Interview: Chappelle Continues Football Career

Hello valued readers!

Today, we have the privilege of congratulating and commending East Texas football standout, Jeremey Chappelle, for his opportunity to continue his career at Northeastern State University in Oklahoma. Jeremey Chappelle has had a remarkable journey to this point in his career. Originally from Jacksonville, Texas, Chappelle has always had success in various sports. Whether in UIL competition or on the AAU circuit. Mentored by Stacy Hunter, Chappelle's uncle, he was able to harness his skill sets and make the leap to the collegiate level at Tyler Junior College. After completing his time at TJC, Jeremey joined the Stephen F. Austin State University football program. From SFA, Chappelle accepted the opportunity to hold a roster spot with the Mississippi State University Bulldogs, until ultimately deciding to seek other football programs. In the midst of school changes, Chappelle's family and the entire East Texas community, including myself, suffered a great loss when Stacy Hunter was murdered at his nightclub on October 20, 2012 in Jacksonville, Texas. In the face of this darkness, Chappelle retreated to the depths of his mind, leaning on his support system and made the decision that his passion for the game of football was still burning and maintained his faith. Faith without works is dead. With that being said, Chappelle has put in the work to join the Northeastern State University football squad. We had the chance to catch up with Jeremey and ask him a few questions.

Our conversation is below enjoy!

The Great Change: At this point in your football career how do you feel about your abilities and confidence on the field?

Chappelle: I'm twenty-four now. My knowledge of the game is much better. I feel as if I'm better right now than I ever been. I was coming off a great spring at Mississippi State. Hopefully it will transgress to my new school.

The Great Change: What has your career taught you about the game of football, thus far. that you want to immediately put to work in your upcoming opportunity at Northeastern State University in Oklahoma?

Chappelle: My career is a lot different from others. This will be my fourth college I'm attending. My career has taught me to never give up and to always keep faith. I will IMMEDIATELY showcase my hard work and dedication to the game when I arrive on campus. Football is life for me. Its the greatest game to teach you about life.

The Great Change: Aside from the legacy that Stacy Hunter, your uncle, has left on the program you will be joining, what legacy do you plan to build?

Chappelle: The past few years NSU hasn't been very successful. In fact, they've been pretty bad. I want to win games, that's it. Winning games brings things like breaking records and scoring a lot of points but I care more about winning games.

The Great Change: What relationship are you looking to build with your fellow teammates and coaching staff?

Chappelle: Every school I've been to, I've built special relationships with my teammates and coaches. I don't think it will be different this time. Teammates are your brothers and that's how I treat them.

The Great Change: Who do you want to thank for your success?

Chappelle: I was raised by my mama, my grandma, and uncle. Those three had a big hand on my life. My mother is a single parent. She has been through it all, with me. Time, and time again I got myself into situations. My mom would come to the rescue. Getting me out of a bind. She's the reason I'm graduating with my bachelors degree. Her love for me has pushed me to do better for myself.

The Great Change: What advice do you have for youngsters with big dreams that are facing adversity?

Jeremey Chappelle: To any youngster with dreams that has been facing adversity, please don't give up. Keep a vision of your goals and do what you have to do to attain those goals. Life is all about highs and lows. In the midst of your highs be ready for your lows. The true content of a man is seen when he faces adversity. Keep your faith and finish.

Thanks for reading with The Great Change!

- The Great Change Team

Anonymous Essay: Must Read

Hello valued readers! We here at The Great Change received an anonymous essay in our inbox yesterday. It address problems that are clearly evident. Check it out below!

The perspective and the reality of the educational system are far from the same. As I experience and observe the education profession, I find it important to share injustices that should be addressed.

The definition of education, in common usage, is that education is the delivery of knowledge, skills and information from teachers to students. However, teachers are not able to deliver knowledge, skills, and information within their full capabilities due to a number of restrictions. Restrictions that are influenced by and include prejudices, people pleasing, preconceived notions of abilities, politics, naïve mindsets, and greed. Therefore, the educational system can be seen more as just another business. This is especially true for the public school system.

The motivation behind this statement comes after a recent popular and controversial occurrence between an African American female student and a Caucasian male campus police officer at a high school in South Carolina. Allegedly the female student was told a number of times to get off her cellphone. An officer, Senior Deputy Ben Fields, was then requested to the classroom and asked the student to stand up to leave the room. Officer Fields responds to the student refusing to stand up, by wrapping his forearm around her neck, pulling her backwards unto the floor, and then tossing her across the floor. Fields then commands that she put her hands behind her back and applies handcuffs to her.

Of course, thanks to the convenience of cellphones and ability to share anything instantly online, a recording of the event spread fast sparking another controversial story and issue.

A few days ago, as I scroll down my Facebook timeline, I notice someone share that they signed a petition for The View to cut Raven Symone from the show. They also make insulting comments about her character and intelligence.

During a conversation with other hosts on the issue, Raven states, “The girl was told multiple times to get off the phone,” She also shares that she believes, “There’s no right or reason for him to be doing this type of harm, that’s ridiculous. But at the same time, you gotta follow the rules in school. . . This shouldn’t even be a problem to begin with, and he shouldn’t have been acting like that on top of it.” Media summarizes her statement by suggesting that Raven “victim blamed” the student for the event. It seems as if the majority of African-Americans active on media were disturbed and infuriated by her comments. Though I understand the agitation of “victim blaming”, I am not a fan of it whatsoever, I do not agree with the condemning of another young minority woman. I get that she probably could have used a different choice of words when delivering her points. At the same time, our African-American community have to put themselves in her shoes for a moment. Raven is a childhood star who has continued to have a successful career over the years.

Now... let’s consider all of the Disney stars over the years who have had chaotic circumstances broadcasted for the world to see... Also, consider the fact that Raven is one of the younger co-hosts on a very popular live broadcasted show. From the look of comments and posts I have seen, many do not know the difference between their, they’re, and there... do those same people think they could go on a live show and not make misconstrued statements? Let’s state the obvious...Raven has made a few statements regarding race that can come off condescending. Although, the media suggests that “Raven is against her own race”, I am sure she knows firsthand that people are treated differently based on their appearance. She is a 29 year old woman with brown skin, not a size 3, and who dresses in a bizarre way at times....  I am positive she has felt discriminated against in her career.

Conflict is a commodity in the media industry. If the show a certain conflict and get people tuned in, (to websites, news stations, etc.), the more money they will make. The job of media is to get you tuned-in, and sometimes that conflict is created if it’s not actually present. This has occurred in Raven’s case as well as many other public minority figures who make statements that are not necessarily “people pleasing”. I applaud the actions of, The Talk co-host, Sheryl Underwood, who spoke up against the backlash that Aisha Tyler underwent for expressing her point of view of the Spring Valley High School incident.  (Please see video- http://youtu.be/w-jypMvf2il ) I respect the women such as Raven Symone, Sheryl Underwood, and Aisha Tyler. There is no doubt that they have experienced many trails to earn the positions they have. Despite their abilities to achieve so much as women of color, they are still crucified for any opinion that might become misunderstood or small mistake they might make. I just wonder if anyone ever stops to think about how they must feel... To receive such criticism from the same race of people that experience the same challenges you do and

you would think would be more supportive... Instead of focusing on what the media has promoted, I wonder if anyone has took a moment to realize a valid point that she made. The notion that Raven is “victim blaming” comes from her pointing out that there is more than one issue that should be addressed with what was going on in the classroom. Her two points include: 1) There is indeed an issue of misuse of power and procedure by the school and officer. 2) There is also an issue of inappropriate use of technology in classrooms.

Not only are those valid points, there are additional concerns that should be addressed that trickle all the way down to the superintendent of the school district. The other students present in the video watching the actions of Fields, known as “Officer Slam”, have seen this happen times before. And now the district wants to make statements suggesting that they will do an in-depth investigation. Why now? Because mass media has caught a glimpse of internal issues that the school has swept under the rug? As I continue to work in education, I witness countless occurrences similar to these. I have witnessed Caucasian teachers roughing up students with no limitation or consequence. I have witnessed students walking out of classrooms in front of principals, while taking a test, to take a phone call. I have witnessed so many discrepancies at a high ranked school in Texas....that I hope to become someone who can help to make changes.

Along with the points Raven made, issues of ignoring faults such as misuse of power, prejudice, procedures, and policies in a school all need to be addressed.

I love my culture. I love our people. On countless occasions, I have experienced and witnessed injustice that has occurred because of a person’s appearance, so I hope my points are not misconstrued into “victim blaming”.

The most accurate summery of my points would be that the reality of education has many broken pieces that need to be acknowledged and fixed.

- Just another voice

Abundant Love

Love is the most abundant resource we are given in this life. A person can literally love everyone in the world and no limit exist to the love that a person can give or receive. Love can be expressed through life, words, actions, silence and even death. Love is everywhere. It is actually harder to hold on to hate than it is to love. Love is the only thing that can give us the inner strength to overcome and situation we happen to experience. Are you loving your life experience? Are you waiting to start loving your life? Is love a word that you use for special occasions? Start loving your life now. There is nothing keeping you from emitting lovely vibrations. Love is a word that should be said often to many people. Spread love, receive love. I love you is a verbal hug. A hug is a physical I love you. So… reader I love you. Take the love I just gave you and give it to someone else… if you ever feel like love has disappeared, come back to this post and read it again. Because with love, everyone wins.

#62

Faith and reason are often confused to be similar concepts. This is not the case. Faith and reason both stand on their own two metaphorical feet. Faith and reason may be two separate concepts, but that does not mean that they do not work together; for they surely do. To be frank, reason is the "why" behind an occurrence. What made something occur. When something is "reasonable" it essentially "makes sense". Our brain can understand it.

On the other hand, faith involves other elements completely. Faith requires trust. For faith to exist there must be some degree of uncertainty. It is quiet possible that the greater the uncertainty, the greater the faith. Faith involves many things that are intangible. By that, I mean out of the grasp of your hands. This is often referred to as the "unseen". 

These two concepts work together in the human mind. Do we have reason to have faith? Do we have faith in our reason? The answer to both of these questions is YES. The reasoning behind faith is that we are limited to a specific time span. So we must have faith that the history that we are using to understand the present is correct and legit. We must have faith in the others around us that we depend on, because we can not do everything. For example, we must have faith that the construction workers that build our high hanging over passes have built them in such a way that we can drive over them safely. So when you do anything in life, whether you know it or not, you are exhibiting faith, faith in your fellow man or woman.

We must rely on reason to manage the physical world that we are subjected to in our everyday lives. We must trust that their are at least some basic orders and rules to the world we live in that we can use to command the world around us.

These two concepts play together well, to give us hope that our lives have a deeper meaning.