Happy Martin Luther King Day!!! -- Dare to DREAM

By Maurice Jamal

Today is set aside as a holiday of remembrance for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr and his tireless work for equality, civil rights and justice. As national and world events occur, one might take a moment and wonder about the current condition of peace, freedom and liberty.

Often when people speak of Dr. King, they discuss "the dream". Not only his landmark speech on civil rights, but the essence and content of his dream. I was reminded today that dreams are limitless. There are no boundaries, hurdles, fears or obstacles that can stand in our way. And dreams are not a child's folly. They are the power of the human spirit reminding us that we can rise above the obvious and move towards the great. Dreams make the impossible, possible.

The work each of us does everyday is part of this dream. It moves us towards a world where equality, acceptance, peace and justice are the norms and not the exceptions. Where regardless of background and sexual orientation, people are not only free to love, live and pursue their liberty, they are encouraged and supported to do so.

This year brought both highs and lows for our community; from the victory of DADT to youth suicides that shook us to our core. And each of you has made a fundamental difference for good in this march towards equity.

A dream is more than an idea, it is permission. It allows someone the ability to craft a world that has everything they could want and desire. It emboldens them to say not only "I can" but "I will" and most importantly "I am".

When we struggle, fight and are working to survive, remember that there are men, women and young people across this country who look at the work you do. They see YOU as evidence that their dream has merit. Your talent, work, dedication and perseverance make a difference. Everyday.

GLO TV may appear to be a digital television network. But it is so much more than that.

It is the dreams of people in small towns, church congregations, school campuses and homes across this nation, who often need a voice to speak for them, an ear to hear them, arms to embrace them, and a heart to welcome them.

It is the reality of what their world can be.

The road ahead is one that we will all walk down together. It is not always easy nor the path always cleared. But it is a road we walk down triumphantly, knowing that every step we take, gives our community permission for them to be bold enough, to dare to dream "I AM".

BE your dream!

Tony Porter - Break free of the "man box."

Tony Porter makes a call to men everywhere: Don't "act like a man." Telling powerful stories from his own life, he shows how this mentality, drummed into so many men and boys, can lead men to disrespect, mistreat and abuse women and each other. His solution: Break free of the "man box."

Tony Porter is the visionary and co-founder behind the nonprofit A Call to Men: The National Association of Men and Women Committed to Ending Violence Against Women. Porter’s message of engagement and self-examination has connected powerfully with numerous domestic and sexual violence programs for such high-profile groups as the National Football League and the National Basketball Association, and colleges and universities around the country, including the US Military Academy at West Point and the US Naval Academy at Annapolis. Porter is also an international lecturer for the U.S. State Department, having done extensive work in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

He is a faculty member of the New York State Office of Alcohol and Substance Abuse Services Academy of Addiction Studies, where he co-authored their curriculum for clinicians who work with chemically dependent African-Americans. He also specializes in developing social justice models for human service organizations.

"Ted Bunch and Tony Porter shared their expertise in riveting testimony about men’s responsibility for ending violence against women, and they challenged well-meaning men to become part of the solution. The men spoke of their own journeys in understanding that domestic violence is a civil rights issue." From My Sister’s Place

DIE FREE A Heroic Family History by Cheryl Wills

In January, Bascom Hill Publishing Group is thrilled to publish Cheryl Wills’ first book, DIE FREE: A Heroic Family History (Bascom Hill Publishing Group, January 3, 2011), a true-story of the television journalist’s remarkable family journey from slavery to freedom in America.

As the nation marks the sesquicentennial of the American Civil War in 2011, Cheryl is hopeful that her great-great-great grandfather Sandy Wills’ courageous stint in that Great will be remembered along with the other 200,000 members of the United States Colored Troops. In Civil War anniversaries past, black soldiers have been largely ignored.

DIE FREE is packed with powerful personal stories, many of which are obtained from the National Archives in Washington, D.C. Cheryl’s exhaustive research, with the help a genealogist and the popular website ancestry.com, unearths a history that defies common stereotypes about the antebellum and reconstruction periods in the United States. For example, Cheryl’s great-great-great grandparents, Sandy and Emma Wills, remained friendly with their former slave owners and even married in their house. In DIE FREE Cheryl also uncovers how the federal government routinely discriminated against black Civil War veterans and their widows when they applied for pensions. Documents reveal a disturbing pattern of injustice as veterans were required to answer humiliating questions about their skin color and forced to hire legal representation.

This fascinating thread of American history is set against a backdrop of Cheryl’s father, a courageous army paratrooper who served during the Vietnam era and later joined the ranks of the New York City Fire Department. As the first African-American who integrated the oldest firehouse in the city, Engine 1, the author digs deep and shares how her father died at the age of 38 – without ever knowing his family’s distinguished Civil War legacy.

DIE FREE is a call to action for all Americans to ‘uncover your past to empower your future.’ Cheryl Wills demonstrates that you can be emboldened by the courage of your ancestors and walk confidently in the direction of your dreams. After reading the pages of this uplifting book, you’ll learn that the debt for your freedom and prosperity has already been paid.

“Die Free is a compelling American story. As Cheryl Wills traces the life of her forefathers and foremothers, she traces a critical part of American history that puts in perspective where we have come from to get to where we are.”

-Rev. Al Sharpton

“Ancestry.com is proud the Cheryl Wills used our comprehensive website to make such a fascinating discovery. Die Free is a perfect example of why we do what we do!”

-Loretto “Lou” Dennis Szucs, V.P., Ancestry.com

“The stories are so deeply engaging that readers will quickly realize that in telling her personal story, Cheryl Wills is also telling ours”

-Warrington Hudlin, Pres., Black Filmmaker Foundation

“Die Free is a significant contribution to the body of literature that traces the experiences and family heritage of Africans in the diaspora, a journey that is all too familiar.”

-Sidique Abou-Bakarr Wai, President and National

Spokesperson, United African Congress

“The discovery of Cheryl’s great-great-great grandfather has been a fortuitous and unexpected find---tracking down slavery ancestry is never easy as slaves were treated as property, brought and sold, and rarely referred to by name.”

-Craig Rice, Association of Professional Genealogists

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Cheryl Wills, longtime news anchor for Time Warner Cable’s New York 1 News featured regularly on the Huffington Post, holds a degree in Broadcast Journalism from the renowned S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. She was awarded in 2005 with an honorary doctorate from New York College of Health Professions and honored in 2010 as a broadcast legend in a regional campaign for McDonalds. Wills has moderated events broadcast on C-SPAN, is a nationally known public speaker, and has played herself in several big-screen movies.

DIE FREE

A Heroic Family History

By Cheryl Wills

978-1-935098-40-9*24.95*207 pages

On Sale January 3, 2011