S. C. Tradition: The Boy takes a Bride

Bradford John Harris, son Johnnie & Patricia Harris and Kalyn Dawn Howell, daughter of Vince & Vicki Howell, were joined in holy matrimony on Monday, May30, 2011. 

  

The wedding and reception was held at the renowned Emerald at Queensbridge.

Leo G. Gay, Pastor at the North Las Vegas Church of Christ, was the presiding religious official (pictured here with Brad and Kalyn's father). 

  

Update on Tuesday, June 7, 2011 at 06:30PM by [JL Harris]

Dad and Adonis.. if you can't wait to see more; look under Brad in the next generation folder. 

Interdisciplinary Learning

Themes in Geography	Purpose
I. Location Absolute: 80.7° West, 34.5° North Relative: 25 miles Northeast of Columbia, 67 miles south of Charlotte, North Carolina, approx. 200 miles Northwest of the ports of Charleston. White Oak Baptist, Macedonia Baptist Church, Mt. Bethel AME, Rock Springs Church, ... Kirkland Cemetery Road, Flat Rock Road, John G. Richards (Hwy 97), etc.	Addresses the question; Exactly where did you say that your people lived? Absolute location  addresses location from a nautical perspective. Relative location addresses location in relationship to other places. Other indicators of relative location include landmarks and roads (timeline sensitive).
II. Place 1. Human Characteristics: a). Native Americans, Irish & Scottish Americans, African Americans, Mestizos, and Mulato Americans; b). Religious faith driven, primarily, by Protestant and/or Quaker immigrants. c). Education driven by religion based missionary schools. 2. Physical Characteristics: a). The Wateree (formerly Catawba) River, Little Lynches Creek, Pee Dee River, Swamps (near the major bodies of water); b). Appalachian Mountain Chain, Greater Pee Dee Region; c). Rabbits, Snakes, Cat-Fish.	What kind of place is and/or was it, measured in humanistic terms.  For example what was the ethnicity of the dominant coalitions or groups? Who drove the prevailing religious beliefs? What was the primary source of knowledge? Identify the physical characteristics of the place; major water bodies, landforms, wildlife, etc.

III. Human/Environmental Interaction 1. Economics: a). Land used for farming and cultivation of crops such as cotton, corn, wheat, etc. in the Upper-Country. b). White settlements grew up about the major waterways because of fertile soil, and navigable waters. c). Numericans counted on the swamps and water bodies as natural borders against the intrusion of first “the Regulators”, then the “Settlers”, and finally groups that can be lumped under the umbrella term “Klan”. 2. Technology: a). The Industrial Revolution had a significant impact on how work was done, where people lived, modes of transportation, as well as methods of communication. b). The industrial revolution had varied impact upon humans held as “chattel”; “freed-Men” of the American Civil War era; and subsistent farmers, at the bottom of the “caste system”. c). Environmental wastes were major hazards brought on by the industrial revolution.	How does and/or did people use the environment to their advantage, and/or, disadvantage? Impact, if any, of Technology?
IV. Movement: 1. Physical: a). Imports and Exports move overland via rail, aircraft, and/or automotive vehicles. b). Primarily automobile, however, some do travel by aircraft or railway depending upon destination and financial situation. 2. Communications; a). Electronic mail, cellular phones, hard-line land phones, etc. b). Internet via public accommodations; internet with employer permissions. c). Limited proficiency of “heads of house-holds” discourages none commercial use of technological resources. 3. Ideas a). School system, churches, public hearings, marriages, family gatherings. b). Institutionalized controls on policies and procedures; curriculums, mission statements, etc.; traditional family values governs marriages. c). Ideology communicated via the language; symbolism associated with the “Stars & Bars”. V. Region (entire state) 1. Formal: a). Native American Homeland up to the “Age of the Explorers”; Catawbas, Creek, Cherokee. b). Age of the Explorers; incursions by the French, Spanish, Barbadians and British; c). 17th, 18th, Century Colonial Proprietary Administration of the British; d). South Carolina as one of the original thirteen colonies; e). Native American homelands; historically, governed by treaties. 2. Vernacular: a). Spirituality_ bible belt driven by religious beliefs and ideology. b). Communications; non- verbal. Counter-Culture; relied upon body language and/or music to communicate, for example Precious Lord  marks a martyr, and Who’s Going Down In The Grave With Me signaled an impending act of defiance. b). Imagery; Confederate Flag, symbolic of historical beliefs associated with caste.	How do products, people, services, information, and or ideas move? (Here you are looking to include location specific information.) What technology is available and how extensively is it used? Where are/were ideas exchanged? And who controlls/ed the Agenda? A region is an area that exhibits institutionalized patterns of behaviors, over an extended period of time; characterized by discernible patterns in marriage, government, language, beliefs, as well as, ethnic composition. Formal regions  are those defined by governmental or administrative authorities as “boundaries”. Vernacular regions are those, loosely, defined by one’s perception of the area and it’s inhabitants.

Cooperative Learning

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seeing the Big Picture

Intelligence is a by-product of "learned behavior".

 Life Management... some straight talk:

1. You have 12 years to learn the "basics": the rest of your life depends upon it.

2. Those with the "ability & willingness" go on to higher education (those without it go to work).

3. As a child, time is your ally:

"I won't grow-up, I don't want to go to school..."

Trust me, it won't be that way always.

4. Did you really believe that you knew all there was to know?

 Intelligence Quotient n: a number used to express the apparent relative intelligence of a person determined by dividing his mental age as reported on a standardize test by his chronological age and multiplied by 100 (Websters 1977).

Update on Tuesday, January 13, 2009 at 08:24AM by [JL Harris]

Examples of Standardize Tests include, but is not limited to the following:

• CTBS-Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills
• CAT-California Achievement Test
• ACT-American College Test
• PSAT/NMSQT-Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test
• SAT-Scholastic Aptitude Test

Now re-read the definition of Intelligence Quotient (IQ).

Remember a test becomes a standardized test when it is administered to all students, under the same conditions, and scored in the same manner for all students.

Performance matters.

When you come to grips with that reality is when the learning begins:

It doesn't matter whether you're in a classroom, boardroom, or squaring off in the center of the ring (recognizing, of course, that the ring is no place to go looking for a lesson).

When I speak of "task relevant maturity, vis a vi IQ", thats what I'm talking about; nothing more.

Return to White Oak 2008

From left to right; Johnnie, James, Bradford, and Clinton Harris _ 2008 _ White Oak.

We return to the White Oak Church as a matter of respect to Mr. Johnny & Big Mama:

 In their day the church constituted sanctuary,..ie. the belief that if a man could make it that far; then, his life should be spared. This was the home of the Numen; a place where God ruled supreme, and all who believed was entittled to salvation.

It is to this belief that Big Mama alluded, when she sang "we have come this far by faith." It is this belief that fueled the Numerican Nation:

Deshawn Bristow Harris and Sean Harris, great-great grandson & great grandson(respectively) of Johnny & Almetta Harris.

Sierra Hampton with cousin Deshawn posing in the background.  

[These two are of the same generation,..ie great, great grands.]

They fought to hold on to their land in hopes that one day their children would be able to safely return home. If not their children; then their childrens' children, and so forth on down the line.  

towards a Shared Sense of Purpose

When I first asked Mother if I could write her life's story, she said no; but after giving the matter some thought, she came back and said "only if you can write it within the context of yours":

 And impossible task, or at least so she thought.

Two years later, 2005, I presented her with the very first draft of Numerican Nation: A Self Portrait. While she wept uncontollably, she insisted upon receiving the first copy in front of her family and friends.

We must continue to celebrate excellence amongst us; not simply look to others for approval:

Jesse Lee Harris, of Camden S. C., is pictured here receiving the Life-time Achievement Award at the Harris Family Mini-Reunion held in Florida in 2001.