….This is a story about my brother Rocky classmates Grandmother who is 107 years young….in 1915, when she was only 7….Ms. Mamie Kirkland and her family fled Ellisville, Miss, in fear that her father would be lynched and she swore never to return….they went on to Illinois….where white mobs rioted….to Ohio where the Klan raised torches….and then on to western New York where she and her steelworker husband had nine children…..at the Jones County Courthouse (built in 1908) stood a marble Confederate soldier facing north in defiance…her earliest memory of Ellisville is her being sick with typhomalatial fever….the doctor gave up on her….her grandmother gave Mamie a mysterious herbal drink and it worked….her father Edward Lang (a laborer and aspiring minister) woke everyone up at 12:30 and told his wife he had to leave…family lore has it that people wanted to lynch her father and a friend (John Hartfield)….the two men fled that night….the rest of the family left by train in the morning…they settled in East St. Louis….Mr. Hartfield returned to Ellisville to be with his white girlfriend…this is undocumented family gospel…but what is documented is this…on June 26, 1919 white townspeople lynched him for allegedly raping a white woman….the front page of the Jackson Daily News announced what time the lynching would occur…and thousands of people came to watch….he was dragged to a tree…hanged…a rain of bullets attacked his dead body…he fell to the ground and was set on fire…some people took body parts as souvenirs….her family survived the riots in East St. Louis…where rioting white men burned down black neighborhoods and shot those trying to flee….on to Alliance, Ohio and the Ku Klux Klan…one night they came to their house holding torches and wearing robes and threaten to burn their house down….their German neighbor told them don’t worry…and pulled out a handgun he was willing to use to protect them….at the age of 15 Mamie married 21 year old Albert Kirkland in 1923 and had nine children…six who reached adulthood and most becoming college-educated professionals….their marriage lasted 35 years…three months and 16 days…Albert died suddenly in his mid-fifties…and there was never another man in her life….and Mayor Tim Waldrup of Ellisville sat in awe while she told him her life story….he assured her that things have changed and everyone pretty much gets along….black and white…as Ms. Kirkland was preparing to leave the Mayor let her know she was always welcomed in Ellisville and said;… “You leave when you get ready…and not when someone is telling you to.”…hey Rocky…make sure you tell Jeffery to give his Grandmother a big kiss…for sharing this piece of history with everyone.
TRANSGENDERS…..I don’t have a problem….if Bruce finally came to terms with himself….and Cher’s daughter also….fine by me…be happy….and I swear if one of you start singing that damn song….I’m gonna bop ya….anyway,….the problem….which I think will rise in the future is….honesty….should someone have to reveal the truth to their partner or will they think they will automatically accept it….because that didn’t work out too well for a woman in Asia when her partner….who was madly in love with her found out the truth…and killed her…students in schools are protesting….and parents are disowning their children….and lately there’s a photo going around of four black Transgender men…and if you look at this pic you will say “DAMN”….because they are four beautiful women…and fellas if you saw them in the club….you would want to say hi….if I was up in the club I would say hi….they are beautiful….now ask yourself what would you do once the two of you were alone and you found out….things ain’t what you thought they were?….most of you would freak out…and ladies…think about it too…I have a feeling 20….30 years from now it won’t make as much of a fuss as it does right now….but I think someone should be honest and inform the person.
AND OFF TO THE WORLD OF THE STUPID….
Student accused of being a terrorist for reading a book on terrorism
Irish Paralympian fighting to become Australian citizen held back by English language test
Man was accused of trying to pull Earth out of its orbit
Matthew McConaughey’s brother gets year supply of beer for naming son Miller Lyte
80-year-old man builds a “dog train” to take homeless pets on an adventure
Enraged white man claims he settled Brooklyn for Yuppies
Man jailed after filming “no filming” sign in court
Couple gets $2 million dollar cell phone bill
China: Theme park devoted to British teddy bears
Motorist receives $40,000 settlement after police officer tickets her for having HIV Roger Federer fan wakes from 11-year coma, is stunned he is still a major player
Iowa school board candidate runs unopposed, still gets no votes
Man who led police on high-speed chase admits he learned to drive on his Playstation
Man sexually attracted to playground equipment banned from anywhere with a slide
Chimps like movies starring people in ape suits
Former executive “Fruitcake” gets 10 years for $16 million money-launder case; his wife “Cupcake” gets probation
Huckabee: “Refugees may just want cable TV”
The South China Sea is ours because it’s got “China” in the name, Chinese Admiral says
Man with no name finally knows real identity
Drunk cowboy: “Horse knows the way home”
Jackson, Mississippi looks for heaven to fill its potholes
Humane Society accidentally leaves dog in a hot car
Omaha woman gives men $5,000 to show she trust them; they split
Father launches campaign to find son’s hit and run driver only to realize he was responsible
Norwegian politicians propose putting refugees on Svalbard – remote Arctic Island with more polar bears than people
Antonio Banderas is going to fashion school so he can bring capes back to menswear