Curtis Lee Mayfield (June 3, 1942 – December 26, 1999) was an American soul, R&B, and funk singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for his anthemic music with The Impressions during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and for composing the soundtrack to the blaxploitation film Super Fly, Mayfield is highly regarded as a pioneer of funk and of politically conscious African-American music.^[1][2] He was also a multi-instrumentalist who played the guitar, bass, piano, saxophone, and drums. Mayfield is a winner of both the Grammy Legend Award (in 1994) and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (in 1995), and he was a double inductee into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, inducted as a member of The Impressions into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991, and again in 1999 as a solo artist. He is also a two-time Grammy Hall of Fame inductee

O come, O come, Emmanuel is a translation of the Latin text (“Veni, veni, Emmanuel“) by John Mason Neale and Henry Sloane Coffin^[1][2] in the mid-19th century. It is a metrical version of a collation of various Advent Antiphons (the acrostic O Antiphons), which now serves as a popular Advent and Christmas hymn. Its origins are unclear, it is thought that the antiphons are from at least the 8th Century, but “Veni, veni Emmanuel” may well be 12th Century in origin.^[3][4] The text is based on the biblical prophecy from Isaiah 7:14 that states that God will give Israel a sign that will be called Immanuel (Lit.: God with us). Matthew 1:23 states fulfillment of this prophecy in the birth of Jesus of Nazareth

This song is so beautiful, so holy. I bow down before his presence.

Transcript of President Obama’s speech at the interfaith vigil in Newtown, Conn., Dec. 16 in honor of the victims of the shootings at Sandy Hill Elementary. Source: White House

Thank you. (Applause.) Thank you, Governor. To all the families, first responders, to the community of Newtown, clergy, guests — Scripture tells us: “…do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away…inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.”

We gather here in memory of twenty beautiful children and six remarkable adults. They lost their lives in a school that could have been any school; in a quiet town full of good and decent people that could be any town in America.

Here in Newtown, I come to offer the love and prayers of a nation. I am very mindful that mere words cannot match the depths of your sorrow, nor can they heal your wounded hearts. I can only hope it helps for you to know that you’re not alone in your grief; that our world too has been torn apart; that all across this land of ours, we have wept with you, we’ve pulled our children tight. And you must know that whatever measure of comfort we can provide, we will provide; whatever portion of sadness that we can share with you to ease this heavy load, we will gladly bear it. Newtown — you are not alone.

As these difficult days have unfolded, you’ve also inspired us with stories of strength and resolve and sacrifice. We know that when danger arrived in the halls of Sandy Hook Elementary, the school’s staff did not flinch, they did not hesitate. Dawn Hochsprung and Mary Sherlach, Vicki Soto, Lauren Rousseau, Rachel Davino and Anne Marie Murphy — they responded as we all hope we might respond in such terrifying circumstances — with courage and with love, giving their lives to protect the children in their care.

We know that there were other teachers who barricaded themselves inside classrooms, and kept steady through it all, and reassured their students by saying “wait for the good guys, they’re coming”; “show me your smile.”

And we know that good guys came. The first responders who raced to the scene, helping to guide those in harm’s way to safety, and comfort those in need, holding at bay their own shock and trauma because they had a job to do, and others needed them more.

And then there were the scenes of the schoolchildren, helping one another, holding each other, dutifully following instructions in the way that young children sometimes do; one child even trying to encourage a grown-up by saying, “I know karate. So it’s okay. I’ll lead the way out.” (Laughter.)

As a community, you’ve inspired us, Newtown. In the face of indescribable violence, in the face of unconscionable evil, you’ve looked out for each other, and you’ve cared for one another, and you’ve loved one another. This is how Newtown will be remembered. And with time, and God’s grace, that love will see you through.

But we, as a nation, we are left with some hard questions. Someone once described the joy and anxiety of parenthood as the equivalent of having your heart outside of your body all the time, walking around. With their very first cry, this most precious, vital part of ourselves — our child — is suddenly exposed to the world, to possible mishap or malice. And every parent knows there is nothing we will not do to shield our children from harm. And yet, we also know that with that child’s very first step, and each step after that, they are separating from us; that we won’t — that we can’t always be there for them. They’ll suffer sickness and setbacks and broken hearts and disappointments. And we learn that our most important job is to give them what they need to become self-reliant and capable and resilient, ready to face the world without fear.

And we know we can’t do this by ourselves. It comes as a shock at a certain point where you realize, no matter how much you love these kids, you can’t do it by yourself. That this job of keeping our children safe, and teaching them well, is something we can only do together, with the help of friends and neighbors, the help of a community, and the help of a nation. And in that way, we come to realize that we bear a responsibility for every child because we’re counting on everybody else to help look after ours; that we’re all parents; that they’re all our children.

This is our first task — caring for our children. It’s our first job. If we don’t get that right, we don’t get anything right. That’s how, as a society, we will be judged.

And by that measure, can we truly say, as a nation, that we are meeting our obligations? Can we honestly say that we’re doing enough to keep our children — all of them — safe from harm? Can we claim, as a nation, that we’re all together there, letting them know that they are loved, and teaching them to love in return? Can we say that we’re truly doing enough to give all the children of this country the chance they deserve to live out their lives in happiness and with purpose?

I’ve been reflecting on this the last few days, and if we’re honest with ourselves, the answer is no. We’re not doing enough. And we will have to change.

Since I’ve been President, this is the fourth time we have come together to comfort a grieving community torn apart by a mass shooting. The fourth time we’ve hugged survivors. The fourth time we’ve consoled the families of victims. And in between, there have been an endless series of deadly shootings across the country, almost daily reports of victims, many of them children, in small towns and big cities all across America — victims whose — much of the time, their only fault was being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

We can’t tolerate this anymore. These tragedies must end. And to end them, we must change. We will be told that the causes of such violence are complex, and that is true. No single law — no set of laws can eliminate evil from the world, or prevent every senseless act of violence in our society.

But that can’t be an excuse for inaction. Surely, we can do better than this. If there is even one step we can take to save another child, or another parent, or another town, from the grief that has visited Tucson, and Aurora, and Oak Creek, and Newtown, and communities from Columbine to Blacksburg before that — then surely we have an obligation to try.

In the coming weeks, I will use whatever power this office holds to engage my fellow citizens — from law enforcement to mental health professionals to parents and educators — in an effort aimed at preventing more tragedies like this. Because what choice do we have? We can’t accept events like this as routine. Are we really prepared to say that we’re powerless in the face of such carnage, that the politics are too hard? Are we prepared to say that such violence visited on our children year after year after year is somehow the price of our freedom?

All the world’s religions — so many of them represented here today — start with a simple question: Why are we here? What gives our life meaning? What gives our acts purpose? We know our time on this Earth is fleeting. We know that we will
each have our share of pleasure and pain; that even after we chase after some earthly goal, whether it’s wealth or power or fame, or just simple comfort, we will, in some fashion, fall short of what we had hoped. We know that no matter how good our intentions, we will all stumble sometimes, in some way. We will make mistakes, we will experience hardships. And even when we’re trying to do the right thing, we know that much of our time will be spent groping through the darkness, so often unable to discern God’s heavenly plans.

There’s only one thing we can be sure of, and that is the love that we have — for our children, for our families, for each other. The warmth of a small child’s embrace — that is true. The memories we have of them, the joy that they bring, the wonder we see through their eyes, that fierce and boundless love we feel for them, a love that takes us out of ourselves, and binds us to something larger — we know that’s what matters. We know we’re always doing right when we’re taking care of them, when we’re teaching them well, when we’re showing acts of kindness. We don’t go wrong when we do that.

That’s what we can be sure of. And that’s what you, the people of Newtown, have reminded us. That’s how you’ve inspired us. You remind us what matters. And that’s what should drive us forward in everything we do, for as long as God sees fit to keep us on this Earth.

“Let the little children come to me,” Jesus said, “and do not hinder them — for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”

Charlotte. Daniel. Olivia. Josephine. Ana. Dylan. Madeleine. Catherine. Chase. Jesse. James. Grace. Emilie. Jack. Noah. Caroline. Jessica. Benjamin. Avielle. Allison.

God has called them all home. For those of us who remain, let us find the strength to carry on, and make our country worthy of their memory.

May God bless and keep those we’ve lost in His heavenly place. May He grace those we still have with His holy comfort. And may He bless and watch over this community, and the United States of America. (Applause.)

As 2012 comes to a close, 3 Chics Politico is showcasing our picks for the events that shaped our country and our world this past year. You may have your own events that touched you in some way. Please feel free to share them in the comments section.

3 Chics Rikyrah, SouthernGirl2 and Ametia thank you ALL for visiting and commenting. Please join our community in 2013 for another year of sharing the news, laughs, photos, music, and our constant monitoring of the LAZY JACKALS who call themselves journalist.

Ametia here:

1. The 2012 DNC:

Of course I watched the RNC broadcast from Tampa, FL. The stark differences in the speakers, the crowd, and the presidential candidate were GLARING. Even though President Obama did not win NC this year, Charlotte did us all proud.

The highlight of meeting new aquaintances: 87 year old Ms. EuFaula Frazier, a Florida delegate who has attended every DNC since 1972. And she has attended every Democratic inauguration since 1977.

Ms. Frazier told me that she took on former Alabama Governor Geroge Wallace, during the southern segergation era. She is a stalwart in the Civil Rights Movement. Ms Frazier told me to never, ever give up and continue to support President Obama and any cause that helps to bring about justice for All Americans.

3 Chics’ Ametia & Ms. Eufaula Frazier

Hands down, the best speech delivered at the DNC

2. GOP’s efforts at Voter Suppression

Nina Turner does a Yoeman’s job for the state of Ohio

State Rep. Mike Turzai: this MOFO right here who all but told us NEGROES… Y’all niggas ain’t voting!

Read on, because Rikyrah’s gonna break it ALL THE WAY DOWN like a fraction on 2012 Voter Suppression

3. Twitter and other social media take down of the media hacks and presidential candidates. President Obama’s GROUND GAME was STELLAR.

And….YOUTTUBE, BITCHES!

The use of social media is becoming a feature of political and civic engagement for many Americans. Some 60% of American adults use either social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter and a new survey by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project finds that 66% of those social media users—or 39% of all American adults—have done at least one of eight civic or political activities with social media.

4. GOP’s WAR ON WOMEN- “RAPIN” Todd Akin & “Gift from God” Richard Mourdock RAPE and abortion comments sealed the deal on the war on women’s body, mind, and spirit.

And this REDEFINES the GOP’s concern for their “right to life” IDEOLOGY:

5. SCOTUS Upholds the ACA Aka OBAMACARE June 29, 2012, in spite of CNN & FAUX NOISE dead wrong headlines

CNN

FOX

This MOFO right here thought he could roll his pasty white ass up in an NAACP event and tell them WHAT?!!!!

6. Preezy’s rendition of Let’s Stay Together:

Now y’all know the ladies had to keep it together and not throw their panties at the POTUS, after singing like that!

7. Mother Jones’ David Corn drops the ROMNEY 47% & disdain for Obama voters video

rikyrah here:

Some of the top stories of the year for me:

Gabby Douglas at the London Olympics

Being a lifelong gymnastics fan, even though I’ve never been athletic, it was beautiful…so wondrous I can barely put it into words what Gabrielle Douglas’ win meant in London. There is an entire generation of little Black girls, watching that chocolate young woman, with those African Features (features that some wanted her to get plastic surgery to erase). But, Gabby did it…she did in a sport that is lily-White. She did it being the ‘afterthought’ in all the advertising going into the Olympics, even though it was obvious that she was coming on like gangbusters – her performance at the Olympic trials was proof, but those in the know tried to dismiss her.

I appreciate Gabby because she knows who she is, and isn’t afraid to say that God is front and center in her life. The sacrifice by her and her entire family to help support her dream is something that all champions have in common.

Despite it all…she came through and powered her way to the top, and nobody can take away from her that she was the Ladies Gold Medal Champion.

One of the interviews Gabby Did was with Melissa Harris-Perry and Melissa’s daughter, Parker.

This made me smile on so many levels.

They tried to come down on her for being HONEST about the racism and bullying that she experienced. That she should just be ‘ quiet’ about it, and be ‘ grateful’ for what she accomplished – like she didn’t earn it. Like telling her story wouldn’t help other little Black girls, telling them about folks telling a CHILD that she should get a NOSE JOB, instead of being proud of her ethnic features. That she would have been told this is ridiculous.

Seeing that poised young Parker, talking to poised Gabrielle Douglas, was a testament to BLACK MOTHERHOOD- both Melissa and Gabrielle’s mother.

…………………………………….

Another story that couldn’t be overlooked is that Willard Mitt Romney was the first post-TRUTH Presidential Candidate.
There are liars, damn liars, and then, there was Willard Romney.

He lied about everything, including his own name.

I don’t think many folks really understand the depth of the utter lies that came out of the Romney campaign on a daily basis.

One of the things about the first debate, is that, nobody could answer the question – how the fuck was the President supposed to debate someone who lied everytimg they opened their mouth. There was nothing he said in that debate that was the truth.

He lied on the President. He lied on the policies that he wanted to enact. This wasn’t a choice election – a choice would mean that both sides presented what they wanted to do for the country and let the country decide. Willard Romney never was honest about what he wanted to do for this country. The most honest thing he ever said was the 47% comment. THAT is who he is. That is who he always was.

It didn’t help that Romney had a MSM more intent on creating the illusion of a ‘ horse race’ than telling the truth about who Mitt Romney was and the lies that he told on a daily basis.

Yet, there were a few people in the MSM who pointed Willard’s proclivity for lying early on and did it often.

There was Krugman at the NYTimes, Greg Sargent of the Plum Line Blog and the HERO of the political season when it comes to this topic:

Steve Benen.

First, at Washington Monthly, then after he moved to The Maddow Blog, Benen did a weekly chronicle of Willard’s lies. I have to think that even when he began doing it, he never thought that he would be doing it all political season, and that the column would get longer and longer. In the end, Benen wrote FORTY-ONE CHRONICLES of Willard’s lies.

FORTY-ONE.

Absolutely unbelievable.

I have to think that it is the persistence of Benen and a few others that kept this topic, while not front and center, but at a constant drumbeat, so that there would be a tipping point, even when it came to Willard..

And, that would be Willard’s lies around Jeep taking away the jobs from Ohio and shipping them to China. It was, of course, a LIE. A lie that had to be debased by the Chrysler Corporation, and, even when they came out and said that the Romney campaign was lying – the campaign refused to stop running the ad containing the lie.

It is obvious, watching this campaign, that without the internet, and activism with social media and bloggers, that the MSM was quite content to let Willard’s lies just roll on, because they never challenged him. That was instructive, because folks know what they will be up against next election cycle, and how to marginalize the media since they won’t do their damn jobs.

…………………………………………

The Re-election of Barack Obama and the New America
These two stories are joined at the hip, and one cannot be told without the other.

President Barack Obama entered into office in 2009, at the greatest economic downturn this country has ever seen since the Great Depression. The President, being the good American that he is, if he had any fault, was not understanding something that it took I think a lot of us to recognize:

That the Republican Party decided, in the midst of the greatest economic freefall since the Great Depression…

decided to commit ECONOMIC TREASON against this country.

That’s right – ECONOMIC TREASON.

I don’t use the word TREASON lightly. I use it to represent everything that TREASON against one’s country should represent.

The GOP decided that it was more important to defeat Barack Obama in 2012, than it was to help this country out. And ANYTHING that would actually help this country is what they would be against.

It didn’t matter to them the millions that were unemployed.

It didn’t matter to them the millions that were close to being unemployed.

It didn’t matter to them the millions in this country without health insurance.

It didn’t matter to them the pain and suffering that our troops were undergoing by being stretched too thin fighting two wars that we were lied into.

NONE of that mattered.

All that mattered was to defeat President Obama.

It’s not that they took a look at the President’s policies and said that we have better policies.

It’s not that at all – because they decided to commit ECONOMIC TREASON

JANUARY 20, 2009

That’s right – the night of thr President’s Inauguration.

They decided to betray this country that night.

This is the party that would have the FULL FAITH AND CREDIT OF THE UNITED STATES DESTROYED…remember the debt ceiling?

So, with an opposition party that would be of no help for the President….

Add in wretched BLue Dog Democrats….

And, a MSM that wouldn’t report: a) the successes of the President, nor b) the truth about the GOP…

This President had a hard row to toe.

I can’t leave the MSM out of this, because I will never forget the study that looked at the coverage of this President and found that the President was being reported in negative terms NINETY PERCENT OF THE TIME.

HOW, could a President be reported in those kinds of terms, with all of his accomplishments, and it NOT be ON PURPOSE?

Especially since the MSM chose not to cover the utter insanity of the GOP, and their unwillingness to do anything FOR this country.

This President, with all of this on his back, still succeeded.

He got a stimulus – maybe not large enough, but stil a stimulus.
He saved the American Auto Industry.
He brought the idea that Healthcare is a RIGHT, not a PRIVILEGE -doing something that every President since Theodore Roosevelt had tried to do.
He ended the Iraq War.
He made it so that honorable men and women that serve our country can do so openly, irrespective of whom they love.
He brought back America’s standing in the world.

Even with this, there have been dark forces lined up against this country, the main being the Republican Party, in collusion with the MSM, and a Supreme Court, which opened the floodgates to dark money being spent profusely in campaigns with the Citizens United ruling.

Through it all, this President was all about the business of running a smart, efficient campaign. This President showed what a superior executive he was by surrounding himself with a brilliant team, and going about the basics, improving upon the fantastic campaign of 2008, using social media and data to help him even more in 2012, than he did in 2008.

While the other side ran a campaign of lies, race-baiting and voter suppression, the President’s team ran a nuts and bolts campaign that boiled down to:

GET OUT THE VOTE

The GOP, laced with race-baiting disrespect from the State of the Union and ‘ you lie’ to the repeated use of dogwhistles that proliferated from every inch of the GOP, combined with the obvious Voter Suppression intended Voter ID Laws……

They thought that they could prevent enough Obama voters from voting, while getting those ‘ real Americans’ – i.e. WHITE Americans to the polls.

But, it’s a new day in 2012.

President Obama only won 39% of the White Vote.

39%.

And, he still won the Presidency – handily.

332 Electoral College Votes.

He became the most successful Democrat since Franklin Delano Roosevelt by winning in not only the Electoral College, but also the a majority of the Popular Vote.

So, while only 39% of Whites voted for the President…

He received 80% of the votes from Non-Whites in this country, who, as usual, put the future of this country on it’s back and saved this country from itself.

While it’s disheartening that 60% of White folk clinged to being White and were willing to turn this country over to sociopaths that were going to destroy the Social Safety Net and send us into war with Iran….

I look at the positive of the 40% of White folk that had the sense that God gave a gnat and knew which way was up….

It was nice that President Obama won Virginia and Florida…

But, he’d be President WITHOUT THEM.

Barack Hussein Obama II has made the South ELECTORALLY IRRELEVANT.

How’s that for bashing in the teeth of the Southern Strategy.

You want to know what numbers shocked the hell out of the GOP and the MSM, which was ready to tell Black people to sit down, and shut up, because all the dogwhistles ‘we’ heard were just all ‘in our head’.

It was the President getting in the high seventieth percentile of both the Latino AND the Asian communities.

So, while the MSM coddled the GOP and their racists, and pretended that all the dogwhistles that they sent out, time and time again…

Pretending that those racists ‘ had some point’ in there, trying to obscure the obvious racism…

Every non-White person who isn’t a sellout heard loud and clear the FUNDAMENTAL DISRESPECT of this President and his ENTIRE FAMILY.

That these same non-White people, who had never lived on Mars, but in THIS country during the previous FORTY-THREE WHITE PRESIDENTS, and could see the obviousness of the disrespect towards the Obama family.

These folks bristled and bit their tongue except for the most agregious offenses towards this family.

But, they never stopped watching. Watching like a hawk, how this President and his family were treated.

Watching and saw who never stood up to the racism and the disrespect.

It was supposed to go over the heads of Black folks the insults thrown at this President and his family.
Just like it was supposed to go over the heads of the Latino community the Papers, Please Laws in Arizona, and Alabama, and the ‘self-deportation’. It was supposed to go over their heads that a Phi Beta Kappa from Princeton with more judicial experience than any nominee for the Supreme Court in 70 years, was dismissed as an ‘ Unqualified Affirmative Action Pick’.
Just like it was supposed to go over the heads of the Asian community as the Senate disrespected Professor Liu, and Dr. Steven Chu – not only a PhD, but a NOBEL LAUREATE.

Yes, it was supposed to go over our heads.

But, it didn’t go over our heads.

WE saw everything.

And, we made sure that we made clear our offense at what we saw – November 6, 2012.

………………………………………..

And about that Voter Suppression:

From Pew Research:

The Growing Electoral Clout of Blacks Is Driven by Turnout, Not Demographics

by Paul Taylor

Blacks voted at a higher rate this year than other minority groups and for the first time in history may also have voted at a higher rate than whites, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of census data, election day exit poll data and vote totals from selected cities and counties.

Unlike other minority groups whose increasing electoral muscle has been driven mainly by population growth, blacks’ rising share of the vote in the past four presidential elections has been the result of rising turnout rates.

These participation milestones are notable not just in light of the long history of black disenfranchisement, but also in light of recently-enacted state voter identification laws that some critics contended would suppress turnout disproportionately among blacks and other minority groups.

In fact, according to census data and the election day exit polls, blacks made up 12 percent of the eligible electorate1 this year but accounted for an estimated 13 percent of all votes cast—a repeat of the 2008 presidential election, when blacks “over-performed” at the polls by the same ratio. In all previous presidential elections for which there are reliable data, blacks had accounted for a smaller share of votes than eligible voters.

There are two sayings for this election season that are related.
1. 2008 was for history. 2012 is personal.
2. This isn’t about Obama. It’s about your Mama. (Rev. Al)

When Rev. Al first said his saying, it was funny and on point, and as the election season wore on, it became evident just exactly how on point it was. I believe that when he said it, Rev. Al was talking about the obvious attack on the social safety net by the Republicans. How their policies were attacking those programs that had helped uplift the community. As time wore on, though, it was more obvious that the GOP War on Voting was indeed very personal.

When one goes about to take away THE RIGHT TO VOTE FROM FIVE MILLION AMERICANS…

And bases it upon something that doesn’t exist – Voter Fraud – it is quite offensive for them to get on tv, purporting a LIE in order to TAKE AWAY A RIGHT THAT IS IN THE FIFTEENTH AMENDMENT.

It’s not called the Voting ‘ Privilege’ Act – it’s called the VOTING RIGHTS ACT.

And, we, the Black community, don’t have to go back in ‘ history’ to understand what the GOP was doing. All we have to do is talk to Mama. Daddy. Auntie. Uncle Leroy. The elders at the Barber Shop. The Beauty Shop. Church.

While the majority of the MSM danced around it, and tried to give cover to the GOP, Black folk knew which way was up and made no bones about it. We stood up loud, and we stood up fierce, not sugar-coating what they were trying to do. And, as always, with their ugly selves, one by one, they revealed the true intentions behind what they were doing, and Black folk were like ‘ we told you so’.

Understanding that we were the ones beaten, threatened, and hozed in order to secure this right, we weren’t going to take it lying down.

Shorten the days – well, we’ll organize ourselves and still get folks to the polls.

We’ll talk to those neighbors and get them registered and out to vote.

And, vote we did….standing in those lines…4….5…6…7 hours sometimes.

I was encouraged by the determination of those in states like Florida, who refused to get out of line. Who refused to go anywhere. Who prepared themselves and said – I shall not be moved. By those in Miami-Dade, who stormed the office demanding that they be allowed to vote, since they were standing in line, even after those mofos began having their cars towed.

People stood in line because they knew those stories…
They voted early because they knew those stories…

They carried with them to the voting booths those that had fought to secure this right…
They had with them what I had with me…

I had Mama….who grew up in the Police State of Jim Crow Mississippi..
I had Daddy…who would have been FORTY-TWO YEARS OLD if he had stayed in the state of his birth before he would have been able to vote, and that was AFTER he had put on the uniform for this country and put his life on the line for this country…
I had Grandma …who was arrested for ‘ agitating’..
I had my uncles who had to get the hell out of Mississippi before ‘bad things’ were gonna happen to them for standing up to Jim Crow.
I had all those stories I heard here and there from the Elders in the church at various events over the years.

Do I think I’m unique?

Hell no. I heard those stories….and everybody Black that I know have heard those stories too….
And we made our voices heard loud and clear on November 6th.

Those GOP mofos actually thought somebody was playing with them.
NOBODY was playing with them.

SG2 here:

Some of the top stories for me:

1.The death of Whitney Houston. Our beautiful song bird flew away.

Whitney passed away Feb. 11th 2012. It broke our hearts and crushed our souls. Cissy Houston was gracious to let us join in and watch the homegoing services of our beautiful song bird and Newark, NJ took the entire nation to church and put African American Spirituality On display for the world to see. And it was a joyous celebration.

The Homegoing Service for Whitney Houston was so incredible! It was so Anointed, so Holy!

Alicia Keys at Whitney Houston’s Funeral

A Change is Going To Come

Whitney Houston Funeral Service

Whitney Houston’s Casket Leaves Church

2. Just as we were getting over the grief of losing our beautiful Whitney our hearts were crushed once again with the senseless murder of Trayvon Martin. An innocent unarmed kid walking back from the store after purchasing candy and a drink was gunned down for absolutely nothing except walking while black. The Sanford Police allowed the killer George Zimmerman to go home and claimed he was standing his ground. There was no weapon found on the kid. All he had was skittles and a drink. Well, it set off a fire storm of protests around the country demanding an arrest of the murderer. We could not believe our eyes that is took 44 days for an arrest of the killer. How could this happen? This isn’t the 1960′s. Sanford Police thought this death was going to be swept under the rug and that no one cared. You knew something was rotten when they refused to release the 911 calls. It was stinking to high heaven. After hearing the child’s screams begging for his life on the 911 calls and then the loud gunshot, I had to ask God to heal my mind. It was too much!

The fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman took place on the night of February 26, 2012, in Sanford, Florida, United States. Martin was an unarmed 17-year-old African American. George Zimmerman, a 28-year-old multi-racial Hispanic American,^{[Note 1]} was the neighborhood watch coordinator for the gated community where Martin was temporarily staying and where the shooting took place.^[3][4][5]

While in his vehicle on a private errand, Zimmerman noticed Martin walking inside the community. Zimmerman called the Sanford Police Department to report Martin’s behavior as suspicious, because he said that Martin was “cutting in-between houses…walking very leisurely for the [rainy] weather” and “looking at all the houses”.^[6][7] According to a police report, “there is no indication that Trayvon Martin was involved in any criminal activity at the time of the encounter”.^[8][9][10] While still on the phone with the police dispatcher, Zimmerman left his vehicle. After the phone call concluded, there was a violent encounter between Martin and Zimmerman. The encounter ended with Zimmerman fatally shooting Martin once in the chest at close range.^{[11][12][13][14][15][16]}

President Obama Weighs In: ‘If I Had a Son, He’d Look Like Trayvon’

3. The Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

The killing of 20 six & seven year old kids in their classroom just before Christmas. All murdered with an assault rifle along with six of their teachers. Sooo incredibly horrible. Why shoot little innocent kids? This shook me to the core. The grief was painful beyond description. Little innocent kids gunned down for nothing. It was almost too much to bear. I cried for days. Every state, every town and every city need to protest until these gun laws are changed. 6 & 7 year old kids riddled with 3-7 bullets? Now Is The Time to put a stop to this.

Have a wonderful week and a wonderful New Year, Everyone!

Pastor Jonathan Stockstill officially became the lead pastor of Bethany on October 2, 2011, making him the third-generation Stockstill to act as senior pastor for the ministry. In January 2011, both he and Pastor Larry fasted for 21 days to confirm what their board of overseers and family were sensing as direction from the Lord: it was time to pass the baton to the next generation. Pastor Jonathan followed in his father’s footsteps by becoming lead pastor at 30 years old, the same age Pastor Larry was when he took over. Since making the transition, Pastor Jonathan has been leading the church with fresh vision, excitement, passion, and creative ideas to win Baton Rouge and surrounding areas for Christ. His heart to see lives transformed by the power of God and to see people experience new life in Christ is the bedrock of his vision for this new chapter of Bethany’s story.

Call Out His Name
(Jesus)

Good Morning, Everyone. As we start off another week, I hope everyone is doing well.

This week, we’re going to cover Black women that expanded the imagination of what Black women could be in America.

First Up: Lena Horne.

Lena Mary Calhoun Horne (June 30, 1917 – May 9, 2010) was an American singer, actress, civil rights activist and dancer.

Horne joined the chorus of the Cotton Club at the age of sixteen and became a nightclub performer before moving to Hollywood, where she had small parts in numerous movies, and more substantial parts in the films Cabin in the Sky and Stormy Weather. Due to the Red Scare and her left-leaning political views, Horne found herself blacklisted and unable to get work in Hollywood.[1]

Returning to her roots as a nightclub performer, Horne took part in the March on Washington in August 1963, and continued to work as a performer, both in nightclubs and on television, while releasing well-received record albums. She announced her retirement in March 1980, but the next year starred in a one-woman show, Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music, which ran for more than three hundred performances on Broadway and earned her numerous awards and accolades. She continued recording and performing sporadically into the 1990s, disappearing from the public eye in 2000.

……………………..

Road to Hollywood

In the fall of 1933, Horne joined the chorus line of the Cotton Club in New York City. In the spring of 1934, she had a featured role in the Cotton Club Parade starring Adelaide Hall, who took Lena under her wing. A few years later Horne joined Noble Sissle’s Orchestra, with which she toured and with whom she recorded her first record release, a 78rpm single issued by Decca Records. After she separated from her first husband, Horne toured with bandleader Charlie Barnet in 1940–41, but disliked the travel and left the band to work at the Café Society in New York. She replaced Dinah Shore as the featured vocalist on NBC’s popular jazz series The Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street. The show’s resident maestros, Henry Levine and Paul Laval, recorded with Horne in June 1941 for RCA Victor. Horne left the show after only six months to headline a nightclub revue on the West Coast at Slapsy Maxie’s, and was replaced by actress Betty Keene of the Keene sisters.[citation needed]

Horne already had two low-budget movies to her credit: a 1938 musical feature called The Duke is Tops (later reissued with Horne’s name above the title as The Bronze Venus); and a 1941 two-reel short subject, Boogie Woogie Dream, featuring pianists Pete Johnson and Albert Ammons. Horne’s songs from Boogie Woogie Dream were later released individually as soundies. Horne was primarily a nightclub performer during this period and it was during a 1943 club engagement in Hollywood at Slapsy Maxie’s in which talent scouts approached Horne to work in pictures. She chose Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and became the first black performer to sign a long-term contract with a major Hollywood studio. In November 1944, she was featured in an episode of the popular radio series Suspense, as a fictional nightclub singer, with a large speaking role along with her singing. In 1945 and 1946, she sang with Billy Eckstine’s Orchestra.

She made her debut with MGM in Panama Hattie (1942) and performed the title song of Stormy Weather based loosely on the life of Adelaide Hall, (1943), which she made at 20th Century Fox, on loan from MGM. She appeared in a number of MGM musicals, most notably Cabin in the Sky (also 1943), but was never featured in a leading role because of her race and the fact that films featuring her had to be re-edited for showing in states where theaters could not show films with black performers. As a result, most of Horne’s film appearances were stand-alone sequences that had no bearing on the rest of the film, so editing caused no disruption to the storyline; a notable exception was the all-black musical Cabin in the Sky, although one number was cut because it was considered too suggestive by the censors. “Ain’t it the Truth” was the song (and scene) cut before the release of the film Cabin in the Sky. It featured Horne singing “Ain’t it the Truth”, while taking a bubble bath (considered too “risqué” by the film’s executives). This scene and song are featured in the film That’s Entertainment! III (1994) which also featured commentary from Horne on why the scene was deleted prior to the film’s release.

In Ziegfeld Follies (1946) she performed “Love” by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane. Horne wanted to be considered for the role of Julie LaVerne in MGM’s 1951 version of Show Boat (having already played the role when a segment of Show Boat was performed in Till the Clouds Roll By) but lost the part to Ava Gardner, a personal friend in real life, due to the Production Code’s ban on interracial relationships in films. In the documentary That’s Entertainment! III Horne stated that MGM executives required Gardner to practice her singing using Horne’s recordings, which offended both actresses. Ultimately, Gardner’s voice was overdubbed by actress Annette Warren (Smith) for the theatrical release.
Changes of direction

By the mid-1950s, Horne was disenchanted with Hollywood and increasingly focused on her nightclub career. She only made two major appearances in MGM films during the 1950s: Duchess of Idaho (which was also Eleanor Powell’s film swan song); and the 1956 musical Meet Me in Las Vegas. She was blacklisted during the 1950s for her political views.[13] She returned to the screen three more times, playing chanteuse Claire Quintana in the 1969 film Death of a Gunfighter, Glinda in The Wiz (1978), a film younger audience members recognize her from, and co-hosting the MGM retrospective That’s Entertainment! III (1994), in which she was candid about her treatment by the studio.

After leaving Hollywood, Horne established herself as one of the premiere nightclub performers of the post-war era. She headlined at clubs and hotels throughout the U.S., Canada, and Europe, including the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas, the Cocoanut Grove in Los Angeles, and the Waldorf-Astoria in New York. In 1957, a live album entitled, Lena Horne at the Waldorf-Astoria, became the biggest selling record by a female artist in the history of the RCA-Victor label. In 1958, Horne was nominated for a Tony Award for “Best Actress in a Musical” (for her part in the “Calypso” musical Jamaica) which, at Lena’s request featured her longtime friend Adelaide Hall.
Horne performing on The Bell Telephone Hour, 1965.

From the late 1950s through the 1960s, Horne was a staple of TV variety shows, appearing multiple times on Perry Como’s Kraft Music Hall, The Ed Sullivan Show, The Dean Martin Show, and The Bell Telephone Hour. Other programs she appeared on included The Judy Garland Show, The Hollywood Palace, and The Andy Williams Show. Besides two television specials for the BBC (later syndicated in the U.S.), Horne starred in her own U.S. television special in 1969, Monsanto Night Presents Lena Horne. During this decade, the artist Pete Hawley painted her portrait for RCA Victor, capturing the mood of her performance style.

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On April 13, 1980, Horne, Luciano Pavarotti, and host Gene Kelly were all scheduled to appear at a Gala performance at the Metropolitan Opera House to salute the N Y City Center’s Joffrey Ballet Company. However, Pavarotti’s plane was diverted over the Atlantic and he was unable to appear. James Nederlander was an invited Honored Guest and noted that only three people at the sold out Metropolitan Opera House asked for their money back. He asked to be introduced to Lena following her performance. In May 1981, The Nederlander Organization, Michael Frazier, and Fred Walker went on to book Horne for a four-week engagement at the newly named Nederlander Theatre (formerly the Trafalgar, the Billy Rose, and the National) on West 41st Street in New York City. The show was an instant success and was extended to a full year run, garnering Horne a special Tony award, and two Grammy Awards for the cast recording of her show Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music. The 333-performance Broadway run closed on Horne’s 65th birthday, June 30, 1982. Later that same week, the entire show was performed again and videotaped for television broadcast and home video release. The tour began a few days later at Tanglewood (Massachusetts) during the July 4, 1982 weekend. The Lady and Her Music toured 41 cities in the U.S. and Canada through June 17, 1984. It played in London for a month in August and ended its run in Stockholm, Sweden, September 14, 1984.

In 1981, she received a Special Tony Award for her one-woman show, Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music, which also played to acclaim at the Adelphi Theatre in London in 1984.[14] Despite the show’s considerable success (Horne still holds the record for the longest-running solo performance in Broadway history), she did not capitalize on the renewed interest in her career by undertaking many new musical projects. A proposed 1983 joint recording project between Horne and Frank Sinatra (to be produced by Quincy Jones) was ultimately abandoned, and her sole studio recording of the decade was 1988′s The Men in My Life, featuring duets with Sammy Davis, Jr. and Joe Williams. In 1989, she received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

President Obama speaks at the 2013 National Prayer Breakfast.

Updated with full video of President Obama’s remarks:

Watch the full event here.

VaShawn Mitchell was born and raised in Chicago, IL.  The city known as the birthplace of Gospel music quickly made its imprint on him.  When he was barely a teenager, VaShawn became the assistant music director of St. Mark Baptist Church, working closely with nationally renowned choir leader Lonnie Hunter.

For nearly a decade he served as Minister of Music at Bishop Larry D. Trotter’s Sweet Holy Spirit Church, setting the musical tone both within the church walls and on the ministry’s top-selling recording projects.  The youngest Minister of Music in that church’s history, he successfully merged the contemporary themes he composed with the traditional choir vibe that marked the church’s worship services.

In This Photo: Michelle Obama, John Kerry
U.S. first lady Michelle Obama (L) and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry host the International Women of Courage awards ceremony at the State Department March 8, 2013 in Washington, DC. In celebration of the 102nd International Women’s Day, the State Department honored nine women from around the world with the International Women of Courage Award, including the 23-year-old Indian woman known only as “Nirbhaya,” who died from injuries she received after being gang raped by six men last December in Delhi.

In This Photo: Michelle Obama, John Kerry, Fartuun Adan
Elman Peace and Human Rights Centre Executive Director Fartuun Adan (C) of Somalia poses for photographs with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (R) and U.S. first lady Michelle Obama after receiving the International Women of Courage award at the State Department March 8, 2013 in Washington, DC.

In This Photo: Michelle Obama, John Kerry, Malalai Bahaduri
Afghanistan Counter Narcotics Police First Sergeant Malalai Bahaduri (C) holds up her International Women of Courage award while posing for photographs with U.S. first lady Michelle Obama (L) and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry at the State Department March 8, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Getty images)

In This Photo: Michelle Obama, Josephine Obiajulu Odumakin
U.S. first lady Michelle Obama (L) embraces women’s rights advocate Dr. Josephine Obiajulu Odumakin of Nigeria after she received her International Women of Courage award at the State Department March 8, 2013 in Washington, DC.

In This Photo: Michelle Obama, Julieta Castellanos
Honduras Truth and Reconciliation Commission member Julieta Castellanos (R) poses for photographs with U.S. first lady Michelle Obama after receiving the International Women of Courage award at the State Department March 8, 2013 in Washington, DC.

In This Photo: Michelle Obama
U.S. first lady Michelle Obama delivers remarks at the International Women of Courage Awards Ceremony at the State Department March 8, 2013 in Washington, DC.

Sandra Faye “Sandi” Patty (born July 12, 1956) is an American Christian music singer. For many years she was known as Sandi Patti. She has been dubbed “The Voice” by critics because of her wide range and flexibility.

Patty was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, into a family of musicians; her father was a minister of music and her mother served as the church pianist. She first performed at the age of two when she sang “Jesus Loves Me” for her church, Phoenix First Church of God (Anderson, Indiana). First growing up in Phoenix, then San Diego, she and her brothers joined her parents in a performing group, known as “The Ron Patty Family,” and sang at churches across the nation during summer holidays. After high school graduation from Crawford High in San Diego, CA, she attended San Diego State University and Anderson University in Anderson, Indiana, where she studied voice and conducting. While studying at Anderson University, she worked as a studio musician for area recording studios, singing background vocals and recording commercial jingles, including one for Juicy Fruit gum. Her reputation as a performer and studio singer grew during the late 1970s, and it was during this time that she initiated contact with legendary Christian musician, Bill Gaither.

Isaiah 53:7

He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth.

Join 3 Chics in celebrating National Poetry Month. Throughout the month of April, we’ll feature poems and poets who have inspired America’s historical & cultural landscape.

We invite you to share and post your favorite poems and poets here.

I, Too, Sing America

By Langston Hughes

I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.

Tomorrow,
I’ll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody’ll dare
Say to me,
“Eat in the kitchen,”
Then.

Besides,
They’ll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed—

I, too, am America.

Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906)
We Wear the Mask

WE wear the mask that grins and lies,
It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,—
This debt we pay to human guile;
With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,
And mouth with myriad subtleties.

Why should the world be over-wise,
In counting all our tears and sighs?
Nay, let them only see us, while
We wear the mask.

We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries
To thee from tortured souls arise.
We sing, but oh the clay is vile
Beneath our feet, and long the mile;
But let the world dream otherwise,
We wear the mask!

Happy sunday, Everyone. Enjoy the great Gospel, SOULFUL music of

Ms. Yolanda Adams

Lady Diana Ross

Whitney Houston & Cece Winans -”Bridge Over Troubled Water”

Jonathan Butler (born October 10, 1961, Athlone, Cape Town, South Africa) is a singer-songwriter and guitarist. His music is often classified as R&B, jazz fusion or worship music.

Born and raised in Cape Town during Apartheid, Butler started singing and playing acoustic guitar as a child. Racial segregation and poverty during Apartheid has been the subject of many of his records.^[1] His first single was the first by a black artist played by white radio stations in the racially segregated South Africa and earned a Sarie Award, South Africa’s equivalent to the Grammy Awards.

FULL SERVICE HERE

Watch full service here on C-Span.

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Pastor John P Kee (born John Prince Kee on June 4, 1962) is an American gospel singer and pastor.

John P. Kee was born the 15th out of 16 children in Durham, North Carolina. At an early age he began to develop his musical talent both instrumentally and vocally. He attended the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem and at 14, he and his brothers Wayne and Al moved to California where he began attending the Yuba College Conservatory School of Music in Marysville, CA. During this time, he began playing with various groups such as Cameo and Donald Byrd and the Blackbyrds. After having a hard time adjusting in California, he left and moved to Charlotte, North Carolina only to find himself living in a part of the city known for its violence and drug activities. After watching one of his friends being murdered in a drug deal gone bad, he rededicated his life back to God during a visitation to a revival meeting.

Lee Cowan interviews First Lady Michelle Obama

Look at BO; he just LOVES FLOTUS.

BO joins in and she takes us on a tour of the White House Garden.

FLOTUS asks graduates: “Who are you going to be?”