Kim Springs
Political leaning/affiliation:
Conservative (but, lately, it's hard to differentiate).
An impromptu (a quickie) description of me:
I'm a working mom, single, blond, svelte, town native, employed with local newspaper company, pursuing a career in social work. I have strong opinions on children's rights, and people living with abuse.
Why I chair SCCF:
G. Terri Archer asked, and I said yes. We have a lot in common. She's black, I'm white; she's an only child between her parents, I'm one of fourteen kids; she ran track, I played basketball; her voting style is in the populist category (but I'm not really sure), I vote the way my parents do/did (but I'm not really sure); she writes children's books/stories, I write at about the teen/young adult range.
My favorite quote:
I'll have to get back to this.
Movie(s) I would recommend:
There's a list. I'll have to get back to this.
Books of interest:
There's a huge a list. I really like Terri's book, Doors. But I'll have to get back to this.
Where I am on the P.C. scale:
P.C. on some subjects, but not very on others.
What I like about SCCF:
We're a mixed group of people who are passionate about protecting kids, safeguarding their future, and taking a stand for people who are living with abuse.
Wish list for the next president:
Create fairness practices for single mothers so that they have a fighting chance. Make after-school programs an incentive for U.S. governors. Change U.S. laws to synchronize across the 50 states, child/molesters/rapists/murderers/batterers should not have opportunities to repeat what's on their minds (and that includes children in child custody cases, they need protection, too). The leading conclusion amongst mental health professionals is that there's no known cure for child molesters. There's more; I'll have to get back to this.
G. Terri Archer
Political leaning/affiliation:
Mixed (I also like Green).
An impromptu (a quickie) description of me:
I'm a single mom, svelte (like Kim said); PAC and networking background; Associate Producer of A Dream Deferred (2006), a documentary based on the poem by Langston Hughes; strong opinions on children's rights, people living with abuse, and fair politics (I know, oxymoron).
Why I co-chair with Kim:
We have a lot in common, she's white, I'm black. I'm an only child between my parents, she's one of fourteen kids! She played basketball, I was a track & field sprinter. Her voting style seems conservative, I lean populist (but have voted for Green, Democrats, and a Democratic-Republican senator). She writes for young adults, I write children's stories. She's a good pal, a soldier when I need one. We'll probably team up again in therapeutic work. I think we both like to have fun, although, I'm more of a clown.
My favorite quote(s):
"These boots are made for walking..." —Nancy Sinatra.
"We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same." —Carlos Castaneda.
"Cogito ergo sum" (tr: I think therefore I am). —René Descartes.
But there's more; I'll have to get back to this.
Movie(s) I would recommend:
Hot Fuzz (the British make some of the funniest movies); Serendipity; sweet, empowering & good: Under the Tuscan Sun starring Diane Lane & Sandra Oh; most movies starring Anthony Hopkins, or Robert De Niro, or Jack Nicholson; Glory; Troy; Malcolm X; The Last Samurai; The Best Man; So I Married an Axe Murderer; Gladiator; Something's Gotta Give; As Good as It Gets; A Few Good Men; Love & Basketball; G.I. Jane; Play Misty for Me; The Bridges of Madison County; The Shawshank Redemption; Tombstone; When a Man Loves a Woman; The Lost City; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; Enough; and, yes, I thought Transformers was good fun. There's more, but that'll do for now.
Books of interest (the philosophers were a little hard to digest but worth the effort):
The Story of Philosophy by Will Durant; Plato: The Last Days of Socrates translated by Hugh Tredennick; The Dialogues of Plato translated by Benjamin Jowett; Plato: Gorgias Translated by Walter Hamilton and Chris Emlyn-Jones; Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela by Nelson Mandela; The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. by Martin Luther King Jr. & Clayborne Carson; The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Alex Haley; No Future Without Forgiveness by Desmond Tutu; God Has a Dream: A Vision of Hope for Our Time by Desmond Tutu; Gandhi An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments With Truth by Mohandas Karamchand (Mahatma) Gandhi; The Philosophy & Opinions of Marcus Garvey by Marcus Garvey; Night by Elie Wiesel; Marley Legend: An Illustrated Life of Bob Marley by James Henke; Before the Legend: The Rise of Bob Marley by Christopher John Farley; John by Cynthia Lennon; Sociological Lives and Ideas: An Introduction to the Classical Theorists by Fred C. Pampel; Mirror for Humanity: A Cultural Anthropology by Conrad Phillip Kottak; The New Western Way of War by Martin Shaw; The Culture of War by Martin van Creveld; Contemporary Sociological Theory and Its Classical Roots: The Basics by George Ritzer; Need to Know: Social Science Research Methods by Lisa J. McIntyre; Parties, Politics, and Public Policy in America by Marc J. Hetherington and William J. Keefe; American Political Parties: Decline or Resurgence? by Jeffrey E. Cohen, Richard Fleisher, Paul Kantor; Why Black People Tend to Shout by Ralph Wiley; Serenity: A Boxing Memoir by Ralph Wiley; The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Dubois; The Complete Works of William Shakespeare; Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story by Ben Carson, M.D., with Cecil Murphey; Doors; White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son by Tim Wise; The Diary of Anne Frank by Netherlands Institute For War Documentation; The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama; Ngugi a Grain of Wheat by Ngugi Wa Thiong'o; Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, by Shunryu Suzuri; Hostile Takeover: How Big Money and Corruption Conquered Our Government and How We Take It Back by David J. Sirota; My Life So Far by Jane Fonda; It Takes a Village: And Other Lessons Children Teach Us by Hillary Rodham Clinton; African Women: Three Generations by Mark Mathabane; Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane; Stolen Lives Twenty Years a Desert Jail 1999 1st Edition by Malika Oufkir and Michele Fitoussi; The Icarus Agenda by Robert Ludlum; The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum; Angels & Demons by Dan Brown; Son by Jack Olsen; Predator by Jack Olsen; Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us by Dr. Robert D. Hare; Dark Dreams: Sexual Violence, Homicide and the Criminal Mind by Robert Hazelwood; Having Our Say by Sarah L. Delany and A. Elizabeth Delany with Amy Hill Hearth; Good Hair by Benilde Little; Race Matters by Cornel West; Four Classic American Novels: The Scarlet Letter, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn The Red Badge Of Courage, Billy Budd by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Mark Twain, Stephen Crane, Herman Melville; Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes by Edith Hamilton; Composition in Black and White by Kathryn Talalay; The Dark Child: The Autobiography of an African Boy by Camara Laye; Collected Poems by Sylvia Plath; Legacies: Fiction, Poetry, Drama, Nonfiction by Carley Rees Bogarad & Jan Zlotnik Schmidt; The collected poems of Langston Hughes, The Weary Blues, The Ways of White Folks, Short Stories of Langston Hughes, Laughing to Keep from Crying by Langston Hughes; Let Nobody Turn Us Around: Voices on Resistance, Reform, and Renewal An African American Anthology by Manning Marable.
Where I am on the P.C. scale:
I'm not very P.C.
What I like about SCCF:
What Kim said.
Wish list for the next president:
Say less but do more (talk is cheap), get young people (troops) out of Iraq, build good intelligence and use it wisely, act on the threat of global climate change, and, for the love of the cosmic power, protect people who are without access and power.
Lavarr Smith
Political leaning/affiliation:
Mostly democratic.
An impromptu (a quickie) description of me:
I'm a black male—in my twenties. I do the hiring for a major NY eatery/establishment. I'm a big guy (over 6 feet); I play excellent b-ball; I like to write (it's a good form of expression). I have strong opinions on children's rights, justice, politics, and achievement. The cool kid in the picture is my son and my main motivation.
As a contributing writer on SCCF web site:
I'm adding a voice for young, black males who want to raise the standard of living, care about family and affordable health care, worker protection, securing American jobs, and "real" justice for all people.
My favorite quote(s):
I'll have to get back to this.
Movie(s) I would recommend:
There's a huge list. I'll have to get back to this.
Books of interest:
The Art of War; The Unfinished Nation: A Concise History of the American People; Philosophical Dilemmas: A Pro and Con Introduction to the Major Questions; Sources of African American Past (Second Edition); The Enduring Vision: A History of the American People; Doors; Social Problems: Society in Crisis; Media Ethics: Issues and Cases; Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ; The Complete Works of William Shakespeare; Alive; Approaching Literature: Writing + Reading + Thinking; The Winner Within; The Summons. There's a huge list. I'll have to get back to this.
Where I am on the P.C. scale:
I'm not on the scale.
What I like about SCCF:
What Kim Springs and G. Terri Archer said.
Wish list for the next president:
Focus on what matters. People will notice.
Joy R. Cullum
Political leaning/affiliation:
Mostly democratic.
If I had to describe me, my family, and background:
I'm a black female in my twenties, majored in forensic science, vocalist and song writer (I wrote and recorded a song entitled, Simple Things). I'm told that I'm an attractive woman—strike that, I'm very attractive. I read The New York Observer, The New York Times, girl magazines, and a bunch of other news source. I sometimes visit that Drudge guy's web site. My siblings are all creative types. I care about things like unburdening young people of the skyrocketing, tuition costs/loans. I think child molesters/rapists and murderers should get mandatory life sentences; All children should be protected from these people.
As a contributing writer on SCCF web site:
I'm adding my voice because I care about the future. I care about protecting the planet. People of all colors and persuasions should have discernible rights.
My favorite quote(s):
"I'm free to love me" is my own quote from my song, Simple Things. I have some more; I'll have to get back to this.
Movie(s) I would recommend:
I like The Last Dragon. Journey of Man (PBS documentary, hosted by Dr. Spencer Wells) is an excellent film. Matewan has historic value. There's a huge list. I'll have to get back to this.
Books of interest:
Doors; Lady Day: The Many Faces of Billie Holiday; Lady Sings The Blues; Unthinking Eurocentrism: Multiculturalism and the Media; The Portable Voltaire; Candide: Or, Optimism (by Francois Voltaire); The Complete Works of William Shakespeare; The Audacity of Hope; Classics of Political and Moral Philosophy; The Anatomy of Motive: The FBI's Legendary Mindhunter Explores the Key to Understanding and Catching Violent Criminals; Dark Dreams: Sexual Violence, Homicide and the Criminal Mind (by Robert Hazelwood); The Stranger; The Rebel: An Essay on Man in Revolt; Resistance, Rebellion, and Death: Essays (by Albert Camus); A Day Late and a Dollar Short (by Terry McMillan); Mama (by Terry McMillan); Disappearing Acts; Waiting to Exhale; No Disrespect; The Coldest Winter Ever; Queen Latifah; Marley Legend: An Illustrated Life of Bob Marley; Poetry for Young People: Langston Hughes; Langston Hughes: American Poet; Anne Sexton: A Biography; The Complete Poems: Anne Sexton; The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath; The Bell Jar (by Sylvia Plath). But there's more; I'll have to get back to this.
Where I am on the P.C. scale:
I'm probably just a bit P.C.
What I like about SCCF:
What Kim Springs and G. Terri Archer said.
Wish list for the next president:
Protect the rights of all people. Protect the planet. Don't indulge in race-bait politics.
Jean Lightfoot
Political leaning/affiliation:
Mostly democratic (open to independent candidates).
If I had to describe me, my family, and background:
I'm married; I have children.
As a contributing writer on SCCF web site:
I'm adding my voice because I care about the future of young people.
My favorite quote(s):
I'll have to get back to this.
Movie(s) I would recommend:
Too many to mention here, but I'm a huge fan of Michael Moore and love his documentaries.
Books of interest:
I'll have to get back to this.
Where I am on the P.C. scale:
I'm not very P.C.
What I like about SCCF:
What Kim Springs and G. Terri Archer said.
Wish list for the next president:
Make American workers a priority, stop the practice of sending jobs offshore. Don't play politics with other people's lives (things are just too serious for that same old game).
Pam Ely
Political leaning/affiliation:
Mostly democratic.
If I had to describe me, my family, and background:
I'm a divorced mother of two. I've been a registered nurse for many years. I survived an eternity of battery that was too much to mention here. My kids are my single, most important priority. For what I've experienced, I'm still an attractive woman, who can relate to anyone, in any skin. But as a Caucasian woman, I feel a special kinship with Black women. Archer and I bonded easily. I told her that I wish White people had civil rights leaders. Because of a sexist/corrupt/male-dominant-directed court system, I sometimes wish Al Sharpton was in my town and wouldn't mind standing up for good mothers and the protection of innocent children. I'm a frequent writer to the (editor) of a local paper; my letters are usually printed in the letters to the editor section.
As a contributing writer on SCCF web site:
I'm adding my voice because Archer keeps telling me that I matter, and I believe her. She thinks my writing is "easy to conceptualize." At first, I did it for her, but, now, I'm doing it for me.
My favorite quote(s):
I have a few. I'll have to get back to this.
Movie(s) I would recommend:
I'll have to get back to this.
Books of interest:
I love Doors. There's a list. I'll have to get back to this.
Where I am on the P.C. scale:
I'm not P.C. at all.
What I like about SCCF:
What Kim Springs and G. Terri Archer said.
Wish list for the next president:
Protect powerless people, especially, women and children. Make our judicial system work for everyone. Get the terrorists where they hide—if need be, target Pakistan, but get the troops out of Iraq's civil war. Stop sending American jobs overseas.
Andi
Political leaning/affiliation:
Non-descriptive; actually, more like populist and progressive.
If I had to describe me, my family, and background:
I'm the new white dude on the team. I have a master's degree in philosophy. It didn't make my life more pleasurable, but it sure pleased my folks, so it was the least I could do. I play the guitar in a local band. I read often. I've been blogging on this site for approximately two years. I started writing to individual members of the team and pleading my case to get in on this gig. Terri wrote back and asked why I wanted to be on the team; I told her she was missing a white guy's perspective. She said she already had a white guy on the team (yes, she was just kidding), but I reminded her that he was on the other side (the website that is currently down so we could go fast forward on our mission). That's when I asked her if she only had a single token spot for a white guy (yes, I was just kidding). I was winning her over with that crack. Then I heard back from Joy. She said I reminded her of a guy she did a gig with way back. To my surprise, she was right. Her mother had rented our band to play at her house a few years ago, and Joy sang with the band that night. She was great! She still has a beautiful voice. She sent me some pictures and it all came back to me. And the rest is history (see the picture of Joy singing with me on the guitar).
As a contributing writer on SCCF web site:
I'm digging in and adding my voice because I really like this bunch of good citizens. There's more to life besides my guitar and I'm getting a piece of it now. I care about protecting the planet. I have a son and a daughter. I would go ballistic if anybody ever touched them improperly, and that includes any of my good dudes. I trust no one, nowadays, with kids. Child molesters/rapists and murderers (except in self defense) should get mandatory death. They won't stop. They can't stop. So put them out of their misery before they hurt more people. I got Terri to agree that I could write what I like, "within reason," so I'm kicking this off with this statement of my position on Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS): It's bull*bleep*! There's no truth to it! Somebody made up this crap and made a ton of money off of sick pedophile fathers; some of them like to be thugs with the ladies while their kids watch completely petrified. I'm talking about dudes much closer to orangutans than humans, but they walk and talk like human beings, and that's the confusing part. Well, that's a bit about my beliefs, and, as Bob Dylan would say, "All I can do is be me, whoever that is."
My favorite quote(s):
"All I can do is be me, whoever that is."—Bob Dylan
"I don't think the human mind can comprehend the past and the future. They are both just illusions that can manipulate you into thinking there's some kind of change."—Bob Dylan
"Reality leaves a lot to the imagination."—John Lennon
"The more I see the less I know for sure."—John Lennon
"There's nothing you can know that isn't known."—John Lennon
Movie(s) I would recommend:
Honestly, I like a lot of Terri's picks.
Books of interest:
Mostly books about the sixties. I like the period of the muckrakers. I'm into contemporary muckrakers, too; I'm trying to convince the team to change our name to "The Muckrakers," but I'm not sure how that's going over yet. I'll probably write a piece with that name. I like Jack Kerouac's On the Road. I like most autobiographies. I really like books on FDR.
Where I am on the P.C. scale:
DO WORK SON! I don't belong on this scale.
What I like about SCCF:
What the whole team said. And I love the members in our team—all of them!
Wish list for the next president:
Here we go! I'm thinking about adding my kids' pictures to the site, and I wish some freak of nature even thinks he could molest them. You freak! I'm ready, so bring it if breathing is too much work for you. I have a giant hate on for child molesters and abusive dudes. They give the rest of us a bad rap. When a lady I like can't trust me the way I know she should, even after she knows me for a long time, I know it's because of the stuff happening to kids and that's why she's scared to trust me with her kids. I blame the system causing this kind of garbage, like putting PAS in the courts without checking out the crazy scheme behind it; it's bull*bleep*! Oh, yeah, I said that already. And there's this other thing: do the right thing, Mr. President!
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