Tuesday, March 27, 2018

Remembering Brown v. Board of Education



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AMWS Compiled Reports, March 25. 2018, Topeka, KS -- Linda Carol Brown passed away in her longtime hometown. "Sixty-four years ago a young girl from Topeka brought a case that ended segregation in public schools in America," he tweeted. "

Linda Brown's life reminds us that sometimes the most unlikely people can have an incredible impact and that by serving our community we can truly change the world.  Linda grew up at Topeka’s St. Marks African Methodist Episcopal Church.  Her dad, The Reverend Oliver L. Brown (August 19, 1918 – June 1961) was the assistant pastor. Oliver L. Brown (August 19, 1918 – June 1961) was the "Brown" in the landmark 1954 U.S. Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education.

As a third grader, Linda had to walk six blocks to her school bus stop to ride to Monroe Elementary, her segregated black school one mile (1.6 km) away, while Sumner Elementary, a white school, was seven blocks from her house. 

In the landmark Brown v Board of Education, The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, who, besides Brown, included Barbara Johns who was only 16 when she organized a student revolt at her badly-underfunded high school.  The Court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, who, besides Brown, included Barbara Johns who was only 16 when she organized a student revolt at her badly-underfunded high school.

In 1950, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People asked a group of African-American parents that included Oliver Brown to attempt to enroll their children in all-white schools, with the expectation that they would be turned away. Oliver attempted to do so with Linda, who was in third grade at the time and barred from enrollment at Sumner Elementary. The strategy was for the civil rights group to file a lawsuit on behalf of the 13 families, who represented different states.

With Brown's name happening to alphabetically top the list of plaintiffs, the case would come to be known as Brown v. Board of Education and be taken to the Supreme Court. The lead attorney working on behalf of the plaintiffs was future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.
This month, as youth throughout the United States and the world #MarchForOurLives, we recognize that protests have been an integral part of America’s society since its birth.  And yet, public schools in low income neighborhoods must still fight for money, resources and qualified staff; the Voting Rights Act is in jeopardy; “We The People” continue to be harassed and gunned-down in the streets of these United States; and, hatred is alive and well.  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, in his last book asked America, what will we chose…   Chaos or Community?



Wednesday, March 14, 2018

…Then, Caesar Falls!


“A divided kingdom ends in ruin. A city or home divided against itself cannot stand.” Jesus

Eric Stradford, U.S. Marine Corps, Retired and Stephanie A. Walker Stradford

March 15,2018 (#IdesofMarch), Virtual -  House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) will need to draw on every lesson from his Catholic rearing as 2.4 billion believers pray for him and One Nation Under God, besieged by chaotic patterns of behavior.  March 15th marks the ominous “Ides of March,” an evidence-based precognition dating back to 44 BC. 

Today, U.S. Marine Conor Lamb (D-PA), hopes for an alternative narrative in a house divided against itself, The U.S. House of Representatives, where an #unpresidented agenda is threatening National Security.  Lamb, like Ryan is Roman Catholic with a capital C.  A lower case “c” in catholic defines a broader, more universal community.  Even children get it!  They can lead by taking a day from school and light the way from CHAOS to COMMUNITY.

Clairvoyance relating to an event or state not yet experienced cannot necessarily be dismissed as “fake news.”   Past precognition is shedding light on overwhelming darkness, revealing patterns of behavior such as “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.”

The Ides of March, during the last century B.C., marked the #unpresidented impeachment of a political leader. According to sources, senators at the time, took matters into their own hands. They imposed term limits by executing Caesar.

Today’s millennials are discovering favorable evidence of clairvoyant foretelling dating back to the 8th Century BC.  Old Testament Prophet Isaiah foretells their empowerment through the birth of an #unprecedented grassroots movement. 

The millennial-led movement emerged from a nation divided.  It has since survived world wars and rumors of wars.  By the middle of the first century AD, the movement and the charismatic carpenter who sparked it had cut through some 500 years of darkness.  A word, spoken by the anointed, appointed speaker, today endows 2.4 billion beneficiaries with life.   

On Wednesday, more than 2000 years after the movement began, students in thousands of schools across America walked out of class.  Responding to a National Security threat that left 17 dead in Parkland, Florida, the children may have found their collective voice in some hidden truth.  “In that day the wolf and the lamb will lie down together, and the leopard and goats will be at peace. Calves and fat cattle will be safe among lions, and a little child shall lead them all.

That in mind, seven last words and #TheLift may prove to be the most effective tool for unprecedented activism.   #WeThePeople the #IdesofMarch are upon you.

“Go tell that fox that I will keep on casting out demons and healing people today and tomorrow; and the third day I will accomplish my purpose.”  Jesus

FINDINGS:

  1.  In or around the 800th century BC, Biblical Old Testament prophet Isaiah foretold an ensuing utopia on earth. This Golden Age (“The Millennium”) was spoken of as an age of Paradise on earth where there will be no death, sorrow, pain or sickness.     
  2. Prophets are said to have characterized the Millennial era with the expression “the lion and the lamb shall lay down together.”  Researchers will be hard pressed to connect the finding to Biblical facts, but Isaiah 11:6 appears to support an 800 BC reference on our prophetic timeline.
  3.  March 15, 44 BC is recorded as “the Ides of March.”  On this day, a government leader, whose exploits included, “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life,” was attacked by a group of senators.  The death of Caesar made the Ides of March a turning point in Roman history, as one of the events that marked the transition from the historical period known as the Roman Republic to the Roman Empire.
  4. “Et Tu Brute? Then Caesar Falls” is a finding, though not necessarily a fact. The Latin phrase (pronounced [ɛt ˈtuː ˈbruːtɛ]) translates, "and you, Brutus?" The key character in William Shakespeare's reality-based play is Julius Caesar. He utters these dying words in Act III, scene 1, as he is being stabbed to death, having recognized his friend and protégé, Brutus, as one of the assassins.  There is however no evidence that the historic Caesar spoke these words.
  5. On a chronological timeline between 44 BC and 1 AD, independent lands surrounding the Mediterranean were steadily brought under Roman control, being ruled either directly under governors or through puppet kings appointed by Rome.  The Roman state itself was plunged into civil war several times, finally resulting in the marginalization of its 500-year-old republic and the embodiment of total state power in a single man—the emperor.  
  6.  Jesus of Nazareth, reportedly born, King of the Jews, only begotten Son of God, and a carpenter, grew up to become an itinerant preacher at the age of 30. Eye witness accounts confirm that He drew thousands of followers in the relatively small area where he preached.
  7. With around 2.4 billion adherents, split into three main branches of Catholic, Protestant and Eastern Orthodox, Christianity is estimated to be the world's largest religion.  The Christian share of the world's population has stood at around 33% for the last hundred years, which says that one in three persons on earth are Christians.
  8. In the United States, the percentage of Christians in the Catholic Church and Orthodoxy continue to decline, while Protestants and other Christians are on the rise. 
  9. Popular Protestantism is one of the fastest growing religious categories in the world. However, political polling reflects a community of faith divided by race and fear that the majority will become economically marginalized.
  10. The political movement #MEGA promotes a pattern of behavior described by Jesus as “A House Divided.” In Mark 23, Jesus called them together and began to speak to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan?  If a kingdom is divided against itself, it cannot stand.  If a house is divided against itself, it cannot stand.
  11. Seven last words from the cross, attributed to Jesus the Christ, reflect an historic pattern for completeness or wholeness.  #TheLift, evidenced in John 8:28 (NIV), foretells an event or state not yet experienced.  “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then, you will know that I am He and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me.”

Thursday, March 1, 2018

Ides of March at 666 Fifth?



By Eric Stradford, U.S. Marine Corps, Retired

AMWS, March 1, 2018, Virtual –  There is no accepted scientific evidence that precognition exists.  But the people at Gallup, who polled the 45th president’s 38% approval rating, found that 37% of Americans surveyed believed in it.

Precognition is an alleged psychic ability to see events in the future.  A 2013 study discovered a greater belief in precognition among those who feel low in control.  The belief can act as a psychological coping mechanism which explains an unprecedented outcome of the 2016 presidential elections.

If you happen to be one of 200 million Citigroup customers or one of 219,000 remaining employees, you may need a coping mechanism by the middle of the month.  Bank on history, prophesy or precognition, but beware of The Ides of March, and keep watch for the three 6’s in your diminished investment portfolio.  Sell! Get Out!  Get to your knees and pray!

For many of today’s 2.1 billion Christians worldwide, there’s a thin line between precognition, and prophesy.  It’s a line that starts with and builds on evidence.  One established “tick-tock” starts on Ash Wednesday and leads to Easter.  The timeline is known as Lent season.  Lenten comes from the Anglo Saxon word lencten, which means "spring."  According to seasonal scholars, Lent represents the time Jesus spent in the wilderness, enduring the temptation of Satan and preparing to begin his ministry. 

Ash Wednesday is like that last wake-up call from the night before.  “Fat Tuesday” translates from the French word, Mardi Gras, reflecting the practice of the last night of eating richer, fatty foods before the ritual fasting of the Lenten season.

Some folks call it “Shrove Tuesday,” and make a special point of self-examination, of considering what wrongs they need to repent, and what amendments of life or areas of spiritual growth they especially need to ask God's help in dealing with."

At Youth Achievers USA Institute, a 501c3 public charity, spiritual growth is valued as ROI, a return on investment in one’s spiritual development.  Each year, economic beneficiaries are challenged to examine their “Money-n-the-Bank” goals, and make the necessary adjustments toward abundant living.

Money-n-the-Bank is that seven-part vision of each beneficiary’s future.  Abundant life is the added value to a winner’s vision of the future.  Last year, the community convened a Virtual Business Roundtable series to identify economic challenges and solutions for winners.

Conversations on Economic Security offer insight to community members on threats along with tools and techniques to counter threats.

Citigroup is just one of the major corporations discussed in plain language as a “too big to fail” threat.  While many low-income American families struggled to recover from a national mortgage crisis, Citigroup and like companies extended loans with increased interest rates on mortgages that were never meant to be paid off.   As a result, more Americans own mortgages than homes.

“Economic Security is national security,” according to the President of the United States.  Citigroup suffered huge losses during the financial crisis of 2007-2008 and was rescued in November 2008 in a massive stimulus package by the U.S. government. Too many bad habits and uninformed decisions produced a sub-prime mortgage threat on households with the greatest need.

The Citigroup system is not unlike the Jewish financial system based on a ten percent return on an unprecedented blessing.   In Genesis, the Biblical beginning, Melchizedek, king of Salem and “priest of God Most High” met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him. Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. Tithing a tenth along with simple debt forgiveness bridges the divide between haves and have nots.

The value in this model was in the blessing, and the tenth or tithe was never intended to be a revenue stream for “One Nation Under God.”   Knowing this, where then does economic reconciliation and spiritual revelation intersect?

Citigroup, and its role in the financing of 666 Fifth Avenue is perhaps an ideal starting point for a point on history’s timeline referred to as The Ides of March. According to reports, Citigroup is perceived to be one of the Big Four banks in the United States, alongside J.P. Morgan Chase, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo. In 2016, Citigroup ranked 29th in size on the Fortune 500 list. 

Last year, Citigroup loaned Kushner Companies $325 million toward financing a group of office buildings.  But the saga of 666 Fifth Ave. stretches back to Kushner’s purchase of the tower in 2007.  The building has faced financial problems for much of the last decade because of the 2008 economic downturn, rising vacancy and its $1.2 billion debt.

One might begin with the man in the mirror and “the sign of the beast” on his forehead.  Every student of financial literacy should know that the number 666 is the number of a man that calls for wisdom.  

Man's system on earth is made up of three parts, each represented by a six. Six represents, by itself, incompleteness or imperfection, as it is one less than seven- the number of completeness. The first six of 666 represents the false perfected religion of man under Satan's lead. The second six is for the deceived false governments of this world, and the third six symbolizes man's self-centered economic system.

Few Sunday School teachers and even fewer economists will go into it, because it’s just too hard.  “Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man,” is a familiar value from the book of Revelation.  One might follow-up on current events with a little history and some serious Bible Study. 

Six hundred sixty-six (666) represents the world and all that it does to appease and gratify human nature. Three verses said to be written by the Apostle John contains a set of three verses which uses a subtle form of 6. This hidden form of six, found in the total number of times the word 'WORLD' is used, warns believers to separate themselves from man's system which is soon to DIE.

1 John 2:15-17 Do not love the WORLD or anything in the WORLD. If anyone loves the WORLD, love for the Father is not in them. 16 For everything in the WORLD —the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the WORLD. 17 The WORLD and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.
A Shakespearean Revelation points to a credible cause for caution: 

BREAKING NEWS: March 15, 44 BC is recorded as “the Ides of March.”   
 
On this day, a government leader, whose exploits included, “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life,” was attacked by a group of senators, including his friend and protégé.   Julius Caesar was attacked by a group of senators, including Brutus, who was Caesar's friend and protégé.

The Ides of March was marked by several religious observances and was notable for the Romans as a deadline for settling debts. The death of Caesar made the Ides of March a turning point in Roman history, as one of the events that marked the transition from the historical period known as the Roman Republic to the Roman Empire.