First, there’s lots of craziness to the President and threats of harm on his life. I have also had conversations with several folks lately that were so angry at people and situations. These people were talking about retaliation that could have led to a harmful outcome for all parties involved.
What’s interesting about feelings of anger and frustration to the point of retaliation is the underlying emotions that drive the reaction to begin with.

In the case of the vicious threats and name calling around the President, the underlying emotion is one of fear, loss, defeat and helplessness. The same is the case with some of the people I had conversations with. As a matter of fact, the unspoken emotions are what are actually louder than the voice of anger. We are all human and we all at times experience emotions that frankly we just don’t know what to do with. And if we are not careful, succumbing to anger can be the easier out. The problem with that is, when the blow-up has ended, a lot of regrettable things could have been said or done. At that point, it’s too late.

Early on, some of the great teachers in my life would always encourage me to rely on the scriptures to grow and develop in the feelings and emotions of my life. Admittedly, at the time I didn’t put as much stock into the recommendation as my life has since taught me to rely on.

The truth of the matter is, life can be full of criticism, disappointment, unfairness, and mistreatment, lying, cheating and stealing. If we focus on those things, we can expect to experience emotions that may not be in our best interest. But if we purposely seek to discover and encourage the best in people and situations, our lives can be filled with more joy and positive expectation.

Keeping our mind set on things that are good while expecting positive outcomes is helpful in living a balanced life. Staying present in our own lives, recognizing stress, responding rather than reacting, stopping to think and pray through situations, as well as, engaging in conversation rather than arguing can lead to clearer understanding paving the way toward forgiveness even if we cannot forget.

I have dug my heels in at times and spouted off, “it will be a cold day in ………,” and then I have to stop and think, how many times have I had to go before the Lord asking for forgiveness and what a heck of mess I would be in, if He responded, “it will be a cold day in……..!” Psalm 37:8 (NIV), sums it all up, “Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil.

There is so much going on in our midst, it is possible that we feel tense in our neighborhoods, in our homes and schools and on our jobs. If we all slow down and stop and think, while praying for our families, our jobs, our friends and our country, together we can change the atmosphere.
Sounds like a plan to me, what about you?

Tanya is an inspirational speaker and writer living in Charlotte. You can friend her on Facebook or email her at tw360you@aol.com. Read more columns by Tanya Wilson.

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Tanya Wilson is an inspirational speaker and writer living in Charlotte. To learn more about her visit www.360you.net.

Read:Game Show Network To Create Bible Based Show

“We are excited to work with TLC to profile the lives of these strong-willed women,” True Entertainment president Steven Weinstock says. “With most praise in religious communities directed towards male preachers, we are thrilled to give these remarkable ladies the spotlight they crave and deserve.”

The series will not only follow the women as they play out their role as preacher’s wives in the congregation, but also give a view of their home lives and how they balance both roles.

True Entertainment’s Weinstock and Glenda Hersh will serve as executive producers. The production company’s projects also include OWN’s Season 25: Oprah Behind the Scenes and Unfaithful, Logo’s The A-List,  and Bravo’s Platinum Hit. TLC did not announce a projected airdate.

Read: Popular Pastor Says TD Jakes Is The Worst Thing For Black Church!

The series marks the network’s entire into the type of programming that has become the half-billion dollar reality gold of the Real Housewives franchise for Bravo, a formula that has been picked up by several other networks like VH1 and its Basketball Wives.

Make sure to follow Elev8 on twitter for updates.

James Langston Hughes was born February 1, 1902, in Joplin, Missouri. His parents divorced when he was a small child, and his father moved to Mexico. His grandmother raised him until he was thirteen, when he moved to Lincoln, Illinois, to live with his mother and her husband, before the family eventually settled in Cleveland, Ohio. It was in Lincoln, Illinois, that Hughes began writing poetry. Following graduation, he spent a year in Mexico and a year at Columbia University. During these years, he held odd jobs as an assistant cook, launderer, and a busboy, and traveled to Africa and Europe working as a seaman. In November 1924, he moved to Washington, D.C. Hughes’s first book of poetry, The Weary Blues, was published by Alfred A. Knopf in 1926. He finished his college education at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania three years later. In 1930 his first novel, Not Without Laughter, won the Harmon gold medal for literature.

Hughes, who claimed Paul Lawrence Dunbar, Carl Sandburg, and Walt Whitman as his primary influences, is particularly known for his insightful, colorful portrayals of black life in America from the twenties through the sixties. He wrote novels, short stories and plays, as well as poetry, and is also known for his engagement with the world of jazz and the influence it had on his writing, as in Montage of a Dream Deferred. His life and work were enormously important in shaping the artistic contributions of the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s. Unlike other notable black poets of the period—Claude McKay, Jean Toomer, and Countee Cullen, Hughes refused to differentiate between his personal experience and the common experience of black America. He wanted to tell the stories of his people in ways that reflected their actual culture, including both their suffering and their love of music, laughter, and language itself.

Langston Hughes died of complications from prostate cancer in May 22, 1967, in New York. In his memory, his residence at 20 East 127th Street in Harlem, New York City, has been given landmark status by the New York City Preservation Commission, and East 127th Street has been renamed “Langston Hughes Place.”

In addition to leaving us a large body of poetic work, Hughes wrote eleven plays and countless works of prose, including the well-known “Simple” books: Simple Speaks His Mind, Simple Stakes a Claim, Simple Takes a Wife, and Simple’s Uncle Sam. He edited the anthologies The Poetry of the Negro and The Book of Negro Folklore, wrote an acclaimed autobiography, The Big Sea and co-wrote the play Mule Bone with Zora Neale Hurston.

A Selected Bibliography

Poetry

Ask Your Mama: 12 Moods for Jazz (1961)
Collected Poems of Langston Hughes (1994)
Dear Lovely Death (1931)
Fields of Wonder (1947)
Fine Clothes to the Jew (1927)
Freedom’s Plow (1943)
Montage of a Dream Deferred (1951)
One-Way Ticket (1949)
Scottsboro Limited (1932)
Selected Poems (1959)
Shakespeare in Harlem (1942)
The Dream Keeper and Other Poems (1932)
The Panther and the Lash: Poems of Our Times (1967)
The Weary Blues (1926)

Prose

Good Morning, Revolution: Uncollected Social Protest Writings by Langston Hughes (1973)
I Wonder as I Wander (1956)
Laughing to Keep From Crying (1952)
Not Without Laughter (1930)
Remember Me to Harlem: The Letters of Langston Hughes and Carl Van Vechten, 1925-1964 (2001)
Simple Speaks His Mind (1950)
Simple Stakes a Claim (1957)
Simple Takes a Wife (1953)
Simple’s Uncle Sam (1965)
Something in Common and Other Stories (1963)
Tambourines to Glory (1958)
The Arna Bontemps-Langston Hughes Letters (1980)
The Big Sea (1940)
The Langston Hughes Reader (1958)
The Ways of White Folks (1934)

Drama

Black Nativity (1961)
Collected Works of Langston Hughes, vol. 5: The Plays to 1942: Mulatto to The Sun Do Move (2000)
Don’t You Want to Be Free? (1938)
Five Plays by Langston Hughes (1963)
Little Ham (1935)
Mulatto (1935)
Mule Bone (1930)
Simply Heavenly (1957)
Soul Gone Home (1937)
The Political Plays of Langston Hughes (2000)

Poetry in Translation

Cuba Libre (1948)
Gypsy Ballads (1951)
Selected Poems of Gabriela Mistral (1957)

Translation

Masters of the Dew (1947)

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In the 2007 Super Bowl, quarterback Eli Manning managed to escape the grasp of Green and completed a pass to David Tyree that would later result in a winning score. The end result was a 17-14 loss for the Patriots to the Giants.

Green couldn’t sleep for weeks because of that play and would sometimes wake up in cold sweats. Today, he’s still wide awake to watch the rematch of the Giants and the Patriots, hoping for redemption.

NewsOne: What are the differences between the team today and what are their chances?

Jarvis Green: There are seven guys from the ’07 year that are still there now, and they are a very important part of the chemistry of the team. Of course, they’re also older players.

I think what’s different is that we have a really strong defense compared to then, so that’s the biggest thing. [The Giants have] an Eli Manning. He had a helluva game in ’07, but he’s playing probably the best football of his career this year, so that makes a difference.

I think the front seven this year is better than the front seven we had in ’07. They got a good line. I think the biggest thing for this upcoming game is they get rid of the ball and make some big plays.

NewsOne: What do you think the Patriots need to look out for?

JG: I think the pass rush and watching them dive on second and third down, because the Giants have plenty of good cornerbacks. Also, they have to make sure that Gronkowski, the big tight end, doesn’t get jammed, if he gets jammed, the game is over.

NewsOne: What do you think the Giants should look out for?

JG: They need to look out for their tight end, make sure not to allow [quarterback] Tom Brady to get hot, and also I think the sleeper of the game are the running backs. If the Giants rush the way they rush the middle, it’s going to be pretty much wide open for them to get in there and have a power running attack.

NewsOne: Do you think the momentum is that much stronger because of the momentum from 2007?

JG: I think so. I remember I talked with one of my friends that owns a restaurant at the stadium and she said the pep rally had 25,000 people in the stands. I said that was probably the biggest crowd ever. I think it’s gonna something different.

NewsOne: What’s your prediction?

JG: I gotta say that with these two teams, it’s not gonna be a blowout. It’s gonna be a helluva game all the way down to the wire.

NewsOne: Talk about that 2007 game. What were some of the major mistakes for the Patriots?
JG: The major mistake was that the Giants got to Brady a lot. He played the game on his back. We had a lot of momentum changes in the game.  We played them all the way through the entire game until that last drive—I think that changed my life. After that game I didn’t sleep at all, because I kept replaying that play.

NewsOne: Do you think there’s more momentum for the Patriots or are people rooting for the Giants?

JG: I know when I played, people loved to hate us because they thought we were too successful. It’s sad because the Giants beat the Patriots this year, but who is the underdog for this Super Bowl? The best team is gonna win. That’s all I can say.

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Jennifer Hudson recently released a book titled “I Got This,” an inspirational memoir. During recent book signing Jennifer shared her thoughts on life, saying:

“If it’s meant to be it will be.”

“What God has for you is for you.”

“When you look back on things and wonder why they didn’t work out, and then they finally do, you say to yourself, it worked out the way it was suppose to. Thank you God. You always know the best for my life!”

Watch the video

“Duck Behind God, When The Crazy Starts Flying”

D (Dodge) U (underdeveloped) C (consciousness) K (kindly) – Iyanla Vanzant

Make sure that you are following Elev8 on twitter and chatting with us in facebook. We love hearing from you.

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Part II

I had no idea who Tyler Perry was when I first saw him perform in his stage play “Diary of a Mad Black Woman” at the Fox Theater in Detroit 11 years ago. A friend of mine had some extra tickets and invited me to see this tall Black man dress up as a sassy pistol-packing grandma named “Madea.”

“It’s really good,” my friend told me. “You gotta come see it.”

With nothing to do that night, I reluctantly said, Yes, but my expectations were rather low. Neither Eddie Murphy’s “Nutty Professor” nor Martin Lawrence’s “Big Mama’s House” tickled my fancy, so I was not expecting much nourishment from seeing another brotha dramatize our already hyper-stereotyped Black women.

But, quite surprisingly, the play’s pronounced Christian themes and “I-can-do-all-things-through-Christ” narrative evoked the worst memories of my teenage battles of low self-esteem and bouts with an emotionally and physically abusive relative. More importantly, the play made me believe I could actually heal inside and share my newfound joy, unashamedly, with the rest of the world.

When Perry walked out onstage dressed in fresh Air Force Ones, jeans, and a well-fitted print sweater, the shoulder-to-shoulder packed audience erupted in thunderous applause. And so did I.

“Hollywood doesn’t know who you are and doesn’t care to know you,” he said. “Thank you so much for coming out to support this play and I have much more in store for you.” He spoke several minutes more before thanking us again and leaving the stage with his small yet committed cast of Black actors and actresses.

I bet no one in the audience thought that Perry would go on to turn that gospel-infused stage drama into a multimillion-dollar media empire. That succes was to go to the highly educated John Singletons and Spike Lees of the world — not Perry, a high school dropout without a single academic credit from a fancy film school in L.A. or New York.

(He did eventually earn his GED.)

Somehow Perry, who spent time living in his car while trying to transfer his notebook-written script to a stage, found his own audience, cultivated it, and made films that drew them into theaters nationwide by the millions. Unlike many Black directors before him, Perry didn’t look to Hollywood for approval. He sought and earned the support of a particular segment of the African-American community that affords him the independence to film and finance his own films in Atlanta, however he wishes, without needing a single dime from an L.A. studio.

Unlike Spike Lee, Perry’s sharpest critic (and hater), he didn’t waste time “fighting the power.” He sought the support of his own people and became a power broker instead.

Tyler Perry doesn’t try and cast his films with highly paid actors and actresses he cannot afford to pay. He hires great talent and keeps them working. His directorial taste is indeed an acquired one, but as one critic says, “[His films] are a force of nature.”

And I am certainly not suggesting that we should support Perry just because he is Black. You do not have to like his films. (I mean, not every white person likes Quentin Tarantino.)

Still, critics shouldn’t denigrate his work just because it doesn’t reflect Afro-centric renditions of Shakespeare, and they shouldn’t chalk up his success to “the white man has anointed him the Negro of Hollywood because he creates films that make Blacks look like buffoons.”

Remember, the brotha is based in Georgia.

What these critics fail to consider is that it is Perry that brings Black audiences to the box office. He does not ask White executives in California to do that for him. But even as Perry racks in strong box office numbers and continues to maintain a devoted fan base, his films are criticized for having weak character development, being poorly written, and lacking intellectual depth.

For many people, Perry will never be good enough. But Perry doesn’t care about many people. He cares about a particular segment of his people. In turn, they love and support him unconditionally.

Rather than critiquing his films and wondering, “Why does Perry do so well making these “crappy movies,’” you should be asking him, “How do I get millions of people to support my work just like they support your work?”

It is the distinction in these two questions that determines whether you are a business man or simply jealous. Or more accurately, a hater. Many people commented in my Spike Lee article that Perry’s critics are not haters. Perhaps, but if you are still confused, let me break it down for you:

Objective critic: “I do not like the way Black women are often depicted as down-trodden sistas struggling to get over herself to find a good, educated Black man who actually likes sistas. There needs to be more intellectual development in his female characters.”

Fair enough.

Hater: “I made a film about dignified African Americans and Black folks didn’t come see it, but they go see Tyler Perry.”

See the difference?

Perry may never be considered a candidate for an Oscar or Golden Globe. Most successful directors aren’t, and to be honest, I do not think Perry really cares. I am sure he would be pleased if his work one day earns one of those golden statuettes, but you don’t see him crying or cussing to high heaven about it, do you?

When reporters asked Perry why he didn’t go the Hollywood route, he replied, “I didn’t want to play the game.” So he became a game changer. And if you do not like the “games” Perry has created, fine. Don’t hate the playa.’ And don’t even hate the game. Create your own.

And on that note, may Madea say, “Amen,” and “Halleluyer.”

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In order to maintain its existence, we need to expeditiously reinvigorate our economic equality. There is no time to waste. We are at risk. American households and small businesses are threatened to make ends meet. Now, is the time if we want to start reshaping our families, businesses, and economy, said Jackson.

Jackson, who is hosting his 15th annual Wall Street Project in New York City, is focusing on ways to make things better for America’s beleaguered middle class. The event, which ends Friday, focuses on bringing  everyone to the table in a bid for economic fairness. The founder and president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition sat down with NewsOne to discuss why economic equality is needed more than ever in the United States.

NewsOne: The theme of this year’s Wall Street Project sounds similar to what President Barack Obama talked about in his State of the Union Address. What are your concerns regarding this country’s middle class?

Jesse Jackson: There are clear patterns of discrimination against Blacks and Latinos. The big banks targeted Blacks and Latinos with toxic packages of subprime predatory lending. Your house is your first small business. It’s where your investment is and [where] our greatest asset is. The wiping out of millions of homes took away Black and Brown wealth. It drove poverty, it drove unemployment, it drove people to food stamps.

The Black public sector middle class teachers, policeman, firemen, and post office workers, those jobs have been on the decline but there hasn’t been a corresponding increase in the private sector. What is especially painful is government policy bailed out the banks without making them make reinvestments for rebuilding. The result is 53-million Americans are food insecure, 50-million Americans are in poverty, 44 million are on food stamps, 26 million are looking for a job.  We must renew the economy from the bottom up, not top down.

NewsOne: How do you correct the issues that have negatively affected the middle class?

Jackson: The major companies got bailed out by the government so the victims should get bailed out by the government. The lack of oversight was what allowed the banks to run amok. The bankers who drove homeowners into foreclosure and churches into foreclosure never faced a judge. They faced small fines like Countrywide, but the fines did not correspond to what they stole. The fines became the cost of doing business as oppossed to a detterent. You really need a renewed commitment for the direct investment of jobs at the bottom.

You are not going to revive the unemployment of 26 million Americans with tax cuts. There was a direct jobs program from the Rooselvelt administration in the 1930s. The Justice Department has set up a task force to investigate the banks and the mortgage crisis but that’s a little too late. Whenever they report they will report the obvious. It will be too late to impact the people who need the help the most. We’ve known about mortgage fraud for four years.

NewsOne: What did you think about President Obama’s economic proposals in his State of the Union Address?

Jackson: President Obama projects a strong offense, but he faces a rebellious Congress focused on state’s rights. The interest right now is taking resources back to the state and allowing the minority to have tyranny over the minority. It’s an ideological power grab. It’s like in this Congressional rebellion they are willing to sink the ship to destroy the captain. You look at the Super PAC ads and they are attacking each other. They are not attacking poverty or the lack of health care. They are not attacking issues that matter. They are not discussing how to get people back to their houses.

NewsOne: Why is President Obama so vulnerable?

Jackson: This is such a toxic environment. Look at how the governor of Arizona puts her finger in his face. How disrespectful can you be to anyone, not to mention the President of the United States. That is profoundly disrespectful. It’s not unlike the Congress calling him a liar or Gingrich calling him a food stamp president who comes from some tribe in Kenya. They question his citizenship and his credentials. This is the most-toxic environment that we’ve known in a century.

NewsOne: Talk about one thing that needs to happen in the next few years to give the middle class a chance at recovery.

Jackson: The first thing that has to happen is the protection of voting rights and registration. If the right wing has their way and state’s rights control voting rights, they would remove protections that make it difficult for seniors to vote. It would be harder for students to vote on campus. These are attempts to suppress acts of voting. There are 16-million Blacks registered to vote but 10 million are unregistered. The 10-million unregistered voters may be the key to the election.

The election of President Obama or the right wing will determine what happens in the next few years. They want state’s rights again, they want to remove voting rights protection, they want to undermine Medicare and Medicaid and Social Security. All the infrastructure Lyndon Johnson put in place is vulnerable to a right-wing controlled Congress and White House. The stakes are very high. That’s the bad news.

The good news is that we have the power to fight back. When this happened in the past we didn’t have the right to vote. We couldn’t get into the stadium. We went to bat without a bat. But now we can swing the bat. We can hit the ball, but you have to come out of the dugout and fight. No one has earned the right to do less than their best.

NewsOne: Although the Black middle class has been disproportionately affected by the financial meltdown, isn’t the entire middle class of all races and ethnicities at risk?

Jackson: The liberation of Blacks is not for Blacks only. When Blacks got the right to vote, white women got the right to sit on juries. What’s good for Blacks is good for all of America. What’s good for the very rich might not be good for anybody but them. Why would anyone be able to make $21 million not showing up for work for a single day? That is vulgar capitalism. That is not good for the nation. When Lyndon Johnson kicked off the war on poverty he did so in Appalachia to deracialize the debate. We have a moral concern to feed all of the hungry, wipe out malnutrition, so that every American be housed and every child have access to education. Ours is a broad-based moral agenda. Our moral vision is not limited to race on one part of town.

NewsOne: You’ve been hosting the Wall Street Project for 15 years. Are you optimistic about any change the event has produced?

Jackson: Fifteen years later we are still in the business of opening closed doors and fighting for economic justice. We see measures of bits of progress. We are facing a stiff wind right now, but if we persist and keep fighting back, we will prevail.

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PraiseHouston.com has the exclusive world premiere of Houston’s own gospel recording artist, author and radio show host Yolanda Adams‘ new video, “Be Still”! Watch the video below as Yolanda gives us a glimpse into her day-to-day life while making sure she finds time to “Be Still”.

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Video courtesy of PraiseHouston.com

Purchase your copy of Yolanda’s 12th album Becoming which features “Be Still” in stores now!

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