Author Archives: Penny Dickerson

About Penny Dickerson

I am an artist whose muse is language. My indulgence is journalism and poetry, both of which I utilize as a neo-duo I've coined "curious creativity." Information need not be reportage rote and stagnant to intrigue, nor must poetry "end rhyme" to narrative emotion that transcends human condition. I enjoy writing about people of intrigue and subjects often overlooked or underrepresented. Likewise, I enjoying penning poems that defy form in verse, employ literary devices including meter, slant/off rhyme, assonance, metaphor, or anything I may choose to gently encourage a poem to "do." There's a prominent poet who would read the latter and respond: poem's don't do, poem's be. People do. I am a people who "poetic do-be." Personally, I am a military-raised, Texas born woman who currently resides in Florida. I earned a B.A. degree in Journalism at Temple University (Philadelphia, PA) and furthered studies at Lesley University in Cambridge, MA. Upon completing two years of writing residencies with some fine, fine, fine writing instructors, attending oft boring and hip faculty readings, perusing Harvard Square, and ultimately learning that I didn't know "JACK" about line breaks, they awarded me a M.F.A. in Creative Writing. Funny how that worked out! Most recently, I've decided that surviving cancer wasn't a battle worthy of returning to a 40 hour-week grind. I now launch out in the deep and pursue writing full-time because after all, I am an artist. I am an artist. I am a talented artist. I am a strong writer, I am a penny poet. This 2011 year, I was selected to participate in a Creative Capital Professional Development Workshop. It changed my life. I am focused, goal oriented, special project directed and determined. In April, of this same good fortune year, I will be one of 15 writers participating in the National Minority Writer's Seminar at Vanderbilt University. Sponsored by the National Board of Editorial Writers. I look forward to learning how to "temper my opinion" and diversify my writing. Actually, I just look forward to writing. I welcome your honest response. P

“The Visitor”: ENC1102 Writing Assignment

Posted on by
Reply

Visitor

the_new_york_times_logo

Review by A. O. SCOTT

Professor as Student of His Life and Others’

When we first meet Walter Vale (Richard Jenkins), he is in a state of emotional inertia that clinicians might identify as depression. He does not seem acutely unhappy, but then again, he doesn’t seem to feel much at all, locking whatever inner life he might have behind an aloof, unfailingly polite demeanor and keeping a glass of red wine handy in case further anesthesia should prove necessary.

A professor of economics at Connecticut College and a widower, Walter plods through an existence that looks comfortable and easy enough, but also profoundly tedious. He recycles old syllabuses and lecture notes for his classes, and suffers through piano lessons in a half-hearted effort to sustain some kind of connection to his wife, who was a classical concert pianist.depressed walter

Early in “The Visitor,” Tom McCarthy’s second film as writer and director (the first was “The Station Agent”), it seems inevitable that something will come along to shake Walter out of his malaise. And sure enough, when he reluctantly travels to New York to deliver a paper at a conference, Walter finds that the Manhattan apartment he keeps but rarely visits has been surreptitiously rented to Tarek (Haaz Sleiman), a drummer from Syria, and Zainab (Danai Gurira), his Senegalese girlfriend, who sells handmade jewelry at flea markets. Walter’s initial dismay and irritation gives way to an instinctive flicker of compassion, and he invites the couple to stay, at least for a short while.visitorcollage

The curious thing about “The Visitor” is that even as it goes more or less where you think it will, it still manages to surprise you along the way. Tarek and Walter quickly become friends, though Zainab is more reserved and also clearly more suspicious of her new housemate and benefactor. Walter takes up drumming, and begins to feel his zest for life and his appreciation of New York returning after a long period of dormancy.

This urban, multicultural idyll is shattered when Tarek, who, like Zainab, is in the United States illegally, is picked up by the police and taken to a detention center in Queens. Shortly thereafter, his mother, Mouna, played by the wonderful Israeli Arab actress Hiam Abbass, arrives from Michigan, to make Walter’s life still more interesting and complicated.drum circle

To summarize Mr. McCarthy’s film as I have is to acknowledge some of the risks he has taken. It is possible to imagine a version of this story — the tale of a square, middle-aged white man liberated from his uptightness by an infusion of Third World soulfulness, attached to an exposé of the cruelty of post-9/11 immigration policies — that would be obvious and sentimental, an exercise in cultural condescension and liberal masochism. Indeed, it’s nearly impossible to imagine it any other way.

And yet, astonishingly enough, Mr. McCarthy has. Much as “The Station Agent” nimbly evaded the obstacles of cuteness and willful eccentricity it had strewn in its own path, so does “The Visitor,” with impressive grace and understatement, resist potential triteness and phony uplift.

A few false notes remain. Tarek’s friendliness is too emphatic, and the blossoming of his friendship with Walter proceeds a little too quickly and smoothly to be entirely credible. Long-term houseguests, however appealing and exotic, would surely test the patience of even the saintliest economist, to say nothing of an evident curmudgeon like Walter.

But these objections are, for the most part, dissolved by the clarity and simplicity of Mr. McCarthy’s direction and, even more, by the quiet precision of Mr. Jenkins’s performance. An actor himself (he recently played Scott Templeton, the journalistic rat on “The Wire”), Mr. McCarthy scrupulously avoids big moments and telegraphed emotions, and Mr. Jenkins, a durable character actor known to HBO subscribers as the spectral father on “Six Feet Under,” plays his repressed, circumspect character with exquisite tact. Walter loses his composure only once, and even then Mr. Jenkins keeps the outburst within the boundaries of his shy, professorial temperament.

Walter is fundamentally diffident, decent and disinclined to call attention to himself, traits that pose an obvious challenge to Mr. Jenkins, who must still make this man interesting enough, vivid enough, to carry the film’s dramatic burden. Walter himself, at his best, might insist that the story is not really about him. He, after all, leads a life of privilege and entitlement, and is unlikely ever to be faced with homelessness, exile or deportation. And yet the film’s title refers to him — a transient presence in his own life —as much as it does to Tarek, who seems at home wherever he is.

Mr. Jenkins manages at once to deflect and to earn the audience’s sympathy, and to convey an inner transformation brought about by a shy, unselfish engagement with other people. How does he do it? Great acting is always, almost by definition, something of a mystery, a blend of technique and instinct for which no identifiable formula exists. Mr. Jenkins’s posture, his balked smile, the occasional fidget of his hands or pause in his stride — all of these almost subliminally communicate something about who Walter is, so that by the end of the film we feel we know him very well. And more than that, that he is someone worth knowing.

“The Visitor” is rated PG-13 (Parents strongly cautioned). It has some profanity.

THE VISITOR

Written and directed by Tom McCarthy; director of photography, Oliver Bokelberg; edited by Tom McArdle; music by Jan A. P. Kaczmarek; production designer, John Paino; produced by Mary Jane Skalski and Michael London; released by Overture Films. Running time: 1 hour 43 minutes.

English Assignment Help

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THIS ASSIGNMENT HAS FOUR SEPARATE PARTS.

IN PART I OF THE ASSIGNMENT, YOU HAVE THREE EXERCISES FROM CHAPTER 7 IN YOUR TEXTBOOK TO COMPLETE.

  1. Type your assignment using MLA formatting.
  2. Your due date is 3 June 2013.
  3. Your  title will be: Part I: Chapter 7 Exercises.                    
  4. It is fine if your assignment surpasses one page.

Part I:    Support Writing & Grammar

Read Chapter 7 “Diction, Tone, Style.”  (Page 114 – 135)                Chapter Introduction: “Your decisions about words and sentences set the tone and style of your writing. Not only do you choose sentence strategies for correctness and effectiveness, but you also choose words for accuracy and effect. Sentences must be clear and effective; so must words. Diction deals broadly with words, not in isolation but as parts of sentences, paragraphs, and essays. Every time you write and revise, diction comes into play.

EXERCISE #1

  1. Complete the exercise in orange on the bottom of page 114.
  2. Write the entire passage over and underline the concrete terms as directed in the instructions.

EXCERCISE #2

  1. Complete the exercise in orange on the bottom of page 116.
  2. Write both the question and your response.

EXERCISE #3

  1. Complete the exercise in orange on the bottom of page 131.
  2. Write the sentence and then your response(s) beneath each.

PART II:   Major Writing Assignment (50% of your grade)

DF-2467 (M-7)In the above referenced review by New York Times writer, A.O. Cotton, uses exceptional diction, sentences, and phrases to illustrate main character Walter Jenkins’ attitude toward life and his newfound friends and experiences. During class on Monday, May 20, 2013 the following took place:

  1. We viewed the first hour of the film,
  2. Read through portions of the movie review,
  3. You recorded highlighted words that I deemed challenging.
  4.  I demonstrated how to utilize your online thesaurus to discover the meanings of words and their synonyms and antonyms.
  5. I referred you to corresponding pages in Chapter 1 to identify the four purposes of writing (inform, entertain, persuade, express), the significance of audience, and the three qualities of good writing (Fresh thinking, sense of style, and effective organization).

I’ve extracted the following words for you to refer to when completing the Part II assignment.

inertia, aloof, demeanor, tedious, reluctant, malaise, surreptitious, dormancy, idyll, infusion, condescension, masochism strewn, curmudgeon, scrupulous, spectral, circumspect, diffident, disinclined, exile, transient, deflect.

Write a ONE PAGE, three paragraph essay (Introduction, Body, Conclusion) from the student who was told by Professor Walter Jenkins that late work could not be accepted.

Give voice to the student and explain in the essay why the work was late, does the student offer an apology in the essay? Explain the specific personal circumstances the student mentioned, and further address why the student feels the work should be accepted late.

Use a minimum of 12 of the words from the list above when composing your essay. BOLD AND UNDERLINE EACH WORD USED.

  1. Type your essay using MLA formatting.
  2. Your due date is 3 June 2013.
  3. The title for Part II assignment is:
  4.  Part II: Letter to Professor Jenkins.

Part III:  Major Writing Assignment (50% of your grade)

Walter and Tarik DjembeWrite a  two paragraph note to Tarek from Walter. The tone of the paragraph will be humorous and entertaining. Allow Walter to give Tarek an update on both his progress and practice with playing the Djembe. Express a tone of gratitude and include how the transition from piano to drum has fortified Walter’s life. The note will be left in the apartment for Tarek upon his release; Walter has returned to Connecticut.

  1. Type your paper using MLA formatting guidelines.
  2. Your due date is June 3, 2013
  3. The title for your paragraph paper will be:                                  Part III: Thank you Tarek!

Part IV:  Support Writing and Grammar

DF-01099Revise the following letter written by Zainab. Remember that Tarek instructed Walter to not bring Zainab to  the detention center in Queens. The letter will be delivered by Walter and held up to the window for Tarek to read. She remains tremendously upset that Tarek has been arrested, but still feels a need to emphasize how all of this could have been avoided if he had just not been on “Arab Time.”

It is imperative that you refer to Chapter 7, Pages 132 - 134 which address Irony, Wordiness, Euphemisms, Cliches and Mixed Metaphors. I am including all of the aforementioned culprits in my paragraph(s), you will REVISE by identifying, eliminating, and replacing each. Tighten the language and ultimately offering a clear and succinct letter of communication that maintains a tone of “heartfelt emotion” but also inhabits strong diction, tone, and style.

REVISE BY TAKING LANGUAGE AWAY, DO NOT ADD UNLESS IT IS FOR THE SAKE OF GRAMMAR (pronouns, articles, etc.)         

Tarek my love.

I miss you dearly and wish that you would allow me to visit you in the place they’ve taken you. The events that have occurred are dreadful and scary. What if I am sent back to Senegal? What if you are sent back to Syria? What if you are never released? What if we never see one another again? What if Walter makes us move afterall? What if he tries to hurt me while you’re away? I have been burning the midnight oil to make jewelry to have the almighty dollar that means so much to Americans. I know you heard me clear as a bell when I instructed you to not be late. All I wanted was for you to pick-up my table on time. I warned you, “No Arab time.” Why didn’t you listen to me Tarek? Why? I am sick as a dog with fear and worry and while I know being patient is easier said than done, I am working so hard to remain cool as a cucumber until the immigration attorney Walter hired can have you released. It is my fundamental belief that your mother, Mouna, arriving to the U.S. will help the validity of your case and it’s ultimate finality. I miss you Tarek. Last but not least, it goes without saying that Walter is driving me stark mad by practicing your Djembe  everynight. With every beat, the drum speaks a language known to only you and I. I guess all three of us miss you. Hurry home to me please. Be as strong as the man you were the day we met under a warm sun that sang a love song called forever.

Yours forever, Zainab.tarek in detention

 Directions for Part IV

  1. Type your paper following MLA formatting guidelines.
  2. Your due date is 3 June 2013
  3. Your title is:
  4. Part IV: Dear Tarek, I Miss you

listen-carefully-and-follow-directionsPLEASE TAKE NOTE AND READ THE FOLLOWING CAREFULLY.

ON MONDAY, JUNE 3, 2013 ALL OF THIS ASSIGNMENT IS DUE. YOU WILL TURN IN HARD COPIES. NO UPLOADS OR EMAILS WILL BE ACCEPTED.

STAPLE ALL OF YOUR ASSIGNMENT TOGETHER BEGINNING WITH PART I AND ENDING WITH PART IV.  YOU WILL NOT NEED TO LABEL THEM Part I, II, III, or IV as I have already given you directions that will differentiate them by being specific with titles.

Note:  DO NOT STAPLE YOUR EXTRA CREDIT “DREAMGIRLS” ASSIGNMENT TO THIS. Again, that is extra credit, not mandatory.

YOU SHOULD NOT BE TURNING IN MORE THAN FIVE SHEETS OF PAPER: Part I should not surpass two pages, and Parts II, III, and IV should each be limited to ONE PAGE EACH

YOUR HANDOUT ON “Run-on Sentences” is also due June 3, 2013.

NO LATE WORK WILL BE ACCEPTED.

This assignment was developed and published at 3:15 p.m. on Monday, May 20, 2013. I will additionally send you a Blackboard message to your FSCJ star email accounts letting you know that the assignment has been posted.

There is no class on Monday, May 27, 2013 (Memorial Day) so you have TWO WEEKS, 14 DAYS, and 336 HOURS TO COMPLETE ALL OF THE LESSONS IN THIS ASSIGNMENT.

I EXPECT ZERO WHINING OR EXCUSES ON  June 3, 2013.

dont_miss_deadlineShould you have any questions or concerns, please contact me at: mdickers@fscj.edu

 

 

Here’s to good writing!

Professor D.

EXTRA CREDIT OPPORTUNITY: ENC1102 Summer 2013

Posted on by
Reply

Dreamgirls • presented by Artist Series

 

50% OFF! A category: $38 • B category: $33 • C category: $23
MAY 21 • 7:30 PM

Use the passcode: DREAM

Instant Seat Selection: http://www.artistseriesjax.org Charge by phone: 904.442.2929
Tickets Available in person at the following locations: South: Wilson Center Box Office • North: Business Office Kent: Business Office • AO: Artist Series Box Office (Hours vary depending on location)

THIS IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR EXTRA CREDIT 

By attending the musical and completing the assignment below, you will be allowed to drop/replace ONE support writing and grammar Assignment. Please see your syllabus for percentage points for these assignments.

ASSIGNMENT:

Attend the musical “Dreamgirls” on TUESDAY, MAY 21, 2013 at the Times Union Performing Arts Center (Water Street; Downtown Jacksonville next to the Landing).  There is only one show.

You will need to staple your purchase receipt and ticket stub to your paper when it is turned in.

You will also need to view the motion picture “Dreamgirls” starring Jamie Foxx, Beyonce, Jennifer Hudson, and Eddie Murphy. If you have already seen the film, then you may simply want to view it again as a reference.

The extra credit assignment is a COMPARISON paper.  While the central story line of “Dreamgirls” may be the same, there will be several differences that are brought to the audience via stage that the film omitted and vice-versa.

Compose a Two-page comparison paper showing the relationships between the stage production and film. Be specific, offer examples, and implement one or more of the four purposes of writing (Inform, Persuade, Entertain, Express). Please refer to “Chapter 13 Comparison: Showing Relationships” in your textbook if you need assistance.

Head your paper using the MLA style header and formatting previously given and demonstrated to you.

Your due date is 30 June 2013 (at the beginning of class).

The title for ALL PAPERS WILL BE:  Dreamgirls: Stage Production vs. Film.

Follow the directions. If all of the aforementioned elements are not included, your paper will not be accepted, nor will you receive extra credit. No partial credit will be given for simply attending the play. NO LATE WORK WILL BE ACCEPTED FOR EXTRA CREDIT. Should you not attend class on Monday, June 3, 2013, you paper will not be accepted as a upload or at a later date.

This is an OPPORTUNITY for extra credit (Don’t blow it!)

Direct questions to: mdickers@fscj.edu.

 

Meet Penny Dickerson

Featured

Posted on by

To enjoy music, right click and open link in new tab

Contact: pennydickersonwrites@gmail.com

Penny Dickerson is an artist whose primary form of expression is writing.. She earned a B.A. degree in Journalism from Temple University (Philadelphia, PA) and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Lesley University (Cambridge, MA).  She will transition as an English & Creative Writing Instructor at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts and join her alma mater, Florida State College Jacksonville, as a Liberal Arts Professor in 2012 teaching courses in English composition I & II and Film.

Penny is additionally an Independent Journalist contributing to the Florida Times-Union, Florida Courier, and regional/national publications.  Prior employment includes English professorships at Virginia College, Adjunct/High School collaborative positions with Sussex County Community College and Hopatcong High School (New Jersey) and teaching posts for Duval County Public Schools. As a fundraiser, Penny served as Assistant Area Director of Development for the United Negro College Fund’s $1 million Orlando team, and is  former Marketing Director for Gateway Towne Center.

Born Merdis Lavonda Robinson in El Paso, Texas, she was given the nickname Penny by her mother, but friends close to the helm refer to her simply as “P.”  Raised a “military brat,” Penny traveled extensively and attended various primary/middle schools, but ultimately graduated from Nathan Bedford Forrest High school in Jacksonville, Florida. Pageantry afforded her the opportunity to pursue higher education, as she won several teen pageants and was further crowned the first black Miss Florida Junior College (Miss America Preliminary) and held the title Miss Black Florida.

Prior to winning the National Shrine Pageant, she  traveled the Caribbean with the 1st Miss Florida USO Troupe and has experienced all points of the world as a former TWA Flight Attendant. Penny is listed as an Outstanding Woman in American, Who’s Who In American Junior Colleges, a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and is a Leadership Jacksonville Alumni. She is an American Symphony Orchestra League Management Fellowship finalist, Creative Capital Professional  Development  Workshop participant, and recently participated in the  2011 Minority Writer’s Seminar sponsored by the National Board of Editorial Writers.

Penny specializes in human interest stories and interviews. Some high profile subjects include Nikki Giovanni, Ntozaki Shange, Congresswoman Corrine Brown and more.  She is a cancer survivor currently penning a non-fiction work titled, “Malignant Wind,” which she hopes to release in 2012. Penny beholds an abiding love for God and is the divorced, single parent to Kelsey Nicole Dickerson (22) who gave birth to “Journey Nicole” on February 18, 2012. Like a champion, Kelsey earned her B.F.A. degree in Dance from Jacksonville University four months later (May 2012). She is a performing company member with Paradigm Flux and Full-time Studio Manager for “Dansations.”Kelsey and Journey

Penny is a proud, proud, proud

“Nana P.”   

What’s a cancer survivor like me doing in Ebony? (The back story)

Featured

Posted on by
Reply

ebony-logo

CLICK LINK TO READ MY JOURNAL DEBUT:

Cancer is Crazy: Journals in the Raw (Part I)

http://www.ebony.com/wellness-empowerment/cancer-is-crazy-journals-in-the-raw-part-1-967#axzz2SScicOu0

First allow me to remind some and initially inform others that I’ve been writing/blogging about African Americans and Cancer for more than two years. Penny Dickerson Photo Image #2I was diagnosed with Renal Cell Carcinoma in 2006 after decades of other health related issues that affected my reproductive system and resulted in a series of ongoing catastrophes. Additonally, I was told I’d never have a child. My daughter, Kelsey Nicole, turns 23 in June. I beat odds.

It wasn’t until last week, May 2, 2013, that my voice, my story, my advocacy was given a national platform. It was and remains a blessing in due season.

This didn’t come by luck or by brown-nosing anyone in high places. It was favor and by that I do mean spiritually, coupled with the good heart and professional favor of a savvy editorial director at Ebony Magazine (Digital). Actually, I impressed the CEO/President of TJM Communications, Inc. (Treva Marshall). Her firm was contracted to manage public relations for the Disney Dreamers Academy with Steve Harvey and Essence Magazine.IMG_7165

Treva referred me to the  Ebony.com Editorial Director who offered the opportunity to write                       

“The Kinsey Collection.”

It is a fascinating historical representation of an African American family’s private art collection and  debuted at at Walt Disney’s Epcot Center the same weekend as the Dreamers Academy took place. Time is everything. 

Ebony (March 20, 2013)   “A Whole New World: The Kinsey Collection”

http://www.ebony.com/entertainment-culture/a-whole-new-world-the-kinsey-collection#axzz2SU2Smcty

My initial goal with Ebony was to get a paragraph or two in by the end of March to honor Kidney Cancer Awareness month which was also the same month as DDA. I’d previously shared with the editorial director that the REAL struggle with cancer begins AFTER survival. Physicians save you, but you have to put your life back together.

The result of  my pitches and (perhaps) harrassment was an offer to do a cancer journal, twice a month with the following caveat: “I want it to be raw.”  (I still can’t believe she presented such a generous offer.)  Thinking I (really knew) what raw meant, the following online dialogue between she and I ensued:

Writer in the raw:

This raw you speak of, do you mean like this?: Revision #`1.

Editor’s Response (days later): 

“Penny if you don’t want to do it, that’s OK. I want this to be cathartic for you.”

Writer in the raw (to self):

“She must want me to show off my metaphorical genius. You mean like this?” Revision #2

Editor’s Response (a week + days later):

“Penny, I want you to emote, not report. Think the antithesis of reportage.”

By now it’s mid April. I’ve sent a string of other non-cancer related pitches and driven her stark mad with emails that go to her phone. Professional (or scared stalker) that she was, she always responded and usually at length. (For freelancers, that’s unprecedented).

Stumped by the journal, I simply stopped writing. I recalibrated and went through my old journals to see what I actually wrote back in 2006, 2007, 2008, you get the chronology. I also scanned through my old M.F.A. binders and reviewed the words of previous mentors, one of whom wrote the following feedback on a submission prior to my graduating:

“You’re finally writing like you don’t care who’s reading.” Translation: RAW!

I then reviewed some notes from Rick Horowitz (Huffington Post and a MASTER on teaching writer’s to learn their “voice.”). One of the BEST workshops I’ve ever attended.rick horowitz

After that, I was courageous and good to go.

Revision #3 is the published link above and the first in a series of “to be determined” entries.

By now, it’s the end of April. I’m told that the journal will debut as part of an Ebony    “Woman up!” series highlighting “Sister Stories.”

Mine will be included, but they need my photo image by Tuesday, April 30, 2013 (What?) That was the next day.

Well, my great artistic friend Greg McKinnon (of Alvin Ailey Scholarship Recipient, Cats and Starlight Express – EUROPE) had me semi-scheduled two weeks ago to do some shots that I procrastinated on. According to him, he was sick of seeing my blurry photos and camera phone shots on all of my public sites. Greg was also a model while in Europe and therefore knows a thing or ten and has more equipment and gadgets and lights and booms than I’ve evah seen.photography equipment

Monday night, April 29th, till about 2:00 a.m., we played Top Model and had a good ‘ole time. I am a horrid model and we must have taken a gazillion shots. By night’s end, I was so dizzy and nauseated (forgot medicine), that he had to bring me home; I left my car at his house, which incidently has been my 2nd house since high school. I can go in his Mama’s pots AND I know where they keep the toilet paper.

I want people to understand that these things, these blessings, these opportunities, this favor, does NOT happen overnight. In the midst of all of the above, I continued to write major features for other affiliates, was hospitalized for five days…no, as a matter of fact I didn’t widely share that bit of information, and I also continued to hold it down as Professor Dickerson at Florida State College at Jacksonville. Trust me: I am nobody’s whiner.

A cohort of small minds have voiced that, “Penny is milking that cancer thing for all it’s worth.” Really? Whose been reading my cancer blogs? Have you any idea how many editors politely tell me to “stick it?” Throughout the years, many have but most editorial relationships I’ve developed are sustainable and treasured.

My health has indeed been an ongoing saga, but not for the reasons many may think. It’s a multi-layered struggle that has many dimensions. I think it’s called playing the hand you’re dealt and making lemonade when life serves you lemons. What’s milk got to do with anything?CT of Kidney Cancer

Let me share this: A 9 cm tumor basically ruined my life. “BATTLE” as associated with cancer is not limited to the physical disease. Even if you think you know about my struggle, I assure you, I have never revealed HALF of what this has taken me through, but it will be exposed in these upcoming journal entries.

I have been a freelance writer since 2001. While it’s been intermittent, writing is my passion and on some level, I’ve always been a lover of language and gravitated towards prose. My first, FIRST, freelance article appeared in the Florida Times-Union. It featured three local dancers admitted to the Alvin Ailey School of Dance summer program.

That was A LONG time ago and 12 years later it’s still an act of media congress to get a story in the Florida Times-Union. For some odd reason, many also think I started writing when my first  website launched in 2010. NOT! The website was simply a much needed portal to market both me and my work. My writing precedes it.

Click the link below to read: LOCAL TEENS TO ATTEND AILEY

http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/060901/ner_6381011.shtml

I have kept at it, kept at it, kept at it, studied, stayed up late, studied with MASTER writers  and poets, given up, slowed down, gotten back up, and yeah, NOW I’m published in Ebony, but it has been a 12 year hike uphill and this is not the end nor is it the pinnacle.

It is, however, definitive symbolism of a professional milestone for which I am proud, but I continue to foster and nurture dreams and goals. And when I dream, I dream big, bold, and in technicolor.

Every writer understands the gravity of this opportunity. A national platform in a digital format for ANY writer in the 21st century is a coup and I quote: “EBONY.com is the premiere online magazine destination for African-American cultural insight, news, and perspective.” 

Don’t HATE because cancer serves as a formidable outlet for creative exchange. Love me because I am using my voice and gift(s) to  prevent you from getting cancer.

HATERS-HATE

Those who know me (well) can also attest that I am one of the most resourceful and undeterred human beings on planet earth. My confidence sometimes wanes, but I keep it moving. MOVIN’.

Now that I have your attention, please take time to read and share the links below. There are so many devastating cancers in the world, but the ones we pay the least attention to are the ones that unfortunately affect us the most.

Each of my journal entries will begin with the same excerpt from my Duke Medical Center Records. You’ll learn that Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston Salem, NC also played an integral role in my treatment. The following sentences bookend my personal journey.

Ms. Merdis Dickerson is a 43-year-old African American female who began experiencing abdominal pain in the spring of 2006 and was noted to have gallstones…

The Pathology showed a clear cell renal cell carcinoma, grade II out of IV, which was confined to the kidney and measured 0.9 cm in greatest dimension.” –

Excerpt from Duke Medical Records: Raleigh, North Carolina

kidney_cancer stages

Black Kidney Cancer Patients Die earlier than White Patients

http://www.ebony.com/black-listed/wellness-empowerment/black-kidney-cancer-patients-die-earlier-than-white-patients-981#axzz2SScicOu0

Kidney Cancer Tshirt

Black Cancer Death Disparities – Why the difference?

http://www.ebony.com/black-listed/wellness-empowerment/black-cancer-death-disparities-why-the-difference-981#axzz2SScicOu0

Penny Dickerson 2013

“People Shouldn’t Judge” – Three of Florida’s Vocal Voices on Gay Rights Speak

Posted on by
Reply

This article is a follow-up to my April 5, 2013 story on Proposition 8 and Same-sex Marriage.

It appeared in the Florida Courier and was titled: “SIN OR CIVIL RIGHT.”  

I found it a tremendous CHALLENGE to find ANYONE in the state of Florida to go “on record” with both an admission of their same-sex lifestyle and/or willingness to simply speak on the issues affecting human rights.

Thank you to Jeff Cohen, former CEO & President of Attitude Records and Dolphin Music Distributors who formerly managed the career of Willetta “Mamado” Smith. He was integral in getting me in touch with her.

Special thanks to Kezia Hendrix Rolle who offered Bruce “Tobi” Ellison of Orlando as an apt subject. His input proved to be insightful and candid.

And to “Keisha,” a south Florida reporter with the Florida Courier who assisted by offering Tampa’s Jeronica Byrd. She, too, was absolutely well-versed on Prop 8 and DOMA and had zero misgivings regarding her contributions: past or present life.

‘PEOPLE SHOULDN’T JUDGE’

April 25, 2013 Filed under METRO

Three of Florida’s vocal voices on gay rights discuss their journey and their thoughts on same-sex marriage

BY PENNY DICKERSON
SPECIAL TO THE FLORIDA COURIER

130426_metro01

A new era of gay rights advocacy has swept the nation.

The Jacksonville chapter of Parents for Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) leased billboards in 2012 broadcasting their support: “We love our gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender children.”  The strategic signage alerted traffic along major thoroughfares.

In November 2012, Jacksonville City Council members defeated a human rights ordinance that sought to ban discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender individuals in regards to employment and looking for housing while an amended version would have added six words: “sexual orientation, gender identity or expression” to the list of classes already protected by the city’s anti-discrimination statute.”

It also was defeated by a 17-2 margin. Liberals and conservatives remain divided.

The responsibility to define gay rights’ parameters belongs to states.

Florida advocates are among the most voluminous in the nation and speak with candor regarding human rights and the religious order.

WHAT IS PROPOSITION 8?

California’s controversial ballot initiative known as Proposition 8 defines marriage only as between a man and a woman.

It is widely understood as a ban on gay marriages.

The 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, known as DOMA, prevents legally wed same-sex couples from receiving certain benefits by defining marriage as between a man and woman. (Florida has its own version of DOMA that was overwhelmingly passed by the Florida Legislature in 1997.)

In 2008, inspired by California’s Proposition 8, strong support from Florida’s African-American voters led to passage of an amendment to the state constitution, which now bans gay marriage in Florida. Then-Gov. Charlie Crist supported the amendment, as did then-presidential candidate Barack Obama.

Five years and a presidential re-election later, the legalization of gay marriage is front-and-center at the nation’s highest court.

On March 27, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments on a part of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act that prevents legally wed same-sex couples from receiving certain benefits by defining marriage as between a man and woman.

130426_metro01c

Willetta Smith has been openly gay since age 14. Her father nicknamed her “Mamado” at the age of two because she always mocked her mama.

Decades later, that same loving patriarch brandished a shotgun inside “Club 209,” one of Jacksonville’s historic gay establishments.  He came to reclaim his runaway daughter.

“I knew in elementary school I was different,” Smith explained. “I dated guys because it was the right thing to do, but I’ve never slept with one.

There was never love at all.”

When she became a runaway and truant, Smith used a fake ID to frequent gay clubs like the “French Quarters” and “Studs and Drag Queens” became her family.

“A neighborhood drug dealer led my father where I was hanging out,” explained Smith. “He bust in with that shotgun and just embarrassed me,” she joked.

Musician, activist
A family meeting followed that critical night; it ended with parental tears.

Smith decisively proclaimed her gay lifestyle and never looked back.

Attending night class and summer school, she earned a diploma from William M. Raines Senior High School and as reciprocity to Daddy, she became a musician.

The self-taught keyboard player completed advanced music theory and engineering courses at Florida State College at Jacksonville and Edward Waters College followed by an impressive recording artist career.

The next three decades parallel a reality television show. Smith was in a seven-year relationship with a woman who birthed twins prior to a prison sentence. Smith became a surrogate mother and managed a strip club for nine years prior to her own conviction, which also landed her in prison. Behind bars she recorded a music CD featuring fellow inmates.

‘God made us’
Smith is now 54 years old and engaged to be married to 26-year-old rap artist/model Alea Janae Davis.

Florida’s ban on same-sex marriage prohibits a legal union, but they are considering other states and remain unapologetic regarding choice.  “God is a loving, caring God to me. We love, we don’t hate,” expressed Smith.

“People shouldn’t judge. God made us.”

130426_metro01d

Bruce Ellison is a strikingly handsome 37-year-old spiritual advisor and author of “I Am the Manifester.” The Orlando native is single and the youngest of six siblings; his parents are divorced. By all accounts, he is apt prey for doting women. But Ellison is gay and believes he was born that way.

“I knew at five years old I was attracted to men,” said Ellison, who prefers to be called Tobi.  “My behavior was unacceptable and my oldest cousin said I was the biggest sissy as a child because I rearranged furniture every week. In school everyone called me fag and a punk.”

Ellison endured painful sentiments that he was morally wrong his entire life but insists his perceptions and views do not represent the majority.

A different view
“Proposition 8 is a distraction,” declared Ellison. “I can’t believe in this day and age we are still talking about homosexuality…when the gay community stops making it a big deal, so will the world.”

Ellison has never formally dated a woman, but has slept with two. Further, he offered that he has kissed one person in the last 10 years and has never lived with another man.

“If I listened to religion, I am going to hell. I experience Christ-consciousness. God doesn’t care about your sexuality,” preached Ellison.

“People are not rising to a Christ-conscious level, they want to see (homosexuality) in their eyes. Man has created God in His image. I think that is the issue.”

130426_metro01e

Jeronica Byrd is a 34-year-old lesbian. She has been openly gay since age 17, but recognized   gender preference early.

“I knew when I was five, but didn’t know what it was,” said Byrd. “I only wanted to play with girls but was raised in the church and the South. They considered it wrong, so I thought something was wrong with me.”

Byrd became sexually promiscuous with men. She succumbed to social and religious pressure to marry, but extra marital affairs with women led to a divorce after five years from a husband she claims, “thought she was bisexual.’’

She shared, “We are taught the American Dream is 2.5 kids, a white picket fence, dog, and a husband – not a loving mate.’’

Founded lesbian sorority
Born to a 14-year-old mother in Arkansas, Byrd was raised and educated in Alabama by her great-grandmother and great-great-grandmother; her mother left to join the military.

“We grow up hearing that homosexuality is an abomination, so I’m not into organized religion,” stated Byrd. “It’s a tool of oppression not uplift and enlightenment.”

Byrd abides by a moral code to do right and use common sense – don’t lie, steal, cheat – but it’s not based on being a “Bible-thumping Christian.”

At Stillman College in Alabama, Byrd was blacklisted on campus when she “came out.”  She then founded Kappa Xi Omega Sorority, Inc., a community service organization and sisterhood for lesbian women created to articulate and encourage community consciousness.

A national advocate, Byrd believes there are three major lesbian influences: biological (born gay); sociological (assimilate to society and culture) and psychological (individuals damaged by men who feel women are their only option).

Byrd’s influence is biological. She and her partner of nine years look forward to marriage when DOMA is amended to afford everyone equal benefits.

Eight-year-old Martin Richard: The first dead brother of the Boston Bombing Blast.

Posted on by
6

Breaking Boston News

Boston Marathon Street SceneJust like the rest of the world, last week’s bomb that blasted Boston during the world’s most famous marathon shook me at my core. Again? Terrorism? A bomb?  For the most part I avoided television beyond the initial day and opted to read numerous reports from national news affiliates.

Afterall, reading is fundamental.Headlines from around the globe

On the third day, I decided to write. I was tremendously moved and saddended by the death of eight-year-old Martin Richard. I am a mother, a grandmother, a human being with compassion. So many of the details I read made the circumstances worse. No one was reporting (widely) about his sister who is now an amputee or his mother who endured surgery on her brain.

Since last week, reports have emerged regarding the brothers, white cap and black cap, both of whom have been named prime suspects in the bombing, a cowardly act of domestic terrorism with proported foreign terrorism links.

I refuse to glorify the two Chech brothers and further refuse to type their names. They have become the foremost subjects of the bombing as suspects. Less we forget who the real victims are. Eight-year-old Martin Richard was also a brother. An older brother. A younger brother. A son and a human being who deserved to live.

The following are my thoughts from last week’s writing which somehow emerged as both a blog and a poem…guess that makes it a plog or a boem.

Eight-Year-Old Wins Boston Marathon

dedicated to Martin Richard

boston martin richard

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two days ago, a bomb blasted Boston.

Two twin booms, 12 seconds apart startled the tension of trained marathon runners.

Pre-race worries were simply the strength of their Achilles.

Airborne limbs have left the innocent labeled amputees and

once again a young dreamer named Martin has lost his life.

Eight-years-old and already a symbol for peace;

a pint-sized recipient of a headstone he didn’t earn.

Pressure cookers were believed the suspected culprit.

Pressure cookers were believed to be smuggled in duffel bags ─ dark and heavy ─ like gathered skin sagging beneath a coward’s eyes.

According to the White House, President Barack Obama betrayed no emotion in offering his statement to the press:

“Any event with multiple explosive devices ─ as this appears to be ─ is clearly an act of terror.”

This can only mean one Commander-in-chief thing: It’s ON!

The city of Boston has been blasted.

The remnants have birthed blame and the young, late Martin Richard’s mother can’t sleep. Her baby boy is dead. She, too, was damaged by the bomb ─ surgeons’ saved her brain. Oddly, God protected her maternal psyche.

His sister lost her leg and a husband and father is simply left to mourn.

America joins him.

I, too, am a woman losing sleep over life. This bomb attempted to erase my memories. Boston was the city of popular frequent during my Lesley University graduate school days. Cambridge and Harvard Square were neck-tie nice and summer-stroll cool but,

Boston’s where you trekked to feel good noise.

Everybody thinks they know Boston for baked beans, clam chowder, and the Sock-it-to me Red Sox, but the bookstores (baby), the massive museums, the jazz and that  Baaahhston dialect that slips through lips as though syllables were birthed to yawn.

There’s something kindred about a bomb at the footstool of folks you knew and still know. Lives were lost; bodies were injured and hurled down streets I casually walked. It feels like a domestic or foreign visitor roamed the same asphalt and spit in patriotic wind.

Boston belongs to everybody because we were 6th grade history, massacre-forced and double s – double t drilled to spell Massachusetts. But I Phyllis Wheatley, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. know Boston.

I former flight attendant ─ Logan Airport remember Boston before the blast. Frankly, I’m feeling all “What the hell?” and 911 pissed all over again. A bomb has killed a beautiful young boy?

While blogging, I’m pumping Quincy Jones’ “Back on the Block” album from way back when.

Big Daddy Kane kicked it off with rhyme;

Birdland has blared;

Sarah Vaughn screamed a sassy scat;

And now Take 6 is acapella acting out.

I’m waiting for Maestro Jones to bless Boston with the reason I’ve always loved Track 12:

Tomorrow ─ (A Better you, a Better me)” featuring Tevin Campbell

 “I hope tomorrow will bring, a better you, a better me.

I know that we’ll show this world we got more we could be

So you should never give up on your hopes and your dreams

You gotta get up, get out, get into it, get it on to be strong…”

 Martin Richards will never see another tomorrow, feel his mother’s warm embrace, or spike chicken nuggets in ketchup during lunch with his third grade classmates. Martin’s race is over; he crossed the Boston Marathon finish line first.

 We are a strong America. We get up, get out, get into it, and get it on.

We keep it movin’ and

We are not deterred by terrorism.

I hope tomorrow will bring a better you, a better me…

I hope tomorrow will bring a better world.

This was the dream of two Martins.

 Penny Dickerson 2013

Sin – or Civil Right? (Proposition 8 & DOMA)

Posted on by
Reply

florida-courier-logo

 

SIN – OR CIVIL RIGHT?

April 4, 2013 Filed under FRONT PAGE Posted by

Black Floridians are on both sides of the gay marriage controversy

BY PENNY DICKERSON
SPECIAL TO THE FLORIDA COURIER

In the 50th anniversary year of the historic March on Washington and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, the United States Supreme Court was challenged to determine the constitutional boundaries of marriage and family.

A young protester stood in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on March 27 as the court heard arguments on a part of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act that prevents legally wed same-sex couples from receiving certain benefits by defining marriage as between a man and woman.(OLIVIER DOULIERY/ABACA PRESS/MCT)

A young protester stood in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on March 27 as the court heard arguments on a part of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act that prevents legally wed same-sex couples from receiving certain benefits by defining marriage as between a man and woman.
(OLIVIER DOULIERY/ABACA PRESS/MCT)

Last week, two pivotal cases were heard by the high court. Now, an America divided over same-sex marriage, and hopeful same-sex couples with dreams of marriage, await what could be groundbreaking legal decisions.

Proposition 8 and DOMA
California’s controversial ballot initiative known as Proposition 8 defines marriage only as between a man and a woman. It is widely understood as a ban on gay marriages.

The 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, known as DOMA, prevents legally wed same-sex couples from receiving certain benefits by defining marriage as between a man and woman. (Florida has its own version of DOMA that was overwhelmingly passed by the Florida Legislature in 1997.)

In 2008, inspired by California’s Proposition 8, strong support from Florida’s African-American voters led to passage of an amendment to the state constitution, which now bans gay marriage in Florida. Then-Gov. Charlie Crist supported the amendment, as did then-presidential candidate Barack Obama.

Five years and a presidential re-election later, the legalization of gay marriage is front-and-center at the nation’s highest court. Black Floridians are on both sides of the debate.

‘Church’ speaks
Dr. Kevin W. Church, Sr. holds a biblical position on same-sex marriage – as befits a preacher named “Church.”

Dr. Kevin W. Church, Sr. (Army Chaplain)

He is a man of God who has served his country for almost 20 years as both a U.S. Army officer and chaplain. Church is also a certified hospital chaplain, assists homeless veterans through a not-for-profit organization, and serves as team chaplain for the Jacksonville Giants, the American Basketball Association’s minor league championship team.

Church, an author with a Ph.D., has been married to the same wife for almost 30 years and is the father of three grown children.

Church is a traditionalist. He is not a proponent of same-sex marriage.

Adam and Eve
“My view is that first and foremost, the Bible has no errors and does not condone same-sex marriage,” stated Church. “In the beginning, God created Adam and Eve as a male and female. Eve was created from Adam’s rib and the Bible is clear that same-sex (marriage) does not exist…God did not intend a man and a man, but He gives all of us a choice.”

The Liberty University-educated theologian withholds personal judgment.

“As Christians, we love the sinner and hate the sin,” he explains.

130405_front01eI

In his career, Church says he has counseled more than 100 couples that were engaged to be married. He is endorsed by the North American Mission Board, which does not allow him to engage in counseling or conduct a marriage ceremony between same-sex couples. However, he gives spiritual counsel to all who seek it from him.

“Prior to any session, I always pray and let the Spirit lead,” explained Church. “I ask if there has ever been a time when either has accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior, and offer an invitation to salvation,” he added.

End times
Church is aware that younger people are more tolerant these days.

“People are gonna do what they want to do, and Christianity will not reach everyone,” Church muses. He cites the hit single, “I’m Doing Me,” by Fantasia Barino of “American Idol” fame.

“Folks in society are ‘doing me’ and the economy is a factor,” offered Church, who supports his theory with Bible verses from II Timothy 3:1-7.
It states, “… in the last days, perilous times will come. For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, and unholy…”

130405_front01f

The other side
Jeronica Byrd is a 34-year-old divorced Black female who lives in Tampa. She is gay.

Jeronica Bryd

A scholar who earned a Master of Science degree in criminology, Byrd has been in a committed same-sex relationship for nine years and is the parent of a 17-year-old son. He is also gay.

Byrd is the founder and executive director of Professional Lesbian Women and seeks to marry her longtime companion. She insists that until same-sex marriage is nationwide and federally recognized, the laws don’t make any sense.

Limited rights
Byrd and her partner share property, vehicles, bank accounts – a life.

DOMA angers her because it prohibits them both from receiving over 1,100 federal benefits, the most important of which is the inheritance tax.

“If we were a federally recognized couple and something were to happen to me, my partner would not have to pay the tax,” Byrd explained.

The privileges heterosexual couples benefit from are often taken for granted by Proposition 8 and DOMA supporters. As an unrecognized legal spouse, Byrd’s partner cannot oblige Byrd’s wishes to be cremated because she can’t enforce a will or defy her surviving family’s decisions. Her partner also cannot make medical decisions, adopt her son or receive parental rights.

“She is the person I love and have built a life with, but it matters not because she is the same gender,” said Byrd. “My feelings for my partner are written on my soul. I need the legal marital protection, not the spiritual.”

‘Don’t need the world’
Conversely, Bruce “Tobi” Ellison does not need a marital or a spiritual ceremony to define his same-sex relationships.

Tobi Ellison Author and Spiritual Advisor

The 37-year-old spiritual advisor, life coach, and author of  “I Am the Manifester” promotes “power and well-being” as philosophical dynamics people can control. He believes too many in both the gay and Black community don’t approve of themselves. This is the greater problem.

“I do not need the world or government in my relationships to experience the best love scenario I can have,” argues Ellison. “The government does not control the law of attraction. I can have the life I want without an outside voice dictating what it should look or feel like. I support same-sex marriages because I want people to have the equal rights. I just don’t need it (marriage),” he added.

‘Stop having homosexuals’
Based in Orlando, Ellison has numerous friends who work for the Walt Disney Company, one of several corporations implementing same-sex policies. Disney allows employees to extend some benefits to same-sex partners without marriage.

According to Ellison, hypocrisy has ruined marriage as a religious covenant.

“Heterosexuals who are against same-sex marriage and preach what people should or shouldn’t do need a careful analysis. Their marriage(s) are nothing to hold up to the light, or their five and six divorces,” Ellison admonished.

“How can they talk about the sanctity of marriage? I want no part of it. Also, if they are so against homosexuals, tell them to stop having them.”
Ellison believes he was born gay; it wasn’t a choice.

Willing to pay the price

Willetta  “Mamado” Smith agrees with Ellison. She has been openly gay since she was 14 years old, but recognized her orientation as early as age five. She is now 54.

She was an accomplished music industry veteran before doing a two-year stint at Gadsden Correctional Institute in Tallahassee. While there, she used her skills and experience to produce a music CD featuring fellow inmates.

Life didn’t stop for her after she got out of prison. A serial entrepreneur, she now does audio and video production in Jacksonville, including direct-to-video movies.

Mamado is in love and engaged to marry 26-year-old rap artist and model                          Alea Janae Dennis. Alea Janai

The Jacksonville couple has been partners for three years. They seek all the rights and protections married heterosexual couples enjoy. That’s impossible under current Florida law.

“We’re seeking legal representation to assist us in marrying in another state, perhaps Washington, D.C.,” said Smith. “It may cost up to $5,000, but we’re determined.”

Part VI – “The Life & Death of Jimmie Jackson.”

Posted on by
Reply

 florida courier

Was the decision to go ‘gunless’ in the ‘Gunshine State’ fatal?

March 28, 2013 Filed under METRO

130329_metro01b

Editor’s Note: This is the sixth in a series of stories framing the life of James Roland Jackson, III, known as “Jimmy” to his family.

BY PENNY DICKERSON
SPECIAL TO THE FLORIDA COURIER

As reported in this series, 26-year-old Jimmy Jackson was shot on June 2, 2012, at the Silver Fox nightclub while working part time as road manager for rap artist Young Cash, a protégé of popular Florida-based rapper Flo Rida.

The former Florida A&M University business student died 10 days later at Shands Hospital, leaving his supportive family shocked and grieving. His five-year-old daughter Denia no longer has a daddy to tuck her in at night. He won’t cheer at her college graduation, or walk her down the aisle on her wedding day.

Four bullets
Jacksonville Detective Bobbie Bowers, the lead homicide investigator, is calling Jackson’s tragic shooting a random robbery.

Two Black males wearing dark clothing approached Jackson in a pitch-dark parking lot at close to 4 a.m.

He complied with their request for money, but assailants still pumped four bullets into his 6’1” athletic frame as he walked away.

Older brother Anthony Rozier said that Jackson refused to carry a concealed weapon, as is possible under Florida’s liberal ‘concealed carry’ law.

“I don’t need a gun, cause I ain’t gon’ shoot nobody,” Jackson told Rozier.

Win an AR-15

William “Bill” Burns holds a monthly raffle to win an AR-15 rifle. Proceeds benefit his nonprofit organization “Dream Hunts For Heroes.”
(PHOTOS COURTESY OF PENNY DICKERSON/FLORIDA COURIER)

Millions with guns
There’s no proof that Jackson would still be alive if he had been carrying a gun. But a record number of citizens do plan to shoot whenever necessary. One of every 17 Floridians – more than a million people just in Florida alone – has a license to carry a concealed firearm.

While homicide rates are down, Florida is home to the largest number of gun-carrying permits in the country, giving the peninsula an unsavory moniker: “the Gunshine State.”

Jacksonville has its own Gun Crime Unit, and for good reason. As reported by the United States Department of Justice based on 2011 statistics, the Middle District of Florida, the federal court district were Jacksonville is located, ranks third in the nation for the number of federal prosecutions of firearms-related cases.

In conjunction with Project Safe Neighborhood, a community-based initiative, the Gun Crime Unit meets once a week to discuss the prosecution of gun crimes and includes detectives with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, special agents from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), as well as prosecutors from the State Attorney’s Office.

Easy to get
Many Floridians evidently believe peril is imminent, and they are buying guns. And all you need is money to buy a gun in Florida.

According to a Feb. 27 cover story in Folio Weekly, “No permits, license or identification card is required to buy or possess firearms and ammunition here, unlike in some other states.”  (You do need a license to conceal a gun and carry it.)

Ammunition can be purchased for cash at local gun shows. Firearm responsibility requires a permit application.

Fierce debate
The availability of guns is America’s most contentious new debate. From seasoned politicians to neighborhood barbershops hosting Saturday morning court, everyone is weighing in on access to firearms, who has a right to own, and the rampant gun violence sweeping the nation.

A movie theater massacre and last year’s Sandy Hook elementary killing spree has created a nation in fear and rendered public places unsafe.

First gun at 15
Gun shows are held almost every weekend in a Florida city and a large populous of enthusiasts support the culture.  Luke Wyatt purchased close to $280 worth of ammunition at a recent Jacksonville gun show.

“I come here to buy ammo because I can’t get it from the store,” said Wyatt. “ The government is making it even harder.”Luke Wyat with Ammo #2

The Florida State Community College student works part time at Longhorn Steakhouse and uses his earnings to support his hobby.

“I own three guns, a 30.06 long-range rifle, a tactical AR-22, and have access to my parents’ 9mm pistol,” Wyatt boasted.

A revolver like these on sale at a Jacksonville gun show could be similar to the firearm Jimmy’s shooter used.

A revolver like these on sale at a Jacksonville gun show could be similar to the firearm Jimmy’s shooter used.

Guns and target shooting has always been a part of Wyatt’s family life.  He was given his first gun at age 15 and is an avid hunter of game.

Racial disparity
The use of guns is racially disparate. According to a March 22 feature in the Washington Post, “Gun deaths are shaped by race in America. Whites are far more likely to shoot themselves, and African-Americans are far more likely to be shot by someone else.”

What’s consistent is that thousands of people are killed – or are killing themselves – with guns.

The Florida-based Trayvon Martin case has intensified the racial debate. Martin was shot and killed last February in Sanford by George Zimmerman, an off-duty neighborhood watchman. The shooter alleged Martin’s behavior was suspicious – he was walking slowly in the rain and wearing a hoodie.SAMSUNG

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The equally tragic killing of Jordan Davis followed the Martin killing. The 14-year-old was shot to death while sitting in a Dodge Durango with friends at a Gate gas station in Jacksonville.Jordan on Jet

Michael David Dunn, a White male, pulled up next to the teens and asked them to turn their loud music down. Following a verbal dispute, Dunn claimed he saw a shotgun in their car and sprayed seven shots into the parked SUV. Davis died on the scene; police reported the teens had no gun.

These murders have sparked a national outcry against gun violence; race is a subtext because White men killed both Martin and Dunn.

Jimmy Jackson’s death was different. The shooters were Black. As mass shootings prompt vigils and flags flown at half-mast, mainstream media attention to  “Black-on-Black” crime is practically nonexistent.

‘Not a race problem’
David Frum, contributing editor at Newsweek offered the following in a CNN report titled, “U.S. gun problem is not a race problem.’’

“The typical murder has one victim, not many. The typical murder is committed with a handgun, not a rifle. And in the typical murder, both the perpetrator and the victim are young black men. Blacks are six times as likely as Whites to be the victim of a homicide. Blacks are seven times as likely to commit a homicide.”

‘In the wrong hands’
NAACPIsaiah Rumlin, president of the Jacksonville NAACP branch, says his organization is very concerned about gun violence.

“It’s a socioeconomic issue that affects our city, state, and nation,” said Rumlin. “We have got to produce better-educated people, produce more jobs, and develop better programs for repeat offenders who are released and return to our communities.”

He additionally calls on parents to do a better job and take responsibility for their children’s actions before tragedy strikes.

“Too many guns are in the wrong hands,” declared Rumlin.

The Rev. R.L. Gundy, pastor of Mt. Sinai Missionary Baptist Church in Jacksonville, also weighed in on the subject. He is the state president of the Southern Christian Leadership conference.SCLC

Gundy stated that with “a present mean legislative body and more than 225 federally licensed gun dealers in a state, it creates an environment where people become predators on each other – both Black and White.’’

The community activist doesn’t offer it as an excuse but insists that the current gun culture has been created by society and cites the previous methodology of President Bill Clinton’s as a positive example.

The Clinton administration tracked every gun used in a crime and, statistically, as it was then, Florida tops the list.

“When all of your Black fathers are in jail and there are no jobs, the problem transcends mere socioeconomic and it’s deeper than parents serving as a solution,” Gundy added. “The highest population of Blacks in Florida is in Duval County and 72 percent of all babies born in a Black family are without a father. It becomes a mental health and psychological (issue) too.”

Crimes and justice
A public service announcement uses six quick words to spell out the consequences of committing a gun crime: “Use a gun and you’re done.” Pull a gun –10 years in prison. Fire a gun – 20 years. Shoot someone – 25 years to life in prison.

That’s the penalty facing the individual(s) responsible for Jackson’s murder.

The Kinsey Collection: African American Family Debuts Cultural Exhibit at Walt Disney World

Posted on by
Reply
Ebony_Magazine_Logo

A Whole New World: The Kinsey Collection

An art and history loving African American Family debuts their coveted  collection at Walt Disney World

By Penny Dickerson

A Whole New World: The Kinsey Collection

“The Walls” from the Kinsey Collection

If the art of sharing were worth its weight  in gold, the amassed cultural treasures of Bernard and Shirley Kinsey  would easily personify Ft. Knox. The philanthropist couple have gathered 400 ‘authentic and rare art, artifacts, books, documents and manuscripts that tell  the often untold story of African American achievement and contributions.’ The  culminating result is an impressive touring exhibit spanning more than 400 years  of history aptly titled, “The  Kinsey Collection: Shared Treasures of Bernard and Shirley Kinsey.”

More than 3 million people in seven U.S. cities including the Smithsonian  Institute in Washington, D.C. have been exposed and culturally enriched. And  now, a global audience can experience ‘the intersect of art and history’ at Walt  Disney World in Orlando, Florida.

Earlier this month, The Kinsey Collection opened to the public at the  American Heritage Gallery of the American Adventure Pavilion at EPCOT Center  where it will remain until 2016.  The private unveiling took place during  the 6th Annual Disney Dreamers  Academy weekend hosted by Steve Harvey with Essence magazine. The competitive program selects 100 students from across the  country to indulge in four days of mentoring workshops facilitated by  celebrities like gospel sensation Yolanda Adams, American Idol runner-up  Kimberley Locke, Actor Doc Shaw from Tyler Perry’s “House of Payne,” CNN  education contributor Dr. Steve Perry, and more.

Bernard Kinsey─patriarch of the namesake collection─also honored the 2013 cohort with a  historical lecture, “The Myth of Absence” which aligns with the Kinsey’s  ultimate goal: education.Bernard Kinsey Lectures on African American History from The Kinsey Collection

A Disney partnership effectively broadens the collection’s outreach, but a  unique agreement with the Florida Department of Education  fills a void  Kinsey believes is omitted by most African American textbooks. The Kinsey’s  self-published coffee-table book bears the collection’s title and has been  approved to teach K-12 history in Florida schools.

The publication works in concert with the collection as a visual and  kinesthetic educational component. Readers embark upon a 198 page, picturesque  journey in print that begins in 1632 and travels to the present. The art of  Stephen Duncanson and Romare Bearden are complemented by 17th century  documents from historical abolitionist Frederick Douglass and Dr. Martin Luther  King. Jr., whose legacy encouraged everyone to ignite a dream.

“This exhibit presents truth, but is not an exercise in  victimhood,” said Bernard Kinsey to a captive room at EPCOT World  Showplace. “We have the courage to uplift and do justice to an integral part of  American history that dispels the myth that our history is absent from the  whole.”

The Kinsey Collection

The Kinsey Collection Opening at Disney World

Cross-referencing visual slides from the collection, Kinsey’s unwavering  passion for history reverberated as he described the 1832 slavery ‘Bill of Sale’ that inspired the collection. From his confident podium stance to his  matter-of-fact wisdom, he remained candid about everything from the 1619  Mayflower arrival to Buffalo Soldier pride.  Images of black bodies lined  like sardines beneath a slave ship’s belly were displayed along with the dismay  of Dr. Selma Burke’s original mold being used to create Teddy Roosevelt’s  likeness on the American dime. The African American sculptor was never given  credit. Throughout, Kinsey remained unapologetic in his posture that the African  American presence in history is not one of invisibility.

Among the engaged dreamers was 15-year-old Dwight James of Jacksonville,  Florida who expressed genuine excitement: “I loved when he said Christopher  Columbus didn’t discover America. The Indians found America. America has been  re-owned,” said James, who dreams of becoming a writer.

Sharing his sentiments was spoken word artist Husain Abd’Allah from Jamaica,  NY. The ninth grade homeschooler is a Schomburg Junior Scholar in African  American studies who was intrigued by the gallery, “It was such a wonderful  exhibit,” he said. “We got to see how it all came together. They had a lantern  where you just turn the handle and it starts giving you an overview of the  gallery.”

Most impressive for Abd’Allah was Mrs. Fisher’s Cookbook, the first  known cookbook by a Black person. Husein, like many in attandance, had never  heard this information prior to The Kinsey Collection.

It was Carmen Smith, Vice President of Creative Development  of Walt Disney Imageering whose unwavering vision lead to the Kinsey-Disney  partnership. She learned about the Collection from Bob Billingslea, former Vice  President of Corporate Urban Affairs and Minority Outreach, and eagerly  presented the idea to theme park executives. “We saw this as a unique  opportunity,” she said. “More than 20 Disney executives were taken to Los  Angeles, California to view the entire collection. It was simply magical! There  were no hesitations to bring it to the American Gallery.”

The bulk of the Presidential Award-Winning collection remains housed in a  converted wine cellar in the Kinsey’s sprawling Pacific Coast home. Of the 400  available pieces, 40 were hand-selected to comprise the Disney exhibit, but  every six months they will be rotated until the entire collection has been  viewed. To preserve the integrity and protect from light and moisture damage, some items in the exhibit are facsimiles.

Innovative Disney “Imagineers” teamed to create a gallery  experience consistent with attractions throughout the resort’s multiple theme  parts. Their daunting task was to build an interactive exhibit that brings  African American history to life. Anthony Sparks, M.A. served as the  writer/consultant for the project. For more than four months, the University of  Southern California scholar and former stage actor (“Stomp”) worked to perfect  the exhibit. “The big question was how to make a gallery kid-friendly?” he  explained. “My goals were simple: appeal to families, all ages, and create  something that worked on many levels.”

The project further involved condensing vast material to tell a cohesive  story that was not all inclusive but gave a sense of the African American  experience and five tenets of The Kinsey Collection: Hope, Belief, Courage,  Heritage, and Imagination. Lanterns, symbolic of the freedom path, were given  narrative voice by Academy Award winning actress Whoopi Goldberg. Additional  A-list celebrities lending their sound were Chaundra Wilson and James Pickens,  Jr. (Grey’s Anatomy), Kerry Washington (Scandal), ABC News Anchor Diane Sawyer,  and others.

For Kinsey and wife Shirley, the realization of their cultural inheritance  is an overwhelming achievement and accomplishment. “It now has a voice, a name,  a personality,” offered Kinsey.

The Kinsey Family serves as a formidable example of African  American resilience and strength. The Florida A&M University alums met  during the civil rights movement and remain married 40 years later.  Both  are Xerox Corporation retirees who mastered  saving money in their  early lives together. The dividends have allowed them to travel more than 91  countries and help raise more than $22 million dollars to support HBCU’s. Their  son Khalil currently serves as general manager of operations for The Kinsey  Collection. While in grade-school, he exhibited an inquisitive nature regarding  his family history. Both parents eagerly addressed his cultural thirst. The rest  is Kinsey history.

Penny Dickerson is a Florida-based independent journalist. She is a  frequent contributor to the Florida Courier, Florida Times-Union and other  regional and national publications. Her work can be viewed at  pennydickersonwrites.com.

Read more at EBONY http://www.ebony.com/entertainment-culture/a-whole-new-world-the-kinsey-collection/2#ixzz2O85PQzHQ

Follow us: @EbonyMag on Twitter | EbonyMag on Facebook

Interview with Steve Harvey’s Personal Chef: Judson Todd Allen “Architect of Flavor.”

Posted on by

‘Architect of flavor’ whips up Harvey’s healthy dishes

March 14, 2013 Filed under ENTERTAINMENT, FOOD Posted by
 
florida-courier-logo

 

Click link to read this and other exciting news at the Florida Courier

http://flcourier.com/2013/03/14/architect-of-flavor-whips-up-harveys-healthy-dishes/

BY PENNY DICKERSON
SPECIAL TO THE FLORIDA COURIER

130315_food01b

Judson Todd Allen is a winner who loves to lose.

He has won a battle with weight, losing more than 135 pounds. next food network starHe auditioned for the “Next Food Network Star’’ four times before joining the 2012 cast. He again, lost but recalibrated

Now he’s the personal chef to comedian/entertainer/radio/television personality/author Steve Harvey. Steve HarveyHow Allen landed the gig is the kind of stuff dreams are made of.

“I heard on the radio Steve Harvey was looking for a chef in Chicago,” said Allen. “I was in Tennessee when my business manager called and told me to fly home. I prepared my classic pecan encrusted Chilean sea bass served atop roasted garlic, sautéed spinach infused with lemon and herbs.” Harvey finished the meal and told Allen, “I’ll see you on Monday!”

Launched hot sauce
A background in food science helps the Chicago native mirror Harvey’s varied weight loss and muscle mass goals and says his boss is very well rounded in both diet and nutrition.

During a weight-loss detox, Allen’s European influenced culinary skills were essential in creating Harvey’s rich and creamy soups prepared without butter or dairy.

“I roasted cauliflower and parsnips blended with garlic and herbs,” said Allen, who promotes healthy eating and healthy foods.

Harvey loves hot sauce and was instrumental in the launch of Allen’s signature product called Chef Judson’s All-purpose Habanero Hot Sauce.hot sauce

Promoted as less hot and more flavor, it’s an all natural, low sodium combination. Allen refers to himself as the “Architect of Flavor’’ – an original brand built for a winner.

For more information on the chef, visit http://www.judsontoddallen.com.