This post contains a challenge to die hard basketball fans to see how many of you with a “Basketball Jones” can watch this creative basketball commercial just once. For those of you who have never seen this Nike commercial, it’s extremely addictive.

Unless you’re immune to “March Madness,” click on the highlighted word “Nike” at your own risk. Be forewarned! My wife, KWiz, and my 3-year old daughter couldn’t watch this classic commercial just once. Let me know whether or not you enjoyed something I decided to post just for the fun of it.

The failed attempts by the Clintons to “marginalize” Senator Barack Obama and “minimize” the accomplishments of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. validated my honest belief that voting for Barack on “Super Tuesday” is the right thing to do. Obama is a courageous candidate, who just happens to be Black, that will give all Americans hope. Matters not what ethnicity, what gender, what political affiliation, what generation, or what income bracket you claim.

Unlike Senator Hillary Clinton, Senator Obama spoke truth to power in love when the majority of our political leaders believed the infamous lie President Bush told to justify a war that has bankrupted our children’s future. Obama got it right when he refused to go-along just to get-along with the status quo who got it wrong once again. Americans are not the only great nation of great people who desperately need Change that we can all believe in. The whole world is watching and waiting to see what will happen during what will become America’s defining moment in 2008.

The words, ” I see your true colors shining through,” came to mind while watching the Clintons execute their failed character assassination of the only 2008 Presidential Candidate whose time and season I believe has finally come. Their publicly televised, fear-based actions reminded me of what frequently happens privately to Black men who boldly stand in the way of powerful people precariously perched in positions of influence. The end does not justify the means. Never did. Never will.

Together, we, as Bloggers For Barack Obama, can make a difference by casting our votes for Senator Obama on Super Tuesday. As one of the many bloggers, who are not ashamed to publicly stand with Senator Barack Obama, I honestly believe that we can impact the ultimate outcome of the 2008 Presidential election process.

Together, we can beat the odds and achieve what Obama’s opponents refused to believe was possible before now if we choose to walk together in peace and work together as one for the greater good of humanity’s global village. Do you believe? I hope so. We can’t afford to get it wrong again.

“Yes We Can!” Divide and Conquer No More!

Copyright (c) 2008 by Roderick O. Solomon. All Rights Reserved.

Last year, my wife, KWiz, and I watched the movie “Freedom Writers.” This year, we watched “The Great Debaters.” Both are unforgettable films. If you’re an aspiring writer who needs a reason to finish writing your book, please don’t wait to see either of these films. Both are amazing examples of the art of story-telling.

It’s true! Everybody has a story to tell. Some of you are extremely talented, gifted writers who can effortlessly employ the power of the written word to tell your stories. For me, writing is a struggle, which is why I started blogging last year. Have you ever wondered if there’s some secret formula or writing technique that will make one book sell better than another?

Can “talent alone” ensure the success of the books that authors allegedly choose to write? Who or what enables prolific writers to repeat the meticulous process behind the creative chaos that made your book a success? Does the timing of a book’s release play a significant part in its author’s ability to emotionally connect with one generation and not another? Do you believe that book sales, or the lack thereof, are an accurate indication of the perceived success or the failure of a book?

According to prolific author Paulo Coelho’s profile, “Slow initial sales [of The Alchemist] convinced his first publisher to drop the novel, but it went on to become one of the best selling Brazilian books of all time.

Have any of you ever pondered the possibility that the part you played did little to determine the success of your book? Did God’s sovereign will and perfect plan have anything to do with the success of your book? If yes, does it really matter whether or not an author chooses to employ “urban street teams” or “main stream” marketeers to promote a book that’s destined to become a national best seller? As writers, what part do we play in the books we author?

Do books choose their writers or do writers choose the books they pen? I had no desire to write a book before I began to pen Steppin’ Out Of The Darkness. I believe the book that I birthed chose me. I can still recall waking up in the middle of the night to write the first page of my big dream. Once I began writing it, I couldn’t stop. Whenever I felt inspired to write, I didn’t sleep much. I didn’t eat. I didn’t talk. Since I didn’t have anything to distract me, I just wrote. I constantly canceled or rescheduled appointments until the words stopped flowing from somewhere deep within the heart of my soul.

Am I crazy or has this ever happened to any of you? What did you do initially? Did you look around the room to see if you were all alone? Did you ignore the words you heard or did you heed the still, small voice that inspired you to believe that you could achieve something bigger than yourself? Did people laugh at you, ridicule you, and reject you when they heard about the genesis of your big dream? My mother and my wife stood by me at a time when I needed their love and support the most.

Writing Steppin’ Out Of The Darkness was an act of faith for me. I wrote on anything and everything I could get my hands on as evidenced by all the cardboard boxes still stuffed with the hastily scribbled notes that I stockpiled over the years. During those difficult days when I had no place to lay my head, I didn’t have time to feel sorry for myself. For reasons that still escape me, I refused to give up after the fall I survived.

Nevertheless, trusting God when nothing made sense wasn’t easy. To challenge myself to keep getting up and showing up for my street fight with Adversity, I started writing poetic essays. Writing literally saved my life after my business failed and I was forced to file bankruptcy. Because of the vision that God gifted to me, I had a plan that I could believe in. God’s unchanging love gave me hope during my darkest days. It’s true! Without a vision, people with no reason to hope will perish.

For reasons now known, “But by grace still go I” is not just some empty Christian phrase that I casually toss around to sound spiritual. If you’re a published writer, did your book choose you or did you choose your book? I hope this post has encouraged somebody to rise to your feet and inspired you to honestly believe that you can beat impossible odds with God’s help. If so, please let me know.

Copyright (c) 2008 by Roderick O. Solomon. All Rights Reserved.

It would be an understatement to say that my recent journey back in time — while walking in the segregated streets of Jena, Louisiana with Jesus Christ– resurrected old memories long forgotten. Seeing the vast sea of beautiful faces that spiritually blinded white supremists hated to see coming created new memories I will not soon forget.

“You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”  — 1 John 4:4 kjv

The video, “Jesus Walks With Me,” by award winning artist, Mr. Kanye West, speaks for itself. Watching this provocative video reminded me of the reasons why we, as civilized human beings, can never go back to the way it was back in the days when the “good ole boys” — who hid the heinous face of hate beneath dirty, blood-stained white sheets thought that they alone ruled the world. But they “thunk” wrong!

Click on the highlighted words, “Jesus Walks With Me,” to see why Jim Crow and all the nefarious descendants of this pernicious predator must never again be allowed to live above the law while perpetrating and perpetuating hate under color of law. If you’ve never ever been unfortunate enough to experience first-hand the collateral damage from a discriminatory, dirty deed done to impede Change, be grateful.

If you’ve never had a head-on collision with the hideous face of hate, keep living. As a final act of desperation, the enemy within our midst is busier than ever before marking God’s children for destruction. Nevertheless, it will take much more than the misguided stroke of a pen in the mortal hands of D.A. Reed Walters and a few myopic, men to prevail over the children of God’s kingdom.

To impede Change, acts of desperation predicated upon systemic, institutionalized ideologies protected by fortified, fatally flawed strongholds of perceived superiority are increasing at an alarming rate. A clear and present danger is stalking our gifted souls as evidenced by the recent rise in the proliferation of hate crimes against the actually innocent people still walking the perilous playgrounds of humanity’s culturally diverse global village.

During divisive, subversive seasons such as this, the “voice of reason” and “cooler heads” will prevail if all God’s children remember to pray while trusting only in God and loving to love one another like never before until the day God wipes the tears from His eyes, rises when least expected, agrees with all of us who are sick and tired of the hate and shouts,

“Not On My Watch!”

Copyright © 2007 by Roderick O. Solomon. All Rights Reserved.

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“When a great democracy is destroyed it will not be from enemies from without but rather because of enemies from within.”

–Joseph R. McCarthy

The aforementioned quote by Mr. McCarthy is taken from “Speech to the Republican Women’s Club of Wheeling, West Virginia” on February 9, 1950. Although McCarthy was speaking about a different enemy, the same biblical principle applies during the “here and now.”

Matters not who the perceived enemy may appear to be through humanity’s spiritually darkened eyes,

“A house divided against itself cannot stand.”

What happened in Jena, Louisiana occurred on “our watch” during the post civil rights movement. Here we are, as Americans, still focusing on skin colour instead of focusing on the content of our character.

It’s a crying shame that highly educated, extremely intelligent grown folk are still spilling innocent blood, still killing each other at will, and still dying for nothing fighting civil wars human hands will never win.

The United States of America’s hostile takeover will occur from “without” because our great nation of great people remains too emotionally distracted from “within” by a spiritual enemy with a hidden agenda.

Humanity’s spiritual enemies have mastered the ancient art of “divide and conquer” by employing “systemic, institutionalized hatred” to destroy humanity’s culturally diverse global village one spiritually-blinded mind at a time.

“Why do great people like us with great weaknesses like ours still hate to love one another?”

–Roderick O. Solomon

Think about it.

Copyright 2007 by Roderick O. Solomon. All Rights Reserved.

To the humble, courageous, “great” ones among us who exemplify how leadership is a choice, not a position.

– Stephen R. Covey

“We’ve Come This Far By Faith,” was one of the Gospel song selections the church choir sang during my uncle’s homecoming celebration last Friday. The soul-stirring words of this song bolstered my honest belief that getting up and showing up daily to engage all who actively participate in the spiritual chess game of life is an act of faith.

Only God truly knows what tomorrow will bring. Do you? Only God knows when Adversity will strike. Do you? Only God knows what the future will hold. Do you? I don’t. For me, trusting God is not an option. After failing and falling flat on my face, trusting God is an act of faith. Must one be “humbled” before one can be “humble?”

Although God has humbled me, am I humble? Some have accused me of being arrogant to believe that I could pen a book and be successful doing so. Am I arrogant because I choose to believe ordinary, everyday people can achieve great things with God’s help? Am I arrogant for believing in myself when nobody else does?

Do humble people dream big dreams? Do humble people believe they can make big dreams come true and achieve greatness with God’s help? When one dares to dream dreams as big as the ones I’ve dreamed, my mentors helped my humbled soul to realize that it’s not wise to lean upon my own limited understanding. Who, or what, has humbled you?

Watching the leadership of the great men in my life over the years has taught me that leadership is a choice one makes by faith. One can assume a “position” of leadership but if nobody is following you, are you qualified to be referred to as a leader?

“We’ve come this far by faith” is the message that kept resonating deep within my soul while driving back to Atlanta this weekend. These inspiring words also confirmed the following quote from my pending release of my book, Steppin’ Out Of The Darkness.  The Prologue, “Always Expect The Unexpected Parts 1 – 4,”  to this introspective story about personal leadership has been posted

“It is by choice that great people like you with great weaknesses like ours believe, by faith, that we can beat impossible odds and achieve great things with God’s help.”

–Roderick O. Solomon

Yes, it’s true. For those of who noticed, I’ve changed the title of my book from When Least Expected. Doing so was both an act of faith and an act of obedience. I’m trusting God with the consequences of my obedience.

Watching the leadership of my Uncle Bay over the years has taught me that strong men are humble men who understand that meekness is not a sign of weakness. Humility is not a sign of weakness. Strong men cry when we see the people we love hurting. Meekness is “power under control.”

“The joy of the Lord is my strength. When I’m weak, He is strong.”

I don’t know about you but the Scriptures remind me of the reasons why I need Jesus Christ to do what only He can — the impossible. When one dares to beat impossible odds, you realize just how much you need God’s help. It is the example of Christ’s leadership that I choose to follow by faith.

Writing a book is definitely an act of faith. Only God knows what will happen next. Nevertheless, I trust God to do what’s best for me and my family. Do you?

“We’ve come this far by faith…”

Copyright 2007 by Roderick O. Solomon. All Rights Reserved.

When was the last time you read Acts 17:26? Click on this verse to read it for yourself. But be forewarned! Doing so may forever change how you choose to treat the next person you meet on the street where you live or work.

Did your discovery about the root of humanity’s family tree cause the hair on the back of your neck to stand up as you paid closer attention to this particular Scripture? Could you handle the truth or did you throw up like Neo did in the 1999 Warner Brothers’ award-winning movie, “The Matrix,” when given a reality check his mind’s depository wasn’t prepared to receive?

Will you face your deepest fears and embrace the truth about the fruit that fell from the limbs of humanity’s family tree? Will you try to deny what you read by turning a blind eye to the truth that exposed the root of humanity’s family tree?

Will it be impossible for you to believe that the culturally diverse members of the human race as we perceive it today all belong to one big blended, extended family? Now that your eyes have been exposed to what’s bound to create controversy, how differently will you begin to treat our “blood” relatives?

What will it take to end the escalating family feud that still exists between emotionally divided ethnic groups? Can we, as humans ever learn to love our enemies? Whatever you decide to do, remember what “Spoon boy” told Neo. Don’t try to “bend the spoon” with your hands because “there is no spoon.” Instead of always using your hands to get the desired results, try using your mind.

Think about it.

Copyright 2007 by Roderick O. Solomon. All Rights Reserved.

To promote the importance of honoring, valuing, and respecting our cultural differences, here’s a link to, Viva! Cinco de Mayo, that will provided some insight and historical background about the importance of what occurred before and on May 5, 1862.

If you celebrate Cinco de Mayo, please make your presence known so that the rest of your blended, extended family members may acknowledge you as you celebrate your history.  If time permits, please share the role that the women played who actively participated in this historical event.

Today, my wife, KWiz, and I have similar posts and have shared some of the same resources and information. So don’t think that your mind is playing tricks on you if you frequently visit both of our sites.

During last week’s nationally syndicated talk show, “Imus In The Morning,” Don Imus and executive producer Bernard McGuirk (and others), commented on the Rutgers women’s basketball team the following. Click here at MediaMatters.org for a detailed account and video of what Imus said while the Rutgers University Women’s Basketball team played the University of Tennessee in the NCAA championship last Wednesday.

IMUS: That’s some rough girls from Rutgers. Man, they got tattoos and –

McGUIRK: Some hard-core hos.

IMUS: That’s some nappy-headed hos there. I’m gonna tell you that now, man, that’s some — woo. And the girls from Tennessee, they all look cute, you know, so, like — kinda like — I don’t know.

McGUIRK: A Spike Lee thing.

…ROSENBERG: It was a tough watch. The more I look at Rutgers, they look exactly like the Toronto Raptors.

As the father of a 3-year old pearl of a girl, I got angry because that could have been my daughter Imus was talking about. My wife just happen to be styling our daughter’s hair this morning while listening to Rev. Al Sharpton during his nationally syndicated talk show, “Keepin’ It Real.” This civil rights activist addressed Imus’ racially-charged criticism of women who didn’t deserve to be disrespected.

During the Michael Baisden show (a nationally-syndicated Black radio talk show airing weekday afternoons), a young Black girl called and expressed herself in the form of a powerful poem. She cried as she passionately read her soul stirring poem on air. I want to personally thank Mr. Baisden for posting the following poem on his forum at MingleCity.com.

Violent
By Yvonne Espinoza

We’re violent because this is all we know
You taught us this along time ago
We’re violent because you made us this way
You beat us naked, you hung our people,
Raped our kids and stripped us of our pride
And you now wanna ask why?

Give us a reason not to be

You can’t, it’s impossible

Because to give us a reason, you’d have to right all the wrong you’ve done

But you can’t and if you could then
You’ve only just begun
You’d have to beg for mercy, plead and cry
You’d have to feel the pain we felt

The pain that took lives

You go through the hardships,
The trials and tribulations,
The suffering, the heartache, the dying babies
You sit on a boat full of hundreds of sick,
Old people living to die
How about you dance to make money
Look ignorant on t.v.
Go to jail for nothing
Harassed because others don’t like what they see

Have your people get beat to death
By those who get paid to protect
You eat trash to survive
How about you watch your people and babies die
Get sold for a dime

Kill themselves because they don’t want to live this life

We went through it then and we go through it now
And you know it’s true, and you still ask why?
How dare you have the audacity
Who made you king?

Despite common belief and despite what you think
There is only one king, one God
And he walks with me, with us
The ones who were forced to live in grief
Who were cut, killed, raped and beat
Like animals, brainwashed to think like you

You hacked away, pulled and dragged us down
Until we didn’t want to be Black or Brown
We didn’t want to be Colored or Negroes
We wanted to be High, Suddity, White Folk
We though if we looked, smelled, and act like you
We could live a regular life, and though we tried
You still continued to beat and lay us out
To hang us from our necks, to laugh at our bodies

You could never blame us for being this way
Because you taught us violence
So how dare you think of forming any kind of alliance
Now we know that two wrongs don’t make a right
But since we have none,
Why should we spare your life?

It’s your fault for all of this
And if you didn’t teach us violence
Then who did?
It couldn’t have been us
Because, remember, we’re ignorant!

You should be careful what you say
Because your words have power
Say it enough and it’ll come true…
I know you’ve heard of karma
God have mercy on you.

As the father of a pearl of a girl, I’ve been struggling since last Thursday to “intellectualize my emotions.” But my efforts have been in vain. Hence, I’ve been praying about my public response to the egregious remarks Mr. Don Imus espoused while on the air for millions of people to hear. Once again, this “shock jock” has deeply hurt the feelings of the beautiful women I love. For the women who know me, I will not hesitate to protect them with my life as every man should.

During Rev. Al Sharpton’s talk show, Imus did offer what he referred to as an “apology” for his ugly remarks. Since this is not the first time Imus has put his foot in his mouth, an apology is not enough. As Sharpton emphatically stated today, Imus must be held accountable for the damage he’s done to the image of the women he referred to as “nappy headed hoes.” Unfortunately, the damage has already been done as evidence by the aforementioned poem. Imus could have been talking about your daughter.

Today’s post should get the attention of the real men who love, honor, and respect all women. Matters not the colour of their skin, I honestly believe that every woman should feel safe and secure when in the presence of a real man. I’ll be the first to admit that one too many men have done a lousy job of protecting women.

Nevertheless, the focus of today’s post is Imus, a man who has developed a reputation for making insensitive, racist, remarks about Black women as evidenced by Ms. Terry Howcott’s “Imusinbordinaition” article. This type of inexcusable behavior must stop. Men, our women and daughters deserve better. Don’t you agree?

“Don Imus, how dare you!!”

© Copyright by Roderick O. Solomon. All Rights Reserved.

As many of you know, I’ve been in the process of birthing my big dream, but it doesn’t want to cooperate. For all the new members to our culturally diverse group of critical thinkers, my big dream is the pending release of my first reality-based novel which bears the same name as this site. It’s no secret that I’ve been carrying around the weight of this ever evolving literary project for over 10 years.

Yes, there have been many days when I’ve felt like giving up and quitting. But my faith in God has brought me too far to turn back now and feelings can be deceiving. Besides, meeting the “greatness of God’s faithfulness” has made it impossible for me to lose hope and abandon my vision and forget my big dream. In the meantime, what do we choose to do while we’re waiting on the Lord to open doors and windows no mortal hand can close? If you’re a writer, keep writing. Do some additional research. The faithful remain hopeful.

Use the extra time to see if there’s a better way, a more cost effective way, an unforeseen way to make your big dream come true. But whatever you do, don’t take your eyes off Jesus like Peter did and start looking at the winds of Adversity when they begin to blow. Isn’t it interesting that as long as Peter stayed focused on Jesus, he managed to do the impossible by “walking on the water.” Quick question. Who or what are you still allowing to distract you, to annoy you, to wear you down, to discourage you, to hinder you, just to keep you from doing what God created you to do with excellence?

Can it be that our “fear of failure” is still keeping many of us from getting out of the boat of what’s giving us a false sense of security? Since the first day of this unpredictable “year of firsts,” how many times have I challenged each of you to keep getting up, showing up, and pushing past the pain? How many times have I tried to encourage and inspire you to believe that we can help each other achieve great things with God’s help? Quit? Never. Give up? It’s not going to happen. I’m too close to finishing the task that my skeptical antagonists alleged was impossible for somebody like me to do.

When our big dreams don’t cooperate, what should we do during those “dark days and lonely nights when all seems lost?” Cry if you must but trust God absent any reservations. Quitting is never an option if you honestly believe that you were born to write or do what you’re doing now. Remember, God’s delay does not always mean that your big dream has been denied. I’ve learned not to argue with God when the answer to a prayer is “no.” Sometimes God’s no is an indication that now is not the time. One never knows how close they came to succeeding until after they give up and quit. Matters not what happens after our big dreams refuse to cooperate, trust God anyway.

Besides, not doing so would also make me a “hypocrite” since the main character of Steppin’ Out Of The Darkness, “When Good People Become Great,” is faced with the same adverse circumstances, unforeseen obstacles, and character building challenges I’m struggling to overcome now. If time permits, you can read a brief excerpt from an earlier version of the “revised” chapter, “Sun Dried Bones, Abandoned Visions, And Forgotten Dreams,” to see how the protagonist responds to what he discovers in this modern day “valley of dried bones.” You’ll have to wait a little longer to see what additional editing can do to make a manuscript worthy of your prospective readers’ time, respect, and hard earned money.

Having a quiet talk with God in my secret place usually puts me at peace whenever the invisible fist of Adversity strikes. Reading the Word of God always works for me when I don’t understand the reasons why now is not the time. According to Ecclesiastes 3:1-22 NIV, “There is a time” and a season for everything that happens on either side of the “Great Spiritual Divide.” Do you mind sharing some of your favorite Scriptures that have inspired you to “keep risin’ after every fall?” For those of you who aren’t “Christians” or faithful followers of the Christ, which means “the Anointed One,” what do you do during your darkest night of the soul?

I can still recall all the days God made me experience whatever I was going to teach during my in home Bible studies to see if my actions spoke louder than my words. As you know, “a faith that cannot be tested is a faith that cannot be trusted.” Is my faith in God being tested and strengthened right now? Most definitely. But God has never let me down. Tonight, I’ll have to search for the poem that talks about what happens when we pray for faith but God gives us more challenges to overcome. If you already have a copy of what I’m seeking, let me know where I can find it. When all else fails, all you can you do is “stand.” Just be careful where you choose to stand.

To illustrate what I mean, here’s a verse from the popular hymn, “The Solid Rock.”

“On Christ the solid rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand.”

© Copyright 2007 by Roderick O. Solomon. All Rights Reserved.