Views from Point Breeze

I get excited about primary and general elections.  In a country where Democracy is the basis for our form of government, participating in a process that was denied to people of color for years is very important to me.  I am a Majority Inspector for the Democratic Party in the 36th Ward.  We are in the 2nd Councilmanic District and the 2nd Congressional District.  We had a few interesting races decided on Tuesday.  It was a busy day and I was tired after delivering the polling information for the 36th and 40th divisions in addition to my own. I missed a visit by the primary winner Katie McGinty.  I love the story of her upbringing.  One of 10 children who completed college and established a professional career.  The Senate is in need of gender equity in a big way.  She easily beat Joe Sestak in the primary.  Sestak has a storied military career and is in his mid-sixties.  He looked very casual when he voted and seemed like he was...

I am up early on a Saturday.  I had a Beautiful Friday night hanging out with my Granddaughter Malayja.  I guess this is the benefit of being fifty-something.  I could have been imbibing a few coronas and Salty Dogs at Sugar House.  I decided to go to Rittenhouse Square, which is under repair and somewhat funky, and then go to B. Dalton's Book Store to see what's happening in the world.  I saw Reggie, K-Wall and Mom Wallace on my way in.  Then I watched the Cavaliers beat the Pistons and my favorite show Grimm. On the issue of Grimm, things are heating up.  This so called Eve is showing protective feelings for Nick.  After she had Nick's mom murdered, I would have had nothing to do with her.  I thought Trouble killed her last year but the Movement saved her because she is a powerful Hexen Beast.  For the uninitiated, I don't have time to explain all of the terms.  Adalyn has been reunited with the daughter she had with Renard. ...

I hope potential readers are not too off guard if they think I was referring to the former Fresh Prince of Bel Air.  The Philadelphia based Will Smith has reached the level of mega stardom that few citizens of the planet enjoy.  He has security that can notice a suspicious fly from 200 meters away.  The Will Smith I am referring to is the former defensive end for the New Orleans Saints.  He was slaughtered while leaving a date with his wife about 10 days ago.  The perpetrator of the crime shot Will Smith in the back seven times.  It is an indicator of the danger that is faced on the streets of New Orleans by regular citizens everyday.  In this case, the reverberations give us reason to pause and reflect. Will Smith was an American football player who was part of a Super Bowl winning team.  He also played major college football at Ohio State.  You cannot be a regular run of the mill player if you earn a scholarship to play at Ohio State....

It is a recurring story in the news these days.  Individuals, families and clans are dying at sea in an attempt to reach greener pastures in Europe, the U.S. and other countries.  A few years ago there were hundreds of children that tried to enter U.S. borders through Mexico.  They were sent by their parents in an effort to escape increasing violence in South America.  It was recently reported that Honduras is officially listed as one of the most dangerous places on earth.  These individuals are fleeing conflicts, poverty and persecution.  The persecution could be religious as in the case of the Yazidis being hunted in Iraq by ISIS.  It could be conflict based as in Syria with the ongoing civil war there. There are some people that wish they had a chance to flee by sea to a better place.  The oldest refugee camp in the world is located in Dadaab, Kenya.  Almost 320,000 people are living in a camp that was supposed to hold 90,000 people. ...

Today was the Annual Philly Spring Clean Up. This movement started under the Nutter Administration.  It was one of the better initiatives of his tenure.  Neighbors get together throughout the city and spruce up the neighborhoods that they call home.  I have participated in almost every clean up.  I remember cleaning up the lot on the corner of 17th & Manton Street.  It was so much debris there that it took the city trash truck almost 5 trips to pick up the refuse that we collected.  Hound was in town.  Julius, little Mike, Shawn and Lauren and other neighbors also put in sweat.  We found a garden snake on the lot and I knew that it was a good day. We also cleaned the alley way between Latona and Manton Streets one year.  It took us fifty trips to clean years of debris that had accumululated from countless contractors who dumped their construction over flow instead of hauling it away.  We found snakes on this mission also...

The primary election in Pennsylvania will occur on April 26th.  Voters will go to the polls to choose a President, Congressmen, State Representatives, Senators and the Attorney General.  There will also be delegates chosen to represent Presidential candidates at the Republican and Democratic National Conventions.  I have never been as intrigued as I am now about the process of delegates actually choosing the candidate that the country will eventually elect.  Things are getting pretty hairy on the Republican side but I will not digress from my focus in this post. The incumbent Attorney General has decided not to seek reelection in the upcoming primary.  Kathleen Kane is facing numerous legal issues.  I don't think all of them can be blamed on the old boy network.  She refused to prosecute a case involving African American elected officials.  The Philadelphia DA, Seth Williams, decided to pick up the case.  He obtained guilty pleas and resig...

The Roe versus Wade decision by the United States Supreme Court established a woman's Right to Privacy when it comes to a gut wrenching decision to have an abortion.  The history of abortion goes back centuries and has engendered tension on both sides of the issue.  Pro-life activists will mention that a fetus' heart starts beating at eighteen days.  Abortion rights activists will mention the health of a woman, the inability of a woman to afford another child and the horrible cases of rape and incest. Regardless of the side that a person chooses, performing abortions is a dangerous option. According to Wikipedia, there have been eight murders and seventeen attempted murders since 1977.  There have been 42 bombings and 186 arsons.  There have also been thousands of other incidents that were meant to intimidate or curtail a woman's right to privacy on this issue.  In Northern Ireland abortions are illegal and subject to criminal prosecution that could lead...

Last night's national championship basketball game will go down in history as one of the best games ever.  A casual fan will claim that it was an improbable victory by Villanova.  Most seasoned observers of basketball will realize that the Wildcats were ranked number One for a couple f weeks during the season.  On their way to the Championship they beak a Miami Hurricane team that was athletic and long.  They then proceeded to eliminate Kansas and Oklahoma to set up a match up with one of the most storied programs in basketball history. The North Carolina Tar Heels have produced a stellar list of pro players.  It was stated that almost 50 of them showed up at the game last night.  I did not realize that I was watching the Tar Heel telecast until halftime.  Brendan Haywood, a semi-star, was so pro Tar Heels in his telecast that I was complaining the whole time.  Let me count the stars that I saw: Michael Jordan, Kenny Smith, Vince Carter, Harris...

I almost couldn't believe the pictures from one year ago.  On April 2nd, 2015 almost 150 students were murdered in Kenya at the Garissa University.  It was around Easter Weekend and the effects were shocking.  Once again, Christians were targeted while Muslim students were allowed to leave the slaughter.  This tactic was similar to the slaughter at the Westgate Mall.  If one was able to recite a verse from the Quran, then one's life was saved.  It was indicated that a former student of this university aided the alleged Al-Shabaab attackers.  I wish all of the families affected by this murder some form of comfort as they remember their children. College is a very important time in the life of young people.  I feel especially poignant about this because we are trying to get my daughter back into Howard University in order to finish her degree.  I attended Howard University because I wanted to explore my heritage and experience a first rate e...