Marsha McMillian (Sherrod)

Kenneth Davis

    In the words of Barack Obama, "Thank you so much" Marsha for sharing this information. I hadn't communicated with Inez lately, and I'm grateful that she reached out to you, to disiminate this important information. The regular crew will be there, providing a place for seating, relaxation and fun times. Be prepared to enjoy yourselves and the overall festivities. It's all about the solidarity to benefit our "Great Alma Mater", and the LOVE that exists within the BTW Class of 1970....

Kenneth Davis

  T H O U G H T   F O R   C O N S I D E R A T I O N  
TODAY'S WORDS - FAITH AND DILIGENCE 

     It is profitable wisdom to know when we have done enough: much time and pains are spared in not flattering ourselves against probabilities. Right is right, even if everyone is against it, and wrong is wrong, even if everyone is for it. The secret of happiness is to count your blessings while others are adding up their troubles. A true friend freely, advises justly, assists readily, adventures boldly, takes all patiently, defends courageously, and continues a friend unchangeably. There can be no friendship where there is no freedom. Friendship loves a free air and will not be fenced up in straight and narrow enclosures. Choose a friend as thou dost a wife, till death separate you.
    Friendship is the next pleasure we may hope for: and where we find it not at home, or have no home to find it in, we may seek it abroad. It is a union of spirits, a marriage of hearts, and the bond thereof virtue. We are told truly that meekness and modesty are the rich and charming garments of the soul. The less showy our outward attire is, the more distinctly and brilliantly does the beauty of these inner garments shine. 
     O Lord, help me not to despise or oppose what I do not understand. Patience and diligence, like faith, remove mountains. Unless virtue guide us, our choice must be wrong. We are apt to love praise, but not deserve it. But if we would deserve it, we must love virtue more than that. The use fullest truths are plainest; and while we keep to them, our differences cannot rise high. Love is the hardest lesson in Christianity; but, for that reason, it should be most our care to learn it.

Kenneth Davis

BIRTH ANNIVERSARY GREETINGS
 TO 
HELLEN SUTTLES SHAW

     Celebrate what you've accomplished, but raise the bar a little higher each time you succeed. Follow your heart and make it your decision. A winner is that person who gets up one more time than she is knocked down.

Mia Hamm

Kenneth Davis

WELLNESS WEDNESDAY
 

The Best Juice to Sip on To Reduce Inflammation, Says Dietitian
By Kiersten Hickman Updated Jan. 27, 2024
https://www.thehealthy.com/

     Even though some juices on the market are loaded with added sugars and may not be completely good for your health, other juices can actually benefit your health in numerous ways. For instance, although it may not be a popular choice, tart cherry juice is known to reduce inflammation in the body and aiding with muscle recovery after a workout.
     If you struggle with inflammation, you know how dangerous it can be; according to Harvard Medical School, chronic inflammation is linked to heart disease, diabetes, cancer and arthritis as well as diseases like Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis. Anything that can offers relief can be a big help, so Jessica Isaacs, RD, CSSD, with Cheribundi, spoke to The Healthy @Reader’s Digest about the specific ways drinking tart cherry can benefit your workouts, muscle recovery, and overall inflammation.
How does tart cherry juice reduce inflammation?
     “Tart cherry juice contains antioxidants and anti-inflammatory polyphenol compounds—micronutrients that occur naturally in plants—that have been shown by research to accelerate recovery from strength-based exercise, attenuate muscle inflammation and soreness, as well as improve markers of muscle [breakdown],” says Issacs.
     Issacs also points to two other studies to prove her point. One comes from the Journal of the International Society of Sports Medicine which shows how tart cherry juice reduces oxidative stress (which causes inflammation in the body) and muscle and cardiac damage following resistance training. The other is from the European Journal of Sports Science which concludes that tart cherry concentrate can also reduce the effects of muscle damage and improve recovery for females.
     But does tart cherry juice also work for inflammation not associated with a workout? Yes! Because of the rich nutrients and antioxidants prevalent in this juice, it can help reduce joint pain and inflammation, reducing arthritis symptoms. Tart cherry juice has also promoted better brain health, aided your sleep, and even strengthened the immune system by reducing the risk of infection.
     Drinking tart cherry juice is one of the many ways to get antioxidants into your diet, which helps with delaying certain types of cellular damage and reducing the risk of developing a chronic disease, Issacs explains.
Here’s how much tart cherry juice to consume.
     To reap the most benefit from tart cherry juice, Issacs recommends consuming tart cherry juice an hour post-exercise alongside your workout recovery meal. “The easiest way to consume enough tart cherries to elicit the benefits associated with reduction of inflammation would be to consume 8 to 12 ounces of a tart cherry juice, a 1-2 oz tart cherry juice concentrate, or pill form of a powdered tart cherry juice,” she says. “These benefits would also apply to fresh or frozen tart cherries, however, the quantity that would need to be consumed to maximize these benefits would be at least 2 cups of cherries, consumed two times a day.”

     This is for information purpose only and should not be considered as a substitute for medical expertise. These are opinions from an external panel of individual doctors. Please seek professional help regarding any health conditions or concerns.

Kenneth Davis

  T H O U G H T   F O R   C O N S I D E R A T I O N  
TODAY'S WORDS - DIVINE BALANCE

     I love playing characters that are unrecognizable. I don't know anyone who's 100 percent pure - nor do I have any interest in portraying anyone like that. There's nothing worse than having a very strong female character and then suddenly having it go away. I'm not a method actress. I think, often times, it's the audience that suffers when a show isn't given the opportunity to have a beginning, middle and end.
     Stupidity took me pretty far. So the only things I was being allowed to audition for were small roles in comedies. It broke my heart. No one would see me for anything else. I have deep comedic roots, and I want to be funny. I like comedy, I love it very much, I love laughing. I knew, in order to open up my career, I had to leave or that's all I would ever be given. Talk about divine intervention. I can't even tell you how blessed I feel. I feel that the work that I have done in the comedy arena, is priceless in terms of what I learned, timing, everything that these incredibly talented performers were generous enough in teaching me.
     I never get recognized. Most of the time, when people think they know me, they believe I'm a member of their family. And that's the way I like it. That's just fine. I had always done theater during the entire six years I was with 'CSI: Miami.' I really enjoy working on 'Scandal.' It's so much fun. On 'Scandal,' the majority of the cast, if not all of the cast, comes from theater, so it's a healthy environment. People come into work and actually go home to their families. This hiatus coming up I'm looking at a comedy because I need the balance.

 
Khandi Alexander

Kenneth Davis

TIME FOR ANOTHER 

Kenneth Davis

   T H O U G H T   F O R   C O N S I D E R A T I O N    
TODAY'S WORDS - QUIET YOUR SOUL

     Live from the wise voice in your heart, and each day will blossom. I live within the vivid colors of my imagination, soaring with rainbow-feathered birds, racing the desert winds on horseback, wrapped in ancient tribal jewels, dancing with mythical tigers in steamy jungles. We can thank our lucky stars when once in a blue moon we find rare and kindred souls along the pathways of our lives. How enriched life is by friends! Good friends, new friends, old friends, feathered friends, feline friends, friends of friends.
     Listen...you can hear the colors flowering in the quiet of your soul. May you find in the nectar of life, the sweetness of hope in your heart, feel the comfort of songbirds in your soul, the grace of new wind in your wings. Color your spirit with rainbows and shower gold dust in your hair. Time heals. Life renews. Dreams take flight again, close your eyes and drink it all in. Inspire, share Love, join hands, open hearts. We are here for each other. There is a wonderful place where flowers grow in colors beyond the words of poets...trees sing with the songs of butterflies. And mythical tigresses look at you with fiery golden eyes...open your heart and feel the colors of magic blooming inside you.

Laurel Burch

Kenneth Davis

WELCOME TO 
SMOOTH
 CONTEMPORARY JAZZ 

Kenneth Davis

  THOUGHT FOR CONSIDERATION  
TODAYS WORDS - SNAIL'S PACE 

     We are such inward secret creatures, that inwardness is the most amazing thing about us, even more amazing than our reason. Time can divorce us from the reality of people, it can separate us from people and turn them into ghosts. Or rather it is we who turn them into ghosts or demons. There is no beyond, there is only here, the infinitely small, infinitely great and utterly demanding present.
     Our destiny can be examined, but it cannot be justified or totally explained. We are simply here. We shall be better prepared for the future if we see how terrible, how doomed the present is. Remember that the secret of all learning is patience, and that curiosity is not the same thing as a thirst for knowledge.
     In philosophy if you aren't moving at a snail's pace you aren't moving at all. Words are the most subtle symbols which we possess, and our human fabric depends on them. Philosophy! Empty thinking by ignorant conceited men who think they can digest without eating! We need a moral philosophy in which the concept of love, so rarely mentioned now by philosophers, can once again be made central.

Iris Murdoch

Kenneth Davis

BIRTH ANNIVERSARY GREETINGS

 TO 

  LILLIE ANDERSON CALDWELL

     When the burden of life becomes heavier, when it starts crushing our shoulders with all its might, it is time to be stronger! Stay calm inside! You will then see that outside storm of life, even the most terrible ones, will turn into soft winds. Never hesitate to open new windows in your life!

Mehmet Murat Ildan

Kenneth Davis

     SMALL STRAWS IN A SOFT WIND by Marsha Burns

     September 22, 2024: Do what it takes to maintain. Only then will you have the power to overcome the flesh and the works of the enemy. Set yourself to be spiritually aware and to keep your heart right with Me, says the Lord. Matthew 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

  T H O U G H T   F O R   C O N S I D E R A T I O N  
TODAYS WORD - SPIRITUALLY AWARE

     I invite you to not only love each other more but love each other better. Every time we watch over one another, godlike qualities of love, patience, kindness, generosity, and spiritual commitment fill the souls of those we visit and enlarge our souls as well. If we are in tune with the Spirit, if we are seeking the Lord and His guidance, if our direction is to return to our Father in Heaven, the sweet moments will come. And we will treasure them, for we have become instruments in the hands of God.
     Gratitude requires awareness and effort, not only to feel it but to express it. Frequently we are oblivious to the Lord's hand. We murmur, complain, resist, criticize; so often we are not grateful. Gratitude is a SpiritEUR'filled principle. It opens our minds to a universe permeated with the richness of a living God. Through it, we become spiritually aware of the wonder of the smallest things, which gladden our hearts with their messages of God's love. This grateful awareness heightens our sensitivity to divine direction. When we communicate gratitude, we can be filled with the Spirit and connected to those around us and the Lord. Gratitude inspires happiness and carries divine influence.

Bonnie D. ParkinFa

Kenneth Davis

BIRTH ANNIVERSARY GREETINGS

 TO 

  AUDREY JOHNSON

& 

LARRY MILLIGAN

     The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts: therefore, guard accordingly, and take care that you entertain no notions unsuitable to virtue and reasonable nature. When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive - to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love. Accept the things to which fate binds you and love the people with whom fate brings you together, but do so with all your heart.

 Marcus Aurelius

Kenneth Davis

YOUR ADMINISTRATORS ARE TAKING THE DAY OFF....

WE'LL RETURN ON TUESDAY MORNING

Kenneth Davis

SMALL STRAWS IN A SOFT WIND by Marsha Burns

     September 24, 2024: Take the time to evaluate where you are in life and what you need to do next to fulfill your commitments. Your tendency is to do nothing, but there are still things that need to be done, both physically and spiritually. Ask for wisdom and direction when it feels like you are stuck right here. James 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

   T H O U G H T   F O R   C O N S I D E R A T I O N
TODAY'S WORD - COMMITMENTS

     Become that rare person where people know that your word is your bond and you're going to do exactly what you say you're going to do. My mom was the first African American woman to graduate from the University of Chicago Law School, in 1946. She had leadership roles in the law, in government and the corporate world. She was a great role model in that she felt anything was possible.
     My father was a Tuskegee Airmen captain in the Air Force and a very strong personality. He believed in fairness and ethics and living up to the commitments you make to others. He ultimately became a judge, and he would talk to me over and over about how important it is to be fair.
     Financial literacy is just as important in life as the other basics. There's no statistical evidence that human beings have an ability to move in and out of the markets effectively. It's next to impossible. I really did believe that the most successful investments were the ones that you could own for the long run. The most important thing is to stay the course - not to get shaken out of the market during a difficult time.

     John Washington Rogers Jr. (born March 31, 1958) is an American investor and founder of Ariel Capital Management (now Ariel Investments, LLC), founded in 1983. He is chairman and co-CEO of the company, which is the United States' largest minority-run mutual fund firm.

Estella Wright (Mayhue-Greer)

Regret

I have wept in the night for the shortness of sight that to somebody's need made me blind; but I never have yet felt a tinge of regret for being a little too kind.

Let an act of kindness be your guiding star today.

Kenneth Davis

   T H O U G H T   F O R   C O N S I D E R A T I O N   
TODAY'S WORD - EMPOWERMENT

     Scars are the price you pay for success. I work from a subjective palette. Me and modesty don't mix. I intend to stay dangerous. Our minds are not our friends when they realize we have work to do - they're our enemies. I graduated from college when I was 20. To get enough money to finish college, I went into the ROTC, and I was an officer in the Air Force before I could buy a drink. When I was in the Air Force, if I walked into a restaurant, in about eight or nine minutes the M.P.'s would show up and drag me out because someone had called saying that someone was impersonating an officer. 
     There's something on Wall Street called PIG - panic, ignorance, and greed. Those are the big sins. I'm not greedy, I knew I was ignorant, and I didn't panic. If you look down a barrel of a gun... you don't forget it. My life and career is defined by the constant pursuit of new forms of culture and self-expression. The artistic world is one of high nuance. You have to not let yourself believe you can't. Do what you can do within the framework of what you have, and don't look outside - look inside.
     Before I made 'Sweetback,' I had a three-picture deal with Columbia and enough juice, if I was real clever with it, to proclaim that I wanted to do an independent film. When we talk about 'Sweetback,' yes, it stars the whole black movement, but it's also the first time an independent film made that kind of money and was that successful and taken seriously. Many times, I get young people asking, 'What do you think about black movies?' And I say, 'What are you talking about? You mean Hollywood movies that have black people in them?' It's gone back to that, and that's not the same thing as a black movie.
     I can't read or write music. When I want to remember something, I try to remember all the keys on the piano. Which is what I still do. I put the numbers on the keys. And that's got to become music again. If I had to find one characteristic that is most symbolic of me, I think I am tenacious. Somebody once asked me, 'Melvin, how'd you get to the top?' It was simple. Nobody would let me in at the bottom. I've never been to film school. I had to leave this country to make a film. All they would let me do in Hollywood was be a messenger. The key to empowerment is no more complicated than what Jesse Jackson said, 'We are somebody.' But the 'We are somebody' I would like to be in the larger sense: not just the urban African American but homo sapiens in general - We are somebody. 

Melvin Van Peebles

Kenneth Davis

Eating This Fruit Once a Day Can Decrease Bad Cholesterol, 
Says New Study
By Kiersten Hickman
https://www.thehealthy.com/

     Researchers found eating one avocado a day can lower your "bad" cholesterol levels and decrease your cardiovascular risk. Avocados may not be the type of “fruit” you would expect, but an avocado it is full of powerful health benefits for your body—including their ability to decrease your bad cholesterol levels.
     According to a randomized trial conducted with researchers from Penn State, Loma Linda, Tufts, UCLA, and Wake Forest universities, participants who ate one avocado a day for six months saw a decrease in unhealthy cholesterol levels in their bodies. This study was in an effort to determine whether eating avocados can help lower body weight, body mass index (BMI), and weight circumference. Out of the 1,000 overweight and obese participants, half were assigned to eat one avocado a day while the other half were encouraged to continue their normal way of eating. While the study did not find regular avocado consumption to have an effect on belly fat, liver fat, and waist circumference, the differences in lower LDL cholesterol levels were enough for researchers to take note of. 
Keeping LDL cholesterol low is good for your heart health
     The body is known to produce two types of cholesterol—high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL). HDL is known as the “good” cholesterol and can help to get rid of the “bad” LDL cholesterol in your blood, which can build up in your arteries. According to the American Heart Association, consuming a diet that is high in saturated and trans fats can build up your LDL cholesterol, which increases your risk of developing cardiovascular disease.
HDL vs. LDL Cholesterol: What’s the Difference?
     However, while avocados are known for having a higher fat count—with 29 grams of fat in one fruit—they are popularly known for being a rich source of monounsaturated fat. Monounsaturated fats help to reduce your LDL cholesterol levels, which in turn decreases your risk of cardiovascular disease. Another study from the Journal of the American Heart Association found that a higher avocado intake was associated with lower cardiovascular and coronary heart disease risk—especially when replaced with other fat-containing foods. One in every four deaths in the United States is the result of heart disease and is known to be the leading cause of death for both men and women, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Avocado consumption also did not result in body weight gain
     Even though the trial did not result in a difference in belly fat and waist circumference, consuming an avocado a day did not result in extra weight gain—despite avocados being calorically dense. “This is positive because eating extra calories from avocados doesn’t impact body weight or abdominal fat, and it slightly decreases total and LDL cholesterol,” said Joan Sabaté, professor at Loma Linda University School of Public Health, in the study overview.
     While one avocado is 322 calories, it is also high in fiber, with 13 grams in just one fruit. Avocados contain soluble fiber, a type of fiber that is known to absorb cholesterol in your bloodstream and flush it out. Eating at least 30 grams of fiber in a day can also help with weight management, lower your blood pressure, and improve your body’s insulin levels.
This Is How Much Fiber You Should Eat to Prevent Disease
     The researchers also concluded that for participants who ate one avocado a day, the quality of their diets also significantly improved. “This is important because we know a higher diet quality is associated with lower risk of several diseases including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and some cancers,” said Kristina Petersen, assistant professor of nutritional sciences at Texas Tech University, in the study overview.

     This is for information purpose only, and should not be considered as a substitute for medical expertise. These are opinions from an external panel of individual doctors. Please seek professional help regarding any health conditions or concerns.

Kenneth Davis

   T H O U G H T   F O R   C O N S I D E R A T I O N   
TODAY'S WORDS - PAY ATTENTION

     My mom was born in Korea - Seoul, Korea, during the '50s, '51. She was abandoned; her and my uncle were abandoned. My grandfather was a Seabee and adopted my mom and my uncle and brought them to Compton in the '50s. That's where she was raised. I grew up in Oxnard, CA, and I went to a church called St. Paul, where I was playing drums. My mom had a strawberry company. The whole town of Oxnard is basically built on produce, and more particularly, strawberries. We used to take these long trips to talk to farmers and different distributors. She'd take us with her after picking us up from school, and she'd be blasting all this old soul music and R&B. I knew all those O'Jays songs before I knew Snoop or Dre or Tupac.
     Not everything is going to be handed to you just because you're talented with a big smile. Sometimes you just gotta get out and shoot jumpers for hours and hours and hours. That's something I didn't really get a grasp on until way later, waking up early and treating it like a job if you're serious about it. Get the freak up and, you know, work. I didn't start playing drums until I was 12, for school band; they didn't have any saxophones left. My step-pops had a kit at the house, and I had never done anything that I understood so quick. It was so natural. It was the most fun and consistent thing in my life. My story as an artist has been about trial and error. It's been about artist development, character building, struggle, happiness and failure, family, and music.
     My story as an artist has been about trial and error. It's been about artist development, character building, struggle, happiness and failure, family, and music. Growing up in a house where there was a lot of different musical influences - my mom listens to soul stuff and Top 40, my sisters would listen to hip-hop - and the church, I grew up listening to a lot of gospel stuff. So, I think that plays a role in how I make music now because my music has a lot of range. I don't just do one thing. If you grow up playing in church, it removes a lot of the boundaries that other musicians might have, growing up with sheet music or whatever.
     I just want people to be affected by the music. I'm really affected by my surroundings and put everything in my music - what I'm not getting and what I desire. I want it to be uncompromised... almost a spiritual thing. The dot stands for 'detail' - always be paying attention to detail. I feel that people take you as serious as you take yourself. I spent a lot of time working on my craft, developing my style, and after I came out of my little incubation, I promised that I would pay attention to detail. 

     I put a list together. It was like: Get health insurance, get a car, get a bigger apartment, travel more, get a record deal, get a publishing deal, sell 10,000 units, be a part of a No. 1 album, make a million dollars. I got to check off 90 percent of the stuff last year. I hit some serious landmarks in 2015.

Anderson .Paak

Kenneth Davis

 TIME FOR ANOTHER 

Kenneth Davis

     Greetings Warrior Family! The crew was in full effect at the annual fundraiser, held by the BTW Class of 1971. Your Cookout/Picnic Committee representatives, assembled themselves underneath our tee-pees and prepared for the enjoyment of great company and camaraderie. Seeing everyone and listening to them exchange shared stories of fame, fortune and future visions, was delightful. Fifteen (15) classmates attended, as it was all about the solidaritary to benefit our "Great Almamater".... A total of One-Thousand, Three-Hundred and Seventy-Five Dollars ($1,375.00) was donated to support the school.

   Extending a "21 GUN SALUTE" to everyone who attended, and a grateful "THANK YOU" as well. Here's evidence of a great time, experienced by all....

Bonnie Pippin (Mills)

Kenneth, tha pictures are GREAT!!!!  Thanks!!!!

Kenneth Davis

   T H O U G H T   F O R   C O N S I D E R A T I O N    
TODAY'S WORDS - STAY PRESENT 

     If you have a problem with people living their lives and being authentically who they are, you really should go and do some soul-searching. Each and every one of us has the capacity to be an oppressor. I want to encourage each and every one of us to interrogate how we might be an oppressor and how we might be able to become liberators for ourselves and for each other. If someone needs to express their gender in a way that is different, that is okay, and they should not be denied healthcare. They should not be bullied. They don’t deserve to be victims of violence. … That’s what people need to understand, that it’s okay and that if you are uncomfortable with it, then you need to look at yourself.
     There are lessons in everything. The bad, the good. Our job is to listen, and to continue to learn, so that maybe we get better at this. Maybe get better at life. I've been realizing lately how horribly vain I am. I do believe that if I'm successful, it's because of my talent and intelligence, but there's pretty privilege in the world - that's a reality. When I was a kid, in middle school, I started going to thrift stores and dressing myself. It was about announcing to the world who I was. That's what fashion was for me, as a kid. You might have an idea of who you think I am, but I'm going to tell you through my fashion choices who I am.
     My third-grade teacher called my mother and said, 'Ms. Cox, your son is going to end up in New Orleans in a dress if we don't get him into therapy.' And wouldn't you know, just last week I spoke at Tulane University, and I wore a lovely green and black dress. It's a struggle every day, to stay present, not to become that...eight-year-old who was bullied and chased home from school. Some days I wake up and it's like I'm eight years old again. And I'm scared for my life, and I don't know if I'm going to be beaten up that day.

 
Laverne Cox

Kenneth Davis

WELCOME TO 
SMOOTH
 CONTEMPORARY JAZZ 

Kenneth Davis

    T H O U G H T   F O R   C O N S I D E R A T I O N   
TODAY'S WORDS - PAST REGRET

     We do not hug our miracles close. We put them hastily away, preferring the commonplace to live with. In making our decisions, we must use the brains that God has given us. But we must also use our hearts, which He also gave us. People so seldom say I love you and then it's either too late or love goes. So when I tell you I love you, It doesn't mean I know you'll never go, only that I wish you didn't have to. Many of us crucify ourselves between two thieves - regret for the past and fear of the future.
 

Fulton Oursler