Page 5 - 5-19-15 Tuesday's Edition

Editorials
Don’t Delay, Act Now
Jeb Bush: To Be Or Not To Be?
No, it was not George Washington’s famous speech where he warned Americans against the political dangers they faced and must overcome if they were to
succeed as a Democracy.
Nor was it Dwight David Eisenhower’s brilliant warn-
ing to fellow Americans regarding the quiet danger of a military-industrial complex creeping like cancer through the gut of our nation.
Instead, it was Jeb Bush handing down a warning to potential American presidential supporters that in his opinion, the Barack Obama administration was guilty of “using coercive federal power” against its constituents who abstained from using certain contraceptives for re- ligious reasons.
But that’s not all he said. Said George Dubyuh’s baby brother, “There are consequences when you don’t genu- flect to the latest secular dogmas. And dogmas can be hard to keep up with.” But in this statement, audiences were baffled as to whether Jeb was taking another jab at his favorite Piñata (Pres. Obama), or whether he was in reality, referring to himself.
And therein lies the so-called conundrum for Mr. Bush. Because of his family heritage, he walks like a Re- publican-Conservative. But when he opens his mouth, he has a habit of sounding like a Liberal-Centralist, a very dangerous hiccup in these rhetorically diverse days.
Therefore, in a Republican presidential-contender race that is as congested as the NASCAR 500, the danger is not in collision. Simply put, the danger is a possibility of accidental oblivion where one too many contenders ends up sounding like someone else. Jeb Bush should consider giving a warning speech on that concept.
S o, former 2012 presidential candidate Mitt Romney is calling a June Summit of all Republican candidates for the 2016 presidential election. How interesting, espe- cially in view of the fact that Romney ran an expensive, yet, faulty campaign in 2012 that saw him barely cross
the finish line.
So, what can prospective winners learn from a loser?
Maybe, Mitt plans to tell them “how not to conduct a po- litical campaign,” especially if they tell lies or say any- thing they think voters want to hear, even if they don’t mean it.
Most frightening, however, is the fact that presidential candidate Senator Marco Rubio has surrounded himself with some of Mitt Romney’s top advisers and donors and has been mentored by Romney. Moreover, Rubio has signed up key 2012 Romney campaign officials to serve as his deputy campaign manager (Rich Beeson) and key strategist (Jim Merrill).
Furthermore, media critics forecasted that Rubio’s formal announcement of his candidacy will signal the im- mediate action of the pro-Rubio, independent Conserva- tive Solutions PAC to begin collecting unlimited donations for Rubio’s campaign.
We certainly hope Rubio will run a campaign that will be more professional, more issues and policy oriented, flip-flop less on key issues, and “cleaner” than the one led by Mitt “Money” Romney.
If Rubio learns nothing else from the Summit, he should learn that Romney is not the best political spar- ring partner. Or maybe, it isn’t Rubio’s expertise that needs exercise, but his ego that needs even further refin- ishing. If so, Mitt is his man.
Change your life today. Don’t gamble on the fu- ture, act now without delay.
~Simone De Beauvoir~
Empowered greetings. There are moments in life when you get time sensitive in- formation. You are told to ACT NOW! A delay in acting will cause you to miss a deadline or a valuable opportunity. As I read the quote below by Og- Mandino, I knew that I had to share it with the readers of this column.
I have pledged within my- self to post these words in a vis- ible place so that I can read them every day. I pray you do the same. Especially, during
Marc H. Morial President and CEO National Urban League
“Life for me ain't been no crystal stair. / It's had tacks in it, /And splinters, / And boards torn up, / And places with no carpet on the floor—Bare. / But all the time / I'se been a- climbin' on, / And reachin' landin's, / And turnin' corners, / And sometimes goin' in the dark / Where there ain't been no light. / So, boy, don't you turn back.”
~ Langston Hughes, “Mother to Son,” 1922
If you are disposed to using the Internet as your guide, a diploma will generally be de- scribed as the proof of your successful completion of a course of study, or the bestowal of an academic degree. Speak- ing from personal experience, I can tell you that diploma in your grasp, occupying a promi- nent space on a wall or waiting to be pressed into your eager hand is so much more than the sum of your years-long efforts to be where you are today. Your degree is a key that opens a new door, a new phase of life and a new set of challenges.
Your life’s journey—and its achievements—does not end here. Celebrate, because you’ve earned it; bask in your well- earned feeling of accomplish- ment today, because tomorrow you will find that there is much work to be done.
On the other side of that new door is a staircase, and that staircase may not be the kind fashioned from crystal
the seasons in your life when you feel like your dreams have no meaning, your plans are all unaccomplished goals and your life is a mission impossible. Tell yourself that despite what it looks like, I will ACT NOW!
“I will act now. I will act now. I will act now. Hence- forth, I will repeat these words each hour, each day, every day, until the words become as much a habit as my breathing, and the action which follows becomes as instinctive as the blinking of my eyelids.
With these words I can con- dition my mind to perform every action necessary for my success. I will act now. I will re- peat these words again, and again, and again.
with smooth, reliable, clear-cut steps. Obstacles may slow or impede your climb. There may be tacks, broken floorboards and torn up carpet that would trip, or at worst, defeat some- one without the training you have been so fortunate to at- tain. There is no shortcut here, no elevator, or bypassing of these difficult steps and turns. There is, however, the choice to apply the perseverance and commitment to excellence you have already shown in your higher education journey.
On the one hand, there is much to celebrate in our coun- try when it comes to academic achievement in African-Amer- ican communities. Today, we enjoy the highest high school graduation rates in history. More students of color are in college and dropout rates are at historic lows. But the wealth and unemployment gap be- tween Blacks and whites re- mains wide. While the Black unemployment rate has finally dipped into the single digits, it stubbornly remains more than twice as high as the jobless rate for whites. As our country’s economy continues to make steady gains after the debilitat- ing 2008 recession, millions in Black and Brown communities are being left behind. In this country—founded largely on the principle of economic progress through hard work— the American dream of upward mobility remains only a dream for too many of its citizens.
Your education, drive and diploma, may likely shield you from the harsh economic reali- ties experienced throughout
I will walk where failures fear to walk. I will work when failures seek rest. I will act now for now is all I have. Tomorrow is the day reserved for the labor of the lazy. I am not lazy. To- morrow is the day when failure will succeed. I am not a failure. I will act now. Success will not wait.
If I delay, success will be- come wed to another and lost to me forever. This is the time. This is the place. I am the per- son.” OgMandino
ACT NOW! Don’t delay! Your success is waiting on you to act on it.
Be encouraged to ACT NOW!, and connect with me for more success empower- ment or to invite me to speak at your next event.
Visit my website: success- coachtowomen.com and join me at my monthly empow- erment workshops.
Let’s stay connected on so- cial media: Facebook: Selphenia Nichols or In- stagram: Selphenia or Twitter: queenofsuccess1.
communities of color across our nation, but it does not strip you of an obligation to be an actor, rather than a spectator, in our country’s struggle to cre- ate one nation with liberty, jus- tice and economic opportunity for all.
No one gets to where they are on his or her own. You have parents, grandparents, friends and family members who in- vested in your future success, put you on this path and made sure you stayed the course. How will you repay their com- mitment to you? Whether your ancestors came here by plane, by train, by ship or shackled underneath the hull of a ship; whether the continent they called home was Asia, Europe or Africa, what they did when they reached the shores of our nation, what they sacrificed— all of it is debt incurred. How will you choose to compensate them for their struggles?
Among you are the teachers who will lift the standard of ed- ucation in poor communities and begin to close the achieve- ment gap; among you are the preachers who will heal the wounds of communities torn apart by violence; among you are the elected officials who will institute laws and policies that promote social and eco- nomic fairness for all of Amer- ica’s citizens. Herein lies the answer. The answer our nation has been searching for is you and your talent, put to a higher purpose.
I cannot promise you that your climb to success in this life will be a crystal stair. You may very well encounter dark corners and obstacles. What I can promise you is that you have been prepared to meet these challenges head on. And more than meet these chal- lenges, you have also been pre- pared to be an actor in solving so many of the longstanding is- sues and inequities facing our nation, so “don’t you turn back.”
To The Class Of 2015
Marco Rubio, No More Of The Same In 2016
MONDAY, MAY 18, 2015 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 5