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Killing For Face Time
obert Godwin Sr.,
never knew Joy Lane. But, in an ironic twist of fate, hers was the last name he would hear before his life was taken due to a senseless act of vio- lence.
At 74, there's no doubt that Godwin probably often won- dered how he would leave this Earth. In his sleep or sur- rounded by family were, most likely, his preferences. But I'm sure being gunned down on Easter Sunday, by a sucker-for- love with female problems, was a scenario that never crossed his mind.
Godwin had no idea that his fate was ultimately con- nected to the fact that Steve Stephens’ girlfriend had left him and that the emotional wreckage caused by this break- up would, ultimately, become his problem as well. How could he have known? These people were complete strangers to him?
Unfortunately, Godwin’s murder is simply the latest ex- ample of just how sick and twisted our society has become. It wasn't enough for Stephens to kill Godwin in cold blood. He had to make sure that there was an audience viewing this in- sane display of brutality on Facebook while he pulled the
trigger.
The scary part is that, as
heartless as Stephens’ actions were, his dastardly deed was only the latest incident involving the gruesome marriage between the macabre and social media. The live broadcasts of rapes, tor- tures, suicides and murders have, disturbingly, become a popular and common occur- rence in the world of "post shar- ings."
Each instance of despicable behavior seems to be directed towards ratcheting up the shock level. “Oh. He just shot an old man in the face. That’s ok. I'm about to kill three nuns and a puppy with a sledgehammer.”
The real craziness, on top of the idea that they’re occurring at all, is the fact that the individu- als engaging in these atrocities appear to be clueless about the repercussions of their actions. I mean, when did it become trendy to record blatant crimi- nal behavior? "I'm about to do something really stupid that will place me in prison for the rest of my life. Come watch."
What is even worse is that people are tuning into the live streaming of these events in hopes of seeing the gore fest first hand. They aren't calling the cops to report what's happening.
They're texting their friends so that they can get off on the car- nage as well.
What we're witnessing is like reality television on steroids. Who wants to watch fake fight- ing between Atlanta housewives or washed up former hip-hop celebrities when there's a chance to see some nut case blow his brains out inside of his garage?
Faces of Death videos in real time? How can anything on cable compete?
This is, arguably, the worst of narcissism, brutality and evil all coming to you through the click of a button. And it begs this question to be asked: Where ex- actly is this leading? If a senior citizen can't walk down the street without being killed in broad daylight, what does it mean for the rest of us?
This case, as unbelievably sad and surreal as it is, is only a symptom of a much larger ill- ness. And, until we're able to identify and treat whatever can- cer is making the world around us mentally unstable, it's simply a matter of time before the af- fliction reaches our own front doors. And at that point, like Godwin during his last seconds of life, we'll be the ones asking, "Why in the hell did this have to happen to me?"
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C. Blythe Andrews 1901-1977 (1945)
C. Blythe Andrews, Jr. 1930-2010 (1977)
Celebrate Earth Day 2017
ndeed, we’ve been blessed to live on beautiful planet Earth.
Yet, we continue to mistreat our blessing by destroying it
with polluted air -- by dumping dangerous chemicals and trash into its rivers, streams, and oceans. We have created an environment that causes animal and plant species to be- come extinct.
And live in denial that any of these behaviors have any- thing to do with an increase in extreme weather conditions; the transmission of infectious diseases, and increasing low crop yields.
Because Saturday, April 22nd is Earth Day and will be cel- ebrated in nearly 200 countries, we urge our readers to do their part in becoming good stewards of our water, air, plants, and animal resources.
As in most instances, of course, minorities, children, pregnant women, older adults, and low-income citizens are and will continue to be the most vulnerable to the effects of pollution, global warming, diseases, food shortage, and ex- treme weather conditions.
But this year’s Earth Day celebrations will focus on en- couraging individuals to make a personal commitment by contributing in developing a greener and more sustainable environment.
Making simple lifestyle changes such as switching to cleaner energy; recycling paper, plastics and aluminum; planting a tree; fixing leaky faucets and toilets; sharing morning and afternoon commutes; giving up bottled water; and setting up online bill paying can make a difference.
It is time we each play our part in restoring and protecting our planet!
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FRIDAY, APRIL 21, 2017 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 5-A
1863 Reconstruction And 2016 Deconstruction Parallels
PART II
ending budget cuts in-
clude employment to training programs, legal serv- ices, PELL grants and scholar- ships, home energy assistance, homeless and affordable home programs, inner city commu- nity development grants, train services and other safety nets – all widely used by Black Amer- icans. Thankfully, repeal of the Affordable Care Act failed.
Similarly, Reconstruction era Republicans had removed former Confederates from power, set up schools and churches to provide social serv-
ices and help educate Blacks, negotiated labor contracts for former slaves with landowners, established the Freedmen’s Bu- reau and pushed legislation that gave freed slaves citizen- ship rights. Under Republican leadership, Blacks and whites worked together to form the first public school system and charitable organizations as well as to secure voting rights for freed slaves.
Because the Civil War had ended and slaves had been freed, public support for Re- construction policies faded (very much like the loss of na- tional focus after desegrega-
tion) and Democrats who strongly opposed Reconstruc- tion regained control of the Congressional House of Repre- sentatives and began an era of the political, social, economic, and legal suppression of Blacks that lasted until the Civil Rights 1960s.
Yes, history has a way of re- peating itself. That is why it is important to teach our children our political history, which will help them to see the parallels when they arise. There is little doubt that the eight percent of us who voted for President Trump and the Republican- led Congress will come to re- gret our vote when the budget cuts, lying, Russiangate, and attacks on the Office of Govern- ment Ethics come to a close.
Yet, history has proven re- peatedly, when humanity re- fuses to recognize the Past, the ghosts of the Past too often be- come living demons of the present. Harrambee.
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Steve Stephens, Member Of A Secret Fraternity
or Steve Stephens, Hell Week ended less than a week ago
when, being chased by police, he took his own life thereby ending a horror which saw him senselessly murder a kindly senior citizen who was filmed by the assassin on Facebook as the elderly man pleaded for his life.
However, in the process of tracking the murderer down, several things came to light: Supposedly, he murdered 74- year-old Robert Godwin simply because Stephens’ lady friend had broken his heart; secondly and most chillingly, Stephens’ murder of Godwin was random.
These two truths (especially the second reality) are prem- ises that place 32-year-old Stephens as a prime candidate for inclusion in a unique and growing fraternity.
As are most fraternities and sororities, it is a secret or- ganization. Background check for inclusion for some begins literally during adolescence when certain attitudes are ob- served, followed, and often rewarded.
Leadership is valued in this fraternity, but not necessarily assertive leadership. Instead, passive-aggressiveness is what
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its members embrace. Being able to lead by lies and false pity rank high in this fraternity. Harshness, therefore, is confused for toughness; and abject selfishness is masqueraded as strength.
Consequently, in this fraternity, inflicting pain (whether physically, psychologically or spiritually) is a password with its own secret grip, wherein the only tears to be shed are the tears of being discovered.
So, before committing suicide, Stephens called a fraternity brother and apologized for let- ting the “frat” down.
But his real frat had nothing to do with Greek Letter tattoos. Instead, Stephens’ real fra- ternity could be summarized with one word: SOCIOPATH.