There has been a loud outcry in the wake of President Obama’s recent comments about star Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick’s post-prison second chance, with protesters falling primarily into one of two camps. They’re either shouting, “He’s only getting a second chance because he can play football!” Or they’re bellowing, “He doesn’t deserve a second chance because he’s a dog killer!”
The first argument might be true, but it just proves how difficult life can be for convicted felons trying to re-enter society. The second argument suggests that after prison, a convicted felon’s “debt to society” should accrue like interest on a credit card that’s never paid off.
Critics fail to realize — or don’t care — that the issue is larger than Vick, whose extraordinary athleticism virtually guaranteed him another shot at success after jail. The real conversations that Obama’s comments should spark have nothing to do with former quarterbacks and everything to do with former prisoners.
Former San Francisco 49ers head coach Mike Singletary’s skills with the X’s and O’s — the nuts and bolts of coaching football teams — were suspect enough. But even if he was deemed adequate in that regard, his persona made his suitability as coach of the 49ers questionable. Society has not reached the point yet where the “fiery black man” approach is acceptable for CEO-type positions, especially when it doesn’t deliver positive results, as evidenced by San Francisco’s 0-5 start this season and its current record of 5-10.
Unfortunately, the same attributes that led Singletary to a Hall of Fame career as a Chicago Bears linebacker practically doomed him as the 49ers’ head coach and helped lead to his firing on Sunday. We can never forget pictures of Singletary as the wild-eyed tackling machine, anchoring the Bears’ defense with ferocious intensity and passion. One reason the memories remain fresh is that he kept much of that same demeanor in leading the 49ers. And it couldn’t be more out of place in the NFL, which embraces its image as a button-down, Fortune 500 conglomerate.
For an instant injection of emotion and excitement, Singletary was a fine choice when the 49ers gave him the full-time job in December 2008, after he went 5-4 as the interim coach. Nicknamed “Samurai Mike,” he became a pop culture phenomenon in his very first game at the helm. While he was interim coach, Singletary sent star tight end Vernon Davis to the showers with more than 10 minutes remaining in the game, and issued a classic rant — “I want winners!” — in his postgame news conference. It was later reported that Singletary mooned his players at halftime as a motivational ploy, though a team spokesman stressed that the coach never dropped his drawers
Every day I’m reminding someone in my life to focus. If it’s not my children or my students, then it’s my husband.
When it comes to writing, we have to find a way to focus on the writing we want to produce. But in reality, “focus” can be challenging, especially when your days and nights are full. The distractions are real and unavoidable, but so is your desire and passion for writing.
As I reflect on my journey in completing “The Second First Lady,” I somehow found my focus. So here are some tips that I hope will help you:
*Don’t stress yourself out by trying to write for the same number of hours every day. Do what works for your schedule.
*Find a friend who will hold you accountable for writing consistently.
*Share your writing with a friend who is willing to listen. Talk about the characters and where the story is headed.
*Go to a writing conference or start a writing group so you can network and get feedback from other writers.
*Read author websites and join their mailing lists.
*Make a positive affirmation everyday about your writing.
*Read an article or book that will help you improve your craft.
As simple as these tips may seem, they contribute to the focus you need to become a writer who actually… writes.
There’s an old adage that says we make time for things we want to make time for.
I’m always amazed at what my daughters can accomplish when they decide it’s important enough, i.e. slide-shows of their Christmas gifts, clean rooms (when an immediate incentive is involved) and any number of tasks.
I’m also amazed at what I can accomplish when I decide it’s important enough. Since the completion of my novel, The Second First Lady, many mothers, friends and family members have asked me when I found the time.
I don’t really have a clear-cut answer – other than the fact I just kept at it, writing whenever I could. It wasn’t easy, since I work full-time, have two kids and cook, clean and shop every week. I also help with homework, grade my students’ papers and spend time with the family. Still, somehow, I got it done with God’s help.
I can think of other examples in my life, too. I earned my Master’s Degree while working and managing the household, and I gained National Board Certification in the same manner. In the midst of it all, I did wonder… Why am I doing this? But I kept on. There were doubts, discouragements and fears along the way, but I kept at it. Completing the novel was no different.
As I reflect, I got it done through consistency. Some days I wrote for two hours or less; other days I wrote longer. But I did it, because writing creatively is one of my passions and I was determined.
So the message for all you Moms (and everyone else): You really can do it, if you want to.
Paula Flowe doesn’t know exactly how many people will show up Friday afternoon for a rally at the Texas State Capitol. And she doesn’t know exactly how many people will join her in sleeping out there until proposed legislation in Congress (H.R. 5628) becomes law. But Flowe is certain that her cause — banning corporal punishment in schools — is worth the time and effort, even as she’s run through her retirement money and is in danger of losing her house.
“We have people coming in from Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee and remote parts of Texas,” said Flowe, founder and executive director of The Hitting Stops Here! “We have one woman whose son was brutally beaten by a 400-pound teacher. The school said there’s nothing wrong with the child, but it will pay for his counseling. If nothing’s wrong, why pay for counseling? If Sasha and Malia went home like that, there would be an outrage.
When I took a buyout from Gannett in July 2009 – after nearly a quarter-century as a fulltime journalist with the company – I also decided to cut off my shoulder-length dreadlocks that took eight years to grow. In the midst of so much transition (returning to D.C.; no job; potential career change; maybe grad school), going with a different look just felt right. Shaving my head signified that everything was brand-new at that point, personal appearance included.
But I’d be lying if I said mainstream attitudes toward dreadlocks didn’t play a role in my decision. No longer an established professional at the top of my field, I could envision prospective employers holding my hair against me – consciously or not. As much as I loved my dreads, I wasn’t willing to risk them being a hindrance to new opportunities.
Such decisions are much less stressful for brothers compared to sisters. I didn’t last long as a baldie (WAY too much maintenance for someone used to once-a-month appointments), but my low-cut natural never draws second looks, unlike the effect when a sister wears one.
We can only imagine what Thanksgiving was like last year in the Tiger Woods household, which since then has shrunk from a family of four to a bachelor pad. A National Enquirer story on Woods and New York cocktail hostess Rachel Uchitel had hit newsstands the day before, but it hadn’t garnered any attention.
And it might have remained just another juicy rumor from the National Enquirer if Woods hadn’t crashed his Cadillac Escalade into a tree beyond his driveway at 2:25 a.m. on the morning just after Thanksgiving. His wife, Elin, bashing out the SUV’s back windows with a golf club didn’t help matters, either.
That incident was the beginning of the end for Woods’ carefully crafted, squeaky-clean image. In its aftermath, he suffered a severe outbreak of alleged mistresses, entered therapy for sex addiction, lost several major sponsors, watched his wife file for divorce and endured his worst year on the golf course.
Just like that, Thanksgiving and Woods were inextricably linked in people’s minds, likely forever.
Did you see the video of a high school basketball coach whipping a player that went viral recently and spawned a mass of outraged viewers? Murrah High School’s Marlon Dorsey admitted to “paddling” his students — even though corporal punishment has been banned in Mississippi’s Jackson Public Schools since 1991 — stating in a letter that he “took it upon [himself] to save these young men.”
Placed on leave with pay, Dorsey has swept corporal punishment back into the news, right after Joe and Katherine Jackson reignited the debate in an interview with Oprah Winfrey. The incident in Mississippi reminds us that some states actually allow corporal punishment in schools, and it’s difficult to determine the bigger shock in that regard. Is it that 20 states still believe it’s OK for school faculty members to spank students? Or is it that some states don’t require parental consent or notification for children to be physically punished at school?
If you think those two things are bad, there’s actually a third choice for what’s worse: Some states have “teacher immunity laws” to protect employees from criminal or civil action. The list includes a who’s who of the Confederacy: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina and Texas. Dorsey, however, picked the wrong school district to work in. Unlike Jackson, most of Mississippi’s 152 school districts allow corporal punishment, and would have offered him a measure of protection against a lawsuit that three of his players filed against him Nov. 9.
Join Washington reporter Cord Jefferson as he talks with contributors Deron Snyder and Bassey Ipki about Kanye West’s mental health and whether same-sex education for black boys will help close the achievement gap.
Here are the latest depressing reports on the plight of African Americans: Only 12 percent of our fourth-grade boys are proficient readers, compared to 38 percent of white fourth-grade boys. By eighth grade, reading proficiency falls to just 9 percent for black males, 33 percent for whites.
Clearly, this is a crisis situation, with black males almost twice as likely as white males to drop out of high school, and a dropout rate of about 50 percent in some big cities. Black males comprise about 5 percent of college enrollment nationally but about 30 percent of the prison population. Based on this depressing achievement gap, the demand for prison beds could remain strong for the foreseeable future.
Or we could open our minds to a different, controversial approach, such as the route taken by Urban Prep Academy, an all-boys charter school in Chicago. While there are pros and cons for same-sex education, we should consider the success of Urban Prep and try to replicate it on a wide scale. Any school that places 107 out of 107 seniors into college is worthy of emulation. Considering the fact that those seniors hail from some of Chicago’s most disadvantaged, impoverished and crime-ridden neighborhoods, Urban Preps should be popping up across the nation as we speak.
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There has been a loud outcry in the wake of President Obama’s recent comments about star Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick’s post-prison second chance, with protesters falling primarily into one of two camps. They’re either shouting, “He’s only getting a second chance because he can play football!” Or they’re bellowing, “He doesn’t deserve a second chance because he’s a dog killer!”
