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opinions
THINKING ABOUT THE 2024 U.S. PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION FROM FARMING AND DISEASE PERSPECTIVES
by Wendell Griffen
November 16, 2024
The 2024 U.S. presidential election result is being analyzed by pundits, commentators, journalists, and historians as has been done following every other presidential election. Donald Trump's MAGA fascism has clearly been embraced by a majority of Americans who voted. The Republican Party regained control of the U.S. Senate and retained its majority control of the House of Representatives. Trump's super-majority hold on the U.S. Supreme Court - thanks to the machinations of out-going Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky - means that MAGA fascism is the dominant political ideology of all three branches of U.S. government for the foreseeable future.
It is already clear how MAGA fascism is likely to operate judging from the personnel Trump is nominating to fill key leadership positions. Heather Cox Richardson has written about that in her November 13 edition of Letters From An American.
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/november-13-2024
I agree that John Thune’s election as Senate Majority Leader is a good thing. He is going to be a less subservient politician than Rick Scott, and that less subservient kind of leadership is needed now that Trump has another four-year term for his vicious idiocy to operate on the world.
However, I don’t share HCR’s optimism about how the Senate might be a moderating influence on MAGA politics. Granted, the Senate is, by design, somewhat more immune from populist movements than the House of Representatives and the President because Senators have six-year terms. However, Mitch McConnell enabled MAGA initiatives during Trump’s first term, with John Thune’s assistance. Thune might be slightly less subservient to Trump, but he is not likely to openly defy Trump in many instances, let alone in most.
The truth that must be faced is that MAGA fascism is a disease that has infected all three branches of the American political system. As with any disease, it will run its course unless a vaccine is used. Ordinarily, one would hope that voters would serve as the vaccine. Given how voter suppression efforts enacted after 2020 worked, and considering how white supremacy and patriarchy remain popular among a sizable segment of the electorate, I doubt that voters will counteract MAGA fascism.
If Trump’s election showed anything, it was that white supremacy and patriarchy are dominant forces in America. I do not see that changing anytime soon.
Farmers and physicians understand that diseased crops and people do not become healthy unless the sickness that causes the unhealthy crops and people is arrested and cured by effective countermeasures. MAGA fascism is like a disease for the American political system. It has taken root in the minds of enough American voters so that it will not go away until it has either run its course or been rejected. MAGA fascism is based on a kind of shoddy thinking that rejects critical analysis, takes offense at dissenting viewpoints, and fears pluralism, inclusion, and intellectual honesty. That ideological sickness will not produce better thinking, better policies, and better practices no matter how much people like that sickness.
The sickness will worsen until it either destroys the U.S. democracy or is counteracted by strong-minded people who are not afraid to speak truth to power, stand up for what they believe, and shine the light on a better way.
Make no mistake. MAGA fascism will not go away on its own. And MAGA fascism will make life harder for most of the people who voted for Trump. White supremacy, racism, patriarchy, sexism, xenophobia, and free market fundamentalist capitalism have been part of the U.S. political environment across the history of the republic, but have never been unopposed. In the same way that brave and strong-minded people challenged those forces in the past, brave and strong-minded people must challenge them during Trump's next term of office.
In the meantime, let's be honest and admit that things are going to get worse. Diseased crops and people do not get better by taking on more infection, but by receiving vaccines. MAGA fascists do not want a society characterized by pluralism, inclusion, critical thinking, and civil liberty for all people. They will not surrender the power won in the 2024 presidential election. That power will have to be voted from them by people who believe in pluralism, inclusion, critical thinking, and civil liberty for all people.
Let's be the vaccine.
Wendell Griffen is the author of Parables, Politics, and Prophetic Faith published by (Nurturing Faith, (2023) and
The Fierce Urgency of Prophetic Hope (Judson Press, (2017). He is also an ordained minister and former elected judge.
www.fierceprophetichope.blogspot.com
www.wendellgriffen.blogspot.com
Pastor, New Millennium Church, Little Rock, Arkansas
pastorgriffen@newmillenniumchurch.us
CEO, Griffen Strategic Consulting, PLLC
www.griffenstrategicconsulting.com
griffenstrategicconsulting@gmail.com
Co-Chair, Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference
opinions
We Got God!!!!
by Deborah Springer Suttlar
November 17, 2024
No, the election certainly did not turn out the way as we would have liked, but “We Got God!” I had to remind myself of that fact. We got God and that is better than winning an election. Do not be fooled. The campaign initiated to win was orchestrated by people who profess hate, racism, misogyny, greed and have a thirst for revenge. Should we really consider that a win? We got God!
We must remember our faith in a sovereign God who has always sustained us. Even as we continue to hear the assorted reasons regarding the loss of Vice President Kamala Harris. The truth is, if knowing Donald Trump and what he represents did not make “people of faith” vote for the better, then no candidate could win. We got God!
There is a lesson here and I hope as true people of faith, we are paying attention. Do not entertain evil, do not allow it within your midst. Remember Donald Trump on the Apprentice? We allowed that evil to have a platform. The Bible tells us to flee from evil. The problem is we have courted it, embraced it, and allowed these parasites to infiltrate us. We have become distracted by being entertained and “becoming” the entertainment. This resulted in us losing our identity and perspective of who we (Godly) represent. We have replaced our God with the things of this world which have distracted us. I am not only speaking of something that I have witnessed, but it is also something of which I too am guilty. It is time to rethink our own values, morals, and actions. We must get into survival mode. We must remember our God who has always been our sword and shield. We got God!
There should not be a lengthy reason or argument regarding this matter. We must move forward as if we are in battle because we are. We are in a battle to survive as people of color. As Common and John Legend said in the song, Glory, “Resistance is like religion to us.” We must resist the plans that are being made to eliminate our rights as people and we can. We got God!
The “voting process” is the tool for us to move forward. Prayer is a major source of our resolve and God is the source of our power. The voting process is used to remove us from the table of influence and power over our own lives. Our history provides proof. Every decision regarding our personhood and livelihood has been enacted, legislated, or decided judicially. The people who made those decisions were voted into office. We must rise and work to get our people involved in the voting process. We got God!
When you have God, we have the supreme defender. But you must know Him, you must trust Him and you must follow Him. God never loses. We Got God!
We got God, I cannot emphasize that enough because He is the God of the oppressed. Psalm 9:9 The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.
Psalms 37:1 Don’t worry about the wicked or envy those who do wrong. For like grass, they soon fade away. Like spring flowers, they soon wither.
Congressman John Lewis, “My friends: Your vote is precious, almost sacred. It is the most powerful nonviolent tool we have to create a more perfect union.
African Proverb – When you pray, move your feet.
Deborah Springer Suttlar is a social and community advocate, and a long-time supporter of public schools.
opinions
EDUCATIONAL EMERGENCY - November 16, 2024
By Joy C. Springer
November 16, 2024
EDUCATIONAL EMERGENCY – Update for November 15, 2024
This week’s update on the state’s Educational Emergency is a brief account of what took place during this week’s Arkansas Legislative Council (ALC) Budget Hearings and today’s ALC. I believe that I have previously communicated the charge of the Joint Budget committee, if not, they are summarized below:
The Joint Budget Committee considers appropriation bills and budget
proposals submitted by the General Assembly. (A.C.A. 10-3-509)
The Legislative Council (ALC) was established by Act 264 of 1949 to collect
data and information upon which legislative decisions will be made during
regular session of the General Assembly… The Legislative Council is the
supervisory committee for the Bureau of Legislative Research, and the [ALC]
coordinates the activities of the various interim committees and through the
various committees provide legislative oversight of the Executive branch of
government. The [ALC] consists of 36 regular members – 20 House
members and 16 Senators. In addition, there are 24 ex-officio voting
m
Simply put, the ALC controls all budgets of the state of Arkansas.
The members of the Joint Budget committee considered and approved the various budgets for at least a half dozen departments/divisions of the State of Arkansas during the week including the following departments that are being highlighted
below that I personally found to be interesting:
Department of Education including the Division of Higher Education- headed by Jacob Oliva and the Department of Public Safety headed by Mike Hagar
The Department of Education’s total budget including all operating expenses and employee salaries, benefits, etc., received approval of their appropriations by the Joint Budget Committee for fiscal years 25-26 and 26-27 approved for amounts totaling
over $3.5 billion dollars respectively.
The Department of Public Safety’s total budget including all operating expenses and
employees, etc. received approval of their appropriations by the Joint Budget Committee for fiscal years 25-26 and 26-27 for amounts totaling approximately 21 million dollars.
During today’s ALC meeting, the Revenue report given by Dr. Silva indicated:
“collections of gross revenue year to date of approximately $2.6 million have
decreased $85.8 million, 3.2% below the $2.7 million collected last fiscal year-to-date. Net General Revenue available for distribution of $2.3 million decreased by $64.5 million, or 2.8% from the $2.3 million available for distribution in October 2023.
Another interesting report that was received today related to the ARPA funds received from our federal government (United States Department of Education) during the pandemic. Yes, the state is still holding on to those funds, in fact the Arkansas Department of Education utilized some of those funds in helping to fund obligations under the LEARNS Act to the tune of several million dollars. Update to come! Since the last meeting, distributions have been made totaling over $642,000,000. The State of Arkansas still has over ARPA funds totaling over $3 billion dollars.
Finally, be on the lookout for next month’s update! We are at the end of the year and there has been no public report regarding how Arkansas students faired on the new ATLAS assessment test. I wonder why? We already know the answer! Efforts to close the student achievement gap remain. I will share the percentage the actual percentage of all Arkansas students who are reading on grade level. The results are not good! I am told that less than 30% of all students scored proficient???
The Educational Emergency continues….
Rep. Joy C. Springer represents District 76 in the Arkansas House of Representatives. Mrs. Springer previously served on the Little Rock School Board and is a long-time civil rights activist and supporter of equality in public education. She currently serves on the House Public Transportation and House Aging, Children and Youth, Legislative and Military Affairs committees. Additionally, she serves on the Performance Review committee, and Joint Budget committee as a 1st alternate including Personnel and Special Language, and as a 2nd alternative on the Legislative Auditing committee.
opinions
EDUCATIONAL EMERGENCY – Update, 2024 November 9, 2024
by Joy C. Springer
November 9, 2024
EDUCATIONAL EMERGENCY – Update for November 9, 2024
I am disappointed, I am devastated, I am sick, I am sad, I am angry….! All these statements reflect how I was feeling when I finally got up on Wednesday morning and realized that thank GOD, I am still alive, I have shelter over my head, as far as I know I am still in the state of Arkansas and the United States of America is still on this Earth and most of all, we continue to be blessed because we are only here through the GRACE of GOD and our Savior, Jesus Christ who died on the cross in order that we may have life and have it more abundantly!
GOD has a plan, and we must wait on it…. With that being said, I sum up my update on the state of Arkansas’ Educational Emergency by stating that it continues after Tuesday’s election results, however, I must share with you 1) that there is indeed a light at the end of the tunnel and 2) an article from the former President and Director Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF), the Honorable Sherrilyn Ifill. Please click the link below and she will share with you “Why Are We Here?”
https://open.substack.com/pub/sherrilyn/p/why-are-we-here?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
In summary, she tells us: “Yes, this is America. It is and always has been. We must be committed, like she is, “to imagining and creating a new America. A true multi-racial democracy centered around equality and justice. [she] believes it lies just over the hill. [She] [does] not need to see it in [her] lifetime to know that it can happen. That will happen. But [she] – we – do need to do the work to lay its foundation. And there’s no turning back.”
Who is Sherylyn Ifill? Thanks for asking. Director Ifill served as President and Director Counsel of LDF from 2013 to 2022. She currently serves as President and Director Counsel Emeritus. Director Ifill graduated from Vassar College in 1984 with a B.A. in English and earned her J.D. from New York University School of Law in 1987. In 2020, she was named Attorney of the Year by The American Lawyer. In 2021, Ifill was appointed to President Biden’s Commission on the Supreme Court. She serves on many boards in the Learning Policy Institute. Most importantly to the state of Arkansas, she worked with my mentor, the Honorable John W. Walker, during his trek to rid the state of Arkansas, and particularly, the various school districts across the state of its segregated practices against the Black (African American) school age students who attended the public schools in Arkansas. I had the privilege of meeting Director Ifill for the first time at a Board meeting of the LDF where Mr. Walker also served.
We are here because there is still work to be done and we must remember all who have lived and died – Rosa Parks, Shirley Chisolm, Fannie Lee Hamer, and now Director Sherlyn Ifill who reminds us: “THERE IS NO TURNING BACK” and there are five things we must prioritize:
1) The U.S. will now be run by a white supremacist authoritarian President and political party;
2) There is real danger for marginalized people in this country, for immigrants, the press, universities, foundations and for those living in states and cities disfavored by this regime;
3) The Rule of Law failed. The Supreme Court favored Trump, and we know why;
4) Our spirits will be assaulted in the coming months; however, we must hold onto things that uplift our spirits, i.e., family, food, music, art, etc.; and
5) The resulting consequences of the election will have a devastating effect on the world, i.e., environmental degradation, wars, economic devastation, etc.
I repeat! GOD has a plan for us! When it comes, let’s be ready!
Rep. Joy C. Springer represents District 76 in the Arkansas House of Representatives. Mrs. Springer previously served on the Little Rock School Board and is a long-time civil rights activist and supporter of equality in public education. She currently serves on the House Public Transportation and House Aging, Children and Youth, Legislative and Military Affairs committees. Additionally, she serves on the Performance Review committee, and Joint Budget committee as a 1st alternate including Personnel and Special Language, and as a 2nd alternative on the Legislative Auditing committee.
opinions
Trump- A Bewitching Fear Monger
By Deborah Springer Suttlar
November 2, 2024
After Donald Trump lost the 2020 election for the Presidency, he influenced his supporters to the false notion he was cheated. As a result, he has waged war against truth, honesty, and integrity. In fact, he encourages hate and promotes a lack of civility towards those who do not agree with or support him. Trump has become a Bewitching Fear Monger.
We have seen and heard Donald Trump, and his supporters refer to other Americans as “the enemy within,” “antichrist,” “scum,” “vermin,” “animals” and the list of derogatory names goes on. Trump has become like Bernie Madoff who mastered a Ponzi scheme for the sole purpose of greed, power, and status. Trump has become a wicked force of deception. He has usurped the uniqueness of the very fabric of what made America great; its diverse populus and willingness to provide opportunity for all people. Trump will be forever remembered in history for his vile, hateful spirit of separatism. The incredibly sad factor is that he hijacked a political party, gullible Christians and avowed racist to join him into this abyss of hate.
However, you will only follow if you believe in what you are doing and that is why Trump will be held accountable for what he has sown. The scripture of Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. We cannot forget that scripture because the word of God is truth. Hate is not a virtue, and as Trump insults Americans of color, he is an affront to God.
If we believe in “chance” we are wrong. It was not an accident that Biden withdrew, and Kamala was in. I would be afraid to go against God; you will not win. Trump acts like a “wanna be Slave Master.” And we are not going back! America needs a president with a good spirit, good heart, and a good mind willing to help all Americans. A president who respects all people and who will uphold the Constitution like a respectable leader of the “free world.” His behavior is unacceptable. This is God’s World; we all have a right to be here. The ballot will be our sling shot. God will direct to the target. Trust God.
John 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.
African Proverb- He who has done evil, expects evil.
Deborah Springer Suttlar is a community activist and longtime supporter of public schools.
opinions
EDUCATIONAL EMERGENCY – November 2, 2024
By Joy C. Springer
November 2, 2024
EDUCATIONAL EMERGENCY – Update for November 2, 2024
This week’s update on the state’s Educational Emergency is a brief account of what took place during this week’s Arkansas Legislative Council’s (ALC) Joint Budget Hearings where I serve as an Alternate Member. I have previously commented about our Budget hearing, however, I did not provide an explanation of this committee’s charge. As stated in its name, the committee consists of members from the Senate and House of Representatives. In addition:
The Joint Budget Committee considers appropriation bills and budget proposals submitted by the General Assembly. The Joint Budget Committee may to meet during the interim to work on budgetary and other matters. When the Legislative Council holds pre-session budget hearings after October 1 preceding the next regular session of the General Assembly), all members of the Joint Budget Committee appointed to serve at the next following regular session are authorized to attend. (A.C.A. 10-3-509)
In addition, the ALC has developed rules for making budget appropriations for the various divisions and departments of the state of Arkansas. These recommendations taken from the Legislative website are as follows:
(a) The ALC/JBC shall prepare a recommended budget for submission to the General Assembly for each agency, department, constitutional office, and branch of State Government that received an appropriation in the preceding session of the General Assembly. (b) If the members determine that an agency, department, or program should cease to exist, be reorganized, or be consolidated, a recommendation reflecting that determination shall be submitted to the General Assembly. (c) Budget requests
submitted to the ALC/JBC shall be prepared and submitted by the agency, department, constitutional office, or branch of State Government in the manner provided by law. (d) The Governor-Elect shall be given an opportunity to review all budget requests, except those of constitutional officers and their departments, and to provide his or her recommendation on the budget request, if any.
The ALC/JBC may proceed to consider and act upon budget requests prior to submission of the request to the Governor-Elect but shall reopen action on any budget requests for which the Governor-Elect submits a recommendation. (e) Consideration of a budget request shall be reopened for consideration automatically upon submission of a revised recommendation by the Governor for that budget request. Whenever the Governor wishes to present a budget request or an amendment to an action by the ALC/JBC the Governor shall submit a letter to the ALC/JBC setting forth the details of the request. These letters from the Governor shall be placed on the Agenda under the heading “Governors Letters" for consideration by the ALC/JBC.
The Constitutional Offices presented their budgets to the committee for approval except for the House of Representatives and the Senate. These offices included:
Office of the Governor – Sarah Sanders - $14 million
Office of the Lt. Governor – Leslie Rutledge - $1.1 million
Office of the Attorney General – Tim Griffin - $84 million
Office of the Secretary of State – John Thurston - $92 million
Office of the Treasurer - Larry Walther - $8 million
Office of the Auditor – Dennis Milligan - $146 million
Office of the Land Commission – Tommy Land - $74 million
The total appropriation/budgets for each of these offices for the biennial (2025-26 and 2026-2027 totaled approximately $2.1 billion dollars. Rumblings during the committee meetings were that if departments are careful, the state of Arkansas could easily face having to give up some of its surplus funds that were estimated in October to be approximately 2.1 billion dollars.
I surmise that the economy has not only been great for the United States but the state of Arkansas as well. Yet, Arkansas’ Educational Emergency continues!
Rep. Joy C. Springer represents District 76 in the Arkansas House of Representatives. Mrs. Springer previously served on the Little Rock School Board and is a long-time civil rights activist and supporter of equality in public education. She currently serves on the House Public Transportation and House Aging, Children and Youth, Legislative and Military Affairs committees. Additionally, she serves on the Performance Review committee, and Joint Budget committee as a 1st alternate including Personnel and Special Language, and as a 2nd alternative on the Legislative Auditing committee.
opinions
“The Bibe Belt is A Racist Strap”
by Deborah Springer Suttlar
October 19, 2024
The Bible Belt is a region in the United States that is known for being more socially conservative and theologically evangelical than the rest of the country. The following states included in this description are Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas. Sometimes, this description also includes the states of Missouri, West Virginia, and Virginia. Today, they are all considered extremely conservative and to be frank: they should be referred as, A Racist Strap.
As we all know, a strap like a belt is used to bind things together securely. What we have witnessed and experienced in this country, these Bible Belt states have a history and record of exhibiting negative attitudes toward people of color and immigrants. While the term conservative has been held as a badge of honor, it has been an excuse to reject, deny and oppress people who are not white. As a result, these states are not as progressive as they should be regarding social issues. Their records reflect low educational achievements, low graduation rates, lack of health education and healthcare access which is attributed to higher rates of heart disease, obesity, and diabetes.
Their love of guns and lack of regulations to gun access is attributed to higher rates of homicides and violence. These designated Bible Belt states have higher incidences of teenage pregnancies and recently have severely aborted female reproductive rights through punitive legislation. Today, these states are now considered extremely conservative to the point that using the word “bible” as a reference to them seems to be an oxymoron. Their association to the teachings of the Bible is the exact opposite of what is being done through their state government and social environments.
Let us not forget that “Rebel Flag” remains an endeared ornament they continue to raise in defiance of their lost battle to retain Slavery in this country. This Bible Belt of states includes the name “Dixieland,” those southern states below the Mason-Dixon line that seceded and comprised the Confederate States Of America. The ones who did not want to remain a part of the United States due to the abolishment of slavery. Arkansas was one of those states.
This Racist Strap reminds me of the term, “cut off your nose to spite your face.” Instead of creating access to healthcare, equal quality education, job opportunities, housing and economic opportunity for everyone, these states choose not to provide adequate services or support laws to counter these deficits. They have chosen a path of racism which in effect becomes an action of ignorance which hurts everyone including poor white people too.
So, we refer to these states as “The Bible Belt” because they tout bibles and profess to be church folks. It is another example of whitewashing. It proves that having a bible or a church does not give you status. We need to be truthful with the facts. Many do not even take the time to even read the Bible and use certain passages to justify their own behavior of indifference and hate.
We should stop referring to these states as the Bible Belt, we are giving the Bible a bad distinction. Just like the word “Christian,” we have really messed up that one too. Anyone can build a church, and anyone can own a Bible but not everyone understands its true purpose. This racist strap has stymied our growth and development as the United States of America. This is a reminder, in the Bible, racism is a sin.
African Proverb – “If there is cause to hate someone, the cause to love has just begun.
Acts 4:32 All believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. (now some would call that socialism- Jesus called it love.)
Deborah Springer Suttlar is a community activist and longtime supporter of public schools.
opinions
MY NOVEMBER 2024 VOTING RECOMMENDATIONS
by Wendell Griffen
October 19, 2024
Early voting begins across Arkansas on Monday, October 21. I urge you to cast your vote as follows in the interest of advancing fair and more effective government.
U.S. President KAMALA HARRIS
U.S. Vice President TIM WALZ
U.S. Congress
1ST Congressional District RODNEY GOVENS
2nd Congressional District MARCUS JONES
3rd Congressional District CAITLIN DRAPER
4th Congressional District RISIE HOWARD
State Treasurer JOHN PAGAN
Chief Justice, Arkansas Supreme Court JUSTICE KAREN BAKER
Arkansas Court of Appeals (District 6) MOLLY MCNULTY
Arkansas House of Representatives
District 69 KWAMI ABDUL-BEY
District 71 CASSANDRA D. GREEN
District 75 ASHLEY HUDSON
District 78 JAMES BARTOLOMEI
District 81 GINA THOMAS-LITTLEJOHN
District 82 SAMUEL BRAZELL JR
Arkansas Senate
District 25 MICHELLE JUSTICE
Justice of the Peace, District 3 KATHY LEWISON
Justice of the Peace, District 4 JULIE BLACKWOOD
Circuit Judge (Seventeenth Division) ROBERT CORTINEZ
Little Rock City Director – Position 9 ANTWAN PHILLIPS
Little Rock City Director – Position 10 BLAKE TIERNEY
Annual LRSD millage tax FOR
Little Rock School District – Zone 4 TONY ROSE
Constitutional Amendment Issue 1 FOR
· This proposed constitutional amendment would allow proceeds from the Arkansas lottery to also be used to fund scholarships and grants to Arkansans in vocational schools.
Constitutional Amendment Issue 2 AGAINST
· This proposed constitutional amendment would change Amendment 100, enacted in 2018, by repealing the current authority of the Arkansas Racing Commission to issue a casino license in Pope County and require local voter approval in a countywide election for any new casino licenses.
Constitutional Amendment Issue 3 FOR
· Issue 3 proposes changing two existing Arkansas laws: Article 5, Section 1 of the Arkansas Constitution, titled “Initiative and Referendum,” and Amendment 98, known as the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment of 2016. Currently, Article 5, Section 1 of the Arkansas Constitution, “Initiative and Referendum,” allows constitutional amendments to be amended or repealed if approved by two-thirds of all members of the House of Representatives and the Senate. Issue 3 proposes adding a new subsection to Article 5, Section 1 that would prohibit legislators from changing or repealing constitutional amendments without approval from voters unless the amendment expressly allows them to do so. Issue 3 also proposes adding and removing sections of Amendment 98 – The Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment of 2016.
THE 1 CENT LITTLE ROCK SALES TAX INCREASE MEASURES
Little Rock leaders have proposed a one cent sales tax increase that has two components. Voters will have the opportunity to vote for or against each component separately. Three-eighths (3/8) of the penny would be allocated for “general operating purposes.” If enacted, this measure would be permanent. Five-eighths (5/8) of the penny increase would be allocated for “capital improvement purposes.” If enacted, that measure would sunset after ten (10) years. Mayor Frank Scott Jr. and City Directors are pushing the sales tax by calling it “Results for the Rock.” That’s a catchy title, but as the saying goes, the devil is in the details.
If enacted, the 3/8 cent measure for general operating purposes will be permanent. Little Rock leaders expect that part of the sales tax increase to produce about $244 million ($243,750,000) in additional revenue over the first ten years – averaging $24,375,000 a year.
· $10 million - $1 million every year – increase for the Little Rock Zoo (more on that one later).
· Almost half of the projected revenue for the first ten years of the 3/8 cent measure - $113,000,000 (46%)– is allocated for public safety.
· $95 million – 84% of the public safety allocation – is for policing.
· Passage of the 3/8 cent measure will increase spending for policing by $9.5 million every year, PERMANENTLY. City leaders are signaling they intend to impose “patrol and control” – PERMANENTLY – on Little Rock residents who have complained about policing practices for decades.
The 5/8 cent measure intended for “general capital purposes” is projected to produce $650 million – two-thirds of a billion dollars – in new tax revenue for the City of Little Rock over a ten-year period.
· City leaders propose to allocate $10 million for “Affordable Housing” over a ten-year period, but none of that amount annually.
· $20 million in increased funding - $2 million a year – is proposed to address “Homelessness.” However, personnel and fiscal issues remain concerns for the Housing Authority.
$249 million additional revenue is intended for “Parks and Quality of Life.” Here are a few features listed by supporters.
$30 million for “Zoo Master Plan Implementation.” What plan? How? Mind you, the 3/8 cent part of the "Results for the Rock" aims to increase funding for the LR Zoo $1 million a year, permanently, on top of the $30 million for "Zoo Master Plan Implementation."
$60 million for an “Indoor Sports Complex” in “Downtown Little Rock.” Where? What will that mean for downtown traffic congestion?
$15 million for War Memorial Park. Where is the plan?
$10 million for a new “15 Acre Park – Downtown.” Where? And a 15-acre park downtown when downtown residents don’t have a full-service grocery store?
$55 million for a new “Outdoor Sports Complex (Multi-Purpose Fields) – Southwest Little Rock (West of I-430). Where specifically? How will it affect green space?
$3 million for “Expansion and Rebranding” 1st Tee Golf. How? Why?
$10 Million for Rebsamen Golf Pro Shop and Renovations. When have city directors, let alone voters, seen the renovation plan?
Residents of Little Rock neighborhoods south of I-630 are not wealthy. They have complained for decades about food deserts, lack of affordable housing, poor drainage, and “patrol and control” police tactics. The “Results for the Rock” sales tax will require them to pay more for food they must struggle to find yet do nothing to address food deserts.
Meanwhile, the “Results for the Rock” sales tax will produce $9.5 million more "patrol and control" policing every year, no additional community mental health services, and do little to correct the shortage in affordable housing. And it will require Little Rock residents to pay almost $650 million – that’s 2/3 of $1 billion – for “capital investment” projects that have not been explained to them, let alone embraced by them.
Little Rock Sales Tax increase
Question 1 3/8 cent for general operating purposes AGAINST
Question 2 5/8 cent for general capital purposes AGAINST
www.fierceprophetichope.blogspot.com
www.wendellgriffen.blogspot.com
Pastor, New Millennium Church, Little Rock, Arkansas
pastorgriffen@newmillenniumchurch.us
CEO, Griffen Strategic Consulting, PLLC
www.griffenstrategicconsulting.com
griffenstrategicconsulting@gmail.com
Co-Chair, Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference
Hope fiercely. Love boldly.
Love one another. Jesus of Galilee, Palestine
We will find a way or make one. Hannibal of Carthage
Writing is how I fight. James H. Cone.
The time for pious words is over. Allan Aubrey Boesak
Justice is a verb!
https://fierceprohetichope.blogspot.com/2024/01/this-is-why-donald-trump-is-barred-from.html
opinions
WHAT'S AT STAKE WHEN WE VOTE
October 12, 2024
By Wendell Griffen
Voters in the United States have already begun casting ballots for the November 2024 general election. Our ballots will contain different candidates and issues depending on where we live. But each ballot will contain the names of Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, along with other lesser known and financed candidates, as candidates for President of the United States.
I hope we choose Harris as the next President.
As Vice President since 2021, Kamala Harris is experienced, and competent, about top-level policy issues that affect the nation and the world. Her service as Vice President, United States Senator from California, Attorney General of California, and District Attorney for San Francisco, California, demonstrates that Harris is steady, serious, honest, and considerate of diverse points of view.
Vice President Harris's public service record is longer and better than any of the other candidates who will be on our ballots, including former President Trump, her chief competitor. More importantly, Harris has demonstrated a much better ability than Trump to make public policy decisions, work with people who hold different perspectives, reach consensus, compromise when consensus is not achievable, yet stand firm on her principles.
Trump's record proves that he is intellectually, morally, politically, and behaviorally unfit to hold public office, let alone the highest public office in the nation. He is notorious for being unable, or unwilling, to study, consider varying perspectives, weigh alternatives, and make rational decisions. People who served and dealt with Trump while he was in office have recounted that Trump is emotionally unstable, intellectually dishonest, vindictive, petty, and self-serving, to the extreme.
It is fair to remind ourselves about these observations. After all, they were among the reasons voters fired Trump in 2020. That being the case, we should not rehire Trump if we want the nation to have sensible, competent, and fair-minded leadership.
Elections are always about choosing leaders and making decisions about the future we hope for ourselves, our families, neighbors, and society.
I want my granddaughters to grow up in a society led by someone who cares about their freedom to grow, learn, think, love, work, and care for themselves and others.
I want my neighbors to live in a society where they are treated as blessings no matter where they were born, not threats.
I want to live in a nation that cares about the air, water, and earth that we share with the rest of the world.
Donald Trump’s record shows that he does not want to lead our society in those ways. Instead, Trump despises those values, hopes, and goals for my family, neighbors, nation, and the rest of the world.
I strongly disagree with Harris about U.S. providing continued military, financial, and diplomatic support for Israel and its genocidal conduct in Gaza, settler colonialism in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and apartheid. I will continue doing as much as I can to persuade others that U.S. support for Israel is morally, politically, and strategically dangerous and wrong. However, I disagree with Trump’s position also, if not more strongly.
We each get one vote to cast in the general election for President of the United States. I want my vote to help make the next four years better, safer, and more kind than Donald Trump is, has been, or wants to be. So, I will cast my one vote for Kamala Harris, the candidate with the best chance of leading the United States to achieve the future I want for myself, my family, my neighbors, our nation, and the world.
I hope you will join me in doing so.
www.fierceprophetichope.blogspot.com
www.wendellgriffen.blogspot.com
Pastor, New Millennium Church, Little Rock, Arkansas
pastorgriffen@newmillenniumchurch.us
CEO, Griffen Strategic Consulting, PLLC
www.griffenstrategicconsulting.com
griffenstrategicconsulting@gmail.com
Co-Chair, Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference
Hope fiercely. Love boldly.
Love one another. Jesus of Galilee, Palestine
We will find a way or make one. Hannibal of Carthage
Writing is how I fight. James H. Cone.
The time for pious words is over. Allan Aubrey Boesak
Justice is a verb!
https://fierceprohetichope.blogspot.com/2024/01/this-is-why-donald-trump-is-barred-from.html
opinions
My Swan Song
by Dr. C.E. McAdoo
October 5, 2024
Greetings to all! In conversation with Dr. Nellums, I told him I am ready to write a book. It will be based on the articles I have written over these past three years.
This will be the last article I will write for a while, or at least until sometimes in 2025.
As I write my last article, this is what I want to leave you with: I would like to ask you to be more sensory. You may ask, what does that mean? The Lord has blessed us with five senses, and I want to talk about each one:
Touch: Let us remember that what we touch (or feel) can really make a difference. We have inanimate objects for example, our vehicles, our dishes, and our furniture. For both the living and non-living, to be able to touch is such a blessing! We can put that in reverse order, “I am feeling something that is giving something back to me,” whether I am in my vehicle or sitting at my table, we need to be more sensitive to what we touch and feel.
Hearing: Let us open our ears, now what does that mean? We need to be able to really hear! Active listening is such a great asset! There are so many people that need to be heard, and sometimes you may not even like what they are saying, but they need to be heard! So, be someone’s ear to hear!
Smell: I really like this one, you can “smell” something fishy or you can smell something pleasant. However, the thing is if you keep your nose stopped up you won’t smell anything! I am going to be very direct: blow your nose, get it cleaned out, so we can smell things effectively! I think I have said this more than once, our exercise guru says we need to bring that oxygen through our nose and let it out through our mouth; that’s just like nitro glycerin to our brains, so don’t forget to smell!
Taste: Psalm 34:8 “Taste and see how good the Lord is, blessed is the man that trusts in Him.” The sense of taste is such an important sense. The word “Taste” can mean different things for example, “I love the taste of fresh peas” or “you have good taste in clothing.” The sensory image of Psalm 34:8 leads us to focus more on worship and obedience to our Lord. This image can cause a “chain reaction,” the more we seek God and his will, the more we want to be a helping hand or a listening ear. You never know who or how many people observe what you do every day. That may be the only sermon someone hears, and even though you are only one person, your kindness and your actions can draw a crowd, and that one person becomes a mighty force. Taste the beauty and joy that life can bring to our community and our world.
Sight: The world is the soil. The Lord blessed me as many of you know, I’ve done a little of everything. I used to work for the Arkansas Lighthouse for the Blind. After working with a number of blind partners and clients, I find seeing to be such a blessing, because when are able to evaluate what is within ourselves, that allows us to respond to that in a productive and positive way. So, let us open our eyes to see our family, our friends, and our world and at least once a day, step outside and use the sense of sight to look at nature! I go back and think of the beautiful flowers that adorn many houses in our neighborhoods. We know that is what’s important to the Real Estate folks talk, they talk about how the house has to have a good appearance to be appealing to the buyers. That’s the same way with us, when you go to looking at people, or organizations, they need to have a certain appearance.
So, use all of your senses to hear well, touch and taste well, and hear and see well!!
C.E. invited a guest to describe the Sense of Taste
Love,
I Am Charlie Edward McAdoo
Rev. Dr. C.E. McAdoo is a retired District Superintendent with the United Methodist Church.
opinions
The Power of Pausing
by Rev. Dr. C.E. McAdoo
September 28, 2024
I love baseball. I was the baseball pitcher once in my lifetime. I enjoyed baseball so much that it really became a part of my life. So, I want to start today’s article by talking about baseball. Being a baseball pitcher, I thought I was pretty good until I was taken aback recently by hearing the news of Aroldis Chapman, a pitcher who currently still plays today for the Pittsburg Pirates. He throws the fastest baseball known to man at 105 miles per hour! We’re talking about pausing, but right now, I want to deal with being faster. The fastest known animal is the Cheeta. They have been tracked traveling at 60 miles per hour. In 1978, the Australian Speed Boat the “Spirit of Australia,” reached the speed of 317.59 mph, or 275.98 knots on the water. In 2013, Jessi Combs, a professional race car driver, was clocked at 399 mph, breaking a forty-eight-year-old record.
In 2020, the Rapper, Eminem was credited with a Guinness World Record for rapping a staggering 7.5 words per second, that’s about 227 minutes for a 30 second period!
We all love fast, it was interesting, educational, and insightful to research fast. However, I did not really have to research fast, all I had to do was go to the grocery store and stand in the line to be checked out by someone only to hear a voice say, “the self-check-out line is faster, you may go there.” There are two points to make here, not only am I standing in line waiting for someone to wait on me, but it also looks like the person checking would realize if I don’t stand in line waiting on you, we will all be self-checking one of these days. Self-checking may be faster, but it just won’t be human, and that’s ok for some folks, but not for me.
The context for me is simply that we are in a “Micro-wave society,” that is, we hit it, we get power, it heats up real fast and then we are ready to eat it! As I continue to move on to talk about pausing, I don’t want to neglect being fast, because there are some things that are fast, but we do need to remember pausing. Sometime when we call Customer Service, very seldom do they want to wait on us, if you notice, now no one wants to talk to you. Old folks like myself we just pause and go to the zero’s and finally we do this, and we do that. Here is something you can do, it's not a secret, but you can speed things up, when they go through all the prompts, tell them you want to buy something, it works every time, if they think you want to spend money or more, they will move you to the beginning of the line!
Let’s move on now and talk about pausing. I think life is moving so fast for many of us, that we have forgotten the value of pausing. Today, I want to talk about pausing in such a way that will give us some insight into our lives. In doing research on pausing, it was interesting that the first thing I read was a German article on Paul Tillich. They called him an existentialist we called him a theologian. He was a theologian that believed in science. He used the analogy of the traffic modality. You have stop signs, yield signs, and go signs. So many signs, and that’s the same kind of things we deal with in life. Paul Tillich was the kind of theologian that enabled pastors to go through life and build up a credible theology based on Tillich’s understanding of how you talk to people.
In 1952 he wrote The Courage of Being. The book really talks about the fact that the question is not being but having the courage to be! The courage to be is having the courage to pause!
When you think about it, it takes courage to pause. I thought that takes aways some of the tension and fear we have, because we don’t always realize that it’s good for us to pause.
When you are being yourself, you can pause. As a matter of fact, I was with some friends of mine recently and they have a little porch outlet where two people can sit. The husband gets his coffee, and the wife sits there with him, and they are able to have that “pause moment” in their lives, where many times, so many of us do not have that. So, the first thing in the Power to Pause, is the Power to Be!
Next, when we think about pausing, I remember Mr. Wesley talked about journaling. I don’t do as much of it as I should, but I believe I remember at St. Paul’s School of Theology, one semester while I was there, they had us journaling. If you have not done any journaling, it can be quite interesting when you do it on a daily basis. A couple of things can happen. Number one, you may find out you are a pattern person, and number two, you may want to do it for more than one month. I think I have said this more than once, but while I was an adjunct professor in college, I had a student that said, “If you don’t write it down, it never happened.”
The Power to Pause is:
1. The courage to be
2. The power to be
3. Get into the Intention zone
What is the “Intention Zone” when it comes to pausing? It is, before you get out of bed in the morning, intend to be present! Intend to be present wherever you are. Today I have had personal calls from people in certain situations that’s going on here and there. I’ve also had a call from someone whose husband just died. My intention when I got up this morning was not to have a call about something going on somewhere, and I certainly did not intend to get a call about someone’s husband dying. However, when I woke up intending to be present, that meant when they contacted me, I was present for them. Also intend to spend quality time with your parents, your friends, and your family. When you wake up, intend to say good morning to your spouse or hello to your children. Intend that when you leave home you not only spend quality time while you are away from them, but when you come back you intend to spend quality time there.
Another part of the intention zone, even before you start your day, intend to drive wherever you are relaxed. I have started trying to do that recently. I don’t care if I am going to be late, I will just be late. I’ve tried to not speed, just let driving relaxed be part of my intention zone. When you get where you are going, if that’s going to bed, to work, to a meeting, intend be relaxed and with the most positive attitude you can. Recently I was talking with someone on the phone, and I told them to stop and take three deep breaths. (The research I have been doing said take six deep breaths.) Wherever I am going, to the gym or around town or even if I am going to preach, I don’t know how many deep breaths I take, but I think taking six deep breaths is enough.
The last part of the intention zone is:
To meet, smile, and greet. Greet at least three strangers sometime during the month. I always tell my Memphis Story. When we were at the Galleria in Memphis, folks were coming in the door, and I smiled, and I opened the door for a lady. She said, “you must not be from here.” I said pardon me. She said folks in Memphis don’t do that. I smiled and said, “Well, I was just trying to be polite to you.”
As I get ready to close, I will tell you about a new terminology out there, call Creatives.
People who sing, who dance, who do spoken word, who write, they call Creatives. So, another part of the power of pausing is to find your creative spot. I know a friend who loves her flowers, and she likes to tend her flowers, and she likes to water them and make them look pretty. That's her creative moment, her creative self. So, we can pause in our creativity. You’ve got to like something. I keep asking myself, why do I keep writing these articles every week? Because I guess I like to talk, and write to others, anyway, get your creative mind!
Lastly, the power of pausing is deep listening. Wow. Deep listening. And I don't say it because this is a political year. You hear so much stuff. The last election time, I took a trip to Georgia. Man, I'm telling you, every second there was a political campaign ad from one of the other parties on saying all sorts of things. But you've got to be able to learn how to do deep listening. Deep listening to me is when you're able to listen through the distractions and the noise of everyday life. And the distraction, the noise of somebody just trying to put you to a certain place.
Because the one thing that will keep you from listening deeply is when you're distracted. Another thing that will keep you from listening deep is when you have noises. And so, lastly, the power of pausing is being able to do some deep listening. And I'll bet with deep listening, even if nobody else is satisfied with what they’re hearing, you will be.
Love,
I Am, ...Charlie Edward McAdoo
Rev. Dr. C.E. McAdoo is a retired District Superintendent with the United Methodist Church.
opinions
ways to relax
by Rev. Dr. C.E. McAdoo
September 22, 2024
Please take five deep breaths: breath one - breath two - breath three - breath four, and breath five. By taking deep breaths in with our nose and out through our mouth, as my instructor says, it’s almost like nitro glycerin to our body (the exercise people will know what I am talking about)!
I remember going by to see one of my elderly members, and when I knocked on the door she said, “Don’t come in Reverend, let’s you and I sit out here, relax ourselves and watch the grass grow.” I said to myself, “Wow! How fast does grass grow?” Knowing I would be there for only a limited amount of time, it was not the grass growing, but my sitting there with her and being put in a mode of relaxation. So, today’s article is not given in a prerogative way, that people might need to relax. I just want to share some suggestions for all of us.
We all have had tension in our lives since humanity has been on the earth. I feel that one way to relieve our tension is to find a path to relaxation. The terminology I am using is one my son and I used in our Grief Guidance sessions. We talk about everyone having a path. So, as I talk about ways we might have to relax, my path would not be like your path, nor would yours be like mine, but there are ways to relax.
Let me on the front end lift up a number of ways that I want to talk about, but I will not try to go through all of those that I have dealt with in my life. Those that I want to talk about today are:
· Listening to music
· Exercising
· Reading a book
· Visualization
· Meditation
· Focused breathing
Let’s talk about Listening to Music. I am somewhat caught “in-between,” call it a quadruple music appreciation concept for me. I grew up in Lebanon, Tennessee which is 30-miles from Nashville, Tennessee, and 20-miles from Gallatin Tennessee. In Nashville, we had the Grand Old Opry and Randy’s Record Mart, and in Gallatin we had WLAC, the Radio Station that played Rhythm and Blues of the day. Also, my cousin played the violin, so early on I appreciated Classical music. This was also in the time of the Crooner’s music: there was Frank Sinatra on the white side and Clyde Mc Fadden on the black side and Fats Domino who was back and forth and could have gone either way. So, one way to relax is to find some music you enjoy. I only listen to music for an hour or so at a time or a whole concert at one time. Just the other day I was listening to George Jones’s “She Stopped Loving You Today,” which is a country song, and I mean that was heavy, heavy, and I just enjoyed listening to it. So, do an inventory of your past music listening, and try to find you a path so when you do need to relax you are able to find that piece of music that helps you to do just that! The blessing now is you can go to YouTube and pull up multiple albums, or for some people it may just be one song.
Let’s talk about Exercising. To some of you that may not sound like a way to relax. My instructor’s name is Kelly. (sometimes we do call her ‘Atilla the Hun’ because she pushes us really hard!) The class I take is Strength Training. It’s not to lose weight, it’s to strengthen us. The reason that exercise is a way for me to relax is as she tells us, as we strengthen our bodies, we are able to put our bodies in a place where we can maintain our strength that we have and deal with situations we may be going through. So, many times you may or may not realize there are certain muscles that have been dormant. Sometimes when Kelly comes in, we may do toe muscles and finger or hand muscles and things you don’t even think about. We have different apparatus to help us do these exercises and I won’t go into all of those, you’ve been to the gym. The other good part that I do for myself is I have an elliptical machine at home, and I try to get in at least 2 &1/2 hours of cardio training a week. That’s relaxing to me, I can be in my computer room at home and work for a minimum of 20 mins and do cardio.
Next is Reading a Book. I am not going to spend a lot of time with this because we are all familiar with reading and the blessings it can bring! We can visit a new country, tour a world-famous museum, meet a new friend, or sit and gaze at a flower garden. We can lose ourselves in the book and find total relaxation!
Another thing that helps us relax is Visualization. What is visualization? Well, it is a fifteen-dollar complicated word in one sense, but there are so many places in our lives where we have had the blessing of something wonderful happening! The other day I was just sitting here thinking about being a little boy and we used to have to sack baseballs. I can see myself when my daddy’s baseball team would have foul balls. We would run into the woods and get those baseballs and take them back, and they would give us a nickel, and I can visualize that! Or I think about my time as a college professor, and I know this may or may not have been everybody’s experience. I taught in college for seventeen years as an Adjunct Professor. I can visualize the coming together of our class.
I would always wait for every student that was supposed to be there. Then, we had those extra moments of non-educational involvement. In other words, I never started my class off with our studies. We did certain things, we drew pictures, had a spoken word, we did a whole lot of things, and I can look back and visualize myself in the classroom. Those were really good days, and the aftermath of that is, sometimes I see some of those wonderful students, and they still remember those classes. I don’t have a direct process of how one can move to visualization in terms of a one, two, three. I found that the TV can be a distraction. I’m not a person who likes a lot of darkness, and I can just sit there and close my eyes in the light and visualize. I would just say find you some time and a quiet place and let your mind’s eye remember some a pleasant experience and recall the details of that in your mind, and feel yourself relaxing.
Let’s talk about Meditation. Meditation is a little different than visualization. Dr. Edward Reynolds taught me how to meditate. Sometimes you may be in a setting, and you may be struggling with how to get yourself together. You may or may not use this, but he would tell you to put a string on a street and start watching that string move and start following that string as it goes up this was and that way. As you are doing this, it’s kind of like a double-bladed axe: here you are trying to put yourself in a place of meditation, but as you follow that string down a quiet street, and move the string through different communities, you begin to have a period of meditation. That’s just one way I have been mentored by someone who taught me a lot about meditation. I’m not really good at verbal meditation in terms of reading this or that, but I can do the string and try to do some other things that relate to meditation.
Focused Breathing. One of the things you learn in almost any exercise class is how to breathe. Even though we all breathe continually, we may or may not get the health-giving benefits. I introduced this article with a deep breathing exercise. It can help cleanse and strengthen our lungs and help our whole body. Go back to the beginning of this article and start exercising by counting to five!
In whatever way you may consider relaxing, remember that it’s your time and your relaxation. However, it’s also a time for you to know that you need relaxation and when there is a need, I like to flip it on the other side to say, the answer is relaxation. This relaxation can come in many forms, but the main thing is, as you relax you will find that it has a full carry-over into how many other things it will make better in your life. I leave you with a verbal mediation thought, and I am going to do what I do so many times. I just picked a book up and it says, International Academy.
So, as I relax today, I’m going to think about this International Academy. I can see right now that my visualization may come in. I think I will catch a flight, and I don’t know what country I will go to, it may be Africa, Asia, or Europe, but I think I am going to go over and get in school and enjoy my day at the International Academy!
Love,
I Am
Charlie Edward McAdoo
Rev. Dr. C.E. McAdoo is a retired District Superintendent with the United Methodist Church
opinions
WHY KAMALA HARRIS MAY LOSE IN MICHIGAN, ARIZONA, AND WISCONSIN
by Wendell Griffen
September 21, 2024
On September 20, Amy Goodman of Democracy Now reported that the Uncommitted Movement has declared it will not endorse Kamala Harris, that it is vehemently opposed to the candidacy of Donald Trump, and that it will not endorse any third-party candidate in the U.S. presidential election contest. Here is a link to that report, and Goodman’s interview with Lexis Zeidan, a co-founder of the Uncommitted National Movement.
https://www.democracynow.org/2024/9/20/lexis_zeidan_uncommitted_national_movement_2024.
The Uncommitted Movement’s stance makes a point that bears remembering. Kamala Harris will have only herself to blame if she does not win in Michigan, Arizona, and Wisconsin, battleground states whose electoral college votes are crucial for any presidential to win to reach 270 votes. I made that point in an August 23 blog post after Harris spurned pleas from Palestinian delegates who asked to speak during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
https://fierceprohetichope.blogspot.com/2024/08/kamala-harris-democratic-national.html
The Uncommitted Movement is not being unreasonable. Harris has refused to offer any evidence that her policies concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will be different from those of the Biden administration if she is elected President. Harris has refused to state that she will insist that Israel be held responsible for violating international laws concerning war crimes and humanitarian violations. She has refused to state that she will insist that Israel stop bombing and indiscriminately slaughtering Palestinians in Gaza.
That posture is not only a bad campaign tactic. It is a disincentive for Arab-American voters whose votes she must have to carry Michigan and win its 15 Electoral College votes. And Harris is making a risky bet that she can win in Wisconsin (10 Electoral College votes), and Arizona (11 Electoral College votes), where voters support changing U.S. policy concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
On this important issue that most U.S. media outlets, unlike Democracy Now, refuse to cover, Kamala Harris is not only disrespecting and disregarding Arab-American voters. She is out of step with other voters who oppose current U.S. support for Israel’s long history of apartheid, settler colonialism, land and mineral theft, and bigotry against Palestinians in the West Bank and Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
One wonders why Harris is blind to how she is harming her prospects for victory over Donald Trump in November given her frequent statements that she is in a tight election contest. One wonders why Harris thinks that voters who oppose U.S. support for Israel’s inhumane, criminal, and failed policies will find her stance acceptable.
And one wonders why Kamala Harris seems determined to risk taking the rest of the nation down with her because of her stubborn refusal to change her stance.
On this subject, Kamala Harris is hurting her political campaign, hurting our nation, and hurting the prospects for peace between Israel and Palestinians.
That’s bad politics and horrible policy.
pastorgriffen@newmillenniumchurch.us
CEO, Griffen Strategic Consulting, PLLC
www.griffenstrategicconsulting.com
griffenstrategicconsulting@gmail.com
Co-Chair, Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference
Hope fiercely. Love boldly.
Love one another. Jesus of Galilee, Palestine
We will find a way or make one. Hannibal of Carthage
Writing is how I fight. James H. Cone.
The time for pious words is over. Allan Aubrey Boesak
Justice is a verb!
https://fierceprohetichope.blogspot.com/2024/01/this-is-why-donald-trump-is-barred-from.html
About Us
Why we must create our own narratives
Perception is reality. How we are viewed and what is said about us matters. It is abundantly clear that here in Arkansas, we as African-Americans don't control many, if any, statewide media groups. On any given day, COUNT the number of positive stories reported by print and television stations KATV, KARK/KLRT-FOX-TV, and KTHV, about African Americans in Arkansas.
In Arkansas, with the exception of KTHV, the media groups and their ownerships are conservative and often often distort people of color and specifically, BLACK families. As black consumers of the news, "that's the part we miss." How on the "regular" we are portrayed by white media groups and their local news stations and print media.
A study from the University of Illinois concluded that at best media outlets (a) promoted racially biased portrayals and myths that pathologize black families and idealize white families with respect to poverty and crime (b) play a dangerous role in spreading debunked stereotypes about black families and (c) at worst, amplify those inaccurate depictions for political and financial gain. We've all seen that type of behavior before.
When media outlets examined in the study reported stories about poor families, they chose to feature black families in their coverage 59 percent of the time, even though only 27 percent of families living below the poverty line are black.
Similarly, in coverage of welfare, 60 percent of families portrayed were black, even though only 42 percent of families receiving welfare are black.
Finally, the article addresses the real-life consequences of the continued distortion of black life by the media. "When the news media constantly associates black people with crime, it increases racial stereotypes among viewers, leading the public including liberal and conservative Arkansan's to disproportionately favor punitive criminal justice policies." As a collateral damage piece, when the poor are depicted as overwhelmingly black, it leads the public to support heavier restrictions on welfare because of a perception that undeserving black people benefit from it. Backers of corporate and right-wing policies gain when the news media blames black families for social conditions, while their own role in destabilizing society remains invisible.
This online publication exists to counter the narrative that constantly depicts African Americans as "less than." It exists to balance the negative view of African American life that is constantly depicted in the local news and information outlets in this state. We are so much more than the lip-service paid to us by those that control the news cycle. It's not about the reporting of the news, it's about the process of manufacturing the news. There is a saying that goes something like this. "If you control the messenger, then you control the message." Let's take some of that control back. As African Americans in Arkansas, let us create our own narratives. Most importantly, let us report and talk about the real issues.................. with our own voices,.... and our own opinions.
meet our contributors
opinion
opinion
opinion
Deborah Suttlar
Deborah is a longtime Community and Civil Rights Activist. Her column appears in the Opinion Section.
Click the link below to read read Deborah Suttlar's column.
https://talkblackarkansas.com/opinion
opinion
opinion
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The Honorable Wendell Griffen
Judge Griffen will comment on the law and its impact on Black Arkansans. He will also discuss and legal and social issues on a state and national level impacting Black Arkansans and Black Americans.
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Finance
opinion
Religion
Gaining generational wealth is the key to Black economic family wealth and security. We will share strategies from the Association of African American Financial Advisors to help you and your family get there. We will inform you about managing your finances so that you can start your path to financial freedom.
Religion
At the State Capitol
Religion
Rev. C.E. McAdoo
Rev. McAdoo is a retired District Superintendent with the United Methodist Church. He will provide a weekly column on Religion and Black Arkansas.
Click the link below to read Rev. McAdoo's column.
https://talkblackarkansas.com/opinion .
At the State Capitol
At the State Capitol
At the State Capitol
State Representative Joy C. Springer
State Representative Joy Springer is a veteran school an civil rights advocate for African-American children and their families. She will provide a weekly column on state legislative and educational concerns affecting African -Americans .
Click the link below to read Representative Springer's column.
Medicine and health
At the State Capitol
At the State Capitol
This weekly column features a listing of top African-American doctors in Arkansas, and their areas of expertise. We will try to connect you with physicians who understand your physical, cultural and mental health needs. One study suggests that African American male patients who meet with black physicians often ask to receive more preventive services than patients who met with nonblack physicians. This study also suggested that black doctors are more likely to provide a comfortable settings to black patients, perhaps because of shared experiences or backgrounds. The study concluded that increasing the amount of black physicians could lead to a 19 percent reduction in the black-white male cardiovascular mortality gap and an 8 percent decline in the black-white male life expectancy gap.
Education
Who to call
Who to call
This weekly column will focus on educational happenings in the state including news from local school districts and the Arkansas Department of Education.
Who to call
Who to call
Who to call
People always have "who to contact questions." Whether it is a local city government office or a state government office, we will try to steer you in the right direction.