“Until the lions tell their tales, the story of the hunt will always glorify the hunter.”

African Proverb

The African proverb I quoted reminds me that we all have at least one good reason to remain objective. As evidenced by the lives of the 52 women Ms. Ann Spangler and Ms. Jean E. Syswerda chronicled in their insightful book, Women Of The Bible, there are always two sides to every story. Have you ever betrayed a man’s trust, lost a man’s respect, or broke a good man’s heart? Has he forgiven you? Have you forgiven yourself?

What did you learn this month about yourself? Who was the woman, or women, that you closely identified with because her story, her struggle, her great weakness reminded you of your walk with God? Did any of the 52 women you read about this month give you hope? Why? Do you know any men who give you hope, who love, honor, and respect you, who make you feel safe and secure?

How many women in our community have ever seen any of the men in your lives cry uncontrollably or watched a broken man die a slow, spiritual death because of another woman’s heart-breaking behavior? Do you lose respect for men who cry or do you respect men more because they would rather cry than die high?

Do you honestly believe that strong men never cry or that men who trust you enough to reveal their vulnerabilities, to expose their weaknesses, to express their deepest fears, to display their emotions by crying in your presence are wimps? Do you find yourself gravitating towards the strong, silent type because that the type of man your mother married?

Are you a woman who prefers to date abusive, unpredictable bad boys because you’re secretly addicted to the adrenaline rush their traumatic, dramatic behavior creates? Do you avoid good men because you can’t stand the boredom and predictability of dating nice men, emotionally connected, financially stable men who never give good women a reason to break up just to make up?

Hunters hurt. Yes, it’s true. Real men receive reality checks we aren’t always prepared to cash. Strong men struggle. Silence is not always a sign of strength. Wise men weep. Weeping is not always a sign of weakness. Even Jesus wept. The example of Christ’s leadership gives nice men who always appear to finish last hope.

To give the men in our lives hope, the month of June is being dedicated to men and the issues relevant to us and our relationships with our wives and the women in our lives. It’s my heart-felt prayer that next month’s series about men will also give the women who often hate to love us hope.

God willing, the critically thinking women we choose to love, honor, and respect will join us and pray for us as we take an objective look at what makes good men cry, become bad boys, and go awry.

Although, there may be a valid reason why good men snap and become bad boys who misbehave and behave badly, nothing a woman does ever justifies our sexist, abusive, misogynistic behavior. There’s absolutely no excuse good enough to justify the reasons why women still don’t feel safe and secure in our presence.

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

As promised, we’re continuing this month’s series, Women Of The Bible, with yet another look at the life of Eve. If you haven’t read Genesis Chapters 2 and 3, please do so in order to better understand the harsh reality of the truth and the ugliness of the dilemma Eve faced after the fall.

Since we’re dedicating the entire month of May to women and issues relevant to women, we’ll discuss Adam’s role in the fall of humanity next month with the message, “Adam, Where Are You?” For now, we’ll stay focused on the life of the woman whose name means, “Life-giving.” Imagine hearing God saying to you what Eve heard after the fall that gave birth to death, to pain, to shame, to fear, to the emotional division that still exists between man and woman.

Yes, it’s true. We’ve all blown it. We’ve all made mistakes. Big ones. Small ones. Inadvertent ones. Intentional ones. We’ve all done something we shouldn’t have at some point in our lives. We’ve all been in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong people. I know I have. Have you?

Take some time right now to search the seat of your soul, to dig deeper into the cluttered place where all our secrets still hide and reside. Uncomfortable? Most definitely! But necessary. Take a moment to take a closer look inside the heart of your soul. What did you find? What did you do? What did you say?

On the flipside of this script, what didn’t you find? What didn’t you do when you had a chance to take a stand? What didn’t you say when you had an opportunity to clear the name of an actually innocent person who was falsely accused of a crime you know they didn’t commit? Justifying your unethical actions by telling yourself that “I was just doing my job” doesn’t make the pain go away.

Do you feel like crying right now? Go ahead, cry if you must to cleanse your face and rid your soul of the toxic residue that’s poisoning your body. During my showers in the mornings, I cry often. Do you? The water from the shower symbolizes the tears I shed. The shower cleanses my body as it washes away the dirt I picked up from the previous day.

The tears cleanse the heart of my soul as they wash aways the residue of all the unwise decisions, the mistakes, the dirt I’ve done. Crying is better than dying a slow death from the anger, bitterness, and resentment you feel towards yourself for failing to face you deepest fears. Weeping may endure for a night, a few nights, a season, but sooner or later, joy always comes in the morning.

As some of you may know, the morning is symbolic, a metaphor for the glorious day that the long-awaited sunrise will appear and allow your eyes to meet the “greatness of God’s faithfulness.” Have you been waiting a long time for the light of God’s love to pierce the spiritual darkness of the hopelessness Despair creates?

Maybe you said something you shouldn’t have and harmed somebody you love with the words from your own mouth. Maybe you betrayed somebody’s trust and lost their respect, their friendship, their financial support. Maybe you let somebody down who depended on you to keep a promise, to fulfill a commitment, to prepare an important sales presentation, to keep your end of the bargain. But you blew it big time.

Saying, “I’m sorry,” isn’t enough this time. The damage is done. You’ve blown it one time too many. You finally found the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. If only you had the supernatural power to turn back the hands of time. Alas, you don’t and now you must sleep in the mess you’ve made. If you’ve been there, done that, you can imagine how Eve felt once this woman finally realized that her mistake would affect generations of women who had done no wrong.

Imagine how it must have felt to know that both she and Adam could no longer stand in God’s celestial presence without feeling “naked and ashamed.” Both Adam and Eve had sinned against God. The word sin means to miss the mark. Despite your noble efforts, your due diligence, your good intentions, how many times have you missed the mark?

“Okay, now what?” you ask yourself. “Where do we go from here?” you wonder as you ponder the eternal consequences of your disobedience, your failure to do the right thing, your willful act of rebellion. Matters not the reason why. Where do you start? What steps must you take in order for you to feel good about the person you face in the mirror? I don’t know. But God knows. That’s where I’d start.

During your dark night of the soul when all seems lost, remember that God is still standing closer than a brother. God will not leave you nor forsake you. God still loves you despite what you’ve done or didn’t do. Don’t give up. Don’t give in to the pain you feel. Don’t quit. Today is the beginning of the rest of your life. The present, not the past, is a great place to start doing something new.

For some of you, today’s challenging message will be liberating. Some of you will find the song you stuffed deep down inside the seat of your souls that you’re afraid to sing because you committed a sin you’re ashamed to admit to yourself, to God. Haven’t you noticed that our deepest fears have an uncanny way of silencing us for too long and keeping us from singing our song for all the wrong reasons? What are some of the reasons that you’re still afraid to sing your song?

It’s true. Each one of us is capable of doing, or saying, what we all know is wrong. “Okay, now what Mr. know-it-all?” Some of you will hate me for loving you simply because you still don’t love you. You still hate yourself. You hate anybody that looks like you and reminds you of you. Some of you will become defensive, misunderstand my intentions, and choose to personally attack me for challenging you to face your fears and embrace Change. But that’s to be expected.

“Better the wounds of a friend than kisses from an enemy.”

Some of you may decide to thank the person who keeps loving you enough to tell you the truth about yourself. I find it interesting that Jesus never identified, with specificity, the truth that makes people free as evidenced by the Scriptures. So, what is the truth that will make you free? Does this truth differ from person to person? Think about it.

Knowing the truth that, in God’s eyes, we are all created equal and will be treated equally may liberate you. For others, it may be just knowing the truth that God loves each of us absent any conditions. Knowing that we’re all imperfect people living together in an imperfect world may make you free enough to finally forgive you, to highly esteem you so you can learn to love you again.

Just know that God isn’t surprised, nor is He disappointed by anything we may say or do. Despite what occurred in the Garden of Eden, God has a plan and a purpose for each one of His children. Knowing that our most merciful and gracious Father was willing to sacrifice the life of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, in order to pay for the sins of the world did it for me.

The truth that makes people free is knowing that God’s love inspired Jesus Christ to pay a debt He didn’t owe because we all owed a debt we couldn’t pay. After the fall, Eve also experienced the grace of God. Hence, our next message will deal with Eve and God’s amazing grace. I hope and pray that you will feel better about you today now that you know that God still loves you.

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

Walter Burek, at Inklings The Copywriter’s Blog, Lillie Ammann, at A Writer’s Words, An Editor’s Eye, and KWiz, at Women Walking In Wisdom’s Footsteps™, have all recently honored me with Thinking Blogger Awards. Thank you Walter, Lillie, and KWiz for choosing me. (Note: Lillie Ammann’s award was previously missing from this post and has been added to correct my mistake.)

As many of you know, I’m still in the process birthing one of “my big dreams.” God’s delay doesn’t always means God’s denial. The delay has actually been a blessing in more ways than one. Updates about the unexpected changes that I’ve made to these literary projects and the pending release of my first reality-based novels are forthcoming. I’m also attempting to get caught up on a growing number of other pressing projects unrelated to blogging.

Nevertheless, I’ve been actively perusing the blogosphere for 5 additional award recipients and will submit my choices of thinking bloggers to receive this award. There are so many critically thinking bloggers who deserve to receive a Thinking Blogger Award.

Since I’m focusing on women for the entire month of May, I will limit my first 5 choices down to thought-provoking blogs written by women and about issues relevant to women and announce these winners as soon as possible after returning from my temporary leave of absence.

Please be patient with me. I’m still a “works in progress.”

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

Standing “beside” every good man is a wise woman whose love inspired him to become a great man during a crucial age and critical stage of his personal development. Please note that this wise woman is not standing behind, nor in front of, the inspired man whose life she is enhancing. Why?

Real men choose to treat women as equals. Real men refuse to abuse women. Real men refuse to relegate women to subservient positions. As a man, I know that I’m a much better person because of my wife, KWiz, and the plethora of wise, godly women who have contacted me and impacted my life over the years.

According to Ecclesiastes 4:8 NIV
8 There was a man all alone;
he had neither son nor brother.
There was no end to his toil,
yet his eyes were not content with his wealth.
“For whom am I toiling,” he asked,
“and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?”
This too is meaningless—
a miserable business!

God knew how much the first man, Adam, would need the assistance of a woman. As evidenced by Genesis 2:18,

The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” (emphasis added)

Can it be that the same rings true for a woman? How many of you honestly believe that it is also not good for a woman to be alone? How many times have you personally heard a woman say,

“I don’t need no man!! I can do bad all by myself?”

or

Men are nothing more than “sperm donors.”

How many of you have ever personally said that, thought that, or believed that to be true? What tragic, traumatic event happened to make you feel that you didn’t need a man? Do you still feel the same? If not, what happened to change your mind?

How many people in your circle of friends can you turn to, or can turn to you, in times of need? Who depends on you when they’ve fallen only to discover that they can’t rise to their feet absent the assistance of another? Have you ever been hospitalized because of a high risk pregnancy or incapacitated because of cancer, a long term illness, or a debilitating physical injury?

Did you have a faithful, reliable, trustworthy person standing by your side? If not, how did it make you feel to know you were all alone? After your recovery, what did you do to ensure that you would have the help you needed in the future? If yes, was the person you sought help from male or female? Did their gender make a difference or did it even matter as long as you received the help you needed?

So, what’s the significance, or the relevance of the person’s gender who’s helping to heal me? Our life experiences, both individually and collectively, do affect our perceptions and personal beliefs about the particular people we choose to trust, to love, to ask for help.

How difficult it must have been for Eve to risk exposing her weaknesses and vulnerabilities to Adam after he made her his scapegoat. How difficult has it been for you to dismantle, tear down, or break through the emotional walls your peers helped you to erect just to protect the deeply wounded soul of your broken heart from harm? Are those walls still standing? What will it take to inspire you to tear down these walls?

Do you ever wonder how Eve must have felt towards Adam after he “blamed” her for his lack of leadership, for his failure to protect her from the persuasive words of the “Original Down Low Brother,” for his deliberate act of disobedience? Do you think Eve could stand before Adam “naked and unashamed” as easily as she did before the fall? Reading Genesis 2, “The Creation Of Man And Woman,” will prepare you for our next discussion.

It’s difficult for a woman who been traumatized and victimized by a man to accept help from another man as evidenced by the previous statement

“I don’t need no man.”

It makes a difference if your Mom was the only person who took the time to teach you how to interact with men in professional settings, how to handle abusive, misogynistic men who sexually objectify women just for fun? If you grew up in a home without a “father figure,” how easy is it for you to turn to a man when you need help?

God willing, and if the creek don’t rise, we will begin digging deeper into the lives of the women in the Bible to see how they responded to God’s love, grace, and mercy. So, please feel free to invite your family, friends, and peers to join us and actively participate in the early stages of our developing discussion.

Hopefully, each of you will enjoy your personalized journey as we explore the individual lives of the 52 women who have been highlighted in the book, Women Of The Bible. This treasure chest disguised as a book was birthed by authors Ms. Ann Spangler and Ms. Jean E. Syswerda.

Any and all suggestions and comments are welcome and will be respected at all times. When all has been read, said, and done, it’s my prayer that women and men who hate to love each other will begin to realize just how much women and men really do need each other.

According to Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 NIV
“9 Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their work:

10 If one falls down,
his friend can help him up.
But pity the man who falls
and has no one to help him up!

11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?

12 Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.”

Together, we can make a difference. Will you help? I hope so.

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

“You men think of such silly things!” is how Anna, Box1715, responded in part to the question that comprised yesterday’s post. Nevertheless, “Can You Imagine A World Without Women?” served as the perfect segue into this month’s thought-provoking discussion about women and issues relevant to women.

As evidenced by previous posts, I agree that there would be no world without women. I can’t wrap my brain around the thought of living without women. Without women to birth us, none of us would be here reading or writing blogs. If we, as men, understand that we need women in order to survive, why not protect our women better than we have in times past from harm?

Without Eve, there would be no life. There would be no babies, no baby photos to share, no birthday parties to celebrate.   Quick question.  How many of you know what your birth name means?  How many of you know why you gave your children their names?  In the Bible, names are important.  According to the authors of Women Of The Bible, Eve’s name means

“Mother of All Who Have Life.”

Adam would have been nothing but a lonely man with all of his ribs intact. I can’t even begin to imagine my life without my wife, KWiz, or our giggling gift from God who, by the way, will be celebrating her 3rd birthday next Sunday.

According to the aforementioned authors, Eve’s name also means

“Life-giving.”

As a woman, who, or what, have you given life to recently? Who have you personally inspired by the power of your presence, your wise words, your influence, your love?  Do you know what the word, inspire, means.  Click on the highlighted word if you have any doubts about its meaning.
Whose renewed, re-invigorated passion for living was dead before you breathed life into their emaciated soul? How many socially alienated, cast down souls have you raised above the oppressive darkness of the hopelessness Despair created?  How many poems, songs,  and books has your life, your love, your leadership inspired?  How many big dreams have you recently resurrected or given birth to directly, or indirectly?

As a sign of respect, I’ve chosen to focus on women in order to bring some much needed attention to God’s gift to the world. It’s no secret by now that I honestly believe that a woman is indeed “a man’s most valuable resource.” How many of you agree with me?

How many of you already know that a woman possesses the power to personally make or break a man? As we proceed with our journey, it’s my prayer that all who choose to participate, will become better acquainted with the plethora of reasons why it’s not wise to underestimate the power of a woman.

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

As some of you may already know, I’ve dedicated the entire month of May to women and issues relevant to women. I’ve also added a new category to The Bookstore link located in my sidebar,

“Books By And About Women.”

If time permits, please submit the title of your favorite book written by and about women for inclusion in our Bookstore by posting a comment to this post or the post, “A Sign Of Respect.” Thank you in advance for participating. We, as men, need to know what’s important to you. what books you’re reading, what you’re thinking about, what matters to you.

Women of the Bible

Searching the Scriptures has revealed a plethora of women who played a major role in the inspirational stories I’ve read in the Bible. Throughout the month of May, we’ll shine a spotlight on the lives of the many women written about in the Bible. For the rest of the month, we will highlight the women who both served and opposed God.

What unsung sheroe is currently making a significant different in your life and the lives of the people you love? Whose strong shoulders are you standing on today? Whose empathetic shoulders do you lean on when you need a safe, soft place to lay your head on whenever Adversity strikes? Think about it.

How many women of the Bible can you relate to personally? For example, can you best relate to Eve’s story because you have become the scapegoat who’s constantly being blamed for all that is wrong in your corner of the world?

Can you best relate to Sarah’s story because you believe your “biological clock” is about to tick its last tock?

Maybe you best relate to Lot’s wife because you’re a woman who has lost yourself, lost your identity, and lost your way because you’re married to Mr. Big Stuff.  Does anybody know the name of Lot’s wife?

Can you best relate to the woman Jesus met at the well because your marriage(s) failed to last forever and you now find yourself settling for less than God’s best?

Until we meet again, take some time today to take a closer look at the women in the Bible who have reminded you that impossible is nothing to God.

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

“A good name is to be more desired than great wealth, Favor is better than silver and gold.”(emphasis added)

Proverbs 22:1 NASB

For the past few days, my heart has been grieving for all the beautiful women that are hurting because we, as men, refuse to “begin within so we won’t have to do without our women.” As evidenced by my previous posts, I honestly believe that

“a woman is a man’s most valuable resource.”

The women from Spelman College need to know that we, as men, heard their passionate cries for our help more than they need our excuses and justification for the “dehumanization of an entire generation” of great people. The question that’s still lingering in the hearts and minds of one too many of the women who participated, or watched, the Oprah Winfrey Show, “After Imus, Now What?,” that aired on ABC this past Monday and Tuesday is

DID YOU HEAR ME?

There’s no sweeter sound that the power of a wise woman’s words. When was the last time an entire generation of women felt safe and secure in the presence of our generation of men? Sad isn’t it. It’s our responsibility as men to fix what we all played a part in killing, stealing and destroying the women God commanded all men to love.

The word “destroy” means to “render utterly useless.” How can we as men defend an industry that continues to condone and justify the destruction of an entire generation of women who deserve nothing less than the best we have to give?

Can we honestly look our women in their tear stained faces and say with a straight face that we’re giving them our best, doing our best, loving them with the best that we, as men, have to give? If you believe we are, then you deceive yourself. I have to respectfully disagree with any person, male or female, who believes that we, as children of God “can’t dew no better.”

The denigrating, degradating, and demoralizing words that are coming out of our mouths are killing, stealing, and destroying the hopes, dreams, and aspirations of entire generations of great men, women, and children. Do you agree or disagree with me?

Please don’t get this message to men making misogynistic music a socially acceptable art form twisted. I’m not blaming, bashing, judging, condemning, or scapegoating you. Nevertheless, I am challenging us as men to face our biggest fears, to shed tears in the dark, to remember all the years men raped women for fun.

Come Sunday morning, praise God for the women who didn’t leave us, who didn’t kick us to the curb, who birthed us and our children, and stood by myopic men who failed to love, honor, respect, and protect their dignity, their honor, their womanhood.

Come Monday morning, let all the women we, as men, meet on the street how much we love them as we witness without words. Let our actions show our women that we can raise the level of our thinking. Let our action show our mothers, sisters, and wives that we can clean up the lyrics we choose to use to tell our stories. Difficult? Yes. Impossible? No.

“Impossible is nothing but a word to God.”

Let our actions, as men, show all women that we are ready and willing to spend more time listening to the pain in the voices of our “sheroes” than we spend trying in vain to defend men making misogynistic music. Let the women, who are still standing tall on the shoulders of our ancestors, know that we hear them and that they have no reason to fear us.

No good can come out of any neighborhood that would allow any man making misogynistic music to make money and profit at the expense of any woman. Since no person can correct what one isn’t willing to admit, it’s time to quit making excuses for why we, as men, made our women cry, sigh, and die a slow spiritual death. The women who live in fear need to know that we hear them loud and clear.

Racist, sexist, dehumanizing words have stripped our women of their self-respect and dignity and ripped gaping holes in the severely wounded souls of women for the last time. I’m sorry that myopic men making misogynistic music have grieved the hearts of women who believed in us when we didn’t have enough money to pay attention.

Surely, we, as creative men, can devise an innovative way to show our appreciation to every generation of great women who stood by our side until the day they died and cried for the last time.

Quick question. What would our great grandmothers and grandmothers say today if they could hear the words we’re defending and pretending are just artistic forms of expression? The choice to begin within so the next generation of men won’t have to do without our women is yours alone to make.

Enough Is Enough!!

In closing, I beseech each of the racist, sexist men making misogynistic music to choose the battles you fight and the paths you walk wisely before you lose a lot more than just your good name and money. I can’t begin to imagine a world without our women. Can you? I hope not.

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

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MY BELOVED!!

Thank you for blessing me, for believing in me, for respecting me, for loving me, for choosing to marry me, for giving birth to our precious gift from God, for putting up with me for the past 6 years, for laughing with me, for crying with me, for never giving up on us, for never losing faith in us, for being “my dream come true.”

I love you now, always, and forever.

Your husband

An opinion is like a “belly button.” Everybody has one.

As evidenced by recent news media coverage, the “Court Of Public Opinion” has spoken in regards to the “over the top” offensive, sexist, and insulting words Don Imus aired publicly. MSNBC and CBS have decided to fire Imus. It gives me no pleasure to watch Imus fall from grace, nor do I view the potential loss of this shock jock’s employment as an occasion to celebrate.

As a sign of respect, I do, however, need to tip my hat to all the self-respecting women of the Rutgers basketball team, sororities, and women’s organizations, who weathered this emotionally charged season of heated debates with dignity and class.

I also want to applaud each of the major corporate sponsors who empathized with all the women Imus insulted with his racial slur, shared the collective pain of all women, and decided to withdraw their financial support from the Imus In The Morning Show.

Before closing out this chapter of humanity’s history book, I would be remiss if I failed to address the continued use of offensive, sexist language that has given me cause for concern. The culturally diverse women who have joined my community need to know that they have a safe place to come when they need to be edified, encouraged, and inspired.

All the women who don’t feel appreciated, loved, or respected for all that they’ve done to make the world a better place need to know that real men do indeed exist. We love you. We need you. We will not hesitate to stand up and protect you. We will not rest until all women feel safe and secure in our presence.

Since our actions still speak louder than our words, I need to confront a male member of the MyBlogLog Community for offending a lot more women than just my wife, KWiz, with his posts, “Racism; Who Cares” and “Racism; Who Cares Part 2.”

I am posting “Court Of Public Opinion” in the spirit of love, not hate to let the men who still don’t get it know that any type of offensive behavior will be challenged and dealt with swiftly. It is no longer socially acceptable to disrespect any woman for any reason at any time. In response to the message, “Racism, Who Cares!!,” I submitted the following comment:

Manchild on April 10, 2007 8:45 am

Hello [*],Your comments disappoint and deeply sadden me. No man’s daughter deserves to be called a nappy headed ho.” The music executives who paid the “rappers” to produce nothing by misogynistic “commercial” songs are just as guilty as the corporations who paid Imus to be a “shock jock.”

Hatred and bigotry are ugly. I speak from personal experience. I grew up during the time in our country’s history when I wasn’t “good enough” to be treated as a human being, when the police didn’t protect our families from the KKK, when angry mobs of people hung Black men from trees like pieces of strange fruit.

Do you have any children? I do. As the father of a “pearl of a girl,” I will give up my life to protect her from what I saw Black people endure. I understand the public outrage that has erupted by a lot more people than just Rev. Al Sharpton.

My wife, Kwiz, and I have posted a poem by a young Black girl who was so hurt by the insensitive racist remarks that emotionally devastate Black women that she cried while reading it. I hope what you read will change the way you feel about Imus’ egregious behavior.

As far as the gangsta rappers and hip hoppers are concerned, we have privately and publicly chastised and criticized them from the very beginning. But right now, Imus must be held accountable for his inexcusable behavior.

Enough is enough! I hope we can agree that’s it’s okay to disagree. Peace.

All’s well that ends well, right? Not.

Since old habits die hard, “Racism; Who Cares Part 2″ was posted in response to my comment. In response, my wife, KWiz submitted the following comment.

KWiz on April 10, 2007 12:02 pm

[*], you and everyone else is certainly entitled to their opinion about a subject, and racism is no different. However, your lack of compassion is astounding. Yes, disagreement is allowed, even encouraged sometimes in order to have meaningful dialogue. However, you have never walked in the shoes of a Black man or woman at all, nor would you want to. And unfortunately, whether words spoken by Imus or rappers (who are not excused by any stretch of the imagination), or anyone else, the damage they cause for young people can be tremendous. I’m so sorry that you can’t empathize with that. But then again, not everybody can.

A real man will not tolerate racist, sexist, misogynistic, verbally abusive rhetoric directed towards any woman for any reason whatsoever is a lifetime mission of mine. Hence, my “intellectualized” response to any man who demeans, disrespects, diminishes, demoralizes, denigrates and harms the psyche of any woman, especially my wife are the words the In Living Color character Homey The Clown immortalized.

“Oh No! I Don’t Think So! Homey Don’t Play That!”

My antagonist’s subsequent decision to publicly post, “My New Ho,” for all the women of the MyBlogLog community and humanity’s global village to see speaks for itself. It is my heartfelt sincere prayer that the day will come when all the men we confront in the spirit of love will care enough about the women God has gifted to us to love, honor and respect “man’s most valuable resource.”

It would be arrogant of me to assume that I can speak for any woman other than my wife who’s letting me take the hit for her. So I won’t insult your intelligence by choosing to do so. Since the women of humanity’s global village can speak for themselves, I am, therefore, submitting this matter to the Court Of Public Opinion.

Posting your comments will let the men, who still don’t understand, know that it’s time to crucify an antiquated cultural lifestyle that has historically tolerated and condoned sexist, misogynistic, offensive, insulting, and degrading behavior.

Social injustice anywhere is still a threat to social justice everywhere.

If God’s love inspires you to do so, please let the men who don’t care know the reasons why no woman deserves to be called “nappy headed” or a “ho.” Doing so will challenge our blended, extended family members to engage ourselves in respectful, meaningful conversations so that the healing process to begin.

Thanks to all who choose to participate in the Court Of Public Opinion for sharing your comments and the gift of your time.

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