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Editorials/Columns
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The Winner Is...
“The experienced mountain climber is not intimidated by a moun- tain -- he is inspired by it. The persistent winner is not discouraged by a problem -- he is chal- lenged by it. Mountains are created to be con- quered; adversities are designed to be defeated; problems are sent to be solved.” ~
William Arthur Ward
mpowered Greet-
ings. The score has been tallied. The count is in and the winner is YOU! That’s right. You have been declared the indisputable, unmistakable winner. Al- though there appeared to be insurmountable forces that
tried to stop you and block you, they just didn’t work.
In the words of Dianna Ross, “Ain’t no moun- tain high enough...” to keep you from winning. The climb may be difficult, but you will make it to the top because you are a winner. “Ain’t no valley low enough...” to keep you from winning. No matter how hard the struggle, you will always rise up because you are a winner. “Ain’t no river wide enough...” to keep you from winning. You have the strength to cross over every barrier, every pot- hole and every hurdle de- signed to block your flow because you are a winner.
You may not be the best looking in the group, but as a
winner you always give your best. You may not have the biggest net worth, but as a winner you have a strong self worth. Your self-worth speaks to you on the darkest day to give you a ray of hope reminding you that you are a champion, a leader and a winner against all odds.
Like a diamond you are not valuable because you glitter but because you are impossible to destroy. You are a winner!
For more information on winning in life, busi- ness and ministry or to have Selphenia facilitate, speak or train at your next conference, retreat, organizational meeting, school or event call her at (813) 603-0088.
Stay connected to Selphenia on social media. Facebook: Suc- cess Coach To Women Twitter: queenofsuc- cess1
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Narain, Reed, And Rouson Could Lose
State Senate Seat If . . .
f you don’t vote on or before August 30th, the winner
of the Florida Senate District 19 seat could surprise us all.
Even though the total voting population of District 19 is 243,697, only 93,370 (38.3 percent) are Black. There are 20,531 Hispanic voters (16.6 percent) and 90,885 (37.3 percent) white voters in the district.
Since the race between Ed Narain, Betty Reed, and Darryl Rouson could very well end with a three-way split, it is possible that neither of these candidates would receive the necessary 51 percent of the vote. In addition, practically every voter in the district has re- ceived one of the “smear fliers” mailed out by a fourth candidate, and only white Democratic candidate, Augie Ribeiro. Assuming every registered voter in District 19 actually votes, it is possible that Ribeiro could win if voters believed the inaccurate “Republican loving” pic- tures Ribeiro paints of Narain and Rouson.
Keep in mind, that it is possible that Narain, Reed, and Rouson could split the Black vote with 31,000 votes each, but there are still 131,415 votes that must be taken into account.
Therefore, we urge fellow voters to make certain you cast a vote on or before August 30th.
In the 2012 Election, only 64 percent of registered voters in District 19 actually cast ballots. We need, to make sure Black voters vote at or near a 100 percent rate in order to maintain Black representation in Dis- trict 19.
The Complexion For Protection
ast week when a white
judge in Colorado sen- tenced a white male college student to 2 years in prison (along with the opportunity to leave the facility for classes or to report to a job) after he was found guilty of forcible rape at trial, I don't think there were many Black peo- ple shocked by the incredible display of leniency. Out- raged, surely, but definitely not surprised.
That is because over the years we've become accus- tomed to this kind of blatant double standard when it comes to the upholding of the law. Sadly, oftentimes, we even accept it as the norm.
There is a reason why, even though whites make up a majority of the population of the United States, they ac- count for less than half of the total population of individu- als incarcerated. It doesn't take a mathematician to fig- ure out that this disparity is due in large part to the amount of protection that comes with having what's
considered a "fair" complex- ion.
From the police officers who ignore the activities of white citizens while focusing on darker subjects, to the ju- ries who find mysterious rea- sons for acquittals of white defendants, to the judges who claim that they "strug- gle" with handing down se- vere sentences to white youth whose lives they don't want to ruin, it's a wonder that any white person ends up in jail at all. I imagine that the white people, who are unfor- tunate enough to be sent up the road, are offered up solely as part of an optical il- lusion; sacrificial lambs used to perfect the appearance that the prison system actu- ally is designed for wrong doers of every persuasion.
To me the most insulting part of this obvious scam is how members of the media attempt to feign being ap- palled by the race-based preferential treatment. They know, like everyone else, that this kind of thing has been going on for ages. But, of
course, it only becomes a real issue when the benefits, of what's commonly known as "white privilege," come at the expense of another person whose white privilege is trumped in the process.
When it all boils down there really isn't anything unique about the entire story. We saw another ver- sion of it a few months ago when a white student at Stanford was sentenced to six months after his rape conviction. And how could we ever forget the so-called "affluenza" teen from several years ago who literally got away with murder because a judge believed that his well off background made prison unsuitable for him?
This is how it typically goes down in America. Jus- tice is blind until she peeps from under the scarf block- ing her eyes and sees one of her own in a precarious posi- tion. At that point she usually reminds the court that, when it comes to administering her wrath, all real punishment is strictly reserved for the Black and the brown. Or, more specifically speaking, "just us."
Reality On Ice is © by the Florida Sentinel Bul- letin Publishing Com- pany. You can TEXT C.B., II, at (+18133080849).
Trump: What Comes Up Comes Out! (Or ‘Couldn’t You Take A Joke?’)
hat has Trump already said? “President Obama
and Hillary Clinton are co-founders of ISIS.” “Hillary is a hater of the Second Amendment.”
What will he say next? “Mickey Mouse is an Al Qaeda terrorist?” Indeed, you could say National In- quirer subscriber Donald Trump has more than once “thrown the baby out with the bath,” were it not for the fact that just the other day, he actually succeeded in throwing a real-live baby out of one of his rallies.
So, what’s next for a presidential candidate whose political comments seem taken from an Andrew Dice Clay stand-up comic routine? Should we take seriously his flirt with Russian President Putin, or may we Face- book fans discover too late that Trump’s influences have always included, John Birch, Barry Goldwater, David Duke, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Benito Mus- solini, Rasputin, and of course, comedian Don Rickles?
Is it already too late for so-called Conservative Republicans to realize Donald Trump is their modern-day Frankenstein.
But certainly, Trump reminds us of an Olympic spitting champion whose fans don’t care what’s in the spit, as long as its distance breaks a record. So, expect Trump’s “blow-hard” not to abate. And when it’s all over, and America-First is but a sound-byte, Mr. Trump (if he wins) will turn to whoever is left and like Hitler, will say, “My goodness! Couldn’t you take a joke?”
TUESDAY, AUGUST 16, 2016 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 5
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