Page 5 - Florida Sentinel 9-8-15 Edition

Editorials/Columns
FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN
(USPS 202-140)
2207 21st Avenue, Tampa Florida 33605 • (813) 248-1921 Published Every Tuesday and Friday By
FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHING Co., Member of National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA)
S. KAY ANDREWS, PUBLISHER
C. BLYTHE ANDREWS III, PRESIDENT/CONTROLLER ALLISON WELLS-CLEBERT, CFO
GWEN HAYES, EDITOR
IRIS HOLTON, CITY EDITOR
BETTY DAWKINS, ADVERTISING DIRECTOR HAROLD ADAMS, CIRCULATION MANAGER TOYNETTA COBB, PRODUCTION MANAGER LAVORA EDWARDS, CLASSIFIED MANAGER
Subscriptions-$44.00-6 Months Both Editions: $87.00-Per Year Both Editions.
Opinions expressed on editorial pages of this newspaper by Columnists or Guest Writers, do not necessarily reflect the editorial stance of The Florida Sentinel Bulletin or the Publisher.
The Game Of Life
“I can’t imagine a person becoming a success who doesn’t give this game of life everything he’s got.” Walter Cronkite
mpowered Greet-
ings. All across Amer- ica you can find devout fans cheering for their favorite football team. It doesn’t mat- ter if it’s Pop Warner, high school, college or a profes- sional league; people go to the extreme to represent their team. They buy team para- phernalia, dye their hair and paint their bodies just to let you know what team they are rooting for. The game of foot- ball presents many challenges for defensive and offensive players, coaches, managers and owners. However, the most successful teams have a keen understanding of the pros and cons of the game,
their opponents and the busi- ness side of the sport.
Well, as exciting as foot- ball is, I believe the game of life is more exciting, despite all of its challenges. I also be- lieve that, as fanatic as you are about your favorite sports team is how fanatic you should be about your life. If you’re not the number one fan of you, then who will be?
In life, just like in football, there are some basics about the game you must under- stand. You will have some good days and some bad days. You will win some and you will lose some. And there are some blows you’re going to have to take for the good of the team.
In life, just like football, you must have the right coach providing you with tips and strategies designed to help you be successful.
In life, just like football there are some drills and plays you must perform on a regular basis. The drills you practice and the plays you perform over and over again will determine your level of success.
In life, just like in football, you better scout out your op- ponents and recognize their schemes, plans, plots and traps they’ve set out against you, to get you off of your “A” game.
In life, just like in football you must determine the next play you need to make to score the winning goal in your life.
For help determining your next winning play connect with Selphenia at website: http://success- coachtowomen.com. To have Selphenia speak or train at your next event call or text (813)956-0185 Stay connected with Selphenia on social media.
Facebook: Selphenia Nichols Success Coach To Women Twitter: Selphe- nia Instagram: Selphenia
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)
The Parents Of American Labor
am the Negro bearing slavery’s scars . . .I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil . . .I am the worker sold to the ma- chine . . .I am the Negro, servant to you all . . .I helped
build the Woolworth Building . . .”
In 1935, poet Langston Hughes wrote these words in com-
memoration of the so-called immigrant labor (call it sacrifice if you will) that went into the pouring of the cement of Amer- ican society. In his poem, “Let America Be America Again,” he spoke passionately about a nation unique in its diversity and despite the savagery of its past, imbued with a beauty of destiny that, at its young age, even outshined the thousand years of Rome.
And as we celebrated yet another anniversary of that con- cept we call Labor Day, is it not right that we remember the blood, bone, and sinew that poor men, women, and children gave so that America could indeed, be the imperfect nation it is, today.
So, let’s talk about labor . . . Black labor beyond the orig- inal labor extended by the legacy of 11.2 million African slaves who found their way to American shores against their will. In 1976, the massive Negro Almanac: The African Amer- ican Bicentennial Edition reported, “In 1974, Black Ameri- cans comprised nearly 15% of the union membership in the united States – approximately three million of the nation’s 20 million union members.” It went on to state, “About one third of organized black workers were concentrated in the automobile, steel, and teamster unions.
The National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employ- ees had the highest proportion of Blacks in its membership, about 65,000 Blacks among its 100,000 members.”That was 50 years. One can only imagine the swell of those numbers here in the 21st century. Yes, Black Labor in America has come a long way. But lest we forget the sacrifice, remember Langston Hughes’ concluding question-and-answer, “Who made America? ME!”
Defending Black Lives
hen terrible things
happen, the natural tendency for most people is to look for someone to blame; a super villain that they can place on a most wanted poster. And, in the wake of several violent inci- dents that have been perpe- trated against police officers recently, more than a few members of the law enforce- ment community have come to the conclusion that the bad guys responsible are the orchestrators of the Black
Lives Matter Movement. The proactive and in-your- face approach of this youth led organization, that has grown considerably in struc- ture over the last 12 months, makes them a popular target for those who feel that the groups message stokes the flames of anti-police senti- ment. But the reality, that police agencies across the country are reluctant to ac- cept, is that what's been oc- curring has a lot more to do
with the actions of a few badge wearing rotten apples than it does with the chants of frustrated protestors.
It doesn't seem to register with the heads of these de- partments that the people championing the value of Black lives were the same people calling for peace dur- ing the chaos in cities like Ferguson and Baltimore. Their mission, as they've stated from the beginning, has never been to promote bloodshed. It is only to hold those who spill defenseless blood accountable.
Of course it's not a sur- prise that the group's image has been twisted to fit the "enemy" narrative. Through- out history the sight of Black people aggressively express- ing their discontent has al- ways been viewed as something threatening. America, in the role of the prototypical abuser, feels more comfortable when its victims suffer in silence.
The truth is that these in- dividuals, who feel the need to target cops for retribution, are, more than likely, turned off by the passive civil dis- obedience they see being dis- played on television by civil rights groups like Black Lives. While the source of their anger comes from wit- nessing the same images of injustice we've all seen in re- cent months, instead of marching and praying, they choose to express their pain in a more barbaric fashion.
Unfortunately, the very hard truth is that this current wave of violence being di- rected on law enforcement is the blow back of the negative energy that was created by a small contingency of individ- uals who decided to abuse their authority while refusing to respect the lives of the very people they swore an oath to serve and protect. It just so happens that Karma, upon its return, didn't necessarily feel the need to directly touch those who set it in motion.
Reality On Ice is © by the Florida Sentinel Bul- letin Publishing Com- pany. Anyone wishing to contact Clarence Barr can email him at: reality- onice@yahoo.com.
‘Black Lives Matter’ Is Not Racist
hroughout America’s history, every national organiza-
tion or movement that has evolved to promote or ad- vocate the rights and progress of African Americans has been opposed and/or vilified. From the NAACP and Urban League through today’s National Black Lives Matter (BLM), many whites (and certain Blacks) have attempted to paint these or- ganizations as racist.
Indeed, attempts to blame the Black Lives Matter move- ment for the recent killings of law enforcement officers throughout America are without any merit at all. Utilizing the irrational actions of a few mentally ill, angry, vengeful rogues who have killed white, Black, and Latino officers in order to taint the BLM movement as racist is nothing more than scapegoating.
In fact, data from the FBI Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted program, which tracks data on the deaths of officers who have been on duty, or acting in an of- ficial capacity while off duty reflects that more white offend- ers (52 percent) than Black (43 percent) offenders killed
officers between 1980 and 2013.
While Black Americans disproportionately accounted for nearly half of the fatalities while
comprising only 13% of the population, nearly 30% of the deaths were caused by offenders who were either mentally ill, under the influence of alcohol, or the influence of narcotics. Furthermore, deaths by accidents generally outnumber murders of police each year. More- over, the bulk of the deaths resulted from traffic pursuits, responding to domestic distur- bances or delivering search warrants.
At no time, however, has BLM officially sanctioned the indiscriminate attack or murder of law enforcement officers. Advocating for a stop to the indiscriminate killing of young Black people by police officers is, nevertheless, not racist. The truth is not rocket science.
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2015 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 5
E
I
T
W