Page 5 - Florida Senttinel 7-9-19

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Domestic Violence
“And he hit her in the mouth with a rusty iron pipe, ripping to shreds the tenderness that they shared but seconds ago. And yet, it was not blood she shed, but love . . .”
hese lines were the
beginning of a poem,
“A Tampa Love Song”
about a love affair that went sour between a Black couple, Deanne and Arthur Lee, and what Arthur Lee actu- ally did in order to wreak vengeance on the woman he so-called loved. The poem was taken from a real-life sit- uation. Indeed, many poems and love songs describe the violence and destruction in relationships that we too often witness in the name of “love.”
No doubt, we shudder every time we print an article about domestic violence among our people. Some- times, men and women claim ownership of each other which leads to shootings, stabbings, and beatings when the “love” refuses to follow demands of the other part- ner.
Consequently, we need to have some honest and coura- geous conversations with our children about healthy male- female relationships, espe- cially since many teenagers engage in domestic violence and tend to hide it from their parents and peers.
More than 870,000 women were murdered, last year, and over half of them were killed by intimate part- ners or by family members. Black women were dispro- portionately among those women.
Men also suffer from do- mestic abuse, especially from verbal and emotional abuse and may be even more ashamed to seek professional help.
I remember when I was growing up, there was a man who we called Mr. Toby whose wife beat him every weekend when she became
drunk. His face and arms had multiple scars, which his wife had given him.
Finally, one Sunday after- noon, Mr. Toby’s wife stabbed him ten to fifteen times, killing him. You can imagine no one was surprised as to how the man died be- cause his wife had cut him time and again, before.
Some of the men in our community had tried vainly to get Mr. Toby to leave his wife and to go stay with his family members. He refused, simply claiming his love for her was too strong, and that her acts of violence were not malicious.
Right now there are men and women in abusive rela- tionships who cannot find the strength and courage to leave. Love is kind, gentle, re- spectful, patient, uplifting, does not dishonor others, is not easily angered, is eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, nourishes each other, keeps no record of wrongs, trusting, and encouraging of each other.
Love should make you happy not hurtful and make you both feel like kings and queens. By the way, there is domestic violence among LBTQ couples as well. Life is too short to spend part of your life living in hell on earth. When it’s right, Black love is sweet as blackberry jam and is waiting for you right around the corner.
We must stop killing and maiming each other because of what we call love. To begin the journey to self-love and healing as a community, I en- courage anyone who is in an abusive relationship to seek counseling and get out now, because it will only get worse if you stay.
If you have children and you stay, they will grow up and repeat the behavior they see as “normal.”
Remember the true story of Deanne and Arthur Lee.
COMTO Central Florida Chapter Hosts First Annual ‘Golfing For Scholars’ Tournament
The golf tournament will be held during COMTO’s 48th National Meeting and Train- ing Conference, July 12 - 16, 2019
The Central Florida Chapter of the Confer- ence of Minority Transportation Officials (COMTO) will host its first annual ‘Golfing for Scholars’ tournament on Saturday, July 13, 2019 at Saddlebrook Resort and Golf, Wesley Chapel, Florida.
COMTO is a national organization founded in 1971 at Howard University in Washington, D. C., that is a leading advocate for employ- ment diversity, inclusion and contracting op- portunities in the multi-modal, multi-billion-dollar transportation industry. Its mission is to eliminate barriers to maxi- mum participation for minority individuals, veterans, people with disabilities and certified minority women-owned and disadvantaged businesses through leadership training, pro- fessional development, scholarship and in- ternship funding, political advocacy, partnership building and networking oppor- tunities.
Proceeds from the golf tournament will be used to support the COMTO Central Florida Scholarship Fund. Registration for the tour- nament is from 6 a. m. to 7:45 a. m., on Satur- day and the Shot Gun Start is at 8 a. m., followed by an Awards Luncheon at 12:30 p. m. There is a registration fee.
Mr. Rufus “Jabo” Lewis, National Black Golf Hall of Fame member, will serve as honorary chairman of the tournament.
For more information about the golf tour- nament, contact Bill McCloud, Vice Chair- man of the golf tournament at (813) 841-5203 or bhmccloud@verizon.net and Vasti Amaro, Chairman of the golf tournament at (813) 682-9600 or vamaro@vastitransport. com.
“We are excited about our first annual Central Florida Chapter golf tournament and the opportunity to partner with the commu-
nity to raise money to award students attend- ing colleges that are interested in the trans- portation field at colleges in Central Florida,” said Carla Williams, President, of the COMTO Central Florida Chapter.
COMTO Central Florida is a dynamic, multi-modal transportation organization that provides leadership programs as well as advo- cacy services to businesses, members and communities within the Central Florida area including, but not limited to: Citrus, Her- nando, Hillsborough, Manatee, Hardee, High- lands, Polk, Pasco, Pinellas, Orange, Osceola, Seminole and Sarasota Counties, https://members.comtonational.org/page/co nferencehome.
Carla Williams, Manager of Community Relations for the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority (HART), is President of COMTO Central Florida, National Board of Directors Member and National Conference Chair.
RUFUS LEWIS
...Honorary Chairperson, Golf Tournament
T
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