Community Soldier

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Understanding the effects of Trauma and Abuse

“There are wounds that never show on the body that are deeper and more hurtful than anything that bleeds.”

Laurell K Hamilton

The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence says on average, nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner in the United States, which they say equals to 10 million men and women each year. You can actually ask women that you come across and this I can almost guarantee, One out of every Four you ask have experienced severe physical violence in a domestic relationship.

As a caseworker I get to see the effects of trauma daily. I guess my point in writing this article is to partially vent about a problem that I see daily, but also to help someone recognize that sometimes instead of asking what’s wrong with this person we should ask, What happened to this person?

I started with some known stats on domestic violence because it is one of the most known causes of trauma that people, men and women go through, but it’s not the only one. In fact, 1 in 6 adults have experienced four or more types of ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) 5 out of the top 10 leading causes of death are associated with ACEs.

What is an adverse childhood experience? Well basically it’s a big phrase for saying a person has went through something that was traumatic for them. It could be Dad divorced Mom when you was 14, or it could be Dad comes home drunk often and beats Mom and everyone in the house. Sometimes these traumatic experiences get so bad ,because they come from people we know and love. These events leave scars that run deeper than any eye can see. I have spoken to rape survivors that have lived their lives for years with the sadness, having to constantly face her rapist because he is a family member and the whole event was pushed under the rug in order to keep the families name in good standing. This is the pattern we need to stop.

Generational curses believe it or not are real, and I’ve seen time after time how it affects families year after year. Men grow up watching their mothers get beat often grow up to beat their wives and his daughters will often choose men who will beat them. This is the cycle of generational abuse. We grow up being desensitized to the trauma and the violence that it becomes our way of life.

In African American culture it is well known that we speak our own language, we have our own fashion, and we definitely have problems on a systematic level that need to be addressed. I am thankful for organizations like Partial to Girls which help empower woman and show them that there’s a better way for them. It’s going to take a lot more of us to stand up and start speaking our stories out loud. That way people who hear them will have the courage to do the first thing they need to do to survive which is to speak up and tell someone.

I once heard an educated middle aged white woman speak up to a crowd and say look at me, I’m smart, beautiful, and I am also a victim of domestic violence. She said that it happens to millions of women all over the world. She said in front of everyone in the conference that the way she got away was to tell people. She told the neighbors, she told the police, she told he family, and she told strangers. See what she knew was that the situation she was in was very dangerous and she would need to do it the right way to make sure she was not hurt. In England the U.N. did a study and they said out of 87,000 people killed worldwide in 2017, 58% of them victims died of domestic or family violence.

This is something that we can change. Men we have to understand the impact of the actions we are committing. Every time you put your hands on the mother of your children, what does that say to your children? How does that make your son feel about you? Would you want someone to treat your daughter that way? Chances are someone will, that is the sad reality we are facing if we don’t do something now to break the curse. Women and men alike have to teach their son’s and daughter’s that putting their hands on people is not the way to get over our anger. This right here is one of the strongest reasons why I do not believe in spanking and yelling at your children like they the enemies. I’ve seen people traumatically abuse their own children calling them names that you wouldn’t believe a person would say to a child. What we need is to start teaching our young men and women accountability. Also we can teach them the signs that will warn them early that they are facing a domestic abuser. The sad part is that some men don’t even realize that they themselves are abusive so women have to understand and recognize the signs.

Taken directly from the https://ncadv.org/signs-of-abuse

https://ncadv.org/signs-of-abuse

What Are the “Warning Signs” of an Abuser?

Red flags and warning signs of an abuser include but are not limited to:

Extreme jealousy
Possessiveness
Unpredictability
A bad temper
Cruelty to animals
Verbal abuse
Extremely controlling behavior
Antiquated beliefs about roles of women and men in relationships
Forced sex or disregard of their partner’s unwillingness to have sex
Sabotage of birth control methods or refusal to honor agreed upon methods
Blaming the victim for anything bad that happens
Sabotage or obstruction of the victim’s ability to work or attend school
Controls all the finances
Abuse of other family members, children or pets
Accusations of the victim flirting with others or having an affair
Control of what the victim wears and how they act
Demeaning the victim either privately or publicly
Embarrassment or humiliation of the victim in front of others
Harassment of the victim at work

For anonymous, confidential help available 24/7, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 (SAFE) or 1-800-787-3224 (TTY) now.

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All Lives Matter, Except Black

Recognize what this is,…..we are living in a moment……This is our Moment!
Hakim Crampton

2020 has been quite a remarkable year that will most definitely be written about in history books. In my 36 years living on this earth, I myself have never experienced anything close to what we are going through at this very moment. I have never seen so much love and unity amongst people from all walks of life. I have witnessed a new generation born. They are young, hungry, and tired of the old status quo. They reject the teachings and prejudices of their ancestors and they will lead the revolution into the future. A future that Dr King dreamed of. A future Malcom X never thought would be possible.

Recognize the moment. Nascar a predominantly white american sport has banned the confederate flag from being flown in and during their races. Turn on any sports radio show and there are broadcasters not talking sports but talking about black lives and the importance of black lives. Weird times I have to admit, as a black man I’m not used to it and it’s really sad. We had to watch a man die for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, experiencing trauma that cannot be unseen. As George Floyd cried out for his mother to help him every mother on this earth felt that. As a man I watched with tears welling up in my eyes wanting to jump through the screen to help this man. At that moment I didn’t see a criminal. I saw a man desperate for life. I saw father and I saw myself.

I am George Floyd

I’m always the first to admit my past and my former ways of thinking led me to many encounters with police officers. I have been treated fairly and with respect by some, and I also have been beaten by others. It really just depends on the person. Some take the badge as a pass for anything goes. Some hold the badge with honor. Either way our society has taken a job which is meant to serve and protect and turned it into the biggest gang in our Country. Some simply don’t understand politics and how much it plays a factor in the policing strategies enforced upon us. Our neighborhoods are patrolled more than others, and the most shocking fact is that our neighborhoods are being watched over by people we don’t even know. Officers from places we cannot afford to buy land in. Officers who don’t know the cultural differences of the people they serve. Officers that have no connections to the community they serve.

The United States criminal justice system is the largest in the world. At year end 2015, over 6.7 million individuals ¹⁾ were under some form of correctional control in the United States, including 2.2 million incarcerated in federal, state, or local prisons and jails.²⁾ The U.S. is a world leader in its rate of incarceration, dwarfing the rate of nearly every other nation.³⁾
Such broad statistics mask the racial disparity that pervades the U.S. criminal justice system, and for African Americans in particular. African Americans are more likely than white Americans to be arrested; once arrested, they are more likely to be convicted; and once convicted, and they are more likely to experience lengthy prison sentences. African-American adults are 5.9 times as likely to be incarcerated than whites and Hispanics are 3.1 times as likely.⁴⁾ As of 2001, one of every three black boys born in that year could expect to go to prison in his lifetime, as could one of every six Latinos—compared to one of every seventeen white boys.⁵⁾ Racial and ethnic disparities among women are less substantial than among men but remain prevalent.⁶⁾
The source of such disparities is deeper and more systemic than explicit racial discrimination. The United States in effect operates two distinct criminal justice systems: one for wealthy people and another for poor people and people of color. The wealthy can access a vigorous adversary system replete with constitutional protections for defendants. Yet the experiences of poor and minority defendants within the criminal justice system often differ substantially from that model due to a number of factors, each of which contributes to the overrepresentation of such individuals in the system. As former Georgetown Law Professor David Cole states in his book No Equal Justice,
These double standards are not, of course, explicit; on the face of it, the criminal law is color-blind and class-blind. But in a sense, this only makes the problem worse. The rhetoric of the criminal justice system sends the message that our society carefully protects everyone’s constitutional rights, but in practice the rules assure that law enforcement prerogatives will generally prevail over the rights of minorities and the poor. By affording criminal suspects substantial constitutional rights in theory, the Supreme Court validates the results of the criminal justice system as fair. That formal fairness obscures the systemic concerns that ought to be raised by the fact that the prison population is overwhelmingly poor and disproportionately black.⁷⁾
https://www.sentencingproject.org/publications/un-report-on-racial-disparities/

We know All Lives Matter, but these black lives are being overlooked

Black people make up 14% of Michigan’s population but represent 40% of coronavirus deaths so far.

A lot of people look at these numbers and think the government is cooking the stats, or they inherently place the blame upon the Black people themselves chalking their plight up as cultural choices. Wrong! The Coronavirus had exposed America leaving us naked and vulnerable for the whole world to see. America doesn’t take care of it’s Black population. Now I’m not gonna bore you with meaningless stats but there’s a few key pieces that I would like to go over to prove my point. When you make a statement as bold as this one you have to have solid proof, but using some stats from our counties DHS it is very easy to see.

Healthcare Disparities

The biggest reason covid 19 is affecting the African American community is our healthcare system in general. Studies have shown that Blacks are less likely than whites to receive proper care and are also less likely to have the same access to proper care as their white counterparts. Studies show in Michigan the average life expectancy at birth for white males is 78.7, while black males 69.1. 10 year difference? Is this really chalked up to as poor life choices. Let’s look at some more numbers.

Blacks are more susceptible to Strokes and also heart disease. A big factor in this is access to fresh food options, and good grocery stores.

I know I said I wasn’t gonna bore you with stats but the numbers pretty much tell the whole story. Once you begin to studying the facts you can easily see some key factors that are at play to systemically that keep the black population unhealthy. Let’s look at the south side of Jackson where the African american community is largest. There are approximately 8 party stores within a 2.5 mile radius, while zero grocery stores. The public buses have a two bag limit so a person on the southside of town has no viable options for fresh fruit and vegetables leaving them with the processed food that is heavily marketed in these types of areas. We have party stores that sell fried foods for $1, as well as cigarettes, lottery, hot chips, and $1 shots of alcohol and beers. Walk on the street of any of these stores and you will literally see hundreds of empty $1 shots, cigarette butts, and bad lotto scratch offs. I know people have to do better at making choices but we also have to do better at providing us with better options. What drives me most crazy about our society is that we market so much evil to our and when they act upon the things they are taught then we turn around and call them monsters. Drugs, violence, and licentious sex dominates our children’s eyes and ears with every movie, video game, and music video. Yes we as a people have to do better with choices but society has to also show us that all lives matter. That every life has value, and equity. Help us by supporting us in first understanding why we are screaming black lives matter. Do not cause us further to be separated by society and it’s old ways.

As always spread love not hate. Positive energy over negative. Love you all

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Corona Blues

Quarantine orders brought down high chains resonating loudest amongst the poor. The ones unable to stock up two weeks of supplies. Already living check to check. For them the idea of buying up two weeks worth of supplies is frightening and seemingly impossible. For one food stamps don’t hit until the 20th of the month and money don’t come until the 3rd of the month. What am I supposed to do in this situation. I have no choice but to continue life the only way I know how.

African American people are one of the most resilient races on the planet earth. Maybe I can say this is one of the weirdest and most conflicting effects of slavery. We as a people have been through so much generational trauma that our bodies and minds have been conditioned to “bad times”. We have become desensitized to many things that would cause the average american trauma. This has given us a false sense of security, and maybe a little ignorance. Too often I’ve seen friends and family totally ignore this coronavirus and share memes saying it’s 5g, or fake news. Then I counter with real numbers showing the damage this virus is doing on african american cities and I get shrugs with responses such as, ” The government been trying to take us out forever now. Why worry about it now?”

Covid 19 simply isn’t scary enough to keep people in the house. Sad to say but in my opinion very true. Most people still feel as though the government panicked and is overreacting by shutting everything down. I even saw one man comment on a schools facebook page calling them stupid and irresponsible for closing school down until further notice due to covid. He felt as if we didn’t have enough information at that time, which we didn’t, but that wasn’t the schools fault it was our President.

From the very beginning our president had been downplaying coronavirus covid 19. He said it was flat out fake news! Ever since that first announcement all I’ve seen was this 5g conspiracy. As a person who loves technology and fast devices I am extremely excited for 5g. I have followed phone technology for over 10 years and I’ve always understood computers. I understand that communication is the most important resource we as a people have and to evolve it’s technology should always be a high priority. I’ve studied more on radiation since this lockdown then I ever cared to in my past. All I can say is study non ionizing radio waves.

The hardest part of this quarantine is that the low income community is forced to live life like regular. There is no quarantine for a person who works at Meijer or Walmart. A lot of people work fast food and are not afforded the luxury of work from home. In my opinion everyone forced to work in these conditions should be receiving some type of hazard pay. I also think about my residents who are disabled and living check to check, which only comes once a month. Imagine what this quarantine looks like for a person who can only afford to shop on the first or the third of every month. Will they have enough supplies to stay in?

Bored Yet

Loneliness is one of the biggest issues we have amongst this crisis. It was already a major issue in the low income community and we have even seen grants like the S.I.M. (State Innovation Model) were designed to tackle the issue of loneliness by creating community living rooms where people can come relax and socialize. With these shutdowns we had to close these rooms which left a lot of people with nowhere to go. The only saving grace I have is that we are all in this together. My wife said to me “you never wanted to go anywhere until you were told not too.” This resonated with me simply because of my past life of rebelliousness. Was this my subconscious screaming out for attention? I don’t know, maybe. One thing I can understand is the “need” for attention. Everyone needs some type of attention, whether it be a facebook post, or being the life of the party. No matter what type of attention whether negative or positive we as people have a natural inclination to gravitate towards it. No wonder people are having a hard time staying in the house. Think about the person who suffers from mental health and feels incapable of being alone, should he be judged because of it?

The judgement I’m seeing on facebook makes me cringe. A lot of people get on there and make assumptions without possessing any real facts. Before we judge people when we see them in the grocery store walking down isles together laughing and joking with no cares, let us first have consideration for the magnitude of the challenge we have as a society. It is extremely hard for people to force themselves into extreme isolation and we cannot be upset with them if they fail. Yes we can admonish the college students who went on spring break, but the person you see with kids playing in their yard? No. What else is a person to do with three children cooped up for hours? The parks are all closed for children to play. As long as it’s just your household playing in your yard I don’t see a problem with that, but many people do.

I think we must look at this quarantine as some type of restart at life. Learn to love each other in ways we used to. Remember, love is not a emotion. Love is an action. It is the act that shows love, not a feeling or speech. If we learn to really take care of each other and drop the selfishness our people will really see some change. We need more community soldiers! The other thing we can focus on is self. Understanding who you are as a person, what you want in life, who or what you would like to become, what makes you happy, what makes you sad, and what your heart desires? Learning self can take you a long way. Many people get so wrapped up with the cares of life that they end of pushing self to the back. Never knowing what it is that gives them true joy, real happiness. It wasn’t until I started writing again for work that I realized something in me “really” liked it. Funny how it all happened but working for a living showed me what my true passions were. I had no idea three years ago I would be so passionate about advocating, and being a helping hand. I never would have imagined me working for Community Action Agency, and never could I have saw myself doing so much work for free. I was raised by men who worked and expected to receive their just do after putting their hard earned time in. I was taught a man who don’t work, don’t eat.

I guess all of this is really just my way of saying during this lockdown let us not focus on what everyone else is doing, but let us focus on us and ways we can be better. For us first, our families second, and our community. I truly believe that our city is a city of love. We have more resources, organizations, and churches than I’ve ever seen! So many smiling faces willing to give back. I attend many trainings with social workers from all over Michigan. One of the most common traits of this working community is that they all have been through something. Many of them have high ACES scores. I believe that is the reason they choose to do the work they do. That experience of going through whatever it is you went through molds you into wanting to help others who may experience something similar to what you went through. If we all can come together, I believe we as a community would become self sufficient, and financially free. That’s for another discussion.

Like always, stay safe, keep the piece, and always when you can spread life and not death. Speak positive and not negative. The universe needs balance and right now I fear it has been out of balance for quite some time. Now is the time to get people to come together with love. Respect this virus an do the right thing, stay away. Be careful out there. Love, peace and happiness to all.

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America Not Ready For A Woman President

“Bigotry is based on deception, of oneself and of others.”
DaShanne Stokes

2020 makes 100 years since women in the United States were given the so called “right” to vote, African American women only 55 years. When I realized that it was only 20 years before I was born that women in my family were even allowed to walk up to the polls, it proved my feelings even more. It’s really sad that after all this time we still live in a country that separates people through classism, racism, and sexism. Martin Luther King had a dream, and his dream has come true. We are making major improvements in leaps and bounds, but in many areas we are still struggling for that perfect picture of equality. I truly fear equality will never be achieved simply because the country we live in and it’s principle of capitalism. Capitalism thrives off of one group making money off the other. Without the poor working and buying up all the products, the rich wouldn’t be rich. I personally have a dream. A dream where my daughter can walk down the street and not be judged by her outward beauty but by her intellect and nature. I pray for a day where she can go to work and get the same treatment as any other man in her field, and not have to subject herself to dealing with sexual harassment, and unequal pay. For the day where she can look in the mirror and be proud of who she is and not let a magazine determine what true beauty is. Sadly, until we change the perception of what a woman is and should be we will be a long ways away from seeing woman get this dream.

I said to my wife the other day, ” Wouldn’t it be pretty cool to see a successful single mother become President of the United States!”

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

President Obama was a blessing to the African American community for more reasons then I can actually say here, but one of the biggest things he did was show our young men that there are higher places to reach! Women have grown and evolved much since gaining rights to vote. Now a days women are going further in education and becoming primary breadwinners in their homes. Holding down higher positions and for longer than ever before in our history. Numbers show that during the last recession our country had in 2010, women held jobs as men lost them. This in my opinion was the shift that changed the economic landscape of our communities and we saw the great role reversal. It was very common during those times to see men staying home, cooking, cleaning, and watching the children as the wife or girlfriend went to work or school. Some woman were left to fight this fight alone and number show how hard it is on them.

Single motherhood has grown so common in America that today 80 percent of single-parent families are headed by single mothers — nearly a third of those live in poverty.
https://singlemotherguide.com/single-mother-statistics/

Imagine the inspiration our daughters would get from turning on the news and seeing a strong woman lead our country with intelligence and compassion like we’ve never seen before. No one on earth loves harder than mothers. A woman can run and manage things a man simply cannot. They tune in to things we cannot perceive. Every man can attest to the feeling of knowing that his wife knows everything. She can sense when you are doing wrong, and when you are hurt and in need. She cares for her house, her career, and her children. All while balancing her goals and aspirations.

Why I feel America isn’t ready for a woman to lead our country is because of our choice in current President. When this man said he grabbed women by the crotch I was most positive that women in our country would not vote for him, but sadly I was proven very wrong. Not only did they vote for him but they love him. Which furthers shows why we are not ready. Do to old and out dated traditions and values women still don’t appreciate themselves. They still struggle with self respect, and owning their current role in society. Women are strong but yet weak in this one aspect as to always deferring to man. How else could women ride with a man who shows you daily he has no respect for them and only views them as pieces of meat to be looked at and conquered. A man who does not respect the intelligence a woman possesses. Point proven with how he treats Governor Whittemore.

Our media still plays a major role on the sexism in our country. We sell sex and we tell our women that they are not beautiful because they don’t look like the women that they show us daily on tv, movies, and magazines. Plastic surgery has become the new norm in our society and women of all races are lining up for bigger booties and smaller wastelines. Constantly social media glorifies women who twerk and show off more parts of their bodies than ever was allowed when I was growing up. Kids are experimenting with sex younger and younger, having babies early and earlier. It’s time for us to show better role models for our young women to look up to.

In order to reverse the current trends we as men have to step up and protect the rights of women. If not for our sakes think about our daughters that we will leave behind. Generation after generation of women with your dna destined for the same or something better? We need to let the women in our lives know that they are valued, and that we understand that their beauty is forever. We need to uplift our women and fight for them to be treated the same as we are. Our country still struggles in many areas but let us not continue to treat women the way we do. One of the major hurdles standing in the way of women equality is religion. Religion has a tradition of devaluing the women subjecting her role to follower of man and nothing else. Still to this day women who preach are looked at as if it’s some sin against God himself. Until we change perception reality will always be what it is today. We must teach our women that they are more than sex symbols. That she does not have to show her body to generate worth. She is destined for more than a stripper pole and high heels. Today’s woman is smart, beautiful. Not because of her outward appearance but because of her soul, and her compassion. She is ready to evolve into her truest form, if we allow her.

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Phones Update More Than Schools

The nation’s school system did not suddenly decline. Imagine a golden age of schooling, perhaps the 1950s. The highest test scores of that period would be inadequate for the present.
Arthur Levine

I’ve always argued our school systems grading system. I would constantly get in trouble for bringing home C’s and D’s. I would explain to my dad that this only meant that I was average. Also meaning just as smart as most of the people we come in contact with, so what’s wrong with that?

Our school systems here in America are seriously behind. It’s sad that we have been teaching children the same industrial way since the 1950s. We do not encourage free thinking, or creativeness. We create factory workers, and we ship children from schools to prisons.

It is well known in the education community that some schools are targeting minorities, and children with disabilities, instead of preparing them for their success they are preparing them for prison. With policies aimed toward discrimination. They use it as a tool to further oppress low income communities.

Phones update more than schools

It’s 2020 and the sad thing is our phones, computers, and even tvs have all evolved faster than our school systems. We have been teaching kids the same way for hundreds of years. Once I was on my own as a young adult I realized all of the things school didn’t prepare me for. I realized my school never taught financial responsibility, they didn’t show me the connections of how the current lessons they were teaching would relate to my everyday life. I mean outside of math teachers. They constantly remind you that you’re going to need math in order to survive. I get that, but what I’m talking about is really preparing kids for their future. Everyone is not the same. Science has taught us many things over the years, and I believe it is time to start to recognize the patterns in people. We are all different but in a weird way we are all the same. Some of us need attention some don’t. Some people thrive under pressure and some can not. When it comes to people there is no one way to skin a cat. In my 35 years of life I have come across men who are financially wealthy, who went to college, got good career jobs, and are living the dream. I also know men who have bachelor’s degrees and work at Dollar general. I know women with art degrees working in shoe stores. I have also met men who have never attended middle school, but yet are successful owning multiple houses and properties. I know farmers who only went to school to learn to read and write and now have millions. So what does school really do for you now a days? Will it teach you how to be ready for the current world we live in? I don’t think so. Our school system was built and molded during a time where people lived simple lives. During those times, we trained women to stay home and make babies. Men were expected to work in factories or farm. This was the american way of life, at that time. Now we do not farm in the way they did. We do not manufacture the way they did. We have robots which can do the work it took 10 men to do. We are living in a time where brain power and innovation is worth millions. Instead of teaching children how to sit still for four hours and raise hands when spoken to. Why not teach children to think freely. To be inquisitive, and then once a child finds himself mold that child and tailor him for his future. For instance, If you see as a teacher a child who excels in working with his hands and is very creative. Gear that child’s education to his specific needs.

The factory model of education shows that schools were originally built to train future factory workers during the industrial revolution. The belief at the time was “the back door of the school lead to the front door of the factory”, and students should only be taught the essential skills required to become a successful factory worker.

From Factory to Personalized Learning

Educators are now realizing several barriers that once stood in the way of an individual’s ability to learn. One simply overlooked barrier is dialect. Most textbooks in school are written in a very standard form of english that many inner city people simply do not speak. It is quite common in low income neighborhoods to hear words and terms used in ways typical english does not. For instance now a days the children say. “No Cap”, as a way of saying “I’m telling the truth, or not lying”. If someone calls you an “Opp or Opps”, that means you are looked at as an enemy or opposition.

In my opinion we need to change the way textbooks are written. We don’t need to reinvent the wheel just alter it a little bit to tailor the needs of our children. I wouldn’t create ebonics textbooks, but what I would do is teach children correct sentences and verbiage through music. Music is something that every child engages with. I know two year old children that kow whole Cardi B songs. Sad, but true. We could use music and lyrical education to totally change the way our children communicate.

We need to give children choices and teach them consequences. Action and reaction. That’s the real way the world works anyway. For every action there is a reaction. If you commit a crime, you go to jail. If you don’t pay your bills your car’s gone. This is the way of our lives. I believe too many children are mislead into life thinking the old models of life will apply for them today. Many of our children are suffering with PTSD like symptoms from ACES they have suffered with since birth. We know what that type of trauma does to the brain and it’s decision making abilities. We now can ask what happened to this child? Instead of asking what’s wrong with it.

We need to teach our children programming and coding. Computers and robots are the future. A young man who can program CNC machines fresh out of high school would be very valuable to a company for 40 years! Instead of teaching outdated history filled with lies and misleading information. We could fill that with time where we teach children to create things with their minds. Teach them to innovate. I feel like America doesn’t invent anything anymore. India has now blown us away when it comes to technology and education. We can change that by teaching our children technology early.

Personalized learning catering a child’s education based upon their ability to learn it is going to be key to success. We can accurately measure where a child is and give them the extra learning in the areas where they need it. This way no child is left behind, and it will show children that teachers and educators really care and are not trying to shove this cookie cutter way of things at you. Every child is not the same and we cannot continue to treat their education as if they are all going to be the same. In other country I hear they learn multiple methods to solve a problem. In america we teach one so as not to confuse the children. Even math is wrong sometimes, depending on where you go in the world.

Changing the way we educate and tailoring it to the world we live in today is going to be crucial to really making a difference in our children’s education. Today’s high school student should be ready and prepared for today’s workforce. Some schools are starting to understand this and are offering career skills with classes that offer job skills tailored for specific companies needs. How we could do this in Jackson is by creating a cnc class. Teach young men to run and program these machines. Doing this will almost guarantee a better start for these children then we had. Imagine a four year class during high school and once you graduate you can apply for TAC or MACI. In my opinion this would be amazing. What are your thoughts on this? What change would you make in our school systems? Should career development be more of a focus in high school or college? Leave me a comment with your response!

Like alway Jackson, be careful out there during this crisis. Guard your family with care. Don’t forget about the underprivileged ones. Before we buy things we don’t need just think about the one person who may need those items. Survival does not have to include selfishness. The way we react during times like this defines who we are as people! Love you always Jackson.

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I Had COVID 19 And Recovered

*Disclaimer: I have not been tested for Coronavirus COVID19*

I know this article looks like click bait, but please hear me out for a bit. Never would I have made a thought like this public, but I have talked to many people here in Michigan that feel the same way I do about this. At first, like everyone else, I thought this virus was some government scam. Some type of conspiracy, especially when the President said it was fake news. The thing that made me pay attention was all the shutdowns. When did the coronavirus first hit the United States?

The novel coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2 was first detected in the U.S. on Jan. 20 in a 35-year-old man who had traveled to Wuhan, China, before returning to Washington state. Since then, the virus that causes COVID-19 disease has spread to at least 65,625 people in the U.S., across all 50 states. (Taken from) https://www.livescience.com/coronavirus-updates-united-states.html

Why I Felt I Had Coronavirus?

I live in Jackson, Michigan. I go to work like everyone else, I barely take sick days. This one morning was much different than any other morning I’ve had in my life! I wake up every morning before the sun. Typically around 5am. I usually spend this time thanking Our Great Creator, reflecting on gratitudes, and lastly ordering my days tasks. Needless to say, I enjoy this quiet time and it has become essetial to the success of my day.

Flashback to January 29th, 2020. I suffer from insomnia so it’s not uncommon for me to run a full days workload off of 4 hours of sleep. This was one of those days where I only slept a few hours and as a lifelong asthma sufferer I was feeling like an elephant was on my chest. I was having a hard time breathing, I had a cough that made me feel like something would come up but nothing ever did, and I had a terrible fever.

Against the judgement of my wife, I Dr googled my symptoms and determined that I was suffering from the Flu. Which wouldn’t have been a far stretch, since I work in the field I do, I come in contact with many people in a week. On top of that, my wife works at the hospital, and my daughter is also a medical assistant at HFA. My exposure level to all the latest colds and viruses is always high.

This one like I said before was different. I felt a fatigue like no other. I slept a considerable amount of the day, while taking a steady 4 hour regimen of cold and flu medicine, while every few hours I would drink some Hot tea or soup.

Just to be clear, none of these things worked. Only time I felt any comfort was when I was laying down. Soon as I would stand up, my head would feel light, airy, and unstable. I had a constant fever the whole day. Only managed by the constant every four hours of taking cold and flu pills. I distinctly remember asking my mom to look out for me and pick my wife up from work for me, because obviously I’m too sick to even move

Like any other mother, mines felt the need to bring me some hot soup and other sick supplies. When she came through the door, she immediately saw me lying on the couch. I was totally covered from head to toe. I had layers of clothing on plus a hoodie and my blanket covering me completely. I was drenched in sweat. My wife yells at me, “What’s wrong with you? You can’t cover up like that while you have a fever! You’re going to kill yourself doing that s!##!” My response, just like a man was, ” I’m sweating the virus out. I got this.” You could literally smell the virus spewing out of my pores. My body a smell similar to something rotting. My wife advised I should take a shower to in her words, “wash the sickness off.”

I did that, and it worked. After my steaming hot shower I felt a whole lot better. Actually, I believe it was the combination of two straight days of taking cold and flu medicine while limiting food intake to hot fluids and soups. I believe my body being healthy and strong had time to build up the antibodies to be able to defeat the virus. I have personally worked through episodes of walking pneumonia, I have fought through bronchitis, and bad asthma days. This time, I could do nothing. I had zero energy. None. Scrolling Facebook was even too much for me. I’ve never experienced anything like this is my life. Took me a total of 3 days before I was able to get back to my regular routine, but I was still slower than usual. Wasn’t as sharp as I usually am. The breathing issues would improve over the course of the next few days.

While at home suffering I researched different home remedies, and formulas for staying healthy. I really started researching vegan, and paleo diets. I stumbled across the amazing Black and began studying the uses of it. One of the things that amazed me about it was that it had so many medical properties. I found articles from medical journals where studies were done with black seed oil versus various illnesses from a wide range. Asthma, high blood pressure, diabetes, inflammation, cough, headache, eczema, fever, dizziness and the flu. Black cumin is known as the oil of the Pharaohs as black cumin seeds supposedly appeared in the tomb of Tutankhamun so that its properties would accompany him in the afterlife. Cleopatra used black seed oil in her bath, and Nefertiti used black seed oil as part of her skin care routine. Why haven’t I ever heard of this wonder drug of a plant? Seems to me that our government makes a lot of money off of us being sick. Therefore, they care less about giving us information that will really keep us healthy. They tend to ban all things used to naturally heal. For example canibus, mushrooms, and Dmt. Read this article for further clarification. https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/newsroom/news-releases/fast-acting-psychedelic-associated-with-improvements-in-depressionanxiety

Just because I believe I’ve personally come in contact with COVID 19, it doesn’t mean that my experience will be the same as yours. My personal home remedies may not work with you. Don’t do like me and not see a doctor. At the time, there was no tests available for COVID 19, so I treated my sickness like the flu. If I had experienced even one of those symptoms now, I would be storming to the hospital to get checked. Young and healthy people are dying from this. I believe us men will definitely suffer from this because we have stigmatised going to the doctor and just being sick in general. Many men I know will skip the doctor and just self care. I feel sorry for their wives. Especially if they are anything like me when they are sick. If you are coughing a dry cough, fever, shortness of breath, loss of smell, or taste. Please go see a doctor to get tested immediately.

Like always, stay safe Jackson. I love you. I have a list of a few resources you may need during this time I will list them here.

If you are calling CAA for assistance here are some helpful numbers:

Jackson – 517-784-4800

If you need help and have a child in Head Start or Early Head Start dial 1228
Veteran Services dial 1229
Housing (non-Veteran) dial 1294
Utility Assistance dial 1222 and leave a message
Weatherization dial 1272
Volunteer Income Tax Program dial 1237 and leave a message
Buying a House or Financial Stability services dial 1280
Facing Tax or Mortgage Foreclosure dial 1280
To reach the CEO dial 1241

CHRISTS KINGDOM MINISTRIES

FOOD PANTRIES

* DUE TO COVID-19 PANDEMIC:
– ALL FOOD WILL BE PRE-BOXED – CAN PICK-UP FOOD FOR SOMEONE IN NEED WHO IS UNABLE TO COME – PARTICIPANTS MUST SIGN AN FDA REQUIRED FORM TO RECEIVE FOOD – MUST SHOW PICTURE ID – WALK-IN ACCEPED, FIRST COME FIRST SERVE …

501 South Elm Avenue | Jackson, MI 49203 | (517) 879-5680

SAINT JOHNS UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST