I’ve done a bit of reminiscing today about the fives years that I lived in New York.  Living in New York is at worst, dodging all of the tourists looking up and ogling all of the tall buildings.  At best, if you are into the arts such as I am, it is the American version of Mecca!  I was so fortunate to work for a company named Group Sales Box Office.  The mission of this company was to provide discounted theater tickets to school and civics groups of ten or more people who wanted to come experience the offerings of Broadway!

One of the perks of working that job is that I got to experience everything that Broadway had to offer for free.  Not only did we do Broadway tickets, we handled all of the theme restaurants such as the Hard Rock Cafe…  Who could ask for anything more than free food and drinks and then a show afterwards?  Myself, and a wacky cast of coworkers would do our best to put those restaurants out of business.

Okay, so you’re probably asking yourself where is Nick going with this column.  I am here to bring to your attention to a novel written by Victor Hugo called Les Miserables.  In the business, we just called it Lay Miz.  Anyway, the principle character is Jean Valjean,who rises from a bread thief to become  a very prominent man who is ruthlessly hunted by a French police officer, Inspector Javert bent on bringing Valjean down.

Valjean has adopted Cosette, the daughter of the deceased Fantine.  Cosette falls in love with Marius who is severely injured in the French Revolution.  Upon discovering Marius, Valjean launches into “Bring Him Home!”  Which is the song that made me think again about my nephew Devyn!  Please, bring him home…

When I first wrote about my nephew Devyn Hardy, who was the victim of a senseless and heinous violent crime, it was intended as a therapeutic measure for me to deal with my disbelief and grief.  Instead, the many friends of the Hardy family have taken my words and have turned them into their words in the hopes of fighting negative stereotypes.  We all know that words have power and through my blog, I have rejected the words of those who would cast us in less than a positive light!

As I stated in the first Devyn blog, The Tampa Tribune and the police department had characterized Devyn’s shooting as a drug deal gone bad.  I am happy to report unequivocally that there will be no charges filed against Devyn.  To be blunt, my nephew was the victim of those who wanted to rob him of his possessions and nothing more.  Many folks have encouraged me to forward my post to the media to clear the air, however, I think that a kick to the nuts of those who defamed my nephew are more appropriate.  Please believe me, I am winding up my leg….

I talked to Karen this evening and I am happy to report that Devyn is in good spirits and even does a little dance with his shoulders whenever he receives visitors.  He was so overwhelmed yesterday with the number of people who came to see him that Karen had to limit the number of people who could visit.  Is that a remarkable young man or what?

Devyn has amazed his doctors with the speed of his recovery and his outlook on his future.  His jaw is wired shut and he can’t talk and it will be that way for the next six weeks.  However, he is communicating with hand signals and gestures using his body.  Damn, I love this kid!  He is the victim, yet, he is setting the example!  If I had one tenth of the strength this kid has, I’d be a better man!

We are looking to bring him home sometime next week to finish the healing and rehabilitative process.  He will still need to undergo at least two more reconstructive surgeries and I will continue to blog about his progress.  He will need a hypoallergenic environment to recuperate in and I will touch on that later.

Once again, thank you all for the love and support that you have given my family.  We appreciate and love you all!  Devyn posted to Facebook yesterday and I will leave you with what he said:  Thank you everyone for the love..yalls prayers and strength are keepin me going.

Did I say how much I love this kid?

Recently, in my tribute to my nephew Devyn Hardy, I commented on how I did not have much faith in the human species as a whole.  Let me state how unequivocally I was wrong about the human race and in particularly The Baby Rattler Nation.  While I will always view humans skeptically, I will never again doubt the bonds we forged as Baby Rattlers.  I couldn’t have made it without the support of some of our core families.  I take that back….. even if you were an only child, you are a part of that core.

There are certain things that we hold to be self-evident, such as the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  Although these things came to us later rather than sooner, must these three unyielding principles require a child to constantly look over his/her shoulder in the fear that some ne’er-do-well is going to inflict some type of harm on them simply because they have benefited a little better under the system that we live under?  It shouldn’t have to be this way….

I can ramble on and on but I don’t want to bore you, lest myself.  I am truly fighting the monster that I despise I might become.  I just want a very simple thing out of life and that is for us to all get along.  I will gladly give you everything that I have if it will prevent you from trying to blow my brains out.  Maybe, it is beyond my purview to understand this… I might never know.  With this being said evildoers and dregs of society, you must remember one thing…..

If you want to do dirt against us is a road that you don’t want to travel down because if you do, you only need to remember these words:

When the dark clouds gather on the horizon,
When thunder and lightning pierce the skies,
When fate is but a glare in the eye of a fallen Rattler,
and hope….a lost friend,
When the sinew of the chest grows weary from those hard charging linebackers,
And the muscles in the legs grow tired from those hard charging running backs,
You must always remember….the Rattlers will
STRIKE!!!
STRIKE!!!
AND STRIKE AGAIN!!!

We will get you in the end. We come from a legacy starting with Matthew Esteras, Harry Holt, Doris Jefferson, Doris Medlock, Ruth Williams, Johnnie Williams, Raymond Baker, and even Mrs. Hill, the evil math teacher…. Don’t tread upon us!   My nephew, Devyn Hardy made it through New Beginnings so he is apart of the FAMU Family!  You tried us once, you’d be ill advised to do it a second time.  Because when you screw with one of us, you screw with us all.  My entire family and I, stand together with you and for you. Never again can we allow this to happen to one of our families… Just saying!

]]> http://eehard.wordpress.com/2012/01/26/when-the-dark-clouds-gather-over-the-horizon/feed/ 0 eehard http://eehard.wordpress.com/2012/01/25/the-crying-game/ http://eehard.wordpress.com/2012/01/25/the-crying-game/#comments Wed, 25 Jan 2012 15:27:36 +0000 eehard http://eehard.wordpress.com/?p=6753 Continue reading →]]>

The Scream, Edvard Munch

I’ve never been a crier. Didn’t believe in it. In fact, if memory serves me correctly, I have cried approximately three times in my life prior to Saturday.  The first time that I cried was the day I was born and the only reason for that was the doctor slapped me and caught me off guard.  The second time I cried was at my father’s funeral service, the second one in Washington, DC.  You have to give up a few tears for daddy!  Finally, I shed a tear when Barack Obama accepted the Democratic nomination in Grant Park back in 2008.  Yes sir, real men don’t cry!

That was until I got the news that my nephew had been shot.  Then I cried like a baby.  I cried because he was hurt. I cried because I couldn’t protect him. I cried because he was alive and I had no idea of the severity of his injuries.  I cried because his future was so bright and full of promise.  I cried because I was mad.  I cried when I found out he was going to make a full recovery.  I cried for two families that will never be the same.  I cried for the man who attacked my nephew.  I cried because violence makes me sick!

I’ve cried so much lately and I’m getting pretty good at it.  Brother, I’m in big trouble if I see a “save the puppies” or “feed the children” commercial.  But the upside is that I felt better after crying.  It is a natural and free stress reliever.  I can’t imagined how I would have internalized my grief had I not found an outlet for it.  And I am not sure that I even want to know the answer.  All I know now is that I will not try to stifle myself the next time my eyes want to turn on the faucets.  But at the same time, I hope that I will never again have to experience something like this.

Oh, real men do cry!  They just don’t let you see it!

This past Saturday, my nephew, Devyn Lamar Hardy was the victim of a senseless and heinous crime!  He was shot in the face by a couple of Tampa thugs trying to steal whatever he may have had in his pocket at the time.  Tampa police have tried to characterize this incident as a drug transaction gone bad!  Why is it that whenever a black youth is shot for no apparent reason, that it must be the result of a drug deal?  That is contrary to everything that I know about Devyn.

Funka, Wop Wop, or Dippy as he has been known as was a highly recruited football and soccer player coming out of high school.  Much to his credit, he rejected athletic scholarships and instead chose to receive an academic scholarship to attend the University of South Florida, majoring in engineering.  Devyn is listed in Who’s Who, graduated high school with honors, participated in the Florida vs. Georgia All Star Game, and has a host of other awards and accomplishments.

When I heard that he had been shot, something inside of me died!  I am still trying to come to grips with that, but I chalk it up to one thing.  I love all of my nieces and nephews as if they were my own children.  I still can’t reconcile if that is a universal feeling or something unique to me.  If I had my way, I would have been the one taking that bullet for him!  That’s not bravado, but a simple fact that I know that my life is half over….. his is just beginning!  I would make that trade any day of the week.

Enough about me, this is about him.  Son, I know the road that you must now take is going to be tough to hoe, but you come from good stock.  Your bloodline is a good one and through the strength that you have inherited and the work ethic that you have been given, you will come back to us better, bigger, and stronger than ever…

I’ve never been a big advocate of the human race in general, but I believe in you! I know that from this tragedy that you will find everything that your heart desires.  I also remember that about seventeen years ago, I had to come rescue you from that daycare prison that they put you in, the high chair with the bar that kept you from moving…. You were a biter… Bite for life!

I love you kid! Come home!

Story via Huffington Post.

Don’t believe anything that British Petroleum or the United State’s government tells you about the oil spill.  As the video states, this oil spill totaled only 25% of what is flowing into the Gulf of Mexico on a daily basis.  Don’t believe the hype that natural gas is any better.  Please watch Gasland on HBO to see how drilling for natural gas can contaminate your drinking water and cause cancer.  I’ve included the trailer.  If you’re not shocked at what you see, you either work for an oil company or you don’t care that they are raping and destroying the planet that we live on.  The planet belongs to us and not the corporations.

Image via fineartamerica

“ … and when one of them meets the other half, the actual half of himself, the pair are lost in an amazement of love and friendship and intimacy and one will not be out of the other’s sight even for a moment…”  Plato

A funny thing happened to me on the way to finding this partial quote by Plato; I fell in love.  I wasn’t looking for it, thinking about it, expecting it, wanting it, dreaming about it, and just to make sure that there is no ambiguity in this statement, I just didn’t care about it.  And then I got run over by a Mack truck!  Not literally mind you, but the impact was about the same.

I know that a lot of people think that love is the highest form of expressing your feelings and I would agree, to a certain extent.  I argue, however, that without a key element to that love, it is a penultimate love and not the ultimate kind.  I tend to look at things with an Epicurean perspective and to achieve the ultimate love, you need to find your “Twin Soul” as I’ve found mine.

How will you know you have met your twin? Here are some of the symptoms given by others who have had the experience…

• Chances are you’ve met through a set of unusual circumstances… totally unplanned and unexpected
• There is an instantaneous feeling that you have known the other before
• You felt an immediate and deep connection for one another
• There is an electrifying feeling between the two of you that words cannot describe
• The relationship is immediate… as though no time had been lost since you were last together
• It feels as though you had never lived before the reunion occurred
• You feel a deep sense of unity that you’ve have never known before
• It brings on feelings you never thought possible
• The two of you are inseparable
• When you look into each other’s eyes time and space have no meaning
• There are no barriers between the two of you… the relationship is a totally open one
• Your conversations seem to go on forever
• The two of you have a strong urge to serve humanity in a deep and meaningful way
• You give to the other and never think of receiving in return
• There is a special sacredness to your relationship that transcends anything you’ve ever experienced before
• You still have karma with your twin (from previous lives) but the two of you resolve it all with total forgiveness and unconditional love
• Neither one of you are dependent on the other for your sense of self
• There is a real feeling of unlimitedness to your feelings… you have a strong sense of eternity
• Your feelings for each other are very spiritual
• There are no restrictions within the relationship… all is freedom without the need for ownership or control
• The two of you know without doubt that you have been brought together for a reason
• You do not compete with one another nor do you pretend to be other than who you are
• In spite of your sameness there is no doubt you feel a sense of completion through the other
• Trust, patience, acceptance of each other’s weaknesses happen automatically
• There is a great sense of purpose and meaning to the relationship
• Your sexuality with one another is a sacred act that celebrates the unconditional love you have for one another
• When you look into the other’s eyes you see yourself
• You experience a sense of completeness that is without comparison

There is no doubt that some of the symptoms described above are also common to soul mate relationships. What really sets the twin soul union apart from all the rest is the profound degree of completeness experienced and the overwhelming sense of spirituality unique to them.  Twins want to serve humanity in some meaningful way. There is also a very sacred sense of intimacy and feeling of divinely inspired wholeness that one finds within a twin soul relationship. It is not by accident nor is it without purpose.  (The following can be goggled and is listed on hundreds of web pages and thus, I cannot cite the original source).

Another funny thing happened to me on my way to accepting this theory of a twin soul.  Before this, I didn’t think that I even had a soul.  At least not in the sense that we have been raised to believe under Christian theology.  More in the sense of the Chinese philosophy of Yin and Yang where each is need to complete and bring balance to each other.  To be more exact, one cannot exist without the other assuming that we exist in the first place.  But I digress and that is an argument for another post.

What is perfectly clear is that I have found my twin soul and she hers.  I cannot lie and say that we have achieved or met every bullet point on the aforementioned list, but, there are more than enough examples that do match that it is an undeniable fact.  I love her!  I want her. I need her.  I respect her.  I dream of her.  She is forever in my heart and never ,  even for a moment, out of my sight.

lf, the actual half of himself, the pair are lost in an amazement of love and friendship a           “and when one of them meets the other half, the actual half of himself, the pair

intimacy and one will not be out of the other’s sight even for a moment…n”and when one of them meets the other half, the actual half of himself, the pair are lost in an amazement of love and friendship and intimacy and one will not be out of the other’s sight even for a moment…

“and when one of them meets the other half, the actual half of himself, the pair are lost in an amazement of love and friendship and intimacy and one will not be out of the other’s sight even for a moment…

I just sat through two grueling hours watching MSNBC’s “Debating the Black Agenda” hosted by Tamron Hall and Ed Shultz.   The show was an extension of Al Sharpton’s National Action Network’s convention this weekend in which members of the black intelligentsia, Sharpton, and other political pundits discussed issues that make up this supposed black agenda.  Tavis Smiley hosted a similar symposium a few weeks ago and “The Black Agenda” was included in the title.  Before I get into what is the black agenda, I just think that term is not the best slogan due to the heated discourse we find ourselves in.

I believe that those on the far right would misconstrue just what the black agenda is an try to fashion it into an anti white movement.  Sharpton and Smiley have tried to suggest that the black agenda is America’s agenda. Yeah right!   Try selling that to the Teabaggers.  A recent CBS/New York Times poll came out with these startling numbers, (See poll links).   Clink the link to see what  the Teabaggers think.  You can check out this link to see who they are.  The numbers speak for themselves.

A lot of the conversation was based on past inequities suffered by blacks at the hands of whites.  It almost teetered on the fact that blacks were somehow owed something but that is an argument for another day.  They addressed others issues such as Affirmative Action, education, crime, and the disintegration of the black family.  Three of these items can be accomplished without the government getting involved.  Blacks must reestablish the traditional family.  I certainly had the advantage of growing up with both parents in the home and can attest to the benefits of having a strong father to keep me in line.  Next, education must become a higher priority in black America.  The higher the level of education that is attained will invariably lead to the reduction of crime.   If you don’t do the crime then you won’t do the time.  And we already know what a conviction can do to ruin any legitimate shot at a successful career.

On the other hand, whites must realize that by uplifting the poor we can eliminate many of the stereotypes that they have regarding blacks.  Only when everyone is on equal footing, can we say that the American dream has been realized.  The notion that President Obama is doing more for blacks than he is doing for whites is absurd.  President Obama has often stated that he is not the president of white, black, gay, straight, red state, or blue state America but that he was the president of the United States of America.  So think twice when you say “I want my country back.”  Which way and how do you want it back?  You’ve barely taken your foot off of the back of my neck…  There is no black agenda or conspiracy thereof, there is only agenda and that is the American one.  United we stand, divided, we shall surely fall.