Many major things happened last week that put me at a loss of words. First, Roy Moore was defeated by Doug Jones to be the first Democrat elected to the US Senate in 25 years in the state of Alabama. Second, the FCC reversed the net neutrality or as some may say internet equality. Then, the CDC, the Center for Disease Control received a list of words they are no longer able to use in budget documents. The list of forbidden words includes: vulnerable, entitlement, diversity, transgender, fetus, evidence based and science-based. Finally, it looks like there is a deal…
Author: Thomas Sheffield
Last week, President Trump made a speech in the opening of the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum in Jackson Mississippi. Normally, a visit from a sitting United States President would be considered appropriate. However, this president who has been so decisive and has yet to unite Americans on any civil rights issues. Mississippi is home to some of the greatest leaders of the 20th century. Medgar Evers, Fannie Lou Hamer and James Merideth are some I bet he knows little or nothing about. The President’s actions against civil rights since his “election,” leaves most to believe he doesn’t know or care…
We should consider 2017 over. It is a wrap. Time for us to prepare for 2018. It is time to consider what our goals and aspirations are for the new year. How can we capitalize on our assets and use those assets to our advantage in the new year? What are the trends for the up coming year? What can we do to be prepared to make more power moves? I dare say, we already have the answer, we just need to execute an action plan to make things happen. Now is a great time to sit down with your…
Last week I asked you to join the movement across the country to boycott Black Friday. I discussed options available to us to support local minority owned businesses and offered an option to open an account in a black owned bank. If you would like help finding a black bank near you, please visit blackoutcoalition.org. There is a map that shows minority own banks and credit unions available throughout the country. If you are not able to support any of these local banks, there is a national bank that is FDIC insured and you are able to open an account…
In two words, Hell Yes!!! We made a powerful statement last year. We need to do this every year as a community to flex our economic muscles. The aim is to block large retailers on one of the country’s biggest shopping days of the year. We have an opportunity to take a stand in the fight for economic freedom, environmental justice and equal human rights. This time of year, is a wonderful time for us to amplify our voices against the injustices done to the members of our community. We can save our money, spend it at minority owned businesses…
White flight is the term used to describe how the white middle class left the inner cities to live in the suburbs. This happened in the 1950’s and 60’s after the segregation laws changed in our country. As a result, many of the buildings became condemned and jobs in the inner city left. Property values declined and tax revenue in the city declined. Many of the city services and social programs were then cut. This left the inner city and the people that lived there in a horrible condition. Currently, there is a new vitalization happening in our inner cities. …
Will making Trump’s America great again cost America it’s leadership role in the world? It appears we are seeing this in the world of solar energy generation. China is the leader in renewable energy growth. According to the International Energy Agency, China installed more than 34 gigawatts of solar capacity in 2016 and by June of this year, they were poised to add another 8 gigawatts. To put this in perspective, a gigawatt is enough energy for about 700,000 homes. That is power not generated by fossil fuels. That is power that does not contribute to the CO2 count that…
You have the power to make changes. Change requires action. Fannie Lou Hamer, whose 100th birthday was last week, said: “You can pray until you faint. But if you don’t get up and try to do something, God is not going to put it in your lap”. A change needs to happen when it comes to the gun laws and gun violence in our society. I am calling out our representatives and their need to make drastic changes in gun laws. Our President is so consumed with Russia, North Korea and the repeal of everything Obama. The number of…
We live in an era of high anxiety. We are anxious about our health, our jobs, our kids, our money, our friends, our churches, our relationships, our climate, our environment, and so many other things. We are bombarded by news stories and events that add to our anxiety. Living a long sustainable life requires us to live free of anxiety. When you become mentally and spiritually conscious, having an anxiety riddled mind becomes a thing of the past. One could blame society because of the lack of opportunity and progress. We are forced to work 2-3 jobs just…
When I leave for work in the morning, I make sure I have the essentials and over the years, the list has gotten longer. Keys, wallet, cellphone, glasses, medicine, work id and I am out the door. I am ready to go and no matter what, I have the essentials I need to make it through the day. I am sure you go through the same kind of “body check” daily. Let’s take this a step further. Things can change in an instant and we all need to be prepared when they do. We have seen more severe storms recently…