This blog post, in all honesty is for me. As I begrudgingly beginning to realize that my Xavier career is coming to close, I must now begin to take seriously what this education has taught me. Questioning what will come and considering what has taken place, I realize that these four years have been a truly captivating and life giving experience. My world view has entirely changed; moreover, my world has changed. In the time that has gone by, I have walked amongst the changes and experienced unexpected insight:

• Death is not necessarily the end.
• A neighbor isn’t just down the street, but sometime across an ocean.
• Love is ever growing.
• Love is undefinable.
• Theology, isn’t for everyone, but everyone needs theology.

A faith struggle is very much apart of the struggle for life. Without the growing pains of challenge and struggle, little development would be possible. We would simply remain comfortably numb and unaffected by our world. These triumphs through struggle give life, hope, and strength. This world that I find myself in now is ruined by the knowledge that has been instilled upon me. As an individual of privilege, I must realize the gifts that I have been given and use them to their full capacity for and with others. I can no longer blindly accept oppression. I can no longer accept a hierarchy that does not allow for progress. I can no longer remain deaf to other faith traditions. I must continue on the wings of progress, aware of the past, but determined for a better tomorrow. As the stage for graduation is setting its foundation, and I prepare to cross the platform, I must consider my own foundation and anticipate what awaits at the next staircase.

Four years ago I had no clue where I was going to go. My friends had all gone to another university, and I was left here at Xavier to go along this journey alone. Now, near the end of this journey, looking back it was clear I had no clue what I was doing, but nonetheless have arrived with some form of success. Along the way I tried hard to please others and myself, but did not always succeed. In fact, there were many times that I failed and was forced to retreat and contemplate on my actions. While I may not have always hit my intended target, the lessons that were learned in those experiences did however teach me things I would have never expected. Coming to Xavier, I did not know if this was going to be the right place for me, but the trust, time, and energy that I have placed in this place has forever changed me, and will forever be with me.

The blessing below is often used to close school masses. It has been a major influence on my education, and I know that I would not be the same without it.

A Final Blessing

The Lord be with you.
(And with your spirit.)

Bow your heads and pray for God’s blessing.
May God bless you
with discomfort at easy answers,
half truths, and superficial relationships,
so that you will live deep within your heart. (Amen!)

May God bless you
with anger at injustice,
oppression and exploitation of people,
so that you will work for justice, equality, and peace. (Amen!)

May God bless you
with tears to shed for those who suffer
from pain, rejection, starvation, and war,
so that you will reach out your hand
to comfort them and change their pain into joy. (Amen!)

May God bless you
with the foolishness to think
that you can make a difference in the world,
so that you will do the things
which others tell you cannot be done. (Amen!)

May Almighty God bless you,
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. (Amen!)

Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life.
(Thanks be to God.)

**Credit to Br. Darrell Burns, S.J., for this Blessing.**

Notes:

Major Influences through out this blog post can be accredited to Thomas Merton, Johann Metz, Walter Benjamin, Dorothee Soelle, Walker Brueggemann, Chris Pramuk, and the incredible women in my Senior Seminar class who I have the opportunity to learn from each week.

For more on the Theology Program at Xavier University watch the following video. You’ll be surprised what you’ll find. 

Here are some of the ideas our teams are focused on solving:

• Developing new sources of non-traditional revenue
• Increasing student retention
• Improving scholarship efforts among faculty across campus
• Developing strategic partnerships with external organizations
• Increasing student engagement
• Improving learning and teaching across campus

These are important problems that require considerable thought, and they flow from the University’s strategic plan.

In the past, we would have approached these kinds of questions in one of two ways –

1)      Someone at the executive level would launch an initiative (a top-down approach)

2)      We would form a committee to study the problem and make recommendations

I would say that the latter approach has been perhaps more common.   But these kinds of efforts are not always effective to the  point where people dread being asked to serve on a committee – as it is likely to consume precious time, and yield no or few positive outcomes.  Sound familiar?   You know the drill. The committee meets for an hour every other week – assigns “homework” to the committee members and keeps the discussion alive.   The meetings go on for months on end, and in the end the committee makes modest recommendations and it is somewhat unclear who is ultimately responsible for approving and enacting anything.   (At Xavier, we sometimes “trip” over our own organizational design that is highly compartmentalized.  We also sometimes trip over our own culture which is collaborative in nature – which means we value a process where everyone’s voice is heard, but we are perhaps better at listening and talking about it, than we are at deciding and “pulling the trigger” to actually launch it.)

I am sure Xavier is not alone in this pattern of behavior, and I have seen it in quite a number of both public and private sector organizations.

What’s different (and exciting) about our new approach.

What’s happening at Xavier today is pretty remarkable (at least I think so) and borders on revolutionary for us.   Here’s what’s different.

1)      Senior Executive involvement (and interest).  This process began for us with a conversation I had with our Provost (the University equivalent of a COO).  I was telling him about the program offerings XLC was planning in the innovation arena.  He thought it sounded interesting.  We then did a 2.5 day CPS workshop for him and his top 25 executives from across campus.  At the end of that workshop. He and a number of his colleagues saw this as potentially a game changing approach for Xavier, and this led to the creation of our 8 cross functional teams I mentioned earlier.  Since them, either the Provost or the Associate Provost sat through and actively participated in the following workshops we led for the 8 teams.  Participants instantly recognized this as an IMPORTANT activity.

2)      Intense, focused work – rather than protracted committee sessions.  Rather than engage in committee work that spans many months, we decided instead to ask our teams to come together with focused energy for 2 days to try and create some worthy new ideas.   The power of allowing people to disengage from their “day jobs” for two days to wrap their heads around our various focus areas was huge.  Some participants were amazed by the amount of real progress that was made in that short time.  (This helps us make a cultural shift that now suggests that solving wicked problems that are of strategic importance to our institution IS PART OF OUR DAY JOB.)

3)      Who Wants to Own this? An interesting thing happened at the end of the very first CPS workshop.   Over the 2.5 days, we had developed about 200 ideas which we whittled down to about 16 and then we converged around about 8 ideas (project initiatives) that most people felt were solid, and would make a huge difference at Xavier.   Then the Provost stood up to offer his concluding remarks wherein he thanked people for their participation, reminded them as to the importance of the task, and then congratulated them for coming up with some powerful ideas.   Next. He stated that it was not his intent to drive these ideas down from above, but rather asked us “Who wants to own” any of these ideas – to take them forward and be project champions?   We were invited to vote with our feet and walk up to the posters on the side of the room that we would like to work on. Everyone knew then and there – that he was looking to empower anyone who was ready to lead.   In the end, five of these ideas had groups of owners with passion for the ideas that would show in the coming weeks.   I was one of the implementation team members for one initiative, and we worked together to create a clear statement of purpose, a business case, a pro-forma budget, and detailed description of how we imagined it could all work.   The Provost is currently pursuing our funding request.

4)      Be Bold!  Why Wait?  There is always some trepidation at Xavier (and indeed many other organizations that do not have a bias-for-action culture) to launch an initiative before it is fully developed and perfected (and until all possible risks have been mitigated).  This approach may be safer, but also takes more time – something that is precious when the world around you is changing rapidly.  Another way of thinking about it is this:  If you are clear about your goals and purpose, and believe that any idea moves us forward in the right direction, why not go ahead and begin?     You can always improve upon the idea in the future as you gain experience and learn from experimentation, or add other ideas alongside it.     Sometimes many little steps can yield big results.  They build innovation momentum.  At the end of one session, when the participants were asking for some guidance on where they should go next with their initiatives, the Provost announced to the room.   “If you have a good idea that doesn’t need special new funding, or violates established rules there is no reason to delay!  Let’s get started.”  This is another subtle call for culture shift at Xavier – a bias for action.

5)      Effective Process (and facilitation). All of the CPS session we facilitated produced some interesting new ideas. Our participants were fully engaged, willing to let go of some established paradigms, and willing to take the Provost at his word. . . “bold ideas are good”, he said.   Part of the successful results came from the use of a proven process led by globally experienced professionals who guided the activities at every step along the way.   These innovation guides (who teach this method through XLC), were continually changing the planned assignments during each workshop as they observed where each team was, and where people were getting “stuck”.   This expertise was invaluable.

It is not clear where all this will lead for us at Xavier, as only time will tell.   However I have noticed walking around campus that there are visible signs of progress.  The spirit of cross-departmental collaboration has never been stronger (since I came to Xavier).  I came into one conference room in the Williams College of Business to notice a full wall of post-it notes from a past meeting.   (Someone had borrowing one of the ideation techniques they learned during a past workshop.)   We are working together differently, and there are many exciting conversations focusing on what could be.

Other References:

How NYC Schools is Systematizing Innovation, by Len Brzozowski, Xavier Leadership Center

Most Innovative Schools, by Len Brzozowski, Xavier Leadership Center

Overcoming Barriers to Effective Problem Definition, by Dr. Wayne Fisher, XLC Innovation Guide

Creative Productivity & The Creative Theorists – Part 1, by Lisa Canning, Innovating through Artistry

Xavier University is the only historically black Roman Catholic college in the country. It was founded by Saint Katharine Drexel and the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament in 1915. Dr. Norman C. Francis, a 1952 Xavier University graduate, has served as the University’s president since 1968. He is the longest tenured college president in the United States. More than half of the student body is from the state of Louisiana. Before Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the enrollment was 4,100. It is now at approximately 3,391. The school has over 20,000 alumni.

Although they are top in the nation, they are currently experiencing a $5 million dollar deficit. The school has had to resort to salary and hiring freezes and non-faculty layoffs to recoup the lost funds. The deficit is due to a 6.5 percent drop in fall semester enrollment. In addition, the school has imposed a mandatory closing from Dec. 24 through Jan. 1 to save on utilities. Employees and faculty will be forced to use their vacation time during the remaining days outside of the holidays.

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UC alumnus Matthew Westgate leads the Xavier University Symphonic Winds as part of the Dec. 5 CCM Wind Orchestra concert.

The CCM Wind Orchestra will present a concert celebrating the 60th anniversary of Frederick Fennel’s founding of the modern wind ensemble at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 5, in UC’s Corbett Auditorium under the direction of Glenn D. Price. This performance will also feature guest ensemble Xavier University Symphonic Winds, under the direction of CCM alumnus Matthew Westgate.

Fennell (1914-2004) was an internationally recognized conductor and one of the primary figures in promoting the wind ensemble as a performing group. In Rochester, N.Y., in 1952, he founded the Eastman Wind Ensemble, which prompted the establishment of more than 20,000 wind ensembles in American schools. His more than 100 recordings — with Mercury, Telarc and Reference Recordings — remain outstanding examples of the genre.

The concert will feature works by David Maslanka, Charles Ives, John Harbison and Joseph Schwantner.

About Matthew Westgate, DMA
Matthew Westgate is the Director of Instrumental Activities at Xavier University where he conducts the Symphonic Winds, Chamber Orchestra and Xavier Pep Bands. He also teaches courses in Instrumental Methods and Advanced Conducting to graduate and undergraduate music education students. Westgate completed his Doctor of Musical Arts Degree at CCM where he studied with Rodney Winther.

Westgate is a regular summer faculty member in both the concert and jazz areas at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Twin Lake, Mich., and has participated as a conducting assistant in the Opera Theatre and Music Festival of Lucca, Italy. An active guest conductor, clinician and arranger, he performs regularly as a classical and jazz trombonist in the Cincinnati area. He is currently editing John Philip Sousa’s “Sisterhood of the States” and is working to bring a Full Score Edition of Rossini-Respighi’s La Boutique Fantasque for wind band to publication. Westgate’s professional affiliations include the College Band Directors National Association, Conductor’s Guild, World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles and Ohio Music Educators Association.

Performance Time
8 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 5

Location
Corbett Auditorium, CCM Village
University of Cincinnati

Purchasing Tickets
Tickets to the “Views of America” concert are $12 general admission, $6 non-UC students and FREE for UC students.

Tickets can be purchased in person at the CCM Box Office, over the telephone at 513-556-4183 or online at ccm.uc.edu/boxoffice.

Parking and Directions
Parking is available in the CCM Garage (located at the base of Corry Boulevard off Jefferson Avenue) and additional garages throughout the UC campus. Please visit uc.edu/parking for more information on parking rates.

For directions to CCM Village, visit ccm.uc.edu/about/directions.

CCM Season Presenting Sponsor: The Otto M. Budig Family Foundation

Pictured, from left, are: Ceairia Perry, a Beaumont High School graduate who will attend Stillman College in Tuscaloosa, Ala., in the fall; Michele Holton, employment branding and university relations lead for Monsanto Global Staffing; David Patin Jr., a Hazelwood Central High School graduate who will attend Xavier University in Cincinnati; Aaron Shepard, a Saint Louis University High School graduate who will attend Claflin University in Orangeburg, S.C.; John Armstrong Jr., area development director for UNCF; and Tangela Oatis, a Ritenour High School graduate who will attend Spellman College in Atlanta

Monsanto, the #1 producer of Genetically Modified Foods and/or Organism recently presented the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) with a $15,000 grant that will be used to provide college scholarships to recent St. Louis high school graduates. HOLY F%CKING SHIT! Now before I commence to verbally assault Morehouse Alum, Mr. John Armstrong Jr., allow me to elaborate on what it means when a Food Grafting Corporation like Monsanto, forms an alliance with so-called “Black Leaders” and/or Negro-Elites. In that, Black People are the #1 consumers of Genetically Modified Foods (i.e. McDonalds), and it appears that Black People, and so-called “Black Leaders” are knowingly looking the other way when it comes to the Nefarious Business Objectives carried-out by Monsanto. Hence, Monsanto is feeding Black People, Genetically Modified Foods that leads Black People to an early grave, while at the same time restoring and preserver the diminishing Caucasoid-Reptilian-Genetic-Nomenclature and/or White Supremacy. Notice, there is not a single out-cry from either the Black Community, nor from their so-called “Black Leaders” and/or Negro-Elites who over-see and maintain the Black Community on behalf of their Caucasoid-Reptilian-Philanthropists. For more information about Monsanto and its Reptilian-Agenda click on the icon below:

Now let’s go after this Bitch, who goes by the name of John Armstrong Jr. and other Negro-Elites who are beginning to emerge from the Primordial-Septic-Tanks and/or Slave-Making-Plantation-Hubs like Morehouse College.

Upon receiving a worthless Degree from Compton Community College, I was contacted by a Morehouse Alumni named Dr. Trevor Bentley. Apparently Dr. Bentley had seen some newspaper articles about my being an “All-America Academic/Athlete” and chosen to “Who’s Who among American Junior Colleges”. Dr. Bentley asked me, if I were interested in attending Morehouse College? I said yes, and can I get a scholarship? He then instructed me to show up on campus on June 1, 1990, and that is when my mission to infiltrate Morehouse College commenced. I entered Morehouse College as a Walk-On-Player for the Morehouse Football Team under Head Coach Dwight Scales. I had a lot of respect for Coach Dwight Scales because he reminded me of my Daddy, General George William Collier the kind of Black Men that did not play games, you know, the kind of Black Man who would slap the Dog Piss out of you if he caught you doing something stupid. Anyway, Coach Dwight Scales proved to be too old school for many of the Punk Ass Uppity Negro-Players on the team. In that, the Morehouse Football Team consisted of a bunch of Punk Ass Prissy Negro Elites who were a slew of Dandified and/or Bourgeoisie Bitches who ran to the infirmary every time they got so much as a hang nail on the practice field. I recall a time when Coach Scales had the entire team on lock down, doing nothing but watching movies like “Quest for Fire”. And Coach Scales stopped the movie to discuss some phone calls he was receiving from the parents of some of the players. Coach Scales said some of the parents had concerns over the methods he uses during practice in order to get players ready for game day. Coach Scale singled out one player in particular, named Deon, who played third string center and offensive guard. Deon’s father called Coach Dwight Scales to inquire as to why Deon was not starting at his position. Coach Dwight Scales said, “I told your Punk Ass Daddy, when you stop making football players who look and act like Barney Rubble from the Flintstones maybe his Bitch Ass would be a starter”. That shit was hilarious, Coach Dwight Scales went on the tell all of us, “If you or your parents don’t like the way I run this Football Program you can kick F%cking Rocks”. From that day forward the Powder Puff Negro’s on the team were on a mission to have Coach Dwight Scales terminated. They made up allegations like; Coach Dwight Scales was confiscating their gold chains to support his alleged cocaine addiction. The Powder Puff Crew of Maroon Tiger Bitches even confided and sought refuge in a cut-throat-back-stabbing assistant coach by the name of Keith Smyre. Coach Smyre was the type of House Negro who was always sniffing around in search of an ass he could kiss in order to seize opportunities that would advance his career and/or his position amongst the Morehouse Negro Elites. Basically, Coach Smyre was the agent provocateur who fabricated the malicious reports to the Head Negro’s at Morehouse College that resulted in Coach Dwight Scales being terminated at the end of the season. Side Note: To Coach Dwight Scales and Real Black Men like him, if you are out there Sir, I dedicate this article to you.

F%CK, Dear ole Morehouse College, the so-called “Black Ivy League of Historical Black Colleges”! To the contrary, Morehouse College is nothing more than a Plantation Hub used for the sole purpose of isolating, containing, monitoring and controlling the so-called “Intellectual Black Man”. Hence, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was the first and the last Black Man to rise from the ranks of Morehouse College to reach Global Recognition and/or Status. And every Morehouse Negro that has come after Dr. King has been riding Dr. King’s “Civil Rights Non-Violent Coattails” on behalf and/or at the direction of Caucasoid Philanthropist’s and/or Slave Master’s. The question is, since the death of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X why has Morehouse College and The Nation of Islam consistently failed to produce Black Men anywhere near the so-called “Prestigious Caliber and/or Notoriety” of a Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and/or the Intellectual stratagem of a Malcolm X? The answer is simple, “Classical Conditioning”. In that, a gentleman by the name of Ivan Pavlov created a behavioral control concept known as, “Classical Conditioning”. Basically, Mr. Pavlov connected a dog to a contraption in order to measure the level of saliva the dog produced when the dog was introduces to stimuli (i.e. food.) However, Mr. Pavlov noticed that the dog would produce saliva even before the stimuli (i.e. food) was introduced. So Mr. Pavlov introduced the ringing of an Unconditioned Stimulus (i.e. bell) at the same time the stimuli (i.e. food) was presented to the dog, and once the dog associated the ringing of the bell with the food Mr. Pavlov could then remove the food and just ring the bell to elicit salivation in the dog. Therefore, the dog had been conditioned and/or trained to salivate when it heard the ringing of the bell. Similarly, the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X served as a “Conditioning and/or Training” mechanism on the Morehouse Negro’s Psyche that has placed Morehouse Negro’s in perpetual mental paralysis and/or a kind of “Zombie-State of Mind” that can only go through the motions of the so-called “Civil Rights Movement” up to the point where their “Conditioning and/or Training” triggers the recollection of Dr. King’s and Malcolm X’s Assassination, and therefore, causing the Morehouse Negro to digress, retreat and/or deviate from any path, obligation and/or commitment that comes anywhere near Dr. King’s so-called “Civil Rights Movement, and/or Malcolm X’s strategic Planning Capabilities. So in reality the so-called “Morehouse Man and Fruit of Islam” are perpetrating a fraud, and are merely a modern-day “House Negro’s” carrying out his Caucasoid Philanthropist’s and/or Slave Master’s Agenda. For those of you who doubt that Morehouse College is ran and operated by Caucasoid Philanthropist’s, I simply point your attention to Mr. David Gergen the Chief GrandMaster of All Caucasoid Philanthropist’s who directly and indirectly control and operate Morehouse College. Hence, in 2005 I attended a so-called “Leadership” Conference at Morehouse College and Mr. David Gergen was the Keynote Speaker. His topic consisted of walking the audience through a micro Bohemian Grove Ceremony, where he turns off all the lights in the room and methodically guides the Morehouse Negro out of a metaphorical cave of savagery, and into the light of civilization, as the lights are slowly raised. Coincidentally, in that same year I became a victim of predatory lending and the sub-prime mortgage debacle. Fearing the worse, I decided to put my so-called “Morehouse College Network” to the test. So, I wrote Mr. David Gergen and other so-called “Prominent Morehouse Leaders” explaining my situation and requested financial assistance. I eventually lost my house and was forced to sleep in my car, and to this day I have yet to receive so much as a, “Sucker” response from my so-called “Morehouse Colleges Network”, I guess the joke is on me. One might disagree with this analysis, but I remind you, I infiltrated Morehouse College from 1990 to 1995, I saw firsthand how Caucasoid Philanthropist’s dictated and/or controlled so-called “Morehouse Men” and/or Negro’s like Rev. Otis Moss III and his daddy, Otis Moss Sr. as they shuffled and danced to the Caucasoid Slave Master’s tune for economic morsels. I watched these HOUSE NIGGAH’S as they matriculated through Morehouse College and acquired their 501(c)3 Tax Exempt Status with ease, simply because their Slave Master always has first dibs on the Tax Free Donations Otis and the Boy’s rob from gullible congregants. Moreover, I observed Sorority Members from Spellman College and Fraternity Members from Morehouse College garner special privileges. And even to this day, one will find that all Non-Profit Organizations, Public and/or Private Educational Institutions, Mega-Religious Institutions and/or Governmental Agencies are saturated with Sorority and/or Fraternity Members who have some form of affiliation with “Historical Black College Plantation Hubs” like: Clark Atlanta University, Spellman College, Morris Brown College, Morehouse College and Howard University. No matter how mediocre a Black Student is, if they or their parents are affiliated with a Black Sorority and/or Fraternity they will get the job and/or promotion over individuals who are more qualified, but not affiliated with a Sorority and/or Fraternity. Interestingly, Black People are still calling for Affirmative Action, yet they, themselves have total control over the entire Pecking Order. Hence we no-longer have to wonder about how Stupid-Dumb-Ass-Negro’s become the President and/or Chancellor of Historical Black Colleges, and exactly why a position like that will never be obtained by those at the lower echelon’s of society and/or those who operate out-side of the Sorority and/or Fraternity Secret Circles. Where is Bitch-Ass Guessy Jesse when you need barriers like unfair and/or biased hiring practices amongst the “Negro Elite Hierarchy” abolished?

John Armstrong (a.k.a. Johnny “THE QUITTER” Armstrong) and I dormed together during our time at Morehouse College. We played on the Morehouse Football Team at the same time. You see, Johnny “The Quitter” Armstrong had big and elaborate dreams of becoming a Big-Time Defensive End, but Coach Craig Cason did not see it that way. In that, Johnny “THE QUITTER” Armstrong was only talented enough to cover down at the position of Short and Long Snapper. However, John “THE QUITTER” Armstrong felt that he was being unjustly treated and/or blackballed by Coach Craig Cason, so Johnny “THE QUITTER” Armstrong decided he would strike back at Coach Cason by, doing just that, “Going on Strike and/or Quitting the team”. By the way, I believe that Coach Craig Cason limited Johnny “THE QUITTER” Armstrong’s playing time to just Short and Long Snapper because Johnny “THE QUITTER” Armstrong’s Negro-Elite and/or Powder-Puff Daddy did not want his precious son, and/or future House-Negro to be hurt. Therefore, to make a long story short, Bitch Ass Johnny “THE QUITTER” Armstrong quit the team in protest, and I was called upon to cover-down as Short and Long Snapper for the Morehouse Footbal Team, and that is why Johnny “THE QUITTER” Armstrong is known through-out the House-Negro Realms and/or the Boule’-Archon-Elite Portals as a “QUITER”, and why it is so easy for a Death Producing Corporate Entity like Monsanto, to fund and/or pay Bitches like Johnny “THE QUITTER” Armstrong to grin and shuffle while Monsanto continues to feed Genetically Modified Foods to Johnny “THE QUITTER” Armstrong Jr., and Black People. Moreover, Johnny “THE QUITTER” Armstrong Jr., and his Uppity-Negro-Cronies are being paid by Monsanto to turns tricks on behalf of Caucasoid-Zionist-Reptilian-Apex-Predator’s.

To prove this point further, I returned to Morehouse College in 2010 and attended an event known as “Candle in the Dark”, and during a ceremony at King Chapel I reunited with a gentleman by the name of Claude P. Hutto who played running back for the Morehouse Football Team during the time of my infiltration. Mind you, Mr. Claude P. Hutto was and is, as dumb as they come, yet he just so happens to be, a Philosophy Professor currently teaching at Morehouse College. I strategically and respectfully greeted Professor Claude P. Hutto, but stood dumb founded and discombobulated when I reflected on my interactions with Claude P. Hutto from 1991 to 1994. During our brief encounter, I could sense that even he, himself was speaking under his breath and saying, “Yeah, I am a Professor, go figure”. I mean Claude P. Hutto, a “Ham-Hock-Fed-Tallahassee-Swamp-Negro”, who, was and/or is, so stupid that his only response when you called his name was a, “Back-Wood-Tallahassee-Bumpkin-Grunt” like, “Huh”. I also bumped into my old Psychology Professor by the name of Dr. Harold Braithwaite who was the “Pimp Daddy” of the Psychology Department during the 1990’s. This gentleman was an old school pimp who really went into full pimp mode when females from Spellman College Cross-Registered into his class. Hence, Dr. Braithwaite would show up to class wearing tight ass polyester slacks, with no underwear on, so that the females and the Undercover Brothers could get a glimpse of Dr. Braithwaite’s bulging penis that ran down the seam of his tight ass polyester slacks, while he lectured about some African “KA-BA” Bull-Shit that to this day has no relevance in a Globally Competitive Market. I said, “God Damn!”, if these are the so-called “Professor’s” who have been qualified to teach the so-called “Future Morehouse Man” then it is definitively inevitable that Morehouse College and her Caucasoid Philanthropist’s will soon experience a climactic and/or cataclysmic end. Oh and did I mention that, the Nation of Islam’s, Muhammad’s Mosque #15 was right around the corner from Morehouse College. As a matter of fact, Dr. Wesley Muhammad and I attended Morehouse College at the same time, Dr. Wesley Muhammad and another Nation of Islam Clown named Benar loved to ride my coat-tails because of my Academic and Athletic dominance I brought to the campus of Morehouse College. Moreover, Dr. Wesley Muhammad at that time, was a Nation of Islam Informant, who was assigned by the Nation of Islam Elites to shadow my person. However, this snivelling cry-baby was unaware that Morehouse College and The Nation of Islam were the one’s under surveillance. Yes you guessed it, I infiltrated The Nation of Islam to. Eventually, I realized that the Elijah Muhammad Ideology and the Martin Luther King Ideology were one in the same, just different extreme corners of a virtual Psychological Box and/or Apparatus. In that, both Ideologies and/or Institutions have the same objective which is to isolate, contain, monitor and control any and all Free Thought in the Black Community. Think about it, these Religious Organizations develop their Theological Rhetoric around concepts about a Messiah and/or Mahdi that is to return and issue judgment upon the Planet. Well, if one has been warned that this Messiah and/or Mahdi will appear from among the down trodden and/or despised Black Men of America, is it possible to isolate, contain, monitor and/or control all Black Men in order to prevent and/or capture the Messiah and/or Mahdi before he has been raised? I believe that that is exactly the intent of Negro Elites currently positioned within Morehouse College and the Nation of Islam. Think about it, what better way to receive favor from your Caucasoid Philanthropist’s and/or Slave Master then to isolate, contain, monitor and/or control the Messiah and/or Mahdi that is sent to “Judge the World”. Can it be that Morehouse College and/or the Nation of Islam are merely modern-day examples of “Judas and/or Pontius Pilate” who betrayed a Messiah Figure named Jesus Christ 2000 years ago, and who ultimately sent Jesus to his death? Allow me to explain, the Nation of Islam and Morehouse College are like two Psychological Programming and/or Indoctrinating Schemes of an (X, Y) Cartesian Coordinates Grid. In that, the Morehouse College Program and/or Indoctrination Scheme captures, contains and/or isolates Black Men who have embraced and/or bought into Dr. King’s fairytale known as the “Non-Violent Civil Rights Movement”. Whereas, the Nation of Islam represents the opposite Program and/or Indoctrination Scheme which captures, isolates and/or contains those Black Men who have a propensity towards militancy and/or so ambitious that they believe and/or have bought into The Nation of Islam’s pipe dream of a “Black Paradise and/or Black Utopia” being created in the midst of a Psychotic Caucasoid who controls both the Nation of Islam and Morehouse College simultaneously. You see it’s very similar to when during the 1960’s; there were organizations that received monetary assistance from the U.S. Government. They used those funds to hand out Turkey’s in the Black Community in order to pacify the Black Community on behalf of the Caucasoid Controlled U.S. Government. And don’t forget that organizations like the Nation of Islam use the Caucasoid and/or the U.S. Government as its #1 Boogieman so that the people look to the Nation of Islam for salvation. One can consider Morehouse College and the Nation of Islam as lower rungs on a “Three Tiered Welfare Ladder”, with the U.S. Government representing the top rung of the welfare ladder. Hence, the Nation of Islam and Morehouse College represent nothing more than the four corners of a “Virtual Psychological Box and/or Apparatus” used by Uppity House Negro Elites to isolate, contain, monitor and/or control Black Men at the behest of Caucasoid Philanthropist’s and/or Slave Master’s. A prime example of the way I was isolated, contained and controlled by the “Morehouse Contraption” was when I went to Coach Dwight Scales seeking a scholarship for my performance on the football field. I spoke privately with Coach Dwight Scales who said, “Clearly Hashim, you out perform a majority of the players on the team who are receiving scholarships, but I [Coach Dwight Scales] have no control over who gets the money”. So the Athletic Director by the name of Coach MacAfee was simply signing off and/or vouching for the student loans Morehouse College was placing upon my person. Therefore, I was stuck and in too deep to just give-up and/or quit. So, I covered down and brought a winning edge to the Morehouse College Football Team and once Coach Dwight Scales was terminated and replaced by a Black Man named Craig Cason I was led even deeper down the “Historical Black College Rabbit Hole”. In that, Coach Craig Cason was not the type of Black Man that would slap the shit out of you for acting stupid, but deserved respect because of his ability to strategically maneuver amongst the Morehouse Negro Elites. In that, I remember when we were headed to a game with Savannah State, and Morehouse College President Leroy Keith had not provided Coach Cason with adequate funds for the trip. So, Coach Craig Cason got President Leroy Keith’s punk ass out of his bed at 5 a. m. on a Saturday, and forced his punk ass to properly fund the teams’ trip to Savannah State. And that was the kind of “Get It Done” attitude that I grew to respect in Coach Craig Cason. Side Note: If you are out there Coach Craig Cason, Coach Billy “White Shoes” Johnson and Coach Salomon, I just want to say, Thank you for offering me a safe and secure place to lay my head when the Nation of Islam and those Uppity Negro Elites at Morehouse College attempted to Psychologically Destroy and/or Lobotomize my mind, body and spirit. Thanks to you Gentlemen, I have figured this shit out, and as you can see, I am making a list and checking it twice, and I am all up in the jugular vein of these Reptilian Bitches. Now back to the worthless degree I hold from Morehouse College. Now I know calling a degree from Morehouse College worthless is damn near, “Blasphemy”. However, when I study some of the cool and exciting research being produced in the field of Artificial Intelligence and/or Robotic Engineering at predominantly Caucasoid and/or Asian Institutions, I cannot help but to kick myself for choosing the mission to infiltrate and/or matriculate through an All Black Male Institution like Morehouse College. Side Note: I remember when I applied for the Los Angeles Police Department and the interviewer asked me, “What experience do you have in working amongst diverse populations?” I had to explain to him that, my attending an All Black Male Institution like Morehouse College may not represent diversity, but there was one Caucasoid on the Football Team, as well as a handful of Indian’s in the Computer Lab, which represented the extent of my “Diversified Experience”. Maybe that is why LAPD did not hire me because I was deficient in “Diversity”. So when I reflect on the nonsensical curriculum and/or emotional drama I went through to acquire that “Piece of Shit Degree” from Morehouse College, all I can say about being in the “Morehouse College Contraption” is that, Morehouse College was and/or is nothing more than a waste of time, and a Grand Mind-F%ck on the Grandest of Mind-F%cking Scales. In that, Morehouse College and her “Piece of Shit Degree” is very much like an Oil Rich Nation, where only an “Elite Few” get rich off the sale of the Nations oil and the rest of the population dig a perpetual ditch of poverty and destitution. Therefore, I reiterate, “F%ck you, Dear Ole Morehouse College, you so-called “Black Ivy League Renaissance Man”!

RODNEY A. ERICKSON, THOMAS W. CORBETT JR., GEARGE D. GREIG, RICHARD J. ALLAN, RONALD J. TOMALIS, JENNIFER BRAUSTETTER, ALVIN H. CLEMENS, MARK H. DAMBLY, PETER A. KHOURY, IRA M. LUBERT, PAUL H. SILVIS, MARIANNE E. ALEXANDER, H. JESSE ARNELLE, STEPHANIE A. GARBAN, ANTHONY P. LUBRANO, RYAN J. MCCOMBIE, JOEL N. MYERS, ADAM J. TALIAFERRO, DONALD G. COTNER, KIETH W. ECKEL, SAMUEL E. HAYES JR., BETSY E. HUBER, KIETH E. MASSER, CARL T. SHAFFER, JAMES S. BROADHURST, KENNETH C. FRAZIER, EDWARD R. HINTZ JR., KAREN B. PEETZ, LINDA B. STUMPF, JOHN P. SURMA, CHARLES C. BROSIUS, WALTER J. CONTI, DONALD M. COOK JR., MARIAM U. BARASH-COPPERSMITH, ROBERT M. FREY, J. LLOYD HUCK, EDWARD P. JUNKER III, ROGER A. MADIGAR, ROBERT D. METZGAR, BARRY K. ROBINSON, L.J. ROWELL JR., CECILE M. SPRINGER, HELEN D. WISE, BOYD E. WOLFF, QUENTIN E. WOOD, EDWARD P. ZEMPRELLI, NANCY GRACE, LETHAL INJECTION, DEATH PENALTY, PENN STATE BOARD OF TRUSTEE, PENN STATE, JERRY SANDUSKY, JOE PATERNO, PEDOPHILE, CRIMINAL CULPABILITY, ERVIN PETE WILSON, CANDACE RENEE WILSON, WENDY GREUEL, LOUIS FARRAKHAN, PATRICIA SWINTON, TREVOR BENTLEY, MINISTER VAN MUHAMMAD, WESLEY MUHAMMAD, SHERIFF LEE BACA, MARK ASHEN, STEVE COOLEY, KAMALA HARRIS, ANGIE ALVORADO, JENNETT ALVERADO, CATALINA ALVERADO, MICHAEL LEWIS, VALERIE LEWIS, REYNOLD MORGAN, FESIA A. DAVENPORT, MINISTER TONY MUHAMMAD, ANTHONY MUHAMMAD, EVELYN L. WRIGHT, KAREN KIRKS, CALVIN CORDOZAR BROADUS, SNOOP DOGGY DOGG, JIM REYNOLDS, LIZ QUESADA, RACHEAL SACRAMENTO (LASARA), CAPTAIN KLOPP, TRACY BRYANT, SLAUSON LEARNING CENTER, EDGAR HURTADO, CONGRESSWOMAN MAXINE WATERS, CONGRESSWOMAN JANICE HAHN, CONGRESSWOMAN LUCILLE ROYBAL-ALLARD, COUNCILWOMAN JAN PERRY, CONGRESSWOMAN NANCY PELOSI, CONGRESSWOMAN LAURA RICHARDSON, PAULA DANIELS, KEVIN JAMES, ERIC GARCETTI, MARY D. 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Pictured, from left, are: Ceairia Perry, a Beaumont High School graduate who will attend Stillman College in Tuscaloosa, Ala., in the fall; Michele Holton, employment branding and university relations lead for Monsanto Global Staffing; David Patin Jr., a Hazelwood Central High School graduate who will attend Xavier University in Cincinnati; Aaron Shepard, a Saint Louis University High School graduate who will attend Claflin University in Orangeburg, S.C.; John Armstrong Jr., area development director for UNCF; and Tangela Oatis, a Ritenour High School graduate who will attend Spellman College in Atlanta

Monsanto, the #1 producer of Genetically Modified Foods and/or Organism recently presented the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) with a $15,000 grant that will be used to provide college scholarships to recent St. Louis high school graduates. HOLY F%CKING SHIT! Now before I commence to verbally assault Morehouse Alum, Mr. John Armstrong Jr., allow me to elaborate on what it means when a Food Grafting Corporation like Monsanto, forms an alliance with so-called “Black Leaders” and/or Negro-Elites. In that, Black People are the #1 consumers of Genetically Modified Foods (i.e. McDonalds), and it appears that Black People, and so-called “Black Leaders” are knowingly looking the other way when  it comes to the Nefarious Business Objectives carried-out by Monsanto. Hence, Monsanto is feeding Black People, Genetically Modified Foods that leads Black People to an early grave, while at the same time restoring and preserver the diminishing Caucasoid-Reptilian-Genetic-Nomenclature and/or White Supremacy. Notice, there is not a single out-cry from either the Black Community, nor from their so-called “Black Leaders” and/or Negro-Elites who over-see and maintain the Black Community on behalf of their Caucasoid-Reptilian-Philanthropists. For more information about Monsanto and its Reptilian-Agenda click on the icon below:

Now let’s go after this Bitch, who goes by the name of John Armstrong Jr. and other Negro-Elites who are beginning to emerge from the Primordial-Septic-Tanks and/or Slave-Making-Plantation-Hubs like Morehouse College.

Upon receiving a worthless Degree from Compton Community College, I was contacted by a Morehouse Alumni named Dr. Trevor Bentley. Apparently Dr. Bentley had seen some newspaper articles about my being an “All-America Academic/Athlete” and chosen to “Who’s Who among American Junior Colleges”. Dr. Bentley asked me, if I were interested in attending Morehouse College? I said yes, and can I get a scholarship? He then instructed me to show up on campus on June 1, 1990, and that is when my mission to infiltrate Morehouse College commenced. I entered Morehouse College as a Walk-On-Player for the Morehouse Football Team under Head Coach Dwight Scales. I had a lot of respect for Coach Dwight Scales because he reminded me of my Daddy, General George William Collier the kind of Black Men that did not play games, you know, the kind of Black Man who would slap the Dog Piss out of you if he caught you doing something stupid. Anyway, Coach Dwight Scales proved to be too old school for many of the Punk Ass Uppity Players on the team. In that, the Morehouse Football Team consisted of a bunch of Punk Ass Prissy Negro Elites who were a slew of Dandified and/or Bourgeoisie Bitches who ran to the infirmary every time they got so much as a hang nail on the practice field. I recall a time when Coach Scales had the entire team on lock down, doing nothing but watching movies like “Quest for Fire”. And Coach Scales stopped the movie to discuss some phone calls he was receiving from the parents of some of the players. Coach Scales said some of the parents had concerns over the methods he uses during practice in order to get players ready for game day. Coach Scale singled out one player in particular, named Deon, who played third string center and offensive guard. Deon’s father called Coach Dwight Scales to inquire as to why Deon was not starting at his position. Coach Dwight Scales said, “I told your Punk Ass Daddy, when you stop making football players who look and act like Barney Rubble from the Flintstones maybe his Bitch Ass would be a starter”. That shit was hilarious, Coach Dwight Scales went on the tell all of us, “If you or your parents don’t like the way I run this Football Program you can kick F%cking Rocks”. From that day forward the Powder Puff Negro’s on the team were on a mission to have Coach Dwight Scales terminated. They made up allegations like; Coach Dwight Scales was confiscating their gold chains to support his alleged cocaine addiction. The Powder Puff Crew of Maroon Tiger Bitches even confided and sought refuge in a cut-throat-back-stabbing assistant coach by the name of Smiley. Coach Smiley was the type of House Negro who was always sniffing around in search of an ass he could kiss in order to seize opportunities that would advance his career and/or his position amongst the Morehouse Negro Elites. Basically, Coach Smiley was the agent provocateur who fabricated the malicious reports to the Head Negro’s at Morehouse College that resulted in Coach Dwight Scales being terminated at the end of the season. Side Note: To Coach Dwight Scales and Real Black Men like him, if you are out there Sir, I dedicate this article to you.

F%CK, Dear ole Morehouse College, the so-called “Black Ivy League of Historical Black Colleges”! To the contrary, Morehouse College is nothing more than a Plantation Hub used for the sole purpose of isolating, containing, monitoring and controlling the so-called “Intellectual Black Man”. Hence, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was the first and the last Black Man to rise from the ranks of Morehouse College to reach Global Recognition and/or Status. And every Morehouse Negro that has come after Dr. King has been riding Dr. King’s “Civil Rights Non-Violent Coattails” on behalf and/or at the direction of Caucasoid Philanthropist’s and/or Slave Master’s. The question is, since the death of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X why has Morehouse College and The Nation of Islam consistently failed to produce Black Men anywhere near the so-called “Prestigious Caliber and/or Notoriety” of a Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and/or the Intellectual stratagem of a Malcolm X? The answer is simple, “Classical Conditioning”. In that, a gentleman by the name of Ivan Pavlov created a behavioral control concept known as, “Classical Conditioning”. Basically, Mr. Pavlov connected a dog to a contraption in order to measure the level of saliva the dog produced when the dog was introduces to stimuli (i.e. food.) However, Mr. Pavlov noticed that the dog would produce saliva even before the stimuli (i.e. food) was introduced. So Mr. Pavlov introduced the ringing of an Unconditioned Stimulus (i.e. bell) at the same time the stimuli (i.e. food) was presented to the dog, and once the dog associated the ringing of the bell with the food Mr. Pavlov could then remove the food and just ring the bell to elicit salivation in the dog. Therefore, the dog had been conditioned and/or trained to salivate when it heard the ringing of the bell. Similarly, the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X served as a “Conditioning and/or Training” mechanism on the Morehouse Negro’s Psyche that has placed Morehouse Negro’s in perpetual mental paralysis and/or a kind of “Zombie-State of Mind” that can only go through the motions of the so-called “Civil Rights Movement” up to the point where their “Conditioning and/or Training” triggers the recollection of Dr. King’s and Malcolm X’s Assassination, and therefore, causing the Morehouse Negro to digress, retreat and/or deviate from any path, obligation and/or commitment that comes anywhere near Dr. King’s so-called “Civil Rights Movement, and/or Malcolm X’s strategic Planning Capabilities. So in reality the so-called “Morehouse Man and Fruit of Islam” are perpetrating a fraud, and are merely a modern-day “House Negro’s” carrying out his Caucasoid Philanthropist’s and/or Slave Master’s Agenda. For those of you who doubt that Morehouse College is ran and operated by Caucasoid Philanthropist’s, I simply point your attention to Mr. David Gergen the Chief GrandMaster of All Caucasoid Philanthropist’s who directly and indirectly control and operate Morehouse College. Hence, in 2005 I attended a so-called “Leadership” Conference at Morehouse College and Mr. David Gergen was the Keynote Speaker. His topic consisted of walking the audience through a micro Bohemian Grove Ceremony, where he turns off all the lights in the room and methodically guides the Morehouse Negro out of a metaphorical cave of savagery, and into the light of civilization, as the lights are slowly raised. Coincidentally, in that same year I became a victim of predatory lending and the sub-prime mortgage debacle. Fearing the worse, I decided to put my so-called “Morehouse College Network” to the test. So, I wrote Mr. David Gergen and other so-called “Prominent Morehouse Leaders” explaining my situation and requested financial assistance. I eventually lost my house and was forced to sleep in my car, and to this day I have yet to receive so much as a, “Sucker” response from my so-called “Morehouse Colleges Network”, I guess the joke is on me. One might disagree with this analysis, but I remind you, I infiltrated Morehouse College from 1990 to 1995, I saw firsthand how Caucasoid Philanthropist’s dictated and/or controlled so-called “Morehouse Men” and/or Negro’s like Rev. Otis Moss III and his daddy, Otis Moss Sr. as they shuffled and danced to the Caucasoid Slave Master’s tune for economic morsels. I watched these HOUSE NIGGAH’S as they matriculated through Morehouse College and acquired their 501(c)3 Tax Exempt Status with ease, simply because their Slave Master always has first dibs on the Tax Free Donations Otis and the Boy’s rob from gullible congregants. Moreover, I observed Sorority Members from Spellman College and Fraternity Members from Morehouse College garner special privileges. And even to this day, one will find that all Non-Profit Organizations, Public and/or Private Educational Institutions, Mega-Religious Institutions and/or Governmental Agencies are saturated with Sorority and/or Fraternity Members who have some form of affiliation with “Historical Black College Plantation Hubs” like: Clark Atlanta University, Spellman College, Morris Brown College, Morehouse College and Howard University. No matter how mediocre a Black Student is, if they or their parents are affiliated with a Black Sorority and/or Fraternity they will get the job and/or promotion over individuals who are more qualified, but not affiliated with a Sorority and/or Fraternity. Interestingly, Black People are still calling for Affirmative Action, yet they, themselves have total control over the entire Pecking Order. Hence we no-longer have to wonder about how Stupid-Dumb-Ass-Negro’s become the President and/or Chancellor of Historical Black Colleges, and exactly why a position like that will never be obtained by those at the lower echelon’s of society and/or those who operate out-side of the Sorority and/or Fraternity Secret Circles. Where is Bitch-Ass Guessy Jesse when you need barriers like unfair and/or biased hiring practices amongst the “Negro Elite Hierarchy” abolished?

John Armstrong (a.k.a. Johnny “THE QUITTER” Armstrong) and I dormed together during our time at Morehouse College. We played on the Morehouse Football Team at the same time. You see, Johnny “The Quitter” Armstrong had big and elaborate dreams of becoming a Big-Time Defensive End, but Coach Craig Cason did not see it that way. In that, Johnny “THE QUITTER” Armstrong was only talented enough to cover down at the position of Short and Long Snapper. However, John “THE QUITTER” Armstrong felt that he was being unjustly treated and/or blackballed by Coach Craig Cason, so Johnny “THE QUITTER” Armstrong decided he would strike back at Coach Cason by, doing just that, “Going on Strike and/or Quitting the team”. By the way, I believe that Coach Craig Cason limited Johnny “THE QUITTER” Armstrong’s playing time to just Short and Long Snapper because Johnny “THE QUITTER” Armstrong’s Negro-Elite and/or Powder-Puff Daddy did not want his precious son, and/or future House-Negro to be hurt. Therefore, to make a long story short, Bitch Ass Johnny “THE QUITTER” Armstrong quit the team in protest, and I was called upon to cover-down as Short and Long Snapper for the Morehouse Footbal Team, and that is why Johnny “THE QUITTER” Armstrong is known through-out the House-Negro Realms and/or the Boule’-Archon-Elite Portals as a “QUITER”, and why it is so easy for a Death Producing Corporate Entity like Monsanto, to fund and/or pay Bitches like Johnny “THE QUITTER” Armstrong to grin and shuffle while Monsanto continues to feed Genetically Modified Foods to Johnny “THE QUITTER” Armstrong Jr., and Black People. Moreover, Johnny “THE QUITTER” Armstrong Jr., and his Uppity-Negro-Cronies are being paid  by Monsanto to turns tricks on behalf of Caucasoid-Zionist-Reptilian-Apex-Predator’s.

To prove this point further, I returned to Morehouse College in 2010 and attended an event known as “Candle in the Dark”, and during a ceremony at King Chapel I reunited with a gentleman by the name of Claude P. Hutto who played running back for the Morehouse Football Team during the time of my infiltration. Mind you, Mr. Claude P. Hutto was and is, as dumb as they come, yet he just so happens to be, a Philosophy Professor currently teaching at Morehouse College. I strategically and respectfully greeted Professor Claude P. Hutto, but stood dumb founded and discombobulated when I reflected on my interactions with Claude P. Hutto from 1991 to 1994. During our brief encounter, I could sense that even he, himself was speaking under his breath and saying, “Yeah, I am a Professor, go figure”. I mean Claude P. Hutto, a “Ham-Hock-Fed-Tallahassee-Swamp-Negro”, who, was and/or is, so stupid that his only response when you called his name was a, “Back-Wood-Tallahassee-Bumpkin-Grunt” like, “Huh”. I also bumped into my old Psychology Professor by the name of Dr. Harold Braithwaite who was the “Pimp Daddy” of the Psychology Department during the 1990’s. This gentleman was an old school pimp who really went into full pimp mode when females from Spellman College Cross-Registered into his class. Hence, Dr. Braithwaite would show up to class wearing tight ass polyester slacks, with no underwear on, so that the females and the Undercover Brothers could get a glimpse of Dr. Braithwaite’s bulging penis that ran down the seam of his tight ass polyester slacks, while he lectured about some African “KA-BA” Bull-Shit that to this day has no relevance in a Globally Competitive Market. I said, “God Damn!”, if these are the so-called “Professor’s” who have been qualified to teach the so-called “Future Morehouse Man” then it is definitively inevitable that Morehouse College and her Caucasoid Philanthropist’s will soon experience a climactic and/or cataclysmic end. Oh and did I mention that, the Nation of Islam’s, Muhammad’s Mosque #15 was right around the corner from Morehouse College. As a matter of fact, Dr. Wesley Muhammad and I attended Morehouse College at the same time, Dr. Wesley Muhammad and another Nation of Islam Clown named Benar loved to ride my coat-tails because of my Academic and Athletic dominance I brought to the campus of Morehouse College. Moreover, Dr. Wesley Muhammad at that time, was a Nation of Islam Informant, who was assigned by the Nation of Islam Elites to shadow my person. However, this snivelling cry-baby was unaware that Morehouse College and The Nation of Islam were the one’s under surveillance. Yes you guessed it, I infiltrated The Nation of Islam to. Eventually, I realized that the Elijah Muhammad Ideology and the Martin Luther King Ideology were one in the same, just different extreme corners of a virtual Psychological Box and/or Apparatus. In that, both Ideologies and/or Institutions have the same objective which is to isolate, contain, monitor and control any and all Free Thought in the Black Community. Think about it, these Religious Organizations develop their Theological Rhetoric around concepts about a Messiah and/or Mahdi that is to return and issue judgment upon the Planet. Well, if one has been warned that this Messiah and/or Mahdi will appear from among the down trodden and/or despised Black Men of America, is it possible to isolate, contain, monitor and/or control all Black Men in order to prevent and/or capture the Messiah and/or Mahdi before he has been raised? I believe that that is exactly the intent of Negro Elites currently positioned within Morehouse College and the Nation of Islam. Think about it, what better way to receive favor from your Caucasoid Philanthropist’s and/or Slave Master then to isolate, contain, monitor and/or control the Messiah and/or Mahdi that is sent to “Judge the World”. Can it be that Morehouse College and/or the Nation of Islam are merely modern-day examples of “Judas and/or Pontius Pilate” who betrayed a Messiah Figure named Jesus Christ 2000 years ago, and who ultimately sent Jesus to his death? Allow me to explain, the Nation of Islam and Morehouse College are like two Psychological Programming and/or Indoctrinating Schemes of an (X, Y) Cartesian Coordinates Grid. In that, the Morehouse College Program and/or Indoctrination Scheme captures, contains and/or isolates Black Men who have embraced and/or bought into Dr. King’s fairytale known as the “Non-Violent Civil Rights Movement”. Whereas, the Nation of Islam represents the opposite Program and/or Indoctrination Scheme which captures, isolates and/or contains those Black Men who have a propensity towards militancy and/or so ambitious that they believe and/or have bought into The Nation of Islam’s pipe dream of a “Black Paradise and/or Black Utopia” being created in the midst of a Psychotic Caucasoid who controls both the Nation of Islam and Morehouse College simultaneously. You see it’s very similar to when during the 1960’s; there were organizations that received monetary assistance from the U.S. Government. They used those funds to hand out Turkey’s in the Black Community in order to pacify the Black Community on behalf of the Caucasoid Controlled U.S. Government. And don’t forget that organizations like the Nation of Islam use the Caucasoid and/or the U.S. Government as its #1 Boogieman so that the people look to the Nation of Islam for salvation. One can consider Morehouse College and the Nation of Islam as lower rungs on a “Three Tiered Welfare Ladder”, with the U.S. Government representing the top rung of the welfare ladder. Hence, the Nation of Islam and Morehouse College represent nothing more than the four corners of a “Virtual Psychological Box and/or Apparatus” used by Uppity House Negro Elites to isolate, contain, monitor and/or control Black Men at the behest of Caucasoid Philanthropist’s and/or Slave Master’s. A prime example of the way I was isolated, contained and controlled by the “Morehouse Contraption” was when I went to Coach Dwight Scales seeking a scholarship for my performance on the football field. I spoke privately with Coach Dwight Scales who said, “Clearly Hashim, you out perform a majority of the players on the team who are receiving scholarships, but I [Coach Dwight Scales] have no control over who gets the money”. So the Athletic Director by the name of Coach MacAfee was simply signing off and/or vouching for the student loans Morehouse College was placing upon my person. Therefore, I was stuck and in too deep to just give-up and/or quit. So, I covered down and brought a winning edge to the Morehouse College Football Team and once Coach Dwight Scales was terminated and replaced by a Black Man named Craig Cason I was led even deeper down the “Historical Black College Rabbit Hole”. In that, Coach Craig Cason was not the type of Black Man that would slap the shit out of you for acting stupid, but deserved respect because of his ability to strategically maneuver amongst the Morehouse Negro Elites. In that, I remember when we were headed to a game with Savannah State, and Morehouse College President Leroy Keith had not provided Coach Cason with adequate funds for the trip. So, Coach Craig Cason got President Leroy Keith’s punk ass out of his bed at 5 a. m. on a Saturday, and forced his punk ass to properly fund the teams’ trip to Savannah State. And that was the kind of “Get It Done” attitude that I grew to respect in Coach Craig Cason. Side Note: If you are out there Coach Craig Cason, Coach Billy “White Shoes” Johnson and Coach Salomon, I just want to say, Thank you for offering me a safe and secure place to lay my head when the Nation of Islam and those Uppity Negro Elites at Morehouse College attempted to Psychologically Destroy and/or Lobotomize my mind, body and spirit. Thanks to you Gentlemen, I have figured this shit out, and as you can see, I am making a list and checking it twice, and I am all up in the jugular vein of these Reptilian Bitches. Now back to the worthless degree I hold from Morehouse College. Now I know calling a degree from Morehouse College worthless is damn near, “Blasphemy”. However, when I study some of the cool and exciting research being produced in the field of Artificial Intelligence and/or Robotic Engineering at predominantly Caucasoid and/or Asian Institutions, I cannot help but to kick myself for choosing the mission to infiltrate and/or matriculate through an All Black Male Institution like Morehouse College. Side Note: I remember when I applied for the Los Angeles Police Department and the interviewer asked me, “What experience do you have in working amongst diverse populations?” I had to explain to him that, my attending an All Black Male Institution like Morehouse College may not represent diversity, but there was one Caucasoid on the Football Team, as well as a handful of Indian’s in the Computer Lab, which represented the extent of my “Diversified Experience”. Maybe that is why LAPD did not hire me because I was deficient in “Diversity”. So when I reflect on the nonsensical curriculum and/or emotional drama I went through to acquire that “Piece of Shit Degree” from Morehouse College, all I can say about being in the “Morehouse College Contraption” is that, Morehouse College was and/or is nothing more than a waste of time, and a Grand Mind-F%ck on the Grandest of Mind-F%cking Scales. In that, Morehouse College and her “Piece of Shit Degree” is very much like an Oil Rich Nation, where only an “Elite Few” get rich off the sale of the Nations oil and the rest of the population dig a perpetual ditch of poverty and destitution. Therefore, I reiterate, “F%ck you, Dear Ole Morehouse College, you so-called “Black Ivy League Renaissance Man”!

Marshall University

On November 14, 1970, a chartered jet carrying most of the Marshall University football team clips a stand of trees and crashes into a hillside just two miles from the Tri-State Airport in Kenova, West Virginia. The team was returning from that day’s game, a 17-14 loss to East Carolina University. Thirty-seven Marshall football players were aboard the plane, along with the team’s coach, its doctors, the university athletic director and 25 team boosters–some of Huntington, West Virginia’s most prominent citizens–who had traveled to North Carolina to cheer on the Thundering Herd. “The whole fabric,” a citizen of Huntington wrote later, “the whole heart of the town was aboard.”

The crash was just the most tragic in a string of unfortunate events that had befallen the Marshall football team since about 1960. The university stadium, which hadn’t been renovated since before World War II, was condemned in 1962. From the last game of the 1966 season to midway through the 1969 season, the team hadn’t won any games. Making matters worse, the NCAA had suspended Marshall for more than 100 recruiting violations. (The Mid-American Conference had expelled the team for the same reason.) But Marshall seemed to be getting back on track: It had fired the dishonest coaches, built a new Astroturf field and started winning games again. The Thundering Herd had lost a squeaker to East Carolina on the 14th, and was looking forward to a promising season the next year.

For Huntington, the plane crash was “like the Kennedy assassination,” one citizen remembers. “Everybody knows where they were and what they were doing when they heard the news.” The town immediately went into mourning. Shops and government offices closed; businesses on the town’s main street draped their windows in black bunting. The university held a memorial service in the stadium the next day and cancelled Monday’s classes. There were so many funerals that they had to be spread out over several weeks. In perhaps the saddest ceremony of all, six players whose remains couldn’t be identified were buried together in Spring Hill Cemetery, on a hill overlooking their university.

Marshall got a new football coach–Jack Lengyel, from the College of Wooster in Ohio–and set about rebuilding the team. The NCAA gave the Thundering Herd special permission to let freshmen play on the varsity squad, and Lengyel cobbled together a ragtag group of first-years, walk-ons and the nine veteran players who hadn’t been on the plane that night. The team lost its first game of the 1971 season but–with a last-second touchdown that seemed almost too good to be true–defeated Ohio’s Xavier University 15-13 in its first home game since the crash. The Herd won one other game that season, and nine in Lengyel’s four-year tenure at Marshall, but none was as emotional as the first.

But this VISTA is content

For Service warms me.

This new purpose in my life

Enriches my soul

With ardent strength, conviction.

Wisdom, walk with me;

Love, illuminate the path;

Doubt, wither away.

It’s been thirteen weeks since I started working with the Latino Farmers’ Cooperative of Louisiana (LFCL). I remember that on my first day I was intimidated by the fact that I had never held a real job before and that in my hands would be entrusted so much. I didn’t think that I would do well at first, but in the past months, I have adapted to accept more and more responsibility. Recently, we were awarded a grant of $10,000 by the Greater New Orleans Foundation (GNOF) as part of their initiative to ameliorate the hardships people in our community have felt since Hurricane Isaac. With the grant money from GNOF, Operation AYUDA, our two month-long initiative to assist Latinos still recovering from wage and food-losses caused by Isaac, can now move forward and provide 14,000 pounds of food to over 400 families in the area. For me, this was a personal triumph because this was the first grant that I helped write. Hearing that our proposal was accepted made me feel like I could make a difference in my community.

However, there are things that are starting to get me. For one, we have missed out on so many opportunities to go into the community and try to generate interest in our organizations. Through social media I have been able to increase our presence online. In fact, the other day two girls from Xavier University came by to gather information for a presentation they were going to give in front of their communications class. When I asked how they found us, they responded that by looking online and finding our Facebook were they able to learn more about us. While that is good and all, I do believe that this organization can expand the community’s awareness of its existence through more publicity and attendance at festivals, even if they have little relevancy with our mission. I have made it a goal of mine to convince my organization’s executive director that the only way we can find more board members and revenue is through increasing our presence throughout New Orleans. We’ll just have to wait and see what the incoming months bring.

-Fernando Reyes, Tulane AmeriCorps VISTA, Latino Farmers Cooperative of Louisiana

Join us Sunday, October 21st for the third annual Cincinnati Chocolate Festival at the Cintas Center at Xavier University. Designed for chocolate lovers of all ages, this delectable event will feature tempting chocolate tastings from delicious local vendors, celebrity chef demonstrations, LIVE vendor and amateur competitions, contests, raffle baskets, children’s activities and much more . This spectacular event will tempt your palate and indulge your chocolate cravings to your absolute delight and satisfaction.

Cincinnati Chocolate Festival vendors will be taking over the Cintas Center’s concourses this year with plenty of aisle space to explore and enjoy samples from 10 x 6 booths around a circular flow floor plan. Live cooking demonstrations and judging of the amateur chocolate competition will take place in the Banquet room with two stages and ample seating for all! New admission entrance is larger and streamlined so there’s no need to worry about long lines to get in!

http://cincinnatichocolatefestival.com/

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20121019/ENT01/310190025/Satisfy-your-sweet-tooth?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|FRONTPAGE|p

My first thought about Nurses is that they’re just the doctor’s assistant. They just follow whatever the doctor said and orders. If the doctor wants them to bathe the client, they should follow. Like slaves. That’s what I always see. Superficial. That thought went out the door when I entered Nursing School.

You see, Nursing is not just caring. It’s an ART and SCIENCE of Caring. So Nurses are not the doctor’s assistant. They are professionals who doesn’t even have Professional Fee. They should be regarded with respect because taking care of someone in pain is not easy. Before you become a nurse, you’re a student nurse first. What should you expect?

(this is based on my experience)

The first thing that you should expect is SLEEPLESS NIGHTS. I rarely have this but many of classmates have sleepless nights. There are times when you have lots of exam for the next day. There was one time when for the whole week, everyday, we have a quiz, long test or return demonstration. It was really a hectic week. However, you can avoid this by managing your time well. Do whatever you can do during your free time so that in the evening, you have less things to do/study, more sleep.

Another is Return Demonstration. Our first RetDem was medical handwashing. It was kind of nerve-wracking considering that it was the first. No matter how simple it was, I still felt very nervous and kept on splashing water on the table. Thank goodness my CI understood. Return Demo should be taken seriously because you could learn a lot from this especially if the CI is the type of teacher who explains things and have lots of patience.

CADAVER. Yes, cadaver. I’ve met these cadavers when I was in first year, 2nd sem for our Anatomy and Physiology. It was not a good meeting. They smelled so bad, but that may because they’re dead already. Before handling a cadaver, you should offer a prayer first. Handle them with respect because these are still humans.  After handling them, pray again for their souls. For the first timers, it’s actually kind of  scary working with cadavers. But as time goes by, it becomes kind of comfy. Also, we usually have classes with cadavers at the back of our classroom covered in blanket. If they smell so bad, we just cover our noses. No big deal.

Blood and lots of it. I’m already exposed to the delivery room and I’ve seen normal deliveries. I actually thought that I would vomit but luckily I did not. Just be strong and think that it’s not that bad. A lot of people say that inside the delivery room, it’s smells bad. My groupmates say that whenever they brush the kelly pad, it was smelly. But I brush it, without my mask, and I don’t even smell anything. If you’re afraid of blood, try to conquer it now. Being splashed with blood is inevitable but you can kind of avoid it if you want to.

Lots of memorization. If you’re not good at memorizing, better be ready. I’m not really good at memorizing but I really tried hard to do it. Some stuffs that you should memorize are the bones, muscles, medications, equations and whatever.

Talking with Strangers. Your clients are people whom you have never met but you should take care of. If you have trust issues or stranger issues, you’ll gonna have a hard time having rapport with your client. You need to be able to have even a bit of connection to the client for the client to be able to follow you.

PAPERWORKS and requirements. I call it paperworks. Before duty, we have a Daily Plan of Activities and General Objective-Specific Objectives sheet that we need to fill up. After days’s duty for the clinical area, we still need to do Nursing Care Plan, drug study, Learning Feedback Diary, (for the  duty week) a Journal, summary and your reaction. For the community, a family care plan, scoring and genogram. So yeah, those are just some of the paperworks.

THOSE EXPENSES. You entered Nursing where tuition is expensive, the other requirements are expensive also. We have a CHN bag which we should bring during duty. Aside from that, there are still lots of things that you should pay for like classes, projects and whatever you should need to pay.

So those are just some of the things that you should know… for now. Just remember, you don’t need to be a genius to be a nurse. All you need is a strong will and willingness to care and learn. Do well! Good luck if you want to be a nursing student :)

Jesuit priests pose after the Mass.

Seated (L-R): Frs. Jonjee Sumpaico, Tony Pabayo, Edwin Castillo, Mike Pineda, Albert Alejo, and Bogs Tapiador. Standing (L-R): Frs. Manny Uy, Xave Olin, Jun Viray, Ruben Reyes, Jhaw Haw, Dario Saniel, Kit Bautista, Tony Moreno, Johnny Go, Bert Ampil, and Loly Cuerquis. SJs all.

Barangay JBEC: All the delegates!

Pictures courtesy of Lito Homonlay of Xavier University, Cagayan de Oro.

On Day 1 of the congress, the school administrators assembled for the opening ceremony.

Administrators of our Jesuit grade schools and high schools

Standing (L-R): Fr. Bogs Tapiador (Loyola College Culion), Fr. Ruben Reyes (Ateneo de Davao), Fr. Kit Bautista (Ateneo de Manila Grade School), Fr. Jun Viray (Ateneo de Naga), Fr. Jhaw Haw (Ateneo de Iloilo), Fr. Mike Pineda (Ateneo de Davao High School), Fr. Jonjee Sumpaico (Xavier University), Fr. Johnny Go (Xavier School), Fr. Tony Pabayo (Ateneo de Manila), Fr. Manny Uy (Sacred Heart School – Ateneo de Cebu), Ms. Aimee Apolinario (Xavier Grade School San Juan), Ms. Annie Abucay (Sacred Heart School – Ateneo de Cebu), Ms. Arlene Choo (Xavier School Nuvali), Mr. Gabby Malillin (Ateneo de Manila High School), Mr. Shing Balatbat (Ateneo de Zamboanga High School), and Bong Galvan (Sacred Heart School – Ateneo de Cebu)

Seated (L-R): Ms. Au dela Cruz (Ateneo de Iloilo High School), Ms. Jane Natividad (ERDA Tech High School), Ms. Suzette Alino (Ateneo de Davao Grade School), Fr. Tony Moreno (Ateneo de Zamboanga), Ms. Rosie Hong (Ateneo de Zamboanga High School), Ms. Nelia Gonzales (Ateneo de Iloilo), and Ms. Jane Cacacho (Xavier High School San Juan).

Photo courtesy of Alvin Rey Labadan of Sacred Heart Jesuits / Ateneo de Cebu.

Keep yourself updated by joining the JBEC Facebook Page. Click here.

1853 – George Washington Murray is born a slave near Rembert,
South Carolina. A two-term congressman from his home
state, Murray will also be an inventor and holder of
eight patents for agricultural tools. He will join the
ancestors on April 21, 1926.

1862 – Five days after Union forces won the Battle of Antietam,
President Lincoln issues a preliminary emancipation
proclamation.  It states that if the rebelling states
did not return to the Union by January 1, 1863, he
would declare their slaves to be “forever free.”

1906 – Race riots occur in Atlanta, Georgia, killing 21 people.

1915 – Xavier University of Louisiana opens in New Orleans, the
first Catholic college for African Americans in the
United States.

1941 – Chester Lovelle Talton is born in Eldorado, Arkansas. At
49, he will become the first African American
Episcopalian bishop to be ordained in the western
United States. As suffragan bishop of the diocese of Los
Angeles, he becomes the religious leader of
Episcopalians in the fourth-largest diocese in the
United States.

1949 – Lee Harold Carmichael is born in Jacksonville, Florida. He
will become an American football wide receiver in the NFL.
He will play 13 seasons for the Philadelphia Eagles from
1971 to 1983, and one season for the Dallas Cowboys in
1984. He will play his college football at Southern
University. He will be selected to four Pro Bowls in his
NFL career, and will lead the league in receptions during
the 1973 season. He will also be the Eagles’ top receiver
of Super Bowl XV, with 6 catches for 91 yards. He will
end his career with 590 receptions for 8,985 yards with
79 career touchdown catches, along with 64 rushing yards
on 9 carries. He will rank 18th all-time in career
touchdown receptions. He will be selected to the NFL
1970s All-Decade Team by voters of the Pro Football Hall
of Fame. He will become Director of Player Programs for
the Philadelphia Eagles in 2006.

1950 – Dr. Ralph J. Bunche, director of the UN Trusteeship
division and former professor of political science at
Howard University, is awarded the Nobel Peace prize for
successful mediation of the Palestinian peace accord.

1954 – Shari Belafonte (Harper, now Behrens) is born in New York
City, New York. She will become is an American actress,
model, writer and singer. The daughter of singer Harry
Belafonte, she will be best known for her role as Julie
Gilette on the 1980s television series “Hotel” and as a
spokesperson for the diet supplement “Slim-Fast” during
the 1990s.

1960 – The Republic of Mali proclaims its independence.

1961 – The Interstate Commerce Commission issues regulation
prohibiting segregation on interstate buses and in
terminal facilities.

1969 – San Francisco Giant, Willie Mays, becomes the first player
since Babe Ruth to hit 600 home runs.

1985 – Robert Guillaume wins an Emmy for best leading actor in a
comedy for Benson while The Cosby Show wins for best
comedy series.

1989 – Edward Perkins, the first African American ambassador to
the Republic of South Africa, becomes director-general of
the United States Foreign Service. The first African
American named to the post, Perkins will be credited with
bringing more minorities into the foreign service.

1990 – Andre’ Dawson steals his 300th base & is only player other
than Willie Mays to have 300 HRs, 300 steals & 2,000 hits.

Information retrieved from the Munirah Chronicle and is edited by Rene’ A. Perry.

The theme has been selected due to the frequent albeit unintended marginalization of Mindanao and its peoples in our accounts of history and our national consciousness.  Filipinos need to acquire a fuller appreciation of Mindanao and make room for greater diversity in our sense of what being Filipino means. This challenge is especially urgent for Philippine educators such as those in our schools.

The Jesuit Basic Education Congress has been conceptualized by the Jesuit Basic Education Commission (JBEC) as an event to be held once every three years to offer our administrators and educators an opportunity to reflect on their mission and to exchange insights and best practices in professional conversation.

The first Jesuit Basic Education Congress was hosted by Ateneo de Manila University on the occasion of its sesquicentennial anniversary. The theme of that congress was “LIYAB+SILAB+ALAB: Fire, Frontiers, and Friendship in our Mission,” and the keynote addresses were delivered by  the General Superior of the Society of Jesus, Fr. Adolfo Nicolas, SJ, and by then President of Ateneo de Manila University, Fr. Bienvenido Nebres, SJ.

On the Sunday that the participants arrived, they enjoyed a city tour that took them to the best-known tourist spots of Zamboanga City, such as the Talkusangay Mosque, the Pasonanca Park, the Yakan Village, and of course, Fort Pilar. The day culminated with a chavacano Mass presided by Fr. Edwin Castillo SJ at the beautiful University Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on the Ateneo de Zamboanga Purisima campus. During his homily, University President Fr. Tony Moreno SJ spoke of the challenges faced by educators in Zamboanga such as the sisters of Pilar College, who, despite opposition from certain sectors, humbly and wisely changed a school policy banning the wearing of the veil by Muslim students. The day was capped with a dinner at the Multi-Purpose Covered Courts with live music.

Day 1 of the congress began with a parade of school flags, during which the administrators of the ten schools marched into the hall of the Ateneo de Zamboanga William Kreutz campus to the warm applause of the congress delegates. After an interfaith prayer and the singing of the National Anthem, Ateneo de Zamboanga University President, Fr. Antonio Moreno SJ, welcomed the delegates as the host, taking the opportunity to share about the 100th anniversary celebration of the university. The Honorable City Mayor, Mayor Celso Lobregat, also took the stage to provide the delegates a taste of the chavacano brand of hospitality. Afterwards, Fr. Johnny Go, SJ, JBEC Chairman, welcomed the participants and presented to them an overview of the two-day congress.

“#MindaNow: Re-Imagining the Filipino Soul & Story” began with a keynote address from Fr. Antonio de Castro, SJ, a Philippine Church history scholar, who spoke during a session called “Why MindaNow? (The Jesuit Story in Mindanao). Fr. de Castro discussed what he considered were the outstanding qualities exemplified by the 19th-century Jesuit missionaries in Mindanao–qualities that he proposed to the delegates as points of reflection as we discern about working in the frontiers: Generosity, flexibility, alertness and creativity, openness, and humility in collaborating with others.

The keynote was followed by a round of professional conversations, a time for the delegates to meet their colleagues form the other schools to discuss in small groups their thoughts and reactions to the keynote. The small group discussion is an opportunity for delegates to practice the Reflection component of Ignatian pedagogy, for them to make connections and understand what has been presented in order to prepare for future action in their respective institutions.

The congress delegates were given a double treat in the afternoon: First, there was a panel discussion called “Mindanao Voices: Feelings and Wish Lists,” featuring USEC Luisito Montalbo of the Office of Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP), Ms. Beatriz Inangcob-Colmo, an indigenous (or lumad) woman, and Hon. Isabelle Climaco-Salazar, a former Ateneo faculty who is now a Congresswoman. These diverse voices gave the audience a first-hand account of some of the major concerns and issues facing various sectors in Mindanao.

After the panel, the participants attended different parallel sessions on various topics of interest about Mindanao such as dance and culture, religious traditions, interfaith dialogue, the changing role of women, the plight of the lumads, and holistic peace education.

While Day 1 of the Congress provided the delegates an overview of Mindanao and its peoples, Day 2 moved away from the big picture and focused on two more immediate concerns to the educators in attendance: what we teach our students about Mindanao, and the problem of bullying in our schools.

Fr. Albert Alejo, SJ delivered the day’s first keynote entitled “What’s Wrong with the Picture? Righting Mindanao’s History.” In his provocative presentation, Fr. Alejo bewailed the flagrant factual errors common in our textbooks, leading to unfair stereotypes and labels. Needless to say, many questions were raised during the Open Forum.

After Fr. Alejo’s keynote, the controversial US film by Lee Hirsch, “Bully,” was screened. The 2011 film is a moving and powerful documentary about bullying in American schools, exposing the gravity of the problem of bullying in the US by chronicling the experiences of victims in high schools in Georgia, Iowa, Texas, Mississipi, and Oklahoma, focusing on the deaths of Tyler Long and Ty Smalley, victims of bullying who committed suicide. By showing how the average American school kid is defenseless against ridicule, the film can serve as an excellent vehicle for generating awareness, reflection, and discussion about this increasingly serious problem.

On hand to provide her expertise was Dr. Honey Carandang, one of the most respected child psychologists in the country, who observed that despite the best efforts of educators in the Philippines, it seems that the phenomenon of bullying continues to worsen in many schools, especially in the light of the increasing number of actual and virtual venues, where bullying can happen and go unnoticed.

During his synthesis, Fr. Johnny Go, SJ articulated the connection between Mindanao and our problem of bullying: Mindanao may well be the victim of national bullying in our history, having been neglected and misrepresented so often in so many ways. Hence, Mindanao may also offer us lessons on how to address the problem of bullying in our schools.

One of the highlights of the JBEC Congress was the keynote address of the Provincial Superior of the Philippine Jesuits, Fr. Jose Magadia SJ, “Quo vadis, JBEC?” The Provincial acknowledged the JBEC’s strengths and accomplishments as a network, and suggested five possible directions:

• deepening Ignatian spirituality
• solidarity with the poor and reconciliation with creation
• working with and for the Church
• involvement in the Jesuits’ works in Asia Pacific

While acknowledging the challenges and constraints encountered in the mission, Fr. Provincial encouraged the delegates by sharing with them a Latin phrase that meant: “We shall find a way, and we shall make a way.”

By the closing Eucharistic Celebration, it was clear to the Congress delegates that they had just undergone a most enriching experience. Fr. Bert Ampil SJ, the only grand old man of basic education who attended the congress, delivered a homily where he even sang a song to the congregation. Fr. Ampil’s presence was significant as he represented the pillars of JBEC: Fr. Jim O’Donnel, SJ, Mrs. Jenny Huang Go, and all the others, who had painstakingly worked to build the strong ties among our schools through the Jesuit Basic Education Commission. Indeed the sense of a shared mission and community was palpable among the delegates in the days of the congress–truly a rare gift that we ought to thank the Lord for. As Jane Cacacho, High School Principal of Xavier School, put it during an Open Forum: “Not only are our bags filled with pasalubongs, but our hearts also are overflowing with gratitude.”

Delegates were encouraged to tweet their comments and insights during the congress. To see their tweets, click here.

JBEC has obtained the local distribution rights for the documentary “Bully” and is currently organizing a premiere, as well as a commercial theater run and school tour. If interested, call Je Ching of the IGNITE Office in Xavier School (632) 7230481.

Patrice Melnick takes a break at her shop, Casa Azul.

story/photo Dominick Cross

GRAND COTEAU, La. (Sept. 18, 2012) – In one sense, it can be said that the Thursday readings in the Casa Azul Series are sponsored by the Festival of Words Cultural Arts Collective. And it’s true that it brings in poets and authors; published and unpublished; the literary learned and those who just want to write.
But even with all of that, there’s more going on in the blue old building in Grand Coteau than meets the ear or eye.
Perhaps it’s in the group poem segment of the evening that begins before the speakers take the podium. The way it works is an unfinished line printed on a piece of paper is passed around the room and the members of the audience add to it. Near the end of the evening, it is read aloud by someone, anyone, for that matter.
“The reason we do that is so that everybody that comes, even if they don’t participate in the open mic, they give us one line and they hear their one line read out loud among the other lines,” says Patrice Melnick, executive director of the collective. “And so they participate even in that small way and that helps them become more engaged.”
“I guess it’s a way of kind of bringing us together,” Melnick says, adding that the free readings are open and that means all ages, too. And even with that, there’s something else going in. “Part of my goal is audience development,” she says. “To attract people who maybe don’t usually go to readings, for them to be a part of the group who comes.”
Before he came to read earlier this summer, Jay Udall, who won the 2009 New Mexico Book Award and was a Poetry Fellow of the Nevada Arts Council, saw the community concept in the Casa Azul Series’ schedule. “Using poetry as a way to build community, I think, is what I saw so clear,” he says. “That someone is just thinking about, ‘How can I use this to connect people’ more than in a superficial way. You know, people telling their stories, expressing themselves, using their imaginations.”
Udall teaches English and Creative Writing at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux. He says poetry “is here before we were, will be here after we leave and it’s like this connection to the past, too,” he says. “It’s bigger than us.”
The poet considers poetry, and the series itself, as a unifying force. “Unity, not in the sense that people shave off part of themselves to fit in, but unity out of a sense of who you really are,” says Udall. “That’s what I saw just looking at what these guys are doing.”
Melnick has noticed that the group poem has inspired more than a few people to go dig up a poem they’d written and stashed to come and read it during the open mic. “They’ll watch for a while and then when they’re comfortable – they had some poems tucked away that they didn’t tell anyone about – then they have the nerve to read,” she says.
Poetry, Melnick says, is about creativity and personal expression. “The written word shared, I think, is important,” she says. “It’s appreciating language. Poetry, for me, it slows me down and causes me to appreciate things that I might not appreciate otherwise, that I might take for granted.”
Poetry brings attention to the ordinary, everyday things and “elevates it and helps you see it in a new way,” says Melnick. “Kind of bringing into focus the different aspects of our lives and a certain way of looking at things and sort of taking your time and looking at things in more detail, or with a different perspective, or maybe juxtaposed against something else.”
In an effort to document what life was like in the town just north of Lafayette, Melnick initiated Grand Coteau Voices: The Good, The Bad, The Complicated began in January. It is filmed by documentarian Chere Breaux
“It’s a way of honoring the people and the history of the people in Grand Coteau. And it’s a way of preserving the stories that are here,” says Melnick. “It’s also a way of bringing in more people, so I guess it is about community. It brings in an audience that hasn’t come before.”
‘Voices,’ set for once a month, opens the series and the speaker and their family and friends will usually hang around for the poetry an open mic. “It’s working beautifully with the poetry. What I’ve learned is that people come in and they’re staying for the poetry. They’re staying the whole night. They love the poetry. It’s just that it’s not part of their pattern, it’s not part of their habits,” says Melnick. “And the people who come for the poetry, love hearing stories because writers love stories.”
Pauline Edmond, a life-long resident, was a guest that week. She graduated from St. Peter Claver High School and studied elementary education at what’s now known as the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
“It’s nice to come in and hear people saying some of the same things about some of the experiences that you had growing up here,” says Edmond. “It’s good to keep stories like that alive. You never know, maybe I’ll have a grandchild that’ll come back some day and see this. So maybe somebody can learn something from it.”
Edmond taught school for 30 years, mostly at Grand Coteau Elementary. After retiring, she began baking cakes and selling them out of her home before opening P & D Cakes, which has been in business for 10 years.
In a way, Edmond says, ‘Voices’ goes back to the old way of history telling. “It’s not in print anywhere. It used to be word of mouth,” she says. “That’s how my parents told us about some of the things that happened, word of mouth.”
Edmond says the town is fortunate that Melnick “should find herself in Grand Coteau,” she says. “Grand Coteau sure gets the benefit of her experience. It’s wonderful.”

Po-Boy Contraband

And it has been quite an experience for the former resident of New Orleans, who’d scoped out Grand Coteau during a sabbatical from Xavier University, but moved there after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Her memoir, Po-Boy Contraband, was published just last week. “A lot of it takes place in Louisiana,” she says. “And it involves a lot of music, too,” In it, you’ll learn that she was in the Peace Corps in the Central African Republic for two years and went to Alaska for college.
“I was writing very, very long letters home and that’s when I decided to write literary non-fiction,” says Melnick. “I’d written more poetry before and then I decided I wanted to write non-fiction prose.”

Patrice Melnick in front her shop, Casa Azul, in downtown Grand Coteau at the only stoplight in the town.

So Melnick decided she would attend the first university that took her and that happened to be the University of Alaska at Fairbanks. “I didn’t know anything about the program, but it turned out to be excellent,” she says. “After that, I had to decide what I was going to do.”
And the decision was made to move to New Orleans “because I liked the music,” she says. “I decided that would be the quality of life I wanted.” She worked at Pelican Publishing for a couple of years and then taught at Xavier University for 13 years.
Another thing you’ll learn in Melnick’s memoir is “about living with HIV/AIDS,” she says, which she’s carried since 1987. “It sort of like being invisible.”
“So the book is kind of about coming into that kind of crisis and sort of deciding what my values are, what matters to me,” Melnick says. “That’s what gave me the nerve to be a writer. I really wanted to do it, but it didn’t seem logical.”
Melnick hopes her memoir will get “people to think about their values and what matters in their lives,” she says. “It shouldn’t have taken me to get this condition to decide that I wanted to write, but it did. I went through a series of negatives: What if I’m not good. What if I’m not a good writer and I’m terrible about this.
“Actually, the decision I came to is that it didn’t matter. I had to do it,” Melnick says. “There were points where I decided I wasn’t going to write, and I couldn’t do it. I could not write and so I decided it wasn’t actually about whether I was good or not, of course that’s subjective and you get better if you do more of it, but I thought very hard about it.”
So Melnick went to school to just simply write. “All I did was write. I wanted to indulge myself in that and be around people who felt the same way,” she says. “Because a lot of times as a writer, I found myself defending what I do – sort of explaining why it’s a value in that sense – always having to explain it away.
“If I were a doctor, people wouldn’t say, ‘Well, why do you do that?’” she says.  “There wouldn’t be that question.”
And in a way, that’s why there’s the Festival of Words Cultural Arts Collective in Grand Coteau.
Word?

Multilingual Open Mic (Sept. 20)

According to the The Festival of Words Cultural Arts Collective, Multilingual Open Mic, set for Thursday (Sept. 20) features poems, songs and stories performed in different languages. Perhaps you speak Spanish, French, Vietnamese or Bambara? Read a poem, share a song, or tell a story. Feel free to participate, or just come to listen and enjoy the variety of music and poetry. Appropriate for all ages. The Multilingual Open Mic is sponsored by The Festival of Words Cultural Arts Collective and Nunu’s Arts Collective.

1663 – The first known slave revolt in the thirteen American
        colonies is planned in Gloucester County, Virginia.
        The conspirators, both white servants and African
        American slaves, are betrayed by fellow indentured
        servants.

1867 – Gen. E.R.S. Canby orders South Carolina courts to
        impanel African American jurors.

1881 – Louis Latimer patents an electric lamp with a carbon
        filament.

1886 – Alain Leroy Locke is born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
        He will graduate from Harvard University in 1907 with a
        degree in philosophy and become the first African
        American Rhodes scholar, studying at Oxford University
        from 1907-10 and the University of Berlin from 1910-11.
        He will receive his Ph.D. in philosophy from Harvard in
        1918. For almost 40 years, until retirement in 1953 as
        head of the department of philosophy, Locke will teach
        at Howard University, Washington, DC. He will be best
        known for his involvement with the Harlem Renaissance,
        although his work and influence extend well beyond.
        Through “The New Negro”, published in 1925, Locke
        popularized and most adequately defined the Renaissance
        as a movement in Black arts and letters. He will join
        the ancestors on June 9, 1954.

1915 – The first historically black and Catholic university for
        African Americans in the United States, Xavier
        University, is founded by Blessed Katherine Drexel and
        the religious order she established, the “Sisters of
        the Blessed Sacrament,” in New Orleans, Louisiana.

1948 – Nell Ruth Hardy is born in Birmingham, Alabama. She will
        be better known as Nell Carter and become a Broadway
        sensation as a singer and actress in Broadway’s
        “Bubbling Brown Sugar”, “Ain’t Misbehavin’ “(for which
        she will win a Tony), and for five seasons in
        television’s “Gimme a Break”. She will join the ancestors
        on January 23, 2003 after succumbing to heart disease
        complicated by diabetes and obesity.

1962 – Mississippi Governor Ross R. Barnett defies the federal
        government in an impassioned speech on statewide radio-
        television hookup, saying he would “interpose” the
        authority of the state between the University of
        Mississippi and federal judges who had ordered the
        admission of James H. Meredith. Barnett says, “There is
        no case in history where the Caucasian race has survived
        social integration.” He promises to go to jail, if
        necessary, to prevent integration at the state
        university. His defiance set the stage for the gravest
        federal/state crisis since the Civil War.

1962 – President John F. Kennedy denounces the burning of
        churches in Georgia and supports voter registration
        drives in the South.

1965 – Willie Mays hits his 500th career home run.

1967 – Michael Johnson is born in Dallas, Texas.  He will become
        a world class sprinter, Olympic athlete, and the first
        person to break 44 (43.65) seconds for the 400-meter run.
        At the Atlanta Olympics, he also will become the first
        man to win the double gold in the 400 ad 200 meters.

1971 – Two hundred troopers and officers storm the Attica
        Correctional Facility in upstate New York under orders
        from Governor Nelson Rockefeller.   Thirty-three
        convicts and ten guards are killed. Later investigations
        show that nine of the ten guards were killed by the
        storming party. This riot will focus national attention
        on corrections departments nationwide and the practice
        of imprisonment in the United States. A National
        Conference on Corrections will be convened in December,
        1971 resulting in the formation of the National
        Institute of Corrections in 1974.

1971 – Frank Robinson hits his 500th career home run.

1972 – Two African Americans, Johnny Ford of Tuskegee and A.J.
        Cooper of Prichard, are elected mayors in Alabama.

1979 – South Africa grants Venda independence (Not recognized
        outside of South Africa). Venda is a homeland situated
        in the north eastern part of the Transvaal Province of
        South Africa.

1981 – Isabel Sanford wins an Emmy award as best comedic actress
        for “The Jeffersons”.

1989 – Archbishop Desmond Tutu leads huge crowds of singing and
        dancing people through central Cape Town in the biggest
        anti-apartheid protest march in South Africa for 30
        years.

1996 – Rap artist Tupac Shakur joins the ancestors six days after
        being the target of a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas at
        the age of 25.

1998 – Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs hits his 61st and 62nd home
        runs of the season, passing Roger Maris’ record and
        pulling into a tie with St. Louis Cardinals’ Mark McGwire
        in this years home run derby.
Information retrieved from the Munirah Chronicle and is edited by Rene’ A. Perry

Anyway, I was planning to make a recap about the whole event but the Eagles were just so bright they out-shined the others that I couldn’t remember their performances. Although my memory has failed me once again, let moi comment about their costumes.

Engineering Warriors are the next tributes for the 77th Hunger Games

They were actually pretty good. Pretty is not a warrior thing, ain’t that right? No, seriously. Their costumes gave me goosebumps. I was getting the Hunger Games vibes. Remember the training costumes of the tributes? I guess the Capitol would need the Warrior’s designer for the next Hunger Games. Lol

Behold Naruto’s Kage Bunshin: Arts-Sci’s Tigers

Kudos to the Tigers! They actually placed Second after the Reaped Warriors. One of the judges must be a Naruto-fan. Aside from being all feisty and blonde, the tigers really surprised me. Cause you see, before them was the groundbreaking and feathers-flying performance of the School of Business and Management Eagles, but they still managed to serve me with yet another “ninja” performance! clap, clap, clap

Enough. Although these two were fantastic, nothing can ever beat the Eagles. It has been their 4-win-in-a-row already since 2009! One Facebook User said, “SBM nalang pirme?”  and another replied, “According pa sa team captain sa SBM Cheer Leading squad ‘is that a question?’” 

Look at all those “Tweety” birds.

I just can’t get enough of their red heads. Gosh, I have to color my hair bright red, too!! Mehehehe

I’m a proud Mama Eagle. tears of joy

Okay, I think that was it.

Til’ we meet again, peeps! Mwah! :*

Regina M. Benjamin, MD, MBA is the 18th Surgeon General of the United States. As America’s Doctor, she provides the public with the best scientific information available on how to improve their health and the health of the nation. Dr. Benjamin also oversees the operational command of 6,500 uniformed public health officers who serve in locations around the world to promote, and protect the health of the American People.

From her early days as the founder of a rural health clinic in Alabama – which she kept in operation despite damage and destruction inflicted by hurricanes Georges (1998) and Katrina (2005) and a devastating fire (2006) – to her leadership role in the worldwide advancement of preventive health care, Dr. Benjamin has forged a career that has been recognized by a broad spectrum of organizations and publications.

Dr. Benjamin has a B.S. in chemistry from Xavier University, New Orleans, an M.D. degree from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and an MBA from Tulane University. She attended Morehouse School of Medicine and completed her family medicine residency in Macon, Ga.  Dr. Benjamin holds 18 honorary degrees.

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NBC Los Angeles – The 20-year-old Venice skateboarder whose weekend arrest sparked protests in the city has hired the attorney representing slain Florida teen Trayvon Martin and alleged on Tuesday that he was taunted after being tackled and pinned to the ground by at least four LAPD officers.

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