We Must Be Historians

"We must be historians." These words were uttered today at the St. Luke Baptist Church in Paterson, NJ where Rev. Kenneth D.R. Clayton is the Sr. Pastor, by former United States Congressman and Pastor Emeritus of New Bethel Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., Rev. Walter E. Fauntroy. Rev. Fauntroy was the guest preacher for Heritage Sunday Worship at St. Luke and what a powerful message he delivered. Which brings me to this edition of The Critical Thinker.

As today being February 28th marks the close of February and the end of the month known as Black History Month, it is critical that each of us realize that the understanding of; the study of; and the reflection upon black history cannot be limited to one month alone. Black history, particularly for African Americans and in some respects even more so for everyone else must become a part of our daily lives. African Americans make history every day. It is sad to think that the only time we pause to reflect upon the contributions of African Americans is on Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's birthday in January or just during the month of February. It is for this reason that Rev. Fauntroy's words struck a chord with me when he said in this mornings service that we must be historians. I knew when he said it and I heard it that it would be the title for this blog. I had already begun writing on my various sites to remind people that just because February is coming to a close, our recognition of our history must not. We must learn more and more about our ancestry every day. We owe that to our forefathers and foremothers. I would not be sitting in the Principal's seat today if it weren't for those like Rev. Fauntroy who paved the way.

I watched Brenda Blackmon last night host a segment on Black History and when some were interviewed on the street concerning what Black History Month and Dr. King's birthday meant to them, many of them said it is one time throughout the year to pause and reflect on the history of African Americans. It was with these statements that this critical thinker took issue. We must not just pause for the twenty eight days in February and the one day in January. We must reflect upon and act upon our heritage the remaining three hundred and thirty six days as well. During the segment last night, just as I did this morning,I learned so much more about our history. Even the history of slavery in New Jersey. During the segment I also gained and ever greater appreciation for the sit ins at Woolworth nearly fifty years ago.

So for those reading this edition of The Critical Thinker,and not just those of us who are African American, we must understand our history in order for us to move forward and not repeat the mistakes of the past. We must take on the same spirit as our Jewish brothers and sisters whose mantra is "Never Again;" and teach our children and many of our adults about our history and not just the horrible parts; African Americans are descendants from Kings and Queens. That story must also be told. So I end this edition as I began in the words of Reverend Congressman Walter E. Fauntroy....."We Must Be Historians."

From Hosanna Hosanna to Crucify Him or From Hero to Goat

Matthew 21:9 (King James Version)

9And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.

Mark 15:13 (King James Version)

13And they cried out again, Crucify him.

Upon Republican Senator Scott Brown's victory in Massachusetts, the conservative trinity (Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Mark Levin) were crying out Hosanna in the highest about him; then he cast his first vote and they cried out again, crucify him. The last cry came as a result of Senator Brown's vote this week for a $15 billion jobs bill drafted by Senate majority leader Harry Reid. By voting with the Democrats, he stunned the trinity and some conservative supporters.

I heard Levin and the other two cronies lament how now Scott Brown is not conservative enough. Mark Levin went as far as to say that the conservative movement is not about one person. That wasn't the cry a couple of weeks ago when Senator Brown won. It's amazing how fast you can go from hero to goat with these guys; how quickly you can get on the "S" list because you don't think the way they think. Critics ripped into the 41st GOP senator on Facebook and other sites when he became the first Republican to vote with Democrats on the jobs bill calling him a “traitor.”

Good for Senator Brown! He voted with his own mind and conscience. When asked why he voted the way that he did, he said that he voted for the bill, over the concerns of GOP leadership, because “it’s filled with tax cuts that will help create jobs in Massachusetts.” Again, I say good for you Senator Brown. Hopefully he does not become anyone's puppet.

The United States will never get anywhere as long as we keep playing the same old tired politics as usual. We will never get anywhere as long as the parties continue to war against each other. A divided house cannot stand against itself and as long as we keep running along constantly pointing fingers at the left or the right; the democrats or the republicans; the conservatives or the liberals, etc. etc. we will continue to be a divided house and noting will get done. I encourage and challenge readers of this blog to read GAME CHANGE by John Heilemann & Mark Halperin and OUTRAGE by Dick Morris & Eileen McGann to get some real good insights into what Washington is really all about. After completing these books you will see it is not about the American people.

Man Up Manning

C'mon Peyton, you've been in the game of football long enough to know that it is only good sportsmanship and customary to congratulate the winning team members or at best shake hands with them and say "Good game." We witnessed the same juvenile behavior from Lebron James at the end of the National Basketball Association (NBA)championship game. (see It's Only a Game Folks) http://thereadingcircleblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/its-only-game-folks.html

Just as with the James incident the Manning incident is magnified because of the star status of these two men. These are the guys who have been placed on pedestals because of their athletic prowess. It would be wrong regardless of who did not display good sportsmanship, but it really gets magnified with a big name in a big game, i.e. James-NBA Finals; Manning- Superbowl. While the role model debate always crops up in these situations, the fact of the matter is, we are all role models whether we like it or not. Children watch, and as sassy and smart mouthed as many of them can be today, they would have no problem with not shaking an opponents hand after a game and then nastily telling the coach "Well Peyton Manning didn't shake hands after the Super Bowl or Lebron James didn't shake hands after the NBA Finals and neither am I." This applies to even the eight year olds in the Pop Warner leagues. Oh yes, I can see that happening. As the principal of an elementary school, I had an incident where at the end of a basketball game one of the cheerleaders from the opposing school came up to me and informed me that the cheerleaders from my school would not shake their hands. Our cheerleaders had already made their way to the locker room and I called each one back out and had them shake the opposing cheerleaders hands. Let's get real, when all is said and done, it is only a game.

What makes it even worse is that Peyton Manning is portrayed as Mr. America; Mr. Purebread (male version of Polly Purebread for those of you who are cartoon buffs); The Great White Hope,etc. etc. etc. Kids are actually encouraged to look up to him. I was actually rooting for the Colts in the Superbowl because of Coach Jim Caldwell's deep faith in God and his not being shy to share his faith even during his myriad interviews. I also counted on Peyton Manning's experience to be a factor. When the game was over and I had to face all of my friends who were cheering for the Saints, I could not help but to admit that the Saints played an excellent game. The Saints played as if they wanted to win and they did. That's all Peyton had to do was let some of the Saints players know that it was a good game and go on into the locker room. Calling Drew Brees later does not cut it because the cameras aren't there to catch that phone call. If the situation had been reversed everyone would have been questioning how could they do that to "Peyton Manning?"

I am not suggesting that these guys ought to be perfect; however, they need to always be mindful that people are watching their every move. 106 million households were watching; the largest audience in television history, so I don't think that was the time to throw a temper tantrum. Oh well something else to critically think about.

Cover of THE WEEK Captures It

The cover of THE WEEK (www.THEWEEK.com) captures my sentiments pictorially of what the January 10, 2010 edition of The Critical Thinker is alluding to(see http://thereadingcircleblog.blogspot.com/2010/01/did-underwear-bomber-take-off-his-shoes.html).



When I was a child my parents would tell me "Make sure you have clean underwear on in case you get into an accident." I guess we can now amend that to "Make sure you have clean underwear on before you go on your next flight. It's amazing, isn't it?

Satirically Yours........

If I didn't Think Rush Limbaugh Was An Idiot Before; I Do Now!

Abraham Lincoln said it best when he said "It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt." Rush Limbaugh removes all doubt and proves Mr. Lincoln right every day.

Seeing that El Rushbo just returned from Hawaii (where he suffered what was at first thought to be a heart attack) it's too bad Mr. Excellence in Broadcasting (EIB) wasn't in Haiti when the quake hit. If he were trapped in Haiti, it would be real interesting to see if he thought aid being sent there was political. Let the record show that Rush Limbaugh is a horse's derriere. I apologize to the horse.

Did The Underwear Bomber Take Off His Shoes Upon Checking In for His Flight?

Did the Underwear Bomber take off his shoes upon checking in for his flight? That’s something to critically think about. After the Shoe Bomber we were all then required to remove our shoes before being allowed on an airplane. The Shampoo or Plastic Bottle Bomber caused us to all to have six ounces or less of our toiletries and cosmetics and now we have the Underwear Bomber. Will we be removing our underwear before being able to board a flight? Darned close now that they are talking about full body scanners. This is one time I actually have to agree with talk show host Mark Levin. He says that the average ordinary citizen is being tortured for the actions of a few and does not support full body scanning. I have to agree. Will we have to strip naked before we can get on an airplane?

It really is getting ridiculous and I can’t imagine too many people actually wanting to fly these days; not to mention having to pay for your luggage. I love the SouthWest Airline ad where the guy says, “I’ll send my bags on vacation and I’ll stay home.” As much as I love to fly, the bulk of my flying will be done with Microsoft’s Flight Simulator X. I just cannot be bothered with taking off my shoes and clothes while my clothing in my luggage is being fondled by security agents all in the name of keeping me safe when in actuality a terrorist is going to strike when he/she good and darn well pleases. Homeland Security is a farce. When the inventor of the full body scanner was asked would that process detect a detonation device that had been swallowed by someone, he answered no. So guess what, we implement full body scans, the terrorists swallow the detonation device, get on the plane and blow it to smithereens. Think about it, terrorists don’t care about suicide bombing anyway, so swallowing a detonator would not faze them. For every so called security measure we put in place, the terrorist figures how to get around it. We remove our shoes; they put the bomb in their underwear. Let’s get real.

One reason terrorists are always one step ahead of us is our seemingly incessant need to broadcast everything we do or are thinking about doing in the media. I am watching the news the other night and there was a segment called Where America Stands and the piece was entitled U.S. Military Goes Hi-Tech in 21st Century. It was a report about a huge Hollywood style military simulator in Virginia that is designed to make a seamless transition from a soldier’s last day here in the United States to his/her first day on the ground in Iraq or Afghanistan. The report showed the facility and even showed some of the simulators and the exercises. It’s amazing how many of our strategies and tactics we give away to the enemy on the evening news. Did you hear anything about the Underwear Bomber’s plans broadcast on the Taliban or Al Qaeda evening news? Exactly. Al Qaeda and the Taliban are not broadcasting their training and techniques to us.

While we are fiddling; Rome is burning and the terrorists are planning. We have become paranoid. Twice this week F-16 fighter jets were dispatched to escort commercial airliners to airports because of “belligerent or “unruly” passengers. Another talk show host Mark Simone said it best concerning the young man who ran under the rope to get “one last kiss” from his girlfriend before she boarded the plane. Mr. Simone jokes that maybe we ought to start screening to see if the passenger is single or a long term veteran married couple. He goes on to say that he would bet the husband in that marriage of some years would not be running under the rope to get one last kiss from his wife and in fact would be glad to see her go. As he said this, I as we would say in text language LMAO. The more torture that is placed upon fliers, the less fliers the airline industry is going to have. Each time something like this happens the airline industry takes a hit. You think they are charging for bags now............just wait.

Lastly before this critical thinker leaves this submission, I will leave this question with you. Did it ever occur to anyone that the bombing of a jet just might be a distraction or a decoy and the planes aren’t really the targets after all? Until the next time. I welcome your thoughts in the comment section.

Happy New Year!!!!

Happy New Year! May all of you have a prosperous 2010! Each year I say little rhyme to myself according to the numbers in the new year. For example in 2008 I said it was going to be great; in 2009 I said it would be fine; and my rhyme for 2010 is "It's going to be better than it has been."(LOL).

The truth of the matter is, none of know what the year before us beholds. Who would have "thunk" Michael Jackson would have not made it out of 2009 alive. I remember vividly sitting in my dentist's chair on June 25, 2009 when a friend who is a writer for WPIX's News at 10 texted me that Michael Jackson had died. I actually had the news before the major news networks released the info. I started texting people who read their phones in disbelief. Closer to home, a close personal friend who was a young mother of two, born in March of 1963, who I had seen a few weeks before her death, passed in October of 2009. When we last met she shared how it was ironic how she was the one who was sick as she was very health conscious and was always on her husband and children about eating healthy and exercising. Who would have thought that she would be gone before the year ended.

I watched as the famous and the not so famous; some I was related to and others who I had just seen in passing; the old and the not so old transition from mortality to immortality; all unexpectedly. I say all of this to say that we must appreciate and be thankful for each and every minute that we are allowed to be alive. Think about it, ten years have gone by already. I remember clearly the Y2K scare, when everyone thought the world was going to come to an end in year 2000 because all of the computers would stop working due to a glitch concerning the numbers in 2000.

As the picture above suggests, if we are to move forward into 2010, we must run around the wall of fear and dump our old baggage and unfinished business in the trash can of life. It is the only way that we will truly be on the road to freedom. This road includes happiness, dreams, forgiveness, peace of mind, and prosperity. It makes no sense that many of us are walking around here not talking to family members and friends over something that happened so long ago that we have forgotten why we are not speaking. Life is too short for grudges. It takes too much energy to consciously ignore someone. Trust me on this one, it's much easier to say "Hi."

So as we move into 2010, let us dump whatever is weighing us down and hindering us from running this race called life like an Olympian. I am grateful and thankful to God to see 2010. My intention is to be 100 and healthy(I've got a few more years to go); however, as God laughs at my plans,the truth be told, I don't know His and if indeed I will myself make it out of 2010. I am sure Michael Jackson and my friend Selena expected to make it out of 2009 last January 1. So with that said I am going to appreciate each moment and each of you. This critical thinker urges you all to do the same. Have a wonderfully blessed and prosperous 2010.

Marc