Blog 105: The Loss of a Friend and a Brother

By Vernon M. Herron

     Dr. Edward W. Robinson, Jr. of Philadelphia, PA passed on Wednesday June 13, 2012. While he was a long time mentor of mine, he was an educator, an Attorney, a historian, an author, a producer, an entrepreneur, a friend, and a fraternal brother as well, who wrote the “Foreward” page of the Herron Speaks collection of the 100 blog postings.


     “Brother Ed’s” influence and writings can be seen in blogs 10 and 24 when he  describes the life and times of Queen Charlotte, and how Mecklenburg County and the city of Charlotte got their names and his description of the Medulla Oblongata Overlay.

     Philadelphia Tribune’s staff writer Bobbie Booker reports that “for generations, Robinson was directed toward one goal, to effect a positive change of attitude toward the ancestral value of people of African descent by the total world society through dramatically exposing the beauty, grandeur and sophistication of an Ancient Egypt and the Songhai Empire.”


     Another said, “his intellectual capacity was overwhelming including his knowledge of the true contribution and history of all peoples, especially Africans in the Diaspora which was encyclopedic.”


     At age 80, brother Ed produced a “tri-Racial comparative time line” which was commissioned by the National Keystone Mercy Health Corporation. “Black Rhapsody” was his noble piece according to author Charles L. Blockson.


     At age 94, brother Robinson departed this life, leaving behind Harriett, his beloved AKA wife of 41 years, as well as many friends and brothers.


     Let it be said with brotherly love, “To God be the glory.”

Blog 104: Why We Can't Fix Public Education

By Kenneth A. Simmons

Guest-Writer

 

   Whoever said that public education is broken? Public education does continue to work well for many students in Charlotte and across the country. Take a look at the crowded conditions our colleges and universities are currently facing with their freshmen enrollments. The University of North Carolina at Charlotte reports of its difficulty in containing the rising number of freshmen who are enrolling there in the fall of 2012. 

     On the other hand, take a close look at the overwhelming number of students who are failing and dropping out of our schools locally and throughout the nation. A fifty percent graduation rate and a fifty percent drop-out rate are horrible in 2012 and should be unacceptable. Don’t mention all the other horrible statistics that accompany such a scenario. 

     It is because of these facts that a handful of urban educators argue that education is seriously broken and will not be repaired anytime in the near future until a sufficient number of good citizens come to understand the cleverly engineered design that has been put in place to assure that these same conditions and circumstances will prevail for some time to come.

     Though the same outcome for children is occurring in our Northern schools as well, I am convinced that the political and social culture in the South has had a way of deceptively redirecting its good citizens to “look away.” 

     As those who are negatively affected and impacted practice “gentility” and good manners, our systems work frantically to implement practices and programs to guarantee that these horrible outcomes are not only pervasive but perpetuated.   

     Too many impacted and affected citizens become lulled into a hypnotic state that is fueled and guided by a lack of genuine understanding. Such reality has had the same intoxicating impact on their ancestors for over a century. This serious lack of information has made it almost impossible for a people to even begin to repair such a perplexing problem that exists in a system supported by local, state and federally generated funds. Shouldn’t the success and failure of all children be of concern to us all? 

     One of my heroes, the late Ron Edmonds, founder of Effective Schools Research, stated a few decades ago, “We can, whenever and wherever we choose, successfully teach all children whose schooling is of interest to us. Whether or not we do it must finally depend on how we feel about the fact that we haven’t so far.”    

      As I prepare to close, please allow me to share with you a piece that I have come to learn over the past almost forty years that is of the utmost importance if we truly are to make the much-needed repairs in education mentioned in this essay. 

     Though many of us are quick to blame poor parents for the plight of poor children’s education, this practice must come to a halt. While ineffective parenting is a major part of the problem, it is an outcome – just as the miseducation is. 

     Allow me to pause and apologize for what I am about to disclose because I know how much I will offend the so-called do-gooders in our community who are very much a part of the real problem. 

     They stand and have stood in our way throughout history. Unfortunately, their standing in the way has benefited them personally, which continues to motivate others to do the same, thus hurting the masses.

     

     Here in the South and at this hour, the only way to repair the damages inflicted on our failing youth and on our failing schools is to take a serious look at who is making the major decisions as to what is good for all children on a daily basis.

     

     Also, take a close look at those individuals who are placed in positions by the major decision makers to implement the decisions on a daily basis. If you are fair, courageous and insightful enough, you will see that “status quo” continues to be the name of the game. 

     The implementers who are appointed by the decision-makers are more pleased with their earned perks than they would ever be with making a difference for poor children.

     What was perceived by the major decision-makers to be good for everybody in 1865 has not changed dramatically today, though some improvements have been made.  It is my fervent desire that even though some big toes may be stepped on as a result of this delivery, there will be those who will comprehend and care enough to say ‘write on.”

     

Kenneth Allen Simmons is a graduate of West Charlotte High School and the University of North Carolina. He has served in 15 administrative positions with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School System and has received numerous affiliations, awards and recognitions.

     

Blog 103: Older Americans Month

By Vernon M. Herron

Persons over 65 are called many things; senior citizens, old folks, the elderly, the “has been,” now the month of May has been designated “Older Americans Month.” Recently, my beloved niece, Gaynelle Harris Grier sent to me a humorous song entitled, “I’M A SENIOR,” to the tune of “JESUS LOVES ME.”

1^st verse

I’m a senior, this I know; for my body tells me so-

Aches and pain to me belong, head to toe they hurt so long.

Chorus

Yes, Advil helps me. Yes, Gas-X helps me.

Yes, Ben-Gay helps me; my doctor tells me so.

2rd verse

I’m a senior that’s my stride, on a tour bus I will ride

motel, hotels let us in, I am ready- you say when

Chorus

Yes, aspirin helps me. Yes, Centrum helps me.

Yes , B-C helps me; my doctor tells me so.

3^rd verse

I’m a senior with gray hair, wrinkles, age spots everywhere

In retirement I will spend, time with grandkids with a grin.

Chorus

Yes, Clairol helps me, yes, face cream helps me.

Yes, Ensure helps me; my doctor tells me so.

4^th verse

I’m a senior aches will stay, bladder weakens everyday

I just thank God that I am here. When I pray, here’s what

He’ll hear.

Chorus

Thank you for Vioxx. Thank you for Depends. Thank you

 for my heavenly home. I’ll be there, You know when.

                                                                    Author Unknown

 Thinking that jabbing me with whatever wounded feelings there may be, Gaynelle also sent a puzzle, “I NEED TO TELL YOU A SECRET.”

1)    I need to tell you a secret (look at #5)

2)    The answer is ( look at 11)

3)    Don’t get mad (look at # 15)

4)    Calm down, don’t be mad (look at 13)

5)    First (look at # 2)

6)    Don’t be mad (look at 12)

7)    I just wanted to say Hi…and I love you.

8)    What I wanted to tell you is…(The answer is on #14)

9)    Be patient (look at #4)

10)This is the last time I’m going to do this (look at #7)

11) I’m not mad when I’m saying this (look at #6)

12) Sorry (look at 8)

13) Don’t be getting all hype (look at #10)

14) I don’t know how to say this (look at #3)

15)You must really be ticked off (look at #9)

Thank you Gaynelle, I love you too.

It is interesting to note how time never stops; it is an aging process for us all.

In the following picture, we see the march of time. In 1956, Gaynelle was a third grader in elementary school. Today she is a wife, mother, grandmother, and a great grandmother.

 

        

Gaynelle as a third grader

1956

With the aid of an unknown writer, now let me see if I can put the “Older Americans Month” into a proper perspective. Age is not a time of life; it is a state of mind. Nobody grows old by merely living a number of years; people grow old only by deserting their ideals.

Years wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, doubt, self-distrust, fear and despair—these are the long, long years that bow the head and turn the growing spirit back to dust.

Whether seventy or sixteen, there is in every being’s heart the love of wonder, the sweet amazement at the stars and starlike things and thoughts, the undaunted challenge of events, the unfailing childlike appetite for what’s next, and the joy and the game of life.

You are as young as your faith, as old as your fear; as young as your hope, as old as your despair. In the central place of your heart, there is a wireless station; so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer, courage, grandeur and power from the earth, from men and from the Infinite, so long you are young.

When the wires are all down and the central place of your heart is covered with the snows of pessimism and the ice of cynicism, then are you grown old indeed and may God have mercy on your soul.

     

Blog 102: Desiderata

There are four documents which have inspired me greatly over the years. They are The Bible, The US Constitution, World Literature and the Desiderata. It is about this latter document which I want to share with you today. Desiderata, (Latin “desired things”) is a 1927 prose poem by American writer Max Ehrmann (1872-1945), largely unknown in the author’s lifetime. The text became widely known after being found at Adlai Stevenson’s deathbed in 1965. For maximum benefit, may I suggest that you read the poem slowly for comprehension.

Vernon M. Herron

Desiderata

By

Max Ehrnmann

(1872-1945)

     Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.

     As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.
     Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.      Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit.
     If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
     Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
     Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism.
     Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love, for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment, it is as perennial as the grass.
     Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
     But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
     Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.
     And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
     Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul.
     With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

Blog 101: The Irony of Dorothea Dix Psychiatric Hospital and Shaw University: Both of Raleigh, NC

     
By Vernon M. Herron

     Two molding institutions in Raleigh, NC are having financial problems which may affect their future lives and services. Word has come that Dorothea Dix Psychiatric Hospital is closing its doors and is merging for continued effective service. Shaw University has experienced a natural disaster and is struggling to survive.
     Dorothea Dix began serving the mentally ill in 1856; while Shaw University began to service the impoverished community in 1865. Both institutions were concerned with the health of the mind for good and diverse functioning of the body. Shaw, at one time, had a School of Law, Medicine and Education, while Dix was always a correctional and treatment institution.
     By “irony,” I am referring to a pretense of ignorance and willingness to learn from another assumed in order to make the other’s false conceptions conspicuous by adroit questioning.
    

Two Jokes

     I remember first hearing of Dix Hospital when a freshman at Shaw University in 1947. 
     A parent mother who had come down from the North to visit her son at Shaw University, ended up on Dix campus. She was informed by a Dix patient, that “this is not Shaw University but Dix Hospital.” 
     In a surprised mode, the mother said, “What a surprise! Your residential buildings look like college dormitories; your grassy plains look just like a college campus; your roadway looks just like a campus drive and roadway.”
     Whereupon the patient said to the mother, “Madam, there is a difference between these two institutions; we here at Dix must show a tremendous improvement before leaving.”
    
     Another episode is about a Dix patient and a Shaw student. 
     The latter was near the Dix campus one day and was “chased” by a patient all the way through town and onto the Shaw campus. The faster the Shaw student ran, the harder the Dix patient pursued. 
     By the time the student reached Shaw campus, stopping at the first bench, he was out of breath and wondered, what’s would happen next? 
     As the patient approached the student, he simply touched the erudite scholar on the shoulder and said “tap, I got you” and returned to Dix’s campus.
     
     What do you make of it?
    

Blog 100 - Reaching the Goal and Beyond

Blog 100

Reaching the Goal and Beyond

by

Vernon M. Herron

This is blog number 100. It indicates that 100 blogs have been written with the help of guest writers over a period of one year. Many disciplines went into the mix for thought development, sentence construction, showing training, experience and exposure in English, Seminary, Genealogy, History, Grantsmanship, fraternal life, strategic planning, family life, church life, political-social-economical life, travel and death experiences. These disciplines are the sum total of who I am in body, attitude, aptitude and spirit.

Initially, we had hoped to publish the first 50 blogs in a compiled book form but that objective was not realized. The goal was extended to blog 100 and then publish. So here we are. “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” This we did. For those of you who registered a desire for a book, you will receive information on how to obtain the same soon.   

 

Blog writing was not a monolithic enterprise. It was a group effort, including input received from Alexander and his mother Leila Waters, Barbara Hendricks, Ione Vargus, Constance Dillon, Joseph Burton, Steve Johnston, Donnell Sheppard, William Youngblood, guest writers, public library, local churches and other sources for which I thank you.

Initially, I edited a  Class Newsletter  for the Charlotte Second Ward High School Class of ’47. After that stint, it was Joe Burton’s introduction to the blogging idea which captured my fantasy.  I shall long remember, how the inspiration for blog writing came to me upon rising in the morning with blog subjects, body development and clues for the final touch. As stated earlier, we have reached the goal of producing 100 blogs. That process has helped this writer mentally, socially and intellectually; some constructive and innovative movements replaced floundering strategies; senior citizen moments were challenged; new friends were made; fresh ideas were created; and life’s experiences became relevant and germane.

Let us all think through the next step for blogging. I will initiate model one. You are free to add or subtract from the model The new blogging idea suggests a CONSORTIUM of COMMENTATORS.  (C/ C).

Consortium: An agreement, combination or group formed to undertake an   

enterprise beyond the resources of any one member.

Commentator: One who gives a commentary by discussion.

Consortium defined

Of people who have computers, form a participatory e-mail group of commentators whose mission it would be to review selected “Herron Speaks” blogs by critiquing and evaluating the same for further dialogue and review. This could be stimulating.

Consortium in Operation

(Let us assume that 50 persons compose the c/c.)

1.     Each c/c would receive a number, which would be your badge of identification.

2.     Each c/c would receive a roster of committed numbers, names and e-mail addresses, which would comprise your c/c file.

3.      Each week, a previous published blog will be selected and sent to you as ‘the blog of the week’ for critiquing. When that is done, your comments are sent on to your entire file, only when your number appears. (This may require several weeks, depending on the number participating.)

4.     Once you have received a response from all c/c, then the process would repeat itself with another selected c/c number and a previous blog.

The challenge

Would you be interested in becoming a c/c? If so, register your interest with me, which will start the process only after we dispense with the book idea.

Blog 99: The Power of Suffixes

By Barbara P. Hendricks

Guest Writer

(See blog 39)

— Written by popular request —

     Think with me for a few minutes about words and their importance in our lives. 
     Parents eagerly anticipate the time when their children say their first word. From that time onward, talking becomes a goal. Talking and walking often occur simultaneously. 
     As children continue to grow, drawing, printing, writing in cursive and reading become important activities. We can classify all of these accomplishments as learning. 
     By this time you are probably wondering what any of this has to do with words. I assure you the answer is everything! Let’s look again at the words that define each accomplishment: talking, walking, drawing, printing, writing in cursive and reading. 
     When we view these words together, we can acknowledge the presence of another word: learning. Now, look at the ending of each of these words and you immediately recognize that each of them ends in –ing, which is a suffix. Suffixes are word endings which add new dimensions to the meaning of existing words, especially nouns and verbs.
     The words in the above paragraph are verbs, which by definition are action words. The –ings have given the words additional power by making them actions toward a goal. 
     The –ings in our life give credence to the fact that we are always in the process of accomplishing something or becoming the kind of person we would like to be. Hopefully, you have already thought of some additional words that are powerful because of the suffix –ing. 
     Some of these words are interacting, communicating, understanding, loving, playing, worshipping, and most important of all: living. Everything that we do each day is a component of living and must be accepted and respected as a process of becoming better persons.
     I definitely believe that learning must be a life-long activity that keeps living exciting and worth every breath we take! I am often reminded of Dr. Helen Morse Sanders, who was my Freshman Composition teacher at Spelman College. She was straight-laced and tolerated no nonsense in her classes. 
     She told us at the first class meeting that our goal was to learn how to write well. She continued by saying that each of us would be in the process of becoming excellent writers. She further stated that we were members of the freshman class and could only be considered satisfactory at that time. She then informed us that a status of satisfactory in her class was worthy of no more than a grade of C. She said that each of us could expect to receive a C as our first semester grade. Any higher grades could only be earned after we made progress toward becoming better excellent writers. 
     Even though it seemed very unfair at the time, I never forgot that lesson. I learned well that we are always in the process of becoming better at whatever task confronts us. Consider the power of the suffixes, especially the –ings.