To Die Or Not to Die

I have been following the Troy Davis story for some time now. Living in Georgia, it has frequently been the topic of discussion on the local radio and news stations. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine we would be coming down to the final hours before his execution still pleading for a stay.
I cannot say what transpired the night the officer was killed 20 years ago, nor can I plead for Troy's innocence. But what I do know is that it is unconstitutional, not to mention immoral, to put a man to death when his guilt is doubtable. No one is asking for him to be freed tomorrow. We are simply asking for the new evidence to be considered and granted a new trial.
All my life, I have been pro choice and pro death penalty, but with the conditions that the person be undoubtably guilty. With an obviously flawed justice system, I see it is not possible to ride both sides of the fence. Therefore, I am officially against the death penalty. Until we can have a justice system who sees the facts and only the facts when considering applying the death penalty, I do not agree that it should be used at all.
What is being done with Troy Davis is uncontienable. I continue to pray for him, as well as those who continuously deny him the right to live. May God have mercy on their souls.

Dollars and Sense

What Is your self-worth? How much do you value yourself? While you may not know how to respond to such a question, how you allow others to treat you is a tell-tale sign of how little much you think of yourself. At times, we spend so much time taking care of others that we don't even care that we are not where we should be. A part of it is hoping for change.

Change is inevitable but groth is optional. That is my favorite quote. People change inevitably but do they ever grow. That is what really matters. If not, take a self-appraisal and determine how much you are actually worth.

Nigger Lane

For some reason we think things should be different in 2011 than it was in 1961. We are now allowed to sit in the front of the bus, use the same bathrooms, drink from the same fountains and attend the same schools but things are NOT different. Some people wonder why but I know why. Hatred is taught not inherited. The same kids who threw bottles at Negros African American students being bussed into "white schools" are now old bigots who fill their children the same narrow-minded thoughts of hate. With that said, hate is not something that will go away. It is something that will transcend from generation to generation and infiltrate the minds of those not strong enough to differentiate what they are taught from what makes sense.

So what do we do, you ask? You keep on pushing. We cannot change everyone but we can't turn a blind eye to something that is there. Regardless of what we achieve and how much money we are worth, one thing will never change: we are BLACK. They hate us because we are black, so let's give them another reason to hate us. A positive one at that. They claim illegal immigrants are taking all the jobs so they have laws passed to have them sent back where they came from. What are they going to do to us when we take all the jobs, send us back to Africa???

Educate yourselves! While a standard education (K through 12th grade) is a requirement, college is not. That does not mean you should stop learning there. I've heard if you want to hide anything from a black person, put it in a book. READ! Self-education is better than anything you are taught in a classroom.

This post was inspired in its entirety by Parmenter Truck Shop in upstate NY. One of our tractor trailers broke down there yesterday and when they faxed over our invoice, our address was listed as "Nigger Lane". This was my first personal experience with racism. It was shocking at first but I figured the best way to deal with it would be to bring awareness. To help open someone else's eyes...