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Editorials/Columns
FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN
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Now Is The Time
ow is the time. Do these
words sound familiar? These words were made fa- mous by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in his famous “I Had A Dream” speech.
It is time for those words to come alive in the state of South Carolina. Our history will tell us that South Carolina is the most racial state in the United States.
There was a time when Blacks could not use the rest- room in the state Capitol, the people’s house. The state has been in the news lately for a racially-based mass murder of nine Blacks. The murder of the African Americans took place at a church and was commit- ted by a white man who was motivated by the Confederate flag.
The deaths of the nine Blacks who have come to be known as the “Emanuel Nine” has united the people of South Carolina, to eliminate a sym- bol of racism. They did this by demonstrating an uncanny
amount of love and forgive- ness.
It soften the hearts of some of the state’s staunches racists. Blacks and whites combined to take down the Confederate flag from the Capitol. Taking down that flag was a giant ef- fort that required white and Black Legislators all working to pass a law that allowed for the flag’s removal.
The people in Carolina have every reason to be excited and have reasons to celebrate. But, there are so many acts that need to be addressed. When will these problems be brought to the forefront, I don’t know, but I say, “Now Is The Time.” While the people in that state are in a do right mood, Blacks should hit them with a list of problems whose time is now to be dealt with.
They should come up with bills, amendments and ideas for solving these needs. They should meet with the Gover- nor, legislative leaders, legisla- tors and influential
organizations in that order. This will be a means of getting support before taking their concerns to the legislature.
Items like improving schools, raising the minimum wage. Create jobs by repairing or replacing all infrastructure, outlawing discrimination in all public places, require land- lords to repair and maintain their properties and adding a penalty for tenants who deface or destroy the properties and any other matters that will make South Carolina a better place to live, work and play.
This goes for all of the citi- zens of the state. South Car- olina ‘now is the time.’ The death of the “Emanuel Nine” has opened the door for these things to happen. Now is the opportune time for South Car- olina, go for it.
Not only is the time right for the state of South Carolina, but “Now Is The Time” for every other state in the union to get busy. There are no states in America that have racial problems. This has been a problem for too long. It is time we rid ourselves of them and we don’t have to wait on some- body to get killed. We just need to realize that “Now Is The Time” and get busy.
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Hillsborough County School Board Meeting: Stand And Deliver
ts beginning was as tense as a violin-string. One after an-
other, people whose names were listed to speak plucked their opinions about Hillsborough County School issues that concerned them.
One item of contention was the controversial principal of the enigmatic F-Grade Sligh Middle School, Dr. Dallas Jack- son.
First to speak was a disgruntled veteran teacher who could barely contained her disgust regarding a principal who, as far as she was concerned, arrogantly overstepped his professional protocol and common sense. But she was fol- lowed by the principal’s secretary who lauded his achieve- ments as if he were a new sheriff taming an outlaw town.
It went like that for the first thirty minutes and featured the implied question of whether Dr. Dallas Jackson (aka Hillsborough School system’s answer to New Jersey’s Joe Clark ala Stand and Deliver) would retain his post as princi- pal of Sligh Middle School?
Too bad, he was not able to salvage his post despite a reg- iment of supporters, some who admitted they feared speak, but felt his ouster was a done-deal. If it was or wasn’t, Dallas went anyway, his lifeline severed by a new school system su- perintendent’s call for a vote.
Therefore, we welcome Sligh Middle School’s new princi- pal, Shelly Blackwood Green. No doubt, she is extremely ca- pable and deserving of her post and will continue rebuilding a school that has recently shown its boundless and recuper- ative potential. As for Sligh’s former principal, we wish him godspeed.
And for the members of the School Board, we advise, no matter how harsh the fallout, you have no other choice, but to stand and deliver.
No Escape From The Madness
Recently it seems as
though death has been doing its best to display an un- canny ability to reach out and touch any person at anytime and inside of any location. Last month it shocked the world when it decided to claim 9 souls in brutal fashion dur- ing a Wednesday night bible study inside of an historic Charleston, South Carolina church.
And now, in a scene that could have been pulled straight from the Final Des- tination movie franchise, it used a random bullet to snatch the light from the eyes of a 58- year-old grandmother as she sat in the bedroom of her home.
The first thing that caught my attention about Mrs. Sharon Darns Watkins' untimely demise was how the incident was publicized. Her killing was oddly considered a case of "mistaken identity."
According to law enforce- ment, Mrs. Watkins wasn't the intended target. Meaning, I cautiously assume, that they believed the shooter must have been gunning for some-
one else's grandmother. Everyone I've talked to about this story has expressed the same feeling of disbelief in the idea that an innocent woman could meet her end by being shot through a window while sitting on her bed. The most disturbing aspect being that, even though the incident occurred during the broad light of day, no one was either willing or able to identify the
culprit.
Apparently the code of si-
lence that dominates the streets has muffled the voice of any would be witnesses.
While I understand the so- called "no-snitching" policy as it pertains to criminal ele- ments who frown on cooperat- ing with authorities when it comes to divulging informa- tion concerning the business of outlaws, I must have missed the memo stating that it was now cool for regular citizens to protect creeps who murder lit- tle old ladies as well.
To me the biggest irony of this case, that has the poten- tial of allowing an individual to get away with this dastardly act, is that if the situation were
reversed, and the grand- mother or mother of one of the people who knows what hap- pened were found dead in a pool of blood, they wouldn't hesitate to harass detectives, and anyone else, while desper- ately looking for someone to "tell" them who was responsi- ble.
But, because it wasn't one of their own suffering such a fate, they're willing to take the chance that they'll be just as lucky the next time this killer decides to strike.
Police Captain Ron Mc- Mullen summed up what happened to Mrs. Watkins as a sad case of her "being in the wrong place at the wrong time." It was a curious take on the incident that left me want- ing to ask Captain Mc- Mullen, how could being inside of the house you're pay- ing for ever be considered the "wrong" place to be?
If the sanctity of a person's bedroom (the very last loca- tion anyone expects to en- counter bodily harm) is no longer a safe place for a person to rest, I wonder, where else in the world does he expect peo- ple to go in an attempt to es- cape the madness?
Reality On Ice is © by the Florida Sentinel Bul- letin Publishing Com- pany. Anyone wishing to contact Clarence Barr can email him at: realityon- ice@yahoo.com.
Federal Budget Cuts Harm Poor People
ave you ever noticed? When Congress begins its budg-
eting process, so-called “entitlement” programs are al- ways the first budget items Congressional representatives cut with a razor.
More importantly, they appear to propose the cuts as if sick children, unemployed citizens, the poor and homeless, and hungry Americans have dug their own holes, therefore, they deserve to be labeled “WELFARE” recipients and treated like the walking dead.
However, when the budget item of welfare tax breaks for major corporations is on the table, Congress becomes ex- ceedingly generous in doling out taxpayer money as if it was their own. Right now, funding for the Legal Service Corpora- tion (LSC) is being considered for drastic cuts. It seems not to matter that 93 million Americans (1-in-3) qualify for as- sistance from LSC, which protects legal rights of low income Americans.
In addition, Republicans proposed to reduce the SNAP (formerly called Food Stamps) program to a level where 11 million Americans would no longer be eligible for food stamps. Then there’s Medicaid and other healthcare pro- grams also being recommended for demonic cuts. Having proposed to allow the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit benefits to expire in 2017 would also increase the
number of people in poverty by nearly 2 million.
So, what else is new? We’ll tell you: There is no blessing for a nation that balances its budget
on the backs of its most vulnerable citizens. Putting “In God We Trust” on our dollar bills is simply not enough to erase fiscal hypocrisy. And persecuting the poor in the name of the American People is a lie whose time is at an end.
FRIDAY, JULY 17, 2015 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 5-A
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