We are blessed!

I began this day asking people to boycott ALEC member's products on Facebook, but by mid day ended up sharing my rise from poverty, because some ask me to share.

The start of the day

A decade ago parents ask for universal pre-school, and smaller class sizes. The Washington DC deceivers said that is too expensive. So a decade later of DC reforms America has spent nearly 10 trillion dollars on NCLB/RTTT school reforms that increase class size, and did not do anything to make universal pre-school a reality. However the profits of every testing company have gone through the roof, and campaign contributions to our politicians from those companies are at an all time high. The deceivers are laughing all the way to the bank. They think they have silenced children, parents, teachers, and school administrators. They have been to busy to notice the tidal wave coming. Judas took 30 silver pieces! How much have our leaders taken to sell out our children.
We can act.
We can make a difference.
We are not powerless.
We are the people.
No matter what the deceivers tell us we know,
We are a government for the people by the people.
There is not anything more powerful, more beautiful then the people.
I am calling you the beautiful, you the powerful, you the people to act.
Boycott the king of lobbying deceivers ALEC member's products people. Coke, Pepsi, Kraft, and McDonalds have pulled out, because the people told them we are boycotting your products. Today’s target is ATT! Stand up, speak up, email/call ATT, and tell ATT to withdraw from ALEC today, or you will switch. Go for it! It feels so good to let these people know we see through their lies.
Still learning, still teaching, still walking, still marching, still fighting, and now boycotting,
Jesse The Walking Man Turner

My mid day sharing

Stefanie, you ask how did I beat the odds of getting out of poverty.

It’s a long story, but I’ll try to make it short.

Let me begin with Momma's five givens, and then my rise.

First and foremost no one climbs out of poverty alone.

Second poverty is not a crime; it is a cancer that left untreated will consume you.

Third poverty like cancer does not strip a human of their dignity.

Fourth people living in poverty like all people are loved by God. Many would even say they are more loved. I was blessed by God’s love from my first breath.

Fifth no human who holds fast to his or her faith and dignity can be beaten.

I may have growth up in poverty, but I was rich in love, faith, and people who cared. My father loved the bottle more than his family, and abandoned his wife, his daughters, and his only son. Let me also say no one can rise from poverty without forgiving others. I forgave him from day 1.

Yes, we knew homelessness, hunger, the thanksgiving without a turkey, the Christmas without a tree, winters without heat, and felt blessed by candles in the night.

There were neighbors who rescued me numerous times when I leaned too close to the gang bangers, drug dealers, and the damned. Like Mr Cruz: “Mijo, what are you doing here? Come with me stupid. These boys are nothing, but trouble. You don’t want me to talk to your Momma do you? I said come with me”

So I went with Mr. Cruz…

There go I, but for the grace of god.

There were times when my decision-making was off.

There were so many times I could have fallen.

Some how at those times Father Fitzgerald always popped around.
“Hey Jesse come walk with me, and let’s have a talk. We walk, and as we walked he fed my soul the parables.”

I think of Father Fritz when ever I sing Amazing Grace.
“Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,

That saved a wretch like me....

I once was lost but now am found,

Was blind, but now, I see.”

Years later, I would follow his model, and walk those same streets keeping others from falling with Sister Antonelle and Brother Thomas at The Promise.

No one truly rises from poverty without giving back.

Now you need at least one person who would give up the very air she needed to breath if you needed it.

A person strong enough to have never hurt another, a person strong enough not to be consumed by racism in a world of hatred, a person who worked for minimum wage 12 hours a day six days a week.

A person who made her children see a loaf of Wonder Bread, and a jar of mayonnaise as a thanksgiving feast.

I would be nothing without a mother who loved me like a rock..

My Momma was a rock of love.

“My mama loves, she loves me

She gets down on her knees and hugs me

She loves me like a rock

She rocks me like the rock of ages”

No one can rise out of poverty without being loved.

I was blessed by the love of three sisters.

Three beautiful older sisters, three blessings, all who were smarter than me, and who in a just world would have gone further.

I cannot not begin to count the days they carried me on their shoulders. They walked me to school. They made sure my homework was done. On more than one occasion one of those sisters threaten to take down every gangster in the hood if they laid a hand on her little brother. She not only said it, and she could back it up as well.

There are not enough numbers to count the times I have been lifted by the women in my life. I stood on their shoulders. As I said I am blessed.

Finally, you need teachers and Liberians. You need people who make the boring meaningful.

When I thought being a man meant having the passion to fight everyday; Mr. Bass taught me passion is nothing without compassion. Mr. Bass opened the world of books to us all.

Mr. Bass taught us real men never raise their hands against another. Mr. Bass taught us the meaning of dignity through the reading of " To Kill A Mocking Bird". His lessons still guide my every walking hour.

I had many teachers some walked on water, others helped us be better walkers, and some we helped to walk, but everyone of them did the best they could with what they had. No one could ask anymore than that. Teachers are my heroes. They were all blessings sent by God’s angels.

Along side of teachers are librarians. 

The keepers of those hidden treasures those beautiful, beautiful books.

Liberians those saints, who turned the lights on and off, stacked the shelves, welcomed everyone, and always kept the heat on. Nothing fed a hungry heart like a great book, a good chair, and a warm room. Libraries are pieces of heaven fallen to earth.

Some might think I lived in poverty.

In my soul I know I was never poor.

I was blessed with a wealth of loving and caring people.

It is written in scripture that: “A man does not live by bread only, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”

I was not born into poverty, but into God’s grace.

Sincerely blessed,

Jesse The Walking Man Turner

If you want to know what the I am listening to on my walk today it On Rocky Ground by Bruce Springsteen http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYUYnoWqct0&feature=player_embedded