© 2006-2007 thisisryan.com



BLACK...WHITE.....TAN...
Color. It's a phenomenon of light that relies on reflection and perception. Change the atmosphere, the environment, and
what appears to be one color one moment, takes on a different hue all together the next. Yet, somehow, we are fixated. We can't seem to take our mind off the momentary reflection. Now, don't get me wrong. Color is beautiful.  It is inspiring. But it's only temporal.

Just as the sky is painted in beautifully diverse strokes by day and dusk, the same strokes give way to the color of night.  Instead of embracing color and enjoying the canvas it paints for us on a daily basis, there are those who would rather draw lines, create categories, and enforce unknown boundaries based upon a fleeting reflection of light.  Reflections can be so misleading and so unfulfilling.  Just think of an instance when you saw someone's reflection in a window or mirror, but upon
a close encounter, you realized you saw a distortion, something that didn't represent the reflection at all.  In the same way, the reflection shouldn't be where our perception ends.  

It's the substance that lies beneath. 

As one who has grown up in a multi-racial family, I can truly appreciate the normalcy of the insignificance of color. We love our
diversity...different shades, shapes, talents, and personalities....so don't get me wrong, but we see that substance can never be
just a reflection. It takes an intentional, deliberate desire to see the person and the worth within.  

The vultures of the dying civil rights (victimology) industry demand that we see only the reflections, and immediately classify, categorize, and criticize each other.  They continue to circle around picking away at the carcasses of the memories of those who blazed paths that led to us focusing on the content of our character and NOT the color of our skin. Their diatribes are divisive, and their rhetoric....downright rabid. The mouthpieces of the media-embraced church of victimology continue their rants, foaming at the mouth about reparations, segregation, and unequal social position.   Undeniably, there exists racism and inequality and, well, humans who will always wallow in weakness and the destructive proclivities that make us so, human.

But the voices of division will continue to spew their venomous vituperation. Or in other words, a lot of bull.  Howard Dean, Jesse Jackson, Cynthia McKinney, Louis Farakahn, Kweisi Mfume, Julian Bond, Harry Belafonte, Kanye West, Sheila Jackson-Lee, Hillary Clinton...you get the point.  

There is so much the binds us together, more so than what should EVER tear us apart.  Our color is a mere reflection, that can
change from sunlight to moonlight.  Who we are, and what we stand for, what we so ardently believe...these are what lie beneath the reflection in the deep pools of introspection and discovery. And it's there that we find that it's not whether we're black, white or tan on the outside but that if what's on the inside is ever illuminated, it reflects not color, but character, integrity, love and compassion.   These are qualities that know no color.

THE PROMISE OF PURPOSE
Recently, I had the wonderful opportunity to speak at a luncheon and share some of my life's experiences with a
group of graduating seniors.  These weren't just any seniors.  They have a special attribute which ties me ever closer
to their hearts.  They are foster teens now facing the reality of transitioning out of foster care and entering into the uncertainty
and responsibility of independent living.  They have had their fill of challenges and hardships already in their young lives.  
Some may never have known a stable family life, with someone constantly reaffirming their worth and their potential.  But there
is a simple truth that once uttered can never be silenced.  No one is devoid of purpose.  No one is exempt from promise.  
Our culture of defeatism and excuses tries to erode the very foundation that all of us are placed upon.  I am a child born of rape.  
But that makes me no less a purposed person than the next.  Though many in our society claim that children born of my
circumstances will be unwanted and unloved and would be better off not facing such a cruel world, the truth is the exact
opposite.  The world needs people like me, like these teens who can show the world that though we faced seemingly
insurmountable odds, we are children of purpose.  We survive.  We strive.  We achieve great things.  The last few words I
left with these teens were that there is nothing that can keep you from your dreams.  Discouragement is all around, but we
choose how long we wade in those shallow pools.  We are infused with hope because we know that we have purpose.  
And knowing that truth, that fundamental promise from God, gives us a future.  


SAFE, LEGAL AND RARE?   HMMMM...
Let me start by saying, abortion is a VERY difficult, heart-wrenching issue in which a man can never truly appreciate it's
full depth.  However, it transcends politics and cuts right to the core of our humanity.  At some point, we reap from the
efforts we've set forth to define who we are and how we value life, on both ends of the chronological spectrum.  We live
in a culture that is fascinated with death. Our tv shows are saturated with it, our video games explode with it, and our
music celebrates it.  The Abortion Issue defines the very core of our society.  And it's always worth conversation, tugging
and pulling and disagreeing, and all-the-while moving closer to what it all really truly means.  Throw away the semantics.
Throw away the politically designed vernacular and let's talk explicitly...not about choice (for a candy bar, soda, school...
such an innocuous and ever-evading word choice has become), but about the very future of our beautiful American society. 

I've been vocally anti-abortion/pro-child (any child, any defect, any circumstance) since I did a persuasive speech in
Mrs. Jennings 8th grade class (she was an AMAZING teacher).  The politics of abortion weren't as intense then.  I was able
to speak honestly and factually about it, undeterred by the censors of today's public education system.

Flash forward to the bizarre, upside-down rationale of today's society and it's considered increasingly intolerant and
ignorant to discuss openly and honestly the issue of abortion than to simply subscribe to the slogan-based, celebrity-led,
chic status of the pro-choice (ahem, Pro-Abortion) crowd.  Planned Parenthood, like PETA, has a penchant for the
extreme offense. It makes for great PR. But their efforts take us no closer to the truth, and certainly no closer to any
common ground (not that common ground is the highest virtue).  Seemingly content to shout obnoxiously than
converse meaningfully, Planned Parenthood continues to flaunt its hypocrisy when it comes to privacy.  Recently, they
fought against the seizing of personal records of abortion patients by the State Attorney General of Indiana who sought
the records of 84 clients (allegedly under the age of 14). Planned Parenthood filed suit claiming, primarily, a breach of
'constitutionally protected' privacy.

It's funny how privacy is such a convenient weapon.

Planned Parenthood (on their website originally and now through surrogates such as www.clamormagazine.com) is
more than eager to sell shirts for women to publicly proclaim "I HAD AN ABORTION"...a triumphant statement, an action
steeped in pride, a mantra for a brave new generation of young women?  What happened to the ever sacred privacy?
Safe, legal and rare is a myth.  Abortion is a multi-billion dollar industry, and apparently apparel adds some more
zeros to this industry's yearly figures.


     (This image is an actual snag off clamormagazine.com site. As you can tell, they're
      quite proud of selling this T-shirt, now absent from the Planned Parenthood online
      store. It's nice to know that nobody was worked too hard in the making of this
      t-shirt that brags about killing someone.)

© 2006-2007 thisisryan.com