of course i know full well the things that our "great" leaders have done. we have the absolute greatest platform for such underhanded tactics; as the saying goes, absolute power corrupts absolutely. anyone here object to my saying that the U.S has the clostest thing to Global absolute power than anyone else, ever? i.e., finances, geographic location, size, technology, military power, etc. -and that is our ultimate downfall. I am a minority, in every sense of the word. my family is in shambles; i am 22 years of age and the oldest of 9, and the one with the responsibility of attending school meetings to handle academic placement and discipline for my brother, i am the one who goes to court dates and speaks to judges, P/O's and attorneys, the one who buys clothes, makes visits, writes, and in general does all the things my mother is to selfish to do. i am brother, father, mother, counselor, provider, discipliarian and friend. i have struggled my whole life; off and on the streets since i was ten and had every reason to bang, slang, fiend, YOU NAME IT. i must say, the current foster care/welfare system is horrible, and i am still suffering the effects to this day, and dealing with the effects it had on my family. now i am neither prideful or naive enough to believe that this equates with the plight of other places; the point being, however, is that while i see, know, and understand the many ailments of this country, iam making the choice to be productive, to harness that anger, pain, and resentment towards making a change in the small sect that God has blessed me with amazing influence in. i currently WORKK for a foster family agency, believe me, it ws hell just getting here. you ALL have great, valid points. heres the flaw: as long as we exist, these things are FOREVER. night and day, hot and cold, time to kill and heal, to love and hate, and ultimately, war and peace. that is not me, but Gods words. when i read and began to understand that, my perspective changed. i use to hate everyone and everything here, and i at one time had a .... hm... whats the word? ill just call it the "rap" mentality, the "victim" mentality that says i got screwed, we're all getting screwed, its all messed up... but you know something? im NOT going to be a victim. i am bigger than that; God is bigger than that. i wasnt created to be a victim, but a CONQUERER. so, that said, as messed up as this country is, i will continue to support my leaders, and pray for them, because ALL LEADERSHIP IS GIVEN BY GOD, and biblically, i am to pray for my leaders, regardless of their sins. God honors that and blesses me for it. so guess what? i have a calling of Justice on my life. thats right, Justice. so instead of being a victim, i will be one who creates and enacts change in my generation. Martin Luther King died for these same ideas. America itself was founded on this. say what you will about the slaves; we all know that was a terrible part of our past. but look at Africa. do you really wish that was your homeland? you werent a slave; neither are you now. oh, you and I may be discriminated against, stereotyped, and chastized by BOTH sides of the fence. we may suffer hardships, we may even suffer on a level greater than we know, at some point. but the one thing that you cannot deny is that this country is the only place where someone like me or you can be the ONE MAN whom God uses to bring that about. think you are better off anywhere else? there may very well be a p;ace where your life in particular is better off. as it stands, howver, you are in the one place where you have the oppurtunity to make it that much better for those JUST LIKE YOU.
