Sojourner's Place supports the efforts of the Black and Missing but Not Forgotten blog.

Speak the Truth!

Obliged to you for hearing me, and now old SjP ain't got nothing more to say.

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It seems that every night you come upon me. You bring an uncontrollable feeling resulting in an insatiable desire to throw back covers and tear off every stitch of clothing I have on. You come in the same way each and every night. No deviation. Like clockwork. You start at my the tips of my toes. First, only a warm - even a glowing type sensation. Your sensation moves slowly through body until - it seems - you reach deep down into the very depths of my soul, I say "Yes, I remember you. I'm ready for you tonight. I'm going to just lie here while you have your way with me. Cause I can't stop the feeling".

WTH did you think I was talking about? LOL!

Speak the Truth!

Obliged to you for hearing me, and now old SjP ain't got nothing more to say.

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Heavenly Father,

We pray for those whose lives are lived on the margins of nations and suffer from the wars that others fight around them. We pray for the warring factions, that they may see themselves under the gaze of God and those who suffer for their cause. We pray for the peoples of Darfur who are haunted by fear of violence, hunger and hopelessness, that they may continue to be fed, visited and defended. We pray for the work of peacekeepers, negotiators and the humanitarian organisations that security may prevail. We pray for the Government of Sudan and for her unity. We pray for peace in the name of him who is the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

We do well to reflect on that experience of southern Sudan as we pray for Darfur today. We are all under judgement in how we exercise the power we have, whether it is great or small. When in Matthew’s gospel the disciples asked Jesus when they visited him in prison, or when they saw him naked or hungry, he replied, “When you clothed, visited and fed the least of your brothers and sisters you did so to me.

So my prayer as a Christian is that we may live internationally as we seek to live locally: that we are all children of God, with no more or less value in the eyes of God than those whose names and villages we do not know.

For today's Sunday Inspiration, in conjunction with the Am I Not Human? Campaign, I urge all Sojourners to remember our fellow men, women, and children who are fighting for not only their freedom but their very lives in Darfur. Find out more information about the Am I Not Human? Campaign at Sojourner's Place and Roots of Humanity.

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It’s Friday and that means it’s Old School Friday! Not sure if the theme for this week is Girl Groups or Make Up songs, but I think my selections qualify for both. By now, most of you are very familiar with my the OSF genre coming from SjP’s. Bet you’re expecting something really old like Martha and the Vandellas or the Supremes. Nope! Not this week. Not too old…I’m in the 80s this week with one of my all time favorite Girl Groups, The Emotions!

I Don’t Wanna Lose Your Love

You Got the Best of My Love

Speak the Truth!

Obliged to you for hearing me, and now old SjP ain't got nothing more to say.

Mrs. Grapevine and Ms. Marvalus are the creators of this bloggie meme. Click here for more info.

I'm about to pass out over her at SjP's. I went to Black TV Online so I could cast my vote for fellow AfroSpear blog "Black Women in Europe" a nominee for the Best European Blog. After doing so, I decided to browse thru the other categories and cast my vote for several I knew would be nominated. I get to the Best Online Commentator and I see Sojourner's Place. I say to myself "d*mn! somebody done gone and stole the name of my blog!"

With a neck snap and a head roll I click on the url to see just how long this Sojourner's Place had been open. Operating on the "wish factor" I'm wishing this blog started after Januray 1, 2008 and is on blogspot. So, I'm sitting here waiting for this chick's site to load and D*AMN! Not only did she take my name, but....WAIT! Oh S*IT OH MY! SAY WHAT?! YOU GOT TO BE KIDDING! ITS ME!

Sojourner's Place has been nominated for the 2009 Black Web Award for Best Online Commentator. Given the quality and depth of other nominees in this category, well, let me just say that it is an honor just to be nominated.

I urge you to go to the 2009 Black Web Awards site and cast your vote for your favorite blogs. You'll find many of them nominated and you can even "write-in" your favorites. In fact, your blog may be among them - so you'll want to be sure and check. Voting ends in October and you want vote early and often. Here are some that you won't want to over look:

Best Black Website Directory
Most Important Site for Black America
Best Online Commentator
Best Black European Site
Best Black Blog Directory
Best Blog
Best Blog – Africa
Best Blog – Culture
Best Blog – Education
Most Original Blog
Best Lifestyle Blog
Best Business & Political Blog
Best Christian Blog
Best Gossip Blog or site
Best Site for Black Athletes

Congratulations to all of the nominees. All are very deserving...perhaps, with the exception of one {smile}. But, much obliged to the individual who thought Sojourner's Place deserving of such a distinguished honor.

Speak the Truth!

Obliged to you for hearing me, and now old SjP ain't got nothing more to say.
> > >SjP's truth continues

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UPDATE: NAMIA FOUND SAFE!!! THIS IS WONDERFUL NEWS!

LORIS, SC (WIS) - Officials from the Loris Police Department say Marco Vaught has been caught in Brunswick County, North Carolina.Authorities say Evette Vaught and her 2-year-old daughter Namia Vaught are okay.SLED Officials issued an AMBER Alert for Namia early Saturday morning.Officials say Namia had gone missing along with her mother Evette. According to authorities, 25-year-old Marco Murice Vaught came to Evette's father's home and forced the two to go with him.The couple's 11-year-old daughter ran to a neighbor's house.The neighbor, Ellamae Miller, said the girl arrived at her house asking for help."She told me that her mother said she needs some help. Her husband was over there trying to get her out of the house. And she was screaming and so upset, hollering for help, and so I told her to go on and call 911, and she called the police," Miller said. "I just gave her the phone and she was telling them please hurry, come on, come on. Please come on. She needs help."

Case Type: Family Abduction -- Case Number: NCMC1100891
Missing Date: Jul 19, 2008 -- Missing From: LORIS, SC

DOB: Sep 19, 2005 -- Sex: Female -- Age Now: 2
Height: 2'6" (76 cm) -- Weight: 22 lbs (10 kg)
Hair Color: Black -- Eye Color: Brown

Circumstances: Namia and her mother, Evette Vaught, were last seen on July 18, 2008. They may be in the company of an adult male relative.

Sojourner's Place supports the efforts of Black and Missing but Not Forgotten.

Speak the Truth!

Obliged to you for hearing me, and now old SjP ain't got nothing more to say.

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Throughout the day, I have heard McCain's proclamation that he would rather win the war than win the presidency. I cringed every time I heard it because the images of of a war-torn land, displace families, wounded, dying, and dead Americans and Iraqis, and mayhem entered my minds eye. I ask, win the war? At what price? For what result? And what constitutes a "win" in Iraq?

McCain has often been characterized as a war-monger and his obsession with winning the war in Iraq could certainly be considered further evidence of this characteristic. But, I think not. I say this, not in jest, but in real concern for a human being who - in my opinion - is suffering from a type of self-loathing much akin to Lt. Dan in Forrestt Gump. As you might recall, Lt. Dan was from a military family. In fact, Lt. Dan's fraternal military ancestry could be traced from the Revolutionary War to World War II. Dan felt that it was not only his destiny - but his "right and privilege" to die a soldier's death - as his ancestors before him - in combat during the Viet Nam War. When his life was saved by Forrestt, he felt cheated of his destiny.

What does that have to do with McCain you ask? McCain, unlike his own military ancestral line in the wars prior to Viet Nam, saw very little combat spending 5 years in a POW camp. While It is reported - and one should suspect - that at any given moment McCain could have feared for his life - he was not exposed to the ground war, potential for hand to hand combat, land mines, sniper fire, and the like. In addition, he is unable, unlike his forefathers, boast with pride of being a soldier in an honorable war in which America was victorious.

I believe that this war in Iraq, represents to McCain a way in which he can re-write his military biography. A biography must end with Americans returning home amid thousands of confetti throwing citizens cheering a victorious end to the war. And while, he himself can't go into combat, he is willing to continue to sacrifice the lives of young American men and women for a victory for his own self-fillment.

But, I ask you. What exactly does winning the war mean? Does it mean that Iraq truly becomes a non-secular democracy? Does it mean that Iraq returns to be a sovereign government? Does it mean that Iraq will be an ally against Iran or Korea? Does it mean that Iran will become a friend of Israel? Does it mean that Al-Qaida or the Taliban will not attack American and if they do, Iraq will come to our assistance? Or does victory mean that we get their oil and maintain a military presence in that region?

Perhaps if I knew the answer to these questions, I would be less inclined to believe that Senator McCain, the Republican Nominee for the President of the United States, is because of his own self-loathing trying to make every aspect of his Viet Nam service (or lack there of) right in his own mind. But, until then, I guess that I'll keep thinking that he is delusional at best or a war-monger at worst.

Speak the Truth!

Obliged to you for hearing me, and now old SjP ain't got nothing more to say.

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Speak the Truth!

Obliged to you for hearing me, and now old SjP ain't got nothing more to say.

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Speak the Truth!

Obliged to you for hearing me, and now old SjP ain't got nothing more to say.

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When Wolf Blitzer asked your girl Condi if she would reveal who she was going to vote for POTUS, she told him "no". She pulled a Colin Powell on us. Now, I can understand why Colin would remain silent - but, not the original Bush girl. I find her silence on this very interesting cause don't we all assume she's gonna vote for the Mc Man?

Here's an excerpt of Blitzer's interview:

QUESTION: ...Your immediate predecessor, Colin Powell, I interviewed him many times. But he said this to Tavis Smiley back in January about this race and about the phenomenon of Senator Barack Obama. He said this: “Let’s enjoy this moment, where a person like Barack Obama can knock down all of those old barriers that people thought existed with respect to the opportunities that are available for African Americans. And my congratulations to him.”
Now, you grew up in the segregated South. You know what racism is in our country. The fact that Barack Obama is now the Democratic presidential nominee, what does that say to you?

SECRETARY RICE: I think it’s great and I think it’s great for our country. And I do think it says that we’ve come a long way. But it’s interesting that it’s from Colin Powell. He knocked down a few barriers of his own.

QUESTION: And you did, too. You, obviously, as well.

SECRETARY RICE: He knocked down the barrier as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He knocked down the barrier as the first black Secretary of State. Yes, I’ve knocked down a few, too. It just shows that our country’s been doing this for a while. And it’s great that this last barrier, perhaps, has also come down.

QUESTION: Have you decided who to vote for?

SECRETARY RICE: Wolf, I – yes.

QUESTION: Do you want to tell us?

SECRETARY RICE: No.

QUESTION: Okay, you don’t have to.

SECRETARY RICE: Thank you.

Now, what you think about that?

Speak the Truth!

Obliged to you for hearing me, and now old SjP ain't got nothing more to say.

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Just read a very interesting and provocative article by Sophia A. Nelson, is a corporate attorney and president of iask, Inc., an organization for African American professional women. The article, entitled "Black. Female. Accomplished. Attacked." I took particular interest in this article starting with its title and then this reference to Sojourner Truth:

"Ain't I a woman?" Sojourner Truth famously asked 157 years ago. Her ringing question, demanding why black women weren't accorded the same privileges as their white counterparts, still sums up the African American woman's dilemma today: How are we viewed as women, and where do we fit into American life?

I encourage you to read this article in its entirety. Amazing insights and truism that will no doubt continue to ring unless and until the perceptions of African American women changes. I include in this post a few excerpts to wet your whistle:

A 2007 American Bar Association report titled "Visible Invisibility" describes how black women in the legal profession face the "double burden" of being both black and female, meaning that they enjoy none of the advantages that black men gain from being male, or that white women gain from being white.

At a recent such workshop, I asked the participants to list some words that would describe how they believe they're viewed in the workplace and the culture at large. These are the kinds of words that came back: "loud," "angry," "intimidating,""mean," "opinionated," "aggressive," "hard." All painful words. Yet asked to describe themselves, the same women offered gentler terms: "strong," "loving,""dependable," "compassionate."

As of 2007, according to the New YorkTimes, 70 percent of professional black women were unmarried. Black women are five times more likely than white women to be single at age 40. In 2003, Newsweek reported that there are more black women than black men (24 percent to 17 percent) in the professional-managerial class. According to Department of Education statistics cited by the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, black women earn 67 percent of all bachelor's degrees awarded to blacks, as well as 71 percent of all master's degrees and 65 percent of all doctoral degrees.

Speak the Truth!

Obliged to you for hearing me, and now old SjP ain't got nothing more to say.

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A man woke up early in order to have his morning devotion (prayer) in the Lord's house. He got dressed set on his way to the Lord's house. On his way to the church, the man fell and his clothes got dirty. He got up, brushed himself off, and headed home. At home, he changed his clothes, and was, again, on his way to the Lord's house.

On his way to the church, he fell again and at the same spot! He, again, got up, brushed himself off and headed home. At home he, once again, changed his clothes and was on his way to the Lord's house . On his way to the house of God, he met a man holding a lamp. He asked the man of his identity and the man replied 'I saw you fall twice on your way to the house of God, so I brought a lamp so I can light your way.

The first man thanked him profusely and the two were on their way to the house of God. Once at the house of God, the first man asked the man with the lamp to come in and pray with him. The second man refused.

The first man asked him a couple more times and, again, the answer was the same. The first man asked him why he did not wish to come in and pray. The man replied, 'I am Satan'.

The man was shocked at this reply. Satan went on to explain, 'I saw you on your way to the house of God and it was I who made you fall. When you went home, cleaned yourself and went back on your way to the house of God, God forgave all of your sins. I made you fall a second time, and even that did not encourage you to stay home, but rather, you went back on your way to Church. Because of that, God forgave all the sins of the people of your household. I was afraid if I made you fall one more time, then God will forgive the sins of the people of your village, so I made sure that you reached the house of God safely. '

So do not let Satan benefit from his actions. Do not put off the good you intended to do as you never know how much reward you might receive from the hardships you encounter while trying to achieve that good.

Speak the Truth!

Obliged to you for hearing me, and now old SjP ain't got nothing more to say.




More Sunday Inspirations Participants:

Afroamericawriter - Bria - Georgia's Angels - Hagar's Daughter - Marvalus - msladydeborah - Villager - Mrs Grapevine - Talulazoeapple - The78MsJ > > >SjP's truth continues

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Sojourner’s Place opened for business officially on January 1, 2008. Guess ole SjP might be doing something right, cause ya’ll have humbled me with the awards, kudos, and recognitions shown below. Please take some time to visit my blogging friends who felt Sojourner's Place worthy. Much Obliged!

2009 Awards, Honors, & Kudos	Helping Hand Emblem from Revvy Rev of The Certain Sound & Regina of Regina's Family Seasons	Noblesse Oblige Award from Mimi Lenox of Mimi Writes
Life is Grand Award from StaciPC & underOvr (aka The U)	Splash Award from Villager of Electronic Village	Shades of Black and White from Shirl of Shades of Black and White
This space reserved if Sojourner's Place is found worthy in 2009	This space reserved if Sojourner's Place is found worthy in 2009	This space reserved if Sojourner's Place is found worthy in 2009
This space reserved if Sojourner's Place is found worthy in 2009	This space reserved if Sojourner's Place is found worthy in 2009	This space reserved if Sojourner's Place is found worthy in 2009
This space reserved if Sojourner's Place is found worthy in 2009	This space reserved if Sojourner's Place is found worthy in 2009	This space reserved if Sojourner's Place is found worthy in 2009
This space reserved if Sojourner's Place is found worthy in 2009	This space reserved if Sojourner's Place is found worthy in 2009	This space reserved if Sojourner's Place is found worthy in 2009

2008 Awards, Honors, & Kudos	Blog of the Day Award	Rose Award from Marvalus of The Marvalus View
"E" for Excellent Award from Yobachi of BlackPerspective.net	Sharing the Love Award from Regina of Regina’s Family Seasons	Arte y Pico Award from Zenobia of From the Battlefield…
Emblem of the Helping Hand from of Hagar’s Daughters	Best Commentator Nominee & Winner!	The Rising Blogger Award Mimi Lenox of Mimi Writes for Saggin' Pants
Just Brilliant Award for "Slave" Narratives from Isabella Mori of Change Therapy. Also received from Ajuan of Black on Campus, Pjazzpar of Traces of a Stream, & Blog Queen of Sagacious Rambling	The Honest Blogger Award from Believer1964 of Miscellaneous Matters	Best Faith-Based from Wayne of Electronic Village
Friendship Award from Mimi Lenox of Mimi Writes	I Love Your Blog from Wayne of Electronic Village	Superior Scribbler Award from Ms Lady Deborah of From My Brown Eyed View
UberAmazing Blog Award from Clnmike of The Happy Go Lucky Bachelor	2008 BEST POSTS OF THE YEAR Crossing To A Destination Yet Unknown	Much Obliged! Very Much Obliged for the Love! SjP

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