Grandma, If We Could Have You Back for a Day!

In tribute to one of the strongest, toughest, most resilient people I had the honor to know in my lifetime, my grandmother, Lois Valentine Cowan:


On that day when the world seemed to pause;
We felt it immediately our loss to the cause.

Because you were wonderful and true;
Because you loved us and we loved you.

Your strength carried us through the years;
Now your fond memories helps dry our tears.

If we could have you back just for a day;
The words we left unsaid we probably still wouldn't say.

We would hug and cry and wish you well;
We would bask in your love and inhale your smell.

There would be no time to waste;
We would hurry to embrace your love without haste.

You'd probably look around and say do what you have to do;
I raised you well and it is up to you.

Cry no more wipe them tears away;
I left for a moment and I want you to make it to eternity one day.

I left you behind to finish this race;
Hold your head high and pick up the pace.

I see you've been doing as you please;
Take time out of your busy schedule and fall to your knees.

Ask God to shower you with his forgiveness and grace;
There is a life eternal after this and it is a wonderful place.

Grandma Lois, you are appreciated, I pray you are enjoying your heavenly rest.

Our Future Matters!

‪#‎OurFutureMatters‬ - building up the external and letting the internal rot to the core seems to be running rampant everywhere. All the incidents pitting the police against the communities almost seems like a smoke screen to keep our focus way from concentrating on building the internal stuff that matters.

People need to breathe and recognize all this chaos is setting us further behind on getting ahead. The business owners insurance will cover them for damages and the poor and impoverished are still left with even less assurances.  We need all communities to flourish if we truly want economic prosperity for everyone.

The ones who will end up gaining financially from all this mayhem probably are sitting backing thinking all this stuff is not happening fast enough.  I can imagine them chanting keep tearing stuff down so we can get paid for building it back up.  They see another started big money making project on the horizon. They will be the ones the checks are directed to for clean up, future construction projects, and other types of money making partnerships.

Even here locally there are projects on the table that don't do anything to improve the internal struggles people are facing day to day. Take for instance, there is a high rate of unemployment and no funds for job training programs but yet there are funds available to build a mall on city owned property.  The lottery is making money and giving it to the public schools but it certainly doesn't seem like it is going tot the communities where the most money is being spent playing the lottery.

We constantly here there is no money for teacher raises, no money for additional resources to improve student performance on standardized tests, no money for books, no money for hands on technology initiatives, no monetary assistance to build up the schools and universities in lower to moderate income neighborhoods but ample funds for areas where funding is already abundant. There are even funds for a projected $109 million dollar project to build or expand purportedly Lake Taylor to be a high and center for technology education.  This project is proposed to span five years, we already know it will be outdated before it is built. I think the money would be better spent hiring a local contractor to issue laptops and cell phones with data and phone services to all the students, teachers, and administrators throughout the school system.  I cringe every time I hear students will have to submit an application to be able to attend a public school facility.  Way too many underserved students are left far behind in the digital divide as it exists now.  The companies planning to offer workforce training their can offer training at their own training facilities which I are probably already in place. If it is truly about making people more employable why wait?

Public safety I consider another internal issue because it is not the brick and mortar of it all.  If citizens listen attentively enough they would figure out there are a whole lot more demands being made on policing cities, however, the pay and funds have not kept pace with those demands.  It doesn't take a rocket science to figure that out.  Even though the screen print below is a little dated, the economics of public safety have not gotten better.

Until the internal issues get fixed the cycle of systemic issues will continue to exist. I hope the police departments and community call a truce. The police and the low and moderate income neighborhoods are the sectors of society that are most neglected when it comes to funding and everything else. They need to learn to work together for the change they want to see. Learn to love on one another versus hating on each other. If they were to work together they would come to understand how they are facing similar challenges in the day-to-day.

Yes most definitely people should not be out being criminals.  People are hurting and the more people hurt the more they lash out.  The money being spent on incarceration is ridiculous.  If the money they spend incarcerating young men was given directly to them as pay they would have no need to be out in the streets hustling.

People have been unemployed so long they have become discouraged with looking for employment.  The schools have gotten so bad even the children don't want to go.  The bottom line though is every time we tear away from each other we are tearing at the very fibre of our future as well.

God help us all.