A New Generation.

  

We live in unique times nearing the Fall of 2023. We have the most political polarization in America in a long time. The Trumpism movement that has caused historical revisionism in Florida schools, who refused to allow black representation in the state of Alabama, and who supports a fascist racist like Donald Trump are far-right Republicans. Trumpism won't go away even if Trump loses the 2024 election. That is why education is important to stand up for human rights. The many people in Trump rallies should feel shame for allying with a person who hated democratic values. Many people in the MAGA crowd try to justify their bigotry by saying that they are against woke people. The word woke has been perverted, and its actual meaning is to just believe that every human born on this Earth is created equal and deserves dignity, respect, and justice without exception. Many people exploit topics like Critical Race Theory and other issues in order to not allow a real discussion on the economy, on climate change, on investments in rebuilding communities, on health care, and on other important issues. While Bidenomics has a way to go, the economy now is a whole lot stronger than during the Trump years. Now, we have 13.2 million jobs added during the Biden term, we have lower than 4 percent unemployment rate, inflation has declined since last year, and GDP has increased. Even the stock market has increased, and the Federal Reserve no longer expects a recession this year. The economy is strong, but we have some work to do to make it better, especially in the midst of economic inequality and poverty in urban plus rural areas of the United States of America. We have a high cost of housing and food in America, and consumer debt is nearing record-high levels. We have labor workers legitimately striking in Hollywood and auto workers having issues. Interest rates can be higher for a longer time, and the record heat can damage the economy in farms and prices. Student loan payments return in the Fall, and many kids and adults struggle to pay down their student loan debt. Therefore, we have to be about our business to promote progressive economic policies that will save human lives. 

 

1996 saw hip-hop tragedies, dance crazes, R&B classics, rock comebacks, and pop anthems. In January of 1996, the Buffalo, New York alternative rock band Goo Goo Dolls find their first chart success after switching to a more pop sound with the single "Name" #5 US. The song is from the band's fifth album on Metal Blade Records. With the success of "Name" the album goes US Double Platinum. Around this time, the surviving members of The Beatles - George Harrison, Ringo Starr, and Paul McCartney add vocals and instrumentation to a John Lennon home demo and release the single "Free As A Bird". Produced by ELO and Traveling Wilbury member Jeff Lynne, the song hits #2 UK and #6 US. Groups like Babylon Zoo and Deep Blue Something (with their song Breakfast at Tiffany's) had unique music. One 1990's anthem was Joan Osborne's One of Us. She was from Louisville, Kentucky. Missing had the song Everything But The Girl. The dance group La Bouche had the song of Be My Lover. I remember that song as a child. The lead singers of the group are Lane McCray and the late legend Melanie Thorton. The song is from their Platinum debut album Sweet Dreams. The title track also reaches #13 US, #3 US Hot Dance Club Tracks. One of the most emotional songs from R&B singer Mary J. Blige came out called "Non Gon' Cry." from the Waiting to Exhale soundtrack. The soundtrack was number one in the USA with Whitney Houston, TLC, Brandy, Patti Labelle, Toni Braxton, and other legends. That single was one of the best songs in Mary J. Blige's career. The debut album from New York City group Fun Lovin' Criminals entitled Come Find Yourself hits #7 in the UK, but only #144 US. The single "Scooby Snacks", featuring audio snips from Quentin Tarantino films, reaches #22 UK and #14 US Alternative. The album goes Platinum in the UK. By February 1996, after some success in Canada with two dance pop album's, Alanis Morissette moved to a more rock-oriented sound for her third album Jagged Little Pill. Released in June 1995, the album spends 12 weeks at US #1 driven by three US Top Ten singles. The album sells over 33 million copies worldwide, one of the best-selling ever.

One of the best songs from Brandy was Sittin' Up in My Room from March 1996. That song was also part of the Waiting to Exhale soundtrack. I remember that song too. Gin Blossom and The Cranberries released music by this time. Charlottesville, Virginia's Dave Matthews Band find their greatest career success with their second studio album Crash #2 US and 7X Platinum US. With a following built on touring, the album features some of their best known songs including "Crash Into Me", "Too Much" and "So Much To Say." Firestarter was the song from the band The Prodigy. Los Angeles band Rage Against The Machine debuted at #1 US with their second album Evil Empire #4 UK. The album's lead single "Bulls On Parade" hits #8 UK, #11 US Alternative. The album, named after President Ronald Reagan's term for the Soviet Union, goes Triple Platinum. This was in April of 1996. Rock artists like The Wallflowers and Ani DiFranco released albums. By June 1996, the South Orange, New Jersey hip hop trio The Fugees hit #1 UK with their cover of Roberta Flack's 1973 hit "Killing Me Softly." The track is from the group's second album The Score which hits #1 US and #2 UK, going on to sell 18 million copies worldwide. It would be the group's final album. The Score from The Fugees was one of the greatest albums in hip-hop and music history. Los Angeles band Metallica move away from their thrash metal roots on their sixth album Load #1 US and UK. The shift to a more conventional hard rock sound alienates many fans and the album sells ten million fewer copies than their previous album, but still goes 5X Platinum in the US. KISS made their Alive Worldwide tour starting in Tiger Stadium in Detroit. By June 1996, Jay Z released his debut album called Reasonable Doubt. Jay Z worked with Kane and Jaz O before he made his album years prior to 1996, but this was the time when it started for Jay Z on a different level. He is from Brooklyn, New York City. The album goes platinum in America. Cleveland, Ohio singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman has her first US Top Ten hit since her 1988 debut with "Give Me One Reason" #3 US. It would be the most best-selling song of her career. Structured as a traditional 12-bar blues song, it is included in Chapman's 1995 album New Beginning, which reaches #4 US and goes 5X Platinum. Nada Surf and Primitive Radio Gods made music too. The all-women pop group from the UK named Spice Girls released their debut single "Wannabe." The song is an immediate #1 hit in the UK, where it is followed by two more chart-toppers in 1996 including "2 Become 1." In a departure from his debut album, the hip-hop artist Nas moves to a mainstream sound with elaborate production for his second album It Was Written. The album charts at #1 US and goes Double Platinum. The album includes the #1 US Rap hit single "Street Dreams" #22 US Top 100. It would be Nas' most successful release. Nas released the album on July 2, 1996. 

By July 1996, New York City Fiona Apple released her debut album called Tidal. It became triple platinum in America. Sublime had the song of What I Got in America. By August of 1996, Tupac Shakur's double A-Side single "How Do You Want It / California Love" hits #1 US, #6 UK. The song is from his 5X Platinum album All Eyez On Me #1 US, #32 UK. On September 2 Pac died in Las Vegas from wounds suffered in a drive-by shooting six days earlier. Tupac's passing happened when I just started the 8th grade of middle school. I remember that time very well. With all of the research in our time, we pretty much who murdered Tupac Shakur and why. The FBI and the intelligence community monitored Tupac because of his links to black revolutionaries like Afeni Shakur. The Southside Crips murdered Tupac Shakur in a jealous rage after one of their members (i.e. Orlando Anderson) was beaten by Tupac and Death Row members in Las Vegas. By August 1996, the Spanish dance-pop duo Los Del Rio have a worldwide hit with the English language remix of their song "Macarena" #1 US, #2 UK. The song and it's video sparked an international dance craze. By 1997 the single had sales of 11 million and today is considered the biggest one-hit wonder of all time. Burlington, Vermont jam band Phish hold their first festival - The Clifford Ball for two days in Plattsburgh, New York attracting 70,000 fans. The performance is recorded on video and later released as a DVD. The band has since held a total of ten festivals in various locations. Manchester band Oasis, at the height of their popularity, hold a two-night concert at Knebworth, England with 125,000 fans attending each night. Both shows sold out in minutes, with 2.5 million people requesting tickets. The shows are the largest outdoor concert ever held in the UK.

The famous dance group of Quad City DJ's, a Jacksonville, Florida group, hit #3 US with the dance track "C'mon N' Ride It (The Train)." The track is based on a sample from Barry White's 1974 film theme for Together Brothers. Both the song and the group's debut album Get On Up And Dance, sell over a million copies. Jamiroquai, a funk and acid jazz group from London, release their third album Travelling Without Moving #2 UK and charted for the first time in the US at #24. The album produces three UK Top Ten hits and three US Dance Top Ten hits including "Virtual Insanity". The album sells 8 million copies. This was in August 1996. The Swedish band The Cardigans has music. Donna Lewis from Wales had the hit I Love You Always Forever and the band Kula Shaker had their music. By October 1996, the Orlando, Florida alternative rock band Matchbox 20 release their debut album Yourself Or Someone Like You and find major success, reaching #5 US. Five singles are released from the album including "3AM" which hits #1 US Alternative. The album goes 12X Platinum in the US. The controversial artist Marilyn Manson had his 2nd album Antichrist Superstar by October 1996. In November 1996, the end of the new jack swing era comes with a band with 2 hits of No Diggity from Blackstreet and Pony from Maryland R&B singer Ginuwine. West coast rapper Snoop Dogg has his second #1 album in a row with the release of The Doggfather #15 UK. The single "Snoop's Upside Ya Head" samples the Gap Band and hits #12 UK and #5 US Rap. The album goes US Double Platinum. This was in November of 1996. By December of 1996, No Doubt released their album of Tragic Kingdom. Tragic Kingdom hits #1 US. Sales are driven by the success of the singles "Just A Girl" #3 UK, #23 US and the album's third single "Don't Speak" which reaches #1 UK, #2 US Alternative. The album sells 16 million copies worldwide.

 

November 22, 1963, was a monumental part of American history and world history. It was the day when the assassination of President John F. Kennedy took place in broad daylight (during the early afternoon) in Dallas, Texas. President Kennedy was President in the midst of domestic and foreign policy tensions in America. It was after World War II with the massive economic boom in certain parts of America while millions of other Americans suffered poverty, racial oppression, xenophobia, and sexism. That time witness massive decolonization movements in Africa, Asia, and Latin America while a segment of reactionary forces in the military and the intelligence community desired Western imperialist policies to be globally manifested. When President Kennedy came alone, Kennedy actively resisted the military-industrial complex's most extreme policies. For example, President John F. Kennedy supported a socialist party in Italy, he supported the independence of Algeria and Guinea, he refused to invade Loas, he refused to send permanent military troops to Vietnam (desiring to get rid of all U.S. troops from Vietnam by the end of 1965), signed onto affirmative action, promoted federal civil rights legislation, had plans to start the War on Poverty with expenditure programs, told the world in a speech that he is a liberal, and threatened to crush the CIA into a thousand pieces. Now, President Kennedy had his imperfections of adultery, not loving massive demonstrations to fight for racial justice, and using herbicides in Vietnam. Yet, he became more progressive as time existed during his Presidency. President John F. Kennedy had idealism which inspired millions of Americans to this day. After his unjust death, the nation mourned. The Warren Commission had so many inconsistencies and omissions that the vast majority of Americans believe that the JFK assassination was a product of a conspiracy. New documents being released show Oswald's CIA ties, and we have to be clear to research information to know more of the truth as possible. The ideal of Camelot was a dream. It was not real (as the Kennedy family was among the American financially wealthy class), but the reality of President F. Kennedy's eloquence, heroism in the Cuban Missile Crisis, and resistance to the extreme policies of the far-right elements in the American government (including resisting some of the aims of the Mafia and right-wing Cuban exiles) are very real. In our generation, we desire racial justice, social justice, and real change. Ever since 1963, the far right has increased their vicious goal to not only ruin the New Deal and the Great Society. They (along with reactionary financial oligarchy) desire to ruin progressive benefits to society in general. We have the right to resist that and follow the principle that the Golden Rule must be applied justly in our everyday life. 

 

Lieutenant Colonel Charity Adams Early was born in the South at  Kittrel, North Carolina on December 5, 1918. Later, she grew up in Columbia, South Carolina. She was inspired by her parents to earn a great education. She was a high achiever.   Her father, a college graduate, was an African Methodist Episcopal minister. Her mother was a schoolteacher. Adams was the oldest of four children. She graduated from Booker T. Washington High School as valedictorian and from Wilberforce University in Ohio in 1938, majoring in math and physics. After graduation, she returned to Columbia where she taught mathematics at the local high school while studying part-time for a M.A. degree in psychology at the Ohio State University, receiving her master's degree in 1946. Adams enlisted in the United States Army's Women's Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) in July 1942. She was the first African American woman to be an officer in the WAAC. During that time, the U.S. Army was very much segregated. That means that she was placed in a company with fellow African American women officers and stationed at Fort Des Moines. In 1943, she was assigned to be the training supervisor at base headquarters. By early 1944, Adams was reassigned to the Training Center control officer in charge of improving job training and efficiency. She had other jobs like surveying officer (finding lost property) and summary court officer (handling women's minor offenses). In December 1944, Adams led the only company of black WACs ever to serve overseas. They were stationed in Birmingham, England. The women began to socialize with the citizens and broke through prejudices. Adams was put in charge of a postal directory service unit. Another part of her job included raising the morale of women. Adams achieved this by creating beauty parlors for women to relax and socialize in.  

In March 1945, she was appointed the commanding officer of the first battalion of African American women, the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion. They were stationed first in Birmingham. Three months later, they were moved to Rouen, France, then to Paris. They were responsible for the delivery of mail to over seven million soldiers during World War II. By the end of the war, Lieutenant Colonel Adams was the highest-ranking African American woman in the military. She was asked about her groundbreaking achievement, Adams responded by saying, "I just wanted to do my job." She decided to leave the service in 1946 when she was called to serve at the Pentagon. Growing up in the South, Adams experienced the hardships of segregation. When she entered the Army, she still faced discrimination but was not afraid to speak up and fight for desegregation in the Army. One of the first battles Adams fought for equality was when the Army proposed segregating the training regimen. When she was told she would head one of the segregated regiments, she refused. The Army subsequently decided against creating separate regiments. On another occasion, when a general stated, "I'm going to send a white first lieutenant down here to show you how to run this unit", then-Major Adams responded, "Over my dead body, sir." The general threatened to court-martial her for disobeying orders. She then began to file charges against him for using "language stressing racial segregation" and ignoring a directive from Allied headquarters. They both dropped the matter, and the general later came to respect Adams. When the Red Cross tried to donate equipment for a new segregated recreation center, Adams refused it because her unit had been sharing the recreation center with white units. She wanted her battalion to socialize with people of all colors to establish a comradeship between enlisted personnel and officers to ease the tensions of racism. 

After her service in the Army. Adams earned a master's degree in psychology from Ohio State University. She then worked at the Veterans Administration in Cleveland, Ohio, but soon left to teach at the Miller Academy of Fine Arts. She moved to Nashville, Tennessee, and was the director of student personnel at Tennessee A&I College. She then moved to Georgia and became the director of student personnel and assistant professor of education at Georgia State College. She later served on the Board of Trustees at Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio. Dayton Public Schools also named one of their schools the "Charity Adams Earley Girls Academy" in her honor.

 

While Trump faces a trial, you have some House Republicans being so extreme that they want to push to impeach President Biden which is ludicrous. Trump wants any Republican who is against a Biden impeachment to be primaried as he said on July 29, 2023, at Erie, Pennsylvania. Trump is a disgrace as Biden has never agitated a mob to try to overthrow the 2020 election, and Biden has never desired to end birthright citizenship. Now, we have the Ukrainian counterattack advancing toward Melitopol, Mariupol, and Bakhmut. The Trump supporter Navarro talks of civil war blaming Democrats which is not the case. Even the African nations are criticizing Putin because the Russian Black Sea grain blockade is causing starvation in many places of the world. Chinese leader Xi wants to not work with other nations in desiring to massive cut carbon emissions. Even interests from Wall Street have to grudgingly acknowledge that the Bidenomics is not the end of the world. There is a new generation of people calling themselves "Independent" and "free thinkers" of every color who claim to reject the views of either so-called extreme. From my experience and research, these people are radical centrists and far-right people who desire the status quo under the guise of claiming to be "independent." They say that we must talk to the other side, but some things are non-negotiable. The reality is that Republicans and Democrats aren't perfect, but these 2 parties aren't identical. One party explicitly wants historical revisionism, voter suppression laws, and stopping black representation politically in the state of Alabama. The other party doesn't support these aims. The Supreme Court has been compromised by reactionary interests too. Chief Justice Roberts refused to testify in a hearing on Supreme Court ethics. Thomas and Alito accepted luxury vacations from GOP megadonors. Gorsuch sold property to the CEO of a law firm that argues cases before the Supreme Court. 

 

There is more information that I found out about Lucy Williams (the descendant of Nancy Woodson) and her descendants. She was my late 1st cousin. My distant cousin Larry Darden had an obituary of  Lucy Williams from back in 1964 that described her life and legacy. The eulogy of her funeral was done by the Rev. R. L. Steele. The obituary confirmed that Lucy Williams was born in November 1875 at Southampton County, Virginia whose parents were John Henry Williams and Mary Williams. The document showed that Lucy Williams married Ridley Worrell, and the couple had 8 children. She passed away on May 8, 1964, at the home of her son and daughter-in-law Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Worrell at 5:15 pm. Lucy Williams was a kind mother and a dedicated Christian. Lucy Williams and Ridley Worrell's children are Mrs. Gladys Worrell Boone, foster daughter, Mrs. Lynie Green, Rev. James Henry Worrell (1899-1982), Hattie Worrell (1903-1942), Lewis Worrell (1908-1984), Tommie Worrell (1905-1987), Pearl Worrell (1898-1925), Gladys Lillie Worrell (1915-1985), Mary Etta Worrell (1910-1955), and Frank Worrell (b. 1912). Lucy Williams in 1964 had 20 grandchildren and 37 great-grandchildren. Lucy Williams's son was Rev. James Henry Worrell (1899-1982). His second wife was Sadie Lee Myrick (b. 1900), and their daughter was Sarah Lee Worrell Graves (1930-2019). Sarah Lee Worrell Graves married Ozzie Harvey (1920-2011) on June 5, 1958, in Richmond, Virginia. Their children are Pamela Odett Harvey (b. 1963), Christeen J. Harvey (b. 1970), Kevin Harvey, Rudine Harvey Jenkins, Otis Harvey, Adolphus Graves, and Darrell Harvey. Rev. James Henry Worrell married Josephine Artis (1900-1933). Their children are Susanna Edna Worell (1920-2006), James Worrell Jr. (1921-2015), Roman Worrell (b. 1924), Vernon Randolph Worrell (1925-2015), Bessie Mae Worrell (b. 1927), and Josephine Lutheran Worrell (b. 1933). James Harrell Worrell Jr. married Leah Cynthia Morris and had the child of Gary Worrell (b. 1953) or my 4th cousin. Gary Worrell married Sharon Lee Spratley (b. 1956) on March 21, 1976, at Hampton, Virginia. Their child is Jaime Deshawn Worrell (b. 1978), and she married Ralph Bernad Cypress Junior on May 7, 2010, at Virginia Beach, Virginia. 

Lucy Williams and Ridley Worrell's son of Louis Worrell married Lillian Johnson (b. 1911) and had the children of Herbert H. Worrell (B. 1925), Harwood H. Worrell (b. 1928), Charles Edward Worrell (1929-1995), Paige Elizabeth Worrell (1930-2014), Thomas Worrell (b. 1935) and Arthur Lee Worrell (1937-2014). Arthur Lee Worrell married Dorothy Mae Worrell (1939-2020) on April 16, 1956. Their children are Robin R. Worrell Combs (b. 1956), Donna Ushekia Worrell Hall (b. 1958), Arthur Ricardo Worrell (b. 1960), and Ronnie Louis Worrell Sr. (b. 1966). My 4th cousin Donna Ushekia Worrell Hall works in the Post Office and lives in Washington, D.C. She is married to Sherwood Mauricio Hall (b. 1956) and their children are Bridgette Sherre Clark Bridges (b. 1976) and Paulette Usheka Hall (b. 1985). Bridgette Bridges married Donnell Bridges. 

 

I want to mention this new tactic of the New Age movement. Because so many people know the value of humanity, DNA, and the different forces of the Universe, most people know that the Universe wasn't designed by nothingness. It was established after the Big Bang with massive creative power. So, the New Age people increasingly are promoting the Anunnaki myth. This theory is that human beings were created by an advanced alien species called the Anunnaki (who came from a distant planet or star system) with using hominids species via genetic engineering to form modern-day Homo Sapiens Sapiens in ca. 200,000 years ago. The reality is very similar to the New Age view that relates to Gnosticism though. New Agers readily teach that humans must have a spiritual evolution to reach the "Christ Consciousness" in being beyond the Matrix of various dimensions. The reality is that the Anunnaki are a group of fictional deities of ancient Sumeria, Akkad, Assyria, and Babylon.  In the earliest Sumerian writings about them, which come from the Post-Akkadian period, the Anunnaki are deities in the pantheon, descendants of An and Ki, the god of the heavens and the goddess of earth, and their primary function was to decree the fates of humanity. They should not be confused with the Apkallu. The ancient astronaut theory with the Anunnaki was modernized by the author Erich von Daniken with his 1968 book of Chariots of the Gods? 

Many scientists and historians have rejected his ideas, claiming that the book's conclusions were based on faulty, pseudoscientific evidence, some of which was later demonstrated to be fraudulent or fabricated, and under illogical premises. Much of the views of this theory have been promoted by ancient Sumerian texts and information from literature relating to Thoth and other pagan stories. An internationally bestselling book by Clifford Wilson, Crash Go the Chariots, was published in 1972. Ronald Story's 1976 book rebutting von Däniken's ideas was titled The Space Gods Revealed. Another negative criticism of von Däniken's book came from archeologist Kenneth Feder in his book Frauds, Myths, and Mysteries in 2018. Referring to von Däniken's support of the ancient astronauts hypothesis, Feder explains how his evidence is used and presented in a misleading manner in order to convince the reader that extraterrestrial life was involved in the development of ancient civilizations. von Daniken has been accused of stealing ideas from the French author Robert Charroux.  Many scientists and historians have rejected his ideas, claiming that the book's conclusions were based on faulty, pseudoscientific evidence, some of which was later demonstrated to be fraudulent or fabricated, and under illogical premises.

The truth is that the Universe, humanity, the Earth, and animal species, in general, have great creative power made up of atoms, various energies, etc. We are part of the Universe, and we are made with the same elements and atoms from the Universe originally. DNA has great mathematical precision with advanced molecules and chemical relations. Yet, there is no conclusive evidence that aliens or the Anunnaki created modern humans using hominids as a genetic experiment to be mining slaves to the Anunnaki. Many people who believe in the Anunnaki creation of human beings want to deny the existence of God or view God as a power source from the beginning of time. God is more than an Energy Source or a frequency (as many New Agers subscribe to). God is the origin of the Universe being the Creator. Human beings have great intelligence to build the Great Pyramids, Stonehenge, and other structures without alien intervention. We are a very intelligent people with a great prefrontal cortex and other neurons that can inspire creativity, imagination, and invention. We should investigate the Mysteries of Life without apology. Yet, we live in a time where slick deceptions must be opposed, and righteousness ought to be endorsed. 

By Timothy