Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 2417 SEPTEMBER 2016 BODY OF CHRIST NEWS Natural vs. Supernatural And God said, “I heard your cries, I saw your tears; I have answered your prayer!” God knew that I was living on my past faith and strength, with weak faith now. I felt that in the natural, I dare not expect any more blessings because I am so greatly blessed! God put a friend, Owetta, in my life, another single, widowed mother. She has admired my stories of God’s blessings with my children. Owetta, became my #1 advocate to find a replacement for my van, destroyed while it was parked in front of my house, by teens on a joy ride on Resurrection Sunday 2014. She often expressed her fear, watching me travelling in my wheel- chair on the street to and from church, shopping, etc., in the hard rain, cold, windy, snow, etc., wait- ing and transferring from bus to bus with bags of groceries. Her anxiety caused her to become a committee of one in seeking another van for Me. Regularly, Owetta would call me with the phone number of someone she found who she thought would be “the one” to help me. This contin- ued the entire year of 2015 and into 2016. Therefore, when she called me on the afternoon of July 28, 2016 with another person, I was not sur- prised. I had accepted that God was using Owetta to renew my faith in Him. Well, after she took me to meet and check out her findings, I said, “Bingo! This is the one.” (How many had seen me, realized my plight, but it ended there. Oh, what a friend I have in Owetta.) I met Ricardo, a retired Marine, disabled paraplegic. He is a Christian family man, with twin sons named Israel and Isaac. He stated that he had been seeking to bless/gift some- one as he was getting a new vehicle. ( Owetta was at the right place at the right time, meeting the right person. Praise God!) Ricardo is elated that his “Big Bertha” is going to someone who can be made as happy as he and his fam- ily. An act that was naturally impos- sible was made possible supernatu- rally. Thank God! This was also telling me that God did not keep an account or put a limit on how many blessings I could receive. He has let me know he has blessings for me now and in my future, as well as all that he did for me and my children in the past. Praise God and thanks for Owetta and Ricardo. Standing and Walking Icome from a family of great strong woman. I was born Marian Georgene Douglas in Garden City, Kansas. I moved to Denver, Colorado as a child. At the age of three I was diagnosed with Poliomyelitis. This was a scary time to be diagnosed with this dis- ease, as it was an unknown epidemic. There was no research as to why or what caused this. My parents were told I would never be productive or have chil- dren. I woke up one morning with a sore throat; by that afternoon I was rushed to Children's Hospital. I was totally paralyzed, in isolation for almost a year. During that year, I was slowly recovered all but my left leg. With many surgeries, I began to recover. I had to wear Oxford shoes with a metal and leather brace. I grew up with three siblings: one boy and two girls. I had chores just like them. I was not treated any differently. This gave me my strength. I remem- ber my grandmother taking me to the Holiness Church even though we were Baptist. I was rubbed with Holy Oil, and prayed over every Sunday night. At the age of thirteen my parents were approached with an opportunity to participate in a new study to remove some of my good working muscles and ten- dons to replace the areas that had been affected by my polio. For four summers I had these transplants. I had to learn to walk again using my new muscles that were taken from various parts of my other leg. During each transplant I had to learn to walk again each time. By the age of eighteen I used no devices. I was able to walk just like anyone else. I loved to take long walks and dance. I was pretty good at dancing too. As time passed, I attended college, obtaining my associate degree, passed a four-hour board test and became a board-certified Radiologic Technologist, commonly known as an X-Ray Technician these days. I was later married to a man in the military. We lived in many stated spending 15 years on the east coast. In that time, I worked for 35 years and was blessed with two amazing daughters who went on to having children of their own. I am a proud grand- mother of three grandson and one beautiful grand- daughter. I was told I would never have children, never be able to walk. Yet here I am a grandmother with a career. As time went on, I began to regress. I was again stricken with my illness. They called it 'post-polio syndrome'. The polio gene laid dormant in my body for years. It had woken up and begun to regress everything I work so hard for. Fifteen years ago I feel on a trip to Blackhawk. I had shattered my upper legs. Because of my regres- sion, my bones had become decalcified. They placed my bones back together with cadavers, metal plants and six screws. I was told yet again I would never walk. Here I stand before you at the wonderful age of 73. Standing and walking. I am truly blessed. Identifying The Issues Colorado black round table & body of christ newspaper to hold com- munity discussion on black students and educators in dps: call on current and former students, teachers, admin- istrators and community to voice opin- ions - Former DPS Board Member and Community Consultant, Dr. Sharon Bailey did the research and will lead discussion The Colorado Black Round Table, The Body of Christ Newspaper and a host of community organizations, faith leaders, education experts and parents are sponsoring a community discussion on the recently released report by Community Consultant and former DPS Board member, Dr. Sharon Bailey, entitled "An Examination of Student and Educator Experiences in Denver Public Schools Through the Voices of African - American Teachers and Administrators". This meeting and discussion will take place on Saturday, September 17, at 10am in the Hiawatha Davis Recreation Center[3334 Holly Street]. Dr. Bailey will present her findings [see attached report] to the commu- nity and CBRT will have a community panel to respond as well as commu- nity citizens.This is the first study of its kind in the state related to issues impacting African American educators and students. Dr. Bailey insists that, "The research findings suggest that not much has improved since I left the Denver Board of Education over thirty years ago... In fact, things may have gotten worse with the decreasing numbers of African American educa- tors in the system." She commends DPS for taking the positive steps with this report towards identifying issues impacting African American students and educators. She further stated that "In order to honor the legacies of the late Dr. Rachel Noel, Omar Blair, Ed Garner, Regis Groff and so many oth- ers, the African American community must now step forward, raise its voice and play its part in achieving greater equity and opportunity in education in Denver." Please read this report and hear What Black Educators are Saying. Come to the meeting and share your thought on how we can help move DPS forward. For more information call [303]745- 9649 Full report - http://hr.dpsk12.org/ wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Bailey- Final-Report.pdf Executive summary - http:// h r . d p s k 1 2 . o r g / w p - c o n t e n t / uploads/2016/07/Bailey-Executive- Summary_FINAL.pdf By Sister Roberta Johnson By Marian Georgene Douglas Dr. Sharon Bailey The research findings suggest that not much has improved since I left the Denver Board of Education over thirty years ago... TESTIMONY