Kenneth Davis

"We've got 'cops' as a nickname," Appelhans said.

"We're not 'cops.' I'm listed, just like every other deputy here is listed,

as a peace officer. We're here to keep the peace.

And so that's really kind of one of the big changes

I've wanted to have law enforcement focus on."

THOUGHT FOR CONSIDERATION 

     As a student at the Wyoming Law Enforcement Academy, 

Aaron Appelhans used to look at the photos of past graduating

classes hanging on the wall. "I got to see, for the most part, ain't

a whole lot of people that looked like me around here," he

recalled of the mainly white faces.

     A decade later, Appelhans was appointed Wyoming's first

Black sheriff, a post he took months after fury over racist

policing roiled U.S. cities. His turf includes one of Wyoming's

last Democratic strongholds, but the state is overwhelmingly 

conservative and white and he's already faced a racist remark

from a lawmaker.

     "I don't look like everybody else, I don't think like everybody

else. Some people are going to have some problems with that,

just based on the way I look. That's a problem in America,"

Appelhans said.

Kenneth Davis

"The ACLU has proven itself as an invaluable voice in the fight

for civil rights in the last four years of the Trump era,

and we are better positioned than ever to face the work ahead."

THOUGHT FOR CONSIDERATION

Deborah Archer, a clinical law professor at New York University,

has been elected as the new president of the American Civil

Liberties Union -- the first Black person to hold the

position. "After beginning my career as an ACLU fellow, it is

an honor to come full circle and now lead the organization as

board president," Archer said in a statement.

Kenneth Davis

     Almost 20 years after Jackie Robinson broke Major League

Baseball’s color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947,

Ashford did the same when he became the first black umpire in

the majors. Ashford debuted on April 11, 1966, in the

Washington Senators’ game against the Cleveland Indians in

D.C. Stadium. 

THOUGHT FOR CONSIDERATION 

     Emmett Littleton Ashford (November 23, 1914 – March 1,

1980), nicknamed Ash, was the first African American umpire in

Major League Baseball, working in the American League from

1966 to 1970. Before working in baseball, the 5-foot-7, 180-

pound postal worker played semi-pro baseball in Los Angeles

and was asked to be a fill-in official. Ashford enjoyed it so much

that he decided to take a leave of absence in 1951 to become an

umpire.

     He began his career in the Southwest International League

and jumped to the Pacific Coast League in 1954. Said Ashford to 

The New York Times: “Ballplayers are a peculiar lot. The game

is their bread and butter. If you call ’em right — the strikes and

balls and the base decisions — that’s all they want. They don’t

care whether you’re white or black, Eskimo or Indian.”

Kenneth Davis

BIRTHDAY GREETINGS

TO

JACQUELINE SAWYER CASEY

It's not that diamonds are a girl's best friend,

but it's your best friends who are your diamonds.

It's your best friends who are supremely resilient,

made under pressure and of astonishing value.

They're everlasting; they can cut glass if they need to.

~Gina Barreca~

     A joyous birthday to you my friend. May I officially welcome

you to North Carolina, via the website. Our friendship has

continued to glisten as an array of heirloom diamonds on

display at Tiffiny & Company. Today is a great day to be in

Charlotte and Raleigh NC. The weather is fantastic! You'll have

to travel two hours west, if you want to see some snow...LOL

     As you celebrate with the family today, may you all have a

great time of spirited conversations, full of gratitude and

blessings. May your gifts be bountiful, astonishing and

everlasting. I wish you a Lin Rountree day of celebration...May

it be full of Sumthin' Good....enjoy and be safe my friend.... 

Margie McRae (Reed)

Happy Birthday Jackie!

Former Classmate, Former Church Member, & Forever Friend!

Hope Your Day has been Great and that you were able to celebrate with your Wonderful Family!

Be Blessed!

Margie

Kenneth Davis

     “It warms my heart to know that I can potentially have younger girls

and boys look up to me,” Jackson said. Jackson, a Lake Central High

School senior, said scouting has always been a part of her life. Her

mother is a scoutmaster, and her brother is also an Eagle Scout. But

Jackson does point out she has earned more merit badges than her

brother.

THOUGHT FOR CONSIDERATION 

     Kendall Jackson has become the first ever female

African-American Eagle Scout. A member of Gary’s Scout

Troop 53, Jackson was 14 years old when girls were first allowed

to join the Boy Scouts – and she wasted no time working her

way to the top of the ranks.

     When my brother, Kenny, was a Scout, my mother was his

Scoutmaster. Kenny is nine years older than me, and, at a young

age, I was consistently described as his “shadow.” If he was in

the dirt, I was in the dirt. If he was doing community service, I

was by his side. Since I was always at meetings and outings,

mom helped me learn how to be a Scout, too. Just as I learned

the Lord’s Prayer, the Beatitudes and the Twenty-Third Psalm

for church, I learned the Scout Oath and Law.

Kenneth Davis

We were what you would call a poor family, but we were rich in

so many things. We did family things together. We always had

dessert, even if it was just Jell-O. So, I never knew I was poor.

THOUGHT FOR TODAY 

     August Wilson (April 27, 1945 – October 2, 2005) was an American

playwright. He has been referred to as the "theater's poet of Black America".

He is best known for a series of ten plays collectively called The Pittsburgh

Cycle, which chronicle the experiences and heritage of the African-American

community in the 20th century. Plays in the series include, Jitney (1982),

Fences (1984), Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (1984), Joe Turner's Come and Gone

(1986), The Piano Lesson (1987), King Hedley II (1999). Two of his plays

received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and two of his other works won the Tony

Award for Best Play. In 2006 Wilson was inducted into the American Theatre

Hall of Fame.

     I don't look at our society today too much. My focus is still in the past, and

part of the reason is because what I do - the wellspring of art, or what I do - l

get from the blues. So I listen to the music of a particular period that I'm

working on, and I think inside the music is clues to what is happening with the

people. Blacks have traditionally had to operate in a situation where whites

have set themselves up as the custodians of the black experience.Confront the

dark parts of yourself, and work to banish them with illumination and

forgiveness. Your willingness to wrestle with your demons will cause your

angels to sing. 

Kenneth Davis

Frances Ellen Watkins Harper was an abolitionist,

suffragist, poet, teacher, public speaker, and writer.

She was one of the first African American women

to be published in the United States.

THOUGHT FOR CONSIDERATION 

     Frances Ellen Watkins Harper was born on September 24,

1825 in Baltimore, Maryland. An only child, Harper was born to

free African American parents. Unfortunately, by the time she

was three years old, both of her parents died and she became an

orphan. Harper’s aunt and uncle, Henrietta and William

Watkins, raised her after her parent’s death. Her uncle was an

outspoken abolitionist, practiced self-taught medicine,

organized a black literary society and established his own school

in 1820 called the Watkins Academy for Negro Youth. 

     As a poet, author, and lecturer, Frances Ellen Watkins Harper

was a household name in the nineteenth century. Not only was

she the first African American woman to publish a

short story, but she was also an influential abolitionist,

suffragist, and reformer that co-founded the National

Association of Colored Women’s Clubs.

Kenneth Davis

A wedding anniversary is the celebration of love,

trust, partnership, tolerance and tenacity.

The order varies for any given year.

~Paul Sweeney~

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO LARRY AND MARGIE REED

PHOTO COURTESY OF ESTELLA MAYHUE GREER

Kenneth Davis

"Unfortunately, across the world, that's how things seem to

work," Regina told Variety of the lack of representation for

female directors of color. "One woman gets a shot and if she

does not succeed, it shuts things down for years until someone

else gets a shot."

THOUGHT FOR CONSIDERATION 

     In 2019, she won a Golden Globe and a supporting actress

Oscar for her role in If Beale Street Could Talk. Regina King

made her directorial debut with the 2020 film "One Night in

Miami," a fictionalized film about a real-life encounter between

Malcolm X, Cassius Clay, Sam Cooke and Jim Brown in a Miami

hotel room. The movie was the first film directed by an

African American woman to ever be selected for the

Venice Film Festival.

     Regina King will play Shirley Chisholm in the new biopic

Shirley. The new biopic centers on Chisholm, the first Black

U.S. congresswoman, and her 1972 presidential

campaign. The film aims to give an intimate, behind-the-

scenes portrait of Chisholm during a seminal period in

American history.

Kenneth Davis

The McKissack and McKissack architectural tradition dates back to the

first Moses McKissack (1790-1865) of the West African Ashanti tribe,

who was sold into slavery to William McKissack of North Carolina

and became a master builder. 

THOUGHT FOR CONSIDERATION 

     In 1822 he married Mirian (1804-1865), a Cherokee, and they

had fourteen children. The ninth child, Gabriel Moses

McKissack (1840-1922), continued in the building trade he

learned from his father. Like his father, Gabriel Moses II taught

the building skills to his son, Moses McKissack III (1879-1952).

     In 1905, Moses McKissack founded McKissack & McKissack

alongside his brother Calvin. Theirs was the first Black-

owned architectural firm in the United States and is

now the oldestBlack-owned firm in the country. Their

grandfather, for whom Moses was named, came to the U.S. in

1790 as a slave who worked under a contractor that used him as

a master builder. He would later pass on the lessons he learned

to his son, who then taught Moses and Calvin. The brothers

designed buildings like the Civil Rights Museum in

Memphis, the Carnegie Library at Fisk University and

the  Universal Life Insurance building in Memphis.

Kenneth Davis

The right of every American to first-class citizenship

is the most important issue of our time.

I'm not concerned with your liking 

or disliking me...

All I ask is that you respect me as a human being.

~Jackie Robinson~

THOUGHT FOR CONSIDERATION

     I was raised in a sort of village. I have a huge family, and I

think there is strength in that. It helped me to deal with some of

the complications of living in the South because I always felt like

I belonged, no matter what. You have to cherish things in a

different way when you know the clock is ticking, you are under

pressure. You're not free unless you can show the good and the

bad, all sides of them. 

     So to me, when I play a character, it's important that I can

show every aspect of them. Some people would view Jackie

Robinson as a very safe African-American, a docile figure who

had a tendency to try to get along with everyone, and when you

look at his history, you learn that he has this fire that allows him

to take this punishment but also figure out savvy ways of giving

it back.

~Chadwick Boseman~

Kenneth Davis

Remarks by Ambassador Robert Wood at the Conference on Disarmament Plenary Meeting

February 4, 2021

     As I’m sure you have all seen, yesterday, the United States and the

Russian Federation completed the necessary legal procedures to

extend the New START Treaty for five years. The extension agreement

is now in force. As the U.S. Commissioner of the New START Treaty’s

implementation body, the Bilateral Consultative Commission (BCC), I

know first-hand how important verification is to the legitimacy and

effectiveness of this treaty. It takes constant engagement, oversight

and transparent communication regardless of what else may be

happening in the relationship or the world at large.

THOUGHT FOR CONSIDERATION 

     Robert A. Wood is a diplomat who has spent his career in public

affairs, helping to shape the image of the United States, and in roles

that guide the country’s relations with multilateral organizations.

Wood received his bachelor’s degree from the City University of New

York, before joining the United States Foreign Service through the U.S.

Information Agency in 1988. During his early career as a foreign

service officer, Mr. Wood served in several postings at the State

Department in Washington, D.C., including as a public affairs advisor

for the Bureau of African Affairs, as a special assistant to the Under

Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, and in several

positions dealing with the Balkan nations, which include Albania,

Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Macedonia,

Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, and Slovenia.

     His early overseas posts in the foreign service included several

public affairs positions in Mexico City, Mexico; Lagos, Nigeria;

Islamabad, Pakistan; and Pretoria, South Africa. This public affairs

work prepared Wood for many leadership positions within the U.S.

government’s foreign policy apparatus at home and abroad. After

confirmation by the U.S. Senate on July 21, 2014, Ambassador Wood

took up his new post. In his dual roles, he is responsible for moving

forward the administration’s agenda of seeking “to promote peace and

security in a world without nuclear weapons.” As part of this nuclear

disarmament agenda, he also leads U.S. efforts to promote the Nuclear

Non-Proliferation Treaty, or NPT, review process, including issues

related to the NPT’s Article VI which addresses nuclear disarmament.

Margie McRae (Reed)

Kenneth Davis

     “The question today is not whether we can ride on the front of the

bus, but whether the bus comes to our communities and whether we

have bus fare,” Mr. Williams wrote in an Op-Ed article in The New

York Times in 1976. “The issue is no longer whether blacks have an

equal opportunity to get a job, but whether there is a job to get.”

THOUGHT FOR CONSIDERATION 

     Eddie Nathan Williams was born Aug. 18, 1932, in Memphis to Edie

Williams, a jazz pianist, who died when he was young, and the former

Georgia Lee Barr. He was raised by his mother, a hotel maid. After

graduating in 1956 with a bachelor’s degree from the University of

Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he had majored in journalism, he

worked for The Memphis Star-Times, a black-oriented newspaper;

served in the Army and was discharged as a first lieutenant; and

became a reporter for another black paper, The Atlanta Daily

World. After working for the State Department, he served on the staffs

of three Capitol Hill Democrats, Representative James Roosevelt of

California and Senators Hubert H. Humphrey of Minnesota and

Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts.

     He became director of the Center for Policy Study at the University

of Chicago in 1968 and was later named its vice president for public

affairs. He also wrote columns for The Chicago Sun-Times. In 1970,

Kenneth B. Clark, an educator and psychologist, and Louis E. Martin, a

former White House aide under Lyndon B. Johnson, founded the Joint

Center for Political Studies. In 1972 Williams was named President of

the Center.  He changed the name to the Joint Center for Political and

Economic Studies to address economic problems as well. Eddie led the

Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies for 32 years from 1972

to 2004.  When he arrived, the focus was on basic research and

practical political education such as how to register to vote. Over time

he evolved the Center into an advocacy group which worked with U.S.

Presidents and Congressional leaders to address the problems of

African Americans. The Center also trained and nurtured the next

generation of Black political leaders, boosting the Black presence in

local, state, and national politics and making a significant impact on

social and economic issues. 

Kenneth Davis

TO MARGIE McRAE REED

AND

OTHER PHENOMENAL CLASSMATES

Kenneth Davis

     “I am not attempting to carry the load for all Negro singers,” McFerrin had

told the New York Post prior to his debut, but in reality the load he had to

carry transcended vocal concerns. One major reason for his truncated career

was management’s fear of the reaction of audiences to seeing black males on

stage as husbands or lovers of white females.

THOUGHT FOR CONSIDERATION 

     Born on March 19, 1921 in Marianna, Arkansas, Robert McFerrin was the

fourth of eight children of Melvin McFerrin and Mary McKinney McFerrin. 

The family moved to Memphis, Tennessee, when McFerrin was two years old. 

McFerrin first sang as a boy soprano in a church gospel choir.  During his early

teens McFerrin and two of his siblings travelled with their itinerant preacher

father, singing hymns, spirituals, and gospel songs at churches in the area.

Wishing for him to get a better education, in 1936 McFerrin’s parents sent him

to live with his uncle and aunt in St. Louis, Missouri.  It was when he was a

student at Sumner High School in St. Louis during an audition for the school

choir that McFerrin so impressed the choir director he was given private

classical vocal training.

     McFerrin attended Fisk University for a year, and in 1941 got a scholarship

to Chicago Musical College, where he started winning vocal competitions.

After serving in the military for World War II from 1943 to 1945, McFerrin

returned to Chicago Musical College and obtained his undergraduate degree.

In 1953, urged on by his manager, he entered the Metropolitan Opera’s

“Auditions of the Air,” which he won. Usually, the winner received a contract

and six months of training. In McFerrin’s case, he received no contract, and

his training lasted for thirteen months. The second African American and first

black male to sing at the Metropolitan Opera, McFerrin debuted on January

27, 1955, when he was cast as Amonasro in Aida.

     Racial politics rather than sound musical values dictated his being cast as

Amonasro. The black Ethiopian king (and father of Aida) has no love duets to

sing with white women. At five foot seven inches tall and 140 pounds, the

young McFerrin was hardly prepossessing on stage as an evil father-figure. His

even but not large voice was not displayed to its best advantage. McFerrin

eventually sang only ten performances at the Metropolitan Opera. He did,

however, record excerpts from Rigoletto in 1956 for the Metropolitan Opera

Club. In addition, there exists a 1956 recording taken from a live broadcast of

Aida from Naples, Italy. In 1958, he went to Hollywood to supply the vocals for

Sidney Poitier’s Porgy in the motion picture version of George Gershwin’s

Porgy and Bess. McFerrin and his wife decided to stay in California, where

they became music teachers. In 1973, following their divorce, McFerrin moved

back to St. Louis, where he lived until his death. In 1989, he suffered a stroke

that affected his speaking but not his singing. He occasionally performed with

his son, Bobby, and his daughter, Brenda. 

Kenneth Davis

 "Thank you for seeing the depth of culture, history, artistry, and

welcoming my vision of Afrofuture into the lexicon of American

filmmaking," proclaimed honoree Ruth E. Carter. "Most of all,

I dedicate this star to all the young and aspiring filmmakers.

THOUGHT FOR CONSIDERATION 

     Ruth E. Carter made history in 2019 as the first Black person

(and Black woman) to win an Academy Award for Costume

Design—a feat made even more special for the fact that the film that

earned her the award was 2018's Black Panther. This month, the

legendary costume designer—whose extensive list of credits also

includes The Five Heartbeats, Do the Right Thing, Malcolm X,

Amistad, Selma and the upcoming Coming 2 America, among others,

will be cemented into Hollywood history—literally. Motion Picture

Costume Designer Ruth E. Carter was honored with a star on the

Hollywood Walk of Fame via a virtual star ceremony on February 25,

2021.

      I drove to Hollywood 36 years ago...nothing was handed to me.

Every moment, every sacrifice, every effort was hard work inspired by

my passion. It's my hope that anyone who sacrifices, who beats these

streets of Hollywood, carrying their dreams in heavy garment bags full

of costumes, desiring to be the best, like I did, that when you gaze

upon my star feel my energy, feel the power of your own unique story

to realize your dreams so you too can reach your star. Wakanda

Forever."

Robbin Houston (Houston)

Kenneth Davis

Thanks for the encouragement Robbin ! February has been designated

the month to celebrate Black History in the United States of America.

March has been designated the month to celebrate Women’s History in

the United States of America. Time for some additional inspiration....

THOUGHT FOR CONSIDERATION

     “Of all the evils for which man has made himself responsible, none is

so degrading, so shocking or so brutal as his abuse of the better half of

humanity; the female sex.” ~Mahatma Gandhi~

     MIAMI (CBSMiami) — March is National Women’s History Month, an

annual celebration to honor the women who came before us and fought for

equality among all races and genders. It was established in 1987. While

America is full of influential women today, hundreds of women came before

them, paving the way. Women’s History Month serves as a way to not only

remember them but keep carrying their torch onward.

     In 1777, all states passed a law that took away women’s rights to vote. In

1855, a black woman who was a slave was declared property with no right to

defend herself against her master’s act of rape. There was a time when a single

woman in the U.S. couldn’t get a line of credit, a mortgage or a car loan

without help from a man. Flight attendants could be fired for gaining weight or

getting married. Women were expected to stay home, raise the children and

make sure dinner was on the table when her husband got home from work.

     Not that long ago, domestic violence was always a private matter; rape

happened because of what women wore or how women behaved; birth control

wasn’t openly discussed and unwed mothers were shamed and sent away to

have their baby. In 1947, the U.S. Supreme Court stated that women are

equally qualified with men to serve on juries. Now, women can do so much

more than being able to own their own property and serve on a jury. Women

can vote, and women have voices, all thanks to those who fought for equality.

     America now has its first female vice-president, every board of directors in

the S&P 500 has a woman on the board; and, following the 2020 election,

women now make up a quarter of all members of the 117th Congress. Women’s

History Month is designed to celebrate the contributions women have made to

the U.S. and recognize the specific achievements women have made over the

course of American history.

Kenneth Davis

BIRTHDAY GREETINGS

TO

TILTON FOSSETT

The man who makes everything that leads to happiness

depends upon himself, and not upon other men,

has adopted the very best plan for living happily.

This is the man of moderation, the man

of manly character and of wisdom.

~Plato~

     Birthday greetings to you Esquire Fossett. You've weathered the

most recent Texas storm and now you've begun a new journey. May

your day be blessed with a family gathering, to embrace the gratitude

that comes with love, life and survival. My your communications with

friends today be encouraging and heartfelt.

     Today is the first day of the rest of your life, so may you have a

Jonathan Fritzén type of day. I wish you a "Fritzenized" kind of

celebration...May you embrace the start of  "A New Beginning"....stay

safe my friend....

Kenneth Davis

What 100 Years of Women's Suffrage

Means for Women of Color

Kenneth Davis

BIRTHDAY GREETINGS

TO

LINDA BROWN, RICKY GARRETT

&

JAMES STONE

Friendship is something whose depth fits human aspirations

and fulfills human possibilities. It has heft to it,

as a gold-piece does and a gambling chip does not.

~Eugene Kennedy~

     The birthday trilogy for March 2nd is represented by a supreme group of

Deity, Divinity and Discerning individuals. However, such  descriptive words

are of my own sentiments and therefore allow the admission of your separate 

frame of reference. I believe that Linda, James and Ricky would commend

your  presumption also. Bundled together, each them enhances the power

and strength of dynamite; manageably explosive, inspiringly sensative and

more effective than black powder. Just my right mixture of chemistry to have

as a friend. 

     Best known as a star of the American reality-television show The Real

Housewives of Beverly Hills, Yolanda Hadid quoted the following: "Nobody

likes to be judged, including me, but I am the first to say that I am far from

perfect. The core of people don't change... what you see is what you get. There

are many different shapes of friendships to be had. Fake friends believe in

rumors. Real friends believe in you. I have learned that friendship isn't about

who you've known the longest, it's about who came and never left your side.

Some people come into our life as a blessing, while others come into our life

as a lesson, so love them for who they are instead of judging them for who

they are not".  I must agree with Yolanda, "Love them for who they are,

instead of judging them for who they are not". This trilogy of March 2nd Baby 

Boomers", have been a collective of  different friendship shapes, blessings and

lessons learned, along my scattered path of life. Thank you!

     As each of you celebrate today, may you and your family members be

collectively anointed with the blessings of grace and favor befitting a supreme

group of Deity, Divinity and Discerning individuals. I wish you a Julian

Vaughn type of day...a day of joyous explosions, organized by "Black

Dynamite"....May you have a Supreme day of celebration....stay safe my

friends..... 

James Stone

Kenneth Davis

BESSIE COLEMAN (1892-1926)
Elizabeth “Bessie” Coleman was born in Atlanta, Texas, on January 26, 1892 as

the tenth of thirteen children to parents George and Susan Coleman. The

family settled in Waxahachie, Texas, and worked as sharecroppers. Her

mother encouraged Bessie’s schooling when she showed an aptitude for math.

At the age of 18 Coleman enrolled in the Oklahoma Colored Agricultural and

Normal University (now called Langston University) in Langston, Oklahoma.