Hello, Habari Gani, Jambo, Buenos Dias, and so on:
My name is Matthew C. Stelly and I was born in Hastings, Nebraska where there are very few black folks. I was born in 1954, the year that America claimed to be about desegregating but, as we can see, it ain't happened yet. Only illusions.
This blog is about disspelling illusions, about telling it like it is. A lot of people claim and seek to do that but, somewhere along the way, they end up towing the line, carrying water, rationalizing or drinking a bucket of some power baron's warm spit. Ain't happening here. This blog is about the creative use of intelligence, critical thinking and cultural competence, things I've been practicing all my life. You will agree once you check in, from time to time.
By the way, conditions mandate that we all do what we can. The Bible (a somewhat reliable source) says that, "Where much is known, much is required." So I have an oblgiation to help people. If you need bylaws, articles of incorporation, a business plan, grantwriting, a nonprofit vision statement, help with term papers, research papers, theses or dissertations, I've got 35 years of experience in all of the above.
I hold double bachelors degree in Black Studies/Urban Studies, a Masters in Urban Studies, a masters in Urban Education (sans comprehensive exam, which they CLAIM I didn't pass. NOTE: a 23 page handwriten comprehensive with dates and times, but it was a very racist department where debated my teachers regularly - they always get the last word), and a Master's in political science. I have doctoral level course work in Sociology, Urban Education, and Human Services. I have more than 1,600 articles in print, 47 unpublished manuscripts (ranging from Miami Vice, Feets Don't Fail Me Now: The Story of Sammy Davis Jr., The Rise and Fall of Milwaukee's Black Mafia, and Prodigy (my own 2,300 page autobiography) to An African-American View of Urban Planning, Speeches of American Presidents: Case Studies in Racism and The History of Omaha's African American Community. And of course, many more.
If you have a question, I can answer it, a problem, I can solve it. People like me come along once in a lifetime and now you've been blessed enough to have me as a part of YOUR life. How much a part, that's up to you. 'Til next time.
Matthew
