Life on a 3/5 card!

I believe that things that happen in the movies, happen somewhere to some people. The world has become so cynical that we have stopped believing in happy endings. What I have decided is that at the age of 32, I don't have a choice. Believing is the only thing that I have left. If I stop believing than I might as well put a gun to my head and end it all. Believing is how I have lived my life thus far, and believing is what I am. I believe that happy endings happen. Everyday!!

Life on a 3/5 Card by Nameka R. Bates
I believe that a man can fall in love with a woman at first sight.
I believe that a man can not cheat on his wife.
I believe that there are good people in the world.
I believe that there is still a such thing as when a boy meets a girl.
I believe that when the clock strikes 12...
Well you know the rest
My point here is that there is nothing wrong with still believing
Creating a life that is based on your imagination of what it might be
While all the time understanding that you may never see
The reality that we are not in control
And at the end only God has foreseen the story that will be told
So the next time that you buy me a bouquet of flowers
Take a moment before you write on that 3/5 card
Share the words that will tell a story
So that each person who might read it
Can imagine your words apply to them and relinquish all their worry

Set aside your personal criticisms of these movies and just enjoy the happy endings. :)


Not Easily Broken
Constellation

Hitch

Meet the Browns

Beauty Shop

The New Yorker

Most small town folks perception of the big city comes from that which is displayed on television. This small town girl has had the luxury of having friends and family members who share the outside world through their personal experiences. And I have been lucky enough to use my position to expose my students to the world outside of Champaign and Chicago. When we visit New York each year, though we plant the seed to encourage each other to step outside our comfort zone, our visit is short. We never really get a chance to see what the people in the Big Apple are like and how life is lived on a daily basis. Despite the Ghostbuster portrayal of the "angry" people of New York, a friend of mind shared a positive side.

Stuck in the snow, he sat in his car pressing the gas with hope that the tires would spin out of the parking space. A brotha on the street grabs his attention and offers some assistance. He accepts his assistance and along comes 3 additional brothas over to assist in the push. A feeling of pride came over him as he pulls off and acknowledges his appreciation for their assistance with a traditional head nod in their direction. As he drives off, he thinks about all the awful people in New York City that he has met and considered his thoughts that there were no longer people with any civility left. While he associates with brothas that he proudly proclaims are the type of men who would help another brotha get out of the snow, he was happy to see that his crew was not necessarily an anomaly.

I could hear the pride in his voice as he told me the story and I was proud with him. I wished for him that the men who assisted him could have known the joy they shared just because they cared. And that's the great thing about us...


So here is some more good news...about Black men. Visit these sites....

Interesting Bloggers/Websites:
Jeff's Nation
Political Music
Rev Run's Words of Wisdom
Manifest Your Destiny by Hill Harper


Information Sites:
My Brotha
Being a Black Man by the Washington Post

Philanthropy:
Wyclef's Yele Haiti Foundation
The Black Male Donor Collaborative

Documentary:
Beyond the Brick
Stand by Tavis Smiley

Books:
Step Out on Nothing by Byron Pitts
The Trouble with Black Boys by Pedro Noquera
40 Million Dollar Slaves by William Rhoden
Makes Me Wanna Holla (Oldie but GOODIE)

Original Name

The name of this website was going to represent all that is beautiful about Black people, and that starts with our beginning. A very wise friend of mine suggested that I utilize the name of the first freed slave or the slave name of the family who earned their freedom papers. I thought this was a great idea, however despite all my efforts I could not find the names. So, I thought I would post this on my blog so that one day someone who is following me or read this randomly might assist me in finding this information.

I decided to name this blog Black A.C.C.E.S.S. because I want our community to have a opportunity to access all that is wonderful about being "Black in America". Though I am in the process of preparing for my qualifying exams, I plan to utilize this blog as my sanity. Most of the things that I post will be sports related. I will also focus on putting positive spins on the negative images put in the news about Black people.

Not Just Showing Me the Money

Black athletes frequently get pigeon holed as negative role models in the media and never portrayed in a positive light for their contributions all across the world. Either we are celebrating them for winning a ball game or bashing them for contributing to the latest scandal in the news. Rarely are we acknowledging the charitable contributions they make on a regular basis or the positive things happening in their personal lives.



Photo By Mark Stahl, Toys R Us via AP

Tis the Season to begin down the road to changing our perspective on the Black athlete. Just like "regular" people, these men and women take out time from their hectic lives and full pockets to share holiday cheer to others. Below are just a few examples of this.

LT Ronald McDonald House Christmas Gift Giving
http://www.youtube.com/lt#p/a/6AD1C317689CECB7/0/EbIknl2_nGo

Dewayne Wade Grants Three $10,000 grants to after school programs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlkjLAmwEtw&feature=player_embedded

Allen Iverson makes $100,000 donation to fight crime
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoFs2vfRgT8&feature=PlayList&p=39DBBBB335F79666&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=26


We could debate whether or not these athletes are really putting their own time and energy into these foundations, or just using them as a tax right off, however the reality is that they exist. The money that athletes in general and Black athletes in particular are putting back into the community is significant. Take some time to visit these websites. See how you can get involved in the work that they might be doing in your community.

Tiger Woods Foundation http://www.tigerwoodsfoundation.org
Wade's World Foundation http://www.wadesworldfoundation.org
Terrell Owens Catch A Dream Foundation http://www.terrellowens.com/foundation
Kenyon Martin Foundation http://www.kenyonmartinfoundation.org
Tony Dungy Foundation http://www.allprodad.com
Shaun Alexander http://www.shaunalexander.com/foundation.html
Gilbert Arenas Foundation http://www.gilsarena.com
Ben Gordon New Life Foundation http://www.bengordonnewlife.org
Bobby Jackson Foundation http://www.bobbyjacksonfoundation.org

I also encourage you to read these books. They will give you more insight into the TRUE lives of these athletes and scholarship that could provide some insight into the state of the Black athlete.

Quiet Storm and Uncommon by Tony Dungy and Nathan Whitaker
Touchdown Alexander by Shaun Alexander
Catch This by Terrell Owens and Stephen Singular
T.O. by Terrell Owens and Jason Rosenhaus
Barry Sanders Now You See Him by Barry Sanders, John Madden, and Mark E. McCormick
Drive From Within by Michael Jordan
I May Be Wrong and Who Afraid of a Large Black Man by Michael Wilborn and Charles Barkley
The Jump By Ian O'Connor
Diversity and Social Justice in College Sports by Dana Brooks and Althouse
Race, Sport, and The American Dream by Earl Smith

A few books for the kids
Little T Learns to Share by Terrell Owens
You Can Do It by Tony Dungy

As a sport sociologist, it is my goal to continue to bring awareness of the issues in college and professional sports of Black athletes. I will be sure to share with you weekly my thoughts on current events that surround and advocate to present a different perspective on these stories.

Note: Most sports films are generally historically inaccurate. Like most feature films, production companies must make the movie entertaining for the audience, which could cause omission of significant parts of the story. I encourage you to read the books when you view these films, in order to get the real story. Be careful not to purchase the motion picture book. There are generally two versions.

The Blind Side
The Blind Side by Michael Lewis

Hurricane
Lazarus and the Hurricane by Sam Chaiton and Terry Swinton
Hurrican: The Miraculous Journey of Rubin Carter by James S. Hirsch

Remember the Titans
A Titan of a Man by Paula Hines Longergan

Glory Road
Glory Road by Don Haskins and Dan Wetzel

Enjoy your holiday!! Merry Christmas!!

My Personal Crusade

"Loving Black people is my life and using this vehicle to combat the negative images of Black America is my fight." - Nameka R. Bates

Greeting to all those who have decided to join me in starting your day with positive thoughts and uplifting spirits. The quote that you see above will be my daily mantra to guide me in sharing with you my daily research on the positive things happening in our communities, to and for Black people. I feel that this blog is necessary because I am frankly tired of hearing about all the negative things going on in the world. I work on a college campus, where everyday I see positive undergraduate, graduate, faculty, and staff people who are progressively impacting lives, so I know that these things exist. I share this blog with you so that you can see as well.

A few weeks ago, my mother sent me an email that had over 50 photos of Black athletes, entertainers, politicians, and musicians and their White wives. I was not as appalled by the photos as my mother clearly was through her desire for my immediate reaction to this email. I explained to my mother that the greatest problem with this email was not those who were in the photos but those who were not. I explained to her that one of the things that we have to do as Black people is stop allowing our state in America to be dictated by those who want us to believe that this is our reality, when in fact it is not. I proceeded to make her a deal. I agreed to spend some time searching the internet for Black athletes, entertainers, politicians, and musicians and their Black wives. And sure enough, on the very same website that most of the photos from her email were probably taken from, I found triple the amount of Black couples than I did interracial.

This was not the first time that I felt the need to combat the images that our media chooses to portray of "Blacks in America". I attended the Brothers of the Academy Think Tank in Memphis, Tennessee last year, where I had decided that we need more access to the amazing things that we are doing in our communities. I realized at that meeting that if we want to see the positive impact we are having, we must utilize some of the same vehicles of communication that others utilize.

In all honesty, this blog is certainly more for me than it is for any other purpose. As an administrator on my campus, impacting the lives of hundreds of Black students everyday, I have to continue to find ways to keep myself motivated. I am personally tired of being bombarded on my campus, in the media, and almost every other aspect of my life, with constant propaganda of why I should not be steadfast toward the betterment of my community. I need this blog! I need this blog to remind myself of why each day I rise from my bed, get in my car, and drive 10 minutes to my office to play the small part of preparing our future leaders to somehow raise awareness and make their own mark in the history books.

Disclaimer: This blog is not ment to disregard the aspects of our community that are broken and destroyed. There are plenty of ways that you can find out about people, places, and things that are systematically creating spaces for us to look down on our race. This blog is not that space. While I will certainly take under consideration that negativity exists within our world, I will not utilize this blog to contribute to people's insatiable desire to deal with their own personal misery by enjoying someone else's. If you would like to share any comments about anything that I post or say on this blog, please be aware that I will also not allow you to contribute either. I will very strictly monitor those who will have the ability to share their thoughts and information, as this will truly be a space for uplifting with awareness and acknowledgment. I believe that there is something positive in all of us, even when negative things happen. I hope to begin a movement of condemning those things (television shows, news media, radio shows, blogs, etc.) that will surely send a message to our children and those who are unfamiliar with the true value and worth of Black Life that we are not worthy of sharing this space on Earth.

I hope that you enjoy this daily dosage of positive Black things about positive Black people.