Category: News

Community, Connection, Down On the Farm, Education, Emotional Health, Family, Health, Juneteenth, News, Opal's Farm, Service Organizations, Summer, Trinity River, Unity Unlimited, Inc., Urban Farming

Empowering You

gregoryjoel

I hope everyone is staying hydrated and healthy now that summer seems to have started in earnest. We’re hanging in there and keeping the summer crops watered to keep bringing you fresh, healthy, LOCAL produce (you can’t get much more local when you’re right next to downtown!).

We have so much to pass on to you all. June has been an amazing month already and Juneteenth is right around the corner. One of the Juneteenth events you shouldn’t miss is the Empowering You – Education, Health, and Job Fair to be held tomorrow and Saturday at the Trinity River Campus of Tarrant County College. See the attached flyer for details and while you’re there, come see us at the Opal’s Farmstand.

Community, Down On the Farm, Fighting Poverty, Food Equality, Food Justice, Gratitude, Heroes, Neighbors, News, Non-Profits, Opal's Farm, Quotes, Rangers Baseball, Role Models, Service Organizations, Service to Others, Social Justice, Spring, Texas, Unity Unlimited, Inc., Urban Farming, Volunteers, What Can I Do

The First Pitch

gregoryjoel

“I’m not concerned with your liking or disliking me. All I ask is that you respect me as a human being.” – Jackie Robinson

April 15, 1947 is a date that all baseball fans know well. On that day Jack Roosevelt Robinson – Jackie Robinson – became the first African American to break the color barrier in Major League Baseball when he signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Today is also “Jackie Robinson Day” at tonight’s Texas Rangers game at Globe Life Field in Arlington. Even more fitting is the fact that Ms. Opal will be throwing out the first pitch at tonight’s game! Tickets are still available through the Rangers box office.

Come out and enjoy the Spring Texas evening, watch the Rangers play the Los Angeles Angels, and cheer on Ms. Opal!

Ms. Opal’s Ranger Jersey for tonight
Citizenship, Generations, Honor, News, Politics, Public Policy, Quotes, Thoughts From the Porch, Writing

“It took me quite a long time to develop a voice, and now that I have it, I am not going to be silent.” – Madeleine Albright

gregoryjoel

Madame Secretary Madeleine Albright passed away Wednesday from her fight with cancer. She was the first woman to serve as Secretary of State during the Clinton Administration. She was an astute diplomat and taught the importance of diplomacy and listening to others. I did not always side with her position but she was a virtuous diplomat in a troubled world. Her memoir, Madame Secretary, is a great read. May she rest in peace.

Community, Donations, Events, Faith, Honor, Juneteenth, News, Non-Profits, Opal's Farm, Role Models, Service Organizations, Service to Others, Unity Unlimited, Inc.

4th Annual Erma C. Johnson Hadley Awards Banquet

gregoryjoel

I am deeply grateful to be named an Honoree at the 4th Annual Erma C. Johnson Hadley Awards banquet on November 5th, 2021. Ms. Hadley was the first woman and first African American to serve as Chancellor for Tarrant County College. She was instrumental in helping TCC grow and become one of the finest community colleges in the country during her 47 years there. She was an incredible educator and trailblazer.

I am honored to be recognized with my fellow honorees, Commissioner Devan Allen, former Fort Worth City Councilperson and Aids Outreach Center Executive Director, Kelly Allen Gray, and one of my favorite people, Rev. Ryon Price from Broadway Baptist Church. Please join us at the banquet.

Consequences, Grief, History, News, Spiritual Deserts, Thoughts From the Porch

The Same Old Same Old

gregoryjoel

I don’t watch the news as much as I used to. That’s a big step for a news junkie. I don’t want to bury my head in the sand, mind you. It’s just watching history repeat itself over and over again gets old. COVID restrictions ease and ICU beds fill once again. A black man is murdered by the police and the streets fill with protesters. Everyone says they’ll reform the police and studies are done (anther way of saying nothing happens). Then another black man is murdered by police. The cycle starts again…

The last few days it’s been the news out of Afghanistan. Two pictures keep coming to mind. One was taken when I was in High School in 1975. The other taken last weekend. The buildings have changed, the helicopters may be different, but they remain the same picture. One is the fall of Saigon. The other is the fall of Kabul. Both represent fear, wasted lives, and wars that never end…

My heart is sad. I lost friends and family some fifty years ago in Vietnam. I lost friends in Afghanistan. Both were wasted under the guise of patriotism and “America’s interests”. I’m not sure what either means. Nothing has changed. It’s back to business as usual. I wonder if we’ll ever learn. It’s just the same old, same old…