Wading In

That's right, non-voters. I'm the boss of you By Kelvin Wade October 28, 2010 Hey, you! Yeah, I'm talking about you, the one who isn't planning on voting next week. I just have a few things I'd like for you to consider for a moment. What if you were next in line at a fast food counter and I came in, brushed past you and ordered some food? Then, before you could say a word, I snatched your purse or wallet and counted out the money for my meal, took my bag of food and bounced out. What would you think about a scenario like that? How about another? Picture yourself standing in line at the DMV. If the clerks were moving any slower they'd be going in reverse. You're hot, annoyed and your feet hurt. You make it up to the window to pay your registration and the woman behind the counter points over your shoulder. You turn to see what she's pointing at and it's me sitting in a chair by the wall. I lift a finger skyward and then the clerk tells you that you ha...

Whipping our state government into shape By Kelvin Wade October 21, 2010 This year offers us the opportunity to change how our government functions with nine propositions on the November ballot. While I have reservations about the initiative process, if we must use it we should use it to change how Sacramento works. For those who haven't given it much thought, allow me to show you what I think of the initiatives. Proposition 19 legalizes marijuana and allows local cities to tax it. There have been some groups who say the projected revenues are off base. But even if that's true, it's time California led the way on legalization. Passing this will spark a much-needed national conversation. In 2007, 74,000 Californians were arrested on marijuana charges. Let's give police something else to do. Proposition 20 takes redistricting for the House of Representatives out of the hands of the Legislature and gives it to a citizens' commission. No more bizarre-shaped districts d...

Slavery info shocks, explains, liberates By Kelvin Wade October 13, 2010 On Monday, my brother Tony wrote about coming across some genealogical information on the Wade family. The info piqued my interest because several months ago I opened an account on Ancestry.com hoping to piece together the history of the Wades. I was stymied trying to go back further than my great-grandparents. When I received the information from Tony, I used it to do some more digging and was astonished at what I found. Of course, I knew my ancestors were slaves but it's different when you have a name and dollar amount to attach to them. It is horrific knowing our great-great-great grandparents Ned and Anarchy Wade and their three children were slaves in San Augustine, Texas. How do you own humans as slaves? And if that isn't bad enough, how do you to that to children? While it's sad and moving, it's cleared up a mystery for me. Our father told us that Johnny Allen Wade, who was killed in the Ok...

Are you waiting for Superman? By Kelvin Wade October 07, 2010 4:40PM Working with my grandkids on their studies has focused my attention like never before on our education system. One thing that's caught my eye is a new documentary by Davis Guggenheim, the director of 'An Inconvenient Truth,' about our crumbling public education system called 'Waiting for Superman.' I think everyone should see it. The title comes from Harlem Kids Zone leader and educator Geoffrey Canada's lament that one of the saddest days in his childhood was when his mother told him Superman wasn't real. It was then he realized no one was coming to save him from poverty and the ghetto. Now I wrote that Guggenheim directed 'An Inconvenient Truth' for a reason. I'm betting conservative readers are already prejudiced against the film for that reason alone. If I tell you one of the points of the movie is that public education reform is often hamstrung by teachers unions, I bet th...