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A Ghanaian proverb declares:
Do not say that your mother's stew is the best in the world if you have never left your village.
Do not say that your mother's stew is the best in the world if you have never left your village.
"There is considerable debate about whether there is a crisis in the education of young men, who are graduating from high school and college at a lower rate than their female classmates. But there is little doubt of the need for successfully educating young men of color. Dr. Robert M. Franklin has proposed a new definition of what success means. As the new President of Morehouse College, an all-male institution that claim Martin Luther King and countless others as distinguished alumnae, Dr. Franklin believes it is not enough to educate these young men so they can succeed economically. His goal is for each Morehouse graduate to become a renaissance man with a social conscience.
What does this mean? In his book, "Crisis in The Village: Restoring Hope in African American Communities," Franklin says every college-educated adult who has benefited from the public's investment in them should accept the moral obligation to provide leadership and service. But it also means that they must be become broadly educated and conversant with the classic texts and the large questions that define the disciplines in the arts and sciences. The Renaissance man or woman should interrogate the concept of classic to ensure that the canon expands to include all of the voices of great people who have been excluded from the narrow Western roster.
Furthermore, the new renaissance man and woman will recognize that a robust personal conscience is insufficient.Many people have a clear sense of right and wrong, but do little to relieve the suffering of others. They manage to live comfortably with the disparity between wealth and poverty that is all around us. A social conscience is the living voice of social justice that informs us of what is right and good and true for society, not simply individuals.Dr King called such people "transformed nonconformists" and noted that "this hour in history needs a dedicated circle of transformed nonconformists. The saving of our world from pending doom will come not from the action of a conforming majority but from the creative maladjustment of a transformed minority."
Finally, these young people must become globalists, transcending their own parochialism. A Ghanaian proverb declares: Do not say that your mother's stew is the best in the world if you have never left your village. I want our Renaissance men to leave our villages and to take Morehouse values of justice, peace, community and service to the farthest edge of the world. Our new renaissance men and women must travel, must learn other languages, must engage in service, and must care about the global crisis in commitment and stability."
Robert M. Franklin, President, Morehouse College
It was meant to be Frankie's moment
Mother of game's hero was killed a month agoTimes Herald-Record
September 21, 2008
MIDDLETOWN -- The ball went spiraling into the air and Middletown junior receiver Frankie Molina ran his hardest to get under it. There was never a more important football moment for him than right here, scoreless tie, Middies-Port Jervis for the Erie Bell, a month removed from horrific tragedy.
The ball finally came down from the sky and Molina extended his arms far as they could reach, watching the ball, thinking of mom, making her proud every step of the way. The football stuck to his fingertips and Molina was in the end zone, a 31-yard touchdown reception 8:00 before halftime, a catch that would represent the game-winning points and end Middletown's losing streak to Port at 11 games.
His name came over the loudspeaker and you could almost hear whispers from the Middletown fans. Hey, that was Frankie Molina. And then it hit home to everyone who knew his story and instantly became Frankie Molina fans, didn't matter if you ever met him.
Oh my God. Did you see who caught that ball?
He wasn't supposed to be on any football field, no less Middletown's plush new surface being christened for the storied rivalry game against Port Jervis. A month ago, Frankie Molina's mother, Gloria, was killed in her home, her ex-boyfriend charged in the stabbing.
Frankie was going to quit football. Couldn't do it. Not now. But his family talked him into staying on the team. They told him how proud mom was of him. They told him how much she'd want him on that football field. And so he kept going, kept running patterns and catching balls from old buddy Jon Villafane, the Middies quarterback.
"I told him I'm going to get the ball to him as much as I could,'' Villafane said. "I've been working with him since we were little kids. I knew when I threw it up, he was going to get it.''
The team helped hold Molina together. They attended his mom's funeral in their jersey tops. They held him. They told him they loved him.
And on Saturday night before an electric crowd of more than 4,000, Frankie Molina returned the favor. His interception gave Middletown the ball at Port Jervis' 46, and six plays later Molina was running down the right sideline, Middletown side, a defender on his hip.
He caught the ball at the goal line. He went into the end zone and looked up at the sky. Molina pointed upward, pointed to mom. "Before I even caught the ball,'' he said later, "I was thinking of mom. I looked up at the sky. I looked right at her. And she looked at me. I love her.''
The final second ticked off and Middletown celebrated its 7-3 win. The Middies jumped up and down on the sideline. They hugged. They cried. And then they sprinted toward the far goal line where a shiny trophy sat peacefully. The Erie Bell was theirs.
Molina was one of the first players to touch the hardware. He and teammates raced back to midfield to shake hands with Port Jervis. Then Molina was needed for a TV interview. He had dreamed of this moment, too, when he'd be the one talking to the press and being written up.
Molina hugged his coach, Steve Barone, hugged Middletown athletic director David Coates.
"The kid has gone through so much,'' Coates said. "I couldn't be prouder of him.''
Molina finished another interview on the field and suddenly his teammates appeared as one. They lifted him up and carried him off the field. "Frankie ... Frankie ...'' they chanted.
Frankie Molina held onto his wonderful smile of teenage innocence. This was his night. This was for mom.
kgleason@th-record.com
MIDDLETOWN -- Police have released the name of a suspect in the killing of a 47-year-old woman Thursday night at the Tall Oaks apartments.
Julio Valle-Santos, 51, of Warwick is charged with second-degree murder. He's accused of stabbing Gloria Molina Rivera multiple times and slashing her throat.
Further details are being released at a 1:30 p.m. news conference.
Police responded to a reported homicide at 7:17 p.m. Thursday. The initial reports were that a man had slashed and killed a woman at the complex off Monhagen Avenue and then sped away in a black pickup truck.
Police reported a suspect and the vehicle had been located at 7:53 p.m.
Thursday night, residents chatted to one another around the yellow tape that surrounded a section of the apartment complex.
Some said the woman's boyfriend had threatened her.
Robin Matthews, who lives a few doors down, said the woman "kept to herself and her kids were well respected."
Two teenage girls said they knew the victim's youngest son.
"She always let us eat over her house," one of them said. "She didn't have no problems with anyone."
The other teen sobbed and trembled as she talked about the victim.
"I don't see how anyone would do that," she said, through tears. "She was nice to everyone she knew."...
The Heyoka - A Lakota way of being, a medicine way. A Heyoka is one who does things backwards or opposite. The idea that Heyoka is a clown comes from the opposite behavior; it is part of the medicine of Heyoka, to remind us we are merely human beings and not to become too serious about ourselves, not to imagine we are more powerful than we really are, reminding us that Spirit holds all the power. In this day there are those among the Lakota who pour Heyoka lodges, which are directed towards the West and full of laughter. If a Heyoka man messes up he has the Thunder Nation to deal with. Spirit chooses who is Heyoka; it is a very difficult path to follow.
The Heyoka- is a sacred fool, sometimes called a clown with a great deal of power. He does everything backwards. He is yin and yang, sorrow and laughter, good and bad all rolled into one. Heyoka is a one of the most important of the Medicine People in the Lakota Nation. Usually Heyokas' are men but some women have Heyoka inside them and therefore must become a Heyoka.
The Heyoka's power comes from the Great Winged Ones, which the whites call Thunderbirds. They have control over the weather and certain sicknesses. They are "Thunder dreamers" and once you have a dream of thunder or lighting you become one of these contraries- whether you want to or not.
The Heyoka has strange and enormous powers even though they make everyone laugh with their backwards behavior. There is a great reverence and fear of the Heyokas as their contrary behavior is intimidating to most people and you never know what they are going to do next.
The Heyoka's power is usually used for good but because they are Heyoka one never knows.
The Heyoka - A Lakota way of being
