Charlotte's 4th Birthday Party

Charlotte's 4th birthday was celebrated today in our backyard (we were in Hilton Head for her actual birthday). She and her friends had a great time: the limbo, bubble machine (Charlotte has a real passion for chasing and clapping bubbles), shell picture frame craft, buried treasures in the sand box, decorated visor craft, magnet fishing out of a basket (a personal favorite) and cookies and ice cream.

Most of you know that Charlotte has been a bit of a picky eater - mostly just bready products, milk, yogurt and raisins every now and then. Well, turning four has had a serious impact on her. In the last 3 weeks she has tried (with a little help from Tanya) and added a lot of new foods to her list: turkey meat loaf (which she loved so much she requested it for her special birthday dinner where she could have chosen anything!), ice cream, canteloupe, strawberries, peaches, blue berries, cheese, broccoli (tried, but not on her list of favorites - her mother can't bring herself to promote this one too sincerely - calls it 'stink food'), pork chops, chicken, and I'm sure a few more I cannot recall. The big thing is that she is trying just about everything we put in front of her - finally - she used to be scared to try new foods. We are so happy and proud of her!!!

We had a great trip to HH. Stayed in the Beerens newly renovated villa (alone) and it was wonderful. 10 days of nothing but the beach, lazy days, fun foods, visiting with friends, putt putt, other games and each other. Girls took me to Savannah for Father's Day: mass at Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist (oldest Catholic church in GA - one of few that were not burnt during Civil War), went for a horse drawn carriage tour of historic section, lunch on River Street and then ice cream before heading back to HH for dinner at Old Fort Pub on the water. The whole trip was very relaxing and lots of fun.

Hope every one is well and having a great summer. I am working on a quick visit to Durham - maybe next week.

Take care!!!! Michael

YY swimming 3

YY swimming 3
Originally uploaded by PEDRO_.

YY swimming 2

YY swimming 2
Originally uploaded by PEDRO_.

YY swimming 1

YY swimming 1
Originally uploaded by PEDRO_.

Thursday's Op/Ed in the local rag - and my response. Steven

Dear Herald-Sun:

Since you chose to malign me by printing mis-information about me in your paper I assume you will give me the opportunity to set the record straight. My opinion piece follows. Please print it as a guest column not as a letter to the editor. You did so last time and I greatly appreciated it then.

Your editorial of Thursday, June 16th calls on the Concerned Citizens of Durham to stop our “tactics of intimidation”. You proceed to print the lies that Charlotte Woods is spreading. The truth of the matter is that CCOD went to where Ms. Woods was collecting signatures to be sure that the African-American’s she was soliciting were being told the truth about what her petition really says. Ms. Woods has been known to mislead folks in the past. Ms. Woods walked over to where our group was standing and engaged me in an argument. If Ms. Woods thinks that I “bumped” her or in any way physically intimidated her she needs to take her complaints to the police and stop slandering me in the press. She won’t, of course, because lying to the police is a criminal offense and comes with consequences. The Herald-Sun does us all a disservice by repeating unsubstantiated assertions. In fact, I have personally been told by HS staff writers that they wouldn’t look into allegations I brought to their attention because it was just my word. Funny how you aren’t so squeamish when such unsubstantiated allegations further your own agenda.
As far as the charge of “Race Baiting” is concerned. I would like to point out that it is not Ms. Woods or her grandchildren or any other white children in Durham who are being abused in Durham Public Schools. It is black kids who are being punished more harshly than white kids. It is black kids who are being denied a free and equal public education. It is black kids who are being searched without cause. And it is Charlotte Woods who is circulating a petition that would allow the white majority to pick black leaders in Durham. That way not only can the abuse continue but the white community can install black folks who don’t make them feel uncomfortable by bringing the problems up again and again. It is a common tactic of those who are committing the offenses to try to turn the offenses of which they are accused back on their accuser. I’ll tell you this and I have told Charlotte this in person; What she is doing is attempting to implement a racist agenda. That makes her a racist. In this day and age when cross burnings are met with calls to “heal” the community before any examination of the climate of racial intimidation that exists in Durham is held it comes as no surprise that nobody even wants to hear the world “racist” uttered. It reminds us of a past that we thought was dead and gone. Well, it isn’t dead and gone. It has never been dead and gone for black folks. It’s only white folks who delude themselves that racism doesn’t exist. Today we don’t have racists we have “differences of opinion”. Today we don’t have prejudice we have “limited funding”. Today we don’t have ghettoes we have “self segregation”.
In answer to the demand contained in the headline to the Op/Ed piece that CCOD “Ease Up On Tactics of Confrontation” my response is this; when has the Gang of Four, the Herald-Sun, Charlotte Woods, and the majority of the white community in Durham ever taken the time to even look into whether the allegations we have put forward are true or not. I’ll make a deal with you. Investigate and correct the abuses of these children and we will all go home and this whole ordeal will be over.

Ease up on tactics of confrontation




The Herald-Sun
Jun 16, 2005

We can sympathize with many of the goals of the group called Concerned Black Citizens. The members' focus on equitable treatment and educational opportunities for black students in Durham Public Schools is laudable, as is the insistence that the administration be held accountable. We also agree that the school board must be open to hearing public comments and responsive to requests from citizens.

With that said, the continuing tactics of confrontation and intimidation used by the Concerned Black Citizens are damaging to Durham and Durham Public Schools far out of proportion to any positive impact they have on black students. The tactics are also a huge overreaction to the alleged wrongs they are supposed to target.

A case in point was an ugly scene this week involving Charlotte Woods, who heads a different group, the Concerned Citizens for Accountable Government. Woods and her organization want to change the way the school board elects its members, from the current 4-2-1 district voting system to an at-large system. The Concerned Black Citizens oppose the change, which they believe would elect more white board members.

On Sunday, one of the members of Concerned Black Citizens, Sheryl Smith, phoned Woods, gave her a phony name, and told her she was a black supporter of the change in voting. Eager to have support from the black community, Woods invited Smith to The Village shopping center on Sunday, where Woods was gathering signatures on a petition to support the change.

But it was a setup. Members of the Concerned Black Citizens showed up instead. Accounts differ on what happened, but we know there was a confrontation. Woods wound up toe-to-toe with Steven Matherly, who called her a "white racist" and told her to get back to the plantation. Woods said Matherly bumped her. He denies it.

Whatever happened, it's ironic that a group that so loudly declares its own right to free speech would try to silence others. It's clear that was the intent -- to deceive, confront, and silence. Woods, by the way, has every right to collect signatures on a petition.

Despite Matherly's race-baiting, most supporters of an at-large voting system are not racists. On the contrary, most hope that a change in voting patterns would help ease racial tensions on the school board by having all citizens in the county choose all the board members -- the same way City Council and County Commission are elected.

Concerned Black Citizens could do something positive for Durham by easing back on the "in your face" tactics.

OK Steven . . . hello from Cope and Sarah

things are pretty quiet in our household -- Sarah is on summer vacation now (she's had one entire week but yesterday started a job, just two afternoons a week, but that's too much commitment for summer vacation . . .

we just visited my parents in Florida -- they'll be moving to assisted living so we're going to try to ease the way. Florida was hot and rainy and beautiful. We got to the beach, which made Sarah happy.

Walter's in Banff at his translator's residency for 3 weeks -- sounds like he's being treated like a king and is having a fantastic time. Uh oh, will we be able to make Urbana match the new standards?

hello to all the Matherlys, maybe now we'll find out who checks the blog. If I can figure out how to post a photo I have some good ones of Walter actually sewing a quilt (he volunteered for a project to measure mental activity in seniors, and they each made a quilt -- his is quite beautiful, I'm very impressed).

yes, we're looking forward to the wedding too. That will be the big vacation this summer.

love, Cope (and Sarah)

Finally, a response!

I finally flushed someone out of the bushes. Val says she doesn't have the time to blog. She said, in a rather disparaging manner I might add, that perhaps I had too much time on my hands. Harrumph! Blogging is a calling and I make time for it. Anyone else out there got excuses for not posting something to this site they want to throw at me?

For you coffee hounds out there, who also have a laptop, I have found that Panera Bread has FREE WIFI. Starbucks, on the other hand, charges $30 per month. I signed up at Starbucks while we were out in St. Louis. I thought it was $30 for the year. That would have been tolerable. You should have heard the yelling on the phone. Vikki and I tag teamed them. They never had a chance.

Vikki and I are now the proud owners of Dr. John's old Buick LaSabre Limited. My first "old guy" car. My butt has already molded the seat into a comfortable shape. I could probably leave this car running with the door open in the middle of Manhattan and nobody would steal it. It is the least stolen car in the world. But I like it. Vikki would prefer a newer car but then wouldn't we all.

Yuan Yuan is full of "piss and vinager" as they say. She really is a pretty good kid. Even at her worst meltdown she is better than a lot of kids we see at the supermarket our the park. An annoying whine is about as bad as it gets. She has just started swimming lessons. Today we go to the "Y" at 4:30 pm and she has asked me at least a hundred times if we are going to the lesson now. She is a very attentive student and takes her lessons seriously. She's so cute!

Anyway, that's all for now you voyueristic cyberhounds.

Later.

Steven

Time To Blog, Time To Blog, Time To Blog!!!

All right now. If someone out there doesn't start using this blog, other than yours truly, I am going to have to decommission it and put up one called THE ALL ABOUT ME BLOG!

Yuan Yuan read her first words yesterday. We were walking along at a shopping center and she points to a man holding a sign. She said "CAR WASH" and then she spelled it "C-A-R-W-S-H" Close enough for me. Then she proceeded to incorrectly read all the other signs she could find. That's my girl!

The long hot summer has started in Durham and we've already had our first murder. I went to a vigil for the victim last night and I was the only white person there not counting the TV cameramen. What a shame. After all this talk of unity in the community after the cross burnings you think more white folks would care. Church leaders at least. But no. I guess as long as black folks are just killing each other it really doesn't rise to the top of the must do list.

There was a really nice Reggae concert in the park near our house last night. I met Vikki, Yuan Yuan and the neighbors down there after the vigil. There were lots of people there, black and white. A guy who calls himself Airee (eye-ree) was there. He used to do the Reggae nights at the bar. They were nice folks but didn't drink much (Ganga was another matter. Had to insist they take it outside). They also didn't get really started until about 1:00 am. I don't miss coming home as the sun is rising.

Anyway, the concert was nice. Not too buggy. Our neighbors Anna and Rob and their son David just had a new addition to the family. His name is William and he looks like a clone of his older brother. He's about two weeks old now. I'm glad she finally had that baby. I was afraid to be around her during the last two weeks for fear she would go into labor and I'd have to boil water or something. Man, was she big! But we are glad to have the new addition to the neighborhood. I'd like to say he's a little cutie but newborns always look kind of scrunchy to me. Then there's the time when they fatten up and look like Winston Churchill.

I was hoping to use this blog as a way of communicating and of building some excitement about the upcoming nuptuals. I guess I'll put on my short skirt and get out my pom poms and do it myself. Don't make me put a picture of that on this blog. I'll do it if I have to.

Later.

Steven

Preparations For The Big Wedding!

The big day is fast approaching. There are lots of things that everyone would like to know, right. And what better way to spread the word than to post it on the MATHERLYFAMILYBLOG. Come on folks. It really isn't that hard and once you get going it can be rather addicting. Think about it. Your words cast upon the waves of the internet, wafting across time and space, gently carressing... well you get the idea.

Anyway, there's big things happening here in the Bull City. Summer has hit with a vengence. It feels like we are walking under water a lot of the time what with 600% humidity and all. It is so hot that I have had to mow the lawn in thirds (I don't think it has anything to do with weight gain, asthma, and my headlong rush into middle-age but I could be wrong). Yuan Yuan is growing like a weed herself and beginning to ask some of those difficult questions like "Does your skin go to heaven with you when you die?" or "Why do our friends have such a big clean house and ours is so small and dirty?" I guess that's why kids are made so cute, right?

My trial date comes up on July 7th. Keep your calendars open 'cause I expect every one of you to be in the audience with black arm bands on chanting "Free the Durham One" or something along those lines. If you're interested it is VERY likely that the bill to mandate that all public bodies have "Open Public Comment" sessions will indeed pass. It is likely to pass the Senate and be signed into law by the Gubna before my trial. Wouldn't that be nice.

For those of you living out of state you may not have heard that we had three cross burnings in one night on the 25th of May. Since then the white folks have been busy denying that they are racists and hold what we call "Kum Bia Yah" and "Feel Good" rallies. These rallies serve the purpose of calming the black folks down so they don't get the idea that a few burned crosses reflect the feelings of all white folks. Few blacks attend these white washes. The idea is to put a patch on things and get back to business as usual. Heaven forbid we should actually talk about race relations and prejudice. That might lead to some real change and we don't want that, do we?

Since I came back from our trip to Champagne-Urbana to visit the folks out there I have been riding my bike. One day while we were out there I took Walter's clunker for a spin and really enjoyed it. Two days after we got back I saw a bike for sale at a yard sale and I bought it for $10. I had to get new brake pads but that was about it for now. It has 18 speeds on it. I am loving it. I ride to the store for a bottle of wine. I ride to the coffee shop early in the morning for coffee. I ride to the Ben & Jerry's for Ice Cream.... hey wait a minute. I'm sensing a pattern here. Oh, well. At least it gets me out and about. One of the things our group, the Concerned Citizens of Durham, NC, is planning, on my suggestion, is a "Ride Against Racism". We have been taking a lot of complaints similar to the ones we have that come from counties all around central NC. So, we are going to "Ride Against Racism" and go from Roxboro near the Virginia border all the way to Richmond County which is on the South Carolina border. I am going to have to do some serious training for that. It is planned for the third week of July but we plan only to ride in the early morning and late afternoon.

So, keep those cards and letters coming. I'll post again soon.

Steven

MICHAEL, IS THAT YOU?

No, we have not heard back from Jesse or Al. But, we really have contacted them and their people say they are interested in our case. I guess we have to get higher on the national radar screen before it's worth their while to show up here.

Keep those cards and letters coming.

Blogmeister Steven

Where is Patrick's father?

I like how Patrick referred to Crazy Uncle Steve simply as "Crazy" - nice blog Patrick!

Hey Crazy - Any word from Jesse or Al on whether they are coming to Durham to support your cause? ;)

Keep up the good fight!!!