Smitty City

Well, today was the last day that Ms. Rosa Parks' body was "on display" for the public in the capital city. She will be buried in Detroit later this week. There is much to learn from this women's life...probably more from her Civil Rights work after the bus incident. Anyway, this post may seem like I am poking fun (which I guess I technically am), but, truly, I admire this lady and what she stood for and I mean no disrespect by the following.

My tribute to Rosa is a story of the first and last time I made a semi-racial comment with a microphone in my hand.

I was interning for Schotty (Scott Dishong...Porter's old youth minister). He had been letting me "MC" the wednesday night student services...I would tell jokes, do announcements, and introduce new visitors. Anyway, one night I had one visitor card that Schotty wanted me to recognize. I'll tell you what...I'll quote what I said from stage that night...it will probably make a little more sense that way. I said, "We have on visitor here tonight that we want to recognize (I look down at the card). Her name is...ROSA...I can't pronounce her last name, but it starts with a 'p.' (There was a brief pause and you could see a faint smile on my face) I quickly and confidently exclaimed, "SHE IS PROBABLY SITTING IN THE BACK OF THE ROOM TONIGHT." Well, long story short, Schotty banned me from the mic for about two weeks...he was honestly upset. And I received one laugh for my joke...and you wouldn't believe who it was. After it left my lips I heard a loud, high-pitched, girlish giggle coming from the back of the room. It was none other than: Jason Jackson...the only brotha in the room. He loved it...and I'm glad he did, because no one else caught it. So, thank you Jason...and thank you Rosa.