GUN VIOLENCE

On April 10, 2012 I woke up to a dead phone due to me not placing it on the charger the night before.  Once, I plugged my phone into the charger, texts messages started coming in and missed call notifications.  I automatically knew something was wrong.  I had about eight missed calls.  The text messages read, “BOO-BOO was shot and killed last night!”  Lawrence Richardson, or “BOO-BOO”, as our family affectionately called him, was only 22 years old.  BOO-BOO along with two other young males were standing in front of a house on Dayton Street in the city of Rochester, NY where all three were shot multiple times.  Unfortunately BOO-BOO succumbed to his wounds and died that night.

            On December 14, 2012 in Newtown, Connecticut a gunman by the name of Adam Lanza opened fire inside the Sandy Hook Elementary School (SHES) fatally shooting 20 innocent children and 6 teachers.  This was after Adam had already fatally shot his mother some miles away. 

            The two scenarios above are different because of the individuals involved, time in which the shootings occurred, cities in which they happened.  But one thing that is constant and is the common denominator is gun violence.  Everyone in this country, and all over this world for that matter, was impacted by the SHES shooting.  Who could have the audacity to walk into an elementary school and start shooting?  How could someone come to that point in their life to do such a thing?  These are questions we all wondered why as we watched day in and day out the following week or two in disgust of about what happened.  We all were hurt, sadden, disgusted, angry, and consoling as we watched the story unfold.  Even if you don’t have children, such as I, you still felt a pain that was indescribable.  Innocent children, innocent adults killed for no reason.  As Americans could not phantom the reality of someone walking into a school and killing children, people started calling for gun control laws trying to combat unnecessary violence from the use of guns.  The country began to react to gun violence because of SHES shooting and rightfully so.

            I agree with the country to a certain extent.  Yes, something needs to be done about gun violence.  Look at how many random shootings that are occurring because people are getting their hands on guns and deciding to use that lethal weapon thinking it will solve their problems.  My dissatisfaction however, comes with the majority of our country only wanting gun control laws due to these random shootings that happen in schools, malls, or movie theaters.  No, none of these shootings should occur, but neither should the shootings in the inner cities.  My cousin BOO-BOO was not in an elementary school when he was shot and killed, he was in front of an abandon house on a city street.  Does that mean that his death, or any death in inner cities for that matter resulting from gun violence, any less important than that of the SHES shooting? 

            I won’t speak for anyone else, but I’m sure many people that live in these cities affected by gun violence on a daily basis wanted something done about guns long before the SHES shooting occurred.  Does anyone care that children in the inner cities are dying each and everyday because of the guns that are on our streets?  Most of these guns are illegal guns coming from the suburbs into the city.  Why isn’t there a concern about these guns and having some type of gun control laws on illegal guns?  Inner city kids are as equally important as children living in Newtown, Connecticut.  No child, no matter what race, should succumb to such violence.  It just sickens me that young African American and Hispanic children are not treated with the same importance as young white children are in regards to gun violence. 

            Whether you’re in Rochester, NY where 36 homicides occurred in 2012 and the city is second behind Buffalo, NY (49 homicides 2012) in an uninhibited race to the top of the list as the cities with the most homicides per capita in the state of New York.  Or if you’re in Chicago, IL where the homicide rate in 2012 reached 532.  Or even in Newtown, CT where the murder rate was 26 in 2012, gun violence leaves everlasting psychological affects on families, friends and the communities in which we live.  One murder is too many, regardless of where it happens.  Those affected by gun violence that don’t receive national attention and national sympathy still suffer from the psychological affects that accompanies gun violence. 

            This is not an attack on SHES by any means.  My heart ached just as much as anyone else hearing that devastating news last year.  But my heart also ached when I saw those text messages on April 10, 2012, just as my heart aches when I hear about countless gun violence that occurs in inner cities everyday and not one word of gun violence or gun reform is uttered for those lives.  

http://youtu.be/XittQH4RBB0

            

504: MADE IT THROUGH

On January 7, 2013 I embarked on my second year of participating in The Father’s House 504 Journey.  504 as it is known, is held at the beginning of the year for 21 days.  It is a spiritual fast that allows you to become closer to God.  Everyone that participates chooses his or her own fast.  Weather it be the Ultimate Fast, where you are consuming just water, fasting from something that takes up a lot of your time, such as Facebook or television, or something that you think you can’t live without but chose to give up.  Whatever your choice of fasting, it is between you and God.  I chose to do Daniels Fast.  While doing the Daniel’s Fast you can eat fruits, vegetables, legumes, brown rice, sunflower seeds, olive oil, vinegar, and popped popcorn.  You cannot consume any diary, meat, eggs, sweets, bread, caffeine, or anything containing sugars and yeast. 

            Last year I thought I followed the restrictions correctly but as I learned from this year, I didn’t.  It wasn’t until after I did further research on the Daniel’s Fast that I found out about the sugar and yeast.  I was more concerned about the sugar than anything else as yeast is usually labeled yeast.  But when we think of sugar, we think of obvious sweets and our traditional table sweets.  Often times we don’t take into consideration the sugar that is a part of the ingredients of those foods.  Some of the names you may be familiar with, some you may not.  High Fructose Corn Syrup, Dextrose, Maltrodextrin, Dextran, Bartley Malt, Sucrose, Rifners Syrup, Maltose, Glucose Solids, Fructose; these are just a few of the many different names for sugar that is added into our foods.  Last year I purchased a lot of vegan foods but didn’t realize I needed to take those foods into account as well.   Despite this, I still give myself credit because I had never done a fast of any kind, I didn’t eat any meat, and God knew my efforts and saw me through.          

            This year was much different.  For those three weeks my primary shopping was done at Rochester’s Public Market.  I stocked up on fresh fruits and vegetables.  Sweet potatoes were my favorite.  I learned that sweet potatoes are one of the best vegetables to consume.  I copied one of Amy’s Bowls and made brown rice, with mushrooms, black-eyed peas and broccoli, this was one of my main entrees.  I ate cabbage for the first week.  I then decided to make it for the third week, by that time, I was all cabbaged out!  I mixed it up a bit, with some stuffed peppers.   Before anyone goes off the deep end and say, “ I thought meat wasn’t included”meat wasn’t.  Stuff peppers can be made with whatever you desire.  I chose to stuff them with brown rice, corn, onions, mushrooms, and kidney beans, mixed with tomato paste or tomato sauce. 

            As I talk about what I ate throughout this Fast, I also did what I was supposed to do during this Fast.  I sought and listened to God.  Losing weight has been a struggle for me.  In 2011, I was diagnosed as pre-diabetic.  I was able to eat better and exercise more and lose 25 pounds in order to get out of the pre-diabetic stage.  As that year passed, I began to get more comfortable and some of the weight starting creeping back on.  Well, during this year’s fast, I felt as if God was giving me exactly what I had been asking for.  He was showing me the way to lose the weight.  Yes, I’ve lost some weight, but this time was different.  This time around he gave me the continued strength, knowledge, and courage to continue on after the fast.  I hear him clearly now as to what I need to do in order to better my Temple.  I lost 13 pounds from November until the end of the Fast.  I know the fasting played the biggest role in me losing along with exercising. 

            Even though I am off the fast and back to eating regular food, I feel more assured, more confidence, more positive, more empowered on my weight loss journey.  God gave me the tools and it is up to me to utilize them to move forward.  No it won’t be easy as there are temptations all around, but when my heart is set on something, coupled with God’s guidance, there isn’t a temptation in this world that is going to stop me!   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JXFg5KEoXg