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Editorials
Striving For Success
Divide And Conquer: Enough Already!
We noticed not long ago, what appeared to be a trend when Channel 8 flatly refused to meet with members of the NAACP, Tampa Organization of Black Affairs, and
several other groups regarding change that ended in re- duction of television airtime for two Black news anchor- men. Ignoring requests from these organizations to meet and discuss the issue, Channel 8 representatives chose then as now to meet only with the National Organization of Black Journalists instead.
Now just recently, news media have reported that the Hillsborough Organization for Progress is protesting the refusal of Mayor Bob Buckhorn to hold audience with them for the past four years.
Therefore, we encourage Black organizations that have missions that impact the Black communities to organize and form a roundtable that would refuse to allow the or- ganizations to be pitted against each other. Furthermore, organizing in such a manner would prevent government officials and businesses from “cherry-picking” organiza- tions with whom they want to meet.
Indeed, the “divide and conquer” and “crabs in a bucket” nonsense must not be allowed to infiltrate the Black Community and civic organizations. Instead, by working together the organizations will present a united front and will confirm the fact that no one organization can tackle all the problems plaguing our communities. Most certainly, organizing in this manner makes good, strategic sense.
America remains on fire. In Baltimore, another young Black man was gunned down by police. Eyewitnesses included a local TV news crew who swore the only thing
they saw the victim do was run.
In Lawrenceville, Georgia, a Black woman remained
critically ill due to an observably shaken deputy sheriff’s bullet. And in Rama, N.Y., four Black state parole officers, decked in flack-jackets and with ready identification, were detained and roughed up by Rampo police. The parole of- ficers and the federal government are suing.
Meanwhile, in the midst of this triple mayhem, which is only the tip of a dark and troubling iceberg, law enforce- ment agencies throughout America are scratching their heads as to what they should do to rectify a growing envi- ronment of police-public tragedy. With all due respect, we have the answers.
Tampa Police Department (TPD), Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO), remember what citizen Fred Hearns said at a recent meeting convened by Attorney Barry Cohen. Said Hearns, bring back Police-Community workshops, one of the most successful humanitarian ini- tiatives where police, deputy sheriffs, and the public met, broke bread together and discussed their unique similar- ities.
Furthermore, reinstate the Police-Community Review Board, but this time, give it teeth. Finally, make haste to outfit all police officers and deputies with body cameras, a true body armor that would save both lives and profes- sional reputations.
And to Federal Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), we make this statement: Seriously rethink your recent decision to dismantle your support for Police Human Diversity Training. It works. Ask the officers who participated in it. Tampa-Hillsborough County need not be Ferguson, or Baltimore. As we stated in an earlier edi- torial, all it takes is for you to open your eyes and listen. Lives will be saved if and when you do.
Striving for success without hard work is like trying to harvest where you haven’t planted.
~David Bly
Empowered greetings! There are no shortcuts to success. Whatever the meas- ure of success you want in life, it’s worth the work it takes to get it. Success doesn’t happen overnight. Companies, ministries and people build success through sweat equity, perseverance and hard work.
Most people will never witness the turbulence, feel
I have a question. At what age are men and women sup- posed to officially begin act- ing like adults?
I know that a person is considered legal at 18 and that the drinking age is 21 in most states. But at what point does childishness go away?
I ask because it seems that regardless of where you go or what class of people you’re around, you’re always going to run across fully grown in- dividuals who can’t seem to resolve a disagreement with- out resorting to violence, or name-calling. And now, with social media sites allowing people to interact more fre- quently than ever, the school yard antics are getting even worse.
Case in point. Not long ago a friend of mine de- scribed to me an incident she was involved in with her most recent ex-boyfriend who she claims “Blasted” her on her FaceBook page. She described to me in great de-
the hurt of failures or know the struggles of long, sleep- less nights and limited re- sources experienced by those that are deemed to be suc- cessful.
Although it may seem like a business or a person be- came an overnight wonder, there is more than likely, a sacrificial, behind the scenes story, that has led to their glory.
There is no true shortcut or overnight success. Any success secrets that anyone could ever give you only work if you work it. The operative word you need to focus on is work. I believe in the premise that hard work won’t kill you,
tail the things that he said and how she responded in turn. All, allegedly, in full view of the hundreds of peo- ple she says she befriended online.
When she was finished with her play-by-play of events she asked me what I thought about the way she handled the situation. And, without sugar coating my re- sponse, I told her it was the lamest story I heard in a long time.
I told her that, to be com- pletely honest, it was hard for me to determine who was the bigger idiot: him, for feel- ing like it was cool to lash out at a female in a public forum or her, being a nearly 40- year-old woman, lowering herself to the buffoonery by engaging in a senseless back- and-forth.
What I imagine each of these “grown-ups-in-train- ing” failed to realize is that there is no winner in a battle of mutually uncouth behav- ior. That is mainly because
because no one ever drowned in their own sweat. You must work at being
successful. You must work at being committed to your pas- sions. You must work with a laser precision and focus. You must work to have ac- tions that produce results. The results of your work will then produce success. If suc- cess didn’t involve work, more people would be achieving it. Now that you know there are no shortcuts to success, the question is, “Are you willing to do the work that will pay for your success?”
Attend one of my monthly free success semi- nars. Details at www.suc- cesscoachtowomen.com
Let’s stay connected.
Facebook: Selphenia Nichols
Instagram: Selphenia
Twitter: @queenof- success1
Email:selphenia@suc cesscoachtowomen.com
anyone watching would be hard pressed to identify the fool in the contest.
People often subscribe to the misconception that ad- dressing every perceived slight that comes their way expresses a high level of “badassness.” But the truth is that, sometimes, taking the higher road not only shows a great level of matu- rity, but also displays an in- credible amount of strength and control.
Not giving in to conflict doesn’t mean you’re weak. It just means you’re wise enough to understand that the breath you waste arguing over a petty issue could be put to better use.
Besides, nothing makes an ignorantly behaving person more upset than ignoring their temper tantrum. Once you leave the scene you can take comfort in knowing that there’s nothing you could have said that would have done more damage than what they do to themselves by self-destructing under the weight of uncontainable stu- pidity.
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.
Time To Grow Up
TPD, HCSO, Bring Back Diversity Training
MONDAY, MAY 11, 2015 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 5