The voices of women are raising in an alarming quantity. Women poets. Women musicians. Women speakers. Women teachers. Women with messages that must be heard are stepping in the limelight beautifully.
For centuries, it’s been “a man’s world”. The tide is changing and the voices of women are rising with a message of harmony, sanity and peace. Violence by hand, gun, chemical, pure neglect is diminishing. We are happy people on Earth, again.
According to Herstory, things are as we make them. We make them peaceful. We make them harmonious. We make things from abundance that surrounds us. We are co-Creators with the Universe. It is ours to create within. We create happiness and peace.
Here’s how it started on Facebook. I posted TikTok of a young man featuring a speech by Farrakhan about the Ashkenazi Jews. Then, this happened on Facebook:
Sun 11:31 AM Gail: I’m disappointed that you preferred to block me rather than hear me out.
You: You are attacking me. I will not stand for it. Period. I made a simple statement. If you have the answer post it. But do not attack me. I am not here to make you feel good about yourself.
Gail: I never attacked you. I attacked the video.
You: Nothing he said is untrue. The Jew-ish people are NOT the original Hebrews, who are in Ethiopia. This lie must not continue. Jew-ish people are Eastern Europeans who have colonized Palestine with the help of the British. If this is not the true history of this region, then what is the truth???
Gail: So, the Jews who were persecuted out of Aleppo, Cairo, and Tehran and are now the majority in Israel don’t exist? My ancestors who were persecuted in Eastern Europe for generations weren’t really Jewish? Follow our Diaspora, please. Yes, there are Ethiopian Jews. I support the work of We Were Not Lost, which is trying to repatriate the Igbo Jews and many others of Africa. This does not mean that Ashkenazi Jews aren’t real.
You: The European Jews demonized and mistreated the true Israelites. This inhumanity against any group must STOP! Most of HIS-STORY is lies and garbage perpetrated by Europeans who need the resources of Africa.
You: France, Britain, Spain, Germany, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, and Italy have destroyed whole African countries for their greedy, needy selves. The truth is out and there’s no going back. We know it in The Americas, the Pacific, and everywhere indigenous people have been tormented by filthy, greedy Europeans.
Gail: Agreed. White Xian colonialism has been deadly for both Black and Jewish people.
You: And Hawaiians, Philippinos, every clan of people in the Americas, Australia, New Zealand, etc. How long is this to be tolerated?
Gail: Maybe in our grandchildren’s lifetimes
You: It needs to STOP NOW. Without truth it cannot. People kill people because that is their nature. Period. I have no weapons. I have no desire or need to kill anyone. It is not in my nature.
You: Listen to him. He studies it all. I don’t believe anything a European writes anymore.
Gail: I’m truly unclear why erasing my people, who have been persecuted and decimated by Europeans, is a good thing.
Sun 12:50 PM You: I don’t think it’s a good thing at all. It is not good to erase any group of people. YOUR PEOPLE are just the most vocal. They are not the only people who have been persecuted. That is a myth. For instance, my grandmother was Cherokee. Do you know the story of their annihilation? Do you care? Here’s data on the population of Jews in the world. Why are most in the U.S. and Israel? https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jewish-population-of-the-world
Sun 1:28 PM Gail: Caring about my people doesn’t mean that I’m unaware or uncaring about the persecution and genocides against other people. How did you jump to that conclusion? And yes, we are vocal when babies are beheaded, old people are taken hostage and kids are gunned down at a music festival.
You: Yes, that is recent. Native Americans are still reeling from this type of activity right here in America. Please stop. I don’t care about any other groups’ torment. I’m still working on finding my own ancestors right here. Go fix Israel, yourself. If the Jews are mostly here, what’s your beef?
Palestine belongs to Palestinians, not Jews. That is so clear to me, why isn’t it clear to you and other Jews? Jews own New York and Hollywood. I guess that’s not enough. Jews marginalized Palestinians in their own land and that’s supposed to be OK? Nope, it is not, and we will not stop being vocal about that. Why didn’t Germany give the Jews a part of Germany or France or Britain or Spain or Italy or Turkey, etc. etc. etc. Nooooooooooooo, they had to carve out land inhabited by Arabs. There are always consequences. But people don’t want to face those. They bit the hand of the Palestinians and now they are reaping what they sowed. That’s the way most of the rest of us see it. Trust me, Euro-Americans are in fear of that happening to them here, too.
You: I do not agree that any group should be demonized or persecuted. That’s your opinion, not mine.
The first paragraph of your article points to this activity from Europeans. That is all I have been saying. “Antisemitism is on the march. From the far-right demonstrators in Charlottesville, Virginia, with their “Blood and Soil” chants and their “Jews will not replace us” placards to attacks on synagogues in Sweden, arson attacks on kosher restaurants in France and a spike in hate crimes against Jews in the UK. Antisemitism seems to have been given a new lease of life.”
Me: In my opinion, Jewish people are always on the defensive to the detriment of everyone around them. Why is that?
Dear Jewish Friends,
Please do not question me, demonize me, or criminalize me because I do not have the answers to the Jew-Arab conflict. I have never been to Israel, nor have I been to the so-called Middle East, which is really the northeastern tip of the African continent colonized by Europeans. If you know the answers, post them. However, understand that “Though this region is steeped in ancient history of the oldest civilizations, the term Middle East is a relatively new invention, originally conceived in the late nineteenth century by British imperialists to denote an area between the Near East (the Balkans and the Ottoman Empire) and the Far East (countries of eastern Asia such as China, Japan, and Korea).
Of course, the description of areas as ‘near’ or ‘far’ to the east is entirely in reference to Europe and the West. Interestingly, the modern Arabic endonym to describe the region matches the Eurocentric term ‘Middle East’; the term in Arabic is الشرق الاوسط (al-Sharq al-Awsat), which literally means the Middle East. In English, some people also use the term Near East synonymously with Middle East.” [Source]
In response to a text from a Jewish woman with whom I have been associated for several years, I wrote:
It’s such a shame on mankind and humanity that there are any separations in the human race. History shows that people cannot coexist without conflict due to the need and greed for power and wealth at the expense of whole families, no matter what they label their states. I’m disappointed in the entire travesty. No history lesson shows that people can get along. Keep your truth. I’ll keep mine. People are shameful and godless, killing and tormenting each other all in the name of their god.
She said: There is only one truth.
I said: And that is . . .
She said: And then fake truth to further the agenda of whoever is rewriting it.
I said: It’s all fake. It’s belief.
This is what she texted to me in the beginning of this conversation:
For those who were not taught history in school. Surely, you have acquaintances and friends who ask questions. You can send them this post 😉
Before Israel, there was a British Mandate, not a Palestinian State.
Before the British Mandate the Ottoman Empire existed, not the Palestinian State.
Before the Ottoman Empire, there was the Mamlyuk Islamic State of Egypt, not the Palestinian State.
Before the Islamic State of Mamlyuk of Egypt, the Empire of Ayubid existed, not the Palestinian State. Goffrey IV of Bulonsky, known as Godfrey de Bouillon, conquered Jerusalem in 1099
Before the Empire of Ayubid, there existed the French and Christian Kingdom of Jerusalem, not the Palestinian State.
Before the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the empires of Omeyad and Fatimid existed, not the Palestinian State.
Before the empires of Omeyad and Fatimid, there was the Byzantine Empire, not the Palestinian State.
Before the Byzantine Empire, there was the Roman Empire, not the Palestinian State.
Before the Roman Empire, the Hasmonees State existed, not the Palestinian State.
Before the Hasmoneysk state, it was the Selevkid state, not the Palestinian state.
Before the Selevkid Empire, the Empire of Alexander of Macedonia existed, not the Palestinian State.
Before the Empire of Alexander the Macedonian, there was the Persian Empire, not the Palestinian State.
Before the Persian Empire, the Babylon Empire existed, not the Palestinian State.
Before the Babylon Empire, the Kingdoms of Israel and Judea existed, not the Palestinian State.
Before the Kingdoms of Israel and Judea, the Kingdom of Israel existed, not the Palestinian State.
Before the Kingdom of Israel, there was a theocracy of the twelve knees of Israel, not the Palestinian state.
Before theocracy of the twelve generations of Israel, there was an agglomeration of independent Canaan cities-state, not the Palestinian state.
In fact, this piece of earth was everything EXCEPT THE PALESTINE STATE.
I reiterate here:
It’s such a shame on mankind and humanity that there are any separations in the human race. History shows that people cannot coexist without conflict due to the need and greed for power and wealth at the expense of whole families, no matter what they label their states. I’m disappointed in the entire travesty. No history lesson shows that people can get along. Keep your truth. I’ll keep mine. People are shameful and godless, killing and tormenting each other all in the name of their god.
This is my opinion, my belief, and my truth:
Reminder: NO GOOD GOD WOULD CHOOSE ONE CHILD OVER ANOTHER! All history is myth written by the violent destroyers of others. Only when there is love for one another can there be peace. As long as men need to feel superior over others – men, women, and children, there will be resistance that translates into terrorism. However, the real terrorists are men who impose their ideology on others. Do you understand that???
Only the NRA was invited to the signing of a bill enabling anyone to carry a concealed loaded weapon with no training, no registration, no nothing.
Meanwhile, in Nashville, students, parents, and teachers protest the use of guns that killed their classmates.
And at the state capitol
The shooter at the school shot 126 rifle rounds and 26 from a handgun in 14 minute. 3 children, 3 staff murdered. This is the 38th mass shooting in 2023, and Florida’s Governor and the NRA celebrated the Constitutional Carry Act.
While searching for funding opportunities for our nonprofit, we found a grant on www.grants.gov.
A few of us read the 39-page instructions and we knew that we had to submit the proposal on http://www.sam.gov but what we did not understand is that, although our grant writer had set up our account over nine months ago, all of the other steps were not taken. First, we had not registered the company this year. Second, we had not appointed an entity administrator, which required a notarized form letter signed by the appointee, then, scanned and uploaded to this site www.fsd.gov
Ironically, the people who I communicated with from Sam.gov were all either Black, African American, or some other title of a person of color born in the U.S.A. Their names were Earline Fair Edwards, Jaylin, and his supervisor was a young lady named Lucky.
I made sure that we were on a recorded line and told each of them that this system was either rigged to be difficult to prevent a mass amount of people from accessing the grant monies or some similar scenario. It too from June 1, 2022, until August to get my address changed in this system. That is ridiculous. Ms. Edwards had to go into my account, physically, with me on the phone to affirm that the change got done.
Each conversation I had with a representative was recorded and I am so sure my frustration bled through. Then, I went to YouTube, where you can learn how to do anything, and I found this video collection that is only six months old. I suppose they got enough complaints about the site to inform people how to navigate it. The problem is that you must be computer savvy, you must register with three different sites, and you must remember what to do and where to go to do it.
First, let me say that this is the most frustrating process that I have ever encountered.
I submitted our nonprofit to Sam.gov over nine months ago. It took two months just to get our address changed in this system. Now, I am trying to submit a NEH Grant and find out that our company is not verified. I uploaded a notarized letter appointing me as the Entity Administrator but it will take up to 6 days for someone to verify it. We need another person listed in order to upload the grant documentation.
Does that person need to have a notarized letter, too?
You cannot reach anyone at your office on the phone. Your instructions are click this, click that, click the other. This system is in sore need of simplifying. It is not user-friendly in any way at all.
I just called your number and was told the wait time is 63 minutes. That is absurd.
Can someone please call me at the number below, so I can get some help with this issue.
Then, I got a message that there was no address on our letterhead, which is not true. I’m just sayin’.
Do you see our address?
This is an impossible system managed by incompetent and arrogant people. Only Mrs. Edwards gets my thumbs up. The rest of the staff is belligerent, arrogant, and not serving their citizenry. They need to learn some soft skills like customer service. I say this because Lucky hung up, after saying, “Our agents cannot stay on the phone with you. Contact your tax accountant for help.”
Then, Lucky called me back and made sure I got everything done. Hmmmmmmmmmmm.
What do you think?
I’m just sayin’!
This system needs an overhaul and the people working there need customer service training.
This letter is my tribute to the veterans in my family and families around the nation. It is with deep love and appreciation that I acknowledge my father, Uriah T. Cartwright, who served in WWII in the Army as a radio dispatcher in Viareggio, Italy, for the Red Tails, also known as the Tuskegee Airmen. He was the only one in his unit to get hit just before they shipped out. He received the Purple Heart for the injury to his leg from shrapnel and the Bronze Star for heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. My father’s brothers, Garfield and Carl, served in the Navy and Army, respectively. Carl Cartwright served as a lifetime serviceman.
My mother, Charlotte Galloway Cartwright, served in WWII in the Army as a WAC in France and Belgium. She was a typist, and, after her honorable release, she was the administrative assistant to the Assistant Director of the Veterans Administration in Manhattan. Later she worked at the Naval Hospital in St. Albans, New York, processing wounded soldiers.
My husband and the father of my two children, Peter J. Serrano, served in the Army in Vietnam, where he was wounded and received a Purple Heart.
My brother, Carlton G. Cartwright served in the Air Force in Wiesbaden, Germany. Following in our Uncle Carl’s footsteps, Carlton became a professional photographer and videographer. Through his nonprofit organization, The Children’s Coalition, Carlton has produced video interviews for the Veterans’ History Project of the Library of Congress American Folklife Center created by the United States Congress in 2000 to collect and preserve the firsthand remembrances of U.S. wartime veterans available at this link: https://www.loc.gov/search/?fa=contributor_organization:children%27s+coalition+/+va+medical+center,+west+palm+beach
So, after four month from moving out of Florida to North Carolina, I am still not in my tiny house, which is still being renovated by a new contractor. This has been a harrowing summer with moving, renovating, back surgery, recuperation, technical difficulties with TMOBILE and the sketchy Internet in North Carolina, where phone calls drop in an instant. To teach, I must drive to the community college in Whiteville.
My Tiny House and 2 Sheds
However, life goes on. My children, grands, and great grands are all fine in New York, Atlanta, and Sacramento. So, I have little to complain about, especially since I was not in Florida when Hurricane Ian hit. The west coast of Florida was battered and in Delray Beach, King’s Point got hit. But luckily my cousin’s apartment is in tact. My friend in Delray had her roof all but cave in. That was frightening!
Musically, I’m delighted to be teaching Music and Media at SUNY Old Westbury. But it will not be taught in the Spring, so I need some courses to teach. I applied to SNHU and CCNY in the Center for Worker Education (CEW). We’ll see what develops there.
People come in all sizes and shapes but nowhere on them is a label that says, “Do not trust!” ~ Dr. JC
I have been defrauded by the handyman who has worked for me and my daughter for two years. He took my money and did not pay the people he brought in to do the work. Please see the attached statement for details.
September 7, 2022
John Hardgraves was working on my tiny house, in Clarendon NC. Someone stole my refrigerator, stovetop, and dishwasher from Lowe’s in Whiteville, on August 1, 2022, three weeks after my back surgery in Wilmington, NC. John had my Lowe’s credit card that he did not return to me. I gave it to him before I went to Wilmington. There was only $9 on it.
I spent $6,981 on materials and appliances. I reported it stolen and requested a new card for me and my daughter. Later, the Whiteville Detective discovered that the goods went missing from the Lowe’s warehouse. Lowe’s refunded all of the money on my credit card. Then, I read an article about Target and Lowe’s missing millions of dollars of inventory. So, I presumed that the warehouse manager took the goods.
The new contractor ex-state trooper Richard Capps insisted that I go to Lowe’s and see what they were holding for me. Two of five items showed on hold. Lowe’s records showed that three of five appliances on hold were picked up on August 1, 2022. I was recovering in an Airbnb in Fayetteville. The refrigerator, dishwasher, and stovetop are not in the house, nor the shed located at 194 Ed Ward Road, Clarendon, NC 28432.
The stackable washer and dryer and the shower door were still at Lowe’s. Someone took the refrigerator, dishwasher, and stovetop that added up to $2000, the exact amount of John’s last unpaid invoice. My daughter, Mimi, who hired him in 2020, fired him two weeks after the appliances had been picked up without my permission or knowledge. So, his actions may have been premeditated if he took them.
I made a police report at Lowe’s and waited for the police to report who picked up the refrigerator, stovetop, and dishwasher without my permission. At the end of June, July, and August, I called Lowe’s to ask for an extension of time to hold my five appliances. I received a call back from the manager, at the end of August. He said they could keep the appliances for another month only. We did not discuss the items being held, during this conversation, because I did not know that John Hardgraves has picked three of them up on August 1st, until the new contractor Richard Capps informed me that he went to Lowe’s to see what was being held for me. At Lowe’s, Capps learned that there were only two items not five on hold.
John Hardgraves threatened to file a mechanic’s lien. He had no contract. His work was that of a 12-year-old, according to the new contractor who reworked the electrical panel, water heater, and electrical outlets, and invoiced me $817 for the labor.
They are pulling the store video at Lowe’s. I’m pressing charges because we’ve paid John Hardgraves every dime that he invoiced us for since 2020. He overcharged for removing an old house. Nothing he did was right except mowing the lawn and his old cousin did that.
John Hardgraves invoiced me once for drywall, then another time for sheetrock, which is the same thing. The new contractor and another builder both said the drywall looked like it had been done by a 12-year-old. There is still a lot of drywall work to do to make the job right.
Hardgrave’s cousin Robbie and his son Hoss were supposed to be doing the work. But the last time I was at the house when they were there, Robbie told me that he worked a 10-hour job then came to do this work on my house. John was not paying the people who did the work for him. That’s why his cousin wound up coming to do the work. In addition, John’s nephew Timothy Marlowe was paid to do the plumbing. His quote was for $5,400. I paid him half to get supplies. He never finished the work.
The electrician we hired Anthony Lewis from Fuquay Electric never finished the work we contracted him to do, either. We never paid the final invoice for $338 because he did not come to finish the work. According to him, he did not answer to John who was a handyman telling him where to put the outdoor electrical panel. So, he dropped off the job. We paid John $338 to finish the outlets, but they were never done. Also, I paid for lighting fixtures that he picked up from Lowe’s, but they are nowhere to be found. That charge is on my credit card.
Around the time he took the appliances, we asked John Hardgraves to leave the keys because I thought I lost my set. But I found them hanging on my cooler. He asked us if we were firing him then. We said no because we did not intend to fire him.
So, he went and got my appliances because he had the order number and knew the people in the Lowe’s warehouse. told my daughter that he was a liar. Now, we know he’s a thief, too.
I’m exhausted from this process. I have been taken advantage of by people I paid to do a job for me. They left the house a mess. I paid Richard Capps to clean the house up and pay the electrician to repair and rearrange electrical apparatus in the amount of $1,000.
To date, this project has cost me $60,499.26. I paid John Hardgraves $6,690 from my account and $3,939 on credit cards for a total of $10,629. There is an outstanding invoice for $2,050.
My daughter was referred to John Hardgraves in 2020 by our realtor Kip Nance who sold us 9.5 acres of land without disclosing that at least 6 acres are in a flood zone. The 3.5 acres we put the house and sheds on perked. The rest of the land is in the flood zone. Kip referred only John to us. He did not give a list of professional contractors. John maintained the lawn, after the cornstalks were removed. We trusted John because we had a relationship with him. But he defrauded us in every way.
Dr. Joan Cartwright
Mimi Johnson
Clarendon, NC
Attachments:
Photos of the house before and after the new contractor cleaned up the house.
After the cleanup by the new contractor
The moral of the story is “Do not trust anyone, especially workmen who take your money and promise to do the work but hire incompetent people whom they do not pay. This is a harrowing experience. Check and double-check anyone you hire to work for you. People, today, are desperate, greedy, and deceitful. They have no respect for seniors, women, or anyone they think they can bilk for money.
Needless to say, I am making every effort to resolve this issue. Today, I spoke with a Whiteville Police Department Detective. Last night, I submitted this statement to the Columbus County District Attorney. Now, I need to file a report with Columbus County State Troopers. It’s an ordeal but must be done.
Be careful what you wish for. I spent 35 years in Florida and I just moved to North Carolina, where it’s been 95 to 100 degrees but seems to be cooling down. At least, it will be cooler in the Fall. But this snowbird might wish he’d thought about his move to Florida, first.
Dear Diary,
Just moved to Florida! Now this is a state that knows how to live!! Beautiful sunny days and warm balmy evenings. It is beautiful. I’ve finally found my home. I love it here.
June 14: Really heating up. Got to 100 today. Not a problem. Live in an air-conditioned home, drive an air-conditioned car. What a pleasure to see the sun every day like this. I’m turning into a sun worshipper.
June 30: Had the backyard landscaped with southern plants today. Lots of cactus and rocks. What a breeze to maintain. No more mowing the lawn for me. Another scorcher today, but I love it here.
July 10: The temperature hasn’t been below 100 all week. How do people get used to this kind of heat? At least, it’s kind of windy though. But getting used to the heat is taking longer than I expected.
July 15: Fell asleep by the community pool. Got 3rd degree burns over 60% of my body. Missed 3 days of work. What a dumb thing to do. I learned my lesson though. Got to respect the ol’ sun in a climate like this.
July 20: I missed Lomita (my cat) sneaking into the car when I left this morning. By the time I got to the hot car at noon, Lomita had died and swollen up to the size of a shopping bag, then popped like a water balloon. The car now smells like Kibbles and Sh*ts. I learned my lesson though. No more pets in this heat. Good ol’ Mr. Sun strikes again.
July 25: The wind sucks. It feels like a giant freaking blow dryer!! And it’s hot as hell. The home air-conditioner is on the fritz and the AC repairman charged $200 just to drive by and tell me he needed to order parts.
July 30: Been sleeping outside on the patio for 3 nights now, $225,000 house and I can’t even go inside. Lomita is the lucky one. Why did I ever come here?
Aug. 4: It’s 115 degrees. Finally got the air-conditioner fixed today. It cost $500 and gets the temperature down to 85. I hate this stupid state.
Aug. 8: If another wise ass cracks, ‘Hot enough for you today?’ I’m going to strangle him. Damn heat. By the time I get to work, the radiator is boiling over, my clothes are soaking wet, and I smell like baked cat!!
Aug. 9: Tried to run some errands after work. Wore shorts, and when I sat on the seats in the car, I thought my ass was on fire. My skin melted to the seat. I lost 2 layers of flesh and all the hair on the back of my legs and ass. Now, my car smells like burnt hair, fried ass, and baked cat.
Aug 10: The weather report might as well be a damn recording. Hot and sunny. Hot and sunny. Hot and sunny. It’s been too hot to do sh*t for 2 damn months and the weatherman says it might really warm up next week. Doesn’t it ever rain in this damn state? Water rationing will be next, so my $1700 worth of cactus will just dry up and blow over. Even the cactus can’t live in this damn heat.
Aug. 14: Welcome to HELL! Temperature got to 115 today. Cacti are dead. Forgot to crack the window and blew the damn windshield out of the car. The installer came to fix it and guess what he asked me??? “Hot enough for you today?” My sister had to spend $1,500 to bail me out of jail. Freaking Florida. What kind of a sick demented people would want to live here?? Will write later to let you know how the trial goes.
Words We Speak 