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Another Slap To Our Faces
his week the ABC televi-
sion network gave itself an enthusiastic pat on the back for installing a Black woman as the centerpiece of its popular dating show The Bachelorette. It will be the first time in the show's 13-year history that a woman of African descent has been selected to helm the pro- gram.
On the surface it's easy to view this new injection of flavor, into an otherwise bland recipe, as a bold step toward progress. But, in reality, the move was probably the easiest and safest play for the entertainment com- pany to make in an effort to paint itself as a champion of di- versity.
That is mainly because to much of the American viewing audience, having a Black woman fawned over and kissed on by a multitude of white men is no big
deal. Judging by the numerous commercials, print-ads and movies that have been produced around Black female/white male couplings this form of misce- genation seems to present the more palatable optics when it comes to interracial scenarios.
I think it goes without saying that if the situation were re- versed and a Black man was cast as The Bachelor (the male equivalent of The Bache- lorette which, ironically, has been around even longer) the energy surrounding the an- nouncement would have been a lot different.
I mean there's a reason why that franchise still hasn't at- tempted to "diversify" it's prem- ise.... America simply isn't ready.
This is the same country that was in an uproar two years ago about a Honey Nut Cherrios
commercial that showed a Black man having cereal poured onto his chest by his bi-racial child. Do you really believe it's ready to see a wealthy, handsome, suc- cessful, dark-skinned brother being lusted after by white women? Probably not.
Hollywood has a lot of hats that it feels comfortable allow- ing Black men to wear (criminal, athlete, comedian, homosexual, etc...), but an object of desire is definitely not one of them.
When it's all said and done the presence of a Black female Bachelorette will only serve as just the latest twist in a very old game. Because when her pool of suitors is narrowed down to the final two contestants jockeying for her love, and she chooses the white one over the Black one (You can just visualize that hap- pening right?), it will be a not- so-subtle shot fired from the other side signaling to brothers everywhere that, when it comes to what matters most, they're still winning.
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C. Blythe Andrews 1901-1977 (1945)
C. Blythe Andrews, Jr. 1930-2010 (1977)
A Week That Changed The World
nyone who knew anything about Carter G. Woodson
knew he loved good music, good humor, and well-pre- pared, down-home food. But, he was also a Man of Letters, lionized by both Black and white university circles.
So, what made him stop abruptly, gaze around, then pot- ter one of the greatest adventures in modern human history? What made this Black man almost single-handedly decide, then work to give life to a celebration that would be chris- tened Negro History Week?
No, not “Negro History Month,” but one week which was nervously granted to a not long ago liberated African Amer- ican people and accepted by a very skeptical White American public opinion in the year of 1926.
Under the auspices of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, his own brainchild, Dr. Woodson, was for many years the lone voice of any consequence in Black American history, seemed to climb a downhill moun- tain as he tried to build outside interest while amassing in- side information on the history of a recently freed and downtrodden people.
We can only imagine the response he received from a world that warned him Black Americans were an “infant race,” pulled from a continent of wild animals and backward human beings.
But, the Egyptian Pyramid called him, too, and the face of the mighty Sphinx with his thick lips whispered in Wood- son’s ear, “MAN, KNOW THYSELF.” And so he did.
This man who would be the “Johnny Appleseed” of a movement that would stretch worldwide, claimed February, and call itself “BLACK HISTORY MONTH,” made the world see what Langston Hughes meant when he sang, “I, too, am America.”
So, we thank you, Brother Carter G. Woodson, for helping to show the world just how beautiful we can be.
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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 5-A
Victory With No Limits
E
mpowered Greetings.
VICTORY WITH NO LIMTS, is what I am declaring this year. Every year I pray and ask God for a guiding theme for my life, ministry and business. The theme becomes a driving force to keep me moving in the right direction. Whenever I make key decisions in the areas of my life, ministry or business, I ask myself, "Is this going to cause me to experience..." what- ever my theme for the year is.
If I attend this event, accept this speaking engagement, serve on this committee, travel here or there, invest my time, money, expertise or other resources, etc. will this move me closer to man- ifesting my theme statement of declaration for the year. After prayer and consideration of this question, I make a decision.
Have you ever created a theme for your life, year, month, week or day?
The idea of creating a theme will become a valuable tool for
you to accomplish the things you set out to do. Your theme declaration should be something that grabs your attention and excites you to push forward.
Your declaration statement will not only inspire you, but it will grant a renewed meaning to your life. It will invigorate you to expand your personal viewpoint of how you engage with others. Your formalized theme will help you define what is of relative im- portance to you achieving your goals. Get rid of the time killers in your life, the energy draining people and non productive ac- tivities you encounter by devel- oping a governing theme for yourself. Then decide that if it doesn't fit, you must quit it!
My theme for the year is
VICTORY WITH NO LIM- ITS! Yes, this is my affirmation for me but I also attest this for those that are closely connected to me, be it family, friends, col- leagues, coaching clients or at- tendants at my events like the
Millionaires March Forth Busi- ness Conference that I hold every year on March 4th. I avow this on their behalf too because I'm not stingy. i love to help oth- ers get to their place of success and bring to past wins in their life, too.
So, I assert on their behalf and yours that, "It's time to ex- perience VICTORY WITH NO LIMITS in business." Make this year the year that your STRUG- GLES STOP! Learn how to gen- erate new streams of income by profiting from your passion, so that you have VICTORY WITH NO LIMITS in your finances. Join me in deciding that this year you will undertake a mis- sion to possess VICTORY WITH NO LIMTS in your family, faith, finances, health and other areas of your life that you want to overcome every obstacle that has tried to hold you back.
Visit my website and sign up for my FREE Success Made Simple E-Zine.
Website: www.success- coachtowomen.com Facebook: Selphenia Nichols Success Coach To
Women
Instagram: @Selphenia Twitter: @queenofsuc-
cess1
Minority Groups Bear Brunt Of National Budget Cuts
lack people, women, Hispanics, environmentalists,
Medicaid and Medicare recipients, artists, poets, lovers of the humanities, Black businesspersons, clean energy and Civil Rights advocates who voted for President Donald Trump may come to regret their votes pretty soon. Now that Mick Mulvaney has been confirmed as the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, major budget cuts and privatiza- tion of government entitlement programs that affect the aforementioned groups are likely to turn their worlds upside down.
Mulvaney and Speaker of the United States House of Rep- resentatives Paul Ryan have begun to push their budget cut- ting and debt reduction plan, which will impact nearly every American. Among the policies and cuts is one to increase the
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retirement age to 70, reducing Medicare benefits for wealthy recipients under age 55, and to partially privatize Medicare. Another policy to watch for is shifting Medicaid healthcare cov- erage for low income people to block grant programs for states, thereby reducing the Medi- caid allocations. It gets worse.
Among proposed budget cuts to reduce government spending by $10.5 trillion over the next 10 years are cuts to the following areas: Minority Business Development Agency (helps minority-owned businesses); Office of Community Oriented Policing (funds extra police per- sonnel to help improve policing), Office of Violence Against Women (reduction of domestic abuse, sexual assault, and dating violence); Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department (fights discrimination, protects voting rights, investigates police departments use of force, profiling etc.), and Legal Services Corporation (provides legal services for poor Americans).
Seemingly, the “Swamp in Washington” has been replaced by a pea hiding under three cups.