Memorial Page for Reverend CleArthur Jones

R.I.P. Rev.

Went Home November 1, 2013

and joined his beautiful wife Mary

 

  Summer 1981

 

                      We Must Have Faith                        

                                                                                                                      

The sun will rise and shed its light

On infant days born out of night.

The grass will wave, the dew will dry

The birds will sing before they fly.

And we will wake without a sound

And start the day for which we're bound

We never know how it will be

This day we feel but cannot see.

We strive and toil to get the things

We think we need, that working brings.

And we can't help but worry more

About the things we'd like to store.

The food we eat, the clothes we wear

The friends we need--we want our share.

And maybe we, along the way,

Can help someone improve their day.

So much to do, how shall we go

Through all our days, we'd like to know

When work is done but we're afraid

Because we have bills yet unpaid.

It would be best if we recall

Our Father's gifts, He gives us all

And like the lillies our father grows

He loves us too, and clothes our souls.

And what we need give in return

Is trust that He will let us learn

His Words and lead us through the day.

We must have faith, for this we pray.

He speaks to us, the words are clear

With open hearts, our minds will hear--

Just face the Truth, hold onto Love

Dispense with fears, soar with the Dove.

The sun will rise and shed its light

On infant days born out of night.

The grass will wave, the dew will dry

And WE will sing before we fly.

                   --Nancy J. Bell

                      Spring 1991

The poem below was written for Rev. Clearthur Jones, Jr., for his birthday. He was a man who taught many about the power of faith. 

 

It takes courage

to have convictions

And strenth

To live them.

It takes guidance

from the Father

To stay moving along

On the right road.

To do mighty works

There must be

Mighty Faith and

This I think you had.

The most we can ask

Is to do what we can

And show others goodness

Through our own lives.

Thank you for

The Inspiration.

The poem below was written for Rev. Mary Dean Jones, for her birthday. She was a woman who also taught many about the power of faith. 

 

We each are like the shore

With a tide of people

Flowing in and out

Of our lives every day.

It takes someone special

To leave a lasting impression

 And this you have done

By being a good friend.

There are riches you've given

Like the treasures of the sea

and these are LOVE

and CARING and JOY.

The sun shines on both

The good and the bad

But the good is made

More beautiful by the LIGHT.

I know you'll keep shining

And all the lives you've touched

Will be better along the way.

Thank you for being you. 

 

The Link Below will take you to a copy of the piece I wrote to be delivered at Rev's memorial service, and delivered by my sister Laurie Anne. We always knew that Laurie Anne was always special to Mrs. Jones, and the feelings were mutual as Laurie considered herself to be as much a part of the Jones family, as a part of the Smith family. Thank you to Rev. & Mrs. Jones for all the love, and for their kind willingness to embrace "the Smith Kids." We hold those memories dear, and will continue to do so, to the end of our days!

http://sabatinifamilystories.blogspot.com/2013/11/celebrating-life-of-rev-clearthur-jones.html

Celebrating the Life of Rev. CleArthur Jones, Jr.

UPDATE 11/9/13
Added by Ralph Smith

Reverend Jones was a good man, all the years that I knew him. 

The most important thing he taught me was not to worry - worry does not solve anything; it only saps your strength and wastes time. That was a tough lesson, but it has served me well for 40 years now. 

Rev. was a kind man, and always served the Lord. He had everyone's respect - no one raised their hand or voice to him. Violent gang members listened respectfully to him and often took his advice. People came to him for his wisdom and understanding and never went away disappointed. He was a wonderful father and husband and neighbor. He lived according to what he truly believed and how many of us can really say that? The only dangerous thing he did was drive - he was always tired from working his job and living his ministry as well as raising his family and serving his community and he would get road hypnosis faster than anyone else I knew. 

On a trip to Cedar Pointe I sat next to him on the way home and engaged him in conversation the entire way - no matter how tired he was he would come to animated life when talking about God and how we, his children, should be living our lives - taking care of each other and living a Christ-like life. 

He was good-humored, intelligent, knowledgeable of scripture and human nature. He always had a smile for everyone and cared profoundly about doing the right thing. 

Although it has been many years since I saw him, it was reassuring to me that he was out there - fighting the good fight and helping everyone around him. He will be missed, but his lessons and example live on - and that is the best legacy anyone can hope for. 

Rest in peace reverend ClerArthur Jones. 

 Ralph G. Smith

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Reverend Jones taught me how to believe in miracles.

     Not just the miracles of the Holy Bible, but miracles we could witness for ourselves. In our lives. I say "our lives" because I'm not the only one he taught to believe. So great was Reverend Jones' faith, that he made unbelievers choke back their denials because they had to be in quiet awe of the Light, the Power, the Conviction he emanated when he spoke about "his Jesus."

     Rev. didn't just speak at the pulpit, although he did do that. And he did it well.He could rock the church with his praise of the Most High and His Holy Son. He made you reach deep into yourself to confront not only the Truth of the Word, but also our QUESTIONS of FAITH. It is within our questions that we find a way to stretch our capacities to receive the ANSWERS.

     He rocked the church with the singing he led in a beautiful voice that wove people together in song that testified about the POWER of a shared faith. And he rocked the church with the moments of silence he offered, as a gift, so we could fill our minds with the happy expectation that the message he had yet to utter was somehow going to be exactly what we needed to hear that day.

     It was a joy to see his faith in motion because he could open our hearts and minds to the King of Heaven as truth. The Promise of our Father's Love. He wasn't stingy with it, but shared his Jesus' love with everyone.

     I say "his Jesus" because when I first met Rev's Jesus, the Jesus he knew in his heart, seen through his eyes and understandings, spoken of by his tongue, was different than the one I was familiar with. He already knew me. He wasn't a statue in a cathedral who probed our guilts and flaws with recriminations. His Jesus did not require repentance and obedience in blind faith and disconnected authority held by the reins of men, or institutions. His Jesus was a living Messiah, a spark of Light booming as a first seed in a new life for me. Love in our own hearts. One who already knew us better than we knew ourselves and loved us anyway. He guided us, taught us, comforted us, and inspired us. He also corrected us when we began to stumble from our own missteps.

     Rev's Jesus became MY Jesus when I opened my heart and mind to see Him. The personal Jesus, not the Jesus of the masses, not an icon leading wars, or a symbol which bled humanity's compassion because of our often misunderstood differences. He was not a puppet held by the reins of men or their designs, but one who always loves little children. I met Him as a child, and loved Him back with the open trust of a child.

     Rev gave news of his Jesus away freely and lovingly. He could rail against the evils of darkness and ill-choice with all the fire I imagine belonging to the Prophet Jeremiah. But he always brought listeners (believers and non-believers alike) back to the Good News of His LOVE. There is more than enough to go around. Forever. There is not one so guilty, so lowly, or so dispiccible that Jesus would refuse to embrace.

     "He's already knocking on your door, girl," he would tell me. "All you have to do is let Him in." And I did. Personally. Sincerely. And He began to remake me that day, into the child of an unimaginably beautiful Spirit. A soul. A Living God who stepped off of the pages and into my life in a very real way. I don't just believe He's there, I feel Him there. I know he's there. Yahshua, Shalom, Selah, Halleluyah.

     Reverend Jones did not just speak at the pulpit and step away from his faith when church was over. He took his ministry into the streets. Into the hospitals. Into the jails and prisons. Into living rooms and kitchens, and into his car every time he sat behind the wheel.

     I remember him making signs in his driveway, as a side job for businesses in the community and I would sit on the ground beside him and listen to him talk about making signs. And then he would ask me, "Do you know the story about Noah's Ark?" or, "the story about how Jesus walked on the water?" or, "the story about how he healed the blind and the sick?" And I would listen quietly, loving the stories that he told. Sometimes I'd be playing in the back yard and he'd lean on his arms over the fence and tell me stories from the Bible. And I used to wait for him, hoping to catch him doing something outside so I could ask him to tell me another story. And I was always filled by the time he had to finish up and move on with something else to do that day.

     On days when he was too busy to stop and tell stories, there was the greeting that become so familiar, it was a comfort and a happiness to me all by itself. And, went like this:

     "Hello, Rev. Jones."
     "Hey Nancy, how are you today?"
     "Fine, Rev. How are you?"
     "It's GOOD TO BE ALIVE!"
     It was ALWAYS good to Rev to be alive. It made me think about being alive. And, despite whatever mood I might've been in that day, I always felt better that he was alive, too.

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     Reverend Jones was not just a man. He was a man AND a woman.

     That's right. You heard me, but I'm going to say it again, so pay close attention.

     Reverend Jones was not just a man. He as a man AND a woman.

     His man was named CleArthur and his woman was named Mary Dean. There was no Rev. Jones without Mary. And his Mary was beautiful. And kind. And giving. And loving. And faithful. She helped him as a minister. She supported him as a wife and she blessed his life as mother to his children. And she bore him Kevin, and Clarether, Valerie, Salena, and CleArthur (known to us as Little Cle for many years). And they took unto themselves Janice and Chanel and raised all of the children lovingly, in the family as well as the faith.

     The fruits of their unity continued to bring forth flesh and blood gifts in the beautiful multitude of their many grandchildren.

     I cannot limit the number of the Jones' children to only those counted by flesh and blood because they also embraced five children who became fatherless at a very young age. They watched as the single mother next door struggled to raise these five, sometimes overwhelmed with uncertainties during the tumultuous 1970s. The lingering echoes of S.T.R.E.S.S., the '67 riots, police brutality, the assassination of Dr. King and Malcolm X were still reverberating through the streets of Detroit, exacerbating racial tensions between Black and White. Rev. Jones (CleArthur and Mary), wrapped their love around a white family. My family. "God has no respect of person and color is something MAN sees. God will only see your heart," Rev taught us.

     And the Smith family was added to the Jones family...Ralph, Nancy, Suzanne, Jessica and Laurie Anne. (They even added our best friend William Johnson, who spent so much time with us that he had his own chores at the house. His own games. His own stories. His own beauty as he, a Black child, also lived the tolerance we embraced.)

     When drugs and gangs and violence was coloring Detroit's own image of itself, fear and mistrust became an illness that infected many and we were not without our own fears as children.

     It is as real as the Gospel Truth that our mother and all the Smith kids slept a little more peacefully, a little more soundly and feeling a little more loved because of Reverends CleArthur and Mary Jones. And through this bond, we came to form and nurture convictions of tolerance and justice and a determination to never forget the Black and White unity that carried us through our lives to this very day. We are ONE, as a unique extended family. We celebrated each others' happiness and continue to care deeply for one another, despite time and distance.

     We spent so much time back and forth at each others' homes that it was hard to tell where we really lived sometimes. We knew what as in the Jones' refrigerator sometimes better than we knew our own because Mary's food was never kept from us and it was always good! (But we cannot forget Rev's famous jello deserts, either!)

     Salena may not remember this, because she was very little at the time, but one summer all the Smith kids knew we had to keep an eye out for her because she loved to eat pickles and she would walk right into our house, open the refrigerator door, reach into our jar of pickles and run out of the house with a pickle in each hand before we even knew she was there! She never took anything else and we got such a kick out of it that we would tell her, still pulling in the driveway from the store, the moment our mother bought a new jar, so she'd know.

     We're pretty sure that Salena learned how to count and how to do subtraction, because of our pickles...starting with the number in the jar and minus two: one for each hand! She could tell us at any given time how many pickles were left in the jar, even when we were outside playing. "Hey ya'll only got three more pickles. Is your mama gonna get some more soon?" We'd check and sure enough...there'd be three pickles left. We stopped wondering how she knew. She just always seemed to know. And that was OUR Salena. Any other kid trying that stunt would've had a real problem because we would've tried to hurt them!

     When we all meet together again at the table, we'll be singing, eating and sharing a most precious love..for an eternity. We, the Smith Kids and our mother, know the Reverends Jones will be saving a special place for us at their table. At our table. Our family table. Yahshua, Shalom, Selah, Halleluyah.

     We don't know altogether why we must suffer the pain of separation dished to us by this world, but I do know one thing. It will not last. It will only be for a time. And the seeds planted so long ago will come to an everlasting fruition, in eternal bloom, after which, there will be no more separation.

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Let us Pray:

     Heavenly Father, please take Rev Jones into your arms and carry him gently back to his Mary and let him rejoice in full Spirit with the Jesus he has always loved. Please, as you make your decisions regarding the Judgment of his life, to remember how he served You, and Loved You, and Shared You. Let it be noted that on THIS DAY, I speak on his behalf as a righteous man who helped lead me to you, as he did so many others. And please forgive him for any of his inequities and shortcomings and bless Him with the Promise about which He so often spoke. In his honor, I ask this in Jesus' Name, and in the Holy Hebrew Name, as He called Himself: Yahshua.

     Good Bye for now, Rev. We'll be seeing you in the Kingdom. And, Thank You. And Thank You. And Thank You, Again...for Everything.

Rev. Nancy J. Bell
    

Will the Real Civil Rights Movement Please Stand Up

Passive Resistance and Non-Violence

 UPDATED

During the Civil Rights Movement, Reverand Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. advocated passive resistance. Non-violence. But he never advocated lack of action, or lack of discussion. King’s teachings and leadership are far more than a Black History Month poster story, or the reminder that Black protest should never hurt White people or their property. Everything else seems to be lost on most casual users of his name.

King protested not only for the Voting Rights Act and the dissolution of the official Jim Crow laws and practices especially in the South, but he also advocated protests against the Vietnam War and poverty. Before he was able to attend the assembly he orchestrated through his leadership and organized movement structure, the Poor People’s Campaign, he was murdered. Protesting and petitioning for action, discussions, marching, singing and being seen and heard, King was able to guide anger and angst into positive action. It is his TEACHINGS that still inspire, when they are understood.

One of the reasons of his success, beyond the value of the changes he was working to make, was the methods of passive resistance and non-violence. This was true of not only face to face actions, but also in the words we used when confronting obstacles and even aggression. We hold ourselves to a higher standard and regardless of the understanding of those who observe us, we will stand our ground. Getting hit with a brick is a distraction from the goal, and we will not bow down to an attempt to derail our progress. We will continue on with the strength of our convictions and the belief that America provides We the People Politics for a reason…

What reason more would parents have to come together than the well-being and very lives of our children? How many dead kids are enough to become an “appropriate conversation?” How many times will “race-baiting,” and accusations of hate turn us from our goal? The answer is NONE!

We gather in this discussion, those of us who grieve, because we believe that we can have a more perfect union, and it starts with our children. Trayvon Martin was not the only unarmed youth shot by adults in authority. We believe Americans can do better than that. We believe America must do better than that. Long after Zimmerman’s name has grown moldy and forgotten, Trayvon Martin will still be dead, and we will still remember.

For those of you who ARE interested in learning more about the methods of peaceful protest, including civil and organized discussions, we can continue talk, but share ideas about how to enhance not only skills and understandings, but also a sense of good will among those who care. Peaceful protest by not becoming engaged in conversations with those who throw verbal stones for the sake of disrupting our progress.

We should not have to worry about assembling to discuss our concerns about our nation. I have witnessed several strands of ugliness intruding upon the rest of our good intentions and I will give little heed to that tiny, distracted part of this discussion. The worth of this discussion is now established. Let the conversation with SUBSTANCE ensue. Change lay in the hands of America.

Let’s Get Started:

Keep the goals in mind. Our kids matter.

Keep the goals in mind. We do not accept lies about ourselves to carry weight in our beliefs.

Keep the goals in mind. We will not let racial disagreement derail forward progress.

Keep the goals in mind. The children must live.

Keep the goals in mind. The children must be safe.

Keep the goals in mind. Illegal murder and legal murder is not the same.

Keep the goals in mind. Don’t debate that which doesn’t matter (such as derogatory opinion)

Keep the goals in mind. Remember to value YOUR life and let love and family help you to remember why we do what we do is coming directly from Our Higher Angels.

Keep the goals in mind. Our combined voices are our strength.

Here is a cartoon that we shared during my upbringing in Detroit, to teach us why social activism is important to a community and to a nation. Nothing has changed to make this obsolete.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZSS3yxpnFU

To leave here with good vibes, as we used to say, chill with some good music. Music was not invented by accident.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-z2LNsifEzg

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=walk+a+mile+in+my+shoes+joe+south&oq=walk+a+mil&gs_l=youtube.1.0.35i39j0l9.1972.7628.0.10052.27.22.0.0.0.6.118.1339.20j1.21.0...0.0...1ac.1.11.youtube.z7cki0bomDM

Pluralistically Yours,

   Nancy Bell

    Civil Rights Movement is NOT Dead

    We just entered a new chapter

First Used in University of Phoenix LINKEDIN discussion.

About the Author: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/nancy-bell/30/231/855

A rose is a rose, but what about dandelions?!

I love life and I love the balance and beauty of nature. Zooming in to see the intricate details of subtle beauty, as well as the panoramic vistas of the natural world. My introductory "Make-It project" will be a simple dandelion, in its moment of peak bloom. An oft over-looked simple beauty, dandelions were the first flowers I gathered for my mother and the first flowers my children gathered for me, so it has it's own special sentimentality for me.
Often mistaken as a weed, this flower also formed a source of food among the Italian family members I grew up around, as we cooked the new tender greens as a vegetable, or in a salad. We connect through its staple as a spring food among the peasant ancestry from which my famly descended. We connect to our roots through this simple and amazing flower.

To pick dandelions for consumption, we always chose new greens from "undistrubed" areas of the yard or fields. Before the greens get flowers, they are tender and although slightly bitter, become much tougher and more bitter once they have a flower stalk, so we don't use them like that. Steam them (as greens, until tender) and brown some garlic in oil and toss the cooked greens with the oil and add some salt. (the salt takes away the bitterness, but don't overdo it). In a salad, it tasts less bitter than endive. Sharing food ideas helps people to connect the world round, even when the food is discovered right under your own noses!

P.S. I don't know if any of you have ever played these games, but we had games for our dandelions, too. First, there is the "Santa Claus" flower that it becomes, and making a wish before you blow it goes into the wind and it is your hopes that the wishes will come back fulfilled. Second there was the game of putting the dandelion flower under someone's chin and if you see yellow strongly reflected, it was proof that you like butter! Third, if you hold the stem, and snap the flower off with your thumb, the saying that went with it was "Mommy had a baby and her had popped off." It may seem macabre, but no moreso than Ring Around the Rosie (originally: Ring Around the Rosary, a child's game to understand the number of deaths related to the Black Plague).

About the Author: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cultivatingmygarden/

Simple Spaghetti Basil Sauce With Meatballs or Seafood

A simple basil sauce, adding meatballs before serving.

One of the biggest questions about how to come up with this recipe is determining the amount to make, considering that whenever possible, we make enough to have left-overs the next day for lunch! Or to serve as a side dish with something else the next night for dinner. This feeds 4 people well, with enough left over to work into another meal.

Simple Basil Sauce (can be used like this or by adding meat/seafood)

5-8 cloves of garlic peeled
1/4 cup vegetable oil (or a little less if olive oil)
3 cans tomato sauce (29 oz cans)
2 TBLSP basil (dried or fresh)
2 tspn oregano (dried or fresh)
1/4 tspn black pepper
1/4 tspn garlic salt (or garlic powder)
pinch of salt (to taste)
OPTIONAL: May also add a couple of bay leaves, a pinch of rosemary, a pinch of thyme

1. Brown peeled garlic cloves in oil, until a golden brown on all sides. Mash with fork once after browning to expose more surface of garlic to oil, and continue to brown again. DO NOT BURN!
2. Add tomato sauce all at once and stir well. Add basil, oregano, black pepper, garlic salt and salt.
3. Bring to medium boil, stir well and lower heat to low-medium to simmer. Keep covered except while stirring, occasionally (every 10-15 minutes).
4. Cook about an hour, until oil rises to the top of the sauce and IS DARK. If it is still golden, the tomato sauce is NOT cooked yet. When it is cooked enough, it does not taste acidic.
NOTE: It is important that you do not scorch the sauce because it will ruin the taste throughout the pot. It is also important for you to completely stir the sauce, making sure it does not stick on the bottom of the pot.
5. Add the meatballs (see recipe below) and continue to cook 10-20 minutes to allow the meatballs to absorb the sauce flavor. Serve over spaghetti
NOTE: About 1-1 1/2 lbs of spaghetti to go with this amount of sauce. Set 1/3 of the sauce aside to add to the top while serving (especially for left-overs the next day because the spaghetti will absorb its sauce over time). Mix the rest of the sauce in with the spaghetti.
NOTE: SAUCE AMOUNTS vary with the tastes of the individuals and the extra sauce is there to accomodate these differences.
NOTE: If you drain the pasta and run a little cold water on them, they will absorb less of the sauce and your dish will have extra sauce. Hot pasta with sauce immediately added to it after draining will absorb all the sauce you give it.

Meatballs

2 lbs ground beef (I prefer ground chuck but humburger or ground sirloin can be substituted)
1 med-lg egg
1/2 cup Progresso Breadcrumbs (Italian style)
2 tspns garlic salt (or garlic powder)
2 tspns of black pepper
OPTIONAL: Add minced fresh mushrooms and/or minced green onion to meat mixture-to taste ~1/4 cup total added to meat to keep meatballs intact.
OPTIONAL: a small amount of milk (~2 TBSP) may be used in place of the egg.

1. Mix egg and breadcrumbs with ground meat. Make sure it is thoroughly blended, but do not handle the meat any longer than you need to mix it.
2. Pull meat into your hand, bringing your fingers down to your palm and removing the meat that squeezes out. Use this as your measuring method as you "match" about the same amount of meat in your hand for each meatball. They do not HAVE to be exact, but they cook much better if they are roughly the same size. 
3. Place meatballs on a cookie sheet or other oven pan, close together but NOT touching. Cover with foil and place in pre-heated oven set to 350°F for about 40 minutes. (a little longer for bigger meatballs, a little shorter for smaller meatballs). Cut one meatball to make sure that it is cooked through before adding to sauce, ready to serve.
4. Drain and add to sauce. Let the meatballs cook about 10-20 minutes longer to absorb the sauce flavor.

ALTERNATIVES: Basil Sauce Base --used to make Seafood Sauce

CLAMS:
You may make the basil sauce as described above, but instead of adding meatballs, you may INSTEAD add 2 cans baby clams (10 oz each). You would open and drain the juice of the clams into the sauce while it is cooking right after adding it to the garlic oil. DO NOT ADD the clams until the sauce is DONE cooking. The clams do not have to be in the sauce more than 5 minutes to be cooked. Overcooking the clams makes them rubbery! Seafood flavored sauce is BEST over Angelhair spaghetti because the sauce is thinner and holds on better to the thinner spaghetti.
OPTIONS: We have used fresh clams by dropping them into boiling water. Once open, pull the clams out of the shell and scoop together and add to sauce once the basil sauce is cooked. 5 minutes is all you need to completely cook the clams. Overcooking makes them rubbery.

ANCHOVIES:
Even if you do not like the taste of anchovies on your pizza, the taste of anchovies added to your sauce is mild and very tasty. For anchovies, we typically use one can of anchovies to one can of sauce. The anchovies are added to the already cooked basil sauce and cooks for another 15 minutes. During that time, the anchovies completely dissolve into the sauce and this mild sauce is ready to eat. One pound of spaghetti will go with one can of sauce/one can of anchovies. Inexpensive and easy to make.

Family Cooking - Part 3 - Pasta Fagioli Soup & Cream of Asparagus Soup

Nancy's Pasta Fagioli Soup

Ingredients

1 large can of tomatoes (or tomato sauce)
1 pig's foot - split in half
1 Tblsp oil to fry 4-5 pieces garlic
1 can red kidney beans (dark beans better, but can use the light beans)
1/2 lb ditalini (can substitute "soup mac" pastina)
salt and pepper to taste
1-3 stalks celery
basil and oregano to taste

Boil pig's foot for 10 minutes and drain (to clean)

Fry garlic in oil (do not burn). Add tomatoes, salt, pepper, parsley, and celery. Let cook about 1/2 hour.

Add pig's foot and cook about one hour.

Add beans and 2 cups water. Cook another 1/2 hour until pig's foot is tender.

Cook ditalini, drain and add to the pot. Be sure it is soupy...add a little water if it isn't.

NOTE 1: Ham hocks or neck bones can be used by those squimish about pigs feet, although the pigs feet works the best for seasoning. (I have made pasta figioli for guests cooked with pig's feet and withheld serving any of the actual pigs feet if they were uncomfortable about using pigs feet.)

NOTE 2: Suggest it be served with a tossed salad, fresh garlic bread and red wine.

Makes about 4-5 servings


Paul's Rich Asparagus Soup

1/4 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
2 large yellow onions, coarsely chopped
4 large cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 quarts rich chicken stock
3 pounds asparagus
1 cup packed, chopped fresh parsley
2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
8 large fresh basil leaves
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 pinch cayenne pepper
1 cup sour cream
1 large ripe tomato, seeded and cut into fine dice

In large heavy saucepan or soup pot, melt butter, add onions and garlic and cook over low heat until wilted but not browned, about 20 minutes. Add chicken stock and heat to boiling.

Trim woody ends from asparagus and cut stalks into 1-inch pieces. Reserve tips. Add asparagus stalk pieces, parsley, carrots, basil, tarragon, salt, pepper and cayenne to boiling stock. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, until vegetables are tender, about 50 minutes.

Remove soup from heat and cool slightly. Process or blend (food processor with steel blades or electric blender) until smooth; strain through medium-sized sieve to remove woody fibers.

Return soup to pot and reheat. Add reserved asparagus tips and simmer until tips are tender, about 10 minutes. Ladle into soup bowls, top with a dollop of sour cream and sprinkle with diced tomato.

Makes about 8 servings.

NOTE 1: Buy asparagus that are thinner, if possible, because there is less of a woody end and they tend to cook faster as well. To clean hold woody end between 2 fingers and hold with other hand about in the middle and gently bend. Where it snaps shows you how to eliminate most of the woody ends before cooking.

NOTE 2: Serve with garlic toast and white wine.

Family Cooking - PT 2 - Cream of Broccoli Soup and Homemade Chicken Soup

Uncle Paul's Cream of Broccoli Soup

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 quarts chicken broth
• 1 can evaporated milk (or half-n-half)
• 1/4 lb bacon
• 1/4 lb shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 can cream of celery soup
• 1 large (or 2 small) heads of broccoli
• 1/4 cup choped onlion
• dash of nutmeg
• 1/4 cup flour

Fry bacon until crisp. Leave drippings and remove bacon and set aside. Add broccoli and 1/2 up of chicken broth. Cook until softened.

Remove broccoli and cut off all florets into small pieces (approx. 1") and set aside.

Chop stems into small pieces and place in cuisinart/or blender. Add bacon, flour, onion, cheese and enough chicken broth to be able to work it. Turn on and off until completely blended.

Add to pot with all the rest of the broth and cook. Keep it at a simmer and add the cream of celery soup to mixture. WHen it is completely mixed in, add the evaporated milk (or 1/2 and 1/2) and the reserved broccoli. Add the nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste and it is ready to surve.

NOTE 1: If you use one large head broccoli, peel the stems before cooking it otherwise it will make the soup stringy.

NOTE 2: Some people find the smell of the broccoli cooking unpleasant until cooked completely. The soup will NOT taste like the broccoli smells while cooking. Very mild, smooth and creamy.

NOTE 3: Serves well with warm Italian bread, fresh or toasted.

NOTE 4: Although this is Uncle Paul's recipe, my mother used to make it for us and several family holiday meals. Very good soup. This receipe "went lost" for about 5 years and then resurfaced. I would like to spread it around so the recipe is never lost. Good eating.


Nancy's Homemade Chicken Soup

Ingredients

1 whole chicken
1 large whole onion, peeled with ends cut off and surface scored with sharp knife
1/2 stalk of celery (especially the inner, leafy stalks. Wash and cut off and discard ends
3-4 large carrots, peeled with ends cut off and discarded
1-2 fresh tomatoes
1 Tblsp oil
Salt to taste
1 fresh lemon

Wash whole chicken inside and out and completely coat inside and out with salt. Let sit for about 10 minutes then rince salt completely off. (this breaks down the fat and leaves a cleaner chicken for the broth)

Put oil in large pot and place chicken (whole or cut-up) and brown chicken lightly, turning occassionally to make sure all parts have been done.

Add enough water to cover the chicken, add whole onion, celery, carrots, tomatoes, season lightly with soup. (We had a house rule that we under-salt the soup while cooking and allow people to salt their own individual bowls to taste. Some of us liked our saltier than others and this is the only fair way to accommodate everyone's pallet individually)


Bring water to a boil and simmer for 2-3 hours. When done, remove all food ingredients with slated spoon. Debone/deskin chicken and cut up into bite-sized pieces. Chop vegetables and return all to the pot and reheat. Squeeze lemon juice into the broth and stir.

NOTE 1: Sometimes we cut up the vegetables ahead of time while cooking, depending on whether you want the more work to occur before it cooks, or after it cooks before serving.

NOTE 2: This soup may be served in a bowl with cooked rice, pastina (tiny pasta such as orzo, acini de pepe). If you serve with rice, you can add alittle more lemon juice to taste for each bowl. If you serve with pastina, you may sprinkle parmasea cheese over it. Please do not try both the extra lemon AND the parmasea cheese and it does not taste as good like that.

NOTE 3: If you decide to cook the soup with select parts of chicken instead of the whole, please use the thighs, legs, and/or back as they make the best broth. If you cook the chicken soup with only the breast, the broth will be clear and thin. Not recommended.

NOTE 4: If a whole chicken seems like too much meat for your taste in the soup. hold out part of the chicken and use it to make chicken salad. (Chicken Salad: chop chicken and place in a bowl. Add miracle whip and a couple of squirts of ranch dressing, salt and pepper to taste).

NOTE 5: I consider celery to be the most necessary ingredient next to the chicken. If you would like, you may substitute a soup-sized can of V-8 juice in place of the other vegetables to give the broth a more vegetable taste.

White House Recognizes a Nation of Immigrants--Call for Family Stories

President Obama has called for Americans to share our Immigration Stories in order to further a sense of immigration solidarity among a nation of immigrants. Here is the information about the White House Effort and below it is our submission.

Hi, everyone -- This is the start of a national debate. Across the country, we're having a serious discussion about how we can build a fair and effective immigration system that lives up to our heritage as a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants. And we need your help to make sure that genuine, personal perspectives are part of the conversation. The truth is, that if we go back far enough, nearly every American story begins somewhere else -- so often with ancestors setting out in search of a different life, carving out a future for their children in this place that all of us now call home. We want to make sure that idea isn't far from the minds of policymakers here in Washington as we work to reach an agreement to reform immigration. To kick things off, one of the President's senior advisors sat down to share his story with you. Watch David Simas tell his American story, then tell us yours. When Americans from all over the country -- each with different backgrounds, each from different circumstances -- all speak out with the same voice, it's powerful in a way that's hard to ignore. We've seen it again and again, in debate after debate. And this is the kind of issue where putting a face on the push for reform takes an abstract concept and makes it real. So share your American stories with us, and we'll put them to use. We'll publish them on the White House website. We'll share them on Facebook and Twitter. We'll do everything we can to make sure they're part of the debate around immigration reform. Get started here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/immigration/stories Thanks, Cecilia Cecilia Muñoz Director, Domestic Policy Council The White House The White House • 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW • Washington, DC 20500 • 202-456-1111 Our Sabatini Submission

My name is Nancy J. Bell and my maternal grandfather immigrated to America in 1922 from Abruzzi Italy, and while my maternal grandmother was born in America, her parents and older sister were immigrants from Calabria Italy. They raised their children, including my mother, with a strong emphasis on both good citizenship responsibilities and educational opportunities which would lead us to become contributors to society, as well as good role models for our family.

     In addition to good citizenship and education, our family has always been strong supporters of the American Armed Forces and all of my uncles, my father, my husband and my son-in-law all served in the military in either the army, navy or marines, including my father being on the first nuclear sub to the North Pole, and one of my uncle’s service in the Vietnam War.

     We believe Americans must contribute to the country's defense and the preservation of American freedoms, the beacon of which drew my family to American shores to start a life here. Hopes and dreams of having access to opportunities under a set of Laws that promises freedom, upward mobility, and active paths to act on behalf our communities.

     My mother was recognized by the United States Congress after years of volunteer service in our neighborhood from just after the Detroit '67 riots through the early 1980s, being a member of community organizations that sought and gained Federal Funds for several non-profit organizations that included such services as caring for our shut-in elderly people, such Meals-on-Wheels, and low-income housing repair, a teen drop-in center to combat idleness that could lead to gang activities, drug use or violence by developing a strong sense community unity. A community newsletter ran for several years identifying and sharing information of local events and identified problems to address together. We also participated in tutoring, a drug-rehabilitation program, and providing for help new immigrants to assimilate into the American system by educating them about our laws, school systems, and tolerance.

     I have been a civil rights activist since I was 8 years old and not only was active in Peaceful Integration of the schools, but also served as a Student Ambassador for Peace to Israel in 1978. We believe that our role as Americans is to further peace efforts whenever possible, both domestically and internationally.

     We love America and although we see America as an ongoing work in progress towards the ideals upon which our country was founded, we know the work will never be done. The dynamics of growth and positive change is hard-wired into our thinking, our beliefs and our actions as a family and as members of society.

Leader Teachers - Are You One?

Leader Teachers-Are You One?

"The most important thing to remember is this: To be ready at any moment to give up what you are for what you might become."
__W.E.B. DuBois

As a life-long political activist and teacher, trainer and leader, I know first-hand that my education includes an unusual upbringing, over four decades of community work, and the culmination of three successful university degrees. In Northeast Detroit, I took part in intense teachings and trainings by my community's pro-active leaders following the 1967 race riots through the 1970's. This education became a necessary means to freedom's better ends. What the schools didn't teach us, our leaders taught us. What the textbooks didn't teach us, our leaders taught us. What we didn't know ourselves, our leaders taught us. Our leaders were many teachers of the Civil Rights Movement, as well as individuals who lead politically aware lives. One of my early teachers used to tell us that she had a "Ph.D. in Life" and she did. She was and is wise, celebrating now 84 years young.

Detroit, during these turbulent times, imposed the controversial STRESS (Stop the Robberies and Enjoy Safe Streets) program, especially prominent in use among Black males, Vietnam War protestors, and community people who began activating to address local social, economic and educational issues. Keeping good people out of trouble became a major concern for our community. In efforts to organize and unify community people towards better ends, we were taught by the leaders of a newly developed non-profit community organization. North End Concerned Citizens Community Council (NEC4). They provided us with free lectures, seminars, retreats and other functions intended to uplift people's hopes and realizations. They offered conversations and sharing of experiences, applied to our local community, our nation, and the Civil Rights Movement. Their intentions were to educate and activate positive change. Irrespective of race, we took part in strategies to offset the unfair limitations that were imposed through a wide variety of racist and prejudiced systems. Self-education became part of the lexicon of our plans to create change, allowing us to believe we can gather knowledge and exercise wisdom, giving us the power to break our economic, educational and self-imposed bonds.

A lot of students didn't finish school in my neighborhood. The paths of formal education dwindled over time, especially among the schools serving the impoverished people of color. The majority of young people often fell into only a couple of categories. They 1) joined the military, 2) went to jail, 3) moved away, and/or went to college, or 4) died, often violently. It was necessary for community leaders to stem the tide of failure and help us recognize our real potential as young people who took part in our own life decisions. All too often, there were others that decided for us that we were "locked in a poverty cycle." Poverty and civil rights issues have been around for a long time, but we have to ask ourselves, and answer ourselves, whether or not we can do better than to embrace the limiting ways of poverty's traps, racial traps, gang and violence traps, drug traps, or any other crooked roads laid before us. As young adults, we were taught to become aware and informed, and to step out of the suppressions, oppressions, and depressions we faced. We were taught to recognize the limitations and learned how to define ourselves as capable, and our goals as attainable.

Education comes from schools, yes. But it also comes from parents, mentors, from community leaders and church leaders, and volunteers whose work furthers community goals. We all can learn from books, from essays and poems, from experience and from others' experiences. We can learn from President Barack Obama whose community organizing skills LEAD our nation, in more ways than one. As a nation, we continue to learn from each other in our continued walk towards full citizenship, endowed with full citizenship rights and responsibilities.

During the Civil Rights Movement, I benefitted from the teachings of my community leaders, my community teachers, who taught us that we could advance ourselves by following effective strategies, to develop an understanding of “self-awareness, self-determination and self-respect to attain self-sufficiency.” These became the goals that we were taught—to offset the limitations imposed and perpetuated by racism and classism in America. We learned that we do not let others keep us ignorant, define us, or convince us to lower our opinions of ourselves, no matter the race, or culture, or religion, or creed. What I came to realize is that the beautiful individuals that our youth are can only lay down all the arguments against success—by growing success anyway. Education plays a key part of success’ growth.

Educating our communities can be accomplished by efforts of leaders and teachers, by reading, thinking and communicating, witnessing and steering yourself toward worthy goals. It is important to come together in unity and strength when creating strategies for positive and effective change. Self-education can be improved by each one assuming the responsibility of being their own first teachers. It can be improved by taking counsel from those who came before us, and are with us still, that share valuable lessons learned. Literacy allows the book learning necessary for us to prevent mistakes made from happening again, by not repeating them. Historical and future reference points can be constructed through knowledge gained. Ask yourself, “What has your solid education showed you that are worth sharing?” We automatically become teachers when we have learned, hopefully helping each other to achieve and practice self-awareness, self-determination, self respect and attaining self-sufficiency.

Although education does not guarantee absolute success, not learning takes you nowhere and keeps you there. Learn and learn how to lead, and you will become a leader who is a teacher.

“Ignorance is a cure for nothing.”
W.E.B. DuBois

About the Author: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/nancy-bell/30/231/855

Fight for Freedom

It starts as a feeling
That something's not right
Then walks in your mind
While you're up late at night.
The problems are many,
The solvers too few,
So the work that needs doing
Starts pointing at you.

You ask, "Who am I
Who can bring about change?
I've my own things to do
And this world is so strange..."
Then you think of the faces
And hurdles you'll greet
As you work to solve problems--
All the hate you will meet.

And you just have to wonder
If it's worth all the pains,
When by closing your eyes
You won't see freedom's stains.
But you know you can't do it
There is no way at all
'Cause once you have seen them
You've heard Justice call.

The song starts out softly
And travels so slow...
But along come the others
And soon you will know
That many are willing
To work through the day
And lift up their voices
When FREEDOM's held sway

There can be no more silence
When hate comes to stand
In the midst of a people
Who share the same land.
Come together to heal!
And grow strong in what's true!
Join the voices of others
Who love justice, too.

Hate can't breed us out
And it can't hold us down
And it won't stop the voices
That rise from the ground
'Cause the land still remembers
All my brothers who bled
To fight for our freedom--
The struggle's not dead.

When you first have the feeling
That something's not right,
Don't just look away,
Take courage and fight!
'Cause the hangman keeps coming
To cloud what is true
If you don't fight for freedom,,
Who'll fight to save YOU?

Teach your children to love,
Help the poor not to drown
In the sea of oppression
That keeps people down.
Keep freedom alive
And continue the Call
'Til the day we say truly
"There is Justice for ALL."

--N.J. Bell
----------------------------
The AWESOME story, The Hangman, by Maurice Ogden, inspired me as a child (see link below). In the Civil Rights era of the 70's, we were watching this film on reel-to reel-projectors, but the truth of it still stands. They say that freedom is renewed by the blood of patriots, but it also renews by the breath and deeds of free people. Don't give up the fight!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZSS3yxpnFU

About the Author: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/nancy-bell/30/231/855

And then there were the Manatees and the Tigers...

     In 2003, my nuclear family was living in Orange City, Florida; I was homeschooling. We lived within walking distance of Blue Springs State Park, winter home of the manatees. By January, the manatees would gather in the warm outflow of the spring because it has a year-round temperature of 73°F (22.7° C), and runs into the St. John’s River, which of course, runs into the Atlantic Ocean. The manatee would come inland with their young calves, in pods or pairs, singular or grouped to enjoy the warm and clear water. Each January, local residents hold a Manatee Festival, drawing people from all over the world to see the marvelous creatures and share in the celebration of them and the park that protects them. That is where we met the tigers for the first time.

People quite often swam in the warm waters even in January, although touching or harassing manatees was not allowed by park officials. Still, a walking path along the water was a great way to get up-close views of the manatee. At the very opening of the spring, no manatee would go because the water was not oxygenated enough for them to breath. The churning and the moving of the water made it breathable a bit further away.

In that area, we sometimes saw divers come to explore the spring’s well. It was very deep and was considered one of the more challenging springs to deep-dive.

We did not dive, but we did float over the opening of the spring. The water’s motion made us buoyant and the tiny bubbles on the surface of the skin was fun. Blue Springs’ water was very clear and pure. When we left at the end of 2003, there was a lot of talk about the chemical pollution to the ground water which could adversely impact the entire hydraulic cycle in the area. We wrote “Circle Stories” together at this park, using the beautiful and tranquil area as a writing inspiration for creativity.

For More Information about the Blue Springs Annual Manatee Festival: http://www.uptake.com/blog/family_vacations/blue-springs-state-park-central-florida_2283.html

           

This beautiful Siberian Tiger was less than 3 months old when I met him. His name is Hollywood, and he was as gentle and sweet as he could be. I did have the chance to feed him a bottle of formula and he napped for a big on my lap. I met an “inner-tiger-circle” of the area, and was able to bring my homeschooled children to a wonderful animal sanctuary Amazing Exotics, and to work with Adam Fishman, a brilliant exotic cat handler and trainer. He appeared on animal planet with his tigers.

Adam Fishman took us to the lake one day, with his then baby tiger Raja, a Bengal tiger, who was also less than 3 months old. He was training me to handle exotic cats in a training that would lead to licensing and handling but I could not give the time commitment to permanent care of tigers (who live for about 25 years in captivity). It was her first time going swimming at the lake and she loved it! She was playful and having the time of her life. It was pure joy!

I have often wondered how my life would have been different if I had elected to stay in the tiger conservation and education business instead of leaving the state. Hurricane Charley and the rest of the 2003 Florida Hurricane Season was enough for me to leave Florida. (Bonnie, Charley, Francis, Ivan, and Jeanne, and Ivan again.). Little did we know that the next year would show us Hurricane Katrina, and much worse devastation than Florida got the year before.

While Adam was out of town in August, one of his adult tigers gave birth. We were able to be there with the children and even film part of it. The film has not been transferred off of the VCR tape yet, but hopefully, I can post it to You Tube soon and provide a link to my viewers. However, we did get some photos a couple of days later with the babies, and I was very happy to have the intimate moments with some of the most beautiful creatures on earth!

One of the babies just as his eyes were opening. A RARE view of a tiger belly-button. I was told that no one ever really looks for (or can find) one on an adult tiger!

The off-shoot of this experience for my children, as homeschooled students, was for my son (then 10) to do a long-term research project about tigers. He wrote a 26-page paper about the various types of habitats available to tigers (as an endangered species). He ranked the type of things he thought a tiger would need to “be a tiger.” In the end, he argued, tigers do not belong with people at all! His argument was made that tigers in the wild are able to exercise more of their natural behaviors with less risk from humans, even despite the poaching (which should be a focus of preservation efforts, instead of captivity). I don’t think he will ever go to a circus again, and he definitely was not in favor of private ownership for anyone not certified and qualified to handle wild animals. Public interaction with tigers is definitely one he argued vehemently against because of the danger it poses to both tiger and human. We have supported tiger conservation and proper care, as a family, ever since. First-person-eye-witness education: Changed my children's views of tigers forever!

NOTE 1: Although my children did enjoy meeting and petting the baby tigers, they were NEVER allowed to go in close quarters with the adults. The one day I went in with the adult tiger, there were three handlers, and I had been interacting with the tiger for about 9 months. I spent about ten minutes in the cage and left intact. However, a picnic bench was set up for my children to study between the outer and inner enclosures of a titanium two-fence barrier. Inside the final fenced lived  the two adult tigers who were parents to the tigers born while we were there. We were invited by the tiger owner/handler to hold home school lessons with the tigers for several months. We left Florida in late October 2013, after several hurricanes, leaving the tigers behind. (I will be working with these pictures to improve the quality. My son declined publication of his image).

NOTE 2: The tigers survived all of the hurricanes in 2003. However, the owner was required, by law, to stay with the tigers, with a loaded gun, required to shoot any tiger that got out during the hurricane, to protect human life. The fences held, but hurricanes are a big deal in sanctuaries and other environments where tigers are housed.

NOTE 3: Adam Fishman was featured on an episode of Animal Planet. We have a VCR copy of the show but I am currently searching to see if I can find another copy online to post. He is truly remarkable with the Big Cats! Special thanks to he and Anne for the experience of a lifetime!

About the Author: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/nancy-bell/30/231/855