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Editorials/Columns
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Control Your Destiny
“Don’t count the days, make the days count.”
Muhammad Ali
mpowered Greetings.
Starting today make your days count by taking control over your destiny to success. Below are 8 reasons why you should control your destiny by controlling what you see and hear.
Reason 1: Because your eyes and ears are the gateway to your soul. Everything that you have ever seen or heard will af- fect, infect or have an effect on your thoughts, either con- sciously or unconsciously. Be it positive or negative.
Reason 2: What you think about longest in your life will be- come strongest in your life. It will be what drives and moti- vates you or what stagnates you. What you see and hear will im-
pact your thought processes. Be it positive or negative.
Reason 3: Your thoughts affect your heart and how you feel about things. Your mind ponders and causes you to med- itate on things. Be it positive or negative. These thoughts will in- cite certain feelings, be it good or bad.
Reason 4: What you feel will shape what you say. Matthew 15:18a says: “But those things which proceed out of the mouth came from the heart;” if you say something long enough, you will act on it. Be it positive or negative.
Reason 5: What you say will determine what you will do. Be it positive or negative.
Reason 6: Things you do over and over again become habits. Habits are recurrent, often unconscious patterns of behavior performed by you; or
customary manners or practices in your business or ministry. Be it positive or negative.
Reason 8: Your habits mold your character. Be it posi- tive or negative.
Reason 9: Your character will ultimately determine your destiny. Be it positive or nega- tive.
Control your destiny by stay- ing away from negative people, things and thoughts, as they will cause you to become stagnant. Being stagnant is to be motion- less; show little or no sign of ac- tivity or advancement; not developing or progressing; lack- ing vitality or briskness; slug- gish or dull. You are too GREAT to stagnate. So control your des- tiny, your thoughts and your life by choosing to watch and read positive things. Associate with positive people who speak posi- tive affirmations in your life, to encourage and empower you.
Feel free to call Selphe- nia to get the help you need to create the lifestyle and business you deserve on your destiny to success. Call or text 8-13-603-0088
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)
Farewell To A People’s Monsignor
e hated school, refused to study, and showed no re-
spect for authority. He broke curfew, slept late, skipped classes, and challenged his teachers on the days he did show up. Two different colleges expelled him. Said he of his madcap childhood mishaps, “I did not do a scrap of work. I was even told by a bishop that I should quit school and play professional football (soccer) – which is all the bishop said I was good for.”
Such were the self-sobering comments made by a man who would later become pastor for St. Peter Claver, a Black Catholic church, which he would lead for 2 years. Was he Black? No. Was he white? Not hardly. Monsignor Laurence Higgins was Irish, Northern Irish to be exact, once saying about ethnicity, “Where I come from, we Catholics are the minorities.” Now, you figure that out.
But when he made the change from juvenile delinquent to Catholic Diocese and was sent by his church to the United States and Tampa, proper, this Diocese “Dennis-the-Men- ace” set out not only to become a challenge for a generation of local bishops, but would become one of the most beloved and effective fighters for Civil Rights that America had ever known, befriending such names as Rev. Leon Lowry and Rev. Abe Brown.
Yes, Monsignor Higgins was Catholic, but he was no less Catholic than he was Baptist or Buddhist, Jewish, or Muslim. For, his real religion far outshined sectarianism, but em- braced a belief called Love of Mankind.
Did you ever meet the man . . . peer into his squinting eyes and get caught up in his infectious laughter? If you did, you’d know why a parishioner said of him, “He’s like a street saint. He knows how to connect with regular people. And by the time you leave him, you feel a closer connection to God.” No, Monsignor was never God, but the godliness within him shall be missed by those of us who from time to time sought his smile to get out of the cold.
His Only Crime Is Telling A True Story
hen it comes to the
way justice operates in America, I think it's time we stop buying into the long held concept that a person is inno- cent until proven guilty and begin recognizing the process as it actually plays out.... Guilty until a jury proves otherwise. And, even then, it should be noted that exoneration doesn't guarantee that an individual will escape the branding of accusa-
tion.
Such is the case for
writer/actor/director Nate Parker. On the eve of releasing his critically acclaimed motion picture Birth Of A Nation, a film that chronicles the exploits of Nat Turner and his 1831 slave rebellion, a story surfaced detailing Parker's involvement with a sexual assault that took place while he was a student at Penn State University back in 1999.
Even though Parker and his roommate, who was also a defendant in the case, were both acquitted of any wrong doing after a lengthy trial, the reported event allegedly threatens to tar- nish his reputation as a rising star. What is worse is that, ac- cording to media organizations, the explosive information could also place the release of his much hyped film in jeopardy.
The really sad part about
what's happening with Parker is that his entire career has the potential to become unraveled, not because he was convicted of a heinous act but, because of the judgmental nature of public opinion. It seems that, in this day and age, guilt or innocence no longer matters. Simply plac- ing one's self in a compromising position is enough to warrant condemnation and ostracizing.
On the surface Parker's sit- uation comes off as just another example of a person's past com- ing back to haunt them. But what I can't get out of my head is how orchestrated this sudden attack on his credibility appears.
I mean, Parker isn't some- one who recently came onto the scene. This is a man who's been in several high profile films over the years including The Great Debaters with Denzel Wash- ington and Red Tails directed by George Lucas. Knowing this, it makes me wonder why this rape revelation wasn't dis- covered sooner?
As a betting man I'm willing to wager that Mr. Parker isn't being berated solely for what he was accused of doing nearly 20 years ago. More than likely, the admonishing he's experiencing now is a direct result of how dangerous his current actions are being perceived.
I don't believe it's a stretch to
assume that there are powers behind the scene who aren't too happy with the idea of Parker deciding to tell the story of a prolific murderer of white slave plantation owners. In the wake of the recent killings of police officers across the country, by so-called "radicalized" Black men, the last thing they want re- leased into the public conscious- ness is a tale about an enslaved African who set out to free his people through violent means.
Parker's unforgivable in- fraction wasn't that he was ac- cused of rape. The mistake he's being punished for is being suc- cessful at bringing an historical account to light that the power structure wanted to remain in darkness.
This is typically how the ma- chine works though. 50 years ago they would have used a bul- let to teach Parker a lesson. Today the weapon of choice is character assassination.
If they succeed at destroying Parker their victory will be a warning, to any Black film- maker who dares to follow his lead, that stepping outside the boundaries of accepted Black stereotypes is strictly forbidden. Black minstrels are always wel- come. But Black revolutionar- ies? Never.
What happens to Parker from this point will either usher in a new age in Hollywood or mark its end before it even got started. For the sake of his story and those that are sure to fol- low, I just hope he finds a way to free his neck from the noose.
Reality On Ice is © by the Florida Sentinel Bul- letin Publishing Company. You can TEXT C.B., II, at (+18133080849).
A New Breed: Baby Boomer And Millenial Negroes
ast week, 20 heavily armed white supremacists (men
and women) carrying the Confederate flag and “White Lives Matter” signs invaded the Third Ward of Houston, Texas, a predominantly Black neighborhood. The group stood in front of the Houston, Texas NAACP office, claiming they were not there to start trouble (right?). If they think the “Make America Great Again” slogan by the Trump campaign means a return to the America of 1916, or even 1950, they cer- tainly need to rethink the meaning of that slogan.
Indeed, the Baby-Boomer and Millennial generations of Black Americans are nowhere near the generations of 1916 and 1950. White supremacists will not be able to burn crosses and attack Black people and biracial couples with the same impunity they did in bygone days. There are too many Korean, Viet Nam, Gulf War, Iraq and Afghanistan veterans (men and women) in Black neighborhoods who will fight to protect themselves and their homes.
Third Ward residents came out of their homes to peace- fully protest the supremacists in their neighborhoods.
According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s 2013
hate crime report, 5,922 single bias hate crime incidents were reported, and hate crimes based upon race accounted for nearly 50 percent (48.5%) of the attacks. Indeed, 20.8% of the crimes were based on sexual-orientation; 17.4% was based on religion; 11.1% was based on ethnicity, and the remaining two percent was based on disability, gender and gender identity.
Consequently, Baby-Boomers and Millennials loudly proclaim, “NEVER AGAIN!” (And they mean it, too).
TUESDAY, AUGUST 30, 2016 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 5
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