Diverse Topics.

 

The 2025 Tokyo World Track and Field Championships are taking place in Tokyo now. By the end of Day one, many people have already won gold medals, and many people are going into the semifinals. For the men's 35k race walk final, Evan Dunfree of Canada won gold, Caio Bonfim won silver of Brazil, and Katsuki Hayato of Japan won bronze. The women's 35km race walk final had Maria Perez of Spain winning gold, Antonella Palmisano from Italy winning silver, and Paula Milena Torres from Ecuador winning bronze. These events are taking place in the Japan National Stadium in Tokyo. There were speeches from the World Athletics President Lord Sebastian Coe and the Governor of Tokyo Koike Yuriko. The Crown Prince Akishino of Japan declared the Championships Open. The heats of the men's 3000m steeplechase started. The track and field long jump athlete Tara Davis-Woodhall said that she feels no pressure, and she is doing this for herself, her family, and the young Black boys and girls. She won her heat. For the 100m women's heats, Sha'Carri Richardson, Shericka Jackson, Dina Asher-Smith, Tia Clayton, Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce, and Marie Josee Ta Lou Smith proceeded to the semifinals. Dayll Neita of Great Britain, and TeeTee Terry of America also qualified for the semifinals of the 100m. The women's 1500m heats have Jess Hull qualified from Australia. Noah Lyles goes into the semifinals after winning his heat in the 100m. Other people who qualify for the men's 100m are Ackeem Blake of Jamaica, Terrence Jones of the Bahamas, Kenney Bednarek of America, Jerome Blake of Canada, and other people, including Canada's Andre de Grasse. Ryan Crouser won gold in the men's shot put. For the women's 10,000m finals, Beatrice Chebet won gold from Kenya, Nadia Battcloetti won silver from Italy, and Gudaf Tsegay from Ethiopia won bronze. As for the 4x400m mixed relay final, America won with the teammates of Bryce Deadmon, Lynna Irby, Jenoah McKiver, and Alexis Holmes. Silver was won by the Netherlands with Eugene Omalla, Lieke Klaver, Jonas Phijffers, Feme Bol, and Eveline Saalberg. Bronze was won by Belgium with Dylan Borlee, Imke Vervaet, Alexander Doom, Helena Ponette, and Jonathan Sacoor.

Day 2 of the Tokyo World Track and Field Championships has more winners in many track events. A dream came true for one black woman. She had an amazing year in 2025 in track and field winning tons of races. Now, she is the 100m women's world track and field champion, and she is Melissa Jefferson-Woodson with a time of 10.61 seconds. Silver went to Jamaica's Tina Clayton with 10.76 seconds, and Julian Alfred of St. Lucia won bronze with 10.84 seconds. ShaChari Richardson raced in the finals too. Melissa Jefferson-Wooden's time of 10.61 is among the top 5 fastest times in the women's 100m. For the women's marathon, Peres Jepchirchir from Kenya won gold, Tigst Assefa won silver from Ethiopia, and bronze was won by Julia Paternain. For the women's long jump, Tara Davis-Woodhall from America won gold with 7.13m, Malaika Mihambo from Germany won silver with 6.99m, and Natalia Linares won bronze with 6.92m. For the women's discus throw, Valerie Alman of America won gold, Jorinde van Klinken of the Netherlands won silver, and Silinda Morales of Cuba won bronze. For the men's 10,000m, Jimmy Gressier won gold, Yomif Kejeicha from Ethiopia won silver, and Andreas Almgren from Sweden won bronze. For the men's 100m, Jamaica's Oblique Seville won gold, Kishane Thompson of Jamaica won silver, and Noah Lyles won bronze. The Jamaican team has built a large rivalry with the American team for over 20 years now, and it will continue.  

 

Beginning around the mid-20th century, Texas began to transform from a rural and agricultural state to one that was urban and industrialized. The state's population grew quickly during this period, with large levels of migration from outside the state. As a part of the Sun Belt Texas experienced strong economic growth, particularly during the 1970s and early 1980s. Texas's economy diversified, lessening its reliance on the petroleum industry. By 1990, Hispanics overtook black people to become the largest minority group in the state. Prior to the mid-20th century, Texas was essentially a one-party state, and the Democratic primary was viewed as "the real election". The Democratic Party had conservative and liberal factions, which became more pronounced after the New Deal. Additionally, several factions of the party briefly split during the 1930s and 40s.

The state's conservative white voters began to support Republican presidential candidates by the mid-20th century. After this period, they supported Republicans for local and state offices as well, and most white citizens became Republican Party members. The party also attracted some minorities, but many have continued to vote for Democratic candidates. The shift to the Republican Party is much attributed to the fact that the Democratic Party became increasingly liberal during the 20th century and thus was increasingly thought to be out-of-touch by the average Texas voter.  For the record, there are many progressive Texans to be clear. As Texas was always a conservative state, voters switched to the GOP, which now more closely reflected their beliefs. Commentators have also attributed the shift to Republican political consultant Karl Rove, who managed numerous political campaigns in Texas in the 1980s and 90s. Other stated reasons included court-ordered redistricting and the demographic shift in relation to the Sun Belt that favored the Republican Party and conservatism.

The 2003 Texas redistricting of Congressional districts led by Republican Tom DeLay, was called by the New York Times "an extreme case of partisan gerrymandering." A group of Democratic legislators, the "Texas Eleven", fled the state in a quorum-busting effort to prevent the legislature from acting, but was unsuccessful. The state had already redistricted following the 2000 census. Despite these efforts, the legislature passed a map heavily in favor of Republicans, based on 2000 data and ignoring the estimated nearly one million new residents in the state since that date. Career attorneys and analysts at the Department of Justice objected to the plan as diluting the votes of African American and Hispanic voters, but political appointees overrode them and approved it. Legal challenges to the redistricting reached the national Supreme Court in the case League of United Latin American Citizens v. Perry (2006), but the court ruled in favor of the state (and Republicans).

In the 2014 Texas elections, the Tea Party movement made large gains, with numerous Tea Party favorites being elected into office, including Dan Patrick as lieutenant governor, Ken Paxton as attorney general, in addition to numerous other candidates, including conservative Republican Greg Abbott as governor. In the late 20th century, Native American tribes regained federal recognition by organizing under the Indian Reorganization Act. They have been able to expand their government-to-government relationships with the U.S. federal government under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975. Three federally recognized Native American tribes are headquartered in Texas today. They are: Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas, Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas, and Ysleta del Sur Pueblo. The state formed the Texas Commission for Indian Affairs in 1965 to oversee state-tribal relations; however, the commission was dissolved in 1989. The state of Texas confirmed its first case on February 13, 2020, and many of the state's largest cities recorded their first cases throughout March. As of late May 2021, there were 50,198 COVID-19 related deaths reported in that state. The death rate in Texas was 175 for every 100,000 people, while national COVID-19 death rate was 179 per 100,000.

On March 13, 2021, Governor Abbott declared a state of disaster for all counties in Texas, invoking emergency powers for his administration, and ordered state employees to remote work. Day cares, nursing homes, and prisons were asked to limit visitations. The state's first mobile testing center for COVID-19 opened in San Antonio. Colleges and universities throughout the state extended spring breaks with some transitioning to online instruction, including Baylor University, the University of Houston, the University of North Texas, the University of Texas at Austin, Texas State University, and Texas Tech University. School districts also announced temporary suspensions of classes statewide.

 

Many people give different interpretations of the origin of Islam, but one thing is true. The prominent founder of Islam was Muhammad. By the early 600s A.D., the Visigoths, the Sassanids, and the Byzantine Empire dominated much of the Middle East. Back in the early 600s, before Islam, Saudi Arabia was filled with Christians, Jewish people, and polytheists. Jewish people and Christians lived in northern Arabia, too.  Religion in pre-Islamic Arabia may be summarized as follows; Judaism became the dominant religion of the Himyarite Kingdom in Yemen after about 380 A.D., while Christianity took root in the Persian Gulf. The second half of the 6th century A.D. saw political disorder in pre-Islamic Arabia, and communication routes were no longer secure. Religious divisions played an important role in the crisis. There was also a yearning for a more "spiritual form of religion", and "the choice of religion increasingly became an individual rather than a collective issue." Many Arabic people in Saudi Arabia were Christians or Judaism converts. There were other Arabic monotheists that didn't want to be in Abrahamic religions or traditional Arabic polytheism. They wanted a new view and focused on worshiping Allah as God. This movement became Islam which places a special emphasis on Mecca and Kaaba temple as a pilgrimage site, and other concepts. Muhammad was born in Mecca which was a caravan trading center in ca. 570 A.D. His family belonged to the Arab clan of Quraysh, which was the chief tribe of Mecca and a dominant force in Hejaz region. Muhammad followed Taḥannuth, spending time in seclusion at the Cave Hira in the mountain Jabal al-Nour and "turning away from paganism."

Muslims believe that when Muhammad was 40 years old, he started to recieve at the mount Hira revelations delievered to him via the angel Gabriel on the the Laylat al-Qadr, which would later form the basis of the Quran. It is said that Muhammad might be a descendant of Ishamel, son of Abaraham. Muhammad believed that his monotheistic strict faith would be the final expression of Biblical prophetism earlier codified in the sacred texts of Judaism and Christianity; to warn his compatriots of the impending Judgement Day; and to castigate the social injustices of his city. Muhammad's message won over a handful of followers (the ṣaḥāba) and was met with increasing persecution from Meccan notables. In 622 A.D., a few years after losing protection with the death of his influential uncle ʾAbū Ṭālib ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib, Muhammad migrated to the city of Yathrib (subsequently called Medina) where he was joined by his followers. Later generations would count this event, known as the hijra, as the start of the Islamic era. The surahs of this period emphasized his place among the long line of Biblical prophets but also differentiated the message of the Quran from the sacred texts of Christianity and Judaism. The Hadiths of Islam is akin to the writing of the early church leaders for Christians. There were soon armed conflict between  the Arabic Meccans and the Jewish tribes in the Yathrib area. After many military battles and political actions, Muhammad was able to secure control of Mecca and allegiance of the Quraysh in 629 A.D. Muhammad passed away in 632 A.D. Tribal chiefs across the Arabian peninsula entered into various agreements with him, some under terms of alliance, others acknowledging his claims of prophethood and agreeing to follow Islamic practices, including paying the alms levy to his government, which consisted of a number of deputies, an army of believers, and a public treasury. Muhammad established a constitutional state in Medina - on the basis of the Quran verses in line with the new concept, and of a treaty in which the rights and duties of the different communities in Medina were determined - and made radical reforms to create an Islamic society. There are debates among Muslims and non-Muslims alike about whether early Islam was spread violently or not. By 630 A.D., Muhammad and his followers returned to Mecca and took control of the city, cleansing the Kaaba of its idols and dedicating it solely to the worship of Allah. 

After the death of Muhammad, there was the caliph or successor. These early Islamic empires were known as caliphates, spread by the sword or by violence. There were a series of four caliphs who governed the early Islamic empire: Abū Bakr (632–634), ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (Umar І, 634–644), ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān (644–656), and ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (656–661). These leaders are known as the rāshidūn ("rightly-guided") caliphs in Sunnī Islam. They oversaw the initial phase of the early Muslim conquests, advancing through Persia, the Levant, Egypt, and North Africa. 

In late 620s, Muhammad had already managed to conquer and unify much of Arabia under Muslim rule, and it was under his leadership that the first Muslim-Byzantine skirmishes took place in response to Byzantine incursions. Just a few months after Heraclius and the Persian general Shahrbaraz agreed on terms for the withdrawal of Persian troops from occupied Byzantine eastern provinces in 629, Arabic and Byzantine troops confronted each other at the Battle of Mu'tah as a result of Byzantine vassals murdering a Muslim emissary. Muhammad died in 632 and was succeeded by Abu Bakr, the first caliph with undisputed control of the entire Arab peninsula after the successful Ridda Wars, which resulted in the consolidation of a powerful Muslim state throughout the peninsula. 

The province of Syria was the first to be wrested from Byzantine control. Arabic-Muslim raids that followed the Ridda Wars prompted the Byzantines to send a major expedition into southern Palestine, which was defeated by the Arabic forces under command of Khalid ibn al-Walid at the Battle of Ajnadayn in 634. Ibn al-Walid had converted to Islam around 627, becoming one of Muhammad's most successful generals. Ibn al-Walid had been fighting in Iraq against the Sasanians when he led his force on a trek across the deserts to Syria to attack the Byzantines from the rear. In the Battle of the Mud fought at or near Pella (Fahl) and nearby Scythopolis (Beisan), both in the Jordan Valley, in December 634 or January 635, the Arabic people scored another victory. After a siege of six months, the Arabic forces took Damascus, but Emperor Heraclius later retook it. At the Battle of Yarmuk (636), the Arabic forces were victorious, defeating Heraclius. The Muslim Arabic forces traveled fast to conquer Jerusalem in 638 A.D., Caesarea in 640, and other places. 

After a two-year siege, the garrison of Jerusalem surrendered rather than starve to death; under the terms of the surrender, Caliph Umar promised to tolerate the Christians of Jerusalem and not to turn churches into mosques. True to his word, Umar allowed the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to remain, with the caliph praying on a prayer rug outside of the church. The loss to the Muslims of Jerusalem, the holiest city to Christians, proved to be the source of much resentment in Christendom. The city of Caesarea Maritima continued to withstand the Muslim siege—as it could be supplied by sea—until it was taken by assault in 640. The Muslim forces conquered Egypt from 639 to 642 A.D. The conquest was so rapid that it spread into Iran, all of North Africa, and parts of India. The Sassanian and Byzantine empires lost battles by many factors because of plagues, persecution of Christians who opposed the Chalcedonian creed, the zealous military attacks being organized, military support shown to the Muslim armies, etc. By 711, Muslims attacked Spain. After the Visigothic king of Spain Wittiza died in 710, the kingdom experienced a period of political division. The Visigothic nobility was divided between the followers of Wittiza and his successor Roderic. Akhila, Wittiza's son, had fled to Morocco after losing the succession struggle, and Muslim tradition states that he asked the Muslims to invade Spain. Starting in the summer of 710, the Muslim forces in Morocco had launched several successful raids into Spain, which demonstrated the weakness of the Visigothic state. 

Taking advantage of the situation, the Muslim Berber commander, Tariq ibn Ziyad, who was stationed in Tangiers at the time, crossed the Strait of Gibraltar with an army of Arabs and Berbers in 711. Most of the invasion force of 15,000 were Berbers, with the Arabic people serving as an "elite" force. Ziyad landed on the Rock of Gibraltar on 29 April 711. After defeating Roderic at the river Guadalete on 19 July 1, 711, Muslim forces advanced, capturing cities one after another. The capital of Toledo surrendered peacefully. Some of the cities surrendered with agreements to pay tribute and local aristocracy retained a measure of former influence.The Spanish Jewish community welcomed the Muslims as liberators from the oppression of the Catholic Visigothic kings. In 712, another larger force of 18,000 from Morocco, led by Musa Ibn Nusayr, crossed the Strait of Gibraltar to link up with Ziyad's force at Talavera. The invasion seemed to have been on the initiative of Ziyad: the caliph, al-Walid, in Damascus reacted as if he was surprised to see him. By 713 Iberia was almost entirely under Muslim control. In 714, al-Walid summoned Ziyad to Damascus to explain his campaign in Spain, but Ziyad took his time travelling through North Africa and Palestine and was finally imprisoned when he arrived in Damascus. The events of the subsequent ten years, the details of which are obscure, included the capture of Barcelona and Narbonne, and a raid against Toulouse, followed by an expedition into Burgundy in 725. The Muslim invasion reached as far north as France, but the Muslims were defeated at the Battle of Tours by the Franks in 732 A.D. The victory of the Franks, led by Charles Martel, over 'Abd al-Rahman Ibn 'Abd Allah al-Ghafiqi has often been misrepresented as the decisive battle that stopped the Muslim conquest of France, but the Umayyad force had been raiding Aquitaine with a particular interest in sacking churches and monasteries, not seeking its conquest. Many Muslims in diverse lands promoted religious pluralism. Before Muslims were ready to build mosques in Syria, they accepted Christian churches as holy places and shared them with local Christians. In Iraq and Egypt, Muslim authorities cooperated with Christian religious leaders. Numerous churches were repaired and new ones built during the Umayyad era. Yet, Muslims forced Jewish people and Christians to pay a tax or jizya to Muslims in places like the Levant and Egypt. Muslims grew their influence in many places. Some Muslim controlled places had religious pluralism, and other places were more authoritarian and oppressive. As Jerusalem grew in importance to Muslims and pilgrimages increased, tolerance for other religions declined. Christians were persecuted and churches destroyed. The Sixth Fatimid caliph, al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, 996–1021, who was believed to be "God made manifest" by his most zealous Shiʻi followers, now known as the Druze, destroyed the Holy Sepulcher in 1009. This powerful provocation helped ignite the flame of fury that led to the First Crusade. The dynasty was later overtaken by Saladin of the Ayyubid dynasty. In Africa, many Arabic Muslims had black slaves in East Africa. Muhammad had multiple slaves. 

 

Wilma Rudolph was born prematurely to Blanche Rudolph at 4.5 pounds on June 23, 1940, in Saint Bethlehem, Tennessee (now part of Clarksville). She was the 20th of 22 children from her father Ed Rudolph's two marriages. Shortly after Wilma's birth, her family moved to Clarksville, Tennesse, where she grew up and attended elementary and high school. Her father, Ed, worked as a railway porter and did odd jobs in Clarksville. Ed died in 1961. His brother, Blanche, worked as a maid in Clarksville homes and died in 1994. Wilma Rudolph had many early childhood illnesses, including pneumonia and scarlet fever, and she contracted infantile paralysis (caused by the poliovirus) at the age of five. Rudolph recovered from polio but lost strength in her left leg and foot. Physically disabled for much of her early life, Rudolph wore a leg brace until she was 12 years old. Because there was little medical care available to African American residents of Clarksville in the 1940s, Rudolph's parents sought treatment for her at the historically black Meharry Medical College (now Nashville General Hospital at Meharry) in Nashville, Tennessee, about 50 miles (80 km) from Clarksville.

For two years, Rudolph and her mother made weekly bus trips to Nashville for treatments to regain the use of her weakened leg. Rudolph also received subsequent at-home massage treatments four times a day from members of her family and wore an orthopedic shoe for support of her foot for another two years. Because of the treatments she received at Meharry and the daily massages from her family members, Rudolph was able to overcome the debilitating effects of polio and learned to walk without a leg brace or orthopedic shoe for support by the time she was 12 years old. Rudolph was initially homeschooled due to the frequent illnesses that caused her to miss kindergarten and first grade. Rudolph began attending second grade at Cobb Elementary School in Clarksville in 1947 at age seven.  She attended Clarksville's all-black Burt High School, where Rudolph excelled in basketball and track. During her senior year of high school, Rudolph became pregnant with her first child, Yolanda, who was born in 1958, a few weeks before her enrollment at Tennessee State University in Nashville. In college, Rudolph continued to compete in track. She also became a member of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority. In 1963, Rudolph graduated from Tennessee State with a bachelor's degree in education. Her college education was paid by her participation in a work-study scholarship program that required Rudolph to work on the TSU campus for two hours a day. 

Rudolph loved to be in organized sports at Burt High School. That high school was the center of Clarksville's African American community. She had many years of medical treatments to regain the use of her left leg. Rudolph followed in her sister Yvonne's footsteps and played basketball when she was in the 8th grade. She continued to play basketball in high school, where she became a starter on the team and began competing in track. In her sophomore year, Rudolph scored 803 points and set a new record for high school girls' basketball. Rudolph's high school coach, C. C. Gray, gave her the nickname of "Skeeter" (for mosquito) because she moved so fast. While playing for her high school basketball team, Rudolph was spotted by Ed Temple, Tennessee State's track and field coach, a major break for the active young athlete. The day that Temple saw the tenth grader for the first time, he knew Rudolph was a natural athlete. She had already gained some track experience on Burt High School's track team two years earlier, mostly as a way to keep busy between basketball seasons. As a high school sophomore, Rudolph competed at Alabama's Tuskegee Institute in her first major track event. Although she lost the race, Rudolph was determined to continue competing and win. Temple invited 14-year-old Rudolph to join his summer training program at Tennessee State. After attending the track camp, Rudolph won all nine events she entered at an Amateur Athletic Union track meet in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Under Temple's guidance, she continued to train regularly at TSU while still a high school student. Rudolph raced at amateur athletic events with TSU's women's track team, known as the Tigerbelles, for two more years before enrolling at TSU as a student in 1958.

The 2025 Virginia gubernatorial election is one of the most important elections in Virginia's history. Virginia has made history in many cases, some for bad and some for good. Also, Virginia has been the most progressive state in the South by bringing historic policies to the state. The Virginian gubernatorial race will make history as the winner will be the first woman Governor of the state of Virginia. The candidates are Republican Winsome Earle-Sears and Democrat Abigail Spanberger. Each candidate differs on many issues, from economic to social issues. Yet, the voters must decide who will be the new Governor of the state. Also, multiple elections are happening now like who will be the next Virginian Attorney General, many district seats, and other political positions. The question that Abigail Spanberger must answer is whether will she be a fighting progressive or just a moderate. The question that Winsome Earle-Sears must answer is whether she will have any form of independence from the MAGA agenda ideologically or be an unconditional Trump follower. Time will tell the answers to these questions. What is true is that this election has been filled with ups and downs, including we have a new era in our world, especially in the case of high level of political polarization. Therefore, Virginia is once again in the zeitgeist of history. 

 

There is my late distant cousin, Rosa D. Wooten (1903-1982). She married John H. Bridges (b. 1897), and their children were Moses Bridges (1931-1998), John E. Bridges (b. 1928), Paul Bridges (b. 1940), and Dorothy Marie Bridges Dempsey (1939-1983). These human beings came from Scotland Neck, North Carolina, which is where many of my paternal ancestors came from. My paternal ancestors came from the Eastern Shore of Virginia and Scotland Neck, North Carolina. North Carolina always has a link with us from Virginia because part of North Carolina is part of Hampton Roads. We live near the border of North Carolina, and we have access to UNC or PBS in North Carolina. Many of our cousins are from North Carolina. Dorothy Marie Bridges Dempsey had children with Rupert Faison, and she was married to James Dempsey. Dorothy Marie Bridges Dempsey has 2 sons who are John L. Bridges from Oxford and Jesse James Bridges of Scotland Neck. She has three daughters who are Mrs. Gladys Hyman, Miss Nettie Bridges, and Miss Audrey Bridges of Scotland Neck, Virginia. His two sisters are Mrs. Ethel Staton of Scotland Neck and Mrs. Irene Ruffin of Hamilton. She had five grandchildren. Irene Bridges married Maryland Ruffin Sr. on October 5, 1940, in Halifax, North Carolina. Their children are Jessie Rae Ruffin (b. 1939), Maryland Ruffin Jr. (b. 1942), Willard Lee Ruffin (b. 1943), Mary Lizzie Ruffin (b. 1945), George Lee Ruffin (b. 1946), Rosa Lee Ruffin (b. 1948), William James Ruffin (b. 1950), Milton Twdell Ruffin (b. 1954), Daniel Ruffin (1957-1999), Jerline Rufin, and Levonne Ruffin (1958-2012).

By Timothy