Volume VIII, Issue V
An American Story
Dinesh D’Souza, In his film America, addresses the so-called 'historian,' Howard Zinn. Zinn is required reading on the university campuses but his 'history,' while it is quick to point out the very real sins of American history, is all to quick to omit the essential core of the American narrative, that of Redemption! This omission leads the uninformed consumer of Zinn to regard America as just the ultimate manifestation of conquering Colonialism, but the entire narrative tells a different story altogether. In the midst of human weakness, a nation crafted looking to G-d for guidance, was to be the stage for triumph over evil.
Slavery was indeed a vile evil. William Wilberforce fought to eliminate it in England, but the institution stubbornly remained in America until the middle of the Nineteenth Century. The seeds of its distruction, it must be noted, had already been planted in the Declaration of Inalienable Rights first drafted by the Patriots. The departure from John Locke's original "Life, Liberty and Property" was not accidental. It marks a moment of Divine inspiration. That inspiration would see its fruition only after the country's bloodiest war, fought within our own borders.
Zinn and his disciples omit the stories of triumph, such as that of C. J. Walker, because they do not bear out the oppressor/victim narrative at all. The sad truth is that many young people are not being told the wonderful stories that might inspire them. THYME would like to change that.
A Distinctly American Story
She was born Sarah Breedlove, on December 23, 1867, on a cotton plantation near Delta, Louisiana. She was the fifth child of Owen and Minerva, who had been slaves up to the Emancipation. She was orphaned at age seven and went to live with her sister, Louvinia, and her brother-in-law in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Sarah likely picked cotton and did other manual labor but when she was fourteen, she married Moses McWilliams. On June 6, 1885, their daughter A'Leila was born. Two years later, Sarah became a widow. She and A'Lelia moved to St. Louis, where Sarah's brothers were barbers. Working as a laundress, Sarah made enough money to send her daughter to the city school. She herself attended public night school whenever she was able to. It was in St. Louis that Sarah Breedlove met her second husband Charles J. Walker. He worked in advertising and would later become the promoter of her hair care business.
When Sarah Breedlove developed a scalp disorder that resulted in the loss of most of her hair, she experimented with home remedies and patent medicines in an effort to cure it. In 1905, she became a salesperson for Annie Turnbo Malone in Denver, who had developed a line of hair care products for African-American women. By 1907 she had developed her own line of products. Opening her first factory in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 1908, she also opened a beauty school to train her "Walker Agents," who instructed local operators in the best use of her products. She saw her mission as more than producing products. She saw her beauty care products as a means of elevating the status of Black women and became active in philanthropic work as well. The whole operation was later moved to Indianapolis, Indiana where the business continued to grow.
C. J. Walker them moved to Harlem in New York City. She and her daughter A'Lelia became an important part of the 'Harlem Renaissance.' She died on May 25, 1919. She was but 51 years old, yet her personal journey had taken her to such heights that she remains an inspiration to all who know her story.
A child plays in the rubble of Yarmouk. Photo by Jonathan Messing.
Children in a World of Troubles
Yarmouk was home to the largest Palestinian refugee community in the country before the conflict began. 180,000 Palestinian civilians called it home. Now only 20,000 remain. Food and medical supplies are routinely denied entry and starvation is one of the three main causes of death. Recently, in the Jarabulus area, 22 people were killed and thrown into the streets to instill fear in the population. Some of them were children." -- Jonathan Messing
Massacre at Yarmouk [click to read]
I was informed last Friday that there were Unaccompanied Child Immigrants (UCI) at the Shenandoah Juvenile Detention Center in Verona. Like most others, I had read the newspapers and heard the news reports about these children, but now they were here in my district. I called the detention center and set up an appointment to meet some of these children.
I arrived at the Juvenile Detention Center Monday morning at 8 am. I had the opportunity to meet five illegal immigrant children, look into their welfare, and hear their stories. It was a heart-breaking experience." -- David Karaffa
Illegal Immigrant Children in Verona [click to read].
The Islamic State last week issued an ultimatum to the Christians in the town of Mosul, the second largest city in Iraq, ordering them to convert to Islam, pay a religious tax or face death. The statement by the leader of the Islamic State, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, warned that the Christians had until Saturday to “leave the borders of the Islamic Caliphate.” He added that, “After this date, there is nothing between us and them but the sword.” Messages warning Christians about the ultimatum were announced through loudspeakers on the city’s mosques. Church leaders advised the few families who wanted to negotiate with terrorist that they should also flee for their own safety. The exodus went on in Mosul throughout Friday, with all the Christians abandoning the town by the end of the day. “For the first time in the history of Iraq, Mosul is now empty of Christians,” said one man. "We have lived in this city and we have had a civilization for thousands of years - and suddenly some strangers came and expelled us from our homes," a woman in her 60s told media sources. “Hundreds were walking on foot,” said a bishop in the neighboring city of Tel Keif. He said many of them were bereft of all money or possessions - and that ISIS had robbed them of all of their belongings before setting off for refugee camps. (Israel National News/Reuters) Where is the outcry from the Christian world about what's happening to the Christians in Iraq? Where is the UN? Where are the evangelicals? Where are the Jews and the protesters who so quickly come against Israel!" -- JNN News
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