GodSta - Put it down. Follow me.

GodSta is a counter-revolution of ideas, principles and systems for those who are willing to create change. Our weapons are love, peace, and hope. Our colors are bright and illuminating for the purpose shedding light on issues that need to be faced and addressed. Our initiation is a commitment to fight the good fight of faith. We Know who the enemy is and how to address him.

Price of Life

Witness the transformation of an ex-convict into a community leader. From life as a hustler to life as a responsible father, Robert Childs walks us through the realities of the “Price of Life.” Childs is the voice of ex-offenders who give up life on the street to repay their debt to their children and to society.




The Villanova University production Price of Life is a short documentary shot entirely on the streets of Philadelphia, PA. Produced in conjunction with the National Comprehensive Center for Fathers, Price of Life is a film on social justice; the lifestyles of urban street hustlers is chronicled through a series of interviews detailing paths to rehabilitation within the Philadelphia community.

Price of Life focuses on the life of Robert Childs, a Philadelphia native bred into the street culture of gun violence and drug trafficking from a young age. The film brings Childs back to the locations of some of the most notable events of his life, as he discusses the intricate details of street life during the two decades that he terrorized the streets of his local community.

From a young age, a life on the streets is the only way of life that Childs knew; without a father figure to turn to for guidance, Childs learned life lessons from older groups of hustlers who took him in. Price of Life reveals the lavish vices that Childs turned to in his darkest times, motivated purely by greed and a sense of maximizing all pleasures. There existed no clearly identifiable goal for Childs; each day was likely to be his last, as he watched his companions die around him throughout the years.

His debilitating journey of crime was littered with drawbacks stemming from conflicts with law enforcement and the constant threat of death. With no sense of death or morality, Childs’ reign as a horrifying figure of violence is shown in graphic detail to the audience of Price of Life, bringing a level of understanding to Childs’ life of darkened glamour.

Other figures in Price of Life include Childs’ mother Barbara Boyd, who recounts how Childs lived as an energetic youngster in the Philadelphia community. Her recollections of Childs’ youth bridge the gap between normal childhood behavior and his introduction to the violent culture that Childs came to dominate later in life. The most turbulent years of Childs’ life is recounted by his mentor Muhammad Shakur, who connects Childs’ experiences to the greater urban community as a whole. Shakur’s testimony brings to light the bigger issues within Price of Life, establishing the trends of violence that many fatherless figures of the black community turn to.

Childs’ path of rehabilitation through the National Comprehensive Center for Fathers (NCCF) served as the catalyst for turning his life around. Through a series of classroom instructions and personal mentoring, Childs worked to overcome the personal demons that plagued him for decades. Price of Life includes the NCCF’s director Kofi Asante, who provides his insight into Childs’ transformation and his strength and resolve to turn his life around to become a leader and role model for the community he once intimidated.

Tom Daley, Dancing With The Stars?
I thought he was in jail with Jack Abramoff.



The DeLay-Abramoff Money Trail
Nonprofit Group Linked to Lawmaker
Was Funded Mostly by Clients of Lobbyist

By R. Jeffrey Smith
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, December 31, 2005

The U.S. Family Network, a public advocacy group that operated in the 1990s with close ties to Rep. Tom DeLay and claimed to be a nationwide grass-roots organization, was funded almost entirely by corporations linked to embattled lobbyist Jack Abramoff, according to tax records and former associates of the group.

Obama 'Joker' Picture Pops Up In Los Angeles and Across the Internet

You might not expect liberal Los Angeles, of all places, to be ground zero for anti-Obama sentiment, but that appears to be the case with a new, apparently grassroots campaign in the city. Posters have been spotted on utility poles and walls around town, depicting the president made up grotesquely as The Joker, the infamous Heath Ledger character in "The Dark Knight," with white face paint, dark eye shadow and smudged red lipstick. The word "socialism" is printed in bold, dark letters under the image of his face.Nobody has come forward yet to claim responsibility for the posters, which, of course, only adds to the mystery and fuels Internet speculation.

The poster has also gone viral online, crashing the Web site that first posted images of it and rising to the top of Google's "Today's Hot Trends" list.

The poster has also gone viral online, crashing the Web site that first posted images of it and rising to the top of Google's "Today's Hot Trends" list.

Whoever is behind the posters has to be thrilled by the sudden media attention and especially the breast-beating overreaction by certain Democrats. Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable President Earl Ofari Hutchinson was especially melodramatic:
"Depicting the president as demonic and a socialist goes beyond political spoofery," says Hutchinson. "It is mean-spirited and dangerous.

"We have issued a public challenge to the person or group that put up the poster to come forth and publicly tell why they have used this offensive depiction to ridicule President Obama."

For some reason Hutchinson wasn't nearly so upset when President George W. Bush was depicted with devil horns.

A bigger question than who's responsible for the poster is what does The Joker have to do with socialism? Isn't he more of an anarchist?

First African-American female rabbi ordained

June 7, 2009

(JTA) -- The first African-American woman rabbi in the United States was ordained.

Cleveland native Alysa Stanton, 45, was one of 14 rabbis ordained Saturday at the Plum Street Temple in Cincinnati. She is a graduate of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion.

Stanton, a convert and mother to an adopted 14-year-old daughter, will take up her new pulpit as the spiritual leader of Congregation Bayt Shalom in Greenville, S.C. Bayt Shalom is a small Conservative congregation that two years ago also affiliated with the Reform movement.

The former Pentecostal Christian converted 20 years ago while in college. She is a trained psychotherapist who specializes in trauma and grief.

Heart of Stone



Bloods, Crips, College?
Passionate principal of an inner-city high school inspires dueling gangs to relinquish their weapons for education’s sake. Before 1960, one of the most prestigious schools in the country, the older Jewish and current African-American alumni cross cultures and join in raising funds for college in order to return their alma mater to its former glory.

Do You Know Who You Are Getting Your Hot Dog From?
Newly Opened Felony Franks in Chicago Employs Ex-Offenders
By NATHALIE TADENA
July 20, 2009

For Bob Fitzgerald, finding a job with multiple DUI convictions on his record and no driver's license was no easy task. Then in July, the 56-year-old recovering alcoholic found employment—his first job since his last conviction in 2003—at a newly opened hot dog stand in Chicago.

Name of Illinois hot dog stand that employs ex-felons has caused controversy.

"I spent the last three years in and out of institutions, living in public housing," the Chicago resident said. "This is the first time I'm able to pay for anything."

Fitzgerald is an employee at the aptly-named Felony Franks, a local business that employs rehabilitated ex-felons looking for a chance to improve their lives. Most of Fitzgerald's co-workers have been convicted in the past of drug-related crimes, including dealing and illegal activities to support drug habits, such as theft and armed robbery.

Email Picture

Tim Sloan / AFP/Getty Images

IN WARREN, MICH.: President Obama told a crowd at Macomb
Community College that “when we have placed our bet for the
future on education, we have prospered.”

Obama unveils plan to invest in community colleges

IN WARREN, MICH.: President Obama told a crowd at Macomb Community College that “when we have placed our bet for the future on education, we have prospered.” The president says he intends to inject $12 billion into the nation's two-year schools over the next 10 years to help struggling workers prepare for new careers.

By Peter Nicholas
July 15, 2009

Reporting from Warren, Mich. -- With unemployment continuing to climb, President Obama on Tuesday unveiled a plan to pump $12 billion into the nation's community colleges over the next 10 years to help struggling workers prepare for new careers, saying a better-educated workforce was crucial to long-term prosperity.

"Time and again, when we have placed our bet for the future on education, we have prospered as a result -- by tapping the incredible innovative and generative potential of a skilled American workforce," Obama said.

In his appearance here at Macomb Community College and earlier in the day in Washington, Obama sought to draw a direct connection between recovery from the economic crisis and a broad array of administration initiatives, including education, the stimulus package and overhauling the healthcare system.

Before flying to Michigan, Obama acknowledged that unemployment might "tick up for several months," but he said his prescriptions, taken together, offered the best hope for creating jobs.

And here, in a state where the jobless rate tops 14% compared with the national average of 9.5%, the president pointed to the healthcare debate raging in Congress and said stabilizing medical costs was crucial to restoring prosperity.

"Now is the time to build a firmer, stronger foundation for growth that will not only withstand future economic storms, but that will help us thrive," he said on the Macomb campus. "To build that foundation, we have to slow the growth of healthcare costs that are driving us into debt."

He took a barely veiled shot at Republicans, who were in power when the recession began but who have relentlessly attacked his recovery plans.

"I love these folks who helped get us in this mess and then suddenly say, well, this is Obama's economy. That's fine. Give it to me," the president said. "My job is to solve problems, not to stand on the sidelines and harp and gripe."

Obama added: "The hard truth is that some of the jobs that have been lost in the auto industry and elsewhere won't be coming back. They are casualties of a changing economy."

He argued that community colleges could play an important role in helping displaced workers build new careers, but that they needed more resources at a time when state and local budget problems could lead to capped enrollments and fewer course offerings. FULL FEATURE

A SERIES OF FEATURES ON MENTORING

MENTORS: Real Life Heroes
Forever in His Debt

I can remember my first mentor his name was Oraston Brooks. He was an exceptional artist, who could draw or paint anything. For several years, he worked as an illustrator and comp artist for various advertising agencies in New York City. When he visited, we would briefly discuss our common interest as artist, and he'd always encourage me to develop my skills. Oraston wasn’t always readily available, but the times we shared discussing art were greatly appreciated.

Several years passed, when I learned that Oraston suddenly passed away. My Aunt, who was a very good friend of his, and I attended the funeral service. There I met his nephew, and had the opportunity to talk to him about my relationship with his uncle, and the impact that his acts of kindness had on my life. I told him how, I vividly remembered meeting him in the early 1960’s. At that time, Oraston was dating my Aunt, but whenever he visited he would always take the time to acknowledge me as a fellow artist. One day, after several requests he sat with me, and did a pencil sketch of one of my favorite hero’s, Hercules unchained.

I was eight-years-old and in the third grade at the time. That-single act of kindness, and kinship, had a greater impact on my life and career, than my education at both Art & Design High School, and Pratt Institute, my twenty-plus-year career as an artist, designer, mentor and educator, simply because it made it all possible. When he passed that sketch to me, he was passing the baton, and daring me to carry on. He acknowledged and validated my talent, when others did so in passing. Most saw my ability to draw as a hobby, but he showed me that it was a beautiful gift from God, and for that I am forever in his debt.

When passing a baton you don’t give it back to the runner, who gave it to you, but past it on to the next runner. I always encourage my students to stop, reflect and remember those who’ve helped them, to consider developing and strengthening their ability to give. To actively create in their lives the cycle of giving, the returns are immeasurable.

Brotherman