Mama Said It'd Be Days Like This

It's been said that a picture is worth a thousand words. The first portion of this article was orignially intended to focus on the career (run a Google search for "the timeline of Kwame's career) of disgraced Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and not just the events that have recently unfolded over the last year.

The picture to the left indicates that there was once a successful, productive and joyful time in this young man's life and I wanted to take the time to highlight those achievements and not solely focus on his fall from grace.

Unfortunately, mainstream American media is only interested in reporting the demise of young black men (this is not to say that Kwame should escape justice, wrong is wrong and we reap what we sow), but seldom herald their achievements . This is just the truth. It's not a narrow perception. I am fully aware that stereotypes have precedents as their springboard, but I am also aware of the fact that stereotypes, in particular racial stereotypes, find their longevity in centuries old agendas fueled by baseless fear-mongering and journalistic and media-driven social genocide. And after searching the Internet, literally for hours, I could not find ONE positive article about this man.

The only credible website I found with a panoramic view of Kilpatrick's rise and fall in Detroit politics was the Detroit News online. They've even got an interactive timeline of events. They really put some work into this. It's actually very good.

Let me be clear. It is not the media or white America that caused the fall of Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, nor I am I saying that as a mayor of a major city that what has transpired due to his unethical actions is not newsworthy, however, I do want to point out what I believe to be an egregious imbalance of bad publicity for African-American males that are in the political public eye. Ok, I've had my say on that.

Now, I'm not going to throw the mayor under the bus, (because we've all got our share of dirt that has yet to be exposed) but I can't exactly place what he did under the heading of ignorance...it's more like stupidity, mabye not even that, but he is definitely caught in a pickle. There's enough on that Detroit News website to literally keep you going for days. There are tons of PDF documents that have become public record that detail over 14,000 (yes 14,000!) text messages between Kilpatrick and his former top aide. Please be advised some of them are sexually explicit in nature.

Here are some more pictures of Kwame that display the shame of this entire incident.







There are 3 lessons we can learn from this in scripture.


Lesson #1-What's Done in the Dark Will Come to the Light
Numbers 32:23-But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out.

Never allow the enemy (Satan) to deceive you to the point that you believe you're past the point of spiritual discipline just because you've obtained status in this world. God chastens those that he loves. It's not that God loves to chasten, but he is committed to you. Not so much to your natural success, but to your spiritual success, for what is natural success when your soul is rotten and your fellowship with God is broken? Just because God doesn't judge sin immediately doesn't mean he condones it. Public humiliation is always a last resort to get our attention and get us back on the right track.

Lesson #2-Forbidden Fruit Always Looks Good, But End Up Rotten
James 1:15-...and sin when it is finished, brings forth death. Hebrews 11:25-...to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.

One good way to recognize when something is from the enemy is because Satan never discusses the consequences with you. He just says do it and live! Let the chips fall where they may. You're going to have so much fun. And honestly it is fun to have an affair, lie, cheat, steal, have casual sex, etc. However, the payoff is DEATH. Death simply means separation. Firstly, from God. Then you have no joy, no peace, reputation is destroyed, integrity is questionable, among other things. It's never worth it. Take a quick read of Proverbs 5.

Lesson #3-Don't Condemn, You Could Be Next
Galatians 6:1-Brothers, if a man be overtaken in sin, you who are spiritual, restore him in the spirit of meekness; considering yourself, lest you also be tempted.

The easiest trap to fall into is to judge why a person did what they did. However, the scriptures are clear that man looks at the outward appearance and God looks at the heart. See 1 Samuel 16:7. Sometimes we don't even know why we did what we did. See Jeremiah 17:9. Spiritual discipline should always take place, but God is concerned with how we execute it. Do we do it with a disdain for the other person not considering that we could be subject to the very same thing sooner or later? Spiritual discipline? Yes! Passing final judgment and portraying yourself as perfect and without fault? No! Consider yourself.