Page 6 - Florida Sentinel 9-11-15 Edition

Editorials/Columns
FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN
(USPS 202-140)
2207 21st Avenue, Tampa Florida 33605 • (813) 248-1921 Published Every Tuesday and Friday By
FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHING Co., Member of National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA)
S. KAY ANDREWS, PUBLISHER
C. BLYTHE ANDREWS III, PRESIDENT/CONTROLLER ALLISON WELLS-CLEBERT, CFO
GWEN HAYES, EDITOR
IRIS HOLTON, CITY EDITOR
BETTY DAWKINS, ADVERTISING DIRECTOR HAROLD ADAMS, CIRCULATION MANAGER TOYNETTA COBB, PRODUCTION MANAGER LAVORA EDWARDS, CLASSIFIED MANAGER
Subscriptions-$44.00-6 Months Both Editions: $87.00-Per Year Both Editions.
Opinions expressed on editorial pages of this newspaper by Columnists or Guest Writers, do not necessarily reflect the editorial stance of The Florida Sentinel Bulletin or the Publisher.
Preventing Young Girls From Becoming Young Moms
few years ago Roy Hamilton sang a song wherein he said he had seen so many things, but he had never seen the wonders of a Mother’s Love. Think about it and really understand what goes into mak-
ing up a mother’s love.
We need to take a very seri-
ous look at ourselves as a race of people. In doing so,we me must rejoice in our strengths and work religiously to eliminate or minimize our weaknesses.
The motivation factor be- hind this self check and im- provement effort should be a Mother’s Love. Those of us who know about this kind of love will tell you that everything starts with a good Mom who relent- lessly loves her children.
I am aware that in this day and time we are still being ha- rassed by the evils of segregation and discrimination. These two devils make it hard for African Americans to rise above the poverty level. Now, I am not an Uncle Tom and I love Blacks, but cousin we have to stop with
all the excuses. Friends, that is getting old.
While I am not laying all the blame on young moms, I am putting most of the fault there. I don’t care what anybody says, a child’s good behavior starts at home with mom. For the most part, moms are very young and they can’t raise themselves, let alone children
Usually these moms had limited education, no job skills, no baby daddy; no special man who will help financially and quite often these moms are force to live in ghetto neighborhoods. They generally manage their limited money rather poorly.
Good parents answer yes to the question of do you know where your children are. Today with all these young moms, the question is do you know where your mom is. These young moms devote most of their time having themselves a grand ole good time.
A mom’s love is one that puts the child’s welfare ahead of their own. These parents who
make up the young moms gang vary in ages from 12 years up.
I ask what does a child that young know about a mom’s love or raising a child? I am talk- ing about young moms because the responsibility of raising the child usually falls to the young moms. The dads just disappear. It is alarming at the number of young Black boys who are run- ning loose in our streets, the number that are in prison, and the number who had a young mom.
I am not trying to berate or blame the troubles of the world on young moms. Let us be real. A large part of the problem rest with these ladies. The lack of a high school education, the drugs, the stealing and the killings are caused by children not being properly raised. This assumption does not apply to all young moms.
It is time we prevent poten- tial young moms from becoming young moms. Lobby school dis- tricts all over to mandate a six or nine week course that teaches young ladies all of the responsi- bilities of becoming a mother. It should be pointed out to them how they can keep themselves out of these situations. Let us try an intense learning program to prevent young girls from becom- ing young mothers. This could lower the rate of young mother any at same time lower our crime rate.
POSTMASTER: Send Address Change To: Florida Sentinel Bulletin,
P.O. Box 3363 Tampa, FL 33601 Periodical Postage Paid At Tampa, FL
C. Blythe Andrews 1901-1977 (1945)
C. Blythe Andrews, Jr. 1930-2010 (1977)
Coach Willie Taggart Gagged!
n case you didn’t read it or hear about it, this is what USF
Head Football Coach Willie Taggart said after one of his former players Elkino Watson, who was stabbed to death and another player, Desmond Horne, was critically wounded outside of an Ybor City night spot. Taggart ob- served, “Tampa is a great city with a lot of great places to go year round to have fun.” Then he concluded, “So, our guys are going to find other places to go have fun.”
Then he announced with the clearest conscience, “Ybor will not be one of them.” You would have thought he’d started World War III. It was as if lightning had struck 7th Avenue.
But hours later, Taggart got his hands smacked by USF Athletic Director Mark Harlan who said, “Earlier today, our football coach spoke out of emotion and in reaction to the tragic loss of Elkino Watson. . .”
This was before the athletic director had assured Ybor City’s business community, “I would like to make clear USF athletics have high regard for Ybor City and its cherished and historical place in our bay area community.”Forgive us USF Pres. Genshaft, but we do not believe that if USF Coach Taggart had been white, that USF Athletic Director Harlan, who is white, would have so quickly made the comments he made.
Words like “paternalism,” and “emasculation” come to mind as we try to imagine some other Ivy League athletic di- rector stepping in and snatching up the reins of mentorship as did Harlan in such a show of humanitarian and profes- sional disregard.
Ybor City businessmen contend an apology is due be- cause of the bad lights with which their businesses were painted. But we argue an even bigger apology is due to Willie Taggart by Mark Harlan for disrespect and unprofessional- ism, and from the Ybor City business community to Univer- sity athletes for not being responsible enough to maintain a safe consumer-haven. Coach Taggart did well to speak out. Ybor City and Director Harlan would do well to listen.
Go Bucs
ell here we are at the
beginning of another NFL season. And, I have to admit, just the idea of being able to watch football again on Sun- day's brings little tears of joy to
my eyes.
Seriously, I really don't know
how I survive the eight months I have to wait between the Super Bowl and opening day. Watch- ing basketball makes it tolerable for a minute. But then summer starts and those three months of baseball almost kill me every time. I mean can somebody please tell me why it takes a bat- ter and a pitcher 5 minutes of straightening their uniforms be- fore every pitch?
The next five months, though, make up the best and worse time of the year for me. I love it be- cause I get to watch my favorite sport 3 days a week not includ- ing college football on Satur- days. The downside is that it also means that, every weekend, I have to worry about my favorite team, The Tampa Bay Bucca- neers (yes I said the Tampa Bay Buccaneers), stinking up a sta- dium somewhere.
Until this day I can't really tell you why I ride so hard for this squad of loveable losers (I think it's because the first football jer-
seyIeverownedasakidwasa #42 Ricky Bell replica). But, like a crazy man in love with an abusive woman, every year I keep coming back for more pun- ishment.
Each time, regardless of how bad the draft or how terrible the coach, I try to convince myself that we have a chance. And in- evitably, when it's all said and done, I'm always left scratching my head, looking to the sky and asking "Why God? Why did You make me fall in love with these perennial bottom feeders?"
But I guess that's what being a real fan is all about. You stick with your team through good times and bad. I just hate that, for Buc fans like myself, the bad times are so much more plenti- ful.
I know it doesn't have to be this way. I could have easily done like so many other people I've known over the years and jumped onto the bandwagons of teams like the Patriots or the Seahawks. But there's one prob- lem. I have never been to Boston or Seattle.
I root for the Bucs because, for better or for worse, Tampa is my home. If I was from somewhere that didn't have a team then I could see adopting one. Unfor-
tunately, that's not the case. The Bucs represent my city. They represent for the entire Bay area. So, in a way, I feel a certain degree of obligation to
represent for them as well. They may be bums. But the thing is, they're my bums. Bums who I've been known to pass a few licks for when someone speaks disparagingly about
them in my presence.
Is my passion a little ex-
treme? Possibly. But after pulling for one team for 34+ years, I think I have a right to be a little over protective.
Hopefully this season, with the addition of Jameis Win- ston at quarterback, they can regain some degree of re- spectability. While a playoff berth may still be out of the question, after a horrendous 2 win season, I can't see us going anywhere but up.
To be honest, for the first time in probably a decade, I'm actually excited about the possi- bilities the future holds for my squad. And two days from now, I'll get to see signs of whether or not I can look forward to a year of jumping for joy or one that will have me constantly reaching for a box of Kleenex (a solemn return to the tears of sorrow).
Either way, this weekend marks the glorious return of football. And the only question I have for the rest of Buccaneer nation is, are you as ready for it as I am?
Anyone wishing to contact Clarence Barr can email him at: realityonice@ yahoo.com.
Ban Possession Of Dangerous Non-Native Animals
e wonder what will have to happen before posses-
sion of dangerous non-native species of animals by non-business citizens will become unlawful.
We have many unanswered questions regarding how “John Doe” citizen was able to acquire a venomous king cobra and keep it in a densely populated neighborhood? Was a license required to buy the snake? What regulations for housing the snake were in place to prevent its escape as required by licensed zoos?
Why aren’t there substantial fines and jail-time for pos- sessing deadly non-native animals? If someone or their pet is bitten and dies from the king cobra’s bite while it’s on the loose, will the owner face manslaughter or murder charges?
Most alarming is the question as to how many other pri- vate owners of cobras exist in America . . . Florida . . . Hills- borough County . . . Tampa? Given the problem we now have with Burmese pythons breeding in southern Florida swamps, we should have had a ban on possessing non-naïve
deadly animals years ago.
Therefore, we call upon our Florida legislators and congressional representatives to enact
strong laws that protect citizens from being endangered by the ownership of non-native dan- gerous animals by other citizens. First pythons, now king cobras: will tomorrow bring a black mamba, the world’s most deadly snake? If so, American politicians cannot say they weren’t warned.
A
I
W
W
PAGE 6-A FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2015