UNCOVERED ISSUES

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PRESIDENT...A ROLE OF PEACE

BY: BRYANT E. CULPEPPER SR.

If I were president, I’d first honor our, or should I say, the Constitution of America. Not the Constitution as it is written by the forefathers. But a constitution that’s absolute in all of its amendments, in lure of true love for the real Father of honor, integrity, and oh yes, trust. If I were the president, secondly I would respect the banner of the red, white and blue. Yes, those three colors of a so-called freedom. The flag behind the flag is that of true equality, truth, spirituality, and much peace. But is it peace that we really get? Was peace being beaten, hanged, and discriminated against? And still expect folk to fight in wars against those who truly have done nothing to me at all. My dictionary tells me that peace is a state of quietness, calm, and of repose.

If I were president, I’d open the closed doors for the poor. I’d listen to the contrite even more if I were president. If I were president, I’d start a revolution that would save the rich soils of Mother Earth. Pollution would be at its all-time low. If I were president, the true words of GOD that’s posted in our supreme courts, would be respected and honored at all times. And not just hang there on walls of the white washed. If I were president, there would be no fancy lawyers that could craft and wiggle out and free known killers, and major crime doers.

If I were president, I’d constantly oracle that assuring quote that all men are indeed created equal. Yes, if I were president… if I were president, there would be no poverty. Everything would be evenly divided amongst the people. No hunger, no nakedness, no homelessness, no sickness, no illegal drug activity, no rape undealt with, and truly no saddened deaths as results of wrong doing, and truly no greed. If I were president, with the help of the almighty GOD, all would definitely be well. Because when we leave this current state of depravity, our spirits will truly assure us all, that yes, we will indeed all be at a comforting peace… yes I tell you, if I were president.

A PLACE CALLED “SLAB FORK”

BY: ZACHARY CALDWELL

Recently I had the occasion to attend a free genealogy workshop at PhillyCam, an organization in which I am currently a member. It was hosted by an African American genealogical society which meets monthly at the Pinn Memorial Baptist Church in West Philadelphia. As a result of some brief but very professional investigative work that lasted about a half an hour, one of their volunteers learned some surprising and unexpected facts about my family history on my father’s side. Upon examination of 1930 county records from Wyoming County, West Virginia, I learned that my father was born there in 1927. I learned he passed away in 1990 at the same age that I am now – 63. The exact year of his birth and passing was unknown to me until now. With a current population of 200, “Slab Fork” located in a very rural part of West Virginia, is a hard place to locate even on a map. Since I had already known some basic facts about my family ancestry it made our research efforts a lot easier than it would have been otherwise. Along with this, I also learned more about my grandfather’s background, “Ray L. Caldwell”, and the names of his wife and children. He was born in 1897, most likely in North Carolina. I discovered that my grandfather was a veteran of the First World War and a coal miner by trade. Along with that, I also found out my father enlisted in the army in 1946. Since I am a Temple University graduate with my degree in history, I utilized my academic skills to investigate both my family history and some other famous African Americans that originate from West Virginia. Bishop T.D Jakes, famous lawyer and civil rights activist Cecil B. Moore, the Reverend Dr. Leon Sullivan, 76er legend and Hall of Famer Hal Greer, journalist Tony Brown, and TV star Steve Harvey, all hail from my late father’s home state. By the way, one last famous West Virginian, “Ain’t No Sunshine” Bill Withers, singersongwriter also came from a very small town in West Virginia, an out of the way place called “Slab Fork”.

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