Whitney Houston 1963 - 2012

A man without borders

Remembering Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

This year marks the 26th anniversary of the federal Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, first observed on January 20, 1986. Were he alive today (January 15), King would have celebrated his 83rd birthday. On this holiday weekend, millions of Americans are remembering the civil rights leader and human rights advocate.

King was a husband, a father, and a preacher. He was also the preeminent leader of a movement that continues to transform America and the world. One of the twentieth century's most influential men, he lived an extraordinary life.

To truly understand King, this writer believes that one should read his writings. Scholars and casual researchers can now gain access to these important jewels of history. Last January, for the first time, a major portion of King’s papers went public.

Computer access to the documents, which have been digitized and cataloged, are available at the Robert W. Woodruff Library of the Atlanta University Center. Click here to gain access the collection.

The documents include many of King’s speeches and personal writings from 1946 to 1968.
Journalists, historians, legislators and community leaders continue to examine whether King's appeal for peace with justice is as relevant today as it was when he was alive. A few years ago, an editorial in the Houston Chronicle attempted to place King's philosophy into present-day perspective. Here is an excerpt from the piece:

Although he rose to national prominence fighting racial segregation in the South, many of the issues roiling the United States 38 years after his assassination would be very familiar to Martin Luther King Jr.

Before his death, the Baptist minister had denounced America's involvement in the Vietnam War, a daring stance that fueled the growing opposition to the carnage in Southeast Asia. He was bitterly criticized in the media and by government officials for venturing beyond the sphere of civil rights, as if that were the only area in which he was entitled to an opinion.

With the country now split by the bloody, open-ended struggle in Iraq and by the mistaken justification for going to war, it's not hard to predict where King would stand on the matter.

Americans debate the revelation that their government is conducting warrantless surveillance of Americans inside the United States. King had plenty of experience on that score. He was relentlessly wiretapped and trailed by the FBI. Then FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover was convinced that King was a communist sympathizer.

Just as he stood with refuse workers in Memphis in the last days before an assassin's bullet struck him down, King would championed the dispossessed evacuees of Hurricane Katrina, potent symbols of a race-based economic underclass that persists as a legacy of slavery and discrimination. The New Orleans nightmare that Katrina exposed indicates that the vision King enunciated in his "I Have a Dream" speech is not yet realized.
Like his role model for nonviolent protest, Mohandas K. Gandhi, King grew to be a world figure by embracing universal humanitarian concerns that surmounted ethnicity and religion. As he once said, "Evil is not driven out, but crowded out ... through the expulsive power of something good."

That's why the celebration of his life today cannot be limited to a single community or issue. African-Americans are justly proud that he rose from their ranks, but his life is significant to all Americans.

It's been four decades since King's death in 1968. For years, many scholars have suggested that King faced the same fate that has befallen many a historical figure - being frozen in a moment in time that ignores the full complexity of the man and his message.

Three years ago, Barack Obama took over as the country's chief executive officer. Many believe that with this historic presidency came the "thawing" of the King legacy.



Tags: Martin Luther King, King Holiday, Civil Rights, Human Rights, Media by Sistrunk

New year, new start

He's not finished with you, either.  ;-)

From my household to yours, 

have a fantastic 2012!

Wishing you all the joys of Christmas

Remembering the Christmas miracle and the treasure of friendship

During this joyous season, I remember the prophesy of peace - and the reason for the season of Christmas. It is also a time to be thankful for friends.

A FRIENDSHIP PRAYER

Dear Lord,

Thank you for a special gift,

one that cannot be bought

for any amount of money.

Thank you for a gift wrapped in beauty,

that is wonderful in all seasons and times.

Thank you for a gift that is always near

in times of need

and brings great joy.

Thank you for the gift that sparkles

with freshness every day.

Thank you for my friend.

May I never take this gift for granted.

Amen.

(by John C. Maxwell)


MERRY CHRISTMAS! 

Two screens, one social life

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of LG DoublePlay™. All opinions are 100% mine.

 

I'm on the hunt for a new smartphone. Something that functional, capable of multitasking, and something with a little "heft" to it. While a touch screen isn't necessary, it would be nice to have it.  I just made an interesting find that's worth checking out -- the LG DoublePlay™.  This device, which is available exclusively by T-Mobile, includes:

 

• TWO touch screens you can customize
• Android 2.3 (Gingerbread)
• Pullout keyboard with large keys
• Wi-fi calling
• 5-megapixel camera with LED flash
• 720p HD video recorder
• Phone weight of 6.7 oz.
• Affordability
• 3.5-inch display

The second touch screen is designed to let you do two things at once -- surf the Web and send a text message, for instance. This touch screen is in the middle of the keyboard, something I've never seen before. It might take a little getting used to, but I'm certainly willing to try an Android that will make me work faster and smarter.

The Gingerbread, meanwhile, makes it possible for users to customize seven home screens and up to nine touchscreen shortcuts. One-touch navigation makes it easy.

Some people may complain about the weight of the phone, but I'm a little tough on wireless devices, so the weight is a plus for me. The high-quality camera and video recorder allow you to capture and share pictures and videos via messaging, email or social media (such as Facebook). When combining business and personal use, I easily spend five or more hours on social media sites each month. If you count blogging, it's more. A phone built for speed would be an asset to folks heavily involved in social networking.

I'm a mom who stays in touch with her kids via text messaging, so I expect good service delivery. I send out a few hundred texts messages each month. This wireless device offers several messaging options. This gives users the ability to send and receive messages from PCS and tablets. If you're really social (like my kids), you can also create group chats on the go. This phone seems to be built for speed, so I'd definitely check out how quickly (and efficiently) it delivers content.

All smartphones are not alike, so be sure to examine the specs on the LG DoublePlay™. In a recent review, Nicole Lee of CNET.com expressed concern for the pullout keyboard.

"The LG Doubleplay's quirky dual screen and split keyboard design is a little too strange for us," she wrote. "It's a hefty and bulky handset, and has poor battery life."

Still, for Lee, the bottom line is this: "The LG Doubleplay has excellent features for a midrange Android smartphone, but its bizarre design is not for everyone."

Based on what I've read and seen, the LG DoublePlay™ is at least worthy of a test drive. Check it out for yourself.

Now it's your turn. I'm interested in how you use smartphones.

1. How many hours do you spend texting or social networking on your phone?

2. How would the LG DoublePlay change the way you text or interact with social media?

Feel free to leave your answers in the comment section.

Remembering that infamous day

December 7 is the 70th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor by Japan.  Pearl Harbor survivors have met at the site every five years for four decades. But they're now in their 80s or 90s.  Many of the survivors aren't able to participate in a 70th reunion. Still, others have made every effort to report for one final roll call.
 
A few hundred survivors are expected to make the trip to Hawaii to recall the shocking air raid destroyed or heavily damaged 21 ships and 320 aircraft. The attack killed two-thousand, 390 people, wounded nearly 12-hundred others - and plunged the U.S. into World War II.


Related: Photos at About.com, Naval History Center

Tags: Pearl Harbor, World War II, Media by Sistrunk

Thanksgiving thoughts

I awoke this morning with devout
thanksgiving for my friends,
the old and the new.
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~

There is a special place in my heart
for my blogging buddies.
You have showered me with a generosity of spirit and
friendship that knows no boundaries.
I will never forget your kindness.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING