage and car payments and all the other financial obligations that come with daily life.  Like all of us, they try to make sense of their lives in this world on a daily basis.

I have four...sons.  They are gifts from my three siblings.  I gifted them with a daughter.  And, I cannot understand how it is reasonable for anyone to believe they are a physical threat to the extent that they would do them harm, physically, emotionally or spiritually.  But that is the argument which has been raised everywhere from the streets of New York City by the New York City Police Department, to a string of homicides from Trayvon Martin to  Sean Bell to Jonathan Kerrick to Renisha McBride. That is the argument they have been confronted with on vehicular stops.  That is the argument when they have been frisked in front of their dates. The argument is that by the very nature of their physical attributes--young, black with commanding physical presence--it is "reasonable" to believe they are a threat to society, should be viewed with suspicion, and handled accordingly.

I have four sons and a daughter...precious gifts.  And, everyday I pray for their survival and that their steps be guided and guarded.

Don't tell me you can't... Just Keep It Movin'

Today marks the 49th anniversary of the bombing of the 16th avenue Baptist Church.  Here's why that's important...

The Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham was used as a meeting-place for civil rights leaders such as Martin Luther King, Ralph David Abernathy and Fred Shutterworth. Tensions became high when the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and the Congress on Racial Equality (CORE) became involved in a campaign to register African American to vote in Birmingham.

On Sunday, 15th September, 1963, a white man was seen getting out of a white and turquoise Chevrolet car and placing a box under the steps of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. Soon afterwards, at 10.22 a.m., the bomb exploded killing Denise McNair (11), Addie Mae Collins (14), Carole Robertson (14) and Cynthia Wesley (14). The four girls had been attending Sunday school classes at the church. Twenty-three other people were also hurt by the blast.

A witness identified Robert Chambliss, a member of the Ku Klux Klan, as the man who placed the bomb under the steps of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. He was arrested and charged with murder and possessing a box of 122 sticks of dynamite without a permit. On 8th October, 1963, Chambliss was found not guilty of murder and received a hundred-dollar fine and a six-month jail sentence for having the dynamite.

The case was unsolved until Bill Baxley was elected attorney general of Alabama. He requested the original Federal Bureau of Investigation files on the case and discovered that the organization had accumulated a great deal of evidence against Chambliss that had not been used in the original trial.

In November, 1977 Chambliss was tried once again for the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing. Now aged 73, Chambliss was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment. Chambliss died in an Alabama prison on 29th October, 1985. 

On 17th May, 2000, the FBI announced that the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing had been carried out by the Ku Klux Klan splinter group, the Cahaba Boys. It was claimed that four men, Robert Chambliss, Herman Cash, Thomas Blanton and Bobby Cherry had been responsible for the crime. Cash was dead but Blanton and Cherry were arrested and Blanton has since been tried and convicted. Cherry was deemed unfit to stand trial.

Human Rights, Basic Dignity and Justice have not been easy roads.  But we put on our armour and we walk them anyway.  The obstacles become different and so we must remove them differently, BUT WE KEEP IT MOVIN'.  So as legal challenges are being mounted in the courts, we need to make sure that Senior Centers are being attended to so that our seniors can get their pass books (oops sorry, I mean voter ID).  We need to canvas our friends and neighbors to ensure they are registered and have the identification they need.  We need to talk to our young adults before they get to involved in their studies to make sure they have either registered to vote by mail; will be coming home to vote or have the proper identification to vote where they are.  And by the way, if you live in one of the 26 states that now require pass books (Darn, I mean voter IDs) you need to figure out what you need!  

The bottom line:  KEEP THIS TRAIN MOVIN' It's not only a responsibility, it's an obligation.

This Cannot Be True

One of the many things that I heard said last Saturday afternoon was: "At some point in the lives of these boys, someone is going to make fun of them because they love to sing." I was at the Holiday Concert of the Keystone Boy Choir and the words were spoken by their choir director. I cannot tell you how my heart broke. And every time I think about it, I ache again. I cannot imagine any sound more beautiful or angelic as a Boy Choir. They produce a resonance that makes the entire area around my heart vibrate. As I watched these boys and young men on Saturday, as there heads flew back and there mouths flew open; and they swayed and smiled and their eyes shone with the kind of light that only comes from pure joy. I could not imagine who would want to take that from somebody. And I hoped and prayed that they knew a precious it is to find that kind of love and would not ever give anyone the power to take it away.

I came to be at this particular concert because my nephew, Malachi was making his debut as an apprentice. I think that music in his life helps to complete him. We had our Malachi fan club there in body and spirit. And we held him up and celebrated. And then we went to dinner! As Malachi went on to do yet another performance.

If you're interested in learning more about the Keystone Boy Choir, check out there website here.

Enjoy this slide show of the performance. You will notice that I also have a fondness for pipe organs and stained glass windows. The women are from the Westminster Choir who sang an opening piece with the choir.