The Lion Of Zion

"Integration without preparation leads to frustration"
With this philosophy Rev. Leon Sullivan took on racism, injustice, and economic empowerment from Philadelphia to Cape Town. Sullivan's economic "Principles" and lobbying hit the South African government where it hurts, in the wallet.

Sullivan's intelligence and bravery impresses me beyond measure. If I can have half of the impact on a single person that Rev. Sullivan had on the globe, I will have "done good" as our grandmas say.

Rev. Sullivan is not a memory of the past, but an inspiration for the future.

Eddie Long

Bishop Long's message of "keep running" made me think, "When do we stop?" If we are constantly running from time are able to the time we have past, from the time we wake up to the time we sleep eternally, Do we ever get to rest? Then it dawned on me, the key is to run a race that you enjoy. If you are pursuing your passion, you will enjoy your run, live for it! Run the race you can win....run the race you want to win.

Obituary

I have done this exercise three times now, and it's always different and usually better. It's interesting to see how my goals change from year to year. And the funny thing is my career goals never change, but my life goals change. Once I never wanted to have children, then I defiantly wanted to have children, now I'm sort of indifferent. Once I had no husband, next he was a Pastor, now a politician.

Growth is such an important part of living. Every time I hear someone say, "so and so changed, I always stay true" or "what's the difference between 18 and 21" I think to myself, being stagnant and not experience growth is not something of which to be proud. If you are the same at 21 as you were at 18, what have you been doing for three years, how did you make your life and the world a better place.

Someone once told me to write down as many aspects of my life that I could think of and list the ways the improve the person I am; If they don't enhance my life get rid of them. This concept is deeply rooted in writing one's obituary and something by which I live.

I am a WoMAN !

I was elated to see an entity celebrating and admiring Dr. King's life, instead of mourning his death. So often we talk of Dr. King as if he was a dream. A heavenly being that drifted down to earth for a brief period and inspired us. Then was taken so suddenly leaving us with the memory of this dream of greatness and a great man we once had.

Dr. King had a dream that we would become our own dream. That we would stand up against oppression, walk in the foot steps of the Lord, and become the people, family, and community that we always wished we could be. The sanitation workers in Memphis bring this dream to fruition by standing up and proclaiming I AM A MAN. I will follow in their footsteps and proclaim I AM A WOMAN! But, I don't have to say this out loud. My education, my character, my friends and family will speak louder than my own words.

I hope we all will honor Dr. King's life (not his memory) every January, every April, and every day in our own way.

You should go to graduate school!

I was hoping Dr. Ronald L. Jackson would spend more time discussion graduate school options and fellowships, as opposed to simply advocating graduate school. Which raised the question for me, Are there really students in college presently who do not see the benefits of a graduate education? All of my friends plan to go to graduate school or have decided graduate school is not a good investment at this time in their life for their chosen career path.

I hope my classmates heed Dr. Jackson's words and consider all of their options before making life decisions. I personally, will take a closer look at all my options and do my research before I make a life-altering decision.

"Break Into the Music"

My experience at Break into the Music seemed to lack the excitement of the original Hip-Hop Summit. I felt as though the student body and organizers let low morale because this was not the event of yesteryear interfere with the event of today.



With that said, the session I attended that I enjoyed the most was "Media Solutions". The session consisted of an open discussion about the current state of the media, the images it presents, and how it can improve. Everyone present weighed in on how the media does a terrible job of representing black people, how BET sucks, etc, etc.



But, you know, I AM TIRED OF HAVING THIS CONVERSATION!!! If we all feel this way, we need to TAKE ACTION. If you do not like the programing on BET and in your opinion it's demeaning shows should be taken off of the air: DON'T WATCH IT or SPEAK UP! Write a letter to the network. Or even better, write a letter to the FCC; every letter they receive represents 5,000 viewers.



I have had enough of problems, I am ready for solutions. If your not part of the solution, your part of the precipitant.