Ignorance

Ignorance: the state or fact of being ignorant : lack of knowledge, education, or awareness

In today's Birmingham News there is a column by John Archibald in which he calls out Birmingham City Councilwoman Lashunda Scales for her reaction to the "Living in Limbo" exhibit at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute earlier this year.

Archibald is correct, and his column is worthy, but he missed a chance to explain the reason for Scales' opinion.

"Scales said she was "floored" when she saw the "Living in Limbo" exhibit," Archibald wrote. he then quoted Scales.

Councilwoman Lashunda Scales

"I didn't choose to be black," she said. "I came here black. That's the difference. I know there's a difference between a choice and being black."

Now those who have kept up with this blog over the years know that my pet peeve is people who say being gay is a choice. And those who do, do so out of ignorance. Or hatred.

Scales may be well educated but on the subject of sexuality she is ignorant. I hope that the gay people in her district and elsewhere will contact her and let her know that being gay is NOT a choice.

She can be contacted at

Birmingham City Hall
710 20th Street North
Birmingham, Alabama 35203-2216
Phone: 205-254.2349
lashunda.scales@birminghamal.gov

This reminds me of when, in 2007, Birmingham was set to pass an inclusion resolution and Miriam Witherspoon made a heartless comment. Other Birmingham Council members joined her in supporting exclusion of gays. Two months later, however, after some education, the council voted unanimously in favor of the resolution.

This state is slow to change. Just look at the struggle black people had when seeking equality. That is why I am "floored" when people who should understand discrimination (and ignorance) fall victim to the same mentality that governed our state during the Civil Rights era.

But, here we are, about to elect Roy Moore defeat Roy Moore in his bid to regain the Chief Justice position. Let's hope Judge Bob Vance can put Roy Moore to rest for good.

And let's hope Councilwoman Scales can evolve on the issue of sexuality.

BRIMF Ribbon Cutting

Norfolk Southern officials and dignitaries and invited guests were at the site of the Birmingham Regional Intermodal Facility this morning as the ribbon was cut to welcome the infrastructure project to completion.

As is typical of Norfolk Southern events and meetings, a safety briefing was offered to begin.  Norfolk Southern is proud of their safety record.

Remember the obstacles that were faced as Norfolk Southern worked to get the project approved?

Local, state and federal agencies and officials came together with Norfolk Southern people to overcome the difficulties, and the result is a beautiful facility just west of Bessemer. (Click here to read everything I've written about this "hub," as it was called.)

This facility will have a profound effect on our community and on the state for years to come, the assembled crowd heard.

It will create about 200 jobs immediately, but has the potential to create or benefit between 8,000 and 9,000 jobs in the area.

By 2020, it will divert 600,000 trucks to rail, and save more than 17 million gallons of fuel by doing so. It will reduce CO2 emissions by more than 190,000 tons. More than $59 million in congestion-related costs will be saved, and over $15 million in accident costs will be avoided. Each intermodal train typically removes 280 long-haul trucks from the highways.

The facility itself is impressive, with an Automated Gate System that shortens the wait time for trucks entering the terminal, which improves driver productivity as well as air quality. This gate system will have optical character capability, meaning it can automatically recognize trailers and containers.

The facility is environmentally designed to minimize light and sound spillover (a concern of nearby residents).

The main administrative building meets LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Certification standards.

The facility will begin operating in November as existing international Birmingham services are transferred to the new facility.

Full opening will occur in January 2013 with new domestic services, including 20' and 40' international freight service to and from seaports in Charleston, Savannah and New Orleans; and 53' domestic freight service to and from Bethlehem, PA; Greencastle, PA; and industrial markets in Mexico.

Governor Robert Bentley, Representatives Terri Sewell and Spencer Bachus, and numerous state legislators and officials were on hand for the ribbon cutting.

Terri Sewell spoke and delivered what might have been the most meaningful thought of the event.

Speaking of the 7th congressional district, she said, "What we lack in economic prosperity we make up for with heart and spirit." Amen.

I didn't see any elected officials from Bessemer at the event (although I could have missed someone), but Bessemer's business community was well represented, with folks from the Chamber of Commerce and several local businesses on hand.

Let's give Norfolk Southern an official Bessemer Progressives welcome to Western Jefferson County. We look forward to having you and the benefits of your presence here for decades to come.

Coming out

Today is National Coming Out Day.

That means that it is a good day for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender people to be honest with themselves and with those around them.

Seventeen years ago on this date I came out to the first non-gay person that I told, an employee who supported me from the beginning.

I had a family consisting of a wife and two children. Coming out is not easy.

Recently our home burned. The rainbow flag survived.  (One day I will write about the house fire and share more pictures. I'm not ready for that yet.)

Among the ashes I found a letter that I had written to my other employees. I want to share some of that today.  Parts of the letter are too personal to make public.

Dear Staff,

I hope that writing this letter is the hardest thing that I ever have to do, I don't think I can go through this pain again. For years I have been living with a terrible burden, with hurt and with fear. You will never understand this because you have not gone through it. I have tried every way I knnow to resolve, to ignore, to change myself, to MAKE IT GO AWAY. But it never will. I now realize that I can't change. It's a part of me that has always been there. I thought I was in charge, maybe I was, but I no longer am.

I am gay. Think back, you won't find it hard to believe. maybe hard to believe that I am admitting it, or that I'm telling you.

Without revealing too much about myself I have known this for 20 years, since I was in college.

(A couple of  "too personal" paragraphs).  

You may not understand what is in me that forces me to be honest with myself and with my world but hopefully you will understand that I am the same person you have known for years. I'm not a bad person, I thought I was doing right then. I know I am doing the right thing now.  

(A couple more "too personal" paragraphs).

One other last thing. A couple of weeks ago B**** asked A**** and me if people just wake up one day and decide they are gay. No they don't. They struggle. They know it. Then one day they realize they have to accept it. It's not easy. But one's sexuality is not a decison. How one deals with it is.
 

You can see how I struggled. For some it is not as difficult, especially in 2012, with positive gay role models and the internet and facebook and Modern Family. But in 1995, it was a struggle.

Everyone comes out in their own time, when they are ready. For me, it was October 11, 1995. But even a week or so later when this letter was written, you can see that I was not entirely comfortable with who I was. But I have grown. I have educated myself.  I have become an advocate, and an activist. And my, how things have changed in the past 17 years. We now have a president who supports marriage equality for gay people!

Happy National Coming Out Day, 2012

From the Bessemer Courthouse to the Supreme Courthouse?

Concerned attorneys, elected officials, candidates, business owners, residents and others gathered at 11:00 on the steps of the Justice Center in Bessemer to show their opposition to the proposed closing of the courthouse.

Approximately 60 people heard Bessemer Mayor Ken Gulley, "I don't think the Constitution of the State of Alabama allows the commission to close this courthouse."

Mayor Gulley said he was ready to take the issue all the way to the U. S. Supreme Court if necessary in order to keep the courthouse open.

He said he was tired of our courthouse being treated like stepchildren.

(I'm sure he meant no harm to the multitudes of quality step-parents out there.)

But he's right. Remember when Commissioner Bettye Fine Collins questioned whether or not the court house should be built?

''Is Bessemer growing residentially that it needs to serve more people? No,'' Collins said. ''We've got a courthouse satellite in Forestdale, we've got one in Center Point, we've got one in Homewood and now one in Gardendale. Why in the world are we building a $100 million deal in Bessemer?''

Of course, as was brought up at today's protest by Sylvia Blackerby (the organizer of the event) the Bessemer Justice Center serves more than just the residents of Bessemer. The fastest growing area of the county, McCalla, along with Fairfield, Brighton, Lipscomb, areas of the county, parts of Hoover, are all served here.

Ms. Blackerby also noted that among those affected by the closing would be the victims of crimes who would then have to travel to downtown Birmingham for legal proceedings.

And she reminded the crowd that there are 5 elected officials that were voted for in that building, and that by closing the facility, they are taking away our voting privileges.

Attorney Aaron Killings also spoke, sending a message to our commissioners that people are very disappointed that they want to disregard Bessemer.

Commissioner Jimmie Stephens spoke up and wanted clarification that not all the commissioners were in on that, and that he was in favor of keeping the courthouse open.

After Mr. Stephens  spoke a retired Jeffco worker got in his face with her concerns about the commission firing or forcing retirement on so many people.

If this courthouse closes, more people will lose their jobs. Some inside the courthouse but many outside the courthouse as well. Attorney's offices might cut back, restaurants (including the Bright Star) will see their clientele diminish in number.

People were watching from across the street (no, those bars aren't part of the jail).

And what about these people. This is part of the line of people waiting to get tags today. These are not all Bessemer residents. But what if they were?  So what? This courthouse is here because...

 The Bessemer Division of the Jefferson County Circuit Court was established in 1915 and the old courthouse finished in 1920. So for almost 100 years the people in the Western part of Jefferson County have traveled to Bessemer to conduct business. If this courthouse were to close, or to move out of the downtown area, the city center of Bessemer would become a ghost town.

Let the commissioners know what you think.

Commissioners are:

David Carrington: Phone (205) 325-5503

George Bowman: Phone: (205) 325-5504

Sandra Little Brown: Phone: (205) 325-5074

Jimmie Stephens: Phone: (205) 325-5555

Joe Knight:  Phone: (205) 325-5070   

The Supreme Court race in Alabama

We now have a clear choice in the race for Chief Justice in Alabama.

Judge Robert Vance is now the nominee for the Democratic Party, and ousted former chief justice Roy Moore is the Republican nominee.

I was not able to attend the Over the Mountain Democrats meeting this week where Judge Vance spoke, but my friend Regina did and she sent me this picture. 

Judge Robert Vance speaking at Over the Mountain Democrats

The prior Democratic nominee was Harry Lyons, and he was removed from the ticket last week at a hearing that I attended. The  removal was brought about after Lyons posted inflammatory and bizarre remarks on his Facebook page, and it was decided that his comments violated judicial canons that justices should adhere to.

Vance threw his hat in the ring after the ouster, and he has only a few weeks to build a campaign and convince voters that he is the better alternative.

"My message to voters is simply I am here as an alternative choice, as someone who will focus on the real problems facing the state, facing the court system and someone who will run a positive, honorable campaign," said Judge Vance regarding his campaign.

Vance is a Circuit Judge in Jefferson County, having been elected in 2004 and in 2010.

Vance has not had much to say about his opponent, Roy Moore, other than this.

"I have grave concerns based on his last tenure as chief justice," Vance said.

But I have something to say about the disgraced former chief justice.

Roy Moore was removed from office when he was Chief Justice for failing to obey a federal order that he remove the washing machine sized 10 commandments monument that he installed during the dark of night in the Alabama Supreme Court building.

As if that isn't bad enough, he advocated violence and death against gays and lesbians in an opinion he wrote in a custody case.

In 2002, in the case of D.H v H. H. he wrote the following (the bold highlight is mine):

"To disfavor practicing homosexuals in custody matters is not invidious discrimination, nor is it legislating personal morality. On the contrary, disfavoring practicing homosexuals in custody matters promotes the general welfare of the people of our State in accordance with our law, which is the duty of its public servants... The State carries the power of the sword, that is, the power to prohibit conduct with physical penalties, such as confinement and even execution. It must use that power to prevent the subversion of children toward this lifestyle, to not encourage a criminal lifestyle... Homosexual behavior is a ground for divorce, an act of sexual misconduct punishable as a crime in Alabama, a crime against nature, an inherent evil, and an act so heinous that it defies one's ability to describe it. That is enough under the law to allow a court to consider such activity harmful to a child. To declare that homosexuality is harmful is not to make new law but to reaffirm the old; to say that it is not harmful is to experiment with people's lives, particularly the lives of children."

Could a gay or lesbian person get a fair trial in Justice Moore's supreme court?

But let's look at another issue. Todd Akin, the Missouri Republican senate candidate, has brought rape and abortion into the conversation, so let's see what Roy Moore has to say about the subject.

Most rational All rational people would say that in cases of rape or incest or when the mother's life is in danger that the option of terminating the pregnancy should be available. Republicans like Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney are changing their positions on this issue so quickly and often that I am not going to quote either of them.  They are not the concern here.

But Roy Moore wants abortion outlawed and does not believe in any exceptions. He wants all abortions outlawed.

In 2009 the candidates for governor were interviewed by the Birmingham News.

(Bill) Johnson, (Tim) James and (Roy) Moore called for a complete ban on abortion, with no exceptions. Johnson said that medical science has progressed to the point where there are almost no cases in which abortion is necessary to protect the life of the mother. If a woman is raped, he said, "it is possible to prevent conception and, therefore, there is no need for an abortion."

 James and Moore said abortion is an all-or-nothing question; either a human being is created at the moment of conception and must be protected, or it is not, they argued.

  "You have to declare whether it's legal or illegal to kill a child in the womb," Moore said.

No one is for abortion. But most women, if raped, might want the option of terminating the pregnancy, and not having to carry a reminder of the violent act for nine months and then raise it, being reminded of being raped every time she saw her child.

So Roy Moore takes the most extreme view on abortion, and promotes violence against the gay and lesbian citizens of our state. If that isn't enough to withhold your vote from him, I don't know what is.

Democrats now have a solid choice in Robert Vance for Chief Justice. And Republicans have an option, in Robert Vance, that they can vote for with the realization that a fair minded experienced judge will be leading the state judiciary.

Lipscomb - Jeffco's "best kept secret"

One candidate for mayor of Lipscomb who was born and raised there proclaims that "There is no doubt in my mind that Lipscomb is Jefferson County’s best kept secret."

That should be your first clue that Deborah Miller is the person to vote for on Tuesday, if you live in Lipscomb. Deborah has lived in Lipscomb all her life, and raised her children there. She understands the values of the community, things like knowing your neighbors by name and looking out for one another. And she has respect for everyone.

She understands that Lipscomb faces serious challenges, and realizes that the Mayor and Council must work together, and must include citizen input in decisions that are made.

Deborah was elected to the City Council in 2004, and in 2007 was appointed Mayor by Governor Bob Riley when the position became vacant. She served for one year and achieved financial stability for the city by paying debts that the city owed. Crime statistics improved during her short term.

This experience in the city government of Lipscomb gives her a heads up in how to manage through these tough economic times. She will not have to learn on the job the basics of running City Hall (which, she says, will be accessible to the public).

Deborah remembers the time in Lipscomb when there were two grocery stores and gas stations and places to eat. But she does not want to go backward. She wants to carry Lipscomb forward, and in doing so will seek to bring those amenities back. Currently the citizens of Lipscomb have to travel outside of the city to obtain groceries or gas or to eat out.

She realizes that in order to bring businesses into Lipscomb that it must be a safe and secure place for people to invest in. Police and fire protection and safety are two of her priorities because without these, business owners will be reluctant to locate to Lipscomb. And recruiting business is important because of the tax money that can generated.

I don't live in Lipscomb but I live on a street that is a main thoroughfare between Bessemer and Lipscomb, and I travel through there frequently on the way to Birmingham or Red Mountain Park or other places.

Once, a few years ago when Lipscomb was having serious leadership problems I suggested making it a part of the city of Bessemer. But I wondered then whether the residents there would want become a part of the Marvel City, because I learned that Lipscomb’s per capita annual income is about $1300 higher and household income about $7000 higher than Bessemer's.

That suggestion was made in 2007 because there was no suggestion that anyone in Lipscomb was willing to assume the type of leadership position that was needed. Soon after that, Deborah Miller was appointed mayor by the governor, and things began to improve.

So we know she has the leadership abilities, we know she has the passion, we know she has the experience needed, and we know she cares for her neighbors.

Bessemer Opinions endorses Deborah Miller for Mayor of Lipscomb. Vote "Deborah Miller" on August 28.

 Learn more at Elect Deborah Miller for Mayor

Fences

Yesterday while enjoying our walk at Roosevelt Park in Bessemer, I observed something that I think should be addressed.

It's about how we raise our children.

It has to do with fences. Fences are supposed to serve a purpose. That purpose might be to keep people out, to create a sense of order, to keep a tennis ball from bouncing out of the court area, or other purposes.

Occasionally you come across a fence that seems to have no purpose.

This section of fence stands in the playground area at Roosevelt Park. I am sure it has or at one time had a purpose, but I don't know what it is.

This fence stands near a church on Dartmouth Avenue. other than acting as a support for the vine that is growing on it, I cannot imagine the purpose of this fence.

The fence in this picture surrounds the tennis courts at Roosevelt Park.

 In spite of the signs on the fence that say the courts are for playing tennis only, there is a group of young girls practicing cheerleading under adult supervision.


As we walked around the track, we noticed all of the participants returning from another area of the park, and they each entered through this hole in the fence (I have put an oval around the hole in the picture). This was also under adult supervision. Click on the picture and you can see the hole better.

 On our next trip around the track, we noticed several gates at the other end of the courts. 

So here is my question.



Why are we teaching the kids to disrespect the purpose of the fence? Someone disrespected the fence in our backyard once and came onto our property without our permission and stole some stuff. I wonder where they learned not to respect fences?



These girls (and the boys that were with them) could just as easy use the gate to enter the practice area. In fact, the practice session could just as easily be held at the end of the courts where the gates are, so they wouldn't even have to walk the length of the area to get to practice.


This may seem small. But in raising children, the little things count. And they learn respect for people and property at an early age.


And we wonder why we have problems in the Bessemer Schools with discipline and respect.