Phd
Intelligence is the ability of individuals to acquire knowledge and skills. Wisdom is derived from understanding, and under standing is the foundation of acquiring both knowl edge and wisdom. There fore: “Get wisdom, get understanding; forget not: neither decline from the words of my mouth. For sake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee. Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wis dom, and with all of thy getting get understanding” (Proverbs 4: 5-7). An indi vidual can attend an IVY League University and still be an educated fool- Sena tors Ted Cruz, Josh Holly, and Governor DeSan tis. Questions: are these individuals narcissists? Or do they believe that they can determine a person’s level of intelligence just by looking at skin-color? Or just maybe they should have a John the Revelator spiritual experience and read the Bible (Book of Life), especially Number 12: 1-12.
John The Revelator received a spiritual vi sion from Jesus Christ and recorded these words: “Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand” (Revelation 1: 3). God is an inclusive Ontological Being, and He gives every human being a mind to think with and a heart to love others. Therefore, the Bible promises a blessing to those who listen to the words of God and act ac cordingly: “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious prom ises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1: 4). Skin-color Fanatics, the Bible is the “Book of Life”, and it gives spiritual intelligence for human interaction and re lationships as well as eter nal life, because: “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteous ness: by whose stripes we are healed” (1 Peter 2: 24). America, to spiritually understand this is to know GOD, self, and others and to truly become intelligent.
With all the negative things that we are seeing, hearing, and reading about these days in America and the world, we must not be afraid to speak out against all this negativity and evil ness as it is happening. As a Black man, I am able, even more so than others, to see so many negative things happening on so many levels to African Americans. Therefore, I believe the responsibility is greater for us who see more of this hatefulness going on to not be afraid to speak out against it and let other members of the public know the truth. One thing that I can assure you of, “if you are scared of evil,” then you
are not going to try to stop evilness. As a man of God, I fear no evil and I know that all the other people who are true God devoted people of America and the world are not scared of anything. Another thing that I know about evil people is that they do have some boundaries and that they are not as will ing to attack Godly people because they know that God’s people will chal lenge and defeat their evil plans. However, when you don’t speak out against evil, evil people will con tinue to get bolder and more dangerous.
Recently, we are begin ning to see more people getting shot and killed by gun violence. The NRA has sanction putting most of these dan gerous deadly weapons on the streets and commu nities of America.
from all over the houston area (Acreage home, independent heights, t hird Ward, fifth Ward, missouri City, Piney Point, Carverdale, Bordersville, north forest, and all other Black communities) that can produce stories that address current and historical realities affecting our community.
All eyes will be on Supreme Court Jus tice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who became the first African American woman on the bench last week. She is the first African American woman to serve in this role, and the third Black Supreme Court Justice to serve in this role (if you include Justice Clar ence Thomas). Her every move will be watched as she navi gates her way through societal judgements and expectations. A new term begins with the Supreme Court and there is a list of historic cases that will require decisions over the next few months. There have already been “conservative” changes that some may feel have set the country back by de cades, and that those changes will impact the outcome of up coming elections.
During the first case of the new term, Justice Jackson was anything but quiet during the hearings and even raised sev eral questions regard ing the cases at hand. In addition, she dis cussed some aspects of history regarding the 14th amendment,
which pertains to the “rights of citizens” and “equal protection under the law,” and how it impacted Black people, the Civil War and slavery. She also raised questions sur rounding Alabama and how race should be considered when deciding if more Black districts should be drawn.
The Alabama case is centered around Alabama’s congres sional redistricting plan, which was put in place by the Re publican state after the 2020 census.
In a recent article by National Public Radio (NPR), it was noted that, “More than a quarter of the state’s population is African American, but in only 1 of 7 districts do minority voters have a realis tic chance of elect ing the candidate of their choice. Black voters are either concentrated in that district, and they are either a supermajor ity there or spread out across the remaining six districts, which is also known as Pack ing, so that their vot ing power is Diluted. This is just another way of suppressing the rights of the Black
voters to ensure that the majority contin ues to elect who they want to be elected. One thing that is for certain is that the Supreme Court will
into effect and includ ed a literacy test that Black people had to pass to qualify to vote. This Act has been up for review before, and since 2013, the Su
have its hands full re garding the Alabama case and The Voting Rights Act. The Vot ing Rights Act was a law that was signed by on August 6, 1965. It eliminated “dis criminatory voting practices” that many southern states put
preme Court has cut or blocked certain ele ments of the voter’s act.
In 1980, the Supreme Court decided that “voting rights advo cates” had to “prove intentional discrimi nation” to nullify an electoral system. An amendment was then
added that allowed minority voters to “prove a discrimina tory result.” This is easier than trying to prove intentional dis crimination and has been put in effect by the Supreme Court and lower courts since 1980. The deci sions that need to be made involve over ruling or modifying some of the previous decisions that have been in effect for more than 30 years. Texas is no stranger to voter suppres sion. Just last year, Governor Abbott signed off on Senate Bill 1, which placed new restrictions on voting. Passing this bill was very strategic especially before the upcoming 2022 elections. This bill placed a ban on drive thru voting, which was a con venient option for voters and allowed them to place their vote while remaining in their car. It even proved to be a popu lar option amongst voters. The bill also placed regulations for voting hours, which included eliminating 24-hour voting. In addition, the distribu tion of mail-in bal lot applications was
banned. In the past, all voters who were el igible to vote received an application to vote by mail.
Anyone 65 and older qualifies to vote by mail but mailing out unrequested appli cations to them is a crime. Allowing mail in ballots was benefi cial for those with dis abilities or for those who simply have no transportation to get to the polls. This also include new laws on ID requirements for voting by mail. If people are voting by mail, they must provide their driver’s license or the last four digits of their social security number. Some people may not have a driver’s license or their social security info, which would disqualify them from being able to vote. There are also new guidelines put in place for poll watchers that gives them “free movement,” while in a polling place. It is now a criminal offence to block their view or their observa tion.
Vice President Kamala Harris used her time at Freedman’s Bank Forum to announce new public and private-sector efforts to ad vance racial equity.
Harris said the administration recognizes the continued difficulty that Black-owned businesses have in finding funding.
She acknowledged that they rou tinely are the first to suffer during an economic downturn.
Among a slate of new actions by the Biden-Harris administration, the vice president announced that the Small Business Administration (SBA) would propose a rule this fall to expand its lender base by lifting the moratorium on new Small Busi ness Lending Companies.
The action would allow new lenders to apply for a license to offer SBA-backed 7(a) small business loans.
Also, the Minority Business Development Agency (MDBA) will issue a $100 million notice of funding opportunity to provide technical assistance grants for entrepreneurship technical assis tance providers to help businesses owned by socially and economi cally disadvantaged individuals launch, scale, and connect with growth capital.
Harris said to facilitate greater availability of small-balance mortgages, and HUD would is sue requests to solicit specific and actionable feedback on the barriers that prevent the origination of these mortgages and recommendations for increasing the volume of smallmortgage loans in federal programs.
The White House said these and a host of other new policy steps
follow two recent announcements by the administration of billions of dollars in investments for Com munity Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) and Minority Depository Institutions (MDIs).
The actions aim to deliver capital and resources to under served small businesses and the community lenders who serve them, Harris stated.
“Small businesses are the en gines of our economy and the path to economic prosperity for countless Americans in under served communities,” the vice president asserted.
“Community lenders – including CDFIs, MDIs, and others – are vi tal to unlocking the full economic potential of these communities, turning previously sidelined talent into a source of economic growth and shared prosperity for all.”
Earlier, Janet Yellen, the U.S. Department of Treasury secretary, said the White House sought to use the Freedman’s Bank Forum to shine a spotlight on how the administra
tion’s pandemic relief efforts sup ported Black – and minority-owned businesses.
The forum, launched in 2015, seeks to develop strategies to help stamp out and overcome systemic racism in the financial industry.
“Unfortunately, for too long, the small business ecosystem in underserved communities has struggled to keep up with better-funded busi nesses and entre preneurs in more prosperous com munities,” Harris stated.
“Entrepreneurs of color regu larly report being turned away by traditional financial institutions for loans at higher rates than their white counterparts. And the com munity lenders committed to fill ing that gap similarly report that shortfalls in capital and technical capacity limit their ability to invest in the communities that need them the most.”
By: Ariel & Adoriam DeWalt
Growing up, my sister and I al ways questioned what we would do with our lives after we gradu ated from High School. We didn’t have an interest in anything except making money, and we also did not have any experience or con nections for any fields of study we were looking at, since all the women in our life studied in the medical field to become a nurse, dentist assistant, etc. If someone asked I or my sister what we wanted to be when we grew up, we would say “I want to be a doctor.” It wasn’t my cup of tea to see blood or insides, so we had to search for our passion. Since I was young, our parents encouraged
us to participate in STEM, tech, and sports. Even though we were successful in all of them, we never explored the activity on a per sonal level. During the summer of 2019, our parents signed me and my sister up for the Glenn Miller Ag Conservation Camp, which we didn’t want to attend because watching TV and relaxing all day was comfortable, but our parents had different plans.
The following month we were sent to camp and the instructors taught students about fish anat omy, water habitat, fishing, and conservation principles and more. The amount of opportunities I saw fascinated both of us, and it was the first activity that caught our at tention. In the end, we felt like we were experts with our knowledge and skills. Attending camp made us realize that caring for the en vironment, protecting our earth,
and educating others on how to have the same experience as we did was our passion and drive to do more. During the past four years, we have served as junior camp counselors at Glenn Miller Ag Conservation Camp. We both realized that just attending a camp wasn’t enough; we wanted to be more involved. Attending this camp was the foundation for my journey with Texas Brigades. Texas Brigades is a nonprofit just like Glenn Miller, with the mission
Agriculture cont’d Pg.7
to educate and empower ado lescents with leadership skills and knowledge in wildlife, fisheries, and land stewardship to become conservation ambassadors for a sustained natural resource legacy.
Texas Brigades host eight camps across Texas and teach about wild life and natural resources. During the five-day camp, we have been taught various principles of wild life habitat and land management to leadership and public speaking.
For the past two years, we’ve attended different camps and participated as an assistant leader at North Buckskin, Costal, and Bobwhite Brigades. To become an assistant leader, we were required to complete a BOA (Book of Ac complishments), which includes a series of events cadets have com pleted after the camp to return the following year and have a chance to receive an Assistant Leader position and college scholarships.
Some of the events we either hosted, created, or attended would be the Texas Brigade anniversary events, beach cleanup days, or
hosting our own workshop where we presented to the community at the Glenn Miller Conserva tion camp of 2022. Whatever the activity may be, you can always get something good like connections with ranch owners and professionals in agriculture who could be poten tial job opportunities in the future.
We absolutely loved attending the camp and have found our pas sion for conservation for marine and land wildlife. My sister has decided to pursue environmental science next year when she starts college, and I am interested in the field of Environmental Studies and Land Management. I would love to share my experience and tell others how the Glenn Miller Camp and Texas Brigades are a wonderful opportunity to take the next step into your career. Since then, we’ve met wonderful people passionate about wildlife conser vation and developed excellent connections with people who can advance us in our interests. Never theless, we still want to learn more about the conservation world that awaits us.
October has been designated for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. There are many women all over the world who are currently bat tling Breast Cancer. According to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, “1 in 8 women in the United States will develop breast cancer in her lifetime.”
In 2022 alone, it was estimated that “287,500 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in women in the U.S. as well as 51,400 new cases of non-invasive (in situ) breast cancer.” Although it is rare, men can develop breast cancer as well. It was estimated for this year that 2,710 men would become diagnosed with breast cancer. It was also noted that breast cancer is the second lead ing cause of cancer death in the United States. Sadly, the American Cancer Society noted that Black women specifically are 41% more likely to die from breast cancer than White women.
No matter the race, breast cancer still impacts many women from all backgrounds. It is very important that men and women pay attention to their bodies to help detect breast cancer in its early stages. If detected early and in the “localized stage, the 5-year relative survival rate is 99%.”
Although breast cancer can affect anyone without any notice, there are some things that can be done to decrease your chances of get ting breast cancer, women and men should make it a regular habit of self-breast exams, going tot the doctor for annual checkups, regu lar exams, and mammograms. It is also equally important to stay active, and eat healthy, stay away from smoking, and consume a limited amount of alcohol. These habits will not prevent you from getting cancer, but they may re duce your risk.
For more information about breast cancer, you can visit www. nationalbreastcancer.org.
Students at the Glenn Miller Ag Conservation camp of the cadet getting ready to learn about he anatomy and dissect a red drum.
