I AM TROY DAVIS

I am still in disbelief and extremely horrified at the inhumane and injustice act that took place on Wednesday night. The American Justice System has failed us once again! It’s not the first and it will not be the last. Georgia Parole Board denied clemency for Troy Anthony Davis, after being on death roll for two decades. Mr. Davis was accused for the murder of an off-duty officer in 1989.

This case has caused an international outrage and has many people asking if justice was really served. Personally, I believe justice was not served because Troy Davis was not guilty beyond reasonable doubt.

Anyone that followed his case clearly knows that this case was not prosecuted properly. How can a man be executed for murder when there was no solid evidence supporting the case? In addition there was no DNA evidence connecting Mr. Davis to the murder.

Mr. Davis claimed his innocence till his death bed and before his execution, he said to his family and friends “continue to fight this fight.” In order words, his family and friends should fight to prove his innocence and his freedom that he has been fighting for two decades.

Freedom does not come easy to some individuals. Freedom is independence, free-will, liberty, choice, self –determination, autonomy, sovereignty, and lastly, lack of restriction. We all seek for freedom but freedom is not easily obtained for individuals like Troy Davis. It takes determination and a long fight to achieve it and sometimes it is not achieve at all. Nevertheless, freedom comes easily to certain individuals or groups that are more favored in the North American society.

Evidently, black people in our society have fought a great deal to achieve freedom. Since emancipation from slavery, black people still faces the biggest restrictions in the justice system. North American justice system is manipulated and systematically set up to favor the higher class society. Presently, there are a higher percentage of black people that are concentrated on lower level of society, which means that the justice system of the state favors black people the least.

I am still outraged by the route the state of Georgia took. Troy Davis was innocent and he has been claiming his freedom and innocence for two decades.

Troy Davis said “All I can ask ... is that you look deeper into this case so that you really can finally see the truth." If troy Davis was white, I am certain that the system would have taken time to analyze his case careful and granted him freedom or reduced his sentence to life imprisonment.  It sad to say this, but the justice system is unfair.

It would be understandable if there was solid evidence supporting the murder and if all nine people who testified against Troy Davis did not alter their initial testimony. But that was not the case, because seven of the nine trial witnesses recanted their testimony against him. The US Supreme Court took an unusual long period of time to come to a decision. Troy was still executed after all these factors surfaced and indicated that he might be innocent.

There is no justice for capital punishment or an eye for an eye principle. It is tragic how the US justice system keeps on failing. Retribution punishment is certainly not the solution to crime in a civilized society. In my opinion it is barbaric and this form of punish does not deter crime. No-one and I mean no-one has the right to take a life, including the Government.

Before Troy’s execution, he also said to the prison officers “may God have mercy on your souls. May God bless your souls.” And Yes, May God truly have mercy on their souls for taking his life.

 I have now come to the conclusion that the “greatest nation” is not the greatest after all. It is uncivilized and has engaged in barbarism.

Many people have lost trust in the US justice system for many years because there are people that have been wrongfully convicted and incarcerated. As a result, people have been losing hope that the justice system will not be there to support them if they were in a similar situation.

I am certain that one of the many reasons Georgia Parole Board denied the clemency is because they did not want the world to identify the inaccuracy and errors in the system.

If they reopened the case to prove Mr. Davis was innocent, it will give people more reasons to loose faith in the American justice system. In addition, it will also cause the government millions of dollars to reopen the case and keep Mr. Davis alive.

It is a tragedy that they sacrificed Troy Davis’ innocence to glorify the US Justice System. “May God have mercy on their souls and may God bless their souls.”

Troy Anthony Davis, You’re in a better place. May your soul rest in peace.

**Express and Reflect on your World** 

Sincerely, 

Prissy Birago

ROAD TO EVERLASTING HAPPINESS

 

 Most women anticipate their wedding day from a very young age. They create in their imagination the type of man they would want to spend the rest of their life with. And when a woman diligently seeks the lord and prays for their heart desire, there comes a point in her life where she will find her true love. It may take many years and some a few years to find their King of the Kings but when that moment arrivals you know that they have been highly favored by the Most High God.

This piece is dedicated to my one and only Constance Love. Today is her 1^st week wedding anniversary and I can’t wait to celebrate her 10^th year wedding anniversary with her and her hubby.

 

  Groomsmen and Bride-maids are just too beautiful :) No more words can describe it.

 

My beautiful and lovely childhood friends, can't wait to see everyone of you walk down the aisle. Love you all.

Over the past years, our friendship and sisterhood has blossomed into something beautiful and wonderful. I will forever be honored and grateful that my lovely sister chose me as her maid of honor; to stand by her and celebrate one the most significant days of her life with her.

Below is a piece of the speech I wrote for Constance Love on her wedding day.

Constance is one of the kindest and warmest people I have ever met in my life. Her Godly soul is full of humbleness and generosity. Constance cannot get angry or mad. She looks very funny when she tires to get angry because it not in her. Often times people’s names are just for identification purposes, However Constance love is dissimilar because she acquires all the great virtues to her middle name “Love”.

"Love is patient, love is kind. She does not envy, she does not boast, she is not proud. She does not dishonor others, she is not self-seeking, she is not easily angered, and she keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. She always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres”.(1 COR 13 :4-7).

I was reminded of the saying ‘the first impression goes a long way’ because when I meet Solomon for the first time, I knew in my gut that this would be the man Constance would spend the rest of her life with. He is extremely respectful, peaceful and his persona demonstrates that he truly loves and cares for Constance. His demeanor about life indicated that he was God fearing and that is one of the greatest virtues to find in a man.

Constance, you are highly favored. May God continue to bless and enrich this marriage for many many more years to come and bless it with prosperity, wellness and children. God bless you Solomon and Constance. You both have found your soul mate and I am extremely happy to see both of you start a new life together.

**Express and Reflect on your World**

Sincerely,

Prissy Birago

BIG MOVES

Dear Blog,
 

I took a very big risk this week.  I called my work and advised them that I will no longer be working with them. Guess what?? I did not attempt to give them advance notice. Don't  get me wrong, it was a good job with good pay but I felt like l didn’t belong there and that I could do better.  It was a spontaneous move; A big move that would define and change my future.

I woke up early this morning in a different world, looking outside my window and thinking to myself if this so called “big move” was the right move.  I felt like going back to bed and waking up with all my anxiety and worries disappearing.  I knew it was impossible because that is not how life works.  I immediately called my friend and could not stop crying on the phone. She said to me, “This is not you Priscilla, This is not the Priscilla that I know. I feel like am talking to a totally different person.” I couldn’t stop crying because I knew this was not me.  I said, “Priscilla better days are coming, pull yourself up because you have tough skin".

In life, you must  take risk to know where you belong in this world

I know a new era has begun and the old era has been diminished. This year has been going as planned and most of my goals has been accomplished. I will not allow the devil to twist my mind, and have me think that I made the wrong choice. I now know I made the right decision because I am about to achieve my biggest goal by far this year. God will continue to guild me and lead me to the right path. 

Prissy is all about taking big risks.. Lets goooooooooo baby!!!!

**Express and Reflect on your World**

Sincerely,

Prissy Birago

WHAT IS YOURRR LATTE FACTOR???

Dear Blog

One of my Goals for 2011 was to gain better financial stability. Honestly, we all know it is hard to eliminate our spending habits from our daily activities. Most of us are addicted to spending. I tried to use one of the saving techniques, which was writing and planning accordingly, and trying to eliminate unnecessary spending. And trust me; it was not an easy one! So, I have been searching and reading books on financial freedom to help strengthen my mind in the financial realm.

I discovered that we are all programmed to spend what we earn.  The more we earn, the more we spend on lavish things to “try” to live comfortably. We all desire to attain a good job so that we would be able to“save”. So we say! But the truth is, wealth is not built on how much money we earn but how we plan to spend our money and what we invest the money in.

I came across this angelical book called “Start Late, Finish Rich” by David Bach. Believe me, this book is amazing!  I believe this book did not just land in my hands for an irrelevant reason but rather a tool from God to teach me on some of the important techniques to financial freedom. While reading the book, I discovered a financial strategy called “Latte Factor”. Latte Factor is a concept created to enable us to become aware of the unnecessary “little expenditures” that we waste our money on, without realizing how much they add up to.

The purpose of this concept is to allow us to track our daily spending, and become more conscious of the money we waste on little things like, Starbucks coffee, chocolate bars, Spas or Dinning out every day. And while monitoring our spending, we take some of the money and deposit  it into an investment account, example RRSP. By doing so, we will be saving a fortune when we least expect it.

I found my Latte Factor

Before Work

Apple or Orange juice =$ 1.50

Bagel with strawberry cream cheese = $ 1.89

At 10:30

Timmy’s medium fruit smoothie =$3.48

Timmy’s Chicken wrap =$2.59

M&M =$1.00

Noon (No lunch)  

Mr Greek Roast chicken dinner =$7:78

_______________________________________

Average total daily spending  = $18.24

If I take $ 15 a day from my daily spending and deposit it in my investment account, guess how much I would be saving …

Assumes 10% Annual Rate of Return

Daily Investment	Monthly Investment	10 Years	20 Years	30 Years	40 Years	50 Years
$15	$450	$92, 180	$341,716	$1,017,220	2,845,836	$7,795,976

Hypothetically, if I and my significant other or a friend is saving together, in a span of 50 years we will save $ 15,591,952

Over 15 million dollars will be saved if I cut out my little lavish things. 

Dear Blog, It’s really mind blowing.

I really wish they taught this in school…but I’m glad to say, I have now found my latte factor , WHAT ABOUT YOU??

**Express and Reflect on your World**


 Sincerely,

Prissy Birago

IS GOD A VENDING MACHINE???

Oh God, Oh God, Oh God

“I need you right now. I know I haven’t been very good lately, but I promise if you help me pass this exam, I will be really good. I have not been trying my best to study for this exam but God you said we shall ask and you shall give it to us. So God, I am praying and asking you right now, please please please pleaseeeeee help me pass this exam and I promise I will not party before my exams again. Pleaseeeeeee God pleaseeeeeee  . Amen”

This was one of my many prayers during exams period in first year university. Thinking back, I treated God like a vending machine. I constantly expected God to grant me all my “wants” after praying. I finally grasp that God does not work that way. God does not respond to all our prayers instantly. He examines our current situation, and decides if our desires will be beneficial to us at that present time; then he takes action! If it's not beneficial, he would refuse our request until we are in the right position to receive our wishes.

 Imagine how this world would be if every prayer was answered?!

About month ago, I was waiting for the face of God for 15days.During this time, I prayed for certain possessions, however I was aware that not all my prayers would be answered instantaneously.

 

Few weeks after, I was conversing with my male friend and about 15mins into the conversation, he randomly said, “After the 15days of fasting and praying, have you received any results from God yet?  I said yet?!! Honestly, I was shocked he would ask me such an irrational question. I made it clear to him that I am not expecting things to happen right away. Excellent results will come when God is ready to grant it to me.

Many times we treat God like a vending machine, expecting to press the right button and receive exactly what we requested for.  We select A-6 and expect to receive Hershey chocolate but when we receive the wrong product or receive nothing, we tend to get irate. God does not perform in such manner.  He works on his own will and gives us the gifts he knows we are prepared enough to handle when the right time approaches. God will not respond to our prayers when we are not mature or equip enough to handle it.  

Why do we get angry or lose faith  when we feel like God is not answering our prayers?

 

Is God a Vending machine? NO!! Vending machine has many malfunctions. Sometime it steals our money; it may be out-of-order or run out of products. And when this happens to us, we may try to kick it or even shake it, hoping that the machine will grant us what we wanted.  God does not work that way; he never malfunction when he’s at work. God evaluates our capacity and our current circumstances before he grants us our desires. He ensures our faith is strong and we are prepared enough to handle what he bestows to us.

We should remember to treat God like God and not a mindless machine. There is no price on his endless love and gifts. He’s not a seller but a free giver.  We should operate in confidence and faith and once our capacity is develop to a level that is acceptable to God, we will claim our possessions.

**Express and Reflect on your World**

Sincerely,

Prissy Birago