In the almost 150 years of the existence of modern cars, technologies have rapidly improved them. We witness specialized brakes and smart dashboards. The evolution of the designs and motion of cars over the course of decades have been truly astounding. Being a very complex machine, a car vehicle not only requires gasoline and other resources. They require maintenance, yearly inspections, investments, various payments, and a basic knowledge about how vehicles functions. To summarize it, you have car engines made up of cylinders and pistons. Some car can have 2-12 cylinders in them. The fuel from gasoline causes these cylinders to function. Each cylinder on top has 2 valves. There the inlet valve and the outlet valve. The sparking plug at the top of the cylinder makes a spark. The bottom of the cylinder, the piston is attached to the crank shaft (or the turning axle). The crank shaft drives the wheels. Energy spreads from the inlet valve to the outlet valve (which represents the exhaust). More cylinders in a car of course mean that the car has more power (like the V12 engine). The diameter of the cylinder is called bore. So, the drive shaft turns as the combustion engine burns gasoline. Then, the burning drive shaft sends power to the rear axle and the wheels. This results in them turning as well as the car moves forward. It is important to know about these things, because we’re grown plus knowledge is POWER.
It’s a sport that is not for the faint of heart. Many people have been seriously injured, damaged, or even died as a product of participating in the sport too. This athletic sport is boxing. It has existed for thousands of years. We have seen champions of various weight divisions from Muhammad Ali to Floyd Mayweather. Some have called Sugar Ray Robinson as the pound for pound greatest boxer in history because of his skills and will to win. We have seen women champions exist and flourish from Laila Ali to Ann Wolfe. Currently, the best woman boxer is from Flint, Michigan. Her name is Claressa Shields. Boxing always requires determination. Some individuals are born with boxing skills, and others have to develop excellent skills via intense training. Running, sparing with people, hand eye coordination, and other specialized forms of training are requirements in being a complete boxer. Not to mention that developing one's defensive abilities is key in making a more thorough boxer as well. Every great boxer had great inner strength to achieve their accomplishments. In other words, you have to present what’s inside of you in order for you to experience success.
I wrote about these movements a long time ago. With the acceleration of World Faith/Prosperity Gospel preachers, it is time in 2020 to further expound on this issue. It is not a secret that I don’t agree with the Prosperity Gospel movement for various reasons. There are moral, spiritual, and intellectual refutations of such movements. Some folks desire excessive materialism instead of human spiritual development. The jets, the gold rooms, and the ATMs even in large megachurches signify a Laodicean mentality instead of a Philadelphian mentality. Many such preachers are members of Freemasonry, and I fundamentally disagree with Freemasonry because of many reasons (like their swearing of oath invoking death even if they aren’t to be taken literally, their doctrines, and calling a grown man Worshipful Master). It is also clear that we should give people the opportunity to change. Anyone alive now does have a chance to change and be saved. John 3:16 is clear that: “... Fore God so loved the word, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” If someone refuses to change, folks should leave that person alone. The Prosperity Gospel, in my view, contributed heavily to some believing in the false stereotype of Christians collectively being money lusting, deceptive hypocrites who have selfishness. The truth is that in each generation, there is always a remnant of people who are filled with the spirit of kindness, humility, and a belief in justice (while rejecting deceptive doctrines that are antithetical to the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ). Jesus is right to say that man shall not live by bread alone. At times, we have to show love and utilize discernment to condemn false doctrines.
Johannesburg is a city with a lot of great history and culture. Just a few decades ago, it was one epicenter of the fight to end the evil of apartheid. From Nelson Mandela to Steve Biko, heroes sacrificed their lives for justice. Today, Johannesburg is a multicultural, beautiful city filled with South Africans. Most of the people who live and work in Johannesburg are of course black people. As always, I love my black people as I am black. Johannesburg (or Jburg) is the largest city of South Africa and one of the 50 largest urban areas in the world. The location is called eGoli in the Zulu language. It has 129.27 square miles and 5,635,127 people. Its mayor is ANC member Geoff Makhubo. It was created in 1886 where many people found gold in the area. Soweto is now part of Johannesburg since 1994. In our time in 2020, there are places of Jbourg where people have enjoyed their daily lives. For example, there are places like the Johannesburg Art Gallery, the Nelson Mandela Square, the University of the Witwatersarand, and other areas. The city’s motto is “Unity in Development.” South Africa is the 24th largest nation in the world by land area with over 58 million people. About 80 percent of the country has people of Bantu ancestry as most African Americans have Bantu ancestry. Learning about South Africa certainly makes me more aware about how international issues must be known in order for societies globally to benefit. The city makes us cognizant of the fact that the journey for real freedom continues to this very day, but allying with righteousness will make a real difference in getting our legitimate dreams fulfilled.
“When They See Us” is one of the most important television miniseries of our generation. It is a 2019 American drama web television miniseries. It was created, co-written, and directed by Ava Duvernay. Ava Duvernay is the same woman who was involved in the movie Selma and the documentary 13 (in reference to the 13th Amendment. The documentary completely exposes the corruption and imperfections found in the prison industrial complex). Netflix has displayed the series "When They See Us" too. Netflix premiered it in four parts on May 31, 2019. It deals with the events of the 1989 Central Park Five situation. This was when one jogger was assaulted and raped by one person. The rape victim was Trisha Melli, and she was 28 years old back in 1989. The series does into detail about the lives and families of the five male suspects (4 of them are black and one is Latino). These suspects were falsely accused and then prosecuted on charges related to the rape and assault of a woman in Central Park, New York City. One person later admitted to the crime against the woman. The ensemble cast includes tons of people. Many of their names ae Jharrel Jerome, Asante Blackk, Jovan Adepo, Michael K. Williams, Logan Marshall-Green, Joshua Jackson, Blair Underwood, Vera Farmiga, John Leguizamo, Felicity Huffman, Niecy Nash, Aunjaune Ellis, Marsha Stephanie Blake, and Kylie Bunbury. The miniseries has received acclaim for its casting and acting performances. At the Primetime Emmy Awards, it received 11 nominations. The event of April 19, 1989 was about the Central Park jogger case. The Central Park Five are Kevin Richardson (played by Asante Blackk), Antron McCray (played by Caleel Harris), Yusef Salaam (played by Ethan Herisse), Korey Wise (played by Jharrel Jerome), and Raymond Santana (played by Marquis Rodriguez). These human beings are divided by the prosecutor into two groups for trial. Each youth was convicted by juries of various charges related to the assault. Four of them were convicted of rape. They were to maximum terms for juveniles except for Korey Wise, who was 16 at the time of the crime and treated as an adult by the legal system. He had been held in adult facilities and served his time in adult prison.
The five men filed a suit against the city in 2003 for wrongful conviction and were awarded a settlement in 2014. Back then, New York City was divided heavily. There were racial, economic, and police tensions in America and at New York City too. Linda McCray or Antron’s mother was played by Marshal Stephanie Blake. Angie Richardson of the older sister of Kevin was played by Kylie Bunbury. Sharonne Salaam or Yusef Salaam’s mother was played by Aunjanue Ellis. Elizabeth Lederer was played by Vera Famiga. Linda Fairstein was played by a Felicity Huffman. Raymond Santana Sr. or Raymond’s father was played by John Leguizamo. Delores Wise of Korey’s mother was played by Niecy Nash. Bobby McCray or Antron’s father was played by Michael K. Williams. Elombe Bath was played by Omar Dorsey. Bath was the community organizer and activist. Suzzane Douglas played Grace Cuffee. Adepero Oduye played Nomsa Brath, a community organizer and activist who takes on her husband Elombe's cause after his death. Part 4 of the series documented how four of the five people left NYC to move on with their lives. They continue to work on social activism work. The real criminal is found to have matched the DNA found. Later, by June of 2019, Oprah Winfrey interviewed the main cast and executive producers of When They See Us. She also interviewed the exonerated five.
The strength of Ava Duvernay’s series is that it didn’t sugarcoat the historical environment of that time period. It showed the atmosphere of New York City at the time with emotional subject matter. It goes deep into the human emotions and personalities of the people in the story. It accurately showed the truth that systematic racism is not just about slurs and evil comments. It is about the structural harm done to black people and people of color in terms of jobs, false allegations, poverty, and lives being ruined. The series showed the fear among then boys who could have been in prison for life for something that they didn’t do. Far too often, many black people do find themselves in poverty, lacking resources to defend themselves in court, and experiencing false negative stereotypes. You know that Linda Faristein didn’t like the docuseries, because she was the original New York prosecutor of the case. She wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal (which is known conservative newspaper). She said that the movie series had distortions and falsehoods about her. She said that she agreed with the exoneration of the rape charges against the five, but not the other charges for crimes against other victims. The truth is that the Central Park Five are innocent of rape. They had much of their lives ruined by a corrupt judicial system. It is not shocking that the racist Donald Trump wanted the death penalty for the Central Park Five when they are not guilty. Trump has never apologized for his evil statements too. Also, we are still fighting against injustice in our generation in 2020 too. Back in the late 1980’s, New York had a huge increase of financial wealth along with social inequality (plus the poverty and unemployment were in existence with crime. Police brutality was real). Housing and schools was decaying and underfunded involving working class people. Back then, many in the media demonized black people and Latino people with evil slurs as “wolfpack,” “savages,” and “animals. The Central Park Five were victims of injustice, and they were made to say forced confessions. On June 25, 2019, Netflix announced that the miniseries had been streamed by over 23 million viewers within its first month of release. The injustices against the Central Park Five don't mean that injustice is over today. Today, we have police brutality, immigrant children in cages, racial discrimination, and other people denied of their basic human rights. The story of the Central Park Five is known worldwide. Ava Duvernay did great work in showing the world that the life of a black person or a person of color is as valuable as anyone else. Black freedom and black lives must always be respected.
Black Lives Matter.
By Timothy
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