Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Troy Davis: A Dying Soul to Save...

Tonight at 11:08PM EST, with all the facts leaning against Troy Anthony Davis' guilt, he still lost his life, yet some may ask, "What is the lesson to be learned from this loss?" There is a traditional baptist hymn which bellows the destinctive stanza, "Who gave His Son my soul to save...", but will any one truly be saved due to this injustice?

So many of us as African-Americans often miss the message. We generally complain that our vote doesn't matter and that our voices are not heard. We have listened to the republican rhetoric and complained about what President Obama has not done, yet consider this. Georgia IS a RED state. We as citizens vote into office our judges, district attorney's and congressmen. Literally five minutes outside of beautiful downtown Savannah, is a poverty stricken, racially biased county. Republicans continue to prove to each of us and to our President, that when it boils down to matters that specifically target our people, WE DON'T MATTER.

One of the most obvious messages that this dying soul can save us from is US! Within our own communities, we MUST stop portraying ourselves in a unfavorable light. Do you really understand the reason why the police pull so many black men over when they see one of us in a luxury car, with tinted windows and nice wheels? Because of the multiplicity of US who have manufactured these luxuries via crime, illegal activity or other unfavorable means, the Taste for Negativity and Judgement has been developed.

Troy Davis is a perfect example of being in the wrong place, with the wrong people, at the wrong time. We have to change this persona within our own communities. How often do you get frustrated with the status of your community? How many times have you shaken your head in disgust with the down trodden manner in which our people seemingly operate?

It's such a simple message, that we run the risk of missing it again and again. Be careful of the company you keep and the surroundings you maintain. It could honestly cost you your life!

Does this negate the fact that an innocent man will die tonight? No. Yet, will you allow his dying soul to save a seemingly "living dead" race of people? It's sad to see a martyr die for the living, yet the living care less about staying alive.

Troy Anthony Davis is a victim of racial tension, a crooked justice system and a few bad personal decisions. His life will be lost tonight...the question is, "Will the African-American community, holistically, find our lives tomorrow, before it's too late?"

Clemency is not available for him, but it's still available for us.


Kervance D. Ross, Author
To book Kervance Ross to speak, visit www.kervance.com
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Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Ladies, STAY FOCUSED!!!

an excerpt from the book, "How to Change the Mind of the Mediocre Man"

I recently conducted some focus group sessions which had a comfortable mix of women and men of varying ages, backgrounds, social classes, and ethnicities in the effort to put to the test my concept that a woman's perception of a man may be shaped by their initial or long-term encounter with a man. I also wanted to explore the probable difficulties that might be encountered in changing that perception, when women entered a relationship with another man at a perhaps "more seasoned point" in her life. I particularly wanted to examine how a different "type" of relationship (with a man who possessed better/differing "Matterment" than in previous contacts) might impact her generalized views of men. It is not surprising that you're wondering, "What in the hell is Matterment?" Well, here we go...{Mat-er-muh-nt}-noun A system of measuring that which matters to an individual, as it relates to the weight placed on specific items or ideologies, from greatest to least.

I found it quite intriguing in this somewhat informal and certainly non-scientific behavioral study, that most of the women had preconceived ideas and viewpoints of the "ideal man" that were obviously fashioned and formed early in childhood. Almost without exception, they preferred the following: The man who would keep their automobile gas tanks filled, the man who regularly read the "Business Section" of the evening newspaper, the man who was at ease wearing suits and dress shoes regularly, the man who possessed dreams and aspiration, and the man with specific "spiritual principles".

Yet, in almost every case, these women "subjects" admitted dating or otherwise developing socially interactive relationships with men that were totally opposites of their perceived and preferred ideals. They openly admitted dating men who possessed few, if any, of the aforementioned personal characteristics that they had indicated were preferred. They had "settled" for men who were void of most of those "ideal" prerequisites for long-term relationships that they had so vehemently demanded as priority consideration. Others, of course, optioned not to date at all, acknowledging that "good men were hard to find".

Interestingly, these women had become attracted to men with the negative and unpolished characteristics, which in their childhoods, they had been "programmed" to avoid. They had subliminally, or at least unwittingly, become "seduced" by negative traits that these men possessed, without reservations and pretty much without exception. They seemed to have found it very difficult to find the attraction of a man who they could respect or who could provide some challenge or additional goal attainment dimension for them.

My message to you Ladies, "STAY FOCUSED!" Never lower your standards or your personal "Matterment". Require us as men to be held to a higher standard...Standards are set for a reason, when they are lowered you send the message, "I'm not worth my standard!"

Whatever you do ladies..."STAY FOCUSED!"


Kervance Ross
Author, CEO, Mentor, Motivational Strategist