Today marks the 15oth Anniversary of the signing of The Emancipation Proclamation, that in theory declared 4 million slaves living in most of the South to be “forever free.” One hundred and fifty years later, and there’s still a lot of “free” to be had. There’s nothing harder than transforming an enslaved, helpless, fearful, dehumanized mind and soul into a strong, healthy, self-determining spirit. And Black folks need to credit themselves more for doing this. And least we forget, Blacks were taking freedom seriously long before Abe and his fellow legislators put their John Hancock on that sheet of paper. Running away, armed slave revolts, covert destruction of slave owner properties and slave owner themselves and willfully disobeying their captors and the laws that protected and encouraged them, literally at the risk of life and limb. The biggest thing we take away from that experience, and we carry it around with us like a gift today, is that you can eventually enslave a strong body, but you can’t ever enslave a strong mind and soul. Never. ♦
In an interesting and slightly suspicious turn-of-events, The Vatican says it may be stepping up the election of the next Pope sooner than usual. The original date of the conclave, March 15 of this year, was set under the current rules that require a 15 to 20 day waiting period after the papacy becomes vacant allowing time for cardinals living outside Rome to fly in, so to speak.Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said that Vatican rules on papal succession are open to interpretation and that “this is a question that people are discussing.” Which means they’ve already decided on it.
This sort of takes that fairness element out of the equation doesn’t it? Whats’s the hurry? If Pope Benedict were to die today, the rules still require a waiting period before the election of a new Pope. Am I the only one who finds this suspicious!!?? ♦
With his reign soon coming to an end, Mayor Michael Bloomberg gave his last last State of the State Address this past Thursday, bragging more than Muhammad Ali at the start of a match. The central theme of his 7,000-word speech, was that because he was so gosh darn wealthy he wasn’t beholden to any of those nasty lobbyists, unions and campaign donors that so often corrupt the lesser politician, thus leaving him free to run the city in a more humanistic, businessman type manor working solely on behalf of all the little people of this great city. How big of you Mayor. But he did have a point.
Well Mr. Bloomberg, thanks for everything. And in your final 320 days as king please try to concentrate less on your desire to ban plastic-foam products, ease the consequences of marijuana possession, install curbside charging stations for electric cars and creating European-style youth hostels across the city, and more on repairing our inner city school buildings, creating facilities and programs to get the still too many homeless people off the street, and revitalize the building of more affordable housing in the city. You know, for the sake of us little people. ♦
And here’s a little something for you sports fans:
NBA player Kris Humphries, Kim Kardashian‘s soon-to-be-ex, has already made up his mind — if his divorce trial falls on the same day as the 2013 Playoffs, dude said he’s going to divorce court. Not willing to give poor Kardashian the quiet, uncontested divorce she seeks, the Brooklyn Nets baller says he’ll ditch the games if it means he’ll have his long awaited opportunity to get in front of a judge and explain why he’d like to sue Kim for an annulment on grounds she allegedly defrauded him.
