Glimpse Of Change

Imagine that back in 2001, instead of planes being flown into the world trade centers, a conversation would have taken place between the pilots and U.S. officials to analyze and discourage the hatred the pilots had towards U.S. citizens. How would the world be different today? Imagine that Martin Luther King Jr. were still alive running a massive movement, would the world still be as racially divided as it is today? Imagine that Rap artists Tupac Shakur, and Biggy Smalls were still alive and there was never a beef between the east coast and west coast. How different would the music industry be today? What we do today shapes other people’s tomorrow and we need to step back to realize this — with our choices we have to leave behind memorable legacies. There are enough tragedies that become a part of American history; it’s time to include some positive events. Instead of glimpses of changes, we need to make changes that will last a lifetime. We don’t need any more videos of girls doing home invasions and brutally beating people down for comments that were made on the Internet. We also don’t need any more derogatory comments made on the Internet. We don’t need any more senseless shootings; the D.C sniper and his son should have taught us that. We don’t need death threats to the president we know the devastation that brings to the nation. We have fell to our knees many times before from losing great leaders. One for the week: Numbers 23:20 - I have received a command to bless; he has blessed, and I cannot change it.

Woman: Gods Gift

A woman is Gods gift to man; a woman is one of God’s greatest creations to walk this earth.

A woman has the capability to bear children.

A woman can be strong, intelligent, wise, compassionate, understanding, driven. A woman is God’s gift.

To all my fellas in the world: if we want women to respect themselves, then we have to respect women.

We can’t label a woman as a “ho” and expect her to have the self-esteem to envision herself as a queen.

We can’t praise a woman for her physical attributes and ignore her intellect.

We encourage women to become exotic dancers and expose their bodies for magazine spreads so million dollar companies can make millions of dollars to exploit them.

Do we ever tell women that they are God’s gift?

We judge women and tell them that their weight and their physical looks should be their main concern, but do we ever tell them that they are beautiful the way they are?

We make women believe that in order to gain a popular social status they must sleep with many well - known important men.

We need to let our women know that popularity is something that they don’t need if it causes them to give men the right to take advantage of their bodies.

We need to inform our women that piles of make up and revealing clothing don’t make them beautiful; it’s their character that is associated with their physical attributes that make them amazing.

We need to tell women to hold on to their morals and beliefs and not to ditch them to impress other men.

We need to step back and take a look at what we are doing to the women in our world.

Women are expected to handle and balance so much in life, and it is time for us as men to take some of the weight off of their shoulders.

Instead of adding to and becoming a woman’s burden, we need to help lessen the burden.

A woman is God’s gift, and it’s time to treat her like she is.

One for the week: Genesis 2:23 – The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.”

Enough Said

This article is for people who say a lot like I use to but do little.

I want to let you all know that enough has been said.

We log into our Facebook accounts; we tweet on Twitter, and we talk about the tragic issues that are occurring in the world today.

We have conversations to express our feelings and to speak out against injustice, but then we leave it at that.

Voices provide knowledge to others about certain things. but action is what brings upon change.

We can’t just speak about the horrific events regarding Anna Brown, a woman who had life-threatening medical issues who was dragged out of a police car into a jail cell where she died because she refused to leave the hospital until she received medical attention.

We can’t just speak about the shooting death of young Trayvon Martin and expect change.

I’m not saying that we should react in rage.

I am saying that we should simply just react.

Let’s march like the great leaders before us did to bring upon change.

Let’s march like Martin Luther King Jr. when he fought to bring down the beast known as racial discrimination.

Let’s march like Ghandi when he strived to do the same.

It’s time to stop hiding behind our computers, our cell phones and other technological devices.

We need to stand up for a cause with our physical presence.

I don’t care what background people come from, what ethnicity or race an individual is, we should all be able to come together for a greater purpose because enough has been said.

Now it is time to put our words in motion to bring on change.

There is an opportunity for us to seek change March 31st at Noon people will be gathering at Martin Luther King Park to march for Trayvon Martin.

If you believe that enough has been said and now it’s time to do, then come to this event and make a difference.

I want to give a special thanks to Duke Turley for planning this event.

Come see me at the march if you would like to discuss the idea of enough being said.

One for the week:
You’ve got to be a thermostat rather than a thermometer. A thermostat shapes the climate of opinion; a thermometer just reflects it. –Cornel West

Chained By Love

Value in the word love is a concept that is becoming foreign to people.

People use this word freely in everyday conversation; and, as a result, the expression behind this word diminishes.

Many of us are using the word love and not having a complete understanding about the meaning or power that the word has.

Now, young men tell young women that they love them in order to just have sex with them.

There are young women telling young men that they love them just to receive materialistic items from them.

We don’t understand how powerful this word is.

Love is caring enough about yourself to go through the process of getting tested and making your partner doing the same.

Love is mother working with her last bit of energy to secure a promising future for her children.

Love is parents holding their children accountable for the decisions they make and teaching them about the value of respect.

It isn’t the boy that gets a girl pregnant and walks away from his responsibility.

It isn’t a drug dealer supporting the habits of people that are allowing addictions to have control over their lives.

Love is more then a word it is security, its real, and it’s something that has value.

It is ok to be chained by love as long as it’s real and meaningful.

A person shouldn’t love someone because it sounds good; a person should love someone because he / she means it.

Love is doing the exact opposite of what it should be doing these days because many of us young people are confused when it comes to the meaning of love.

It hurts me to conduct a small research and discover that an imitation of love is killing people.

This imitation of love is causing people to navigate away from real love.

We cannot continue to be chained by this idea of what we think love is; we have to know that love is real before we pursue it.

One for the week: We can’t keep deceiving ourselves because if we do we will become our own oppressors.

Vacant Location

Today I came upon a statement that bothered me; a statement that has the ability to stir up a little anger inside of me.

I don’t find this statement provoking because it displays ignorance and is highly stereotypical; I find it provoking because as a person that is black I see some truth in this statement.

“If you want to hide valuable historical information from black people just put it in a book and place it on a shelf in a library.”

This is sad but in some way true when referring to many young black people today.

Even I am guilty of this sometimes.

Instead of being resourceful and reading certain books that are the sources from where much information originates, I go online and search for academic journals.

It seems like many of us are okay with allowing almost anyone who has the ability to compile factual information the right to teach us everything that we know.

There is danger in this because people change information all of the time to fit their beliefs.

Essentially, when we don’t seek out original sources, we are only harming ourselves and potentially filling our brains with what other people believe to be important.

Our community libraries should not be vacant locations, people, and they shouldn’t be filled just because they have Internet service either.

“We need to educate ourselves.”

We owe it to ourselves and we owe it to all of our leaders who fought day and night for us to have the right to read and learn.

When we don’t utilize our libraries for the right reasons, what statement are we all making?

We should not waste valuable space in our minds; there are so many interesting things to learn about that lie within the many books in our community libraries.

We need to educate ourselves, take control of our own beliefs, and stop allowing others to shape our beliefs without a challenge.

We have to be knowledgeable to face people with deceitful intentions.

We don’t want to be the generation that grows up on lies and deceit.

Many of our local nightclubs aren’t vacant, and our libraries shouldn’t be either.

One for the week: “As long as the mind is enslaved, the body can never be free. Psychological freedom, a firm sense of self-esteem, is the most powerful weapon against the long night of physical slavery.” Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., speech, Aug. 16, 1967.

A Mistake — A Lesson Learned

Mistakes are called mistakes for a reason.

We are supposed to learn from our mistakes; but, unfortunately, sometimes for many of us this isn’t the case.

No one is perfect; so I understand that it is innate in us to make mistakes, but we aren’t deprived of having the capability to learn from them.

The point of a mistake is to help a person grow to become wise.

We live in a world today where stupidity is often identified as the act of making a mistake.

It’s almost as if we write things off by claiming that we aren’t knowledgeable enough to know any better.

It isn’t a mistake when someone chooses to remain a victim in an abusive relationship no matter how much pain he or she are experiencing.

It isn’t a mistake when a father is granted visitation rights but doesn’t care enough to see his child during his designated times.

It isn’t a mistake when someone who is a habitual cheater has power to keep pulling his or her mate back into a broken relationship.

It isn’t a mistake if a child frequently comes to school with bruises on his or her body; no one falls that many times.

It isn’t a mistake if your home is up for foreclosure and you visit the casino faithfully.

God didn’t construct us to be perfect but He didn’t create us to be clueless beings either.

We have to realize our faults and stop surrounding ourselves with people who just accept them without encouraging us to change.

A friend wouldn’t allow you to keep doing drugs if that friend knows that it would be the cause of your death.

A friend wouldn’t support you to remain in an abusive relationship.

A friend would understand making a mistake maybe once or twice; but when it becomes a third time, the behavior is no longer classified as a mistake.

It’s time to view mistakes as lessons learned and not excuses to continue on with our habitual acts.

Email me at marcelgamble@sbcglobal.net to discuss the idea of a mistake being a lessoned learned.

One for the week: Be wise in your decisions because they have the potential to effect you for a lifetime.

Breaking Bread

I turn on the television, turn on the radio, fire up the Internet, realize that we are confused in today’s society.

It’s one thing to be fans of public figures, but it has become a common thing to idolize, and praise people that are popular in today’s entertainment world.

We are adamant followers of Hip Hop artist Jay-Z and his wife R&B sensation Beyonce.

We indulge in keeping up with the Kardashian family; watching their every move.

We all are guilty of some form of this no matter what it may be.

It’s ok to be a fan and a supporter of people in entertainment, but it is another thing to forget that these people are humans too.

They bleed, they cry, they sin — no one is perfect. If asked, I’m sure many of us would say yes to taking the time out to break bread with our favorite entertainer.

Would we wash the feet of Jesus, cook for him, and open our homes for Him?

I know that we would be hospitable to our favorite entertainers without thinking twice.

Does the thought of Jesus spark us to do the same?

These are some serious questions that I believe we should all reflect on.

It is one thing to just say yes and another to really mean it.

Sure, God isn’t a rap artist worth millions of dollars.

No, He doesn’t take the form of an attractive female performer with sex appeal.

God is more.

He is the almighty, all knowing, and an all-powerful God.

These reasons are enough for me to want to break bread with God.

We can’t welcome famous guests with open arms and not acknowledge Gods presence.

God should be the guest of all guests; people on posters in our bedrooms, and office spaces shouldn’t have the right to take His place.

We have to wake up, people, and know that God is all around us. Until we realize this we will keep missing His calls, Its time to break bread with Him.

One for the week: Exodus 25:30 - Put the bread of the Presence on this table to be before me at all times.

Hard Over Easy

Life isn’t meant to be easy by any means, and we should all accept this.

There isn’t any easy way out.

Life isn’t like a trip to the grocery store where we are able to discover 5 different ways to be efficient and arrive to our destination in a timely matter.

Life isn’t like the website sparknotes.com.

A place that we can visit when we need additional helps understanding a literary works.

Life is hard but we aren’t alone we don’t have to fight our own battles.

As soon as we realize that God is here with us and that God is the decision maker on what our vocations may be, life isn’t so hard anymore.

God sends us callings we just have to listen for them.

There are too many people ignoring His calls and making life harder then what it has to be.

If God tells you that your purpose is to be an employee at McDonald’s to help mold the lives of other employees, don’t ignore it and decide to become an exotic dancer because the pay is higher.

Fast money isn’t the best money and the easy way out looks great in the beginning but changes to be something horrible in the end.

We all have to learn that life is essentially what we make it.

Yes, God allows us the freedom to make our own decisions.

However, I believe that he grants us this right in hope that we would make decisions with His guidance.

The fast life only last for so long.

You can’t be a drug dealer forever everyone knows the outcome to this profession if you will; a person ends up dead or incarcerated.

You can’t live day to day chasing the wrong dreams and callings from man.

God gives us our callings to eliminate the hassle of searching.

It takes time we have to be patient and wait for His direction.

I’ll say it again life is what we make it, and it would be so much greater if we accept Gods guidance.

One for the week: 2 Chronicles 32:8 - With him is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people gained confidence from what Hezekiah the king of Judah said.

History With No Meaning

I admire and envy the courageous actions of the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

I wish that one day I could embody the characteristics that King had as a leader.

I wish that more people today would base their lifestyles on his principles he shared with the world to live by.

These thoughts are not only on my mind because Dr. Martin Luther Kings birthday was this week.

These thoughts are on my mind because of a horrifying video a friend shared with me this week.

In this video seven teenagers were brutally beating a helpless 17-year-old Asian male.

These teenagers weren’t beating this man because they were driven to do so for any significant reason.

These teenagers were beating this young man because they had nothing else better to do!

As they inflicted bodily harm to this innocent man, they yelled out racial slurs such as “nigger”.

In the back of my mind as I watched this video, I thought to myself, “We are in the year of 2012, and this harsh racial discrimination still exist.

If Dr. King were alive today, he would probably shed tears and wonder if his courageous acts had done anything to improve interactions among different cultures in our day of living.

To be honest, I was furious after watching this video for the first time.

My immediate reaction was to come to blows with the teenagers in the video – to give them the same pain they gave the helpless boy.

Then, I had to think. King wouldn’t have done such a thing because it is these types of reactions that perpetuate the cycle of racial discrimination and violence.

This video touched my heart because at the age of 16 I filled the shoes of the helpless Asian boy. I know what it feels like to be out numbered and defeated.

I know what it feels like to want to ignore history and just want to fight back.

However, today is definitely a time when we have to encourage each other to fight to keep the meaning in history.

Dr. Martin Luther King didn’t do the things he did for no reason.

He did what he did for us to have a better lifestyle.

People need to learn that history deserves to have meaning in our society today.

Events such as the one that I wrote about in this column occur because people ignore the meaning that history has.

One for the week: Exodus 31:3: “And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills.”

Ghost Parents

The Grand Rapids Times
1-20-2012

I was going to write about politics this week but someone spoke to me about a topic that is very close to my heart; so I had to put politics on hold.

If you’re a reader that has kids, then you should be able to relate to this article pretty well.

If you’re a reader that is expecting children, then view this article as a gift from me because soon you will also experience the things I bring up in this article.

Some days I dread changing my son’s diapers and I get headaches from his high pitch cries.

Some days when I can’t figure out why he is crying, I get irritated and impatient.

Sometimes, I shake my head at the checklist that I am now forced to live by: bottle check, diapers check, burp cloth check, wipes check, bumbo check.

Sometimes it seems like the list never ends.

However, no matter how tired I get or how impatient I am at times, I would not trade any of this for the world.

My son deserves this and more.

I’m not here to place judgment on anyone.

I am writing this to inform parents that, when they are absent, they’re missing out on so much.

I don’t see how some of us can make babies all over and not spend time with any of them.

I don’t see how some of us have to be forced by the state to at least invest financially in our children.

To my brothers out there: how could you live knowing that another man is enjoying the gift of your child; the gift that you created?

To my sisters, I ask you the same question. Are jail and prison more important?

Is that next high you’re on your way to get from your supplier more important?

Is sleeping with everyone you meet more important?

Why would a person want to throw away raising a generation of doctors, lawyers, musicians, teachers, preachers, and future law enforcement?

What is wrong with us?

I don’t care how many times I have to get up in the middle of the night with my son I will never give away such a precious gift.

Last week I got to hear my son laugh for the very first time.

I feel sorry for all of the parents out there who missed that opportunity.

I feel sorry for the ones who will miss their Childs first word, walk, first day at school.

I feel so sorry for many of us.

One for the week: People, let’s make one New Year’s resolution — to stand up and accept our responsibilities.