Hey guys , I don't know if anyone still reads this thing . But I have never done this before so I thought I'd share it with you. I am currently raising money for me to go to nationals in a couple weeks . It is very short notice , however I have a passion in my heart for running and this is something of such great importance to me . If you guys would like to help out in any way possible please click the link below . gofundme.com/2e2nzws
Tuesday, July 12, 2016
Wednesday, December 23, 2015
New Movement !
For centuries African Americans have
been considered inferior. Even with our strive for success and for power, we
still have not lived up to the White Power Structure of America. Today we are
being taught White history. We are taught white achievements, and accomplishments,
and how they have changed and shaped America to the country it is today. We
aren’t taught the detrimental parts of their history. We aren’t taught that
White Christians were once slaves; we aren’t taught that they too were once
inferior. This part of our history has been submerged from school books and
classrooms. We have this fixated version of our history that puts African
Americans at the bottom and European or Caucasians at the top.
African American history is not
implemented in the school curriculum. We are taught the prominent leaders such
as Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks, yet we still have little knowledge of
these leaders and others. We are taught slavery, and civil rights, but they
shadow over all of the contributions that have been made to society by African
Americans.
America’s youth is
growing up ignorant. With this little knowledge of African American history we
are allowing young black kids to grow up thinking they can’t be anything in
life aside from a basketball player or rapper. We are giving them little
self-esteem to how much potential they truly have. If only we were taught about
the people in our history just like us; growing up in poverty, with little
education, who still contributed to this nation. If only we were taught about
the African Americans who fought for what we have today.Time is running out. Black dropout rates are increasing, and graduation rates are decreasing.
What are YOU going to do about it?
Sign my petition.
http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/equal-education-demand?source=c.em.cp&r_by=14873042
Friday, July 31, 2015
52 years later ...
“There are those who are
asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We
can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable
horrors of police brutality.”
-Martin Luther King’s
I have a dream Speech, August 28th, 1963.
52 years later and we’re still the victims. I am terrified.
I lay down at night and I think to myself; “what if that were me?” hanging from
my jail cell. Sandra Bland is now silent
because of the man with the gold badge. But I will no longer silence myself to him.
The African American community is
dropping one by one, each one of us becoming another statistic. How many more
of us are they going to take? We can no
longer sit around and wait for justice, because the man with the gold badge is
no different than the man in the hooded white robe. I’m not going to sit around and wait for my
life to be taken because I failed to turn my signal on when changing lanes. I
am not going to sit around and wait for my life to be taken because HE suspects
I’m doing something illegal. My life is in my hands, not his. It is about time we realized what was going
on around us.
After 52 years we are still not satisfied. And if we continue to remain silent, then in
52 more years we will still be the victims. All of this fighting back, and
rebelling against authorities isn’t going to bring Sandra back, it isn’t going
to restore the life of Eric Garner, or heal the loved ones of Mike Brown. It
will give HIM another reason to take us down. We’ve been fighting for years,
and in the 15 years that I’ve lived I haven’t seen a change. He points the gun,
we hold the torch and who wins? You don’t win justice by violence, but we can’t
win it by silence either. If he could just put the gun down, and we could just
put the torch down, we would both have a free hand to hold and walk the streets
with together. I shouldn’t have to be
afraid of the man with the badge. And the man with the badge shouldn’t have to
be afraid of me.
I pray that one day we can live out Martin Luther King’s
Dream. I pray that one day we can rip the suspect label off our back, and walk
home without being the next victim of police brutality. If we can’t be safe
from those who are supposed to protect us, we can’t be safe at all.
A man goes to jail for stealing a candy bar, but
the real criminals are walking the streets with handcuffs and guns, and yet we
still remain silent. We sit and we watch as our brothers and sisters are
becoming victims, instead of high school graduates. We sit and we tweet, and we
text as our brothers and sisters are lying in tomb stones instead of in beds. Sandra Bland is now gone. There is nothing I
can say to bring her back. But there is nothing I CAN’T say to stop this, and
make sure no one else becomes another victim, whether it be tomorrow, or 52
years from now. I will not remain silent. I will project my voice as loud as I
can, because I know somehow Sandra will hear it. I can’t bring her back, but I
continue what she couldn't quite finish, as though her movement never stopped.
She will live on, along with her words. 
Saturday, June 27, 2015
Dedication Speech, May 11th 2015
Good morning.
It is my great pleasure to be speaking at
this dedication ceremony. Welcome family, friends, and
supporters of the lives lost to police brutality. To you we offer; this peace
garden. Each flower represents an African American who lost the fight against
injustice. Carnations; for remembrance.
Lilies: for youthful innocence. Tulips:
for grace. Honeysuckles: for devoted
affection. Gladiolus for strength and a
wide variety of other flowers each as symbol of the love we share for these
people. We ask that you please hold all pictures until the end of the ceremony.
This ceremony is a time to remember and honor
the young African Americans who lost their lives before they’d even begin. It
is also a time of positivity, we ask that you please have respect for our
police officers, simply because all of them are not bad guys. It is their duty
to do their job, even if there are those who take advantage of it. They still
risk their lives every day for US. However I cannot say this about all of them.
Police brutality is thriving in the African American community today. It
thrives and spreads on silence, and extorts us through coercion. But today we
will not be silent. Today we will speak up and speak out for those voices that
could not have been heard. Eric Garner, whose cry for help was ignored. Mike Brown:
those last words are not remembered.
Deion Fludd, who was not able to speak at his own graduation. Yvette Smith: who didn’t get to say goodbye
to her son. These four resting souls
along with the other 420 who could not break the chains of injustice will never
be forgotten. I don’t know how long it will take but God has promised He’ll
make the wrongs, right. He will restore these lives that the police department
has stolen from you, and from us.
We hope that this Peace Garden will not only
serve as a memorial but also as hope for the future. That we can keep these
flowers alive and under our protection just as we would if they were people
like Eric Garner or Mike Brown. This garden now belongs to you, and I strongly
encourage you to come and visit each chance you get. We also encourage you to
spread the word of the sacred garden, and invite all your friends and family to
come visit too. We have several benches for you to sit and admire the flowers,
and multiple pathways for you to walk along and embrace the peace and
sacredness of the garden. I would like to thank everyone who could be here
today, and I hope to see you all again visiting the garden.
Native American Speech
Native American is one of the least talked about
nationalities. Part of the reason this statement is true, is because we only
make up 2% of the United States population. I think it’s essential to talk
about Native American history because the vision you see of us differs from the
reality of who we really are. I am here today to tell you about my heritage so
you can get a better vision of what Native American culture is actually like. Now
before I get in to this I would like to point something out. The first and most
important point I’d like to make is that we are NOT Indians. This is a common cultural misconception made
by many Americans today. 6 centuries ago
when Columbus got lost on his voyage, he ended up in North America. He assumed
that this land was India, and that all the residents found there were Indians,
which in fact was incorrect. The land he discovered was the Caribbean and the
residents he discovered were people of the Taino tribe. As word spread about his discovery, all
indigenous people of the North American continent were classified as Indians. His
mistake was recognized years later but the name had already stuck. Now that I
have addressed this, I can tell you a little more about Native Americans from a
more personal level.
My grandparents come from two different tribes, Cherokee and
Waccamaw Siouan. I am sure you are all familiar with the Cherokee tribe because
it’s federally and state recognized.
Waccamaw Siouan however is never even mentioned in school, let alone
recognized by the government. *So I’d like to share with you the story of how
we came to be* Thousands of years ago a meteor appeared in the night sky of the
southwest, it hurdled towards earth flaming a brilliance to innumerable suns,
when it finally struck it buried itself deep within the Earth. The surrounding
swamps and rivers flowed into the crater and cooled it; creating Lake Waccamaw.
And the indigenous people who lived there were people of the Waccamaw tribe.
Today we are known as; people of the falling star.
As people of the falling star we practice many traditions
and customs that are common in Native American culture. For instance we all
have Native American names given to us the day we are born. In my family the
person who chooses our Native American name is my grandmother. (Mine is Little
Red Mountain). Along with Native
American names we have pow wows, chants, art, drumming, etc. The beauty of
Native American culture is that each tribe practices in their own way.
Over the years people have viewed us as pagans, squaws,
aggressive drunks, “Indian princesses”, impoverished, and noble savages. Although
this is the image that comes to mind, these illustrations could not be any farther
from the truth. When it comes down to it we are no different than any other
American. Just one of the many flavors making up the big melting pot known as
America.
Gay Rights Speech, March 6th 2015
Thomas Jefferson once declared that all
men are created equal, not all
straight men. Gay rights have been a controversial debate since the early
1920s. There has been a long strive for
equality, but as of 2015 the LGBT community still suffers harsh discrimination.
It’s sad to say that after 95 years, we Americans still cannot accept equality.
My purpose today is to convince YOU, the future of the United States of
America, that we are all created equal; gay or straight.
I’ll
be honest with you guys; it’s hard for me to stand up here and try to preach
gay rights to people of my age group for the simple fact being that the
majority of you in here were raised on the bible, the other fact being that
some of you could care less how this mind-set can affect people. Little did you
know suicide is the leading cause of death among the gay community. 30% of
these deaths are attempted at age 15. They are around the same age as most of
the people in this room, ready to end their lives before they've even
begun. It is because of OUR rejection
and close mindedness that our surrounding youth is decreasing. Words like “faggot”, “queer”, “dyke”, and
“fairy” can do a lot of damage to someone already on the verge of breaking. You
may not agree with same sex relationships however you have to take into
consideration the fact that they are still human and deserve the same amount of
respect as anyone of us.
Now from a political stand point. I
would like to inform you that in 29 states out of 50 it is legal to deny
service to a person based on his or her sexual orientation. This includes a woman being denied a table at
a restaurant because she’s a lesbian.
This includes a man being denied a room at a hotel because he’s gay.
This also includes a person being denied a seat at a concert because they are
transgender. The problem we are facing
is not denying a customer a table or seat. The problem we are facing is denying
a PERSON their civil rights. And
according to the Civil Rights act of 1964 this is the type of discrimination
our government should be protecting us from. And if they won’t protect us, who
will? As a result of this negligence and
discrimination, it is now legal in some states to discriminate against the LGBT
community in public accommodations, work places, and even housing.
The biggest argument I now face is
religion. 83% of Americans identify themselves as Christian. Over half of this
83% use Christianity as an excuse to discriminate against the Gay community
because of their interpretations of about 20 verses in the bible, overlooking
the fact that there are around 31,000 other verses. .The problem occurring is
that we often times find ourselves preaching the bible, but not the whole
bible. We read a verse or two about God saying homosexuality is sinful, but
brush past the verses about not judging others. We use the bible to preach our
hate for sin, but overlook the fact that God commanded us to love the sinners.
We need to stop using religion as an excuse to discriminate against the LGBT,
and open our eyes to realize God created us all. Christ himself died for ALL of us and ALL of
our sins. At the end of the day whether
you are gay or straight, you’re worshipping the same God as any other
Christian. I’m not asking you to hold hands with next gay person you see, I am
asking you to remove the beam of biasedness and intolerance from your eye so
you can see and understand people the way you should before judging them. In closing
if you guys don’t mind I am going to read a verse from the King James bible.
Matthews 7;1-3. Judge not, that ye be
not judged.
2 For
with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete,
it shall be measured to you again.
3 And
why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not
the beam that is in thine own eye?
SPEECH DAY !!
Today is Speech Day on my blog! I will be uploading all of my best speeches from the year 2015. Some persuasive, informative, and others just for fun, I hope you enjoy reading them all!
