"I like the concept of trying to have people discover their purpose in life, and not have the world define them or settle for less than who they want to be just to pay their bills"

To Professor Klaaren, thanks for those chats in your office. I'm sorry for making you cry. Your confusion is my inspiration.

If my mom practiced what I preach, I wouldn't be here. THREE CHEERS FOR FEMINISM!

1: a sharp and often satirical or ironic utterance designed to cut or give pain [tired of continual sarcasms]
2a: a mode of satirical wit depending for its effect on bitter, caustic, and often ironic language that is usually directed against an individual [this is no time to indulge in sarcasm]

"...it is then up to Christians to show that Christianity is the truth of total reality in the open marketplace of freedom..."

I was surprised that as lovely a blog as yours could be so poorly researched. But then my husband reminded me that people with fine design skills don't necessarily have fact checking skills as well. I can't find any instance of the ACLU endorsing a political candidate. I see that they have endorsed some ballot initiatives. Could you tell me where you found ACLU endorsing candidates?

By the way, if you want to know how non-profit organizations are financed, you can check their IRS 990 forms online for free at Guidestar.org.

"disadvantaged by the legacy of Jim Crow laws, segregation and decades of racism, poverty and inferior schools, who were intended as principal beneficiaries of affirmative action in university admissions."

"I think it's good for a fan base because as we all know, the majority of the fans are white America. And if you just had a couple of white guys in there, you might get them a little excited...But it is a black man's game and it will be forever. I mean the greatest athletes in the world are African-American,"

"You'd think Bird had burned a cross on magic Johnson's lawn, so great has the uproar been. He's been called a "lunkhead" a "nitwit" and a "bigot" among other choice epithets."

"Now, older and far more cautious if not downright cowardly, I am more likely to avoid than to address the racial issues of this era. While such matters still fascinate me, attempts to discuss race-no matter how reasoned and rational you may believe your own voice to be-are fraught with peril. I have little appetite for how ugly and accusatory the discourse can rapidly turn and appropriate fear of how it can tarnish a reputation. It is simply not safe for a white man (just ask Paul Hornung) or a black man (just ask Bill Cosby) to engage the subject publicly with any degree of candor."

"Though I'm not sure Bird is right, I can certainly make the argument for him. Even black hip-hop culture, which has captivated white suburban kids, seems to fire on all cylinders-the music, the movie, the mooning on the MTV awards-when a white superstar like Eminem is channeling it."

Oprah: "But, ultimately, why didn't you tell the truth?"

Bill: "I was afraid that if I did it, at the time, that (a) he would go out and indict a lot of people, falsely, and (b) the hysteria would cause me to be run from office, and that the bad guys would win, yeah."

Step 1: You get a warning
Step 2: You get a time-out
Step 3: Privileges are taken away

Step 1: You do it.

"I'm trying to keep this show ghetto, and there's a way for it to be both ghetto and intelligent...but it's not going that way."

"I hate the title because it locks both of us right in, rather than just calling it something like 'Two Guys in the 'Hood.' We've got a lot on the line here. I'm a musician. At the end of the day, if this show fails, all these other people can go on to other projects. We'd have to go back to where we came from, and they'd be saying, 'Oh, there goes Method Man and Redman, they went Hollywood.' Where are we going to go?"

"We can't all be the Cosbys. There needs to be a yin and yang as far as what is shown of black people on television."

"improve the well-being of children by increasing the proportion of children growing up with involved, responsible, and committed fathers.

"Easter Bunny. Tooth Fairy. Daddy. Eventually kids stop believing in things they don't see."

"Each Night millions of Kids Go To Sleep Starving. For Attention from Their Dads."

"Dear Daddy, My Mommy Can't Be My Daddy Too."

"We[we're] gonna teach the ladies they can still respect themselves and still be beautiful. That's what's up."

"A record 14 black Republican candidates are seeking legislative seats...More black Republicans are running for office in Georgia this year than ever before, and black candidates in other Southern states are also finding that declaring for the GOP is more accepted than it was just a few years ago."

"But if you can move the percentage of blacks who vote Republican from 5 percent to 15 percent, you will change the outcome of a lot of close Southern elections."

Yes, white people made this country. There are many reasons for that, not the least of which was slavery. Blacks were not allowed to get an education. Therefore, they had little impact.

Those that did were always celebrated. Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, and MLK. But there is no reason to celebrate someone simply because they were black and did something notable. Many people of all races did something notable, and there is little room in textbooks to discuss everyone. Often those who are covered are granted space simply because they were "the first black" or "the first woman" to do something.

Let's celebrate accomplishment, not skin color.

Afrocentrism? Give me a break.

What Black American child really gives a d**n about "African Culture?" They are Americans. This stuff is only for the self-indulgence of the teachers.

More useful would be teaching Classical literature, with an elective on Black Americans who have "made it" in spite of Jim Crow etc..These are some of the finest Americans and should be role models - not preachers who can only bleat out loud about "social justice" but not get much done.

"A 20th-century philosophy which holds that humans must live their lives without any absolute values or divine laws. Many existentialists believe that since there is no guarantee of human worth or dignity, and no such thing as "human nature," humans have complete freedom to define humanity and a painful ethical responsibility to do so."

"Existentialism is the title of the set of philosophical ideals that emphasizes the existence of the human being, the lack of meaning and purpose in life, and the solitude of human existence. Existentialism maintains existence precedes essence: This implies that the human being has no essence, no essential self, and is no more that what he is. He is only the sum of life is so far he has created and achieved for himself. Existentialism acquires its name from insisting that existence precedes essence. "

Day by Day, to see thee more clearly, to love thee more dearly, to follow thee more nearly, day by day

"...the comedian has been praised by white conservatives and black folk at large for essentially keeping it real. For airing dirty laundry. For saying in public what your uncle Bobby has been saying behind closed doors for years."

"There are still certain things some black people won't talk about in front of some white people. American culture may be seemingly more integrated than, say, 50 years ago, but cultural walls remain. Racial issues, in multiracial company, are often circled until they are impossible to ignore and have to be discussed; blacks, when there are only other blacks around, often cut to the chase...Last month, Bill Cosby broke the unwritten rule of keeping black dirty laundry in black washing machines."

"It is not just the lower socioeconomic groups, it is the new black millionaires, the new wealthy as well...We all need to take more responsibility, not just poor people."

"The mistake I made was not in clarifying that I wasn't talking about "all." I think that unless it's later on, I think I said prior to this, the 50% dropout. I think I said that prior to this, "50% dropout in school." Very, very important, because with that, that means 50% of our African American males, from grade 9 through 12, in certain parts of the city, have no education."

"Mr. Farley made it sound as if I had divulged some secret about which no one knew. But where is the secret? The secret walks and it talks. From the hallways of the school to the street to the corner store and onto to public transportation, the dirty laundry is out there."

"Uh yes. My car ran out of gas down the street and I am going around trying to collect some gas money"

"Well we have a few containers of gas downstairs in the garage you can use."
"What kind of gas is it?"
"Regular, Unleaded," she says.
"Well, my car takes premium."
"What kind of car is it?" she asks.
"A 1985 Lincoln Continental."
Perplexed she begs,"You have a 1985 Lincoln Continental that takes premium gasoline?"
"I dunno, it's something about the gas tank or whatever."
She declares, "Well I'm sorry then we can't help you," and closes the door.

• Should a 320 pound man advise us on the evils of overconsumption?
  
• Should the resident of a million-dollar apartment claim to be a poster-boy of the working class?
  
• Should a person who thought Enron was a great investment, Nader would win, and North Korea's Kim Jong was changing for the better, advise us on ANYTHING?"

"Many youngsters are frustrated by the profusion of racy teenage clothing, according to Buzz Marketing, a New Jersey-based firm that compiles feedback from teen advisers.

"There is just sensory overload. Kids are going to say enough already," said Buzz's 24-year-old chief executive, Tina Wells. "The next big trend I see is kids are going to look like monks."

"It was an interesting moment in the history of nomenclature when Hillary's 'Rodham' slipped into the position of a middle name after her husband lost his bid for re-election as governor in 1980. In the decades that followed, political wives have been pressured to tack their husband's names onto their own (n.b. Judith Steinberg Dean and Teresa Heinz Kerry).

"At Good Vibrations, we know that sexual pleasure is a birthright and that masturbation is a powerful source of sexual gratification."

"...by withholding its honors from young women with bad reputations, the Miss America Pageant upholds a biblical standard. And by insisting on an objective standard of beauty, it not only holds the line on nose rings and tattoos but also strengthens the incarnational idea that flesh can both give shape to and be shaped by the spirit."