This coming Sunday is the dedication of the new Martin Luther King, Jr., National Memorial on the National Mall.
It’s also the 48th anniversary of the March on Washington, when King gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech to the assembled thousands.

Praying for my President....

The Grio speaks well

Why conservatives ♥ celebrating the Confederacy

By Earl Ofari Hutchinson 8:52 AM on 08/01/2011

States rights and big government bias were all code words and phrases that pandered to the latent racial bigotry that is the solid underpinning of the enshrinement of Confederates by conservative southern whites. 

The GOP has served ample notice that it intends to do whatever it takes to fulfill its oft repeated vow to make President Obama a one term president. The shock troops of the Tea Party are not enough to make that happen. Though it was telling that a year ago officials from the Sons of Confederate Veterans in Virginia and Mississippi argued that the Confederate Army fought for the same things that the Tea Party is fighting for. Still the GOP will need the electoral votes of a unified, conservative white South now more than ever to oust Obama.

Governor Scott and probably one or two or more Southern GOP governors will figure out a way to pull the Confederate card out of the deck again and drop it on the political table before the national presidential election dust settles.

The Confederate card will serve the same function that it always has and that's to send the strong message that the white South doesn't just love its dead Confederate heroes. It loathes a moderate Democratic president and will do its bit to get him out of the White House. In other words, the South won't rise again. It never fell. Scott's and Florida's tout of six Confederate military vets is eternal proof of that.

A Way with Words....

A sharply divided Congress pursued rival budget plans on Monday that appeared unlikely to win broad support, pushing the United States closer to a ratings downgrade and debt default that would send shockwaves through global markets.

With an August 2 deadline little more than a week away, lawmakers have steadfastly refused to compromise and talks once again collapsed in acrimony at the weekend. Democrats and Republicans split into two camps to work on their own proposals.
Financial markets were uneasy in Asia and Europe on Monday about the prospect of a first-ever U.S. debt default, which Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke has said would be a  "calamitous outcome" for the U.S. and the global economy

They're still messin w/my President.....

Gone With the Wind nostalgia

 -- the idea that slaves lived worry-free and were benighted, childlike people who needed looking after -- may be fading. But the resilience of the whitewash is evident in costumed celebrations of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War and its Lost Cause. When I embarked on a journey of Confederate-heritage groups a few years ago, the descendants of slave owners all insisted, of course, that "their" ancestors treated slave property like "members of the family."

.........it wasn't outrage I felt but profound sadness as I realized that the history of this house, constructed in 1817, mirrors America's own -- with its lovingly preserved mansion alongside a crumbling slave house. It's a history of privilege and neglect.

The inhabitants of one building lived free lives in Lincoln County, N.C., in a home "known far and wide for its hospitality," the essay says. "A golden stream of prosperity flowed into the coffers of the fortunate owners of all this." They passed their good fortune down, something that was not possible for those who worked there, not for pay but for survival.

I am glad that the real estate ad mentions them, if only as a footnote. (To see the words "slave quarters" is jarring, but you can't exactly describe it as a guesthouse for the guests who couldn't leave.)

"This historic treasure, built in 1817, is a phenomenal estate that has very rich history. The historic mansion was designed by Henry Latrobe, designer of the U.S. Capitol building and the finest antebellum architecture. This historical landmark, on 70 acres, is complete with four bedrooms, 4 1/2 baths, a pool, cabana, tennis courts, chicken barns, two ponds, old smokehouse, slave quarters, two barns, potting shed and additional caretaker's home."

And it's located just "25 minutes north of uptown," the ad continues. That's uptown Charlotte, N.C., where, in little more than a year, Democratic Party delegates will nominate Barack Obama for a second term as president.

The real estate company didn't really need to repeat some version of the word "historic" three times when describing Ingleside, the home first occupied by Daniel Forney, a major in the War of 1812 and a member of Congress, as was his father. The majestic mansion, built from bricks made by -- as the essay in the agency's packet calls them -- his "toiling slaves," is as much a part of the history of the United States as its first black president. What a coincidence that the large drawing room mimics the East Room of the White House.

As I walked through a fraction of those 70 acres, the weight of that history -- as well as the July North Carolina heat, humidity and insects -- made me take refuge in the cool basement kitchen. I wish those who continue to misuse some romanticized version of slavery to gain modern-day political gain would take in the view from "the big house," as the real estate agent called it, past the dog pen to the wooden slave quarters, now abandoned to red wasps, archaeologists and historians.

Would that somehow prevent some from disgracing the memories of the men, women and children who lived and died in the "peculiar institution" whose legacy our country still struggles to own up to?

"After careful deliberation and wise insight and input from valued colleagues we deeply respect," reads one of those nonapology apologies from the Family Leader, the socially conservative group headed by Bob Vander Plaats, "we agree that the statement referencing children born into slavery can be misconstrued."

The "statement" that caused such a ruckus is in the preamble to a "marriage vow" signed by GOP presidential hopefuls Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum; it condemns pornography and same-sex marriage but finds a silver lining in slavery. That odious institution may have "had a disastrous impact on African-American families," it reads, "yet sadly a child born into slavery in 1860 was more likely to be raised by his mother and father in a two-parent household than was an African-American baby born after the election of the USA's first African-American President."

As many of those who have reacted in horror to the statement have said, America did not recognize the marriages of slaves, who were considered property. When, in defiance of that ban, men and women in the most brutal circumstances came together in love and started a family, it could be and was ripped apart on the auction block at their owners' whim and will.

This is what happened to my Great grandmother - Lucinda..... the very reason I can't trace my roots....

The notion that it was that very violation of every law of human decency that weakened African-American families was not acknowledged by the Family Leader. I will, however, give the group credit (the bad kind) for pointing out, to anyone who had not noticed, that President Barack Obama is African American as it floated the argument that -- in comparison -- he somehow makes slavery look good.

Mary C. Curtis, an award-winning Charlotte, N.C.-based journalist, is a contributor to The Root, Fox News Charlotte, NPR, Creative Loafing and the Nieman Watchdog blog. She was national correspondent for Politics Daily.

A Technical glitch.... a mistake.... he didn't mean it...

OK-- Old white Jo....and Ms Blondie Meka 


It lowers the level of discourse you are trying to transmit..... (uhm.... but I know your underneath feelings... good old white boys...)  We said it in jest.... (yep u always jest us niggers... don't u?)   Disrespect for the office.... (nope...its pure racist dislike for the man in the office.......   white house should be for white folks ONLY huh?)

And My Uncle Tom-Tom Harold Ford on the set with a bunch of white men.... (he's looking and talking on their level.... and if the mike is off....they will say they nigger is a dick!)  I don't blame Harold.... he's upright.... it's just par for the course in America!

I get angry... madder.... they all laughed.... white folk egged him on and laughed.... not an immediate apology at all......


Watching the video.... I did laugh.... because Halperin's body language shifted... he probably began to think of the money he'd loose....

A Straight Face....Pure White..... A... Dick....???

Halperin prefaced his remark by asking, "Are we on the seven-second delay?" It was a reference to a brief delay in a TV show transmission that allows a producer to silence an offending remark. MSNBC said the show was on a delay, but a producer pushed a wrong button and the remark went over the air.

MSNBC said Halperin, who is an editor at Time magazine and an NBC News contributor, is suspended indefinitely. Both the network and Halperin apologized to the president, and Halperin said in a statement he believed the network's actions against him were appropriate.

6-30-2011

NEW YORK (AP) -- An off-color remark about President Barack Obama on "Morning Joe" has led to the suspension of politician analyst Mark Halperin.

"I thought he was a d**k yesterday," Halperin said Thursday during a discussion about Obama's news conference on Wednesday.

Fourth Memories

Taking A Stand By Sitting-in With Clara Luper

Taking A Stand By Sitting-in With Clara Luper

A Friend to Oklahoma

Great Video to watch.....

She Will Rest in Peace ~ Clara Luper

And her works speak for her....

Rhythm stirs the artistic soul and our souls remain a reflection of our past.

Rhythm makes you move while the lyrics make you sit down and think.

Rhythm can make you laugh out loud and it can make you cry.

Rhythm of the Artistic Soul
An Eclectic Visual Art Collection of African Diaspora Music
The UBS LEAD 2011 Black History Month Art Exhibition                                                                   Rhythm of the Artistic Soul

Memorial Day ~ 2011

Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day because it was a time set aside to honor the nation's Civil War dead by decorating their graves. It was first widely observed on May 30, 1868, to honor the sacrifices of Civil War soldiers, by proclamation of General John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of former sailors and soldiers. On May 5, 1868, Logan declared in General Order No. 11 that:
The 30th of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet churchyard in the land. In this observance no form of ceremony is prescribed, but posts and comrades will in their own way arrange such fitting services and testimonials of respect as circumstances may permit.
During the first celebration of Decoration Day, General James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery, after which 5,000 participants helped to decorate the graves of the more than 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers buried in the cemetery.

Africa West African American Culture Festival

Africa West African American Culture Festival TravelOK.com - Oklahoma's Official Travel & Tourism Site

"The Weary Blues:"  by Langston Hughes

I got de weary blues
And I can't be satisfied.
Got de weary blues
And can't be satisfied.
I ain't happy no mo'
And I wish that I had died.

Today... I will post a thing of beauty....

 I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young.

I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep.

I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it.

I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln went 

    down to New Orleans, and I've seen its muddy bosom 

    turn all golden in the sunset.

"The Negro Speaks of Rivers," by Langston Hughes

Time until Tuesday, November 6, 2012 (Oklahoma City time)

 

532		days
12777		hours
766640		minutes
45998448		seconds

Alternative version

It is 532 days, 9 hours, 20 minutes, 48 seconds

until Tuesday, November 6, 2012 (Oklahoma City time)

Current time is

Monday, May 23, 2011 at 3:39:12 PM CDT (local time in Oklahoma City) 

This is Who I am..... right now !!!

Happy, sewing and at peace!

borrowing . . . .©2008-2011 All contents of this blog are the property of Susan E. McConnell. Please do not reprint text or photographs without prior written approval.

Dead and Gone...

Bin Laden

But ... continue to Pray... WE MUST!

And now, at the dawn of springtime, President Obama has secured the jewel in the crown of every American president since the defeat of Hitler in WWII: conquering the darkest evil this generation has ever experienced.

Obama has done more than demonstrate leadership, he has proven it