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Manny B.

Michael Jackson Dead At Age 50

I am speechless at this time, but I am and will always be a Big Michael Jackson fan, I posted my favorite Michael Jackson Song below. Keep the Jackson family in prayer, I am really speechless...WOW

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Source LOS ANGELES (CBS)

King of Pop Michael Jackson died Thursday at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center where he was rushed around 1 p.m. PT by paramedics. Jackson, 50, suffered cardiac arrest.

Capt. Steve Ruda said earlier Thursday that paramedics responded to a call at Jackson's home around 12:26 p.m. Ruda said Jackson was not breathing when they arrived.

A law enforcement source told the LA Times that Jackson was declared dead Thursday afternoon after arriving in a deep coma at the hospital.

Jackson had announced months ago that he would be doing a comeback tour, but his representatives announced in May that the the star would postpone several of his London shows scheduled for this summer.

Jackson, who has sold more than 750 million albums and won 13 Grammys, hasn't undertaken a a major tour since 1997 or released an album of new material since 2001.

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"College days swiftly pass imbued with memories fond"

11 I have seen something else under the sun:

The race is not to the swift
or the battle to the strong,
nor does food come to the wise
or wealth to the brilliant
or favor to the learned;
but time and chance happen to them all.
Ecclesiastes 9:11 (New International Version)

When I started to reflect on my experiences of the last six years while I was enrolled in college, I began to think about the many challenges, battles, and inconveniences that I encountered. However, this passage in Ecclesiastes has always reminded me that although I may attempt to plan my life and ambitions “time and chance” has a role in influencing what happens in my life.


As a senior in High School, I felt that I knew what I wanted to do, I had a sense of “calling” to do ministry. Because of this sense of “calling”, my initial college choice was a conservative Bible College in the southwestern part of Ohio. Although I had been raised in social conservative family and church, I felt out of place. Prior to arriving at this institution, I had been taught that women were not allowed to pastor but could preach, but this school prohibited women from even gracing the pulpit to deliver a sermon.


This was a minor conflict at the time, compared to how little diversity existed amongst my classmates. Most of the students were white, from small rural towns, and came from the same Christian denomination; I can admit that I was ill prepared for the transition, which ultimately lead me to transfer from the institution after just one semester.


Transferring from the Bible College was difficult, this was not apart of my original plan, I was suppose to graduate with a degree in Biblical Studies with a focus in Preaching Ministry. What else could I do; I had only wanted to do ministry, but my plan was altered. Transferring from the Bible College was not because of the academic challenge, but because I was lacking cultural simulation.


I went from one extreme to another; I enrolled into a HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities). This HBCU prided itself on being the precursor of all HBCU’s. The student enrollment was smaller than at my High School, but the students were from all over the United States and they look exactly like me. What I lacked previously, I was immersed in daily.


Most of the professors were Black and spoke in the vein I was accustom to in High School with my teacher Abu Toure. Every class, whether it was English, Psychology, or Political Science discussed the problems of Black America. However, I felt boxed in, I felt in addition to race problems we needed to discuss class and gender issues. Now I wrestled with the dilemma that this institution was too homogenous.


Only if you could have imagined what I was going through mentally and emotionally. I was a freshman in college and already I had stop pursuing my childhood dream of ministry and left Bible College. Now I was at an HBCU, feeling like an outcast. This was not what I had envisioned when my mother drove me to College (a detail I sometimes forget), and told me to do my best. I questioned myself daily and indulge in self-pity, but one evening after hours of talking with my mentor on the phone, he encouraged me to apply to his Alma Mater Otterbein College. I thought out loud to him and recall myself saying, “transfer again, are you serious Derek?” a feeling of uncertainty and failure overtook me at that moment.




Now a graduate of Otterbein College, I wonder what would have happened if I had never taken the advice of my mentor and applied to Otterbein. Otterbein to me at the time was too expensive and their admission requirements were ambiguous, which to me was intimidating. By this time, I had come to realize that I had nothing to lose; I stepped out on faith and this faith allowed me to experience the blessings that God had for me.


I just finished reading my pastor’s book “Crazy Faith: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives”. In the first chapter, Pastor Smith writes, “Having faith means we understand that expecting God to be God also means we understand that God’s ways are not our ways… God being God is completely out of our control”.


The races and battles that I experienced in College did not always make sense to me but to God, they always had a purpose and were out of my control. Once I had submitted to God’s will my life took a drastic turn. Most people in the beginning thought I had lost my mind, but what my faith in God produced was tremendous.


If I had never had the faith to endure “time and chance” and attended Otterbein College, I would have never become a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity (Omicron Rho Chapter), I would have never been elected to serve on my fraternity’s National Board of Directors (two terms), and I would have never been selected to serve as the first student of Color (an inclusive word used at Otterbein to address all minorities) on the Board of Trustees at Otterbein College. I would not have had the courage to challenge the bigotry and sexism that eventually caused me to leave my former church because of a New Testament class that challenged my Christian beliefs to the core. After venturing away from ministry with my eyes set on law school, it was Otterbein that continuously “called” upon me to do service, which rekindled my passion for ministry and has led me to attend Vanderbilt University’s School of Divinity in the Fall.






When I stop trying to be the fastest and the strongest, I realized Otterbein was where God wanted to prepare me for a “greater work”. Because it was at Otterbein were I came across an inclusive community of people who only wanted to see every student succeed regardless of race, gender, class, and sexual orientation. At Otterbein, I felt I had finally experienced what Jesus
described as “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”.



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"Encourage Yourself"-Donald Lawerence

As many of you know I am a senior at Otterbein College and I am nearing graduation. Because of my intense course load this quarter, I have not been blogging as much as I would like. However, I am in my final week of class, finals are next week, and graduation is June 14, 2009. This morning this song continuously played in my head while I was completing an online (the class is so tough, he needs to give us the quizzes online) quiz for a difficult science class. Nevertheless, I have to be like David when Ziklag was overthrown and his two wives were taken captive Ahinoam and Abigail, I have to encourage myself in the lord my God (1 Samuel 30:1-6)


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FRESH Perspective: Are Black Greek Letter Organizations Financially Out of Touch-REPOST

I wrote this entry in March but a few have requested that I repost it so your request has been granted

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I recently received a brochure for my fraternity’s 103rd Anniversary Convention and looked at the price of the convention and was awestruck. The registration cost for the convention ranges from $450 to $750 for alumni and $250 to $500 for collegiate members. After looking at our conventions cost, I began to investigate the prices of other BGLO’s national conventions. Phi Beta Sigma’s 95th Anniversary Conclave prices were similar, quoting $375 to $675 for alumni and $275 to $530 for collegiate members. What these prices do not include are travel and lodging, which can easily cost an additional $500 to $1,000. For those of us who are active or have been active at one time with our BGLO, we know that the convention cost is not the only expense that a member could incur within a year’s time. With the current economic crisis within the United States is the leadership of BGLO’s being sensitive to the current recession or are they just going on with business as usual.




The Truth Music is that on average we spent $500 to $1000 to be initiated in our organizations along with the chapter’s own assessment, which alone was costly. We then began a cycle of national due that range from $75 to $250 (some organizations have life memberships that range one-time payment of $1,000 to $3,000) that we must pay each year in order to be considered in good standing. Then there are chapter dues (if you associate with a chapter), that are normally more expensive then what you paid nationally.

And once you have paid to be a “card carrying member” you can then register for your District (statewide) meeting which can cost you an additional $50 to $200 and once you have participated within your District there is your Regional meeting. I saw one Regional Convention for Delta Sigma Theta Sorority online ranging from $300 to $600 to register.

Finally, you have had a year of fraternizing, it’s mid-summer and it’s time for your National meeting. I know that we enjoy seeing all of our Bruhz and Sorors, but honestly are we paying to maintain organization’s that are mismanaged and carrying too much overhead cost. BGLO’s initiate a few hundred to a couple of thousands of new members each year, but have the turnover rate of most low paying call centers. Most BGLO’s are struggling because of the lack of retention of members who join in college but never transition to the alumni ranks of the organization. But has the leadership provided them a reason that they should.




Therefore, we are left with the challenge to ask if I joined a brotherhood/sisterhood should it cost me over a thousand dollars a year to maintain my active status within the organization. If I have built relationships with my sorors and bruhz what is the benefit of being active? I believe that our BGLO’s are out of touch with the current economic crisis and have been for a long time. As a result, our organization will witness a year of low registering conventions along with a drop in their already struggling membership. I believe that our BGLO’s need to realign themselves and do away with our lavished and over budgeted conventions that really have no value. Our conventions need to be restructured to provide the training that is necessary to not just develop us to be leaders within our organizations, but to provide that leadership to our community as well. The funds spent on our conventions should be reallocated to our current membership management programs to provide better customer service, oversight, corporate mentorship program etc. Once we do this we will be able to tell that inactive brother or sister that there is value in being active with the organization, but until then, the Truth Music is we will continue to hear bruhz and sorors say “my membership is worth more than the organization’s magazine”.


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FRESH Perspective: That Sunday: When Homophobia is Preached at Church

As you walked into the worship service, nothing seemed out of place. Although you arrived later than expected, the praise team was still singing. You were excited about this week’s service because Pastor had been out of town at a revival and you knew he would have a word for the congregation.

The choir’s performance was impressive, they sang a few new songs, and you decided to give a little more in the offering today, because you felt the spirit moving. The sermonic soloist began to sing “Teach Me O’ Lord” and once she finished the church immediately commenced to shout, and as the Pastor approached, the congregation called out to him, "Preach Reverend, Preach!"

The atmosphere was set, the people were prepared to hear a message from the Pastor and as you grabbed your bible, you were not expecting this to be “That Sunday" The Pastor politely requested that the congregation be seated and turn their bibles to first Corinthians six, verses nine through ten. The congregation felt the pastor’s seriousness as they opened to the scripture.

"Or do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, shall inherit the kingdom of God."

The Pastor looked up from the scripture and with his baritone voice stated, “ I would like to speak from the subject, Don’t Get it Twisted”. A silence moved across the church because you knew that what would follow would not be the word that everyone had anticipated, but a sermon that would cut at the heart of many people’s existence. The Pastor had chosen this Sunday out of all the Sunday’s to deliver the infamous “That Sunday” sermon.

When I speak of “That Sunday” I am referring to that chosen Sunday when the pastor decides to preach a sermon about the sexual immorality within our society, especially homosexuality. The pastor’s message describes how homosexuality is incompatible with the Christian scripture and in order to be a true Christian, one must deny their sexual identity for their Christian identity.

For the next 30 minutes, the Pastor ranted about perceived wrongdoing amongst his congregation and how their transgressions would ultimately keep them from experiencing the salvation of God. However, the Pastor merely highlighted the various SINS listed in the scripture but once he arrived at homosexuality, he boldly looked out across his congregation and said, “Yes homosexuality is a SIN”. “Despite what you have heard all homosexuals are going to Hell”. The church erupts with "amen’s" and "preach pastor", as he instructs the congregates to go to the book of Leviticus chapter eighteen verse twenty-two:

"You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination”

All around the church, not everyone feels the same way the pastor does. There are congregants who feel embarrassed, who weep quietly because their sexuality they did not chose, and their sexuality they cannot change. While some are celebrating the pastor’s homophobic message others are retreating inside themselves because they have arrived at a place that does not appreciate them the way God created them. This is a reality for many Black Gay Christians. Every Sunday is like playing sermon roulette, wondering whether this be “That Sunday” when the pastor preaches against homosexuality.

“That Sunday” refers to the chosen Sunday when the pastor decides to preach a sermon about the sexual immorality within our society, especially homosexuality. The pastor’s message describes how homosexuality is incompatible with the Christian scripture and in order to be a true Christian, one must deny their sexual identity for their Christian identity



Within in his article, Homophobia, hypermasculinity and the US black church Dr. Elijah Ward a professor at St. Xavier University in Chicago explains within his article that “A palpable silence around homosexuality exists in many black churches”. I disagree that there is a “palpable silence” within the Black Church regarding homosexuality, but the conversation that surround homosexuality is, as the video shows, unhealthy and toxic.

There is nothing more horrific than listening to a toxic conversation, let alone being in a toxic environment. I can remember attending a worship service at a prominent Baptist church in Columbus, Ohio and the pastor condemned gay men and said he was going to kick them out of the church. I was shocked into silence as I watched the congregation clap and jump from their seats.

The minister continued, but I gathered up my belongings because I refused to sit and listen to this homophobic message. However, few black gays are willing to dismiss their church’s stance on homosexuality, a message laced with hate and bigotry. Prejudice is inexcusable and should not be tolerated, but why do so many black gay Christians allow themselves to be belittled?

I posed this question to one of the men at the church when the pastor was preaching about kicking gay men out and he stated

“It’s really not that bad. It’s really only one Sunday Manny and I love my church and I can tolerate that mad man going off on us kids one Sunday. It ain’t that serious for real”

I was not surprised by his response because of what the Black Church represents to so many Black Christians. The Black Church is undeniably one of the first institutions established by free Blacks. The Black Church has served as a cornerstone, it has spearheaded a lot of the social and political movements within the Black community and being a part of the Black Church in most Black communities is synonymous with success. The Black Church has continuously served as a place of comfort and belonging it is the place where many were baptized, met their friends, and where a majority of their family attends.

Within the Black community, the Black church is a family affair. The Black Church is where most of the family’s beliefs and values have been constructed. Therefore, to openly combat the church’s homophobic message would also mean to combat their known family ideology. This would cause immediate outrage from their family and church community and to go against the establishment would ultimately lead to exile.

For example, my friend who is a former youth minister is still rebuilding his life since he left his church. He decided to come out to his family, which led them to call the pastor and his pastor removed him from all of his duties at the church. The church’s stance on homosexuality is clear, that it was a sin and the desire was the result of an unclean spirit. Because of my friend’s courage to combat the stance of the church, he was ostracized from his church and painfully from his family.

Standing against the establishment of the Black Church is almost like standing alone, because there are few Black churches that are open and affirming to members of the GLBTQ community. The few that are open and affirming normally belong to mainstream White denominations because there is no mainstream Black denomination that affirms their gay brothers and lesbian sisters.

The Black Church continues to preach a homophobic message rooted in fundamentalism, the Black Church does not seek to change its message of bigotry and hate but rather control the homosexuals that are engaged within their church and exert a message of heterosexism. These Pastors who preach homophobic messages are not blind to the fact that gays are part of their churches membership. However, their prejudiced message is intended to make the remaining homosexuals submit to a theology of fear, trapping them in the closet. By doing so, the individuals would never relinquish their commitment to the church over their sexual identity.

They will remain choir directors, soloist, musicians, ushers, and ministers because this ill treatment toward their sexuality on “That Sunday” is not worth the risk of losing everything else. This is why the man from the church said,
“It’s really not that bad, it’s really only one Sunday Manny and I love my church and I can tolerate that mad man going off on us kids one Sunday, it ain’t that serious for real” Because despite the Black Church’s injustice toward homosexuals, it still remains a place of community and self-expression of spirituality.

I am not suggesting that Black Gay Christians turn their back on the Church. That is ridiculous, as grandma would say, “never bite the hand of the one who feeds you”. The Black Church is an important institution within our community, it remains an incubator for leadership within the Black community. Therefore, I believe that the Black Church needs to begin to have a healthy conversation around sexuality. This conversation is not just the responsibility of the gay men and lesbian women, but it is the responsibility of the entire village.

In closing, I understand that it is not easy to leave a place that feels like home but home should not be a place that abuses and mistreats you. Jesus’ message was centered on love and not exclusivity and hate. Therefore, even if you are not gay, you know someone who is, possibly your brother, sister, cousin, or best friend, what will you do the next time “That Sunday” arrives?


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