Everett Jenkins 2018

The following email was originally posted on June 27, 2018 Brother Uthman, Note the timing.  The Temps came to the fore in the 1960s and at least one of the Temps is still alive.  And even those that did die, seemed to go relatively obscurely.  On the other hand, Michael's death and funeral were global events.   As for life being a serious affair, I recently completed my first Ramadan.  It was not easy and, I must admit that, on a few occasions, I lapsed by partaking of water during the day (and on fewer occasions) by eating a meal with a friend.  Nevertheless, during Ramadan, the conscious self denial of food and water did cause me to contemplate the divine and I found the following compelling:  The word “Islam” is derived from the word meaning “peace” in Arabic. Islam is a religion revealed to mankind with the intention of presenting a peaceful life where the infinite compassion and mercy of God manifests on earth. God calls all ...

The following email was originally posted on June 27, 2018 Sister Susan and Brother Uthman,  On this issue, I must continue to disagree.  There is a religious tradition that continues to resonate that requires that one should abhor the sin but not the sinner.  Indeed, we are to love the sinner as much as we hate the sin.  The ugly confrontations endured by Ms. Huckabee and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen this past week are not in the religious tradition that resonates with me.  And thus, for me, the actions were wrong and those who encourage such actions are wrong.  Sadly, I know many will disagree with me and that many will follow the path of ugly confrontation which will only surely escalate the discord in this country.  But while that is the course that others decide to take, it is not the course for me. As always, Peace, Everett "Skip" Jenkins Class of 1975 **************************************************...

The following email was originally posted on June 26, 2018 By now, most have heard about the Supreme Court's decision to uphold President Trump's Revised Travel Ban https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/06/26/supreme-court-upholds-president-trump-immigration-travel-ban/701110002/ Not to belabor the point, but the decision seems, to me, to usher in a sad day for this country... a day that will not make "America Great" but rather will serve, in the long term, to make America less.  By "coincidence", just a few moments ago, I began my daily routine of reading obituaries and noted with interest this recent one https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/19/obituaries/dr-adel-mahmoud-76-dies-credited-with-major-vaccines.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fobituaries&action=click&contentCollection=obituaries®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=6&pgtype=sectionfront The question posed by t...

The following email was originally posted on June 25, 2018 For some (Don McLean, for example), the Day the Music Died was when Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson were killed in a plane crash on February 3, 1959.  But for many of us the Day the Music Died was much more recently.  For many of us, the Day the Music Died was June 25, 2009 -- the day that Michael Jackson died. In celebration of African American Music Appreciation Month and in remembrance of the best selling African American Music artist of all-time, I offer the following three videos.  The first was the one which electrified the television viewing audience in 1983 with a dance routine which seemed to defy physics https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lvsBBNV-U4 the second is a live performance from some 30 years ago that shows Michael at his peak https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujDSiL600nc and the last is a montage of Michael performing the song that may be h...

The following email was originally posted on June 20, 2018 Today, June 20, is World Refugee Day https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Refugee_Day It is thus with a sense of poetic justice, that today, the POTUS retreated from his political ploy of separating the children of refugees from their parents https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/20/us/politics/trump-immigration-children-executive-order.html However, there is still a very serious discussion that needs to be held as to what is the appropriate American response to the refugee crisis that exists within this world.  In a world of continuous turmoil but diminishing resources, there is agreement that we cannot take all.  But we can take some.  How many would that be? I suppose, for me, the words of Emma Lazarus that are on the Statue of Liberty still resonate “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the h...

The following email was originally posted on June 15, 2018 Due to a rather pesky pituitary gland adenoma (pituitary gland tumor) that has attached itself to my optic nerve, I have had two surgeries the first in 2010 and the latest being in May 2017 with a specialist at UCSF.  The specialist did a great job and this time it appears that most of the adenoma has been removed.  However, not all of it can be removed, so as a precautionary measure I need to get an MRI done each year just to check to make sure that my inner friend has not grown.   Such was the case this past Wednesday.  I went to the brand new UCSF Mission Bay Medical Center to have an MRI done.  When I say brand new, it means that this hospital was just constructed within the last four years.  I know this because my daughter was housed on the Mission Bay campus during her years in the UCSF Pharmacy School and while she was there, most of the campus consisted of vacant lots.  Now...

The following email was originally posted on June 12, 2018 I had to catch a plane last Friday so I was not able to tell you about the passing of Clarence Fountain, one of the leaders of the Blind Boys of Alabama https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/06/obituaries/clarence-fountain-88-dies-led-the-blind-boys-of-alabama.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fobituaries&action=click&contentCollection=obituaries®ion=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront I also was not able to tell you that one of the more memorable concerts I have attended in the last five years was the appearance of the Blind Boys of Alabama at Napa's Uptown Theater a few years ago.  I seem to recall telling someone, at the time, how remarkable it was to see a group of men in their 70's and 80's perform with such electric energy that it put most contemporary artists to shame.  And I did so want to tell you about it last week. Well, ...

Ase, Your support for Russell is quite understandable and justified.  Russell was always there and seemed to always stand for the right things.  For the same reason, Jim Brown may still be considered the G.O.A.T. of all football players. I am mindful that when Ali refused induction to the Armed Services, Russell and Brown convened the Ali Summit in Cleveland of prominent black athletes who supported Ali's position.  One of the prominent black athletes was a sophomore from UCLA by the name of Lew Alcindor, the man who would later become Kareem Abdul Jabbar, the NBA's only six time MVP and the NBA's still all-time scoring leader.  Recently, Kareem was asked about the activism of the modern black athlete and the one athlete he particularly singled out for his activism was Lebron James. https://www.cleveland.com/ohio-sports-blog/index.ssf/2018/06/kareem_abdul-jabbar_encouraged.html So, it may be that even in regards to social activism, Lebron must be considered...

Fifty years ago yesterday, I arose from my slumber and hurriedly brushed my teeth and combed my hair.  I then rushed to the kitchen to have my regular bowl of cereal, the bowl of cereal that I routinely had before I would normally bolt out of the house to catch the 7:30am bus that would take me to school, the aforementioned Victor Valley Junior High School.  However, on that particular day, I paused a moment to turn on the television to see the results of the cliffhanger California primary election that had still been too close to call when I had gone to sleep the previous night.  To my horror, the newscasters all had very grim faces.  They were talking not about the election but rather about an assassination attempt on Robert Kennedy.  As soon as I heard this, I immediately went to my parents bedroom, knocked on the door and told them what was going on.  We gathered around the television for a few moments in stunned silence before I actually did run out th...

The following email was originally posted on June 5, 1968 "Nineteen sixty-eight was tragedy and horrific entertainment: deaths of heroes, uprisings, suppressions, the end of dreams, blood in the streets of Chicago and Paris and Saigon, and at last, at Christmastime, man for the first time floating around the moon."                                                                                                      From  1968: The Year That Shaped a Generation The Table of Contents for  1968: The Year That Shaped a Generation  includes a number events that left an indelible mark on this nation and came to define a generation.  The harsh awakening of the Tet Offensive, the grim announcement by a sitting Pres...