Are you Retired yet?!

On Thursday, February 25, 2010 I went into the post office near Office Depot, right off Lynch Street. I was in a hurry and all I wanted to do was buy some stamps. So of course I looked to see how many people were working… I saw one little old lady squinting over a money order. I couldn’t believe it. Is the economy really that bad off that we were overworking our elderly. Then a elderly man slumped over came shuffling from the back, but he didn’t stay long he just whispered something in his co worker’s ear. The people in line were getting huffy… and I was beginning to feel a little antsy too… The man and the woman behind me stated talking. He said the lady was too old to be working. The woman said well some of them have to, times aren’t the same. She also said that because of her personal experience as an elderly caregiver she knows that lots of our senior citizens have to continue productivity. If they don’t, they feel useless and it contributes to their health and quality of life. The man agreed, and said that someone else should be here to help her, and not just the other senior in the back. He also said he sick of them driving. He believes its dangerous for everyone and very annoying to other drivers. The woman replied in saying that lots of them don’t have people to shuttle them around so they have to do it themselves and we should be more sensitive toward their independence.


I think I would base this story around elderly people remaining or getting back into the work force, and why they do it. Is it really because they want to stay active or is it because of the current economic crisis? I will address how independent our senior citizens need to be, and if society should be more concerned with the retirement stage of life. I would interview a geriatric specialist, probably a therapist or something. I would also interview a senior citizen in the work force. My B-roll would consist of senior citizen jobs… i.e. the door greeter at walmart, post office workers, librarians, and etc. and get a feel for the real reason our elderly aren’t aren’t just sitting on porches knitting gaudy Christmas sweaters.

Mississippi HBCU eMERGency Plan...

History has that HBCUs were founded because whites didn't want to be educated alongside blacks. Some HBCUs were created by blacks and others "donated" by whites... regardless the intent was obvious.  America has had a tough time in race relations.  Furthermore, it is publicly known that Mississippi has a staunch view about the progression of African Americans.

This Merger Stuff is obviously a wake up call for us.  Our relevance is being question.  We are being sent the message that we are non-sustaining and totally disposable.  Baarbour created his proposal to let us know that he could manipulate our system.  He threw us a bone, and we fought.  While we fought, he introduced to bills in the house and gined legitimacy.  While the bills died, the notion is floating.

President Ronld Mason sees the financial issues and foresees the dark corner we could be backed into, and he's created a last resort plan.  JACOB STATE UNIVERSITY won't go over, but again, this idea forces more conversation between us.  What can we as HBCUs do for ourselves?  How wll we weather this storm?  How can we secure our own lives? Why is it so easy to shake up our existence?

While I don't see an all out merging as the answer, I do see the need for an eMERGEncy plan to be created.  How can use our ties that bond to benefit us?  We must begin to be more self sufficient.  My babies have to come to JSU...  I'm  totally against banning together while mataining our identities...

Africans were optimal as slaves because they were stronger, bigger, and endured anything.. They didn't sunburn and they were phenomenal producers..  They were used and manipulated them hundreds of years because Europeans saw an ignorant gold mine.  Why is this still happening?

Why can't we see our own strengths, instead of allowing ourselves to be divided and conquered again?

Media has profitted from our troubles; they have been having an absolute field day.  The news outlets have been following everything, but they aren't being tactful.  If I didn't attend JSU and I was watching caaverage as a random student at United States University, I would think Mason was a sell out. And we all know there is so much more to the story.

News channels aren't being tactful and the newspapers aren't either. It just looks like frenzied coverage to see who can make the story sound the biggest aand get the most circulation or viewers.  They don't realize that everything they are saying affects the publics perspective.  The last thing JSU needs is more bad press...

I am...

I am Amber N. Thomas.  I'm a Mass Communications major with a minor in Political Science and I'm in limbo.  I'm at the point in life where I am beginning to severely narrow my focus... I'm waiting for God to show me what matters... I waiting for Him to give me a true purpose...We live in a world where beng yourself is the best and worst person to be..

Following undergrad, I'm heading off to law school... I want to read and work two years and be in other places... I want to gain a stronger perspective about my community... As much as I love my city, I know we can do better.

As far as a career in Mass Communications...  don't know where I stand in media... I want to anchor, report, produce, and I want to do it all... I guess more experience is going to show me my strengths...  It's gonna take me using the lemons I've been giving and I'm gonna make lemonade...

I'm super thirsty... Are you?