Manns Medium

Let me begin first by advising anyone reading this article that I am not a professional movie reviewer but I do know what I like and am never afraid to share when I am moved by anything or anyone.   Having said that, I must admit that this movie did much more than move me, it demonstrated who we are as human beings and how even non-verbal communications and body language can inspire feelings in any movie-goer. Secret in Their Eyes is rated as a PG-13 movie and categorized as a Crime, Drama, Mystery made on 20 November 2015 but it carries not only a star-studded cast but a story line that is often see but never felt to the degree this movie makes you feel.   It is described as “A tight-knit team of rising investigators, along with their supervisor, is suddenly torn apart when they discover that one of their own teenage daughters has been brutally murdered.” directed by Billy Ray with writers Billy Ray (screenplay) and Juan José Campanella.   It stars Chiwetel Ejiofor...

I have always been an advocate in believing that the strongest part of the human body is the mind.   I believe that it is the mind that is the main actor in this play called “Life” and if we are to truly be in command of our destinies, we must first master our own individual minds.   The mind has been credited with the ability to heal the body and we know that people have been able to convince themselves of things even in the face of over-whelming evidence to the contrary.   What one perceives to be the truth is often the reason why they may react in a particular way or believe in certain things and because of those conflicts arises and many times resolutions to these conflicts can never be reached.   This results in added stress which can cripple a person’s physical health.   There are ways to help reduce this stress and the primary one is to exert as much effort spent to help our children with their mental work as we do with their homework.   It is the ...

Growing up in the Deep South, all I heard from black people was, you can’t do this or you can’t do that because “the man” won’t let you.   I had always wondered who this “man” was and when someone finally had the nerve to tell me they said it was the “white man”.   I used to walk around thinking that every white man had the decision on who I was and who I would be, that was before I began to read my Bible. My Bible taught me that the only person in complete control of me was God and he was a spirit not a mortal man.   My Bible told me that God entrusted me and me alone with this treasure we call a soul and I and I alone was responsible for caring for it and protecting it until that day God calls me home to review what I had done with this soul.   After that, I began to understand that only those whom I allow to control me can and those who I allow to not manipulate me couldn’t.   No mortal holds power or dominion over me unless I choose to let them.  ...

Throughout the history of this world, man has always had an excuse, a villain upon which to blame its failings.   In the early days of creation the fault was placed upon the snake who talked Eve into convincing Adam to take a bite of the “forbidden fruit”, it then continued the British being called oppressing, the Indians being called savages and nearly every single different group from those who appeared to be in control, this trend continues even today with women not being able to make decisions involving their own bodies to this mythical being many blacks call “the man”.   One would think that by now we would have learned that the only ones truly in control of all of our decisions and the results that comes from exercising those decisions are us but not so fast, now here comes another excuse to dodge responsibility for our own choices, our own actions, and our own lives.   Now comes the excuse of being mentally ill to explain why bad people do bad things.   Is i...

The arrogance of the Americas began a long time ago and they still continue today.  It’s the belief that those who are not Americans are less than intelligent or uncivilized.  If we look back in our history and study the attitudes and opinions of those then, we may come to realize that these same attitudes and opinions are prevalent today.  Looking at another and finding the differences instead of seeking the similarities often times leads us to excusing our distrust, dislike, disdain or simply ignorance of them.  We know neither their culture, nor their history or even care to learn of their experiences and this oversight, this refusal to see all as having the same rights to exist, live and pursue their dreams as we do ends up with us categorizing them instead of trying to understand them. The American Indians were thought to be savages because they choose to live in teepees instead of log cabins and worshipped the Great Spirit instead of a single God and did n...

Walking in the Footsteps of Slaves By Ronnie Manns A quote attributed to George Santayana reads "Those who are unaware of history are destined to repeat it." And if we combined this saying with that attributed to President John F. Kennedy which reads “Our problems are man-made — therefore, they can be solved by man”, we should then have the recipe necessary to not only correct the issues of this world but end the cycle of repetition.  Above is a picture of Milton House in Milton, Wisconsin.  It is described as recognized by the National Park Service's Network to Freedom as the last, certified Underground Railroad station that can be toured in Wisconsin. The Milton House operated as a stop on the Underground Railroad or "UGRR" from its construction in 1844 through the Civil War. At the Milton House, visitors have the rare opportunity to walk the very pathways of freedom when visiting this unique structure.  Tours are fully guided though the 1844 Milton...

There is an inherit belief which appears to be shared by the majority of all races, gender and religion that there is indeed a proper pecking order found within the human and all other species .  We often see this idea played out in real time by those whom many have come to call “hate groups”.  It is further evident if we closely observe the stories of the Bible where one group conquers another, takes all that they deem important and make them their slaves.  Constantly looking down upon them as less than and never equal to because they lost that battle and in some cases that war.  This attitude has become a consistent and undying theme among the species and has been documented and infused into what many call the history of this nation.  What frightens these hate groups more than anything else is the fear that finally the real truth would be revealed and all that they have been taught and come to believe will be found to be false.  The reason I say that thi...