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“The poor will be with us always”

From PJ Colando, on a topic near and dear to her heart:

The poor will be with us always.”

Second Harvest is a nonprofit food bank housed on the former El Toro Marine Base, Irvine. The Marines departed in the ‘90s, the nonprofit was invited into an abandoned building.

While its mission is to end hunger in Orange County, Second Harvest is nationally networked via the nonprofit Feeding America.

The commitment and intention:

A community where no one will go hungry. EVER.

Volunteers collect and distribute nutritious food to more than 250,000 individuals at risk of going hungry each month in Orange County through a network of 312 community partners who distribute food to the hungry in every city. Some folks gleaned from O.C. farm fields.

However, due to the climate of Covid-culture, volunteerism—like I provided via my church—is no longer feasible, but cash suffices in Covid-times.

Connect with PJ here: www.pjcolando.com.

Lamb’s note: the above was first posted on the SCWA website. Please visit her website, where funny lady, author and speaker PJ shares her wit and wisdom for all to enjoy. Her latest book, The Jailbird’s Jackpot, is available on Amazon.

J.C. DeLadurantey reviews Badge of Color

Book review: Badge of Color – Breaking the Silence

Memoirs by their very nature are telling and personal. Badge of Color, by Harlen Lambert is clearly no exception. He takes you back, way back to a time when pioneers of all sorts were forging new paths and breaking long-standing barriers that would forever change the course of other people’s lives, but not necessarily the one doing and writing about it. This is a must-read for those who may think they are the first to do something or that they may be the first to be ridiculed, mocked or worse.

Lambert’s approach, while not unique, takes you to the 30s, ’40s, 50’s and the tumultuous ’60s. While politicians may have thought they were going to fix civil rights once and for all, they were not in the trenches like Harlen was. There are those who serve their family and their country. There are those who serve their community and those who serve to represent the best of what our society has to offer. From cotton field to shoe shining, selling snow cones or finding any way to make a dime, like many young men of that era, Harlan did what he had to do to survive. From soldier to basketball to motorcycle escort and ultimately the police academy we see how our author and hero meet every challenge put before him. He may have been bullied, taken advantage of and yes met bias and prejudice along the way but that did not deter him, as a person, as a black, or eventually as a police officer.

Yes, he may have been from a minority group that had seen its share of abuse, ridicule, bias and even prejudice and beyond, but ask yourself, then, why add being a maligned minority of becoming a police officer? He was raised to accept challenges, so this became just one more. His peers tested him, many times maligned and ridiculed him to test his maturity, his commitment, his wanting to be a part of not being male or black but of wanting to be blue, a part of the infamous thin blue line that protects our communities, even when they may not want or demand it.

Get in the front seat with Harlen Lambert as he takes you for a ride-along, decade by decade by decade as a black growing up, getting out of the house, serving our country and eventually serving our community. He met every challenge placed in front of him, some he could overcome, and others he could not. That is what makes Badge of Color so special. After you read it, loan it to a friend but make sure you get it back and give it a place of prominence on your bookshelf.


Purchase Joe’s books here:
https://www.amazon.com/J.C.-De-Ladurantey/e/B079DJCKR4%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share

J.C. De Ladurantey
retired law enforcement officer,
Making Your Memories radio host,
and audio narrator

“What if” – a poem by Lillian Nader

I was so inspired by author Lillian Nader’s “What if” poem, I want to share it here. But before I do, please visit Lillian’s website at https://lilliannader.com/ and delve into even more of her inspirational poetry at https://lilliannader.com/poems/spiritual-poems/.

More about Ms Nader and her most recent released science fiction novel for young readers follows the poem.

Ms Nader wrote this poem in 2014, inspired by #JacobNordby, #BlessedAretheWeird,#CreativeBootcamp:

What If?

What if there were no Contrast,

No night or day, but only grey?

What if no one had a claim to fame,

And there was no one to blame or shame?

What if there were no strife or conflict;

Would that be the end of wars?

What if life was filled with Joy?

Would we appreciate laughter

If there were no tears of sorrow?

What if the oyster had no pain or cause

To create the pearl?

Would the pearl cease to be?

What if the artist had no challenge to meet–

Would all art be the same?

What if all people were the same?

Would life as we know it be lame?

What if I knew my purpose for this lifetime?

What if we all had the same purpose:

To love one another?

What if our love for each other was the same love

Manifested in as many ways as there are

Personalities in this world?

What if on any given day,

We all awoke from our slumber to live and love

To the fullest outreach of our inner beings?

What if we dared to love ourselves

As we loved our lovers?

What if we dared to love without a reason

For love other than to love for no reason?

What if there were no change of season?

What if there were no night or day,

But only grey?

What if?

Lillian Nader


But don’t stop there! Check out Lillian’s newly released book, Theep and Thorpe: Adventures in Space, a science fiction novel for young readers about a teenage boy who makes contact with enlightened space beings. Available on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/Theep-Thorpe-Adventures-Lillian-Nader/dp/1530107199.

Author Greta Boris interviews Lambert

Greta Boris, author of The Seven Deadly Sins Series, recently posted an interview with Lamb Lambert.

“With all that has been going on in our troubled world, I decided I needed to push through the politics and hear from a couple of people who’ve lived what everyone is talking about. I sent out two sets of author interview questions.

One went to my buddy Lamb Lambert, the first black police officer hired in the city of Santa Ana. (The second set went to another wonderful career law enforcement friend and author, Joe DeLauderante, who is white. That interview is coming soon.) I had the privilege of reading Lamb’s book before it was published. It wasn’t an easy read, but so worth the discomfort.

And, on a bright note, I didn’t realize Lamb also trained K9 dogs! I always knew he was a man after my own heart. As all of you who’ve read my stories know, I’m a big fan of the pooch and have many doggy characters.”

The interview can be read here: http://gretaboris.com/2020/07/08/the-first-black-police-officer-in-santa-ana-ca/.

While in Ms Boris’ website, take a look around the author’s fascinating world of ordinary women and unexpected evil. Her books are available at https://www.amazon.com/s?k=greta+boris&ref=nb_sb_noss_1. Highly recommended reading!

Shoutout to The Studio for Southern California History and its founder

Shoutout to The Studio for Southern California History and its founder, Professor Sharon Sekhon for “discovering and sharing history…to connect people to each other and to connect people to places…”   https://www.facebook.com/SoCalStudio/

Take a visual tour with Sharon through history in her latest book,     Because My History Matters, available on Amazon.  It’s the perfect gift and a coffee table must!