Safety and Security.... Is It Over Rated???

Yesterday, I drove to my parent’s house on 19^th Capitol Drive here in Milwaukee. Their house sits on a very busy corner with both foot and vehicle traffic. As I pulled up to the intersection, MPD vehicles and yellow tape blocked it off. Nearly twenty minutes before I arrived there was a shooting in the intersection. Multiple shots were fired with at least two vehicles being involved. I’m not sure if anyone was hit or not, but no one at my parent’s home was injured.

So before I begin, I know you know what I’m already thinking. I know you want to say it can happen anywhere… I agree, but let me get my thought out. Being the parent of four children, I have to focus on their wellbeing and security. As a parent, I must give my children the sense of security with out the utter senseless violence and criminal nature of so many we run across in today’s modern urban communities. As the day’s come and go, we are living witnesses to the de-civilization of the American and Global Societies. Criminals are being protected by the laws and legal system built by the framers to create an equal and fair society from injustice.

I’m gonna show you a video. Understand the video is disturbing in some areas, but the idea is to know what you think and if you agree or not with the out come. Please watch and listen then make your judgment. The narrator is actually very neutral in his commentary.        

Fat Boy Jiujitsu Vlog

Returning to training is tough. It's nauseating and makes you question yourself and abilities. You just have to remember one thing: "DON'T QUIT!!!"

I have to keep pushing.

- Posted By Radolph "Ray" Matthews

Own Your Actions

I'm so confused with people and how think in today's society. Too many people are given excuses and ways out of their own responsibilities. In Milwaukee the news has been saturated by the Derek Williams case. Derek Williams, an attempted armed robber, was in the process of robbing a young UW-Milw Student when the Milwaukee Police showed up and chased Williams ending in his being put into (MPD) custody. Williams was handcuffed and put in the back of the police car. After being handcuffed and sat in the rear of the car, Williams began complaining he couldn't breath. Later investigation found Derek William was an asthmatic. Williams told the officers and asked for help multiple times. The officers refused resulting in Williams dying due to the police negligence.




Well, that's about it for me. That's where my position changes a tad. In having this conversation with people, I'm told I'm heartless, an Uncle Tom, sellout, etc. A reason being because I believe too much pity is going to Derek Williams and his death. I have no pity for Williams or his family other than he actually did die. With that said, Williams was a criminal, a thief and a menace to society. He died as a result of his own criminal activities.



Sure the officers were bogus for not letting him out of the squad car, but that's the game. They didn't know nor were in any position to truly believe he was telling the truth. Remember, he was a criminal caught in the act of committing a crime. Derek Williams was released from jail for the same crime earlier that same day. Really? When are we as a society going to stop defending people who blatantly break the law and commit crimes against us?



I went extreme when I spoke with my sisters about this case. My sisters, who both happen to have three sons each, like me. That's 9 young men ages 6-21 years old in our family. I say that to say, we as parents are responsible for those young men and how they behave and represent us as a family in the community. I told my sisters I blame Derek Williams and his mother. My opinionated problem with his mother is she has joined the bandwagon against the police and totally forgot her son died in the backseat of a police car "After" he was caught for attempting to rob someone after being released earlier that same day for the same criminal behavior.



There are issues and concerns people could form uproar against more necessary than Derek Williams. What about the 13-year old boy who was shot down by the older man who said he was he was threatened? What about the illegal strip searches being done by rouge MPD Officers?

I just feel in 2012, you are in a time in society where liberal bleeding hearts have nothing better to do than search for reasons to destroy and bring down government and established rules of order. This is why the Republican and Democratic Parties are useless today. Their agendas are self-serving. So-called Republicans can’t honestly say they are against “all” of President Obama’s Policies; nor can Democrats say they’re totally against everything Republican. If they do, they are lying. I’m not a fan of Milwaukee Police, but I do understand logic. The police aren’t the enemy all of the time. We can use their assistance some times. People, I beg you to find a more convincing example of injustice. Find someone who didn’t just get released from jail and who died while in the act of being re-arrested for committing the same crime later that day.



What about the 13-year old shot and murdered? We have our own “Trayvon Martin-like” tragedy, but nothings being focused on it. What about the illegal strip searches by Milwaukee Police? Come on people, wake the hell up! Should Chief Flynn be fired? I’m not sure. As I’ve said, I’m not a true MPD Fan, but things in Milwaukee can be much worse. I apologize if anyone is offended, but waving the banner of injustice behind the death of a predator of our community is wrong. It’s just dead wrong. Please find purpose and teach our children to be righteous upstanding citizens and add to the growth of our community and larger society. Advocates for Derek Williams will say his rights were taken from him. Well, what about the rights of law abiding citizens to walk the street without fear of a repeat offender robbing them? That’s my concern.




- Posted By Radolph "Ray" Matthews

"Beautiful..."

It’s been a trying road full of pain and disappointment. Many days have found me confused and stressed out. Many times I’ve nearly begged to be taken to my dear wife, Daniela in the afterlife only to, then, see the tearful and tired eyes of our four children. I know I have to push through and assist them through these years and prepare them for their adulthood. No worries, Daniela and I will be together again…



Daniela and I spent a lot of time together. When I say “a lot” I truly mean it. We would go to the bodega together, out to eat, school meetings and such. We even volunteered doing the same things so we could spend that time together as well. Some of our family and friends thought we were what they called, “doing too much”, but we didn’t mind their uneducated analysis of how we manifested our relationship and marriage. We just did what we found to work for us; and it did work. Many times we would find ourselves consulting our friends and other couples. Guys would always say how they wanted a woman like Daniela and women would say how they wanted a man like me. This would always make Daniela and I laugh. She would explain that it’s all about fitting with one another. I’d add and we need to understand how to sacrifice. You can never be greedy in this type of relationship. It’s more about what you can give than what you can get.




Since Daniela passed, I’ve had two situations, which weren’t planned with women. In the process of these encounters, I find my feelings for my wife to dictate the tone of the relationships. It’s shown me many women are wanting to idea of having a good man and a man who believes in relationships and love, but what they want is to say they have a man and remain independent. Daniela wanted to love and be loved and she believed in family and loved children. It was a beautiful experience being in love with her. She taught me there wasn’t anything with being in love. Together, Daniela and I understood the importance of knowing our places in our relationship and marriage. Yeah, I said it! I said we knew our places. She knew I was the husband and father, as I knew she was the wife and mother. Really, it was a wonder and beautiful bond. I guess that’s why I’m still so motivated by seeing her again.




I know many cool people. Many of them are amazing, intelligent and gorgeous women who are single parents raising beautiful children. These women who struggle day-to-day, but who push forward for their love of those children. These women have been in relationships that gave them their children, but who experience men not mature enough or worthy to have them as their wives. My heart hurts for these women because they are taking care of their children and their business and struggling without the love and support of a man worthy of them. These women are always on my mind because they are amazing to me. I pray for them everyday.




Ladies, keep your heads up! You know who you are, ;D


- Posted By Radolph "Ray" Matthews

"In A Stranger's Hands"

Let me begin this by saying, I transport my children to and from school each day. Yesterday morning soon after I dropped my children off at school, I came to an intersection where I saw a large yellow school bus at the intersection facing me headed in the opposite direction. Nothing odd about it, there had to be hundreds of yellow school buses ripping around the city the day at that time. While we sat facing one another at the intersection, I noticed the driver was smiling and laughing. There were children on the school bus, so I figured the driver’s jovial expressions and spirit was due to something one of the children said to her. Maybe there was a 13-year old on the bus sitting not three rows behind the driver who said something teenagers usually say, which would cause us to laugh. Maybe she thought about the recent Presidential Debate and laughed at how the most important thing America got from the debate, itself, was that Gov. Romney is not a fan of Big Bird or the PBS Channel. I’m not sure, but now I was invested in why she was so happy.

Then as my truck and her school bus began moving through the intersection, I noticed she had one hand, her left hand on the steering wheel of the large school yellow bus and her right hand up against her right ear holding her cell phone. With children on her bus during morning rush hour, when she should be focused on maneuvering that large yellow school bus through intersections and traffic, the driver of this large yellow school bus was on her cell phone laughing and not nearly as dedicated to the safety of the children on her bus or the citizens in other vehicles around her. As our vehicles crossed, my heart tightened. This was horrifying to see. I looked in my side rear-view mirror and watched as the yellow school bus vanished down the traffic filled street. How easily could that recklessness have caused a crash, I thought to myself. The driver’s logic surely would have been how she was careful and how I was blowing it out of proportion.

When I reached my house, I began thinking about the many young children who have suffered and even died due to the reckless behaviors of those who we, parents, entrust with our children’s safety and well-being. Here in Milwaukee several children have died in daycare vans due to freezing weather or heat exhaustion when the drivers have forgotten to check the vehicles and left the child(ren) in the vehicle to meet their untimely end.

I guess this is my plea… Parents, you have done your upmost best to prepare your children for success in their academic careers. Be mindful of those you have around your most precious and valued little ones. No one cares about your children more than you.

Please join me and be grateful, we didn't hear about a large yellow school bus crashing and injuring or killing several children yesterday on the news. I guess the bus driver was lucky... this time!!

The 'Lo Heads from Put This On S2E1

Novel Project Update

Okay family, friends and fans...

I've done it! Not the big "done it," but the most important one to push me over the hump. That tough chapter has been finished. I'll redraft it then begin on the next one. I feel good about it. A little raw, but overall, I feel good about it.



Initially, I wanted to finish the novel by November 1st. I can still do it. I just want to get the story strong so I can build off of it with new stories.


- Posted By Radolph "Ray" Matthews