We live in unique times. There are those who want to give up and capitulate to the status quo filled with angst and bitterness. Other human beings want to never give up and fight for justice and democracy our of sincere heart to see freedom for all human beings. I believe that we all should never give up and keep on working to make the world better than the past and the present. There are many MAGA people, Hoteps, incels, and other people who want to shame progressive people for embracing their views in public and in private. The truth is that progressives did many positive things in the world. One of those positive things is that promotion of legitimate unions in our society. Great unions contributed to cause policies like weekends off, paid vacations, work breaks, sick leave, paid holidays, no child labor, safer working conditions, and health care and retirement benefits. Progressives did the right thing to refute the myth of trickle-down economics. Trickle-down economics is the lie that tax cuts for the super wealthy would just trickle-down wealth to the rest of the people, including the working class and the middle class. Reagan tried those regressive policies back in the 1980s and it never worked but it did increase the deficit and caused more suffering for the poor and the oppressed massively. The reality is that nothing trickles down massively from the super-rich when Reagan, Trump, and Bush Jr. did tax cuts for the super wealthy and large corporations. You only build the economy from the bottom up. You have to promote better wages, you have to give incentives for small businesses to sell their products, you have to give people better working conditions, and give people better benefits, and develop the growth of the social safety net. Many conservatives forget that there is nothing wrong with a robust social safety net that people pay into that benefits families and individuals long term. That will cause more consumers to buy more goods and services in growing our economy. The only way to fight fascism displayed by Trump and his acolytes is unity, believe in truth, and organizing to combat the policies that are harming American society. We resist tyranny from the Trump regime (including its agents from DOGE, the DOJ, etc. We know that Social Security's chief data officer Charles Borges resigned, because he gave a whistleblower complaint accusing members of DOGE of uploading confidential personal information of hundreds of millions of Americans to an insecure cloud server which is totally illegal and immoral). If we desire our liberty to be preserved, then we must sacrifice for it. Right now, Trump wants to ban mail in voter and make voter ID laws mandatory which is against the spirit of voting rights and human freedom in general. Still, there is always remnant of people among every background who are standing up for justice and democracy in the world. I will never lose my faith. We still embrace the Dream as Victory in the end is ours.
One advice in life is not just exposing the problems in life but to outline solutions to solve problems too. Fundamentally, Haiti deserves its own political independence. One major solution is the West (especially France) sending reparations to Haiti for its mistreatment, abuse, and colonization of Haiti for years and centuries. There is no excuse for France to be off scott free when it tried to conquer Haiti multiple times to promote the evils of slavery, imperialism, racism, and colonialism. France was never held accountable for its war against Haiti for years. Haiti is owed billions of dollars of reparations to build up its infrastructure from the bottom to the top. Also, Haiti should develop independent political leaders, not terrorist gang members or corporate funded leaders. Legitimate charities should be active to fund Haiti's education, healthcare, water, sanitation, and hygiene services. With the controversies surrounding UN occupying forces, UN occupying forces should leave Haiti. There should be free and fair elections to promote democratic power. Haitian institutions and grassroots Haitian leaders should be supported. Political leadership should promote human rights, accountability, and have legitimate safeguards to protect the human rights of all including women and children. America should stop illicit arms transfers from America to Haiti that contributes to the gang violence in Haiti. America should not interfere in future elections of Haitian leaders. Haitian people have the right to decide for themselves which leaders should govern their own nation. International groups, religious groups, and Haitian diaspora organizations have the right to work together to improve the country of Haiti too.
It has been over 220 years since Haiti has been in existence. Haiti was born out of courage and the sacrifice of thousands of black people seeking freedom from overt tyranny and terrorism. Slavery is the pure representation of tyranny, terrorism, abuse, and inhumane behavior. French, English, and Spanish imperialism ruled Haiti in the realm of slavery. Prior to that time, the criminal Christopher Columbus visited the Caribbean and many members of his crew terrorized, raped, and exterminated the Native American population back in the late 1400s and early 1500s. Then, the black Haitians fought back to defend their human rights and end the oppressive system of slavery. After long years, the Haitians were victorious by 1804 making Haiti the first black Republic of North America. There were tons of heroes of the Haitian Revolution. We know who Toussiant Louverture and Jean-Jacques Dessalines were. Toussiant was a great military and political leader who commanded the revolutionary army in the 1800s. Dessalines was Louverture's lieutenant who was involved in the final phase of the Haitian Revolution. Also, there should be another point made involving Haitian history. There were numerous unsung people of the Haitian revolution like Dutty Boukman, Henri Christophe, Cecille Fatiman, Sanite Bealir (she was brave), Marie-Jeanne Lamartiniere, and Francois Mackandal. The French wanted revenge, so the French unjustly paid a large bill for Haiti to pay. The hypocrite Thomas Jefferson opposed the Haitian Revolution, but he supported the French Revolution. Jefferson owned slaves and believed in the myth of black racial inferiority, so Jefferson is not the great role model that we should admire. Likewise, we should admire great Haitian people who made great contributions to the world involving culture, history, athletics, music, politics, the arts, agriculture, STEM fields, legal affairs, spirituality, and education. Haiti was a victim of Western occupation, wars, the 2010 Hurricane, and UN occupation. Yet, Haiti has shown great resiliency, and many Haitians worldwide will continue to fight for a better future of Haiti.
Canada is the birthplace of ice hockey. Hockey is the national pastime of Canada. Canada is known as a place that is not just filled with snow. It is a multicultural country with millions of residents filled with musicians, athletes, politicians, theologians, scholars, writers, social activists, and other human beings from Calgary to Toronto. We know many well-known Canadian human beings like Tamia, Deborah Cox, Michael J. Fox, Dan Aykroyd, Jim Carrey, etc. Hockey is played year-round in Canada by men, women, and children at numerous competitive levels. Canada has major junior leagues, and media broadcasts like Hockey Night in Canada. The sounds of hockey from the stakes on ice, sticks on pucks, and play by play announcers are deeply embedded in the Canadian national culture. Canada is home to numerous NHL teams. Canada has dominant national teams for men, women, and para hockey doing well on the international stage.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott said that he has more bullets in his belt involving the gerrymandering controversy. His comments are evil and inappropriate. It's sick and shows the desperation of many Texas Republicans who care more for raw political power than freedom, justice, and equality for all people. Texas House voted on the GOP redistributing plan. This effort by the GOP is not only against voting rights after this is not a census year. It relates to how the GOP in Texas is stealing the votes in Texas unjustly for the sake of growing political power. The hypocrisy is that the Republicans claim to love individual rights, but they want to strip away the legal representation of mostly black and brown citizens in Texas in increasing the GOP power base. That is why people must be in the offensive to defend voting rights and support courageous people who reject the corruption found in the status quo. Some said that the actions of the GOP violate the Title II section of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Like always, this is not a time for moderation as centrists never caused revolutionary change in a meaningful way. That was done by progressives and revolutionaries who sacrifice their time and their lives to promote voting rights, civil rights, and human rights in general along with economic justice. Kamala Harris (who was a DA, Attorney General of California, a Senator, and a Vice President proving her experience in government) gave words of encouragement to Texas state legislature Nicole Collier. Nicole Collier was being held hostage in the Texas chamber, because she rightfully refused to sign a document to be escorted and stalked by DPS officers. Nicole Collier was a victim of kidnapping, and this is truly anti-democratic.
Texas represents so much in America. It is a location that has been the heart of rural and country culture of the United States. Many ranches, rodeos, and cowboys have a long history in Texas. Also, Texas is a state with some of the greatest urban metropolitan locations in America. For example, Houston is found in Texas being home to Beyonce Knowles Carter and a strong cultural influence in the world. Austin is Texas's capital filled with a large progressive movement. We know about El Paso, San Antonio, Fort Worth, Arlington, Corpus Christi, Plano, Laredo, Arlington, and Irving, Amarillo, Grand Prairie, and other locations found throughout the state too. Many of my relatives do live in Texas and many of my relatives have visited Texas before too. We see a diverse population in Texas filled with almost 270,000 square miles of land and over 31 million people being the largest state in the Union in terms of population. Also, we can't be naive about Texas either. Texas's legislature is dominated by far-right Republicans who recently signed a redistricting plan that harms the representation of African Americans and Latino people. We have a governor Greg Abbott of Texas and the Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick who make it their mission to nearly unconditionally support the nefarious bigoted and xenophobic policies of the Trump regime. Therefore, we have to acknowledge reality and also commend the progressive heroes of Texas who are fighting for a future Texas filled with justice for all. This is not a time to give in or give up. This is the perfect opportunity to stand up for our principles like economic justice, a cleaner environment, housing rights, an end to racism, an end to sexism, the rights of immigrants maintained, the dignity of black people promoted, health care being used as a human right not as a privilege, and strengthening our voting rights.
There are tons of movies and TV shows the exemplify or represent country music. The 2005 film Walk the Line starred Reese Witherspoon and Joaquin Phoenix playing June Carter and Johnny Cash. The couple been through the rain and the storm. Johnny Cash went from a hardcore rebel to a born-again Christian just before his passing. The film details the long, complex life story of country music pioneer Johnny Cash and his wife, June Carter. The movie earned many Academy Award nominations, and Witherspoon took the Best Actress trophy. The song Harper Valley P.T.A. was sang by Jeannie C. Riley. It inspired both a film and television series that I Dream of Jeannie actress Barbara Eden starred as the song's protagonist in both. The series Nashville showed the uncut, honest reality of many events in country music culture. It has been around for six seasons ending in 2019. In the 1982 called Honkytonk Man film, Clint Eastwood plays Red Stovall, a character loosely based on the life of Jimmie Rodgers, who many regard as one of country music's early pioneers. In addition to the film's funny hijinks, it features a performance from country legend Marty Robbins. Inspired by the legendary Hank Williams song of the same name, Your Cheatin' Heart is an origin story of sorts for country music's "hillbilly Shakespeare." George Hamilton stars as Williams in the film, originally intended to feature Elvis Presley in the roll. Reba was a popular sitcom featuring Reba McEntire (who is a legendary country music singer in her own right) that lasted from October 5, 2001, to February 18, 2007.
For centuries and millennia, music has been a universal language. Country music has been around for a long time in America. It is known for its ballads, dance tunes, folk influences, and other components that has inspired people of every nationality and color. Country music represents a massive cultural aspect of people living in rural areas, suburban areas, and urban areas. People who perform country music love to use instruments like banjos, fiddles, harmonicas, guitar, and other types of forms of expression. In music, there are at least six major instrument families. There are strings filled with violins, guitars, and cellos. There is the woodwinds that uses a tube like flutes, clarinets, and saxophones. There is the brass that includes trumpets, trombones, and tubas. There is the percussion that is filled with drums and xylophones. We know about the keyboards filled with pianos, organs, and synthesizers. There are electronic devices like synthesizers, drum machines, electric guitars, etc. Country music legends back in the day and now are hugely respected and acknowledged like Charlie Pride, Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, George Jones, Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, Kenny Rogers, Buck Owens, Jimmie Rodgers, Keith Urban, Linda Martell, Darius Rucker, Reyna Roberts, Aaron Neville, Cleve Francis, and so many other human beings who sacrificed their lives to show their stories to the populace. Themes in country music are diverse from focusing on love, resiliency, overcoming challenges, and embracing a rural cultural environment. The rural area represents the origin of all human life, so we have a customary love for rural locations genetically. One major turning point in country music history is the release of the Beyonce album of Cowboy Carter. That album inspired debate, discussion, and caused Beyonce to have the highest selling country music tour in history. The same ones who say that Beyonce is not country omit that Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers did pop records for decades, but no one say that both people weren't truly country. We know why they are hypocrites. We don't need to spell out the reason. Therefore, country music has been an artform that continues to inspire younger artists from Jellyroll to Brit Taylor.
Lillian Louise Wiggins lived a long, great life. She lived from August 6, 1935 at Severn, North Carolina to April 3, 2012 at Trenton, New Jersey (at Capital Health Regional Medical Center). She was my 3rd cousin as we are descendants of my 4th great grandparents Morefield Hurst Turner (1827-1918) and Milly Woodson Bozeman (1830-1910). The parents of Lillian Louise Wiggins Ryland were Leroy Wiggins (1903-1937) and Lucille Wiggins (b. 1908). Lillian Ryland was educated in the public school system in Severn, North Carolina. She lived in Washington, D.C. for a time before going to Trenton, New Jersey. She joined Mt. Sinai S.D.A. Church and served on the Deaconess Board. She retired after 25 years of faithful service from Trenton Psychiatric Hospital as a human service technician. She enjoyed reading the Holy Bible, helping and encouraging others, and spending quality time with family and friends. She married George Ryland (b. 1927) at Courtland, Virginia. The couple had many children who are Leory McKinley Ryland (1955-2006), Lennice Harmon (1961-2020), Eric Green (whose wife is Keisha), Regina Michaels (her husband is Kenneth Michaels), LaVern Williams (her husband is Hosea Williams of Huntsville, Alabama), Patricia Ryland, Jerome Ryland, and George Ryland. Lillian Louise Ryland has 12 grandson, nine granddaughters, 15 great-grandchildren, and one great great granddaughter. She has many sisters in law, nieces, nephews, cousins, and other relatives plus friends. The parents of Lillian Louise Wiggins were Leroy Wiggins (1903-1937) and Lucille Wiggins (b. 1908). The parents of Leroy Wiggins were William Wiggins (1877-1931) and Annie L. Barnes (b. 1878). The parents of William Wiggins were John Henry Wiggins (b. 1853) and my 3rd great-grandaunt Cordelia (Candy) Turner (1856-1934). The parents of Cordelia (Candy) Turner were Morefield Hurst-Turner (1827-1918) and Milly Woodson Bozeman (1830-1910).
Another of my distant 4th cousin was Roosevelt Mayfield Jr. (1965-2025). He showed humor, laughter, kindness, and generosity to fellow people. His last wife was Tileatha Branch Mayfield. His children are Chelsea Mayfield and Thaddeus Mayfield. He had three grandchildren. His parents are Roosevelt Mayfield Sr. (1939-2006) and Anna Rosa Wiggins (1933-2005). The parents of Anna Rosa Wiggins are Otis Wiggins (b. 1908) and Elnora Wiggins (1907-1977). The parents of Otis Wiggins were William Wiggins (1877-1931) and Anie L. Barnes (b. 1878). His siblings are Bernice Ann Mayfield (b. 1964) and Joyce Ann Mayfield (b. 1966). The parents of parents of William Wiggins were John Henry Wiggins (b. 1853) and my 3rd great-grandaunt Cordelia (Candy) Turner (1856-1934). The parents of Cordelia (Candy) Turner were Morefield Hurst-Turner (1827-1918) and Milly Woodson Bozeman (1830-1910).
By Timothy
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