To former abolitionists and to the Radical Republicans in Congress who fashioned Reconstruction after the Civil War, the 15th amendment, enacted in 1870, appeared to signify the fulfillment of all promises to African Americans. Set free by the 13th amendment, with citizenship guaranteed by the 14th amendment, black males were given the vote by the 15th amendment. From that point on, the freedmen were generally expected to fend for themselves. In retrospect, it can be seen that the 15th amendment was in reality only the beginning of a struggle for equality that would continue for more than a century before African Americans could begin to participate fully in American public and civic life.

African Americans exercised the franchise and held office in many Southern states through the 1880's, but in the early 1890's, steps were taken to ensure subsequent “white supremacy.” Literacy tests for the vote, “grandfather clauses” excluding from the franchise all whose ancestors had not voted in the 1860's, and other devices to disenfranchise African Americans were written into the constitutions of former Confederate states. Social and economic segregation were added to black America’s loss of political power.

In 1896 the Supreme Court decision Plessy v. Ferguson legalized “separate but equal” facilities for the races. For more than 50 years, the overwhelming majority of African American citizens were reduced to second-class citizenship under the “Jim Crow” segregation system. During that time, African Americans sought to secure their rights and improve their position through organizations such as National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the National Urban League and through the individual efforts of reformers like Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. DuBois, and A. Philip Randolph.
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The most direct attack on the problem of African American disfranchisement came in 1965. Prompted by reports of continuing discriminatory voting practices in many Southern states, President Lyndon B. Johnson, himself a southerner, urged Congress on March 15, 1965, to pass legislation “which will make it impossible to thwart the 15th amendment.” He reminded Congress that “we cannot have government for all the people until we first make certain it is government of and by all the people.” The Voting Rights Act of 1965, extended in 1970, 1975, and 1982, abolished all remaining deterrents to exercising the franchise and authorized Federal supervision of voter registration where necessary.

What is Goulash?
 
While on field exercises in the Marine Corps during the 70’s we would often make a goulash that was a mixture of several different MCI (C-rations) meal selections.  As a logistics specialist I would grab the case of B-2 Unit box and stash it.  But the beef w/spiced sauce was also excellent.  You needed your P-38 (always attached to your dog tags) can opener and some Tabasco sauce (always in the pack with chewing tobacco).  Basic tricks of the trade while on maneuvers in the field.  
 
         This is the official Quartermaster’s description of C-Rations used in Vietnam
 
“The Meal, Combat, Individual, is designed for issue as the tactical situation dictates, either in individual units as a meal or in multiples of three as a complete ration.  Its characteristics emphasize utility, flexibility of use, and more variety of food components that were included in the Ration, Combat, Individual (C-Ration) which it replaces.  Twelve different menus are included in the specification.
 
Each menu contains: one canned meat item; one canned fruit, bread or dessert item; one B unit; an accessory packet containing cigarettes, matches, chewing gum, toilet paper, coffee, cream, sugar, and salt; and a spoon.  Four can openers are provided in each case of 12 meals.  Although the meat item can be eaten cold, it is more palatable when heated.
 
Each complete meal contains approximately 1200 calories.  The daily ration of 3 meals provides approximately 3600 calories.”
 
Well I never ate a full day of c-rats because I didn’t like all of the meals.  We use to barter and trade to make deals to get what everyone wanted.  I loved the canned fruits but too much of it would get you diarrhea.  Beans and wieners could be eaten warm or cold.  The roll of toilet paper in the accessory kit was useless.  By 1976 there were no cigarettes in the MCI accessory pack as shown below.  We use to chew tobacco to compensate for the c-rats which was worst than smoking.  I don’t know what was worst the smell of chewing tobacco or the smell of the morning waste and kerosene downwind from the camp site.

As a logistics officer I was well equipped to have superior knowledge about food and supplies.  As a young lieutenant in the field we were randomly given a case of rations.  The real secret was knowing that the new C-rations had a variety of menus and each of the three units had different meals.  If you was aware of this you could always make sure you got your favorite meals.  Below are the meal selections and I always made sure to get the B-2 unit?

What were your favorites? What were some of the goulash that you made that you loved?​

Santa's sending previews during the next six days...

Annapolis Creed: Enduring Classic Recipes---Coming Soon

Cooking is Therapy

I can’t wait to unwind during the weekends and holidays after the morning walk with my favorite food taster my dog “Tommie.”
 
At the end of a long workday, one of my favorite ways to unwind is by slicing and dicing vegetables for dinner. The steady chop, chop, chop of my knife against the cutting board quiets my mind and soothes my soul. Cooking is meditation with the promise of a good meal afterward.

Avid cooks have long recognized the therapeutic power of kitchen time. “Preparing a meal is unlike anything else I do in the course of a day because it is a nourishing personal event which focuses upon getting me to slow down.
 
Culinary therapy is being used as part of treatments for a wide range of mental and behavioral conditions but I use it to quiet my mind and soothe my soul.  Three years ago a recent graduate from our high school struggled with math and through helping her overcome her fears about mathematics we jointly discovered different ways to solve problems about area and perimeter using relevant connections to the student’s favorite meals.  Even today I still anchor learning to something within a student’s life.  Cooking for family brings me joy.  Over the past four decades I have perfected some classic recipes and finally I have the opportunity to put them into print to pass down to friends and family.  Each recipe has a short story attached and lesson's learned about our cooking experiences, reading, and teaching.  My wife Joyce is co-author on this next book in the making.

Happy Holiday's
~Annapolis Creed
​~ Jordan

Visionary leaders are the builders of a new dawn, working with imagination, insight, and boldness. They present a challenge that calls forth the best in people and brings them together around a shared sense of purpose. They work with the power of intentional alignment with a higher purpose. Their eyes are on the horizon, not just on the near at hand. They are social innovators and change agents, seeing the big picture and thinking strategically. 

There are profound interconnections between the leader and the whole, and true visionary leaders serve the good of the whole. They recognize that there is some truth on both sides of most polarized issues in our society today. They search for solutions that transcend the usual adversarial approaches and address the causal level of problems. They find a higher synthesis of the best of both sides of an issue and address the systemic root causes of problems to create real breakthroughs.

Visionary leadership is closely related to the transformational leadership style. The major difference is between the two involves the focus on the future.Visionary leaders live more in the future and they often use a vision of the future as a way to mobilize followers.

Visionaries who are successful at manifesting their visions base their leadership on an inspirational, positive picture of the future, as well as a clear sense of direction as to how to get there. Vision is a field that brings energy into form. Effective leaders broadcast a coherent message by themselves embodying their vision.

The best visionary leaders move energy to a higher level by offering a clear vision of what is possible. They inspire people to be better than they already are and help them identify with what Lincoln called  “the angels of their better nature.”  This was the power of Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech. The creative power of lighted, inspired words can sound a certain inner note that people recognize and respond to.  This then creates dramatic social change. Like King, visionary leaders have the ability to sense the deeper spiritual needs of followers and link their current demands to these deeper, often unspoken, need for purpose and meaning. 

Visionary leaders often have the ability to see higher spiritual forces at work behind the scenes of events, and they align with the vision of these redemptive forces.  Both George Washington and Winston Churchill spoke about the help they received from a “guiding hand.”  Churchill said, “...we have a guardian because we serve a great cause, and we shall have that guardian as long as we serve that cause faithfully.” 

Sojourner Truth, a former slave, was guided by an inner spiritual experience to preach the emancipation of slaves and women’s rights all over the country during the Civil War.  President Anwar Sadat of Egypt had a vision of Mohammed who told him to create peace in the Middle East.  This vision is the hidden story behind the Camp David Peace Treaty between Arabs and Israelis.

A visionary may dream wonderful visions of the future and articulate them with great inspiration. A visionary is good with words.  But a visionary leader is good with actions as well as words, and so can bring his/her vision into being in the world, thus transforming it in some way. More than words are needed for a vision to take form in today’s world.  It requires leadership and heartfelt commitment.

A visionary leader is effective in manifesting his or her vision because s/he creates specific, achievable goals, initiates action and enlists the participation of others. 

What are the qualities and abilities of true visionary leaders?   What is the mysterious inner process within leaders that enables them to work their magic and radiate the charisma that mobilizes others for a higher purpose?  

Visionary leadership is based on a balanced expression of the spiritual, mental, emotional and physical dimensions.  It requires core values, clear vision, empowering relationships, and innovative action.  When one or more of these dimensions are missing, leadership cannot manifest a vision.

Reference

 Corinne McLaughlin  (2001). The Center for Visionary Leadership

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Twas' the night before Christmas!