Well I guess this is as good a time as any to tell you, I’m a James Brown fan .

No he was not a Gospel artist and he had some issues in his personal life, but you’ve got to admit he did try to keep his on stage performance cleaner than these nuts. James Brown had a performance that perhaps outside of songs like “sex machine”, that could be watched by an entire family. The vast majority of his material and what made him famous was good and clean. Not like today where trash rises to the top.

James Brown Rest in Peace

James Brown was and always will be the godfather of Soul (GFOS). He was the hardest working man in show business. If you saw any of his older material, you’d see he would dance an entire show, close and then return to dance some more. It was an amazing feat of human endurance. He came up in hard times, but he didn’t allow it to make him bitter. He kept his personal issues to himself as best he could and didn’t use them as a means to up his “street cred”.

When JB sang about women, it was with respect and not with the objectification given to women by many music performers today. He knew a man’s world was nothing without a woman or a girl .

My personal favorite of his is Living in America. Check it out!

Unlike some of today’s music artist (such as Kanye West) James Brown loved America and didn’t harbor delusions about the American Dream being a farce. He worked hard from conditions that today’s crybaby Liberal artists could never imagine. JB respected the office of the President. Many don’t know he was a Republican, supported Richard Nixon for President and everyone knows he sang at Nixon’s inauguration. He also had dinner with LBJ. When JB wanted to make a political statement, he wrote a song like “I Don’t Want Nobody To Give Me Nothing (Open Up The Door, I’ll Get It Myself)”. A bold slap against Liberals, who always cry for “diversity programs” and government handouts. (It will be interesting to see if Liberals attempt to turn JB’s funeral into some kind of political statement when you know the facts.)

People who wanted to see racial matters addressed with violence were upset that they could not pull JB into their nonsense. JB knew that people who work hard and believe in themselves could actually succeed.

He was far from perfect, but if today’s artists were half of what he tried to stand for in public, today’s entertainers might be regarded as great Americans.

I’m just glad I recorded a high-def concert of his recently on my DVR. I had no idea it might be one of his last.

Soul Brother #1! GFOS, RIP!

Freedom Folks linked with James Brown: A Fond Farewell

Well of course you all know I’m not the biggest fan of CBS. Not a fan at all. I’m not a big fan of 60 Minutes either, but just the same they always have something that makes the entire nation take notice. When Ed Bradley took over a lead man for 60 Minutes, I figured that was pretty good for him considering his time on the broadcast, but I’m not going to lie to you because you know I didn’t agree with him much on politics and I can’t say I agreed with the slant of some of his reporting. But Ed knew how to sniff out bull and expose it to the light of day. I enjoyed and blogged about when he exposed eco-terrorist, he debunked The Da Vinci Code and he identified the bull in the Duke lacrosse rape case. Just looking back over my posts about 60 Minutes, I found that although I really don’t like 60 Minutes, most of the posts where I say something good about the show were because of his reports. So although I didn’t like much of his slant or the show, I did obviously notice that he was doing better than some of his colleagues. You could say I preferred him out of a bunch I usually disagree with, because he was the one who spun the least.

So I am saddened to hear that he died today.

Notice while he was growing up in a rough part of town in the pre-desegregation days, when northern cities like Philadelphia ran a less formal form of racial segregation than some areas of the south, his parents told him “You can be anything you want, kid”. And he became a heck of a lot more than many kids might ever be.

Again proving the road to success is not going through crying about your skin tone, but getting up off your butt, having a goal and achieving it! If Ed could do so much when starting with so little, how much more can any child coming from any rough part of America do today? I say much more if their parents are willing to believe in them and help them focus on doing well in life, embracing education, faith and not allowing them to feel society is against them.

Ed Bradley you set an example for children, to show them that they can achieve if they put their minds to it and you will be missed.

With Ed gone, will this be the last nice thing I ever say that includes the letters “CBS”? I don’t know, but if more of them do some honest work like Ed it won’t be.

One who worked for the Lord has passed.

I pray he rest in peace with the Lord.

Expose the Left mentioned that Larry Elder’s mother, Viola Elder has passed away.

I pray she rest in peace with the Lord.

While some people in Durham are having vigils and other demonstrations over an alleged rape by members of the Duke lacrosse team, a worse crime gets far less attention.

Robert Randolf Watson, 34 years old, suspected of murder and wanted by police.

The man killed was more than just a used car salesman.

James P. Morris, the 77-year old man that was murdered.

More about Mr. Morris’ ministry.

I wonder if Mr. Morris ever ministered to Mr. Watson during one of his visits to minister to prison inmates?

I have much respect for people that minister in prisons. It is something I have not yet done myself, but I feel it is a righteous act. To try and help those imprisoned know that their souls can find hope in Jesus Christ and that their sins can be forgiven.

But I just wonder, with all the calls for “justice” and “healing” in the Duke rape case, that have been made in spite of the shaky evidence. When will these folks that claim to stand for justice say something about the slaying of James P. Morris? I see no record of Mr. Morris withholding ministry of the gospel from Blacks. He even went to the prisons and lets be honest folks, we know plenty of Black folks were there when he went to minister.

A man who could have up and moved his business, kept it in a part of Durham that the most savvy of businessmen would have run away from. His business was helping to keep that area up, instead of bringing it down like the low life thug(s) that killed him. Robert Randolf Watson is innocent until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt, but whoever killed Mr. Morris is a no good low life and should be brought to justice. At this point it appears Mr. Watson was the killer. When will the rally be held for Mr. Morris and calling for the apprehension of Mr. Watson?

Mr. Morris, you worked for the Lord while here on earth and I am sure the Lord will reward your good deeds. Regardless of how many people here on earth ignore the effort.

update 7/10/2006 1:34PM: The primary suspect was found and arrested back in June. La Shawn Barber is now asking questions about this racially slanted style of news coverage.