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Financial Independence
Empowered Greet- ings. As you prepare to celebrate Independence Day, let’s focus on your financial I- N-D-E-P-E-N-D-E-N-C-E. The traditional definition of financial independence is to possess sufficient personal wealth to live indefinitely, without having to actively
work for basic necessities.
A simpler contemporary definition of financial inde- pendence would be to have enough income to support yourself in the lifestyle you desire and have money left over. To be financially inde- pendent doesn’t mean that you’re rich. It means having enough and then some. So, what’s financially independ-
ent for you will be different than what it is for me.
Most people generally trade their time for money by working as an employee or running their own business on a day to day operation. Fi- nancially independent peo- ple, however, based on the traditional definition live off of accumulated personal wealth obtained from some means of passive income.
Passive income as defined by the Internal Revenue Service is income from rental real estate activity or trade or business activity which you do not materially participate. Examples would be income from rental property, royal- ties from a book, patent or
other intellectual property. Earning money from internet advertisements, annuities, dividends and interest from investments can also be viewed as passive income.
If you want to increase the possibility of obtaining fi- nancial independence, then work on increasing your pas- sive income and investments. Also, consider working on decreasing your expenses, as financial independence looks at how much revenue you have verses how much you’re spending.
Until next time, work on your financial independence. For to be financially free is a notion worth celebrating.
Stay connected through social media or call to get the help you need to succeed. 813-603- 0088. Facebook: Selphe- nia Nichols Success Coach To Women; Insta- gram: Selphenia; Twit- ter: queenofsuccess1.
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C. Blythe Andrews 1901-1977 (1945)
C. Blythe Andrews, Jr. 1930-2010 (1977)
Frederick Douglass, July 5, 1852
young man, never to be a man in the eyes of his Southern brothers, spoke with an Eastern Shore Maryland brogue in the Northern city of Rochester, New York. One day after July 4th in 1852, Frederick Bai- ley (not yet “Douglass,” which would be his adopted surname), stood on stiff legs before a mixed crowd of white abolitionists, Quakers, undecideds, and a fringe
of diehard slavery supporters.
He had been asked to address his audience on (of all
subjects) the celebratory subject of the impact of the Fourth of July. Staring uneasily into white eyes, this is what he said.
“He who could address this audience without a quailing sensation has stronger nerves than I have.” His audience laughed. But later, he would say, “For the present, is it enough to affirm the equal manhood of the Negro race? Is it not astonishing that, while we are plowing, planting, and reaping, using all kinds of me- chanical tools, erecting houses, constructing bridges, building ships, working in metals of brass, iron, cop- per, silver and gold; that, while we are reading, writing and cyphering, acting as clerks, merchants and secre- taries, having among us lawyers, doctors, ministers, poets, authors, editors, orators, and teachers; that while we are engaged in all manner of enterprises com- mon to other men, (and women) . . . living, moving, act- ing, thinking, planning, living in families as husbands, wives, and children, and above all, confessing and wor- shipping the Christian’s God, and looking hopefully for all and immortality beyond the grave, we are called upon to prove that we are (human)!”
The audience roared. More than 100 years later, its echo still fills the ancient hall wherein a 35-year-old Black runaway slave spoke not only for himself, but for the future of humanity.
This July 4th, we follow the tradition of celebrating the day America was born. And as we do, we remember Frederick Douglass and the day his words baptized a nation.
To Hillsborough County Commissioners White, Hagan, Murman and Crist:
How America, Germany And South Africa Handle Hate Symbols
o matter how you wrap
and decorate them, the Confederate flag, the Confed- erate battle flag, statues of Confederate generals and sol- diers, buildings named after the Confederate generals and soldiers all glorify treason and traitors to the United States.
These symbols and statues belong in a National Museum. Thus, four Hillsborough County commissioners voted recently to continue paying homage to hate and traitors when they voted against re- moving the Confederate sol- dier statue from in front of the old Hillsborough Courthouse.
Thank God, Mayor Bob Buckhorn and most City of Tampa Councilpersons under- stand the severity of the issue.
Currently, other cities and counties along with colleges and universities in the states of Kentucky, Louisiana, Mis- sissippi, Virginia, North Car- olina, Tennessee, and Florida have taken steps to remove Confederate flags and symbols from public property. Mean- while, Hillsborough County remains stuck in the mindsets of 1865 and Jim Crow.
When comparing how na- tions on a global scale handled memorials and hate symbols of the past that many people
today find offensive, America is left behind.
Germany, South Africa, the Ukraine, Spain, and Britain have all taken steps to ensure that ancestral victims of hate and their descendants are not emotionally assaulted when they visit government buildings and public places.
Here’s how these countries have protected victims of hate:
America ignored and/or glorified hate and treason of Confederate states against the United States and looked the other way while the Ku Klux Klan rekindled the Confeder- ate battle flag during Jim Crow, era of school integra- tion, and Civil Rights era, as a symbol of hate, murder, tor- ture, and enslavement of Black people.
Since the 1860s, the Con- federate battle flag, Confeder- ate flag, and Confederate statues have become part of state flags and have flown over state capitols, courthouses, governor’s mansions, and have graced the properties of public buildings, schools, col- leges, and courthouses.
In 1945, Germany tore down, removed, and chiseled the Nazi flag, swastikas, and the imperial eagle from all
buildings, statues and the monuments. It was made ille- gal for anyone in Germany to display Nazi flags and /or other symbols; or to publicly endorse Hitler and the Nazi Party; or to wear or publicly display Nazi symbols.
Violators can be impris- oned for up to three years and/or lose their right to vote. These symbols are allowed only if the symbols are por- trayed against Nazism. Nazi officials are buried in un- marked graves and Nazi sites of Hitler rallies have been torn down or allowed to decay naturally..
The Ukraine is removing statues of Vladimir Lenin and symbols of the country’s Soviet past.
In Spain, authorities in Madrid are removing street- names that commemorate Francisco Franco and are promoting the removal of Franco’s body from the Val- ley of the Fallen Monument.
South Africa is more like America when reviewing the status of post-apartheid race relations today.
However, when Apartheid ended in South Africa, a new flag was adopted to replace the Apartheid era flag; hate symbols of the ZOG, Volks- front and crew 1488 were re- moved, and hate speech laws ban hate and racist songs.
Consequently, America and four Hillsborough County Commissioners have a lot they can learn from other nations when it comes to hate sym- bols.
TUESDAY, JULY 4, 2017 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 5
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