Tom, this weekend I became honorary Alum of Dillard University when they presented me an honorary doctorate. It was an amazing pleasure to speak for their 2013 commencement where nearly 180 students walked the stage for graduation. And I was thinking about how many young and not so young people will be walking the stage this season. Some will be leaving high school for college, the work force, the military or even an entrepreneurial venture. And still some will be leaving two and four-year institution for a range of future choices that will transition them to the next phase of their lives.

I wanted to take a moment to celebrate a few graduates that the TJMS family shared with me via twitter and Facebook. But before I do. I want to ask you are you prepared to work towards graduating from something. These students all committed to a course of study and then put in the work to matriculate and graduate. We all can do the same thing. Some of us are working towards graduating our relationship to marriage, while others want to graduate a hustle to a business. Many of us are still trying to figure out a major, but the fact that you commit to anything is a step in the right direction. Don’t stop enrolling in LIFE. That thing that you think or know you are here for. Keep pushing because it is the small steps, class by class and step by step that lead us to graduation.

Lets honor a few who did just that this year and have or will be graduating soon.

Shannon Alexandersays, Started from the bottom now she’s here!!! Shouting out my sis Robinne CoCo-Drop Alexander from GED to Masters Degree!!! MBA from AIU.

Tiffany Johnson Jewellsays Im shouting out MYSELF! Associates of Applied Science, Human Services from Ivy Tech Community College in Indianapolis, In. Shartajeye’ Wright says, I am a proud graduate of Texas Southern University and Shartajeye’ Wright just graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Biology with a minor in Chemistry!

Kahlia Fordis celebrating her sister, Alexis Marie Davis graduated 3rd in her class from Philander Smith College, Summa Cum Laude!!

Caecilia Key gives major props to Evan Epic Polk, graduating from Washington Math Science Technology Public Charter High School, in DC and

Terrilynn Cook is incredibly proud of her son Branden Cook< graduating from Butler High School (Matthews, NC), is on the National Honors Society and will be attending Wake Forest University with a Presidential Scholarship .

Kim Brown says “hi Jeff, my Granddaughter Angel will Graduate on Friday 5/17 from Woodward Technical High in Cincinnati, I’m so proud of her”. And finally,

Nina S. Kirk is celebrating her son Corey Thorpe who will graduate on May 25th from George Washington High School in Danville, Virginia.

Know that you don’t have to be enrolled in college to graduate from something. I encourage you to keep pushing family….Your graduation is right around the corner.

I’m Jeff and that’s my truth.

The first is, about tolerance. You know we are living in a shifting society when one of the public faces being most critiqued is the Christian brother who has the courage to go on air and have a level of conviction to his faith. Jason has the right to come out to the world, and I believe that anyone that can find a level of peace embracing who they believe themselves to be is a wonderful thing.

However, to embrace the honesty of a player who chooses to publicly announce his sexuality and demean a brother, Chris Broussard, who respectfully stated that his faith informs him that homosexuality is a sin publicly is a tad hypocritical. In the days and times where people of faith are labeled as un-evolved and out of touch, I appreciate a black man that did not demonize Jason, didn’t call him names, and did not single out homosexuality, but spoke to all biblical sexual morality and its opposition to living a Christian life. We can debate if we even as Christians agree with his theology, we can debate if we as humans agree with his approach, but we cannot in the name of political correctness say that everyone has to support Jason Collins announcement.

I long for the day when we CAN disagree without one side or the other being labeled. The question is can we disagree, stating our opinion, whether religious or academic with respect. Real tolerance is not just about accepting one side, but the views no matter how painful of others even as we disagree. I want to celebrate Chris for his holy boldness as much as Jason for his human boldness.

The second area is tolerance. I know I said that already, but roll with me. We are creating a false sense of acceptance in the black community when we believe that public tweets and remarks of support always translate to the way we treat each other when NO cameras or social media is present. There is a double standard even in the media when it comes to sexual orientation.

The world is normally more open to lesbians than gay men. Weather it is a result of sexual fantasy or the perceived softness of women being easier for some to handle than the thought of two men, there is a double standard. Which is why you have yet to see a major player come out. It’s not about how we will treat them on twitter, but how we will or will not embrace them in our community. Even within Christianity we often take the job of judgment from GOD and administer it ourselves.

Real tolerance and love is about embracing our gay brothers and sisters despite how our culture and faith calls us to believe; and letting GOD be the judge. When we do this there will be no hiding, and you might see major stars in masculine defined sports coming out….until then……well. Thanks Jason Collins.

The language is CODE. Code is simply stated the language used to digitally program the apps, software and other functionality of all you do online. Sybil, as you know just last year Secretary of Education Arne Duncan talked about the fact that there are over One million jobs in America that have gone unfilled because so few US workers possess the high tech skills to fill them. Now trust me. All those jobs will not be filled by those that learn code, but in the day and age where technology rules everything around us, how valuable could it be to learn even at your current job and perhaps expand opportunities.

There are tons of free sources available to learn code. And this will not take a four-year degree or enrollment in a community college. There are several websites that can help, including CodeAcademy.com, CodeAvengers.com and Code.org are just a few.

But learning code is just the start. It wont mean much if you don’t commit to build something. A website for your church or an app for you business can drastically take both to the next level. But you can also create an educational program for your kids. The applications are endless if you just take what you have learned and apply it to a vision to create.

So this summer learn code, even with your kids. Trust me, it is a language that will take you to the next level.

I am Jeff and thats my truth.

Over 94,000 cancer cases in men and over 82,000 cases in women are expected to be newly diagnosed among African Americans in just this year. Prostate cancer is expected to be the most commonly diagnosed cancer in men, and breast cancer the most common in women. But what is worse is the fact that the data suggests that about 32,900 African American men and 31,900 African American women are expected to die from cancer this year.

Family, many of the cancer cases and deaths could be prevented with the adoption of healthier lifestyles, such as avoiding tobacco products, maintaining a healthy body weight, and being physically active. Simple things. The American Cancer Association recommends 5 things to reduce your risks and increase your chances of winning the fight against it.

1. Get regular screening test
Regular screening tests can catch some cancers early, when they’re more treatable. With a few cancers, these tests can even prevent cancer from developing in the first place. Talk with your doctor about the tests for colon, lung, prostate and breast cancers.

2. Control your weight

3. Exercise regularly

4. Eat Healthy

5. Stop Smoking

For more info hit cancer.org. I know this to be true and believe in fighting this fight because I have been watching my dad fight this disease for nearly a decade. He got prostate cancer, caught is early but still was not able to keep it from spreading. Seven years ago we wee told dad had a year to live, Eight months ago we were told he had 4-6 months to live. And he has been able to be the master cancer combatant because he did 3 things.

1.  Communicate early and often with loved ones

2.  Be the biggest advocate and researcher for your treatment

3.  Remind the doctors that they are all PRACTICING medicine and that GOD determines your last day.

I have not watched my father cheat death. I have watched him choose to live and live hard. I mean this dude went on a job interview two months ago. Because it is part of his fight. Dad you are my hero and your fight against cancer continues to teach me how to live healthy taking advantage of EVERY DAY GOD GIVES. If you know a cancer combatant shout them out at 646464 or hit me at facebook or twitter. Lets spread the message on how to avoid and beat cancer in our community.

How many of us are currently beefing, fighting, or not speaking to a loved one, family member or friend over some BS. Some of us are not speaking to someone over something that was serious. But is it serious enough to hold yourself in a prison of un-forgiveness? NO. Life is too short and we have to embrace the value of forgiveness.

So I want you to do three things today.

1.     Realize your ego is not more important than your future. Our egos hold on to things, push us to stand our ground, and be spiteful for things that even though we were wronged or hurt require we let them go to move forward.

2.     Reach out to someone today and say I’m sorry, I forgive you, or I let it go. Forgiving others gives you the room to keep moving. Forgiveness also does not mean you let someone back in your life or say that what they did was OK. You give YOU the room to look to what is next and not what is behind you.

3.     Forgive AND forget. I know many say you can’t do it or that you shouldn’t so that you wont be hurt again. But many of you are hurting yourself over and over again by intentionally holding on to that “thing” someone did to you. If you can….let it go. How often has God forgotten our past stuff to prepare us for future blessings? Forget it and move on.

Forgive others and embrace your future. You deserve it.

We talk about justice for Trayvon, for the families affected by the mass gun violence of suburban America, and the consistent gun violence in urban America. I talked to you last week about seeking justice for Ernest Hoskins Jr. who was shot at point-blank rage by his boss, who is now only being charged with Manslaughter.  Even I talked to his widow and mother this weekend and they need you to sign the petition at Change.org to push Arkansas Gov. Beebe to challenge the special prosecutor to charge him with first-degree murder.

There was a couple in Cleveland that was allegedly high on drugs, led the police in a high-speed chase which ended in the police letting off over 130 rounds into the car of two people who were unarmed. Justice is as important to protect police officers doing their job the right way, as it is to protect citizens. Even those on drugs.

But there is a caveat here. We will jump on the bandwagon for a few months to be outraged about loss of life (and we should, while turning moments into movements), but what about the people dealing with injustice daily who have not been shot or improperly sentenced for years.

For example. Craig Huffman, who most of you don’t know helped to get President Obama elected to the State Senate in IL. In December 2011 after a hostess at Tavern on Rush alleged that an African-American man had groped her, and Huffman was chosen in a photo lineup. The suit claims that police pursued Huffman, who was at the restaurant that night, after taking his name from the reservation list, and included his photo in a lineup even though he did not meet the hostess’ description. In typical fashion the hostess said the man was a black, 5 feet 7, bald and heavyset.

Huffman is over 6 feet, not bald, and fit. Well at least they got the black part right. What happened next is the most damaging. As a result of faulty police work, Craig was tracked down by the fugitive capture squad at his place of business, arrested on the spot, charged and arrested. Had he not possessed the means to hire qualified counsel perhaps the judge would not have essentially thrown out the case due to lack of evidence.

Craig has since filled a suit against the city and Tavern on Rush restaurant. But what about his reputation or the lost revenue in a conservative financial services industry where clients are not interested in being represented by a “black criminal”. But with all that, some told him to just be happy that he was not in jail and that the charges had been dropped. No white businessman I know would be told that. Real justice is about getting back your good name, not acting like charges that you never committed being dropped is a favor.

How many Craig Huffman’s do you know who have not received justice; or only the justice people of color and poor people should be satisfied with? Please don’t let the small cases of injustice where no one has died or been forced to serve unwarranted time behind bars be the only fights we rally behind. I need you to do these three things:

1.    Help those you know get the best legal counsel and representation they can.

2.  Rally LOCAL support to show up at all proceedings. Your church, fraternity/sorority, family and the press can make more of a difference than you know. It is harder for the system to run over a group of us, but very easy to roll over those they believe are alone.

3.  Don’t allow ANYONE to tell you the law. Learn it, know it, and share it.
Injustice is a sickness. King was very clear in stating that any sickness threatens those who are well. The baby with a common cold and infect an entire family. Beloved….the smallest injustice threatens the justice for all of us. Fight the small battles so that the enemy will be afraid to wage large wars.
I’m Jeff Johnson….and that’s my Truth.

First I need to ask you if you know the name Ernest Hoskins Jr. If you do, you know that he was a 21- year-old who worked at a green technology firm near Ward, Arkansas and was a recent husband, and father of an adopted daughter with a child on the way.

If you have never heard of him you probably don’t know that on Nov. 9, he attended a lunch at his bosses house with three other co-workers. I’m sure you don’t know that during that lunch his boss, who he got along with pulled a 44 Magnum out (no one can say why), aimed it at Ernest’s face (who incidentally was the only black at the table), pulled the trigger, and while un-cocking the gun “accidentally” shot Ernest in the face, ultimately killing him.

The boss, Chris Reynolds, was not arrested for 17 days until pressure from the family brought some media attention. But now the special prosecutor has reduced the initial charge from one count of first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated assault to second-degree murder. Witnesses say there was no argument, no debates, and that none of them know why the gun was retrieved. But all admit that Ernest was shot by Reynolds.

In what world can you point blank shoot a man and not be arrested for 17 days. If it was not an accident that you pointed the gun in is face, and you were not under medication or magic that made you pull the trigger then it is not an accident that this father, husband, son, and brother is dead weeks before he and Nikki were scheduled to publicly celebrate their recent wedding. Instead Nikki and his mother were planning a funeral.

Ernest’s wife Nikki, and his mother, Monica Hoskins, need your help to ensure that justice is done. There is a petition on change.org calling for Gov. Beebe to demand Special Prosecutor Jack McQuary to properly charge Christopher Reynolds with 1st degree murder in Ernest Hoskins Jr.’s death.

To sign the petition, please visit the link here. We need the TJMS family to give them 5000 signatures and help Justice be done.

I must reiterate lasts week’s commentary about talking to our kids. A song was just released called “You ain’t even know it”, with a Rick Ross lyric saying:

“Put molly all in her champagne/ She ain’t e’en know it/ I took her home and enjoyed that/ She ain’t e’en know it”.

Our sons and daughters will hear this and countless other lyrics condoning violence against women. WE MUST STOP THIS MESS. Read my full opinion on the lyrics here.

Sign the petition for Ernest Today, talk to your kid tonight and that’s YOUR Truth.

We live in a world that is too often preparing the worst and not the best for our children. This incident in Ohio speaks to parenting issues, abuse of alcohol, valuing athletes over morality, the use of social media, sexual abuse, and the inability to be unpopular and right.  How do we talk to our children to prepare them to not just survive but thrive in a world that has traps around every corner?

1.  Be more afraid of your kids being un-equipped than you are of the issues that make you uncomfortable. They are going to get if they don’t already have bad information about stuff your afraid to discuss. Make sure they have good information to balance the foolishness they get from everywhere else.

2.  Be more proactive, finding consistent spaces to have conversations about sex, alcohol, friend’s behavior, relationships, and social media vs. reacting to stories on the news or actions from your kids.

3.  Tag team em’. Raising healthy kids is not something you can do successfully alone. Single parents, this is not a jab. Even the best single parents know that the help of a teacher, aunt or uncle, family friend or other helps us get the messages into our kids heads that need to be there. They may not receive from me what they do from you.

4.  Empower your girls to protect themselves AND not be predators. The young lady that was rapped was drunk to the point that she doesn’t remember what happened to her. She should have never been in the position to be taken advantage of. While this doesn’t excuse the brutality of these boys, lets prepare our daughters to not be physical or emotional victims without sending them out to take advantage of boys in the name of getting over.

 Kevin Mondy, Jr, attends Barack Obama Male Leadership Academy in Dallas, Texas, starts a 9th grader who starts on the Hillcrest High School LaCross team, robotics national champion

 Malise Hargrove, 16 from Savannah, GA, is a sophomore at Windsor Forest High School. She is a member of National Honor Society, Spanish Honor Society, and along with two other group members, was awarded second place in the Savannah Regional Science and Engineering Fair in the High School Division on Feb 14th

 Akil Alvin, 18 from Detroit. He’s a community Activist that help urban youth receive free acting training to express themselves and showcase their challenges and victories through performing arts.

 Paige Swanson a senior at Walnut Hills High School. She has held the office of student body President for 3 years. She is an active peer leader and mentor at her local ministry.

 Kennedy Joanne Anderson, age 10, was nominated by her teachers at Church Lane Elementary School in Baltimore and selected for the National Young Scholars Program where she participated in the Medical cohort this past August.