Music of the Heart

When was the first time you fell in love with music
Was it from the moment she walked into your life
The glimmer in her eyes the way she looked your way
Was it the way she moved and lit up the room
Was it from the first time you saw her


When was the first time you fell in love with music
Was it from the way you felt when you heard her voice
The melody of every word
Was it from the beat of her heart felt with every breathe
Was it from the tenderness you felt when she stole your heart


When was the first time you fell in love with music
Could it have been the chemistry you felt like it was marking time
Was it something inside of you that knew that the two of you were meant to be
Was it the rhythm in the base line that said that one day she would be yours
Was it something in her eyes that told you that you were everything she was missing
Was it the passion she shared  that stole your soul with every bound


When was the first time you fell in love with music?

The moment in time

Hanging in there with nothing but dreams and fears

Trying not to give up for I fear that I have nothing left

The walls are up and the pressures stronger now

Emotionless pain, lost and confused

My soul broken and hope remains

Hanging on by the secret cords

The wind blows with the sounds of the fourth and fifth

Remembering the melody of the time I once moved you

The walls break down and in you flow

She holds the key

My soul unlocked and in repair

Hanging on to my last breathe

To stubborn to see, she slips through my finger tips

Over and over again I see it now

The walls come down and the time past away

Shes restored my faith and my strength

Nothing left to loose, Nothing left to fear and only to gain in the end

My soul complete and restored

Puppet Master

As the curtains arise the stage darkens 
The crowd silenced awaiting the Masters commands
She beckons to them, for only she controls the stage
If you get to close watch your step, for the strings tighten around 
The center stage


The Orchestra plays now as the Marionettes prance
For the Puppet Master has taken the reins
The Story unfolds as the narrator speaks
The plot thickens now, for the dancers rebel 
The Master unpleased but watch your step now more and more


Tears form, and the Master softer now
Beware for as the webs spin, the trick is on
Don't get to close for she'll turn, If you walk away
She'll pull the strings, for you've now become center stage
The show almost complete, the crowd begins to release
Take a bow, For the Puppet Master has your soul to keep.

Crime of Another Color

                There are two primary sides to racial profiling that are shown to the citizens who are affected by this, one from the media’s perspective and the other from police themselves.  No matter whose side one is on for police or media the practice of racial profiling is wrong, and often can lead to false arrest or a suspect getting away due to assuming another race committed the offense. An example of racial profiling gone wrong hits close to home here in D.C., the D. C. Sniper shootings. In pursuing the suspects police described them to be two white males, mid thirties, when the snipers were caught they in fact were not white but African –American. This form of racial profiling resulted in a loss of many lives, had they done a little more investigation the suspects would have been apprehended sooner. Racial profiling is a technique used in characterizing someone using their color or ethnic background to determine if they will commit a criminal offense. This practice has gone on for centuries around the world; it is seen the most in the spot light of Law enforcement officials and in government agencies.  Law enforcement officials have been known to use it in the past for the fight against drug trafficking; more recently after the September 11^th attacks, the use of racial profiling was established by the bush administration to crack down on terrorist.  The practice of racial profiling is banned by law enforcement officials, Media officials still believe that this practice is continuing to go on under the radar. Outside of the D.C. sniper shootings comes the issue of a Harvard Law professor being arrested by a Cambridge police officer upon his return home from china. The initial arrest by Sergeant James Crowley lead to accusations of racial profiling, and heavily covered by the media.  The charges of against Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. were later dropped, and lead to be a misunderstanding between the two men.

                The Media raises questions regarding law enforcement’s judgment regarding traffic and other stops sought out and prosecuted by police. The media asserts that police use racial profiling to make many of their traffic stops, and use the fact that only one out of sixteen stops results in an actual arrest to support their reasoning. Herb Boyd of the New York Amsterdam News notes “In just two years, 1997 and 1998, 35,000 of the 45,000 stop-and-frisks reported by the SCU (street crime unit) did not result in an arrest. A Statistical analysis revealed that the SCU stopped 16 African- Americans for every arrest made.”  As a result In the early 1990’s police were required to keep records of stops both traffic and stop-and-frisks to get an idea of the percentages of African-Americans and Hispanics stopped and that of whites.  As citizens it is hard to trust if police record their stops accurately.

                 Law enforcement officials respond to the critics of the media regarding racial profiling, police simply do not partake in profiling to make traffic stops or general arrest. Law enforcement officials often use statistics of a particular demographic area, characteristics of a person’s behavior or actions and information provided by informants to determine arrest. Traffic stops are determined by the behavior of the driver and speed variations. According to police records often minorities’ stops can be increased by the demographics of the neighborhood, obviously if the offenders are stopped in a minority neighborhood than the ratio of minorities to whites being stopped will be elevated. Outside of this police often patrol heavy crime areas which are often linked as being minority neighborhoods. An article in facts on file ‘Crime and Race’ supports this with this statement, “And police stop large numbers of blacks and Hispanics because they often patrol most heavily in high-crime, minority neighborhoods” (3). In a number of complaints by minorities being targeted by police they often disregard that defining behaviors are behind the numbers.

                The general public is losing trust in their law enforcement officials due to racial profiling and corruption among police departments. Police often predetermine someone as being a criminal by simply looking at their race or association with different religious groups. As a result parents are raising their children to act a certain way when it comes to interactions with local police. Bela August Walker, a journalist for the Columbia law review writes “Black parents counsel their children – particularly their sons- on how to behave if confronted by the police. (663)” Law enforcement has compromised its relationships with the minority communities in order to maintain a high number of arrests. In return police become less efficient to the communities and allow other criminal acts to continue prosecuted for their main focus is that of minorities.

                Media wants the general public to lose trust in law enforcement officials; however police need to have strong relations with the public in order to effectively do their jobs. Law enforcement officials depend on their relationships in minority communities for proper Intel on criminal activities.  Walker states” Law enforcement depends on legitimacy both to compel civilian assistance in police work and as a means of inducing voluntary compliance with legal norms. Police work- especially now, as we move towards community policing- depends on trust. (663)” If the police did in fact alienate and pin point these communities for most of their arrest, lack of cooperation in these communities would greatly impact law enforcements ability to perform their job effectively. Continuous accusations of police using racial profiling in these neighborhoods in the long run may result in fewer arrests of actual criminals; so the citizens in these neighborhoods will only hurt themselves.

                The media reflects upon the different levels of crime in our cities as a result of poor policing by law enforcement officials, which utilize racial profiling to make a number of arrests. While it is often effective in most cases many more go unresolved and are overlooked.  In the war against illegal drug trafficking police have become very aggressive in using racial profiling to make their stops and arrest. Police in this aspect went too far in their crack down resulting in lost lives. The facts on file article,’ crime and race’ writes “In the 1990s state and local police used racial profiling as a way of trying to catch motorists who were transporting drugs. That led to outrage, particularly after two police officers shot several black and Hispanic motorists whom they had pulled over in New Jersey in 1998. (2)” Police can sometimes become the center spot light in the war on crimes as they partake in criminal offenses as well.

                Police are often very careful regarding stops and arrest due to many accusations of racial profiling.  The result of this is less efficient policing and careful interrogations when apprehending a suspect. While their practices may reflect an uneven number of arrests of minorities than whites, they do not ignore the crimes committed by white offenders. Larry J. Siegel writer of Criminology the core, states “The UCR may reflect discretionary police practices in crime, such as robbery and murder. But it is improbable that police discretion alone accounts for these proportions. It is doubtful that police routinely ignore white killers, robbers, and rapists while arresting violent black offenders.” (47) Crime levels themselves are predominately reflected upon the neighborhoods themselves and resources available for law enforcement officials that serve them.

                While some law enforcement officials may practice racial profiling, it is simply reduced to the individual not police in general. Police depend upon the communities and individuals that reside in them to do their jobs to the best of their abilities. Racial profiling is condemned in the law enforcement community for it is a form of racism, and highly frowned upon by those citizens they are sworn to protect. Police use behavior traits to determine an arrest, stop and frisk, or general traffic stops while on patrol. As a law enforcement official they are to be held to a higher standard than the rest of us, and rely on the public to assist them in their daily duties.  Police overall do not partake in the technique of racial profiling, for it simply does not benefit them to do so. To summarize the controversy the media takes a stand point on police using the technique of racial profiling primarily to reduce the crime rate, and often are founded to be wrong. Police have in the past used racial profiling on the job and no longer use that technique; often they are forced to defend their decisions to the media upon why the suspect or suspects were arrested.

Works cited

Boyd, Herb. "COPS MUST PAY. (Cover story)." New York Amsterdam 

News 94.39 (25 Sep. 2003): 1. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Northern Virginia community college, Reston, Va, 26 July 2009

Cloud, John, Marguerite Michaels, and Sarah Sturmon Dale. "What's RACE

Got To Do With It? (Cover story)." Time 158.4 (30 July 2001): 42. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO.

Northern Virginia Community college . Reston. VA. 26 July 2009

Update: Crime and Race.”Issues & Controversies on file. 25 May 2007.     Issues & Controversies. Facts on file News services. 9 July 2009. http://www.2facts.com

Holly Whisenhunt Stephen, and Brian Collister. "RACIAL PROFILING. " Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc. The IRE Journal        1 Sep. 2005: Research Library, ProQuest. Web.  26 Jul. 2009.

Siegel, J. Larry. “ Criminology: the core”.Belmont.CA.2005

Walker, August Bella.” The Color of Crime: The case,against Race-based     Suspect Descriptions”.EBSCO. Northern Virginia Community College.     Reston.VA. 26 July 2009

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell: Why does it Matter?

                                

                Same sex-marriage is under friendly fire in the military. Under the DADT policy it prohibits gay and lesbian couples from serving openly in the military. In 1993 the Clinton presidency came up with this legislation to make a compromise between those who were already serving in the military and social conservatives in a campaign promise. Ann Persky, Journalist for the American Bar association writes     The DADT policy states that homosexual behavior is grounds for dismissal; over 12,000 service members have been discharged. Pentagon statistics indicate that it is primarily applied to women.” In 2007, women made up 14% of Army personnel and 46% of those discharged under the policy. In the Air force, women accounted for 20% of personnel and 49% of those discharged under the policy. (P.18-20)” The Don’t ask, Don’t tell policy contains gaps in regulation, violates privacy rights, and generational differences.

                The DADT policy has gaps in how it is regulated, meaning it has loop holes in it based upon someone’s specialty in the military or time frame upon which it was enforced. An example of this would be if a soldier was ousted prior to the policy, and was a weapon specialist.  In that particular case the solider would be allowed to continue full active duty service, and receive full benefits after enlistment. Nathaniel Frank, senior researcher at the Palm center in Santa Barbara California states the DADT policy was destined to fail for it was created out of prejudice, not actual cause. The law has many short falls including in the current time frame were some soldiers serve openly in Iraq and Afghanistan.(P14) There are two particular court cases involving two different women that show how uneven the DADT regulation truly is. The first case is Margarethe Cammenmeher and the second case is Witt vs. Air force. In the case of Cammenmeher a judge found in 1994 that the Don’t ask, Don’t tell policy was unconstitutional and Cammenmeher then went back to serve until 1997 (About-face, P.26-29). Margaret Witt’s case was different in a sense that she was ousted by her former partner to her superior officer. Witt was then discharged from the air force in 2004 Witt’s discharge was upheld by the federal courts in July 2006 (P.26-29). She was not eligible for any of her military retirement benefits after having served 18 years. In the ruling the federal court stated it was unclear whether or not her sexual orientation affected her abilities to do her job under DADT.  (p.26-29) Witt’s position in the military brought up doubt in the judge’s ruling and questioned the military’s dismissal laws.

                The Don’t ask, don’t tell policy violates privacy laws and discriminates upon the people reviewed under this policy. In order for the military to dismiss a soldier under the policy they have to evaluate the soldier’s personal sex life. This was the key argument in the 2003 case Lawrence V. Texas, which highlighted the issues of privacy regarding sexual conduct in the military under DADT. (Conn Corrigan, P.22). In doing this it becomes a form of discrimination against the soldiers that are willing to serve in the armed forces. In return this could open the door way for other forms of discrimination based upon someone’s sex, religious background, and race. In addition to bases of discrimination they could find other things in one’s personal life style to dismiss them upon.

                The DADT policy is out dated for the times that we currently live in.  Sixteen years have passed since the policy was established in 1993. Since then we as a country have grown and changed in many ways, and have started to accept things out of the norm. Most soldiers even though they may be uncomfortable serving with someone that is gay or lesbian,  in my opinion soldiers often could care less regarding someone’s sexual orientation.  What matters the most to soldiers serving overseas is that their fellow comrades can do their job effectively. Where the DADT policy holds merit is in the minds of those in higher rank positions and who have been in the service the longest.

                In spite our progresses over the years we still discriminate against people who we find different from ourselves. Rather it is from their origins, sexual orientation, religion or color it will always be an issue if we choose to see it that way. The DADT policy is a law that discriminates against sexual orientation created sixteen years ago and is often unevenly enforced.  So we need to dismiss it to close the gaps we as a nation face each day. It is time for Americans and our armed forces to judge someone by their character rather than their personal choices in life. Allowing the gay and lesbian soldiers to serve openly will in return help strengthen the trust of their fellow soldiers.

                                                                                                          Works Cited

Corrigan, Conn, and Hannah Wareham...”Ma’am, Would You Care for Some Facts With That? “Gay & Lesbian Studies/issues magazine (09 Sep.2008):22-22. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Northern Virginia Community College, Reston, VA.24 June 2009

Battling the Military Ban.” Nathaniel Frank (Mar. 2009):14-14. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO Northern Virginia Community College, Reston, VA.24 June 2009

Murphy, Tim.”About-Face.”Advocate (26 Aug.2008):26-29. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO.        Northern Virginia Community College, Reston, VA.24 June 2009

Persky, Anna Stolley. “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell: Don’t Work?.” American Bar Association Journal 94.10 (Oct.2008): 18-20. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO.                                                              Northern Virginia Community College, Reston, VA. 24 June2009

Season of Change

The air begins to change now
The breeze clean and crisp
Leaves from shades of green to bountiful  fall
Shades of reds,oranges,yellows, and browns dance among us
For its the dancing fire of fall to lead us to blissful winter


Sounds in the distance of music washed in from the breeze
Children both young and old march on the fields playing
the songs of masters far far away
Memories made, friends sway and gather for yet another day


Children laugh and play, for it is trick or treat they seek
A night of goblins and ghouls, princes and princesses, witches and hero's.
All Hallows eve now in the distance, The day of celebrated thanks upon us


The smells of a bountiful feast fill the air
pumpkins and spice ,Breads and rice
The people gather, Friends and family
From distances small and far
It wont be long before another season change
Families and praise, Colors and change

Soulmate

Emotions fly on a chill spring night
Nervous, calm, and intense my knees weak
My heart beats and races as she walks in
A love uknown, A connection of life and peace
She lights up the room with her warm embrace
Tonight she is mine for just one night, and I hers 


Its summer now and emotions fly
Lost and confused, jealousy not tonight
My heart races now on this cold ,dark and rainy night
I can't wait to see my love tonight, for she is my soul mate
A connection like no other, and a best friend she is to me
Tonight things begin to change, for again for just tonight she is mine
for one last time
She lies in my arms, I feel her heart beat next to mine
She smells so sweet, Our hearts and souls become one
I feel her breathe as she leans in to kiss me, the taste of her sweet lips linger now
A special night remains in my thoughts


Emotions fly for a friendship changed
Will it last or vanish in the night
My heart aches for I can not take the loss
A friendship more precious than gold
A love set aside for something more
A connection so deep for it shall go on
For another day, A life time unknown
Memories form and fade
A love not forgotten but reborn, a new life begins

Is it ordinary or extra ordinary

     Each of us in our own way has something that defines us, this that makes us who we are. Does it make a difference as to where we are from or how were brought up? Often its not that simple for there are so many influences in our daily lives rather it be environmental, parental or other influences such as our peers. Then there is the occasional person that has been blessed with a special gift or talent.
   So how do you define someone extra ordinary? Is it by a special talent they have such as being a natural musician, a gifted athlete, an amazing artist, or a photographer. Often someone that is extra ordinary is none of that but a simple person that does wonders in their day to day life. I have always found those that give the ultimate sacrifice for another to be the extra ordinary persons in this world. For that I am thankful for our men and women that serve our country, that give their lives to protect our freedoms we so much enjoy and keep us safe at night while we rest. Sometimes many of us forget and get caught up in our own lives to remember that, or they can't seem to understand the reasoning behind what our soldiers do. Then there are the others that take the pledge to give their lives in order to protect, serve and educate our communities. Those individuals are our first responders Police, Firefighters and EMT's.
           How are we ordinary? What is considered to be ordinary? We are all also very ordinary because we all have the same things in common, we're human. Even though some of us have the extra courage we all experience the same system of emotions. Everyone of us even if its not shown on the surface experiences fear, failure,sadness and pain,love and happiness. Deep within we all have hope, faith and believe that in the worst of times it will get better. To every moment there is an end and a new beginning, the next day will come and we have a chance to start over. For all of our mistakes because we are all human and make them, there is forgiveness though it may not be right away there is always forgiveness.