Early October 2025 Information.

  

Wilma Rudolph didn't earn significant money as an amateur athlete. Back then especially, women definitely weren't paid their fair share of income involving sports. Women continue to fight for pay equity in 2025, which is a shame. She went into teaching and coaching after her retirement from track competition. She was a 2nd-grade teacher at Cobb Elementary School, which Rudolph had attended as a child, and coached at Burt High School, where she had once been a student-athlete herself. Rudolph moved to many places over the years and lived in many places like Chicago, Illinois, Indianapolis, Indiana, St. Louis, Missouri, Detroit, Michigan, Tennessee, California, and Maine. Her autobiography is Wilma: The Story of Wilma Rodolph. The book was published in 1977. The literature was the basis for other publications and films. By 2014, at least 21 books on Rudolph's life had been published for children, from pre-school kids to high school students. Wilma Rudolph was a well-known philanthropist and humanitarian, too. She worked for numerous nonprofit organizations and government-sponsored projects that promoted athletic development among American children. In Boston, Massachusetts, she became involved in the federal Job Corps program, and Rudolph served as a track specialist for Operation Champion in 1967. In 1981, Rudolph established and led the Wilma Rudolph Foundation, a nonprofit organization based in Indianapolis, Indiana, that trains youth athletes. Six years later, she joined DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, as director of its women's track program and served as a consultant on minority affairs to the university's president.

Wilma Rudolph went on to host a local television show in Indianapolis. She was a publicist for Universal Studios as well as a television sports commentator for ABC Sports during the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California. She lit the cauldron to open the Pan American Games in Indianapolis in 1987 in front of 80,000 spectators at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. By 1992, two years before her ultimate passing, she was a vice president at Nashville's Baptist Hospital. She has many relationships with people. Wilma Rudolph dated boxing legend Muhammad Ali during the early 1960s. She was married twice, with both marriages ending in divorce. On October 14, 1961, Rudolph married William "Willie" Ward, a member of the North Carolina College at Durham track team. They divorced in May 1963. After she graduated from Tennessee State in 1963, Rudolph married Robert Eldridge, her high school sweetheart, with whom she already had a daughter, Yolanda, born in 1958. Rudolph and Eldridge had four children: two daughters (Yolanda, born in 1958, and Djuanna, born in 1964) and two sons (Robert Jr., born in 1965, and Xurry, born in 1971 and died in 2025). They divorced in 1980. 

 

By July 1994, which was shortly after he mother's passing, Wilma Rudolph was diagnosed with brain cancer. She also had been diagnosed with throat cancer. Her condition deteriorated rapidly, and Rudolph died on November 12, 1994, at her home in Brentwood, a suburb of Nashville, Tennessee; she was only 54 years old. Her life has been celebrated by the 1977 Bud Greenspan-produced Wilma (or The Story of Wilma Rudolph). Wilma was a made-for-television docudrama adaptation of her autobiography that starred Shirley Jo Finney as Rudolph. It costarred Cicely Tyson, Jason Bernard, and Denzel Washington (in one of Denzel's first roles). In 2015, Positive Edge Education Ltd. Commissioned Pixel Revolution Films, a United Kingdom-based film company, to produce three short inspirational dramas to be screened in schools, including one about Rudolph's life. Unlimited (2015) was written and directed by Ian and Dominic Higgins. Rudolph was named United Press International Athlete of the Year (1960) and Associated Press Woman Athlete of the Year (1960 and 1961). She was also the recipient of the James E. Sullivan Award (1960) for the top amateur athlete in the United States and the Babe Didrikson Zaharias Award (1962). In addition, Rudolph had a private meeting with President John F. Kennedy in the Oval Office. Rudolph was also honored with the National Sports Award (1993). She was inducted into the Black Sports Hall of Fame in 1973, the U.S. National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1974, the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 1983, and the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1994. She was placed into the National Black Sports and Entertainment Hall of Fame in 2001. 

 

Wilma Rudolph was an icon of not only track and field culture. She was an iconic humanitarian who followed the Golden Rule all throughout her life. She lived to be a middle-aged woman, but her legacy has been long and extensive, spanning the ages. She overcame polio to be a winner of multiple gold medals in the Olympics. She loved her children and the rest of her family. Wilma Rudolph also opposed racism and discrimination, so she used her role to end Jim Crow apartheid in Tennessee, which is where she was raised. She is celebrated everywhere in the world. In 1984, the Women's Sports Foundation selected Rudolph as one of the five greatest women athletes in the United States. In 1996, the foundation presented its first Wilma Rudolph Courage Award to Jackie Joyner-Kersee. On November 21, 1995, the Wilma Rudolph Memorial Commission placed a black marble marker at her grave site in Edgefield Missionary Baptist Church. In April 1996, a life-size bronze statue of Rudolph was erected "at the southern end of the Cumberland River Walk at the base of the Pedestrian Overpass" at College Street and Riverside Drive in Clarksville. In 2012, the city of Clarksville, Tennessee, built the Wilma Rudolph Event Center, located at Liberty Park on Cumberland Drive. The life-size bronze statue was moved there from its previous location at Riverside Drive and stands near the entrance of the building. The Tennessee State University named its indoor track in Rudolph's honor.  On August 11, 1995 (nine months after Rudolph's death), Tennessee State University dedicated a new, six-story dormitory as the Wilma G. Rudolph Residence Center. The building, which includes a computer lab, beauty salon, and cafeteria, houses upper-class and graduate women. In 1997, Governor Don Sundquist proclaimed June 23 as "Wilma Rudolph Day" in Tennessee. The December 29, 1999, issue of Sports Illustrated ranked Rudolph first on its list of the top 50 greatest sports figures of the twentieth century from Tennessee. ESPN ranked Rudolph forty-first in its listing of the twentieth century's greatest athletes. Wilma Rudolph has been celebrated in a stamp since July 14, 2004. A school in Berlin, Germany, is named after her since the summer of 2000. Wilma Rudolph represents our excellence, our compassion, and our human gratitude for the legends that came before us.

Rest in Power Sister Wilma Rudolph. 

 

There can be no debate. The Trump regime is the worst Presidency since Harding and James Buchanan. The lie that MAGA people and deluded MAGA Christians claim is that Trump is not a racist. Trump supported a racist AI-generated video of Schumer and Jeffries that depicts House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries wearing a sombrero and mustache and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer speaking in a fake voice. There is mariachi music playing in the background. This is plain racism and bigotry. Trump called the wife of Senate leader Mitch McConnell, who is Elaine Chao, the former United States Secretary of Labor (from 2001 to 2009 with the Bush Jr. administration). Trump called COVID-19 a racist, anti-Chinese slur. Trump said that the Central Park Five are guilty, even after DNA evidence exonerated them of wrongdoing. Trump said that a Mexican American can't judge a case fairly, because he is of Mexican heritage. Trump called black progressives, especially black women progressives (who are journalists and other political leaders) "low IQ" because they disagree with his political views. Trump called Jewish people not voting for him "disloyal." Trump wants to whitewash black history in our museums and parks. He called nations like El Salvador, Haiti, and African Americans a profane word. Trump said in October 2023, that undocumented immigrants were "poisoning the blood of our country." That language is why white racists and Nazis used it to promote the racist notion of "blood purity." He said on February 23, 2024, that his mug shot in Atlanta would be embraced by the black population. He said that some immigrants are not people, not human, and animals. Trump called Kamala Harris a "DEI hire." Trump promoted the lie that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio were eating dogs and cats. ON July 3, 2025, Trump used an anti-Semitic slur about certain bankers. Some of the major supporters of Trump are racists like Richard Spencer, James Mason, etc.  Therefore, we know that Trump is a racist, and anyone denying that is either a liar or deluded. 

Trump and the MAGA movement have made it clear that they want to destroy the progressive progress that we have made in the 20th century and the early 21st century. Trump said that he knew nothing of Project 2025, but his ally Russell Vought is part of the Project 2025 agenda. Russell Voight wants to cut programs from low-income people, end affirmative action, and repudiate liberalism completely. Vought also believes in the heresy of Christian Nationalism, when Jesus Christ condemned a man-made theocratic state (as the Gospel is meant to be expressed voluntarily, not by force against a person's will). Vought is one major architect of Trump's 2nd term agenda. Vought describes a post-Constitution era where the executive branch has supreme power when all three branches of government should have equal powers. Vought is so evil that he said that WIC could be gone, except if Democrats submit to the Republicans' demand. Also, Trump is following through in the Project 2025 agenda to a T. The Trump administration has fired federal workers without just cause and cut funding from many federal projects without just cause too. This regime of Trump is fascism and authoritarianism. Trump is beyond the bad policies of Reagan. I lived through Reagan, and I knew what he did. Trump is doing evil and tyrannical policies light-years ahead of the nefarious political policies that Reagan has enacted. ICE has been involved in terrorism in American society by assaulting innocent journalists and other innocent people, illegally detaining U.S. citizens without reasonable cause, and using racial profiling against people. There is no other way to put it. 

We know have ICE acting out in inappropriate ways again. ICE has been complicit in violence against immigrants, journalists, and other innocent human beings. Many ICE members are acting like terrorists instead of law enforcement agencies. The ICE agents who violently shove journalists outside the New York City immigration court. One journalist was sent to the hospital. There is no justification for this act of fascism by some ICE agents. These violent tactics by ICE have no place anywhere in America and anywhere on Earth. This is part of the Trump agenda, as the deceiver Trump said that he wants the police to rough people up. Asylum seekers who desire to defend their immigration status should never be beaten by terroristic ICE agents. This comes after ICE has conducted lawless kidnappings of people. The ICE organization has declared war on dissent in America by attacking journalists and other innocent people. These evil acts by ICE occur every day with the cosign from Trump and JD Vance, and other acolytes. The media has every right to report on the news without being attacked violently.

We are in the beginning stages of this new 2025 government shutdown. Trump and his allies desire to have federal layoffs be permanent. Also, many Republicans have promoted the lie that Democrats desire to give federal health care benefits to undocumented immigrants. The truth is that it is against U.S. federal law to give undocumented immigrants federally subsidized health care coverage via Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, the Children's Health Insurance Program, etc. Some Democrats want to return benefits for people with a lawful presence, like DACA recipients and asylum seekers. This comes after Trump said that he wants to use military force against American cities. It is no secret that Trump has an overt antagonism against political dissent against his tyrannical policies. Trump talking about confronting the "enemy within" is an open declaration of war on the American people who disagree with his agenda. Trump and Hegseth have exploited generals at their fascist meeting to try to justify massive austerity, the military occupation of American cities, the usage of ICE to use racial profiling against Hispanic Americans, the bashing of black cultural history via attacks on museums and websites, and Hegseth's extremist self talking about a ban on beards in the military.

Many black people in Chicago have been terrorized by ICE criminals recently in early October 2025. Many black American citizens were detained illegally and only released hours later. This happened in the South Shore neighborhood. The lie is that these MAGA people only want criminals to be detained, but law-abiding black citizens have been detained recently in Chicago. One witness said that one ICE agent said F those kids when the kids were crying because of the loud sounds and bangs. The ICE agents who were involved in this illegal action are barbarians and sadists. There is no justification for this nonsense and fascist behavior. This is fascism, and there can be no denying. These fascists put guns in the faces of American citizens for no reason. They have zip-tied little kids who cried in fear. This is an outrage. Even now, many Trump followers, FBA xenophobes (I consider myself black American or African American, not some FBA cult member) try to justify ICE terrorism against black people which is treason against the black community. Trump and his administration are not only complicit in this. Trump voters are complicit in this, because they know full well what Trump stands for. This is immoral, and these actions are satanic acts done by ICE. We have the right to be outraged at this injustice.

 

You can't talk about Islam without talking about Islamophobia. Islamophobia is certainly wrong and evil. Islamophobia is the irrational fear, hatred, and discrimination against Muslims or the religion of Islam There are many things that Islamophobia is not. Islamophobia is not when people express peaceful dissent with the religion of Islam. People have the right to agree or disagree with Islam. Islamophobia is not opposing terrorism and opposing authoritarian theocracy. Islamophobia is hatred of Muslims because they are Muslim, it is blaming Islam for all evils on Earth, it is promoting Muslim bans, it is about promoting false information about Islam for the reason of hatred, it is about discrimination against Muslims because they are Muslim, and it is about dehumanizing Muslim people. Also, Islamophobia is about lying about Koranic verses or taking verses out of context to promote hatred of Muslim people. Islamophobia is vandalizing mosques that have happened during the aftermath of 9/11. You know me. I cite Koranic verses to show my dissent with many doctrines of Islam without hating Muslims. One famous Islamophobe was the late Robert Morey. He made the prediction that Islam would cause WWIII, which isn't the case. According to an article in the Orange County Weekly, in November 2001, Morey told a San Diego church audience that he had advised the State Department to blow up Mecca and Medina (Muslim holy cities) to win the war on terror quickly. This is demonic behavior, as we can disagree with Islam without advocating the destruction of religious locations. Morey believed that Allah is the moon god Hubal, a deity worshiped in Kaaba in pre-Islamic Saudi Arabia, but that isn't the case. The truth is that in pre-Islamic Arabia, Allah was worshipped within a polytheistic system that included subordinate deities such as Hubal, Al-Lat, and Al-Uzza, who were seen as intercessors to Allah. Robert Morey believes in the old heresy that Freemasonry was just a Christian gentleman group until the 19th century, which is false and a deceptive lie. Freemasonry, as we know it, existed in the late Middle Ages, with ties to occultism since its inception. Freemasonry swear an oath involving death, which Jesus never condoned, Freemasonry deceives Blue Lodge members, which Jesus Christ opposes, and Freemasonry merges mystery school secrecy with Theism in their lodges. Now, Robert Morey is a Reformed and pro-Reconstructionist, which is interesting as many Masons are part of those religious movements. Morey's book, Islamic Invasion, bashes not only Muslims but Arabic people. The problem with his book is that it is filled with inaccuracies. If you are going to disagree with Islam, you have to know what you're talking about with sources. Morey said, in his magazine The Truth Seekers, Sept-Dec, 1995 that, "...if the Muslims have their way, they will kill every Jew and every Christian on the planet." We know that to be a lie, because I have worked with Muslims, communicated with Muslims, and seen Muslims in real life who don't desire my death as a Christian. The prophet Isaiah mentions that Jewish people, Gentiles (including people of Arabic descent), and all people will come to praise the light of the Lord as found in Isaiah 60:1-7. Whether one is Jewish or Arabic, black or white, Asian or Latino, if he or she does the right thing, treats people right, and follows the Lord's way, then he or she will be blessed by the Most High God of the Universe. Also, Robert Morey lacks an emphasis of the Gospel. The Gospel is clear that if anyone believes on Jesus Christ, he or she shall be saved.  I John 1:7 says, But if we walk in the light, as he (Jesus) is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. I John 1:9 mentions that, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." You can't bash people to believe what you believe in. You have to come correct.  So, Islamophobia is not dissent peacefully with Islam. It's the hatred of Muslims that some unfortunately use, which is a perversion of what the true Gospel message is. The Gospel is about believing that the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins and rose from the dead to ascend at the right hand of God the Father. The Gospel is about saving souls, acknowledging the greatness of cultural differences, love your neighbor as yourself, doing the right thing, and making sure that human beings are free to do good. 

 

The 2025 gubernatorial election has been filled with events. Right now, the firing of federal workers is important for us Virginians because so many federal workers live in Northern Virginia. A July 2025 Virginia Commonwealth University poll found that the most important issues for voters in the campaign were the cost of living (29%), immigration (14%) and abortion (14%). There will be at least one televised debate, on October 9 and hosted by Norfolk State University (being shown by WAVY-TV 10). The Governor's campaign and other Virginian campaigns haven't been too personal. The candidates mostly deal with the issues. Many campaigns accuse their rival campaigns of either lying or distorting the facts. The 2025 Virginia Attorney General election is much more personal between Republican candidate Jason Miyares and Democratic candidate Jay Jones. Each campaign accuses each other of being soft on crime. The truth is that we should be strong on stopping crime, but we should also be fair to make sure that justice is applied fairly to all people. In other words, we need law and justice, not law and disorder. 

 

The race of the mayorship in New York City in 2025 makes us aware of the contributions that New York City gave to us Americans and people of the world in general. NYC gave us many cultural places like Central Park, the Statue of Liberty, and the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. NYC certainly gives us a lot of cultural diversity in our multiracial democracy. It has the most people than any city in the United States with 8,804,190 people from the 2020 census. Between 2010 and 2020, New York City's population grew by 629,000 residents, more than the total growth of the next four largest American cities (Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, and Phoenix) combined. New York City is the birthplace of hip hop, being in the Bronx, New York City. Also, jazz, salsa, freestyle, rock, R&B, music, fashion, and other cultural items are found in New York City. Broadway is home to NYC, too. There are 41 theaters in Midtown Manhattan's Theater District alone, each with at least 500 seats. New York City has more than 2,000 arts and cultural organizations with more than 500 art galleries. 

 

As for my family tree, I found out that my 5th cousin Carissa Hall is the granddaughter of Earl L. Monger (1941-2017).  The mother of Carissa Hall is John Ervin Monger (b. 1963). John Ervin Monger also married Judy Sagapolu (b. 1957) on July 3, 1984, in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and their daughter is Natasha Monger. The parents of John Ervin Monger are Earl Lawrence Monger (1942-2017) and Elsie Doretha Steward (b. 1946). The parents of Earl Lawrence Monger were Gilbert B. Monger Sr. (1908-1961) and Virgie Wiggins (1919-1991). The parents of Virgie Wiggins were William Wiggins (1877-1931) and Annie L. Barnes (b. 1876). The parents of William Wiggins were John Henry Wiggins (b. 1853) and Cordelia (Candy) Turner (1856-1934). The parents of my 3rd great-grandaunt were my 4th great grandparents of Morefield Hurst-Turner (1927-1918) and Milly Woodson Bozeman (1830-1910).

By Timothy