Christmas Dream

I was startled from my sleep on Christmas Eve by an urge to do good deeds. I looked at the clock, 11:59pm, without even a thought, I jumped into my Green Lantern costume, ran to the front porch, and took off through the air towards my hometown, Jersey City, NJ.

As I flew over the church steeple of St. Patrick's Church on Bramhall Avenue, and the clock struck 12, I knew there was no time for complacency or sloth. There was just too much to do.

I first flew over all the corners where drugs were being sold and turned crack rocks into skittles! BUT not only that, I instantly enrolled the young entrepreneurs into small business owners classes and arranged for them to get grants to start their own businesses, provided they finished their coursework.

Next I waved my hand and everyone with an addiction was enrolled in a program to help them get clean and stay clean...

Next, I got all of Jersey City's great athletes, business owners, professionals, and celebrities who had made it out of poverty and had them start up job training programs, as well as, open businesses in the community that would not only put people to work, but would give them long term stability and security. Then I put them in contact with all of the unemployed, under employed, and those who had just given up, and told them to get to work... TOGETHER.

Next I identified all of the undernourished children and arranged for them to have healthy, nutritious meals 3 times a day. Part of this plan involved making sure that there were food stores in the community that sold healthy, fresh, affordable foods.

I also arranged for all of the children to have access to free, HIGH QUALITY healthcare...

Then I flew over every detention facility and "bam" they all had REAL rehabilitation programs that help ex offenders to enter back into society with REAL hope.

After that, I made a pact with every ex offender that they would speak in schools and community centers about the mistakes they had made, and implore others not to do the same.

Next I pulled every corrupt politician together and had them make retribution Zacchaeus style. Read it for yourself:

Luke 19:1-10
Zacchaeus the Tax Collector

1Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. 4So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.
5When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today." 6So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.

7All the people saw this and began to mutter, "He has gone to be the guest of a 'sinner.'"

8But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount."

9Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."

From there I flew over every courthouse and decreed that JUSTICE would prevail in every situation. That all people, rich and poor, black, white, brown, yellow, or red would be ensured impartiality and fairness in every situation.

Next I flew over all of the schools, identified all of the underachieving TEACHERS and ADMINISTRATORS, and enrolled them in programs to bring them up to an elite standard. I also gifted every under resourced school with all of the resources it needed to give young people the best possible education, so that every child has the opportunity to go to college.

Then I flew over the projects and the sub standard housing, turning them into beautiful places to live, and making many of the people property owners. I also launched programs in every community that taught people to value their properties, how to keep them up, how to save money, and create wealth.

I also, built homeless shelters that were safe, clean, and packed with resources that would help people get back on their feet.

Next I visited every house of worship and confronted the leaders with the urgency of the day. I implored them to act with self-LESS-ness, to walk the walk even better than they talk the talk, and we all prayed and cried together vowing to do our part.

I know there was much more to do, but I only had a few hours, and besides, it was just a dream... BUT it's not impossible.

Christmas isn't just a day, in fact the day itself is only "symbolic" in every possible way (no way that Christ was born in December). The true spirit of Christmas should be expressed in how we serve those less fortunate; those in need; the "least of these."

Written by Frederick A Hanna

Best Christmas Memory

I grew up the only child of a single mom, and we were tighter than pantie hose 2 sizes small! Still are to this day. We accept each others flaws, hoping we both grow, but not judging the other less worthy because of our imperfections.

One Christmas, mommy got her Christmas club money out and we headed to Toys'R'Us to get your boy his Christmas wishes. We went in the store and shopped every isle. I was elated, then we got to the cash register, and something had gone wrong. The yellow envelope that mommy's money was in was gone. Seems it fell out of her pocketbook when we got out of the car to go into the store. We searched to no avail, so we left the store with me confused and mommy in tears.

Mommy was proud. She was/is the kind of woman who finds it hard to ever ask anyone for anything (a pathology we share), and so we were resolved to have a less than perfect Christmas... still, we had each other.

Well, just like old fabled St. Nicholas, my grandpop (God rest his soul) showed up on a snowy Christmas Eve. His nickname happened to be Nick too. He had a motto, "Say it with cash," and that's what he did. He heard what had happened and he came around with a little "ice cream money" for us!



My fondest Christmas memory is the one of me and my mother walking through Jersey City... up Monticello Ave, through McGinley Square, and into Journal Square, buying gifts all along the way on a snowy Christmas Eve. I don't remember what we bought, but I remember holding her hand, and I remember our footprints in the snow.



Do you have a favorite Christmas memory?

Images of Black Masculinity

Think with me! One of my dudes, a consummate thinker, commented that my new profile pic was very rap album-ish. I agree totally and found it quite funny. I also saw a lot of irony in the comparison when I thought of "typical" rap album images and messages they send about black masculinity. While all rappers do not portray themselves in the same manner, I think its safe to say that many people think of thugs, misogyny, and bling, when they think of rappers. I decided to post my picture side-by-side with one of these images and ask you all, "What ironies do you see?" and "What images (myth or reality) of black masculinity do you see in these pictures?"