Kidnapped children found in Cobb Cty., Ga.

Cobb County Police Officers responded to a person stabbed at 6760 Mableton Pkwy Lot 2B in Mableton, Ga on Wednesday, December 1, 2021 at approximately 9 p.m. They discovered 31-year-old Danny Bernal inside his trailer suffering from several sharp force trauma injuries and lacerations. According to Mr. Bernal, several masked men along with his ex-girlfriend had forced their way into his home, stabbed him, and kidnapped his children. Cobb County Police investigators from the Crimes Against Persons unit were able to track down the children to the Super 8 Motel located at 417 Church St in Decatur, Ga. Our detectives, along with our VIPER unit, responded to the hotel early in the morning of December 2, 2021; and with the assistance of the Decatur Police Department they were able to recover the children unharmed in the hotel room. Bernal’s ex-girlfriend and three adult males were taken in for questioning by detectives. This investigation remains ongoing, and anyone with information is asked to call 770-499-3945. Press release and photo provided by Cobb County Police Dept.

Joe Douglas, music promoter, dies in Metro Atlanta

Music Promoter Joe Douglas has died. Husband and father of three, Douglas was associated with Frankie Beverly, Maze, and Tam Tam. (Photo by Kurk D. Johnson) Originally from Huntsville, Alabama, details of his death are unclear. A private funeral is being planned with future details pending.

All we can do is pray!

Family hour for the Hicks held at In His Hands Church, Woodstock, Ga.

While visiting Woodstock, Ga. today, I went under a gigantic flag being hoisted by firefighters around noon in the middle of the street. Then came the motorcycles, a hearse, and dozens of police cars and firetrucks. It was a tribute for a fallen firefighter and his wife who were killed by an alleged armed robber.

In the Lowe's parking lot, I talked to the crying aunt of Amber Hicks, 31, who was killed, allegedly by a 22 year old man on drugs in a neighborhood reported to have safety/security problems. The alleged gunman also killed Amber's 31 year old husband, Tim, who was a firefighter.

Family members gather in front of church.

"All we can do is pray," said Amber's Aunt who said she helped raise her from three months old because Amber's mother died of cancer. Outside of the church's family hour, her cousin said he was glad their two year old son was spared and was not also killed by the intruder.

Sculpture in front of church

"We're living in bad times right now, all over the world," said Amber's cousin. He is committed to taking care of the family during this time of grief.

Condolences are in order. Names of the family have been held from this article since calls to Officer Wayne Delk of the Cobb County, Ga. police department were unanswered at post time.

Family members meet with members of police and fire departments.

Amber's Obituary: https://www.facebook.com/amberthatsme?comment_id=Y29tbWVudDoxMDIxODEzOTY1ODk4ODYwMl8xMDIxODEzOTk3NTQ3NjUxNA%3D%3D Amber's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/amberthatsme?comment_id=Y29tbWVudDoxMDIxODEzOTY1ODk4ODYwMl8xMDIxODEzOTk3NTQ3NjUxNA%3D%3D

I was born in America, but what does that mean?

I wear beautiful, clean,  affordable clothes and jewelry; I wear a mask in public, speak English, am a married mother, and believe in a divine spirit who can forgive when asked.

Today’s photo

About 65 cars wait in line with people trying to get COVID-19 test on Piedmont Rd and around the corner in Marietta, only days after Georgia Governor Kemp delays mask mandate. This could mean more people have symptoms or just want to make sure they’re not sick!

The Ginger Room opens in Alpharetta to serve high tea and crumpets

With the full backing of the Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce, The Ginger Room owners officially cut the blue ribbon at 61 Roswell Street in Alpharetta, Ga. yesterday. 

The business, located in the historic yet renovated 1856 Skelton-Teasley House, is a place where patrons can enjoy a sip or two of juice, coffee, or tea along with sweet baked deserts and finger sandwiches. The Grand Opening and ribbon cutting ceremony was attended by owners Dr. Karl Walbrook and Angela Avery, real estate professionals, NAACP officers, business owners, family, and friends. Indoor and outdoor dining is available. 

One guest teared up when she came into the event - she remembered her grandmother's dishes and fine china. Nostalgia is one thing that makes the place special.

First on the beverage menu were glasses filled to the brim with a delicious strawberry blend of fruit and ginger which has anti-inflammatory benefits. 

Avery credits looking through the windows and loving the location as reasons why she chose the antique brick building to host clients for special occasions. According to LinkedIn, Avery is senior vice president at Municipal Finance/Blaylock Van LLC, an 80% owned African American investment bank.

A former midwesterner who claims not to be emotional, the teary-eyed Avery said she got "goosebumps" when she first entered the building. She credits her family, staff, and Ginger-Yummers for making the business a successful storefront since February. 

Co-owner Walbrook is a London, England native who holds a PhD in Built Environment from Trinity College, according to his LinkedIn profile. The two are affliated with Ginger Yums LLC USA. "One thing I learned in university: the true test of the measure is in your application... get on with it. Get it done," said Walbrook who also works as a project manager for the City of Atlanta. 

For reservations or special event pricing, call 678-399-9964. (the-gingerroom.com)

Happy Juneteenth, but who are the good, real Americans?

There once was a social experiment using kids and dolls. Children were asked, “Which doll is the good doll? Which doll is bad?” Seventy percent (70%) of the children chose the black doll as bad and the white doll as good. This study was used in a landmark desegregation case. https://www.thompsonschools.org/cms/lib/CO01900772/Centricity/Domain/3627/The%20Clark%20Doll%20Experiment.pdf 

The two black psychologists who did the experiment determined that “color in a racist society was a very disturbing and traumatic component of an individual’s sense of his own self-esteem and worth.” This may also lead to learned hopelessness. While a technology teacher in elementary school, I overheard a conversation in the lunchroom centered on Muslim American parents who had brought their kids to be enrolled in school. “They shouldn’t be here,” one teacher said. “But they’re Americans,” I interjected. “But they’re not real Americans,” was her reply. 

“The problem of the 20th and 21st century is the color line, and probably it will be in the 22nd century if systemic racism is not eliminated.” Children learn racism and sexism at a very young age, even while attending kindergarten. Looking at the Georgia kindergarten curriculum map for excellence in Social Studies (https://lor2.gadoe.org/gadoe/file/a1a403cd-9c0f-4b70-8ab5-39357ec63bed/1/Social-Studies-Kindergarten-Grade-Curriculum-Map.pdf ) youngsters are asked to study the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (MLK) who is dead! (Myth: the only good Negro is a dead one, and black men who oppose the status quo will end up martyrs, is the lesson.) 

Under leaders, three are listed: Washington, Lincoln and the current President who is also white. There are no Hispanics, Cubans, Afro-Americans, or Asians on the list, and women are also absent. Columbus Day is mentioned, even though Christopher Columbus (Cristoforo Colombo) never entered Georgia or the United States, but he decimated many native Americans during his search for fame, glory, and gold. Will that fact be taught on Columbus Day, or “Columbus sailed the ocean blue. He discovered America in 1492”? 

Since Juneteenth was just added as a national holiday...how will it be taught in public schools, and by whom? These are definitely reasons why critical race theory should be used in teaching Social Studies in the pre-k and Kindergarten classroom. But you have to make sure first that teachers who teach know the true history of America, including South America and Canada, and that the curriculum is not biased in the first place.

Will BLM join ALM?

Mass murder in Georgia massage parlors example of sex, religion, and shared community gone wrong

OPINION

Photo of relaxing massage in window of now closed
Youngs Asian Massage 

I live 10 miles from a recent mass shooting. Yes, I admit that I have had a full body massage several times but not at this particular place, and I have never been invited into a private room. But if I had been welcomed there, would that give me the right to shoot and kill eight people and leave another one shot in the forehead in intensive care? 

Site of first of three spa shootings in Metro Atlanta -
Hwy 92 in Cherokee County, Ga.

Of course not, but we’re living in a crazy world according to some people, a world of “psycho poop,"  of blaming China for a virus, and if we don’t get our act together, we will kill each other either by harsh words or bullets. 

One storeowner in the mall where the shootings occurred said the "problem" is people don't respect and treasure each other before tragedy strikes.

The eight people that were gunned down mercilessly two days ago didn’t have a chance. Probably the reason they were slaughtered was not because someone had a sex fetish. A 21-year-old male who is said to have frequented the massage parlor on Highway 92 in Cherokee County, Georgia couldn’t have respected the people he killed. There was probably no one from the Asian culture at his Baptist Church. 

Red candle wax and flower stems on pavement outside closed spa

But that I don’t know. What I do know is that there are a lot of Asian Americans who are very, very scared, living in a country of high ideals of freedom and justice but a history of lynchings and genocide. Asians like other non-white people continue to be terrorized by other Americans. They are probably not on Robert Aaron Long’s list of vulnerable people. Instead, they are victims. 

Omen or a protection symbol/message? Dead frog on sidewalk outside a newly opened massage business on Bells Ferry Rd. in Cherokee Cty., Ga.

And where do we go from here?

Japanese owned Yanmar Evo Center is just down the street from Youngs Asian Massage, but at press time, they had no comment. Could they be the next target?

Update: Driver waits 8 hours to renew license in Cobb County, Ga. and told to try again tomorrow

Even with a mandatory appointment, the state agency location on County Services Parkway had an unimaginable wait time to service customers. We had an appointment to wait! 

When an announcement was made that "The System" was down again which would worsen wait times, one customer went off and began to curse, saying she needed to get her car insurance and couldn't because she was unable to get her driver's license renewed.

Of the inside stations available to take customers, only 20% were manned. The manager said they didn't have enough people because they were out sick.

Three officers from the Sheriff's department were called in to stand at the front entrance around 5:30p.m. They said county and state tag and driver's license offices had been plagued with outages all day but couldn't explain why this office was claiming outages due to problems with the system which is not connected to county offices or why they had the same problem last week. It was unclear when "THE SYSTEM" would be repaired or if it was tested before being put into production.

One elderly gentleman who showed up at 9:30 a.m. was told after waiting 8 hours to go home and schedule another appointment because he probably wouldn’t be served due to the system being down. After I told them I was not leaving without my license and would sleep on the floor overnight if I had to, I was moved up in line. I was charged $32 for an 8 year renewal.

After waiting five hours, a 10 second eye test netted a 120 day paper renewal. After the wait, I was given a form that could have been used by my optometrist stating that I had vision good enough to drive. I took the vision exam without my reading glasses on and passed, but my renewal states that B-Corrective lenses required.

Form: DDS-MR 287 - Medical Report latest 102019.pdf

The media relations number I was given - Susan Sports at 678-413-8657 - had a busy signal each time I called to get an update on what to expect from "THE SYSTEM" moving forward. I was told by one customer standing in line that in her native France, you only have to get a driver's license once, and there is no renewal.

The ineptitude of state government shown at drivers license building

Drivers 64 or over have to get a vision screening in order to renew a license, but the wait for that could take hours if you are planning on getting the job done at the County Services Rd. location in Marietta, Ga., even if you have an appointment. 

But my renewal notice didn’t say I needed an appointment, but I found out when I got there that getting on the schedule was mandatory.

And even if I did have an appointment, I would have to wait hours outside in the cold during Covid because they “just started a new system today, Sweetie,” I was told by the attendant at the front door.

And if you don’t have a computer to schedule an appointment, “you can call 

678-413-8400, but I can’t guarantee anyone will answer the phone,” she said.

“My daughter’s been in there since 9 a.m. , and it’s now 12:13 p.m.,” said one mother sitting in the car with her grandson. “We just moved here from

Tampa, Florida where it’s an in and out process down there.”

I called the number to get help scheduling an appointment but got a message saying that high caller volume wouldn’t allow my call and to go to the website.  If I don’t have a computer or the Internet, I’m screwed.

“People are in line, some without masks, most not six feet apart, and some elderly on walkers. I don’t think they care if folks get Covid or not,” one woman waiting said.

I tried to get a response from the state, but they’re not answering the phone. I guess if we really had a state or national emergency, the SYSTEM would not work. Hope that doesn't happen.

On MLK Day and everyday, witness truth and praise God’s mercy

Get your shoes on and your mind fixed on our mission.

  
Our marching orders:

( taken from the MLK Commemorative Service at Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta, Ga.)

Lift up God’s good mission and be your brother’s keeper.

Dwell together under God.

Overcome the world.

Entreat God’s power with your voice and actions.

Distain hate but continue to protest injustice.

Image a peaceful world.

Extremes should not be allowed to defeat us.

Watch what you say and how you say it.

Be introspective to save souls.

Shift focus and priorities.

Don’t be too late. Take the chance to promote a peaceful, sustainable world.

Eliminate violence and truly care for one another.

Harness your drive for power, racism, and militarism.

Preserve our civilization.

Shirk off the chain of violence.

Shift from chaos to community with love.

Become love-centered instead of power centered.

Speak truth to power in love.

Be free at last.

Praise God and bless His name.

Be summoned by holy men, even in virtual spaces.

Stand up for righteous, even in the face of death.

Have the faith of your forefathers.

Stand together. Pray. Let’s stay together.

Do everything in God’s name. Don’t live in vain.

Unite for equality.

Link peace and justice together.

Be inspired by John Lewis, Ralph Bunche, and MLK.

Move on to make our world what it should be, and don’t rest.

Charge ahead.

Be hopeful.

Don't be deterred by obstacles.

Triumph over fear and hatred.

Subdue revenge and aggression.

Have goodwill as your righteous stand.

Men are powerless without God, so seek God’s help.

End racial discrimination by non-violent means.

Have one heart in love and humbleness.

Have the same mindset of Jesus and others who follow God’s laws.

Know that nobody is safe unless everyone is safe.

Be empathetic.

Be connected to the world and its problems.

Make peace, lay down arms, construct the peace through reconciliation and patience. Heal wounds.

Avoid war through an ongoing process of peace and prevent individual atrocities.  

Remember we live in One house, on One planet, and are One human family. Have empathy for others.

Shirk trauma and drama.

Have clear mission and vision in the midst of fear. Don’t be distracted but love one another.

Practice non-violence.

Have a stirred conscience.

End racism, economic exploitation, and militarism. 

Lift your eyes to the hills, to God, our strength and help.

Have an ecumenical revolution of values.

Shun bitterness. Demand better.

Expand the walk for justice to include everyone.

Reform the criminal justice system.

Reimagine the church. Leave the sanctuary. Go to the streets.  Don’t just support movements started in the church. Repent. Live out a new day of righteousness.

Learn the facts to demand justice in all areas of human activity.

Strengthen the backbone of the nation. Livable wage, student loans, and gentrification need to be resolved.

Don’t be complacent. Lead with truth.

Don’t be silenced by the ungodly.

Be rededicated to create a better world for ourselves and our children.

Don’t bend before tyrants.

Hold up all civil rights leaders - past, present and future and their views on moving forward.

It will take not one of us but all of us to make positive changes.

Heed the call of a challenging cause.

There will probably never be another MLK, so all of us must continue the cause collectively.

Opposition is not fair and often we face insurmountable odds.

We are stalked by giants, but work it out.

House the poor and promote social and economic justice.

Thanks, Donald Trump, for helping us re-examine the underbelly of this nation!

 

OPINION

When you take a second look at something, it gives you the opportunity to fix it, to check it, to use a microscope. Perhaps it was not his intent, but Trump has hastened us to fix the hate, vitriol, health, and history of our country. He has exposed the hidden, seamy, shithole side covered by a suited, pseudo-millionaire costume flanked by hat wearing, flag toting extremists. 

If we don't take this chance, we doom ourselves.

In order to help myself do this task, I'm looking inside the thoughts of Trump's loyal, violent supporters, starting with the KKK. Now reading The Ku Klux Klan: or, Invisible Empire (https://books.google.com/books?id=1YMfAQAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false) by Laura Martin Rose, a copy which was put in every southern school library by the Daughters of the Confederacy in the early 20th century and now can be read free online.

Next, I'm gonna take a look at Ku Klux Klan Secrets Exposed: Attitude Toward Jews, Catholics, Foreigners and Masons; Fraudulent Methods Used; Atrocities Committed in Name of Order (https://books.google.com/books?id=cSzDDwAAQBAJ) by Ezra A. Cook. Then  The Ku Klux Klan Unmasked, by W. C. Wright. 

The Turner Diaries explained (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/311760245_The_Turner_Legacy_The_Storied_Origins_and_Enduring_Impact_of_White_Nationalism%27s_Deadly_Bible) and interviews of Timothy McVeigh would be two other examination spots. All these give an idea of what white supremacists believe. 

And we can't stop there. We've got to read what Trump has said and done, as well as his Father Fred and his son, Junior, and his unpaid this week lawyer, Rudy. Someone smarter than Trump will replace him at the head of the white supremacist bandwagon, and we've got to be ready.

You may say that reading and researching white supremacy is a little extreme, but I run into folks that have been indoctrinated by this garbage, and I need to know what I'm up against. While in a grocery store shopping line which a white woman was breaking, when I confronted her, she yelled, "Survival of the fittest." 

If I investigate where "these people" are coming from, some who have been described by Capitol Police as "foaming at the mouth... with pitchforks," maybe I can protect and defend myself. They won't be able to hide anymore. Knowledge is power!

Again, thanks Trump for moving me to check white supremacy out.

Breaking News: Trump second impeachment resolution passes the US House of Representatives

Checkmated Trump, who sheltered mob, should follow Nixon and resign, for pardon’s sake

Trump’s wall has fallen down.

OPINION

In chess, the king or supreme leader is protected by pawns, religious men and military strategists. If they fall, he is held in a hopeless position, or checkmated. 

If the king is not in check because he has sheltered his minions but has no legal move, then it is a stalemate, and the game immediately ends in a draw. But Trump is not a king, and insurrection in a democracy is not a board game. 

To save the nation, Trump should resign. Even if the House impeached him, the Republican Senate will not remove him from Office because the Party would face indictment, according to the Constitution: Article 1, Section 3.

Let’s be clear: During a pandemic, Trump focused on his losing fairly but denied the outcome. During his four years in the White House, he did not administer his office to help the people of the United States. Instead he deflected from real issues like healthcare, tax and campaign finance reform, affordable housing, environmental protection, energy sufficiency, mass transportation and incarceration, and infrastructure improvements, international relations, education improvements, unemployment, police brutality, educational debt, predatory banking, poverty, racism and his tax returns, to name a few.

I’m at a loss for words to command from memory what he did of value.

His misuse of money to finance his own businesses, his appointment of his family and not people with experience and credentials, his pardoning of criminals, the enlistment of the Justice Dept. to get him out of legal hot water, his golf course contracts, his phone calls to find more votes and find dirt on Biden’s son, etc., etc., etc.

Impeachment should not be delayed, but the Senate will never vote to remove him because again, it would point fingers at the Republican Party per the Constitution: Article 1, Section 3.

James Madison from the Virginia ratification convention stated, "If the President be connected in any suspicious manner with any person and there be grounds to believe that he will shelter him, he may be impeached." Trump told the mob that stormed the Capitol they were loved, special people. He engaged in a series of public statements and actions designed to incite, to tear up government property, terrorize members of Congress, and stop the votes of the people.

The Constitution charges the President with the task of taking care that laws be faithfully executed. Instead, he sought to overturn electoral college votes. A President is impeachable if he attempts to “subvert the Constitution."

Barbara Jordan asked a great question after she laid out her painful inquiry into the impeachment of Nixon for Watergate based on misconduct of a public man in violation of public trust. She entertained that encroachments and excesses of a tyrannical Executive swollen with power should not be left unchecked. 

Jordan asked the question, “Should a President who has committed offenses, planned, directed, and acquiesced in a course of conduct which the Constitution will not tolerate” be impeached? And removed? It’s time for Trump to go, no matter the consequence, and it would be better if he takes himself off the board himself. Then he will not be considered a martyr by his friends.