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Editorial/Columns
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Without Guns Danger Still Exists
t some point, I think
people are going to fi- nally begin to realize that it can't all be about the guns. Every time a mass shooting occurs, like the one that took place in Virginia Beach, Vir- ginia last Friday that sent 12 victims to their graves, the first thing that typically comes up in the aftermath is the topic of gun control.
For some reason, people are stuck on this notion that eliminating certain high cal- iber rifles will prevent these types of gruesome occurrences from happening. The question I've always wondered is, once these weapons are gone, what kind of plan do anti-gun advo- cates have in place that will be able to stop lunatics from find- ing alternative means to cause the same amount of carnage?
Calling for stricter gun laws is an easy and popular so- lution for people to get behind. But, the fact is, a gun, for all its destructive properties, is noth- ing more than a convenient tool for the average psy-
chopath. In the same way that a skilled handyman can make do without the perfect wrench at his disposal, a person who's hell bent on committing mur- der can also come up with dif- ferent methods to achieve the same goal.
The point is, America's problem isn't the availability of semi-automatic weapons. The real issue that this country seems reluctant to address or acknowledge is the high level of mental illness that exists.
With a culture preoccupied with materialism, peer-accep- tance, the pursuit of excess and vanity, people in this country seem to be cracking under the pressure of not being able to measure up to society's standards financially, physically or socially.
And, once one of these un- stable individuals feels as though he or she is being left behind in any of those cate- gories, the usual response is to hurt anyone within the imme- diate vicinity in an effort to make sure that the emotional
suffering is distributed equally.
The irony of this is that the overabundance that America enjoys as a whole also appears to be the catalyst for its own self destruction. The reason why less fortunate countries don't seem to be inflicted with this type of insane behavior isn't because they don't have access to guns, it's because the people in those nations are more focused on making sure that they have enough food to feed themselves on a daily basis, than they are about the kind of frivolities that we tend to become obsessed over.
With that being the case, unless there is some type of drastic change in our thinking and the way we approach life, that can effectively relieve the stress that causes people to lose their minds, it's hard to imagine us ever getting back to a place where unprovoked bloodshed, brutality and other senseless atrocities don't tran- spire on a regular basis.
Taking guns away may sound like a good idea in the- ory. But, in actuality, it would only succeed in making us more vulnerable while the cra- zies, those who live to make us miserable, would continue on their mission to do us harm by any means necessary.
Reality On Ice is © by the Florida Sentinel Bul- letin Publishing Company. You can contact Mr. Barr at: cbarronice@gmail.com.
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C. Blythe Andrews 1901-1977 (1945)
C. Blythe Andrews, Jr. 1930-2010 (1977)
Community Greets Reopened C. Blythe Andrews, Jr. Library
Sunday, at the rededication of the new C. Blythe A“ndrews, Jr. Public Library, the term “standing room only became an historical record. It would seem the en- tire Hillsborough County community turned out to welcome this newest addition of the Hillsborough County’s award-winning public library system. Seats were at a premium as guests poured into the newly-re- named C. Blythe Andrews, Jr. Library to be greeted warmly and individually by members of the Andrews family.
Speakers for the event included Florida Sentinel Bulletin Publisher, Kay Andrews Wells, who shared lit- tle-known facts about her father; and Kay’s brother and Sentinel President, C. Blythe Andrews, III, who shared a private-personal side of his father.
Speakers also included Hillsborough County Board of Commission Chairman Les Miller, Jr., surprise speaker Tampa icon Andre White, and newly-elected City of Tampa Mayor Jane Castor, who admitted she and C. Blythe, Jr., had never met during their lengthy professional careers.
To Mayor Castor’s honesty and warmth, we simply say the Sentinel will do everything in our power to rec- tify this relationship void in the coming years.
However, the most wonderful aspect of the rededi- cation was the library itself. An architectural work of art, not only does it remind us of the great libraries of the past, (Alexandria, Timbuktu, and Seville), but its technical promise as a modern repository of knowl- edge places it on par with the finest modern libraries in the world.
Moreover, C. Blythe Andrews, Jr. Library is unique as the home of the Florida Sentinel Newspaper pub- lishers and national leader Andrews’ archive, or as Hillsborough County Poet Laureate James E. Tokley penned it, “Call it C. Blythe Andrews’ House.”
Yet, most important and most enduring is the fact C. Blythe Andrews, Jr. Library is located in the Black community: East Tampa, which highlights the impor- tance of education for Black people. Therefore, we say, C. Blythe Andrews, Jr. Public Library, welcome home again.
tanding room only” is a figure of speech. But last
Kentucky Derby And Black History
e were excited to
have attended our first Kentucky Derby party hosted by History-With A Twist owner Sophia Cherry. Talk about classy, exciting, in- formative and fun! I also won and then lost on the first win-
ner, Maximum Security.
I had the opportunity to see the infamous Secretariat win the 1973 Preakness Stakes at the Pimlico Race Track out- side of Baltimore, while visit- ing my uncle and aunt, who were horse race fanatics. Of course, I was just happy to be
with family.
On May 4th, I was re-
minded of what was so special about a 2-to-3 minute race – the food, fun, fashions, cama- raderie, conversation, and friendship.
This year’s race was all of that and a learning experience about the history of the role of African American jockeys in
the Kentucky Derby. Each table featured a picture and bi- ography of a Black jockey, which stimulated table con- versation. Mrs. Cherry also shared facts about Blacks and the Derby during intermis- sions and fashion contests.
Black jockeys helped create the first Derby and were horse riding pioneers. Performing horse and other animal train- ing as slaves proved to be skills needed by the Derby. In fact, of the first jockeys who were Black, 13 of the 15 riders in the first Kentucky Derby were Black.
Many of the jockeys are now interred in a little known and poorly maintained ceme- tery in Lexington, Kentucky.
Among the family names in the cemetery are Lewis, Perkins, and Murphy.
James Winkfield and Oliver Lewis are among the well-known jockeys. In the
National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame,” Isaac Murphy was the first jockey to win the Kentucky Derby three times and the first Black jockey inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1955. Oliver Lewis was the winning jockey in the first Kentucky Derby in 1875, and was one of the 13 Black jockeys in the 15 horse race.
Like Black waiters and waitresses, a Black jockey is hard to find today, having vir- tually disappeared. James Winkfield was a two-time Kentucky Derby winner. He won both the 1901 and 1902 Kentucky Derbies back-to- back, one of only five jockeys to ever accomplish that feat.
The history of Black jock- eys was soiled by the racist way in which they were treated by white jockeys. . . being rid- den into and over the rails, called names, and whipped on their thighs, hands and faces. “Every day, a Black rider ended up in the dirt while rac- ing officials looked the other way.”
Unfortunately, Blacks have had to struggle to join and excel in every American sports. Let us hope this strug- gle will come to an end at least by the end of this century. Harambee.
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