A Ray of Light in Domestic Violence

Here, here that the Baltimore Ravens had the balls to drop Ray Rice – that the morale ground in championing women's rights trumped the mighty dollar of a football franchise is victory onto itself. The true bottom line is that we do not strike our significant other, especially brutally!

But equally insidious is how Janay Palmer, his then-fiancée and current wife, while seated next to him in a press conference blamed herself for being part of the problem. Being knocked unconscious in an elevator by your life partner prior to marrying him, which only came to light because it was recorded by a video camera, makes you part of the problem? Yes, you are part of the problem for not having walked out on him permanently once regaining consciousness!

Just like Anita Hill's case against Clarence Thomas 20 years ago beamed the spotlight on sexual harassment and put it clear and central in the public discourse – impacting change from how we address members of the opposite sex to human resource policy – hopefully this case generates the same social response resulting in zero tolerance against any type of domestic violence. There must be punitive consequences for domestic violence ranging from losing your job to criminal charges.

It is incumbent on all of us -- mothers, fathers and the village -- to raise boys that respect girls and foster girls' self-esteem to demand nothing less than respectful behavior by boys. Only then will it truly have ripple effects that impact other forms of interactions between two people involved in intimate and mutually consensual relationships that translate in comprehensive social change.

Lastly, the dynamics of acceptable male-female relationships and how we view women is reflected in the main body of the attached article published in Bloomberg Businessweek when the victim of domestic violence in this case, Janay Palmer, is never referred to by her rightful name, rather as "wife." When we begin to cease treating women as property, rather as capable and contributing individuals – from child to adult – then and only then will we truly experience the percolator effect in advancing society for the benefit of the entire community.

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-09-08/ray-rice-video-footage-why-did-the-nfl-even-need-to-see-the-tape

REDSKINS: The Name & Pain

A Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ruled that the Redskins name and logo is “an insult to Native Americans,” rendering a major step in ultimately changing a culturally-insensitive and offensive name of a major national U.S. sports team that is an affront to a historically disenfranchised group.

Though this affects the bottom line for a sports brand that will lose millions in merchandising dollars, this is an opportunity to take higher ground and register that we are truly evolving in embracing everyone's culture with respect and righting injustices from the past. Other terms, common, but politically incorrect from 100 years ago would be unheard of if used today. It's called progress for humankind and an inclusive brave new world.

It is especially incumbent for those of us who are an emerging minority, or were 100 years ago, to be culturally-competent in respecting everyone's voice when a discriminatory label is cited by a particular group feeling slighted by another who has appropriated their name. Because this conjures a painful chapter in their history, this should be seen as an opportunity to raise the bar for a more civil society with a moral conscience that moves forward collectively.

An Ode to Maya Angelou

Everyone is a saint when they die. And heaven knows, some canonized do not merit the title. But some earthy souls who were our moral compass and innate spiritual leaders touched our lives in so many ways.

Maya Angelou was frank about her life: she was raped at a young age, her rapist jailed & then killed upon his release driving her to lose her voice for five years for the guilt she felt in singling him out for utilizing the gift we treasure that resulted in his execution.

She was of a generation of African-Americans that knew the ugly face of segregation all too well. She was the first female cable car driver in San Francisco and she admitted being a prostitute and pimp. She sang, acted and could move a room with her books, poetry and reading aloud ~ because she allowed her soul to be close to the surface and she validated its invaluable worth and saw beauty in all.

She was a staunch opponent to the faulty testing system that our children are over-bombarded with in today's U.S. educational system that do not impart critical thinking and social skills for healthy, lifelong interactions.

I feared this day. You will be missed, lady. May we make you proud that your time on this planet was not in vain and that we continue the fight that all are created equal and worthy of human respect, dignity and love. Your mission will continue as our muse, inspiration and light and we treasure that you graced our lives, universe and chose not to lose your voice to champion for all.

...love you, hermana!

JUSTICIA ~ Rutgers University students have spoken and their demands registered!

Serving for the past 17 years on the Advisory Board at Rutgers University's Center for Latino Arts & Culture, I am appalled that Condoleezza Rice was invited to deliver the 2014 Commencement Speech receiving a $35K fee and was to have been bestowed an honorary doctorate. Thank goodness for our youth protesting who have better sense than the University President, Bob Barchi. What possessed him? Have we no memory of what this person and her influence wrought throughout the world over the last 30 years? Not only in her role as U.S. Secretary of State and her complicity in supporting President Bush invading Iraq unnecessarily, but President Reagan, too.

I will never forget in the early ’80’s, when as a fluent Russian speaker, she approached President Reagan on the tarmac of a Washington airport as he awaited the arrival of the Russian Foreign Secretary and when Secret Service saw her coming their way, they tackled her to the ground. No one in that group could have imagined that a black woman would be the Russian translator to the President of the United States. She picked herself up off the floor, brushed her suit and stood stoically next to President Reagan. Yet she forgot this treatment when for years she toed the political line in a Republican-dominated White House that did nothing for the advancement of minority communities throughout the United States and reversed many of the gains made in decades past, especially through Supreme Court appointments and the dismantling of Affirmative Action -- not to even speak about foreign policy where we gained more enemies internationally.

An accomplished pianist, she has no political scruples. Not only does she currently sit on the Board of DropBox, she sat on the Board of an oil company that named an oil tanker after her (so that when she reached the highest levels of politics as Secretary of State she had the name removed due to any potential political backlash).

There are no shortage of black women to honor and Rutgers could have looked no further than Anita Hill who is befitting of an honor of this magnitude, fee and doctorate; while inspiring youth, faculty and supporting audience with her pearls of wisdom and dignity in what would have been a stellar Commencement speech. Now that’s a role model, an advocate for women -- especially young women -- and a refined lady. If adults in administration are going to suffer from selective memory loss, thank goodness for our youth -- students -- the future generation who demand and embrace talent, who genuinely respect those who champion truth behind all their actions and recognize sacrifices endured in truly making the world a better place for all their brothers and sisters.