I overheard a friend of a friend recount an interesting story about the difficulty he and his wife were having trying to provide a quality education for their child.

They live in suburban Detroit, and wanted their child to go to a school in a well-regarded district. The problem was their district of choice was not the one they lived in, but rather a district with a top-rated high school that happened to be located a few municipalities away.   Read More »

Dave Brandon, CEO of Domino's Pizza, tells a story about his company's efforts to add franchises in Taiwan. They did all of their research and opened their stores, but market penetration was well off projections. They couldn't figure it out. Parents loved the pizza. Kids loved the pizza. But not enough people were ordering it.   Read More »

Join the Movement
Michigan, please assist us in collecting
"One Million American Dreams for Our President."
One Man, One Plan, One Dream. President Obama honored his dream to become President of the United States. Assist in the movement to formally honor and invite the nation to view Detroit, presenting a million powerful dreams, illustrating a prominent American future. Take the greatest step in evolution. Stand in allegiance with millions of families creating global accountability.
Record your child's mark in history. Pick up your contract from your local school by January 19th 2009. Help motivate a life changing event, in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Pledging allegiance to our President's dream; by historically documenting your child's aspirations. Your future deserves greatness.
Participate in the largest sociological event in America. Once we collect the signatures, we will present them to Governor Granholm in February requesting her assistance in inviting President Obama to grace Detroit on June 23rd 2009.Change can't happen without you! Forty six years ago Dr. King resonated millions to Believe in his Dream in Washington but the first "I have a Dream" speech was delivered in Detroit. Let's stand in solidarity, to Honor the Past, Celebrating Today, Planning & Promoting Tomorrow.


One dollar donation for the contract will permit:

• Every participating school to keep 25% of money raised
 One chosen child of every school to receive 25% of money raised
• $25,000 Reward to the school with the greatest student participation
• Every Teacher to participate in the Classroom Safety Stimulus Plan
• Your child to participate in the greatest sociological empowerment demonstration of our times. Your children deserve it.



Contact your Local School by Jan. 19th
Or Please Contact
Detroit Intelligence @ (313)739-8257 or (313)443-8736
Or email for more information
313revolution@att.net or 313movement@att.net

Sometimes, I wonder who really believes that ALL children can achieve academic excellence?
-
To me, a region that believes all its students can succeed would not allow for 30 high schools in a three county region to graduate fewer than 60% of their students. But in Southeastern Michigan, that is our reality
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I used to teach in North Philly. My students averaged 85% mastery on their state benchmark exams. I wonder why I always feel the need to validate my students' abilities? No one in our highly resourced schools feel the need to cite classroom achievement. Yet, I always feel the need to defend my students... and their abilities.   Read More »

Just commented on Mike Tenbusch's post about "Pink Slips and Layoffs" (http://www.liveunitedsem.org/page/community/blog/miketenbusch) ... as Denny was laid off yesterday, along with 700 of his co-workers across the country. He's going to be fine however, as we are blessed with a severance package and his Air Force pension .... others won't be as fine. Makes me think of the work we do here at United Way and all of those we serve .. and the importance of educational preparedness (esp. the transferable skills that help us cope with change), financial tools that help us to get and keep financially stable and the fundamental aspects of food, shelter, physical safety and more that just help us to cope. How many of those we serve, and esp. the folks recently laid off in various industries, don't know about what is available to help them - or even know to call 211. We have a big role in informing, engaging and utilizing everything in our community to pull us all together to help each other. If you are reading this and have thoughts about how this can move forward, e-mail me!! :::::::::::smile::::::::::::::

**********************This is A Cry for Help**********************
Please pass this letter to everyone in America
We Need Superheroes to Join "The Detroit Intelligence Movement"
The Children of Detroit urgently need help. Activate your powers to mandate change.
You have permission to post and copy letter. Be apart of History. Join Today.
Do not throw away. Don't discard your future. Empower By Any Means Necessary
************************************************************************

Greetings Mr. President and my Fellow Americans,

Please endorse our radical plan of action. Detroit must Evolve. The city of Detroit is on the brink of suicidal self destruction. Our city is filled with tears of political anarchy and the collapsing fears of the Auto industry. Unemployment and crime is synonymous to the deplorable education system. Poverty, intolerance and foreclosures haunt the dreams of Detroit. Can anyone hear the children's cry of desperation?

The American People can help resuscitate Detroit by displaying solidarity while promoting Personal Accountability. Detroit is in dire need of Motivated Intelligence. Endorse and Sponsor the "Detroit Intelligence Movement". The Revolution is an Educational Evolution empowering America, one city at a time.

My name is Gayle Webster-Price; I am the Founding Mother of the "Detroit Intelligence Movement". I'm writing this urgent letter, requesting everyone in America to aid in the success of Greatest Sociological Campaign created since the Obama election. I beg you to answer my cry for help.

With your help we can successfully demonstrate the Largest Educational Intervention in America. In honor of the Obama Presidency, the D.I.M movement was designed to motivate the entire nation. Every aspect was strategically designed in retrospect to successfully run concurrently with the Obama-Biden Education Plan.

Detroit must mandate and galvanize change in their communities for survival. We will celebrate power to activate growth and global advancement or Detroit will further disenfranchise itself from the rest of America. In other words, Detroit is dying; Detroit must evolve; By any means Necessary. The D.I.M movement requires Global Accountability to maximize success.

The Detroit Intelligence Movement will altruistically enhance the mindset of the citizens of Detroit. Our vision is to alleviate tragic conditions that have infested the children of our inner city.

For far too long, Detroit has been infamously known as one of the most dangerous cities in the world. Larceny, Robbery, Assault; Rape is at its all time high. Unemployment & Poverty has plagued Detroit for far too long. Statistic show 85% of Detroit is far below the average poverty rate.
Detroit has one of the highest dropout rates in the nation. 1 in every 7 graduate, plus, the very few who graduate, are not prepared to function as employable independent adults.

Detroit must expect integration to be the rule, and segregation to find its final resting place in the archives of American history. We should expect every young person to have an education that is sufficient for becoming the President of the United States.
We cannot save our crumbling Detroit schools filled with self imposed limitations, or receive fair treatment, unless we restore the critical promise of Personal Accountability.

Our children are suffering. Detroit's deplorable dropout rate is unconstitutional. Our beautiful children are being denied excellent education, and consequently are condemned to continue the cycle of poverty, crime, drugs, that have infested our city. We need the awesome support from our large Obama family and followers will enhance intelligence to empower children to become the fearless Creators, the Lord intended them to be… Creating and activating their Identities.


Join the Detroit Intelligence Group elite collection of business partners, vendors, & sponsors that vow allegiance to assist Detroit Schools in enhancing the graduation rate 50% by 2014
"By Any Means Necessary"

Our outcome will altruistically circumvent the mindset of Detroit. Plus disseminate 5 million dollars back into the city's economy by demonstrating evidence based campaigns to stimulate Detroit's poor economy. We will see greater days, again.

Mr. President; please honor Detroit by endorsing "The Detroit intelligence Movement" and gracing Detroit with your presence. On June 23rd, 2009 let's mark the 46th anniversary of historic Freedom March of Detroit. Let's recreate the greatest moment in history. Your presence alone will cause a massive state of euphoria, illustrating the powers to rebuild a better America.

The March on Washington is one of the most significant events in the history of the nation. The event which took place on August 28, 1963 signified the true power that average citizens control. The power to come together with other citizens such as themselves to illuminate change was phenomenal. The March on Washington became one of the defining moments, if not "The Defining Moment", of the Civil Rights Movement.

Although the March on Washington's impact was a direct result of the large number of people involved, one of the key moments came after the crowd reached Washington, D.C. as Martin Luther King, Jr. made his "I Have a Dream" speech which became somewhat of an anthem for the entire Civil Rights Movement.

Did we forget that the city of Detroit was honored first with the power of the movement?
June 23rd 1963, marked an historic influx of power generating the most intellectual sociological campaign in existence. The Detroit march was gigantic, with over 200, 000 people marching down Woodward Avenue led by Martin Luther King Jr. and Walter Reuther. It ended at Cobo Hall in downtown Detroit where King delivered his famous "I Have a Dream Speech" for the very first time! The Detroit intelligence Movement 2009 will walk the steps of our past to activate our powers to our future.

Would you like to be a part of the most radical program ever invented? I dare you to doubt the powers of a focused, conscious, collective vision. Our goals will come to fruition by allowing Detroit to visualize life, the way it is.

Our plan is simple in design but intricately rooted with scientific based campaigns that will radically spark the greatest intellectual movement in Detroit's history. D.I. M documented the sociological issues corrupting the families of Detroit and issued this state of address." We must protect our future." The Detroit Intelligence Movement will institute the "Classroom Safety Stimulus Plan" that will automatically fund every teacher and employ thousands of high school students that promote the "Accountability Contract". We will empower our people plus stimulate Detroit's poor economy.

The Detroit intelligence movement promotes "Teaching as the strongest Force in Evolution." If we don't enlist the help of the teaching profession; the children of Detroit will be lead to the streets instead of the classroom.

Young people are severely impacted by violence and those who live in urban areas are disproportionately affected. The Detroit Intelligence funds the classroom safety stimulus plan by offering free safety campaigns to every classroom, with the purchase of Sabre defense spray. We teach the school entire community proactive personal protection. We will aid in the onslaught of gun violence by offering America a non lethal choice plus directly fund teachers and high school students.

Killing is an option. But protecting yourself is not optional. Let's stop the senseless killing of our children! Help us get the guns off the streets of Detroit. Violence & Street Crime can shatter your sense of safety, causing anger, loss of confidence, guilt and sadness or depression.

Our unique seminars provide the information needed to avoid making the very mistakes that criminals DEPEND ON to prey upon you. Courage silences fear. We cover three important areas that criminals don't want people to know. How to get them arrested, to get identified or get them injured. We distribute personal protection items and information to civilians allowing them to transcend to a higher level of accountability.
To be empowered to extinguish fears that engulfs their lives. Because Fear Paralyzes success.

The Detroit Intelligence Movement will bring Every School in the Detroit Metropolitan area HOPE, LOVE, PROTECTION & FINANCIAL SUPPORT. Our mission will aid in increasing the Detroit's graduation rate by 50%. Our children are suffering.
Our beautiful children are being denied excellent education, and consequently are condemned to continue the cycle of poverty, crime, drugs, that have infested our city.

We should expect every young person to have an education that is sufficient for becoming the President of the United States. We cannot save our crumbling Detroit schools, or receive fair treatment in any other district, unless we restore that critical promise of Accountability.

We developed a sure fire way to successfully bring a sociological experiment to fruition but we need help with connecting to the free world. The evidence based campaign's sole purpose is to stimulate high school students to graduate with research validated practices. Each area of the program has been strategically designed in retrospect to the Obama -Biden Educational Plan to maximize success.

The Detroit Intelligence plan of action will:

• Enlist millions to join "The Detroit Intelligence Movement
Illustrating Global Accountability.
• Fund thousands of high school students and Teachers to activate the Classroom Safety Stimulus Plan / $5000 max
• Endorse the "Accountability Contract" program that will empower millions of children to activate their superpowers.
• Conduct the "Schools of Change" Contest; rewarding children and the teaching faculty for mandating change.
• Building small high school mastermind camps across Detroit
Empowering community and family involvement.
• Construct, "The Second Walk of Freedom 2009"
• Fund and stabilize Detroit schools during their 300 million deficits. Our children will not suffer due to the government takeover of the Detroit Public Schools.
• Film a "Cry for Help" special footage to create media coverage participation to aid in the movement.
• Protect millions in Detroit with defense spray to lower the assault, rape, and robbery and crimes rates.

Teacher quality is the leading factor in student achievement. Improve that, and more teens will graduate. Michigan's education establishment has pretended for too long not to see Detroit's deepening high school crises. It's imperative that teachers move to the lead in combating the problem.

Here's a recap of how our plan works...

Parents and Citizens; Protect the future of our city.

Purchase defense spray exclusively from your child's teacher.
Complete the "Accountability Contract" with your family.

Teachers and High School Students;
Empower your community while you empower your pockets. You deserve it!
Set up high school mastermind camps to maximize the D.I.M. success

Sponsors and Partners;
Promote City and Nationwide Success through the power of Personal Accountability. Participate in the "D.I.M. membership discount card. Offer discounts on goods or services for utilizing the "Accountability Contract" to stimulate Detroit's economy.

America; Please hold Detroit accountable for change in a global arena. Join the Revolution. The power of the people will spark the greatest intellectual movement in Detroit's history. We demand a Better World.

Everyone in America can join the D.I.M to register and activate your superpowers to transform to a higher level of personal accountability.

Intelligence is the Key to Success…..

Visit - detroitintelligencemovement.ning.com for more info
Email - 313movement@att.net or 313revolution@att.net
Call Gayle - 313-739-8257 or Jason - 313-443-8736


**********************This is A Cry for Help**********************
Please pass this letter to everyone in America.
We Need Superheroes to Join "The Detroit Intelligence Movement"
The Children of Detroit urgently need help. Activate your powers to mandate change.
You have permission to post and copy letter. Be apart of History. Join Today.
Do not throw away. Don't discard your future. Empower By Any Means Necessary
************************************************************************

Santa and Mrs. Claus are expected to fly into the Detroit City Airport aka Coleman A Young International Airport, 11499 Conner on Monday Dec 22nd 3-7PM for the Friends of Detroit City Airport's annual Community Christmas Celebration. 500 children will be delighted to see the couple. We hope to provide toys and books to low income childern who might otherwise not receive a gift. Help us spread cheer and goodwill by donating a toy/books. Santa Helpers (volunteers) are needed. A toy drive will be held Dec 18, 19, 20 Noon-7PM at the airport. FDCA is a 501(c)3 organization. mailing address PO Box 32602, Detroit, MI 48232

Are you the problem or the answer?
If you do not have the answer
You perpetuate the problem
If you do not understand the problem
You overlook the answer
The goal is not to be the problem or the answer
The goal is to be the Solution
For the Solution is the missing link
Between the problem and the answer
Are You the Solution?

If you are reading this blog the answer to the question is yes. You are the solution. I would love to read how you plan to be a solution to bridging the gap between Southeastern Michigan's problems and solutions. Please post comments on how you will be a solution for your community.

We are all in the same boat,
In a stormy sea.
And we owe each other
A terrible loyalty.

~G.K. Chesterton

I remember like it was yesterday the day my Dad came home in the summer of '81. He called us four kids into the living room to tell us that Ford had laid him off--but we were going to be OK. I didn't hear anything after the "but." I remember going up to my room and vowing that I would turn my paper route and lawn mowing money into groceries to provide for our family. It turned out my dad was right. He got a job teaching that fall at University of Detroit High again, and our family was fine. But the pain I felt that day, and the responsibility I assumed that day, would stay with me for a long time.

Twenty-four years later, on June 26, 2005, I lost my own job unexpectedly. I called my wife from the office and told her the news.

   Read More »

As we continue to figure out the best way to move our homeless clients through the 2-1-1 On the Go! program, which helps them get into jobs and housing, we've set in motion several strategies. We've begun the process of involving volunteers who have skills and time to offer, we've been working the whole social networking sphere, (e.g. Facebook and Twitter), and we've also continued to reach out to new agencies that are focused on employment outcomes. But one of the biggest initiatives we are pursuing is building relationships with Detroit restaurant owners. We hope that this will create more momentum in our program and open up opportunities that will not only benefit our clients, but also the Detroit businesses and ultimately the entire community.

We have people in our program who are ready to work, and the turnover for jobs bussing tables and washing dishes is pretty high, so it makes sense that we network with the restaurant industry to commit jobs to our program. The benefit for our clients is a job and an opportunity to prove themselves and advance in the restaurant industry. I'm thinking of a longtime friend of mine who started out bussing tables at a nice restaurant, and soon moved on to be one of the best waitresses in the whole restaurant. She was able to pay her way through college because of the opportunities she was given in the restaurant industry based on her own skill and dedication. The benefit for the restaurants is they will be getting hard working and reliable employees that they can count on to improve their establishments. As one Detroit-based brewery owner told us, "Homeless people could very well be better employees than most of the people who aren't homeless."

Our plan moving forward is to continue networking and making connections with people who know people. Of course, we didn't invent networking. The difference between what we've done in the past, and what we're doing now is the type of people with whom we are networking. We already have a great amount of support from the corporate and political community, as well as non-profit agencies and their programs, but the piece we have been missing is the ground-level community.

Detroit has such a great network of restaurants, breweries, and other small businesses that bring so much life to the city, as well as people who care about the city of Detroit and the people in it. We need to tap into that. Hopefully as we attack the issue of getting homeless people employed from all ends, we'll find a combination that proves to be successful and creates a sustainable channel that will connect people coming into the program with opportunities they wouldn't otherwise have access to.

Twice a year, I return to my hometown, near the Black Hills of South Dakota to see my mom. It allows some time to take stock of my personal and professional life. Last year, I wrote four blogs around the topic of “Weaving a Community” in greater Detroit. This year I am intrigued about the concept of progress and generational change.  

Join me in visiting Chadron, a community of 5,000. Its history intersects with Buffalo Bill, Crazy Horse and Custer. The sky continues forever and a starry night in any season is the eighth wonder of the world. My world consisted of a loving and supportive family combined with many friends. My folks were first generation Arab-Americans in a sea of German-Americans. 

The civic glue in the 1950s was a sense of community with strong personal involvement in a region of 12,000-acre ranches. Instead of the Big 3 we had the forestry service, many small service businesses and the college. Instead of the DIA we had the Museum of the Fur Trade celebrating the French founding and settling of the area. Instead of the Fox Theater or Orchestra Hall we had the community concert series allowing rural America to see plays and concerts at the high school gym or college center. Instead of professional sports teams we had high school and Division III college games. Instead of city-sponsored neighborhood watch programs we had neighbors who cared for each other and their kids and demonstrated their commitment in little and big ways. 

The successful community recipe for most families included a strong faith in education to shape a better world. Try to imagine my class of eighteen students, who had to participate in all sports, sing in the choir or play in the band, and take industrial arts all on the campus via faculty with dual appointments in both college and secondary settings. 

I fully realize that urban and rural America have historic differences. Institutional racism continues to prevent the full participation of many people in the civic culture. Having said that, I lament that most events dealing with social problems, in Detroit such as the Race Summit sponsored by New Detroit or the Poverty Forum, mostly include representatives of formal organizations and tend to ‘preach to the choir’. The thread that worked in my community, at an earlier time in America, was the informal ownership of civic culture by citizens. 

During the past 50 years that ownership has been deferred to more formal organizations in both the public and nonprofit sectors for a variety of reasons. The unintended consequence of this action is that neighborhoods and communities have lost their civic muscle. True civic engagement is required and that will only occur when the formal organizations understand their limitations. As was noted during the Bridges out of Poverty program in October, relationships trump programs every time.

I invite each of you to look at the work of the Anne E. Casey Foundation on its Web site, with a particular focus on community change and its two-generation work. As United Way reinvents itself, how can we reach the proper equilibrium of a formal organization that nurtures and maximizes the informal neighborhood fabric in our service area? 

When Pontiac native Nathaniel Abraham entered a guilty plea recently to felony drug possession charges I wondered, what if? What if he had gotten the help he needed early in his life, would he have ended up on another path.


Abraham made international news over a decade ago when, at age 11, he was the youngest person in Michigan to ever be tried as an adult for murder. He was charged in the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Ronnie Green, and ultimately convicted of second-degree murder. The judge in the case sentenced Abraham to serve his time in a juvenile facility, a controversial move at the time. He was released in 2007, after turning 21, and a year later finds himself facing up to 20 years in prison. He is to be sentenced later this month, and he will most certainly serve his time with adults.

   Read More »

It hit me yesterday, during a workshop, that the work I've been doing in some form virtually all my life has been around connecting people - to each other, to ideas, to action, to "The Work". And part of the way that many of us have approached it (me included) was around "what's broken - let's fix it" or "what's wrong" or "what are the gaps". And during this workshop a new door opened ... looking at ASSETS. Now, yes, I know a fair amount about organizing things, people, resources based on building on what works - or assets - but the workshop was about "Asset Building Community Development" or ABCD for short. And in the midst of the workshop, when the presenter said "Don't ever waste a crisis" and my brain linked it with working with assets ... well, something shifted for me. I strongly adhere to spiritual principles of positive thought, action, personal accountability - and yet, for whatever reasons, hadn't connected the personal with the spiritual with the political with the community work with the generation of action toward NEW outcomes that matter. OK, so I've worked with ABCD in some form (it had other names ...) for decades (gads .. that makes me sound so OLD!), drawing on the best in people and places, counting on what worked there, adapting. But this felt different somehow so I'm going to have to figure out how I'll use this feeling - translating into action. Maybe linking the campaign workers that I walked with to something. Maybe finding a focal point (like one of our UWSEM initiatives) to get my own neighborhood behind ... hmmmmm......

(Testimony to the Michigan House Education Committee on November 13, 2008)

What we face in Michigan is a dilemma faced by all 49 other states. Schools that have increasing numbers of kids in poverty have decreasing numbers in student achievement. But some schools are beating those odds, and the question is, how can we bring schools like them to scale?

The issue is not one of governance. There is no consistent data supporting mayoral-controlled schools, charter schools, or traditional public schools as the solution to this issue. If you allow this to become a question of governance, you are missing the boat.

The issue is how to build and sustain high-performing schools in high-poverty communities across the state.

The question is whether we'll be stuck in TWWADI--The Way We've Always Done It.

   Read More »

I would like to provide an update on Operation ABC, an early education initiative United Way launched in January. There are now 43 schools in Macomb, Oakland, and Wayne counties participating in the program! And that's not the only good news: Operation ABC is evolving to better serve the needs of schools and their students.



Operation ABC was originally designed as a pull-out program in which children in grades K-2 would receive one-on-one literacy tutoring from a contingent of United Way volunteers. However, the program has become more flexible to allow schools to implement it in the way that works best for them. An Operation ABC program can operate as a pull-out program, a push-in program (in which the school sets specific times during regular school hours for an entire class to work on a literacy activity), and/or an after-school program



For Operation ABC to continue expanding, however, we must overcome two challenges that school districts in all counties face: 1) providing transportation to all children interested in participating in Operation ABC during after-school hours, and 2) increasing our volunteer pool across the region.



Operation ABC will play a vital role in educational preparedness--one of the three components of UWSEM's Agenda for Change. It is essential that we work hard to remove any barriers that prevent schools from participating in this wonderful program. Get involved today by visiting www.uwsem.org/operationabc.

United Way efforts aside, Nick and I have been huge advocates of stepping up to meet the needs of others face to face in a very personal way. There is something so valuable about regular people banding together to stare need in the face and conquer it. When this happens outside of politics, outside of any sort of institution, and outside of convenience, lives are changed for the better. This is why every day I feel more and more confident about the mission behind United Way as it aligns so perfectly with my own personal passions. With that said, 2-1-1 On the Go! is focused on outcomes. We will not achieve those outcomes without regular people coming together to lay down their gifts, and those who are struggling coming to receive those gifts and use them to succeed in life.

In the first year of 2-1-1 On the Go! we took the approach of connecting people to services that were already in place. This was a respectable approach, and produced some pretty good outcomes for our homeless clients in regards to them finding jobs and places of their own to live. But as we have moved into year two, we've realized we want and need to do better. Relying on the system in place is one way of doing things, but if the system is broken, then we have a choice; complain about the broken system, or build a new one on top of it.

To clarify, our goals this year are to get 60 homeless people employed full-time, and 30 of them housed. Pretty ambitious, but totally doable. We experienced that the process for someone getting housed is rather simple, so that hasn't proven to be a big barrier for us, at least not yet. But the biggest question that we are pursuing an answer to on a daily basis is: what is the best way to get somebody employed? And not just any job, a stable job that the individual can count on to sustain him or her.

Aside from our assets - the bus passes, voicemail boxes, mailboxes, and ID assistance - one of the biggest ways we are doing this is to rely on a network of people who care about the city of Detroit and want to make an impact, specifically in the area of homelessness. When I first started this job, I had friends asking me left and right how they can get involved with efforts that help the homeless. It didn't take long before I realized that shelters and soup kitchens aren't desperate for people to serve dinner once a month. But many individuals who are struggling without a home are desperate to find work, and to be able to support themselves. So what better way to serve the homeless than to be an advocate for them and their needs. As we pursue many different avenues to try to establish relationships with employers that will hire our clients, one of those avenues is to rely on the community at large to advocate for jobs for 2-1-1 On the Go! participants. We want the community to be invested in the program on a personal level. We don't want to be another program or agency where people stop short at donating money. We want people to have an intimate connection with the people in our program, and to know that we can't do the work without them.

So that is where 2-1-1 version 2.0 is heading. Community involvement with the homeless, summed up in Giving, Advocating, and Volunteering. That is how we will achieve our outcomes, and that is how you can Live United with us.

I like to share how good God is with others. An example of his goodness: I found myself living in Texas with some man that I really didn't know. My family would not help me but God did. I am from WV and had no money, 3 kids and did not know a soul there. The guy I went there with left me in a hotel and they were going to kick us out the next morning (he had been gone for 3 days and left us with nothing) and I got on my knees and prayed like I have never prayed before. I asked God to help my kids, I was not so much interested in myself. He came through, the guy never came back but some people helped us find a church and they helped us get an apartment and stuff we needed. GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME. Please feel free to share some of your experience with me. I love to write and love to hear about how good God is.

I didn't make it to Grant Park in Chicago for Obama's victory celebration last week, but we had a celebration in church on Sunday that felt like the same thing. Our pastor had been challenging us for weeks leading up to the campaign to look at issues from a Biblical perspective and to vote accordingly. She didn't advocate for one candidate over the other, and I imagine that our church, like most of America, was pretty evenly split between the candidates. But five days after the election she was very clear: Obama's victory was a victory for racial healing in our country.

After talking about what a great thing Obama's victory was from a spiritual perspective, our pastor shook things up a little bit. "I want all you white people to get out of your seats. Go hug an African-American, and ask for their forgiveness." Now I couldn't imagine anything more hokey, and so I slunk into my chair and hugged my kids.   Read More »

Wow, what a night! With the historic win of Barack Obama, I can't help but think of the 60s and all of the people, now gone, who would so have loved to have been here to see all of this. JFK, Robert Kennedy, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and so many more. As a dear friend shared with me via a text message: Rosa sat so Martin could walk. Martin walked so Obama could run. Obama runs so our children can fly.

So now ... what will we do? How will we as a nation, as individual citizens truly LIVE this dream, this promise? It's up to us now to partner with Obama, the new government, without partisanship or arrogance, to move us all forward together. May God bless us ....