Old School Thoughts

We have reached the eighth season of Old School Thoughts!!! Thank you for your support. Tonight Martha and I decided to share information about a monetary skill that once flowed through our ancestors' segregated communities in an effort to survive everything from burial expenses to hand-me-downs. I am asking you to go to YouTube to watch 30 Money Skills That Were Used In The African American Communities Through 1980. I hope you enjoy this episode and pass it on to your friends.

This evening, Martha and I had the privilege of having Tony Moses to join us on Old School Thoughts and it was a blast! As a teacher in Columbus, Muscogee County, Georgia, Tony was able to share his perspective based on his present day assessment. It was truly a blessing to sit back and listen to Martha and Tony share thoughts. The conversation was too good for me to stop the recording due to the alarm that went off on my phone. Please excuse me for the blunder. What are your thoughts on the subject?

As Martha and I continue to work on this podcast, we grow from listening to each other and discern through our personal prayers to our God. We continue to work on leaving a legacy for our present listeners and for future generations to discover. This episode is no difference in our quest, we are sharing thoughts on impromptu subjects.

Okay team, Martha and I are back! I decided on this topic because the African American community continues to operate on the premise that our population does not provide us with leverage to create change. I get upset when I hear and see the impact of that thought because we have always been the minority in America. If we operate under that thought, we forget how we achieved emancipation, the 13th - 15th amendments, the 19th amendment, the Civil Rights Movement achievements, military success, lawyers, judges, and more. There is a need to go back and study the successes of our ancestors. How they operated in the neighborhoods; how they handed down clothes and furniture; how they raised money to keep the community together and strong. Martha and I are trying to make a difference by using strategies that have worked in the past. There is no new thing under the sun. There is no new behavior or attitude.

Martha and I are in agreement that all voters, especially African Americans, should stay focused on politics through November for the mid-terms. We are asking you to vote for the opposition, even though some of you are frustrated with both parties. We are asking you to consider the high prices of gas, groceries, medical care/prescription refills, and more. We need to keep our eyes on the prize of freedom.

Martha and I would like to thank all of you for your patience during our break since 16 June. I have been in and out of the hospital since 18 June. I am still going through a healing process, but I am better. I want to thank my wife, children, family, friends, prayer groups and others for all of the support. This is our first recorded episode and I am thankful. Martha and I are happy to be back. We hope you enjoy this episode and send us your thoughts and comments.

At a time that we are in the middle of celebrating the actions of General Order #1 that announced the end of slavery on 19 June 1865, we are 19 days from the contrasting 4 July 1776 celebration that falsely represented freedom. As you begin to celebrate the 4th of July, I encourage you to read the speech of Frederick Douglas. Martha and I returned to the front porch to continue hour conversation on the topic of "Can you have too much freedom." This is worth assessing as we celebrate two types of freedom: 19 June 1865 and 4 July 1776.

On Friday, June 5, at 1:48 p.m., Martha sent me a text message asking me, "Can people have too much freedom and what are the consequences of having too much?" Though I had an immediate thought - having more time to ponder a response left me with time for God to step in to give me a broader perspective. Due to the question and time before our next episode recording, Martha and I did the unusual which was to establish a topic that wouldn't be impromptu or a pre-recorded conversation that doesn't make it to the immediate episode. Let us know what you think.

Martha and I agree that there is a special relationship we all are capable of having with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Outside of that statement, I will not speak for or on behalf of Martha. Over the Years and through our episodes, I have learned a lot from Martha and her experiences. We spend a lot of our time praying for discernment and using our limited knowledge to sharing thoughts and as much spiritual knowledge as we can. All we ask for is that our listeners move beyond fear in order to discern what God wants us to understand and share. We also pondered over what we would concentrate on if we were to build a museum out of the limited space we have? We hope you find this episode worth your while.

Hello and thank you for your support. This topic has to do with the lack of noise being made when so many children are going missing. How could that be? Why isn't there any noise? Martha made a special request for us to go out on the front porch for an open discussion about this daily tragedy that goes silent as if we have no concern - which is not true. The neighborhood watch, that we laughed about when our mothers and the other mothers would scan the community to make sure we were safe, is gone. I have a friend who went to work along with her son one morning and she was the only one to return home since that day. Everyone abandoned her: the police, the NAACP, and others. What a tragedy!! What are your thoughts?