Let Honor Meet Honor

As I reflect on this Memorial Day I am Grateful and Thankful 2 God that my Family and Friends who have serve this Country. This is 4 ALL the Men and Women who have and still serve this GREAT country of AMERICA 4 our Freedom. The more we serve, Christ the less we will serve self. Here is the History of Memorial Day.

Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service. There are many stories as to its actual beginnings, with over two dozen cities and towns laying claim to being the birthplace of Memorial Day. There is also evidence that organized women's groups in the South were decorating graves before the end of the Civil War: a hymn published in 1867, "Kneel Where Our Loves are Sleeping" by Nella L. Sweet carried the dedication "To The Ladies of the South who are Decorating the Graves of the Confederate Dead" (Source: Duke University's Historic American Sheet Music, 1850-1920). While Waterloo N.Y. was officially declared the birthplace of Memorial Day by President Lyndon Johnson in May 1966, it's difficult to prove conclusively the origins of the day. It is more likely that it had many separate beginnings; each of those towns and every planned or spontaneous gathering of people to honor the war dead in the 1860's tapped into the general human need to honor our dead, each contributed honorably to the growing movement that culminated in Gen Logan giving his official proclamation in 1868. It is not important who was the very first, what is important is that Memorial Day was established. Memorial Day is not about division. It is about reconciliation; it is about coming together to honor those who gave their all.

Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in his General Order No. 11, and was first observed on 30 May 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. The first state to officially recognize the holiday was New York in 1873. By 1890 it was recognized by all of the northern states. The South refused to acknowledge the day, honoring their dead on separate days until after World War I (when the holiday changed from honoring just those who died fighting in the Civil War to honoring Americans who died fighting in any war). It is now celebrated in almost every State on the last Monday in May (passed by Congress with the National Holiday Act of 1971 (P.L. 90 - 363) to ensure a three day weekend for Federal holidays), though several southern states have an additional separate day for honoring the Confederate war dead: January 19 in Texas, April 26 in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi; May 10 in South Carolina; and June 3 (Jefferson Davis' birthday) in Louisiana and Tennessee.

In 1915, inspired by the poem "In Flanders Fields," Moina Michael replied with her own poem:

We cherish too, the Poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led,
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies.

She then conceived of an idea to wear red poppies on Memorial day in honor of those who died serving the nation during war. She was the first to wear one, and sold poppies to her friends and co-workers with the money going to benefit servicemen in need. Later a Madam Guerin from France was visiting the United States and learned of this new custom started by Ms.Michael and when she returned to France, made artificial red poppies to raise money for war orphaned children and widowed women. This tradition spread to other countries. In 1921, the Franco-American Children's League sold poppies nationally to benefit war orphans of France and Belgium. The League disbanded a year later and Madam Guerin approached the VFW for help. Shortly before Memorial Day in 1922 the VFW became the first veterans' organization to nationally sell poppies. Two years later their "Buddy" Poppy program was selling artificial poppies made by disabled veterans. In 1948 the US Post Office honored Ms Michael for her role in founding the National Poppy movement by issuing a red 3 cent postage stamp with her likeness on it.

Traditional observance of Memorial day has diminished over the years. Many Americans nowadays have forgotten the meaning and traditions of Memorial Day. At many cemeteries, the graves of the fallen are increasingly ignored, neglected. Most people no longer remember the proper flag etiquette for the day. While there are towns and cities that still hold Memorial Day parades, many have not held a parade in decades. Some people think the day is for honoring any and all dead, and not just those fallen in service to our country.

There are a few notable exceptions. Since the late 50's on the Thursday before Memorial Day, the 1,200 soldiers of the 3d U.S. Infantry place small American flags at each of the more than 260,000 gravestones at Arlington National Cemetery. They then patrol 24 hours a day during the weekend to ensure that each flag remains standing. In 1951, the Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts of St. Louis began placing flags on the 150,000 graves at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery as an annual Good Turn, a practice that continues to this day. More recently, beginning in 1998, on the Saturday before the observed day for Memorial Day, the Boys Scouts and Girl Scouts place a candle at each of approximately 15,300 grave sites of soldiers buried at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park on Marye's Heights (the Luminaria Program). And in 2004, Washington D.C. held its first Memorial Day parade in over 60 years.

To help re-educate and remind Americans of the true meaning of Memorial Day, the "National Moment of Remembrance" resolution was passed on Dec 2000 which asks that at 3 p.m. local time, for all Americans "To voluntarily and informally observe in their own way a Moment of remembrance and respect, pausing from whatever they are doing for a moment of silence or listening to 'Taps."

The Moment of Remembrance is a step in the right direction to returning the meaning back to the day. What is needed is a full return to the original day of observance. Set aside one day out of the year for the nation to get together to remember, reflect and honor those who have given their all in service to their country.

But what may be needed to return the solemn, and even sacred, spirit back to Memorial Day is for a return to its traditional day of observance. Many feel that when Congress made the day into a three-day weekend in with the National Holiday Act of 1971, it made it all the easier for people to be distracted from the spirit and meaning of the day. As the VFW stated in its 2002 Memorial Day address: "Changing the date merely to create three-day weekends has undermined the very meaning of the day. No doubt, this has contributed greatly to the general public's nonchalant observance of Memorial Day.
http://www.usmemorialday.org

Thank U OPRAH

Today I would like to say Thank God for Oprah and the Oprah Winfrey Show for 25 years of Service.

As millions of Oprah viewers ALL over the world including myself said Good Bye to the Queen of Daytime Television it was more emotional and inspirational, as Oprah gave us the viewers a Love Letter and Life changing moments she has experience over the past 25years on air. Words can't begin to express my own personal gratitude and LOVE for Oprah, I remember my mom turning on the t.v. back in 1986 and seeing this Beautiful African American Women on Daytime television and that's when me and my mom begin to follower her career. She is the reason why I am a journalist today as Oprah would say "I know one thing is for sure I know what my true calling is" Yes Oprah I heard that voice calling me and I have listened. I have truly found my passion in life and that's Radio/Journalist. As I watch Oprah give us the viewers her Lover Letter I saw myself standing on my own Radio/Television show inspiring millions of viewers ALL over the world. So in the MEANTIME Thank You Oprah for allowing this Girl from Long Beach California to be ALL that I can be in GOD. Here is video of the Final Oprah Show.

Oprah Reflects



We ALL have a Calling




Signing Off

History of Cinco de Mayo

In honor of ALL Mexican-Americans celebrating Cinco de Mayo here is the story brought to you from the History website. The Battle of Puebla

In 1861 the liberal Mexican Benito Juárez (1806-1872) became president of a country in financial ruin, and he was forced to default on his debts to European governments. In response, France, Britain and Spain sent naval forces to Veracruz to demand reimbursement. Britain and Spain negotiated with Mexico and withdrew, but France, ruled by Napoleon III (1808-1873), decided to use the opportunity to carve a dependent empire out of Mexican territory. Late in 1861, a well-armed French fleet stormed Veracruz, landing a large French force and driving President Juárez and his government into retreat.

Certain that success would come swiftly, 6,000 French troops under General Charles Latrille de Lorencez (1814-1892) set out to attack Puebla de Los Angeles, a small town in east-central Mexico. From his new headquarters in the north, Juárez rounded up a rag-tag force of 2,000 loyal men—many of them either indigenous Mexicans or of mixed ancestry—and sent them to Puebla. Led by Texas-born General Ignacio Zaragoza (1829-1862), the vastly outnumbered and poorly supplied Mexicans fortified the town and prepared for the French assault. On May 5, 1862, Lorencez drew his army, well provisioned and supported by heavy artillery, before the city of Puebla and led an assault from the north. The battle lasted from daybreak to early evening, and when the French finally retreated they had lost nearly 500 soldiers. Fewer than 100 Mexicans had been killed in the clash.

Although not a major strategic win in the overall war against the French, Zaragoza's success at Puebla represented a great symbolic victory for the Mexican government and bolstered the resistance movement. Six years later—thanks in part to military support and political pressure from the United States, which was finally in a position to aid its besieged neighbor after the end of the Civil War—France withdrew. The same year, Austrian Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian, who had been installed as emperor of Mexico by Napoleon in 1864, was captured and executed by Juárez's forces. Puebla de Los Angeles was renamed for General Zaragoza, who died of typhoid fever months after his historic triumph there.
Here is my Favorites
Grandeza Mexicana Dance Academy


Mariachi Sol de Mexico


http://www.history.com/topics/cinco-de-mayo

50th Anniversary of the Freedom Riders

Today we celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Freedom Riders here's the story. The first Freedom Ride took place on May 4, 1961 when seven blacks and six whites left Washington, D.C., on two public buses bound for the Deep South. They intended to test the Supreme Court's ruling in Boynton v. Virginia (1960), which declared segregation in interstate bus and rail stations unconstitutional.

In the first few days, the riders encountered only minor hostility, but in the second week the riders were severely beaten. Outside Anniston, Alabama, one of their buses was burned, and in Birmingham several dozen whites attacked the riders only two blocks from the sheriff's office. With the intervention of the U.S. Justice Department, most of CORE's Freedom Riders were evacuated from Birmingham, Alabama to New Orleans. John Lewis, a former seminary student who would later lead SNCC and become a US congressman, stayed in Birmingham.

CORE Leaders decided that letting violence end the trip would send the wrong signal to the country. They reinforced the pair of remaining riders with volunteers, and the trip continued. The group traveled from Birmingham to Montgomery without incident, but on their arrival in Montgomery they were savagely attacked by a mob of more than 1000 whites. The extreme violence and the indifference of local police prompted a national outcry of support for the riders, putting pressure on President Kennedy to end the violence.

The riders continued to Mississippi, where they endured further brutality and jail terms but generated more publicity and inspired dozens more Freedom Rides. By the end of the summer, the protests had spread to train stations and airports across the South, and in November, the Interstate Commerce Commission issued rules prohibiting segregated transportation facilities.

To me this day symbolizes that we has a Nation must continue to always FIGHT for freedom for the next generation. Thank GOD for those Freedom Riders who were thinking of this generation. So I say RIDE ON FREEDOM and LET FREEDOM RIDE ON for the next generation. Check out the website.

http://www.core-online.org

JLO LOVE? New Album and Video

One of my Favorite Inspirational Latin Actress, entertainer, music, film & TV producer, fashion designer, entrepreneur, philanthropist, wife and mother, Jennifer Lopez is doing it all. She has sold over 50 million records worldwide and starred in multiple box office #1s, including The Wedding Planner and Monster-In-Law.

2011 will be a milestone in Lopez’s illustrious career. She has been selected as one of the judges on the juggernaut TV series American Idol and will release a new album, Love?, on Island/Def Jam Records. The first single, “On The Floor,” is being played everywhere. This is Lopez's Seventh studio Album since her 2008 release album Brave since then she took off time to have her twins Max and Emme. Well Mrs. Lopez is BACK with her long awaited album entitled LOVE? Lopez recruited plenty of hitmakers to help craft "Love?," including R&B boundary-pushers The-Dream and Tricky Stewart, Norwegian duo Stargate and none other than Lady Gaga, who boasts two credits on the album ("Invading My Mind" and "Hypnotico"). Gaga's frequent collaborator RedOne also produced the set's lead single, "On the Floor" (featuring Pitbull), which helped kick-start Lopez's musical comeback with a top 10 debut on the Billboard Hot 100. Here is the Tracklisting of the Album version and also the Deluxe edition.
Tracklisting:

1. “On the Floor” (Ft. Pitbull)
2. ‘”Good Hit”
3. “I’m Into You” (Ft. Lil Wayne)
4. “(What Is) LOVE?”
5. “Run the World”
6. “Papi”
7. “Until It Beats No More”
8. “One Love”
9. “Invading My Mind”
10. “Villain”
11. “Starting Over”

Deluxe Edition includes:

12. “Hypnotico”
13. “Everybody’s Girl”
14. “Charge Me Up”
15. “Take Care”
16. “On The Floor (Ven a Bailar)” (Ft. Pitbull)

Here is the NEW VIDEO Featuring Lil Wayne Called "I'm into You"

MIMI'S Twins and Renewing Vows

One of my favorite International Mega-Super Star singer Mariah Cary and Hubby Nick Cannon welcome their Twins on Saturday morning April 30th which happens to be the couples 3rd year Anniversary. The couple renewed their vows the day after Carey had given birth at the Hospital by Rev. Al Sharpton. Carey delivered the twins by caesarean section at 12:07 p.m. Cindi Berger Carey's Representative says,the baby girl was born first, weighing 5 pounds, 3 ounces, and was 18 inches long; her brother was next, at 5 pounds 6 ounces, and was 19 inches. Berger says they were listening to Carey's "We Belong Together" after the children were born. Cannon, 30, said in a Tweet on Sunday that he was "in the happiest place I've ever been in my life. I never had more amazing things happening. I am humbled by God's Favor!"

In honor of my Gurl Mrs. Cannon I pray GODS BEST 4 U , NICK and the Twins. I dedicated this 1 2 U.