I’m proud to announce that Friendship-West and Dallas South will host an election night watch party at 2020 Wheatland Road on November 4th at 7 p.m. I’ll share more info about his exciting night as it becomes available.
Please leave comments or suggests of what you think would make for a great night of watching the election returns. You can also email me at shawn@dallassouthblog.com
Two weeks ago (Sept. 16) Brandon McLelland was murdered outside of my hometown of Paris, Texas.
Here’s how the story of Brandon’s death was related on an East Texas radio station:
The incident was reported in the Paris News (which has removed their archives for Sept. 15-18) as a hit and run. Brandon’s family was told by local authorities that it was a hit and run. I was contacted by someone close to the situation on Thursday September 18. Here’s what I was told about the details of the incident:
The next day, I began calling people in Paris, but more so people outside of Paris who I thought could objectively find out more about what was going on. Here are some of the things that were shared with me anecdotally. This information has not been confirmed:
So as African-American Political Pundit shares, Dallas’ CBS 11 ran a story on this horrible murder. In the story they report that Brandon’s body was found on the side of a road outside Paris on September 16th. Family members were told he was hit by a vehicle and dragged 60-feet.
There’s no doubt that law enforcement knew the magnitude of this crime from the early stages. According to a source, the funeral director who picked up Brandon’s body at the scene of the crime was told by a local Justice of the Peace to “soothe this over” because Paris doesn’t need any more negative racial attention. The sheriff’s department would have known full well that FM 2648 would be a strange place for anyone to be walking late at night, so to suggest a hit and run made it iffy from the start.
There’s more to this story, but in a post Shaquanda Cotton/Jena 6 world cases like this one will be under more scrutiny on the front end rather than trying to clean up afterwards. On a personal note, I think this case will be hard to try as a hate crime because of the relationships that were present.
The focus should be making sure that the perpetrators of this heinous crime receive the maximum penalty for their part in this crime. I have no doubt that race played a factor in the violent manor with which they killed Brandon, but the original murder seemed to stem from something else. Anything less than the maximum penalty is unacceptable. When a District Attorney has allegedly represented one of the suspects in a prior case, how unbiased can a Lamar County court be?
I pray that God will bless Brandon’s family and bring forth justice in this case.
I finally have an answer to the most asked question at Dallas South. Here’s where to get Obama/Biden Yard signs in Dallas. The Democratic Party is asking for $5 donations to offset printing costs
Last week I had the opportunity to read Say It Like Obama, a book written by Shel Leanne that is now available for purchase. Her book delves into Barack Obama’s oratorical style which has helped him capture his party’s nomination for President of the United States.
Leanne’s book is for public speaking what Oren Harari’s The Leadership Secrets of Colin Powell is for leadership. The book succeeds as an aid for those who find themselves speaking in front of audiences with any frequency. It also has a secondary benefit by providing a glimpse into the political philosophy its subject through his own words.
There are plenty of lessons to be learned from this book even if one doesn’t agree with Obama’s thoughts and beliefs, but the material has the potential to wear on those who differ with him on certain issues. Say It Like Obama‘s opening chapter begins with the full text of Obama’s 2004 Democratic Convention Keynote Address and ends with the full text of his 2008 acceptance speech.
I’ll start with what I like about the book. For those who speak in public but have had little training, Say It does a good job of explaining rhetorical techniques employed by Obama that help him get his points across.
There are simple concepts like alliteration and asking rhetorical questions that are easy enough to grasp. But then there are others like polysyndeton, epistrophe, and mesdiplosis that you’ve probably have never heard of, but once explained are evidnent in Obama’s speeches and adaptable for principals, pastors, or part-time bloggers.
My favorite section was Chapter 6, Driving Points Home. Here the author examines how her subject uses repetition, the power of three (triadic extension), as well as slogans and refrains to make his message more clear. Yes we can is used as an example of repetition, and you can picture Obama delivering these lines and even hear the crowd chant with him while going through this part of the book. I also like the advice of giving “just enough” detail, using the right amount of information to paint a picture or convey a message.
One of the things that I would have liked to see more of was other speakers who have employed similar techniques as Obama. Understanding that the book wasn’t written for today, down the road these words will appear much more fresh – especially for those who’ve heard the senator speak often in the last 18 months.
While mixing passages of Kennedy, Lincoln and (some) King to the discussion, a few more examples from these great speakers may have kept the author from having to make two points with one Obama speech.
My other issues was that some of the passages were just too long. The book was at it’s best when it went down to the paragraph and sentence level. Some Obama excerpts covered three or four pages. I’d imagine his political opponents could only take so much even in the name of becoming a better speaker.
For me, Say It Like Obama: The Power of Speaking with Purpose and Vision, now goes right beside the Powell leadership book on my bookshelf. When crafting a speech, I’ll be able to pull specific techniques that will help me deliver my ideas more clearly. Dr. Leanne succeeds in thoughtfully mixing public speaking and politics to produce a useful guide for all.
Here is an article that I wrote that appears in Sunday’s Dallas Morning News Opinion section (Points). Thanks to Nicole Stockdale for the opportunity.
On a sunny and mild afternoon – a day that would have been great for football – the city of Dallas and Mayor Tom Leppert unveiled a new and improved version of the historic Cotton Bowl. I walked away impressed by the wider concourses, expanded media area, club-level seating and toilets that actually flushed (yes, I checked).
But any mention of the Cotton Bowl since has been met with one word: Cowboys.It’s as if residents expected Dallas to throw in the towel when America’s Team chose to make its move further west.
But the days for debating what could have and should have been with the Cowboys are long gone. The fact is, Arlington is getting itself a world-class stadium, but it’s hard for Dallas to miss something it hasn’t had since 1971.
The $57 million approved by Dallas voters for the Cotton Bowl was necessary to protect the birds that were already in hand, even though the one in the bush was nice. The newly renovated stadium is being touted by leaders as the ninth-largest football stadium, by capacity, in the country. Dallas is notorious for making these types of claims, often to cover up for lasting insecurities. But bigger isn’t always better. And in sports, it’s great teams and great games that make for great venues.
The Cotton Bowl’s greatness, as always, rests squarely on the shoulders of the young men who will run up and down the gridiron this fall. The bulk of that load will be carried by participants in the Red River Rivalry and the State Fair Classic.
In the ’80s, the Texas-Oklahoma game was merely nice to have, but Bob Stoops and Mack Brown have since restored the contest to its past glory. The annual Red River Rivalry is still woven into the fabric of the city.
The Prairie View-Grambling game has always been undervalued, and Dallas needs to make sure school officials don’t feel neglected. With Prairie View having fielded its best team in decades, folks may have reason to stay at State Fair Classic past the Battle of The Bands over the next few years.
These two games are set to remain at the Cotton Bowl until 2015, but the time is now to lay the groundwork for the future – extending signature games and attracting more college football to Fair Park. Even if these four schools decide to bolt for Jerry World, the city will have made its money back from the estimated $30 million that the Red River Rivalry alone brings to the region each year.
(Still, I wouldn’t want to have to debate how we move forward with a spiffed up stadium devoid of its marquee matchups.)
Here is what I would like to see happen in the short term to help secure the success of Fair Park’s crown jewel in the long term.
First, keep the focus on the fair. Launching a new December/January Bowl has probably crossed the minds of local officials, but the package Fair Park offers during October is unrivaled. The weather is as good as it gets in this region.And where else can you listen to your favorite artist, experience the thrill of the Midway, eat chicken-fried bacon and witness an exciting football game all for the price of one admission?
Second, officials need to capitalize on black-college football. When it was announced that Texas Southern and Arkansas-Pine Bluff would play at the Cotton Bowl around Thanksgiving, I could almost see the question marks popping up over Dallasites’ heads. Because the city has long hosted a football game between historically black universities, many have missed the fact that these contests are now popping up all over the country.
The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the Louisiana Superdome, Houston’s Reliant Stadium and Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium all host black-college football classics. Hosting two of these contests is a bigger deal for the Cotton Bowl than many recognize.
It won’t be easy, but those four October Saturdays must be filled with compelling matchups that people will pay to see. Dallas is halfway there, and we’ll see how Texas A&M-Commerce and its sizable local alumni base will support the Harvey Martin Classic.
The Cotton Bowl has never looked better – and I, for one, am glad that big-time college football will continue to take place in Fair Park well into the next decade.
The loss of the namesake game to the new Cowboys stadium in 2010 is unfortunate. But if Oklahoma and Texas leave, turn off the lights – ’cause the party truly will be over.
Shawn Williams is a community advocate and writer who publishes the Dallas South blog. His e-mail address is shawn@dallassouthblog.com.
I rarely post an entire article from the internet, but I had to post Sharon Grigsby’s thoughts on the Sarah Palin interview on CBS. Sharon is Deputy Editorial Page Editor for the Dallas Morning News. Check Sharon and the crew out at the DMN Opinion Blog.
Having now seen the CBS interview with Palin last night, I’m guessing the GOP can only hope the economic crisis continues — anything to keep her out of the news loop.
And now comes this, which I didn’t see the first time around. And this. I have to agree with several local pastors who have emailed me of late and asked, “So where’s all the coverage of this, a la the Wright/Obama media storm?”
I’m proud to be a former soccer mom (kinda hard to be a “current” soccer mom when both of our sons are now in college) and I think “soccer mom” characteristics (along with “Wal-mart traits”) would be a refreshing addition to Washington’s leadership. But at this point, I believe Sarah Palin is giving soccer moms a bad name.
At this point, does anyone who has heard her answers of the past couple of weeks really believe she is ready to take the helm of our country? And if so, on what do you base that on?
What is this you ask that Sharon referenced at DMN? Protection against Samantha and Endora:
This rather striking video resurfaced yesterday of Palin at her former church, where her witch-obsessed pastor laid hands on her. “In the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus, every form of witchcraft is what we rebuke in the name of Jesus,” the pastor says in the video from 2005 (The Washington Monthly).
Just a few thougths
Does John McCain really think that what they need on Capitol Hill to solve the economic crisis is to throw the two most political figures in America into the mix?
Does McCain think that we don’t see that getting both campaigns to ‘suspend’ their ads for a couple of days is more advantageous to the person with less money and who’s now 9 points down in the polls?
Does John McCain really think that America would rather see he and Senator Obama sit down with Barney Frank and President than debate an the University of Mississippi?
Did Senator McCain know that it’s his party that is holding up the show on the bailout, one that should eventually fall somewhere between $100-$300 billion? If he wants the bailout to move forward, he may want to start with Texas Republicans in the House.
Finally, why didn’t John McCain “call on Senator Obama to suspend his campaign” while he had him on the phone? If he was so interested in bipartisanship, why didn’t he negotiate mano y mano with his counterpart while he had him on the line?
Hey Senator McCain….see you in Oxford on Friday.
Here’s the link to Wednesday’s News and Notes program. It ended up being just two bloggers on the roundtable, but I though Danielle and I held it down quite well. Just click on “Listen to Wednesday’s Show” at the top of the page.
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