A recent Essence Magazine article quotes a survey that stated that more than 45% of young women believe that Rhianna might have provoked Chris Brown to abuse her. This is hog-wash. Chris Brown is a bully, a criminal and deviant creep. What he, and every other man who raises his hand to a woman in anger, did was and is wrong, unacceptable, inexcusable and each of them should have been taken out to the public square and hung. Obviously, money does not buy decency, respect, integrity, honor or wisdom.
There is too much abuse of our girls and our women in this country and around the world. Sexual abuse, date rape, physical abuse, intimidation and any other form of violence against women and girls should never be acceptable in any venue whether culturally, ethnically, politically, traditionally or customarily. There was a time when we, as men, did not accept this type of violence towards our mothers, sisters, daughters, aunts, grandmothers or cousins. What happened to our backbone?
To hear that so many young women think that because a man is handsome, rich, or with any other tribute can have a justification to beat up a woman is disturbing. Some commentators have said that this is so because they may be jealous these women towards the other woman who landed the man. They also believe that the same thing would not happen to them. They are sadly mistaken. A rat is a rat even if you dress it in a tuxedo and they will act like a rat even if they live in a mansion. A rat hole in a mansion is still a rat hole.
I hope that Rhianna and all my sisters and daughters do not ever come to accept this type of treatment at any time from anyone ever again. I also hope that my fellow male brothers will stand up to the abusers and say enough is enough. It must stop. Then we all need to get on our knees and ask God to protect us from this kind of evil either as a recipient or perpetrator.
May God have mercy on us.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Monday, March 8, 2010
Does Our Word Still Mean Anything?
I am have been wondering if our word still counts as our bond? The Bible tells us to "let our yes be yes, and our no be no." There was a time when men did not need ten page legal documents to be bound by their word and a handshake. I used to be able to count on most people to show-up when they said they would. I used to be able to count on most people to do what they said they would do.
I was reading a futurist article that said that in the near future we will be smart enough to believe that people can be good on their own and no longer need the Judeo-Christian ethic to believe in a need for Jesus Christ as a guide. We will come more to depend on science than faith and doctrine. Yet I find that more and more when people tell me something, there is a good chance that they will not keep their word. The more technology we have then less we seem to stay in touch. The more we simplify, the busier we seem to get. With e-mail, voicemail, texting, tweeting, Facebook, cell phone and video-conferencing, I would think that we could stay in touch long enough to the people of our word. We have so many ways to send or post words now, maybe we have word overload.
Unfortunately, our actions still speak so loudly that they drown out our words. An update on Facebook and a text message is not a substitute for talking to each other and spending time together. They are also not reasons to let our world be diluted by our actions.
I was reading a futurist article that said that in the near future we will be smart enough to believe that people can be good on their own and no longer need the Judeo-Christian ethic to believe in a need for Jesus Christ as a guide. We will come more to depend on science than faith and doctrine. Yet I find that more and more when people tell me something, there is a good chance that they will not keep their word. The more technology we have then less we seem to stay in touch. The more we simplify, the busier we seem to get. With e-mail, voicemail, texting, tweeting, Facebook, cell phone and video-conferencing, I would think that we could stay in touch long enough to the people of our word. We have so many ways to send or post words now, maybe we have word overload.
Unfortunately, our actions still speak so loudly that they drown out our words. An update on Facebook and a text message is not a substitute for talking to each other and spending time together. They are also not reasons to let our world be diluted by our actions.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Use What You Have Until You Have What You Need
There is a scripture verse in Exodus chapter 4 verse 2 where God stops Moses in his tracks and asks him, "What do you have in your hand?" Moses replied, "a staff." Sometimes we get distracted from our goal and what we have accomplished and begin to be sidetracked by what we do not have or who is missing from our team. This can be a dangerous place for a leader to dwell. In this state, negativity and frustration begins to set in. Sometimes we begin to devalue the team members that we do have in search for those we still need to find.
God began to show Moses that what he had was more than a shepherd's staff. It was an instrument that God could use to bring about a divine plan. That piece of wood went on to be used help Moses in leading over a million people on a journey that changed the history of the world. Moses looked at where he was and his state; God reminded him of where he was going and the tools he had to get him there.
I too find myself being diverted from my mission, vision and purpose. I want more than I have right now and I never seem to have all the people or resources to get to my goal quickly. In fact, I have a good team right now and we are moving at a pace that keeps the team together without loosing their minds and their commitment. I do not know why, at times, I want to get ahead of God's plan, why I get impatient with my progress or why I expect more from people than they are ready to give at any one time. Yet I do. I need to be reminded I have a staff in my hand and that is what I need for the journey at this time.
That staff went on to help Moses recruit a powerful leadership team, negotiate the release of an entire nation, amass resources to fund their entire journey, develop and train one of the mightiest armies the world has ever known, and create a civilization that influenced many others and provided the basis of all modern laws.
One of the most pressing jobs of a leader is to take the time to develop a team to help the organization accomplish its mission and vision. This takes time and sometimes it starts out slowly. Patience can be a leader's friend. Taking you time is not the same as laziness.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Tragedy in Haiti Brings Out Compassion Amidst Lack of International Understanding
A week ago a devastating earthquake struck the poor country of Haiti causing massive destruction and great loss of life. The true extent of the damages and losses are not fully assessed but by any measure it is beyond normal comprehension.
The world's people have risen up and began sending aid to the people of Haiti. This outpouring of compassion and generosity has met the reality of third world living. Haiti in its best time was an impoverished, undeveloped , polarized country led by people who have at times not demonstrated high levels of honesty and integrity. At its best, Haiti's infrastructure was poor. Roads were in poor condition once outside the city center and in many places were not much more than trails. Clean and fresh water was not a daily staple for most of the population; food was a daily struggle for many; medical care for the most basic needs was virtually non-existent except for the privileged classes. A large majority of Haitians did not have and have never had adequate housing before the earthquake. The airport before the disaster could be classified as world class by any measure.
A 7 point earthquake only made a bad situation worse. So it troubles me when I continue to hear the news media and politicians lament the fact that it is a monumental task for any nation or group of nations to get help to the millions of people affected in Haiti. We still want to measure the entire world by American and European standards. We want to go into countries and believe that just because we are from the richer countries we can just appear on any scene and immediately make it into little America or little Britain. More and more politicians and curious dignitaries, as the call themselves arrive with their entourages and TV cameras to only take up the much needed air space and land space si that they can make speeches and take pictures. They fail to realize that they are adding to the congestion and delays.
The world's resources with food, water, clothing, emergency rescuers, medical teams, medical supplies, peace keeping forces and technicans to help restores some systematic strategy of delivering much needed aid are doing a phenomenal job to get help to remote and normally unreachable areas of the country. They should be applauded. Already off to a fast paced start, and within the next few weeks, they will have created an infrastructure in Haiti that will be more than the national government has done for their own people in decades. Again the United Nations demonstrates that it is inept, unproductive and incapable of making any valuable contribution to any world situation except empty platitudes in speeches wasting money on corrupt governments, UN employees and consultant studies that sit on shelves in New York as a symbol of their intellectual irrelevance.
We should continue to do all we can to help our brothers and sisters in Haiti and we should do it with all haste and urgency. We cannot however have unrealistic and uninformed expectations of what it takes to setup, execute and manage one of the world's largest search, rescue and recovery missions in a place that was a disaster in everyday living before the earthquake.
The world's people have risen up and began sending aid to the people of Haiti. This outpouring of compassion and generosity has met the reality of third world living. Haiti in its best time was an impoverished, undeveloped , polarized country led by people who have at times not demonstrated high levels of honesty and integrity. At its best, Haiti's infrastructure was poor. Roads were in poor condition once outside the city center and in many places were not much more than trails. Clean and fresh water was not a daily staple for most of the population; food was a daily struggle for many; medical care for the most basic needs was virtually non-existent except for the privileged classes. A large majority of Haitians did not have and have never had adequate housing before the earthquake. The airport before the disaster could be classified as world class by any measure.
A 7 point earthquake only made a bad situation worse. So it troubles me when I continue to hear the news media and politicians lament the fact that it is a monumental task for any nation or group of nations to get help to the millions of people affected in Haiti. We still want to measure the entire world by American and European standards. We want to go into countries and believe that just because we are from the richer countries we can just appear on any scene and immediately make it into little America or little Britain. More and more politicians and curious dignitaries, as the call themselves arrive with their entourages and TV cameras to only take up the much needed air space and land space si that they can make speeches and take pictures. They fail to realize that they are adding to the congestion and delays.
The world's resources with food, water, clothing, emergency rescuers, medical teams, medical supplies, peace keeping forces and technicans to help restores some systematic strategy of delivering much needed aid are doing a phenomenal job to get help to remote and normally unreachable areas of the country. They should be applauded. Already off to a fast paced start, and within the next few weeks, they will have created an infrastructure in Haiti that will be more than the national government has done for their own people in decades. Again the United Nations demonstrates that it is inept, unproductive and incapable of making any valuable contribution to any world situation except empty platitudes in speeches wasting money on corrupt governments, UN employees and consultant studies that sit on shelves in New York as a symbol of their intellectual irrelevance.
We should continue to do all we can to help our brothers and sisters in Haiti and we should do it with all haste and urgency. We cannot however have unrealistic and uninformed expectations of what it takes to setup, execute and manage one of the world's largest search, rescue and recovery missions in a place that was a disaster in everyday living before the earthquake.
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