WSSN Stories

By Anna Challet, California Black Media Correspondent

A coalition of attorneys, civil rights advocates, and advocates for sexually exploited children are calling for California Attorney General Kamala Harris to manage the investigation into the alleged exploitation of a teenage girl by officers at several Bay Area police departments. 

The alleged misconduct came to light nearly a year ago, and no officers at any of the law enforcement agencies – the police departments of Oakland, Richmond, San Francisco, and Livermore, and the sheriff’s departments of Alameda and Contra Costa Counties – have been prosecuted.

Advocates think the case is being swept under the rug, and have little faith that district attorneys’ offices can be trusted with the investigation given their close relationship with law enforcement. The advocates, led by Oakland-based attorney Pamela Price and including Kimberly Thomas Rapp, the executive director of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area, want Governor Jerry Brown to issue an executive order putting Harris in charge.

“We need to have an independent, impartial investigation,” said Price, speaking at a demonstration in front of the Richmond Police Station on Thursday.

President of the Richmond/Contra Costa chapter of Black Women Organized for Political Action Kathleen Sullivan added, “This is a time in our country when we need to restore the trust in our law enforcement like never before.”

The investigation into the officers’ alleged crimes began with the September 2015 suicide of Brendan O’Brien, an officer with the Oakland Police Department. He left a suicide note that referenced his relationship with the young woman whose exploitation is being investigated, who goes by the name Celeste Guap.

Guap, now 19, was questioned in the aftermath of O’Brien’s death. Allegedly, O’Brien’s exploitation of her began before she turned 18, when he’d come to her aid on the street; Guap was at the time being commercially sexually exploited in Oakland.

Since then, the investigation has come to involve approximately 30 officers in different Bay Area departments. Some of the officers’ alleged sexual misconduct took place when Guap was a minor; Guap also says that some officers compensated her. 

Speaking at the demonstration, President of the California National Organization for Women Jerilyn Stapleton said, “We want other law enforcement agencies throughout the state to know that there are going to be repercussions, that it’s not going to be this code of silence, that they are going to be prosecuted” for misconduct of this nature.

Cat Brooks, the co-founder of the Oakland Anti-Police Terror Project, says that because of the relationship that district attorneys have with law enforcement,

“It’s the fox in the hen house” to leave the investigation up to local D.A. offices. “In the same way we can’t expect when there’s an officer-involved shooting for district attorneys to hold law enforcement accountable, it’s not going to happen,” she says.

In calling for an executive order, the coalition is referencing the part of the state constitution (Article V, Section 13) that holds that the attorney general can prosecute violations of law in any county where she feels that the law isn’t being enforced, and that the governor can direct her to do this. In June, Harris said she would intervene if the local investigations were insufficient.

At the same time, Brooks says, “I would be remiss if I didn’t say that we don’t have a lot of faith in Kamala Harris either. The community has asked her repeatedly to intervene in [other] instances of officer misconduct.” In this case, the fact remains that no officers have been arrested.

The East Bay Express reported on Thursday that Celeste Guap has been arrested in Florida for aggravated battery. She traveled to the Port St. Lucie area in late August to start a drug treatment program; the circumstances regarding the choice to go to Florida are at this point unclear. Guap and her mother have told the East Bay Express that the Richmond Police Department is paying for Guap to go to rehab.

The coalition calling for Harris to take on the investigation believes that Guap is not the only young woman who has been allegedly exploited in this manner. They add in their public statement,

“We understand and appreciate that minors and women engaged in sex work in our communities are extremely vulnerable to the abuse of power by our law enforcement agencies and that ‘blaming the victim’ is not an appropriate response to our crisis.”

By Lou Coleman

Well boo, boo, that’s what happens when you abandon your first love [Jesus].  Scripture says this: “Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, but ye have set at naught all my counsel…I will show you [my] back, and not [my] face…” I will even laugh at your calamity. I will mock you when your dread comes, when your dread comes like a storm and your calamity comes on like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come on you, then you will call on Me but I will not answer. You will seek Me diligently but you shall not find Me. Because you hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord. You would not accept My counsel, you spurned all My reproof. So you shall eat of the fruit of your own way and be satiated with your own devices, seeing that you no longer desired My company” [Proverbs 1:24-31].

I tell you there is nothing worse can be said of a child of God but that “the presence of the Lord departed.” In His place comes a spirit of hopelessness and emptiness, [1 Samuel 22:8]. To the sons of Israel, God said in [Judges 10], “You have forsaken me and served other gods, therefore I will deliver you no more. Go and cry out to the gods which you have chosen, let them deliver you in the time of your distress.” I’m done with you! For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? I tell you drifting away from God is infinitely dangerous.

Listen; there is what you could call consequential wrath. Consequential wrath is the sowing and reaping wrath; you live a certain kind of life and you set in motion certain forces that will produce judgment. But then there is another kind of wrath and that is the wrath of abandonment. It is that wrath exhibited by God when He turns His back on a society [Romans 1:24 to 32]. In [Hosea 4:17] we are reminded that there comes a time when God abandons men. God comes to a point where God will say enough is enough and He will allow us to go our own way, to the consequences of our own sinful choices. Of the Pharisees Jesus said, “Let them alone, they are blind leaders of the blind,” [Matthew 15:14]. The most terrifying words “Let them alone.” It’s a frightening thing to think about that. Frightening thing to think that you might be abandoned by God, that the opportunity for salvation is past, that the day of grace is over.

You may be wondering …is there any hope? Well Jesus said in [Psalms, 81:16], “O that My people would listen to Me, that Israel would walk in My ways. I would turn from abandoning them, from giving them over to their own sinful choices to defending them and protecting them and punishing their enemies and I would feed them with the finest of the wheat and with honey from the rock I would satisfy them.” What are you waiting for…? Take the next exit and go back to your first love [Jesus]!

By Debbie Forté 

One main difference between a Will and a Trust is that a will goes into effect only after you die, while a trust takes effect as soon as you create it.

Another difference between a Will and a Trust is that a Will must pass through probate. That means a court oversees the administration of the will and ensures the will is valid and the property gets distributed the way the deceased wanted.

By contrast, a trust can be used to begin distributing property before death, at death or afterwards.

What Is a Will?

A will is a written document—signed and witnessed—that appoints a legal representative or executor to carry out your wishes; and directs how your property (estate) will be distributed at the time of your death to your named beneficiaries.  It is revocable and can be amended at any time during your lifetime. It also allows you to appoint a guardian for your minor children.

A Will covers any property that is only in your name when you die. It does not cover property held in joint tenancy or in a trust.

What Is a Living Trust?

A living trust provides lifetime and after-death property management. If you are serving as your own trustee, the trust instrument will provide for a successor upon your death or incapacity. Court intervention is not required. Livings trusts also are used to manage property. If a person is disabled by accident or illness, the successor trustee can manage the trust property. As a result, the expense, publicity, and inconvenience of court-supervised distribution of your estate can be avoided.

A trust, on the other hand, covers only property that has been transferred to the Trust. In order for property to be included in a trust, it must be put in the name of the trust. Listed in the trust and transferred by Quitclaim Deed with the county recorder’s office.

A trust passes outside of probate, so a court does not need to oversee the process, which can save time and money. Unlike a will, which becomes part of the public record, a trust can remain private.

Wills and trusts each have their advantages and disadvantages. For example, a will allows you to name a guardian for children and to specify funeral arrangements, while a trust does not. On the other hand, a trust can be used to plan for disability or to provide savings on taxes. Your elder law attorney can tell you how best to use a will and a trust in your estate plan.

Who Needs A Trust And Who Needs A Will?

A trust is always recommended when you are over the age of 55, with real property in your name and assets worth transferring to your loved ones without probate.  A trust is always backed up by a “Pour Over Will.”  Which means that assets and property you obtain after the trust is created, and you failed to fund them into your trust, will automatically be “poured” over into your trust when you die.

A Will can be sufficient if you are a renter, and own no real property, with only moderate tangle items and assets.

What Is A Health Care Directive?

A Health Care Directive (also called a living will) is a document that express your wishes to medical personnel and your loved ones what treatments you will allow in the event of total incapacity, coma or life threatening illnesses.  In example, if you become brain dead with no chance of recovery you can elect to not be put on life support or have life support removed.  You can elect which surgeries, medications and treatment plans you support or wish to decline in the event these decisions have to be made.

It allows you to name an agent(s) to also be able to make medical decisions for you as well in the event you are unable to.

What Is A Durable Power Of Attorney?

A power of attorney is a legal document that gives someone you choose the power to act in your place to handle your finances in case you ever become mentally or physically incapacitated. A durable power of attorney simply means that the document stays in effect if you become incapacitated and unable to handle matters on your own.

With a valid power of attorney, the trusted person you name will be legally permitted to take care of important matters for you — for example, paying your bills, your banking needs, managing your investments, or directing your medical care — if you are unable to do so yourself. Your agent can handle mundane tasks such as sorting and opening your mail, depositing your Social Security checks, as well as more complex jobs like watching over your retirement accounts and other investments, or filing your tax returns. Your agent doesn’t have to be a financial expert; just someone you trust completely who has a good dose of common sense.

What Is A Hippa Authorization And Who Needs One?

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), is a Federal law that required the establishment of national standards to protect the privacy of patients’ health care information. The Privacy Rule, which took effect on April 14, 2003, regulates the use and disclosure of “Protected Health Information.”

This authorization allows your doctor or hospital to disclose protected health information to a third party specified by you (your agent–spouse or family member) to obtain necessary information in order to make medical decisions for you in the event of you being incapacitated and unable to make decisions for yourself. 

What Is Probate?

Probate is the legal^] process whereby a will is “proved” in a court and accepted as a valid public document that is the true last testament of the deceased. 

A probate also officially appoints the executor (or personal representative), generally named in the will, as having legal power to dispose of the testator’s assets in the manner specified in the testator’s will. However, through the probate process, a will may be contested.

The probate process includes:

• proving in court that a deceased person’s will is valid (usually a routine matter)
• identifying and inventorying the deceased person’s property
• having the property appraised paying debts and taxes

What Is A Transfer On Death Deed (Tod) And Who Can Use It?

The new Transfer on Death Deed (or Beneficiary Deed) is an easy and inexpensive way to bypass probate court when you leave real estate without a Trust or a Will.  It’s like a regular deed used to transfer real estate to your beneficiaries, with a crucial difference: It doesn’t take effect until your death.

When you die, your real property is automatically transferred to your beneficiaries.  All states do not allow this but California is one that does.

What Is An Estate; And What Happens To It If I Don’t Have A Will Or Trust?

An “Estate” is simply the legal term used to describe all of your assets and tangible items you own.  This includes:

• Your home and any real property you own
• Furniture and furnishings
• Clothing, jewelry and personal items
• Car, Boat, Motorcycle
• Bank and savings accounts
• Retirement and pension funds
• Stock, Bonds and IRA’s
• Interest in a business

Can I Leave Real Property To Minor Children?

The short answer; YES

Parents, grandparents, uncles and aunts commonly leave real property and other large assets to minor children.  When probate is opened the court will assign a custodian to manage the minor’s inheritance.

A custodial account is established for a minor child under the Uniform Transfer to Minors Act (UTMA) or Uniform Gifts to Minors Act (UGMA). These are usually established through a bank and a custodian is named to manage the funds. But if the amount is significant (say, $10,000 or more), court approval may be required. In any event, the child will still receive the full amount at legal age.

A better option is to set up a children’s trust in your will and name someone to manage the inheritance instead of the court. You can also decide when the children will inherit. But the trust cannot be funded until the will has been probated, and that can take precious time and could reduce the assets. If you become incapacitated, this trust does not go into effect… because a will cannot go into effect until after you die.

Another option is a revocable living trust, the preferred option for many parents and grandparents. The person(s) you select, not the court, will be able to manage the inheritance for your minor children or grandchildren until they reach the age(s) you want them to inherit—even if you become incapacitated. Each child’s needs and circumstances can be accommodated, just as you would do. And assets that remain in the trust are protected from the courts, irresponsible spending and creditors (even divorce proceedings).

Can I Name A Guardian For My Minor Children In My Will And/Or Trust?

You can name a guardian for your minor children in your Will.

What Happens To Credit Card Debt When You Die?

Essentially there are two main factors that will determine who is responsible for your credit card debt after you die: whose name or names are on the account and where you live.

Whose name is on the account?

If the card is only in your name, your estate is responsible for the debt. As the estate goes through probate, the executor or administrator of the estate will make a determination of the assets and debts of the estate and pay off debts in the order that state law requires. If assets remain after that, they will be distributed to heirs according to your will or, if you don’t have a will, state law.

Remember that not all assets go through probate, however; things like insurance proceeds, IRAs, and 401(k)s usually go to beneficiaries without being counted as assets in the estate; accordingly, beneficiaries receive those regardless of debts, and an executor or administrator of an estate can’t use them to pay off credit card debt.

If you share your credit card account with someone else, i.e., someone else also signed the application, that person could be held responsible for the debt; if there is another person listed on the account but only as an authorized user, they will not be responsible for the debt. An authorized user is generally someone who can use the card but didn’t sign the application and doesn’t pay the bills.

What happens if the estate’s assets don’t cover the debt?

If your estate is solely responsible for the debt and there isn’t enough money in your estate to cover it, the debt ends there. The credit card company has to write it off, and neither your heirs nor anyone else can be held responsible for it.

What Is The Difference In “Joint Tenancy”,  “Tenancy In Common” And “Right Of Survivorship”?

When two or more people own property like a home, either as joint tenants or tenants in common, each individual owns a share (or interest) of the entire property. This means that specific areas of the property are not owned by any one individual, but rather shared as a whole. While joint tenants with survivorship are similar to tenants in common in many ways, particularly the right of possession with respect to the property, there are some important differences with respect to what happens when a co-owner dies.

Ownership Interest

While none of the owners may claim to own a specific part of the property, tenants in common may have different ownership interests. For instance, Tenant A and Tenant B may each own 25 percent of the home, while Tenant C owns 50 percent of the property as a whole. Tenants in common also may be created at different times; so an individual may obtain an interest in the property years after the other individuals have entered into a tenancy in common ownership.

What is a joint tenancy?

If they opt for joint tenancy, the deed to the property will then name the two owners as joint tenants. Then if one person dies, the other person will automatically become the full owner of the property.

A joint tenancy is broken if one of the tenants sells his or her interest to another person, thus changing the ownership arrangement to a tenancy in common for all parties. However, a tenancy in common may end if one or more co-tenant buys out the others; if the property is sold and the proceeds distributed equally among the owners; or if a partition action is filed, which allows an heir inheriting the property to sell his or her stake.

What is joint tenancy in common?

There is no right of survivorship in a tenancy in common. A tenant in common may deal with their interest or share in the property as they wish without permission of the other owner. Interests in property held under a joint tenancy must be held in equal shares.

What is the meaning of tenants in common?

Tenants In Common (TIC) are co-owners of an undivided interest in real property. Tenants in common each own a separate and undivided interest in the same real property and each has an equal right to the possession and use of the property.

But tenants in common have no rights of survivorship. Unless the deceased individual’s will  specifies that his or her interest in the property is to be divided among the surviving owners, a deceased tenant in common’s interest belongs to his or her estate.

Right of Survivorship

One of the main differences between the two types of shared ownership is what happens to the property when one of the owners dies. When a property is owned by joint tenants with survivorship, the interest of a deceased owner automatically gets transferred to the remaining surviving owners. For example, if four joint tenants own a house and one of them dies, each of the three remaining joint tenants ends up with a one-third share of the property. This is called the right of survivorship.

Why It’s Important To Talk To Your Family About Your Wishes?

When it comes to the issues of estate planning it’s always good to educate yourself and be informed on what is best for your family.  But one of the best tools you can do to make sure things go smoothly when you die is to talk to your family now. 

Engage in conversations with your loved ones to express your wishes, concerns and plans.  Hearing from you audibly speaks volumes over a document they read after you die.  It aids in eliminating confusion, resentment and misunderstanding.  When we leave our family behind they are in a grieving state of mind in which emotions are running high and this does not always add up to making important decisions.  The more they remember what you spoke when you were alive will always keep family drama down.

By Lue Dowdy

Clowning on Earth is WHAT IT DO Folks! I always say that laughter is good for the soul. With that being said catch us at the National Orange Show Sports Center in San Bernardino conducting interviews.

LUE Productions is thrilled to be a part of the promotion team for this hilarious comedy show coming to the Inland Empire on October 1st starring the very funny Comedian Luenell featuring comedians Paul Smokey Deese and Sherman Arae. The show will be hosted by actor Brandon Willy. 

We’ll be giving away free tickets on our radio show Listening with LUE on KCAA 1050 AM every Sunday from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Pre-sale tickets are $25 and $35 for VIP. You can get 2 VIP tickets for $50.

Until next time keep them L’z up high!

By Lou Coleman

Your life will be hell before going to Hell! Listen, I don’t make this stuff up. [Isaiah 30:1] says, “Woe to the rebellious children, saith the LORD, that take counsel, but not of Me.” “Woe unto you, scribes, Pharisees, and hypocrites…” [Matthew 23:14]. “Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how shall ye escape the damnation of Hell?” [Matthew 23:33]… Know that the end has come upon you, and I will send My anger against you saith the Lord; I will judge you according to your ways, and I will repay you for all your abominations.  My eye will not spare you, nor will I have pity; but I will repay your ways, and your abominations will be in your midst, then you shall know that I am the LORD [Ezekiel 7:3-8]. Therefore, consider how far you have fallen and repent. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place [Revelation2:5]. Hell before going to Hell! It’s your call….. What will it be? I tell you, NOW is the acceptable time; NOW is the day of salvation. Don’t ponder it, don’t think about it, just Do it! Repent!

You see, procrastination is the kidnapper of souls, and the recruiting-officer of Hell. Procrastination is the trick of the enemy. Don’t believe the lies that you can do it tomorrow when you can do it today. Besides, what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away [James 4:14].   God is a God of the NOW! So when God brings something to light, revealing an area that you need to change or something that you need to make right, don’t put if off. Not tomorrow, next week, or next month, but do it now! Understand the choice that is before you today. The choice of death and destruction or the choice of life and prosperity! Don’t get confused on such an easy and obvious choice. This is not a process to think through how far is too far. This isn’t a process to think through whether you should. God confronts you with only one question… What are you waiting for?

You know in [1 Sam 20:3] David said, “Yet as surely as the LORD lives and you live, there is about one step between you and death!”  [1 Corinthians 15:30-31] asks, “so why do you endanger yourself every hour?” Repent and be converted.

If you are ready to say yes, please pray with me: Almighty God, you are holy. I recognize that I deserve death for not doing things your way. I turn away from those things that grieve you. I gratefully receive your forgiveness and accept your love. I want to be in relationship with you, to be part of your family. Heavenly Father, I accept your proposal to be my Lord and Savior all of my days. Amen!

If you prayed that prayer with me, I want you to know that “It is finished!”   Our sins are done away with, and we are free and forgiven.

 

Everything we’ve ever done wrong, every mistake we’ve ever made, has been paid for. It is finished!

By Lue Dowdy

Aspiring Women in the Music Industry is What it Do! Please learn all about Lashaun Turner, one of LUE Productions 2016 My Music, My Mic honoree. This queen is doing her part to help Indie Artists. 

In 2010, self-described Entrepreneur and Music Publicist Lashaun Turner developed TRC Social Media with a vision to become a source content provider for social networks. Lashaun developed several lifestyle and entertainment webzines including an award nominated blog and then built social connections across all the major networking platforms to share this content. Lashaun’s writing style and abilities led her to become an established blogger and contributor to popular globally recognized magazines and social websites which include BlackPlanet, YoRaps, Gorilla Leak, Yahoo, and others.

Having connected with artists and entertainers through networking, Lashaun was asked to work media/publicity for the play “GOD Is Watching You,” which led to a business venture that evolved to include “Look like a Star P.R,” working as a Publicist with actors, musicians, and entrepreneurs to increase and manage public interest in their creative assets.

In 2012 the company re-branded itself as “URBAN STARZ MEDIA & P.R,” with a continued focus on becoming a strong voice for urban artists and entrepreneurs in the emerging new media realm that is the Internet. Over the next 3 years Lashaun would represent clients such as Atlanta rapper Bone Crusher, Coast2Coast DJ Fred Malone, International Pop Star Natalia Damini, and Mysterious Ent., a Major Indie Record Label, to name a few. 

The company expanded into streaming media by launching the only Licensed Independent Internet Radio Station in the greater Los Angeles area playing Urban Indie music 24/7 at Urban Indie Radio- Los Angeles, with its Headquarters in Moreno Valley California. Lashaun programmed and developed content for the station. She created and produced BLAZE INDIE L.A  which was known as the #1 Urban Music Review Show. The show was a hit and evolved to a Web Series, then a weekly TV Show that aired in California, Atlanta and Washington DC.

FEB 2015- WOMEN IN BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT PROCLAIMS” LASHAUN TURNER IS ONE OF THE BUSIEST INDIE P.R PROFESSIONALS IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY RIGHT NOW”

 As the company’s platforms increased in notoriety, Lashaun was sought after to cover media events, red carpets, and lend her expertise as a Music Publicist to panels and showcases across the country. URBAN STARZ MEDIA and P.R has interviewed some of the biggest names in entertainment.

Lashaun continues to evolve as a celebrity host and media talent.  She created and produces CALI’S BEST Radio Show broadcasting on CNBC/KCAA 106.5FM and 1050AM in California. The program is a unique platform which showcases the Who’s Who and What’s “BEST” in Music, Business, Entertainment and Lifestyle. For indie music entrepreneurs it’s an opportunity to share the spotlight with established artists and to have their music played amongst mainstream music.

Having delved into so many aspects of the industry, Lashaun now defines herself as a Media Talent, Artist Influencer, Music Publicist and a “Celebrity in her own right”. Her focus these days are on expanding the audience at Cali’s Best and providing promotional opportunities. Lashaun has partnered with REVERB NATION, Fleet DJ’s, Core DJ’s, and is currently blogging at Thisis50 and One West Magazine online.

URBAN STARZ MEDIA is a hybrid multi-media/P.R firm that provides Event & Artist Publicity, Media Placement Management, Content Development, Hosting, Sharing and Distribution throughout various platforms. The company works with Independent Artists, Celebrities, & Entrepreneurs in providing innovative exposure strategies. Contact email UrbanStarzMedia@gmail.com Social Media @calisbestradio.

By Lou Coleman

Yeah I said it! Just an egomaniac, arrogant, big-headed, cocksure person, thinking you are too good to be damned. Boasting that, “You are the Captain of your Fate; the Master of your Soul.” If you believe that Captain… I want you to know that your ship is about to Sink!

Many people think they are self-sufficient, no need for God. That spirit of independence apart from God is what the Bible calls pride. It ruined the human race [Genesis 3:5].  In Proverbs chapter 6 and verses 16 to 19 there is a list of seven things which God hates. These six things the LORD hates, yes, seven are an abomination to Him: a proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, a false witness who speaks lies, and one who sows discord among brethren. Pride is put at the top of the list because it is the main factor which drives men and women’s disobedience and rebellion against God’s laws. The Bible says: Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord: though hand join in hand, he shall not go unpunished” [Proverbs. 16:5];   The Lord shall cut off… the tongue that speaketh proud things [Psalm 12:3]; “God resists the proud…” [James. 4:6] For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon everyone that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and ‘he shall be brought low [Isaiah 2:12].

With pride in your heart you provoke God to anger. Not only will God not help you, God will literally become your adversary [1 Peter 5:5].  A lesson from Biblical history – Who better than King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon to demonstrate a man who had God as an adversary. Daniel chapter 4 is a riveting one. I suggest you take a moment to read it. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had to learn the hard way. You don’t want to learn the hard way. You need to humble yourself on our own before the mighty hand of God, so He does not have to do the humbling to you or for you. Repeatedly God tells us pride precedes destruction. It’s not just that you will be humiliated. Ultimately you will be destroyed. Why? Because God hates pride, resists the proud, and sets Himself in battle array against the proud. Know that you will come to naught unless you repent. Worst of all, pride brings eternal ruin. Don’t take my word for it, read [Luke 18:9-14], the parable of the Pharisee and the publican.

As the Old Testament prophet Obadiah said: “Your proud heart has deceived you . . . . Though you soar aloft like the eagle, though your nest is set among the stars, from there I will bring you down, says the Lord.” And the greatest prophet of them all Isaiah, speaking for the Lord, told the proud that they will be forced to make their bed with worms and maggots. There is no pulling of punches when it comes to describing the fate of the proud in the Bible. Pride is a deadly sin that causes those filled to overflowing with themselves great sorrow and grief.

 

The message is clear from beginning to end in the Bible – the proud will ultimately be brought low. The proud will ultimately fall. The proud must live with the consequences of their actions and their deeds. Perhaps this is a good day to say sorry to God for the pride in your heart. Perhaps today is a good day to begin to put right those things that your pride has caused. Perhaps today is a good day to clothe yourself with humility and to start to live the Christ-like life God has shown to you. Don’t be deceived, God will not be mocked. What you sow you will reap!

You pray for me as I continue to pray for you!

By Ronda Racha Penrice, Urban News Service

Gymnast Simone Biles. Swimmer Simone Manuel. Shot putter Michelle Carter. All three won gold medals at the Rio 2016 Olympics in sports not typically associated with black American athletes.

Eighty years ago, a grand total of two black American women athletes, Tidye Pickett and Louise Stokes, both in track and field, traveled to the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, where Jesse Owens won four gold medals. Because his victories debunked Adolf Hitler’s pronouncements of Aryan supremacy, many believe Owens was the only black American Olympian there.

“He wasn’t alone,” says filmmaker Deborah Riley Draper. “There were 17 other people.” Her documentary, “Olympic Pride, American Prejudice,” tells the stories of Pickett, Stokes and the other black American Olympians with Owens.

Nine of them also won medals in the Nazi capital. Some did so with Owens. Some competed against him. Some didn’t compete with him at all. 

Ralph Metcalfe shared the podium for gold with Owens after the 4×100-meter relay. Then Metcalfe won silver to Owens’s gold in the 100-meter dash. Jackie Robinson’s brother, Mack, took silver to Owens’s gold in the 200-meter dash.

In high jump, Cornelius “Corny” Johnson won gold, while Owens’s fellow Ohio State Buckeye, Dave Albritton, snagged silver. Archie Williams mined gold and James “Jimmy” LuValle bronze in the 400-meter run. John Woodruff won gold in the 800-meter run. Frederick “Fritz” Pollard scored bronze in the 100-meter hurdles, and Jackie Wilson earned silver in bantamweight boxing. 

Draper found their stories accidentally while researching the life of American trumpeter Valaida Snow, who shared her tale after being interned during Hitler’s rise. Snow’s positive comments about the black American Olympians in Berlin sparked Draper’s curiosity. It took the former advertising executive four years to put the puzzle together. That puzzle is chock full of stunning archival footage, interviews with some of the Olympians’ children, and even actual audio from Olympians Williams and LuValle. In fact, their words help narrator Blair Underwood, also an executive producer, tell the story.

“It’s remarkable to have their voices and to have them kind of guide you through their experience through Berlin. It kind of feels like you’re having that conversation with Archie or Jimmy,” Draper says.

Digging through the archives of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, Draper found interview transcripts and then hunted down the corresponding audio. As demonstrated in her breakthrough black-model-focused 2012 documentary, “Versailles ’73: American Runway Revolution,” Draper has a knack for letting her subjects speak for themselves. That was easy in “Versailles ’73;” her subjects were still alive. It is decidedly more difficult when all the subjects are dead. But Draper is committed to letting black people speak, even if it is about the 1930s where their voices are harder to find.

“I don’t like anyone to speak for me, so I don’t want to take someone else’s voice from them because I don’t like my voice taken from me,” Draper says. “I think that’s a respect thing.”

This also speaks to the independent filmmaker’s work ethic. Louise Stokes Fraser’s son, Wolfie, recognized it immediately after seeing an early cut of “Olympic Pride.”

“He looked for seven years to find footage of his mother and was unsuccessful, and he was a cameraman for NBC for 30 years,” says Draper, who found the footage in archives in both Los Angeles and Berlin.

When he did see his mother, Draper says, “He cried a lot. He saw his mom on the boat, and he saw his mom getting off the bus. He saw his mom in the stadium, the Nazi stadium, sitting there next to Mack Robinson. His mother. And he said he was so proud. Just seeing her reminded him of just how amazing his mother was.”

That kind of response is what keeps her Atlanta-based Coffee Bluff Productions grinding. (Draper named the company after a historic stretch of her native Savannah.) “Olympic Pride” premiered theatrically in New York and Santa Monica on August 5. It is also available on Comcast’s Xfinity Streampix and can be pre-ordered on Amazon. A 10-city expansion is in the works for September.

If Draper and those like her hope to continue to buck the Hollywood mainstream, she says, the public will have to step up and massively support these movies.

“We need a movement to elevate the film in the consciousness of people who want to see this type of film. We need folks on Facebook (1936OlympicsMovie) to tell us they like the film,” Draper says.

“We have to convince distributors that there’s an appetite for African-American films,” Draper says. “People have to be convinced that African-Americans want to see something different.”

Due to the drought, it’s important to make every drop count. Saving a few gallons every day helps restore our water supply. Here are a few water-saving tips for around the home:

• Washing only full loads of laundry and dishes saves up to 50 gallons per week
• Fixing household leaks promptly saves up to 20 gallons per day
• Taking a five-minute shower saves up to 8 gallons each time
• Turning off the faucet while you brush your teeth saves up to 2.5 gallons per minute
• Buying water-saving devices like high-efficiency toilets, shower heads, clothes and dish washers saves many gallons per day!

Tips for residents and businesses on how to reduce water use inside and outdoors  are available at Metropolitan’s conservation website bewaterwise.com®, which also has information about how to apply for several different money-saving/water-saving rebates.

By Naomi K. Bonman

They say that if you want to see change that you must be the change. Meet Los Angeles, California native by the way of Midland, Texas, Rashaud Jones. Mr. Jones is being that change that he wants to see in his community. He is making a change through his music by being a voice for the voiceless. Under his stage name, HustleIsMandatory (H.I.M.), he broke into the music scene as an independent artist in October 2015 with the release of his first solo project entitled, “Dana Made H.I.M. Do It,” which was a concept piece based on conversations between H.I.M.’s late aunt Dana Augusta Wright and H.I.M over the last few years before her untimely death. He felt more than compelled to do it in honor of his aunt.

Now fast forward just one year later, and Mr. Jones is making an impact in his music once again with his current single #PROTECTUS which is off of his upcoming project #NOMOREHASHTAGS, which is inspired by the recent events that have occurred where innocent lives have been taken.

“In this moment we have to use our gifts and voices to stand up and say #PROTECTUS because if WE don’ history will continue to repeat itself. Therefore, we as people have to come together as one and showcase that not only “Black Lives Matters” but “All Lives Matter”.

Sophisticated Relations recently caught up with the prolific, uprising emcee where he chatted on his upcoming project, inspirations, and why we should all be using our platforms in order to create the change that we wish to see in the world.

To keep up with H.I.M. visit his website www.hustleismandatory.com or follow him on Instagram @hustleismandatory.

LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW BELOW: