About
What you will find within these pages are thoughts and musings I would have said to you had we run into one another at the grocery store or at a fabulous shoe sale.
Some might be entertaining, some contentious, some boring beyond belief.
I only hope two out of three are food for thought.
I am a native Kentuckian, and I have worked at the Lexington Herald-Leader for nearly a quarter of a century. I've been a columnist for almost 20 of those years, dispensing my opinions about anything and everything. Born in Owensboro, Ky., I'm old enough to have lived through racial segregation, the Civil Rights Movement, protests against the Vietnam War, and the break-up of the Beatles. That means I am "old school," and my thoughts emanate from that perspective.
7 Comments
April 9th, 2008 at 4:29 pm
Thank you.
July 4th, 2008 at 8:10 pm
I loved it-Jun3rd regarding your 18 year old. I,ve been known to use water spray to rouse anywhere from 14 to 18 year old boys . Secretly I suspect that I was known as a ‘witch”. I’m really glad that you now have a blog.
April 29th, 2009 at 8:28 am
Ms. Davis -
I read with great interest your article about Rear Admiral Michelle Howard, “A Woman Our Girls Can Aspire To Imitate”. I believe there is one aspect of the story you overlooked. As a Naval Officer on the Retired List, I still follow stories about the Navy in the press. That said, I had no idea that CTF 151 was commanded by an African American woman. I would submit to you that what was remarkable about RADM Howard being in command is that it was unremarkable. To my mind, that’s progress – real progress. Rick Hillyer, Captain USN (ret).
October 18th, 2009 at 10:31 pm
Ms. Davis-
I have been working with a group of wonderful volunteers (workers who have added this fair to their to do list- aside from their very demanding “real jobs”) from many local social service agencies that will on Tuesday- October 20, host a homeless resource fair at Central Christian Church in downtown Lexington. One of the biggest supporters is Lexington’s VAMC and individuals such as William Embery, Jr.- we started meeting aprrox. one year ago with about 5 participating agencies and the group has grown to well over 40. We would love to have you come by and see how the many hours of hard work, planning and love that has gone into this venture to bring agency services and information/referrals to the community that many forget that exist here in Lexington and that would be the hundreds of men, women and children that are homeless on any given day.
It will be at Fellowship Hall, Central Christian Church- Short Street on Tuesday, Oct. 20 from 9a.m- 3p.m.
Thank you for your time,
Missie Smith
Property Manager
St. James Place
859-699-3061
I will see what I can do. – Merlene
March 12th, 2010 at 8:47 am
Greetings from Australia!
I have been researching the Lexington Suburban Woman’s Club, and found your article about their activities. I would like to contact the group, however a phone call from Australia is not feasible. I cannot seem to find an email address anywhere on line, and wondered if you might be able to put me on the right track?
Many thanks, in anticipation,
Jay Randle
May 25th, 2010 at 3:57 pm
Dear Ms. Merlene
I am writing in regards to a story happening in Georgia. It was a case of child molestation charges. The victim was/is Tonya Craft. You may have heard of it, but I’m thinking not.
Anyhow, she was found ‘Not Guilty’ amidst a world of corruption. It has rung warning bells for the CAC(Child Advocacy Center) and so much more abuse form people supposedly helping children. It was/is what some have been calling a ‘PERFECT STORM’ of injustive in the LMJC(Lookout Mountain Judicial Center) in Northwest Georgia.
Also a private investigator, Eric Echol, whom is African American, has been charged with a FALSE crime. The blogosphere is Burning up the lines over it.
I just thought, since I have seen many articles of Child abuse and the SAD state of our Social Workers, doing their jobs, That it would be an interesting article for your paper to do, and hopefully help our system of injustice.
There is a video of Mr Echol’s part in this, if you’re interested, on Channel 3 in Chattanooga I believe. If not, you can go to: William Anderson Blog, and find out lots of information about all of it.
I sincerely hope you will follow-up on this, or can turn it over to someone who will.
Thank you,
Kay Brown
Thank you. I will look it up. merlene
December 2nd, 2010 at 9:28 am
Ms. Davis:
I admit that we do not agree on many things. I read your column daily but rarely see the issue of taking responsibility for your own destiny mentioned. However, I have to compliment you for today’s column (Dec. 2). You have hit the mark with this one. Education is the key to the survival and reemergence of young black males as a part of the human race. They are coming dangerously close to becoming extinct.
Personal responsibility, parental support, the education of teachers and intervening in the peer pressure network that discourages participation and educational excellence are all necessary.
Black role models are also a key to success. I am a nearly 60 year old white male but I know many young black men who are role models and should be tapped to champion this cause. Some of my son’s best friends throughout 10 years of middle school to college football are young black males, 35 and under, and they have become extended members of our family.
Many of them are participating in youth football and working through the school systems and social services networks to give back to their community. Many young professionals are finding ways to share their success and encourage others to take advantage of public education.
The daily news of black on black violence and the decline of black males in our population from such violence could be avoided by taking advantage of educational opportunities. It is a shameful waste of potential talent and contribution to our society and it is sad beyond belief.
I wish you great success with your conference this weekend and I hope it starts a new era of hope and change for the young black community. Please tells how it turns out.
Marc Ray
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