Sunday, September 04, 2011

4 SEP 11: Flowers and Love

Columbus can be a "make or break" city for many people dreaming of big media careers. For people such as Rece Davis of ESPN, it can be a stepping stone to the big time. For others.... well, at least I'm still here writing a blog....

SUNDAY SOAPBOX: It didn't receive the attention of Kurt Schmitz, but one of the best TV reporters in Columbus disappeared about a month ago. We wondered what happened to her - and this past week, she replied to an e-mail question with an explanation....

Hi Richard,

Thanks for the note. I left WRBL last month. My contract was up, and I chose not to renew. I am now living in Chicago and working as an investigative journalist for the Medill Innocence Project, which aims to uncover new evidence to help exonerate people wrongly convicted of murder.

I enjoyed a little notoriety on your blog once when a map of Columbus, Ohio, popped up on the screen, instead of a map of Columbus, Georgia [13 Jan 10]. Because WRBL's parent company, Media General, has stations in both cities, there was a mix-up with our graphics system. Super embarrassing and now a super funny story to tell about my time in Columbus!

Take care-

Alison

That's Alison as in Flowers. So if you've been singing that old folk song, "Where has Al-the-Flowers gone," we now have an answer.

Alison Flowers struck me as one of the more hard-nosed reporters on Columbus television. One recent example came when she took a camera inside a Columbus "business center" filled with computer games, which appeared to be for gambling. The only time a fax machine may have been used was when someone won too much money.

So I'm not surprised Alison Flowers is now in the big city - but I'm admittedly surprised at what she's doing. The Medill Innocence Project clearly has an agenda. So she's taking that "on your side" slogan more seriously than ever.

I wondered how WRBL possibly could have confused Columbuses on a map of burglaries almost two years ago. This message indicates Alison Flowers was partly responsible. I would have put the blame on someone in the control room - and undoubtedly a man, for not double-checking a map like this.

Yet this also seems to indicate all the Media General TV stations share a graphics department. It's not quite having maps of Columbus outsourced to the Philippines, but it's a step in that direction.

Now back to some old business. Last Monday the director of the Grassroots Unity Movement for Change responded to a short mention of him here. We commented on that response - and you can guess what that brought....

Brother Burkard,

Of course, Michael "Weaver" Carothers probably would argue he also is for "unity, community, fairness.... and truth-telling." He simply wants all that his way - (The Blog of Columbus - 20 AUG 2011)

I am certain Weaver/Carothers would do just that, and I guessed you would say that would be his response when I mentioned unity, community, fairness and truth-telling. You speak of people wanting it their way and believing their way is right and the only way. I agree that they do. However, there is no way white nationalism and the unity in the community, the fairness and justice, and the honesty and truth-telling that I espouse are remotely the same. It is incredibly shortsighted to for anyone to even suggest it.

Apparently, you see American civil rights and white nationalism as both being very much the same. You see Weaver or Carothers and I as the same type trouble-makers when it comes to the subject race, although what I rail against is racial prejudice and social injustice. It is your right as an American citizen to have, hold, and share that opinion with the readers of your blog. I have the right to disagree with your opinion and object to the inference, which I do.

As far as Michael "Weaver" Carothers and I having any debate that would never happen for a number of reasons. One being I chose not to waste a lot of time in doing what I do as a community activist. A debate of that nature would be a colossal waste of my time. I do not worry about people like Mr. Carothers as much as I worry about the supposedly god-fearing people that pretend they aren't like him at all. They are much more of a danger and more widespread.

However, you are right about distorted views of what is right and what is wrong. Human beings can talk themselves and others into believing something that is wrong is actually right and that there really is not any actual right or wrong when it comes to controversial issues like race or racism. The person that thinks he is right will always be right in his own mind. A fool is content being a fool and there is really nothing you can do or say to change a fool. All you can do is put forth intelligent conclusions and sound arguments to expose the foolishness of the fool.

I think the saying goes, "God is not the author of confusion." God is not but Satan certainly has to be to stay in business and keep us divided.

Have a blessed day,

C.A. "Brother Love" Hardmon

What we need here is a definition of "civil rights." Congress tried to establish a definition in the 1964 Civil Rights Act which was centered on "race, color or national origin." Yet that left out gender discrimination, which led to the Equal Rights Amendment. And even though that amendment failed, and now we have Chaz Bono appearing on "Dancing With the Stars."

(You may not know at least one Presidential candidate opposes the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Maybe that's why in a diverse city such as Columbus, I see far more Republicans endorsing Herman Cain right now.)

To label Michael "Weaver" Carothers and C.A. "Brother Love" Hardmon as "trouble-makers" is obviously a pejorative term. To call them advocates for their beliefs is much more in keeping with the standards set up by Wikipedia, should either man ever gain an entry.

But it admittedly concerns me when a blog set up for humorous comments about the community becomes swarmed by people with deep-seeded agendas -- especially when the agendas aren't really humorous at all. Those agendas can transcend skin color and political affiliation. Yet so far, Auburn and Georgia football fans somehow have NOT started e-mail feuds here.

I don't blame C.A. "Brother Love" Hardmon for not wanting to debate Michael "Weaver" Carothers. The only local African-American activist who might have taken him on is Nate Sanderson of the NAACP. After all, Sanderson used to host a weekend TV talk show - and one night, he dared to call out the leader of North Korea.

This message nearly was moved to Saturday, because the author brought up a Bible verse. The context of that verse actually involves speaking in tongues - and at least C.A. "Brother Love" Hardmon writes for a tabloid which translates Spanish-language articles into English.

Our last e-mail today involves a discovery late last week....

found this fence going up today in Phenix City at the Entrance to the River Walk near 13th.

If someone thinks that's going to stop flooding from Tropical Storm Lee, I think they're sadly mistaken.

I saw this e-mail too late to make any calls about it, but this probably is related to the whitewater project. Step one of the construction was supposed to begin this past week -- building an access road for work crews on the Phenix City side. Hang around the site long enough, and you might get a souvenir rock from the middle of the river to take home.

It's not yet clear from this photo if part of the Phenix City Riverwalk will have to close because of whitewater construction. My jogging on that Riverwalk already is hindered by renovations that have closed the 14th Street bridge. I don't want to run up that killer Amphitheater ramp after 25 minutes of jogging, if I can avoid it.

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