Nelson Daily Stories

  A COLLEGE DROPOUT DOES SOMETHING AMAZING! He and his wife give THE LARGEST EVER PRIVATE DONATION FROM AN ALUMNUS TO MORGAN STATE UNIVERSITY, USA.   “ Debt can be extremely crippling to someone trying to get ahead in life,” Calvin Tyler said recently. He should know. “As a young man he had to drop out of college in his hometown of Baltimore, USA, because he could not afford tuition.” Who is Calvin Tyler ? Why is his life story important enough for a feature story to be carried on ABC News, Friday February 26, 2021? And in The Guardian on MSN.com, abc7NY, Baltimore Times and other news outlets? In 1961 Tyler enrolled in Morgan State College (now Morgan State University) to study business administration. That was an important step for him as “he was the first in his family to attend college and had hopes of becoming the first to receive a college degree.” But in 1963, his high hopes were dashed. There was not enough money for him to continue his studies…..he had to leave Co

  PLEASE RELEASE ME, LET ME GO!                                                 NO!! I WILL NOT LET YOU GO!   Who was the first African-American to cross North America and reach the Pacific coast? How important is it that the person was a slave? - He was born a slave (in Ladysmith Virginia in 1770) and he died a slave (in Tennessee in March 1831).                            ===000=== On Saturday morning February 20, 2021, Park officials in Portland, Oregon, USA received news that “a large bust of York ” a black man who was a slave, “had been raised in the park” on Mount Tabor. York was the son of two slaves - Old York and Rose. They belonged to John Clark 111.   The bust, made of hardened plastic, stood in the place where “a statue of a conservative Oregonian, a 19 th century newspaper editor, Harvey Scott, had stood since 1933.” The statue of Scott had been made by Gutzon Borglum, the Mount Rushmore sculptor. In the fall of 2020 during the demonstrations against raci

  THE GREATER THE OBSTACLE, THE MORE GLORY IN                            OVERCOMING IT.”    -       celebrated French writer Moliere.   Amid the distressing news of deaths and disaster, of floods and fires, of power failures and engine failures, two wonderful stories floated to the surface of the news recently. On Tuesday, February 16, 2021, ABC News reported that Victoria Glosson of Oakridge, North Carolina, had just received her nursing degree. She would soon be “on the front lines helping others.” Not a big deal you might say. Be patient! Please wait for the rest of the story. To Victoria it was a big deal because she had overcome cancer. “This was such a long battle for me (against Hodgkin’s lymphoma) I could not believe we finally got to the end of it, I had to go through so much.”   she told “World News Tonight.” Her battle against the disease went on for a year and a half she said. “The Neulasta shots after chemotherapy hurt, but I was determined to get through,

  “HER FEET WERE LIKE ICICLES”              A LITTLE CHILD WAS IN DISTRESS                      Alderman Stephanie D. Coleman is the youngest African American member in the history of the Chicago City Council, representing the 16 th ward. On Wednesday February 17th, 2021 she exclaimed “You’re an angel! You saved this baby’s life.” Why did she say that? To whom was she speaking?                                   ===000=== Ever so often, when it seems as if we human beings have lost our humanity and the understanding that we are “made in the image of God” a story bubbles up to the surface of life that restores our faith in ourselves and in others and lifts our spirit.                                   ===000=== Last Wednesday evening February 17, 2021, 46 year-old Tony Taylor was driving in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood. His 5 year old daughter was quiet in the back seat of the car.   Suddenly the child shouted: “Daddy look! Look at that little girl!” “Where?” he

  THE ICONIC CHARGING BULL   I never heard the name Arturo Di Modica until February 20, 2021. I had often wondered who made the iconic “Charging Bull” statue also known as the Bowling Green Bull located near the headquarters of the New York Stock Exchange in the USA. It is said to be one of New York city’s “most visited monuments.” The two subjects came together when I read that Arturo Di Modica, who was the creator of the statue, died in his hometown     Vittoria, Sicily on Friday evening, February 19, 2021. Are you confused? The statue is in New York city and Arturo’s hometown is in Sicily? I can explain. Arturo came to New York in 1973 and lived in the USA for more than 40 years . Prior to migrating to the USA, however, he had studied at the Fine Arts Academy in Florence. Once in the USA he opened an Art studio in the SoHo area. Then conditions began to change. “It was a period of crisis. The New York Stock exchange lost in one night more than 20% and because of this ma

  COMING IN FROM THE COLD?                            Yes we are! “ Long before the coronavirus, the Indian Health service, the Government program that provides health care to the 2.2 million members of the nation’s tribal communities was plagued by shortages of funding and supplies, a lack of doctors and nurses, too few hospital beds and aging facilities.” “Now the pandemic has exposed those weaknesses as never before contributing to the disproportionally high infection and death rates among Native Americans and fueling new anger about what critics say has been decades of neglect from Congress and successive administrations in Washington.” These paragraphs are taken from an article “Pandemic Highlights Deep-Rooted Problems in Indian Health Service ” by Journalist Mark Walker. It was published in the New York Times September 29, 2020 (updated Jan. 3, 2021) On February 18, 2021 Walke r wrote that there was “a deeply flawed response to the pandemic on tribal lands,” now Native

                       SAVING THE TURTLES   “Thousands of sea turtles unused to the plunge in temperatures have been washing up on the beaches of South Padre island, off the southern coast of Texas, USA.”   Reuters, Feb. 18, 2021. “Around 4,700 turtles have been saved from the deadly US winter storm by a rescue center in Texas,” the BBC reported on February 18, 2021. Wendy Knight , executive director of Sea Turtle Inc . a nonprofit, education, rehabilitation, and conservation organization, called it “An unprecedented event.” Her organization has been involved in the effort to save the creatures. Each winter about 100-500 turtles wash up on the beaches in South Texas, Brad Brooks writes in an article, but “thousands of turtles have been caught off guard in the brutal cold snap that has frozen Texas” this winter. “Both air and water temperatures have dropped well below typical levels.” Local volunteers have been saving the turtles “by boat and on foot,” Ms. Knight told NPR

 WAY TO GO? WAY TO GO! “An African American man is threatening my life!” Amy Cooper, a white woman screamed as she called the police for help falsely telling them that “he had threatened her.” The incident took place in Central Park, New York, last spring, 2020. The case against her was dismissed on Tuesday, February 16, 2021, Jonah E. Bromwich writes in The New York Times. (Jonah is a courts reporter for the New York Times.) Really? Why? As we say in Jamaica: “It’s a long story!”  Amy Cooper who “was publicly shamed and lost her job after the encounter in Central Park, has finished an education program about racial bias.” That’s why. “The therapy focused on the way that racial identities shape people’s lives, an assistant district attorney said at the hearing.” Ms. Cooper had five sessions with her therapist and she “learned a lot,” the prosecutor said. The program that Ms. Cooper was offered “falls under the rubric of restorative justice partially based on her lack of criminal backgr

 THE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION (WTO)               MAKES HISTORY The World Trade Organization (WTO) is the only international organization that deals with the global rules of trade. It was founded on January 1, 1995 and, having 164 member states, is the largest economic organization in the world. The WTO deals with the global rules of trade between nations. It’s main function is to make sure that trade flows as smoothly, predictably, and freely as possible. “By lowering trade barriers through negotiations among member governments the WTO’s system also breaks down other barriers between peoples and trading economies,” it says on its website. For nine months the WTO searched for its new head. There were eight candidates in the selection process. On February 15, 2021, the WTO made history when the general council agreed by consensus to select Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of Nigeria as the organization’s seventh Director-General. Dr. Okonjo-Iweala is the first woman and the first person from Afr

 GOD BLESS THE CHILDREN I join with Newark public safety director Anthony Ambrose in saying thank you to the concerned teacher who requested a wellness check on a foster child in Newark, New Jersey, USA. At 10:10 on February 10, 2021, police went to a property in the 500 block of Clinton Avenue, for a wellness check on a 12 year old boy. When they found the child, he was in a room and “tethered to a fan by chains and padlocks” according to the article by Ewan Palmer in Newsweek February 12, 2021. He was taken to the University Hospital for evaluation. After that he was placed in the custody of the New Jersey Department of Child Protection and Permanency. How and why was the child put in such a “horrific situation? We are pleased that he is now safe, and we are grateful that this teacher suspected that he needed police assistance.” The situation is to be thoroughly investigated. Meanwhile a 66 year old New Jersey woman has been arrested in connection with the situation and accused of en

 WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES! I was just about to post the article “Ejected from Parliament” when a news item appeared on the BBC Asia website. “New Zealand parliament says ties not mandatory after Maori MP ejected” the headline said. The report said New Zealand’s parliament had backed down in a dispute with a Maori MP who refused to wear a tie. “Rawiri Waititi was allowed to address the chamber, a day after being ejected for breaking its dress code by wearing a traditional pendant called hei-tiki instead of a tie.”  Ties would no longer be required as part of “appropriate business attire” the parliament speaker said. “A win for the many generations to come,” was Mr. Waititi’s response to the decision. “This was always about the greater cause of the subjugation and assimilation that Maori have had to face for the past 181 years,” he added. Speaker of the House, Mr. Trevor Mallard said that following a majority decision by the Standing Orders Committee ties would no longer be required

  EJECTED FROM PARLIAMEN  FOR NOT WEARING A TIE “To be or not to be, that is the question,” is the opening phrase of a soliloquy by the Prince in Act 3 Scene 1 of William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet. The phrase flashed into my mind as I read a news item on the BBC Asia website. “To wear or not to wear,” I said to myself as I read an article about a Maori MP in the New Zealand Parliament. Yes, New Zealand is in the news again. Rawiri Waititi, a leader of the Maori Party was ejected from the Parliament,” for not wearing a tie.” What was the reason? The Speaker of the House explained to him that “male MPs can only ask questions in the debating chamber if they are wearing a tie.” Waititi was stopped twice but continued with his question until he was ordered to leave the chamber. Why the drama? What was it all about? Waititi has called ties “a colonial noose.” He said he was wearing Maori business attire that included a greenstone pendant. The Speaker’s treatment, he felt, was unconsciona

 In Black History Month     A PHENOMENAL EXPERIENCE  In November 2020, four flight engineers: Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, Shannon Walker and Soichi Noguchi launched to the International Space Station. They travelled on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in the USA. In 1974 the Skylab 4 crew set a record of spending 84 days in space. That record, however, was broken last Sunday February 7, 2021. “SpaceX’s Dragon Crew to break US record for most days in Space on Sunday,” the Newsroom Post of India said on February 6, 2021. “US astronauts living aboard the ISS orbital outpost will break the record on Sunday for most days in space by a crew launched aboard a US spacecraft, NASA said.” They will surpass the record of 84 days set by the Skylab crew on February 8, 1974. The Skylab 4 crew docked their Apollo spacecraft to the Skylab space station 47 years to the day when the SpaceX crew docked to the orbiting lab, the US space authority estimated. This month, February,

In New Zealand : MATARIKI TO BE AN ANNUAL HOLIDAY   She has kept her promise! New Zealand’s Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, has kept her election promise. Matariki will be an annual national holiday as from 2022. What exactly is Matariki?” Matariki is a uniquely Maori and therefore New Zealand based celebration.” It is the beginning of the Maori New Year and it will now be an annual national holiday says the Latin American Herald Tribune. Matariki is celebrated “by eating food and spending time with the extended family, reflecting on the year that has been, acknowledging the dead and planning for the future.” “In our view it’s been a long time coming,” Ardern said during her speech at the upper marae at Waitangai on Thursday. An article in “The Guardian” written by Elle Hunt in Wellington explains that “Matariki is the Maori name given to the Pleiades cluster of stars which rises in mid-winter in the southern hemisphere – marking the start of the Maori new year.” The Pleiades are also

        As we say in Jamaica:” WALK GOOD, SIR TOM”            Give Him a permanent tribute, please!                  He was the very best of us.   “I think he deserves a stone in Westminster Abbey because I think he embodies this whole terrible pandemic which we are all living through,” BBC TV personality Carol Vorderman said on Wednesday morning (February 3, 2021) as she called for a permanent tribute to Captain Sir Tom Moore. Blackpool Tower in Lancashire, England, one of the UK’s most iconic attractions, was lit up blue on Tuesday night February 2, 2021. Why? It was a special tribute in honor of Sir Tom Moore . Queen Elizabeth led the condolences, BBC News said on Wednesday (February 3). It added that she would send a private message to Sir Tom’s family. Her thoughts and those of the Royal Family are with them recognizing the inspiration he provided for the whole nation and others across the world. “I join millions across the country in mourning with them,” Justin