Fiat Lux: The UC Riverside Song

I graduated from the University of California, Riverside (UCR) in 1981. I must admit that I enjoyed my time at UCR. Heck, I served as the president of the student body for one of my years on campus ... and I met my (first) wife ... and had an internship that led to a 20+ year career with the federal government. UCR was fun. As such, it is with pride that I share 'Fiat Lux: The UCR Song' with all villagers!



The song was created by Cameron Booth '13 (and performed with Walter Cabal '11) to inspire Highlanders to think of Riverside fondly. Booth created as a thank you for alumni, donors, students and lovers of UCR everywhere. It worked for me.

My favorite line in the song? '...football undefeated since 1975!'. Enjoy my Pinterest homage to UC Riverside.   Feel free to send me any UCR-related photos you may have and I'll add them to the board!

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James Holmes is a Terrorist ... And We Need to Stand Up Against Gun Violence

It pisses me off that James Holmes is a 2010 graduate of the University of California, Riverside with a degree in neuroscience. I'm also a UCR graduate. UCR has a low profile nationwide ... and it stinks that UCR's most famous graduate is now a mass murderer.

The early reports are calling this 24-year old guy 'insane'. I think that we are better served if we refer to him as a 'terrorist'. Frankly, if his name had been Jamaal instead of James ... that is what he would be called. America's racial challenges are evident even in something as vile as this late-night massacre at a Batman movie in Colorado.

Reports indicate that the terrorist who committed this horrifying act had a bulletproof vest, used some kind of gas canister, and had multiple guns when he opened fire in the crowded theater. A three-month-old is among the injured. Our entire village is sad for those who lost their lives, those wounded, and their families.

I suspect that it won't be long before we see airport-style metal detectors at the entrance of all movie theaters. I suspect that stock in Netflix will spike as more folks decide to watch movies at home instead of going to a theater.

You would think that Americans would use this moment to think about the fact that this kid was able purchase enough guns to shoot 71 people. How many bullets? How many guns?

When are we going to reflect on the fact that random gun violence needs to be dealt with in a comprehensive manner? How many more children must be killed in school shootings? How many more Trayvon Martins? How many more Gabby Giffords attacks? How many more innocents slaughtered at public venues like the local movie theater?

In addition to keeping the Colorado families in your prayers ... perhaps you can support Mayors Against Illegal Guns it its campaign to put a stop to senseless gun violence like this with commonsense measures, like fixing gun checks to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people. They've started an online petition to demand action on ending gun violence.


We need to stand up against these terrorist thugs like James Holmes. That's my thought ... what say u?

Rest In Peace: Curtis "Teddy Bear" Wofford (1959-2008)

A brother I knew back in my college days passed away on this day in 2008. His name was Curtis Wofford, Jr., although most of our college town (Riverside, CA) knew him as 'Teddy Bear'. Curtis, Kin 'Undisco Kid', Cecil 'Sweet C' Treadway, Lenny 'Mighty Mac' McNeil, Herb 'Superb Herb' Partlow and me ('The Wizard of Soul & Mind') were radio personalities at KUCR 88.3 FM  ... a student-operated radio station on the campus of the University of California, Riverside (UCR).

Kin began the magic in 1978.  Lenny and Cecil joined KUCR a little later.  I came on-board sometime in 1979 or 1980.  Teddy Bear and Herb hosted their inaugural shows on the same day in August 1980.

To my knowledge, Curtis never attended the school as a student. However, he was persistent in coming by the radio station each weekend ... until the station manager, Louis Vandenberg, eventually gave 'Teddy Bear' his own radio show.  He joined the broadcast family, created by Kin, Lenny and Cecil, which became known as 'Soul of Sunday'. We were the SOS Crew ... and for a brief period of time we were wildly popular in the Inland Empire. We DJ'd parties at local hotels, roller-skating rinks and were regular DJ-guests at the California Institute for Women ... home of the Manson girls and other female felons.

Cecil, Lenny and I eventually left Riverside and KUCR. Curtis stayed at the radio station. He continued KUCR’s “Soul on Sunday” during his longtime involvement in the station, from the early ’80s to the mid-’90s. As Louis Vandenberg wrote,

"Teddy was a respected community volunteer at KUCR. He made a real contribution as a broadcaster over the airwaves on KUCR, as program host, producer, music coordinator, MC and Program Director. He knew the music well and brought it to the community with an unforgettable personality and style. He was a good and gifted man who was a joy to know and to work with. His passing is a real loss, deeply felt. We remember him now for the gift of his great talent and warm personality, with deep appreciation and gratitude. All condolences to his surviving family members."

Curtis bought my first car ... a 1972 Chevy Nova ... from me when I left Riverside in 1981. I saw him once or twice after that. He died at the age of 48, on March 18, 2008 at Riverside Community Hospital.

He was born March 27, 1959 in Gadsden, AL. Curtis graduated from Rubidoux High School and attended Riverside Community College. Curtis is survived by his brothers, Joseph Whatley, Riverside, CA, Jerry Chance, Perris, CA., James Chance, Philadelphia, PA, Dean Ragland, Detroit, Michigan; sisters, Vanessa Evans, Riverside, CA, Marjorie Roberts, Perris, CA, Michelle Chance, Philadelphia, PA; host of nieces, nephews and friends. He was preceded in death by his parents, Mary Jo Whatley and Curtis Wofford, Sr.

Curtis was truly an Original Villager and I am very sad to learn of his passing. If you knew him ... please take a moment to sign his guest book. If you did not know Teddy Bear ... please keep him and his family in your prayers anyhow. One Love, Teddy...

Old School Friday: Ready For The World

In a parallel universe I married a beautiful woman who was older and wiser than me. I met her at UC Riverside when I was a freshman in college. Ready For The World had a song called, Let Me Love You Down, that puts in music much of what I was feeling 30 years ago.

Good News Tuesday: Jonathan Walton is Social Ethicist On The Move to Harvard Divinity School

This blog is committed to sharing good news about people of African descent each and every Tuesday ... we call it Good News Tuesday and I wish that other bloggers would join this weekly meme!

This week we want to congratulate Dr. Jonathan Walton for his recent selection as the new assistant professor of African American Religions at Harvard Divinity School.

Dr. Walton is a Social ethicist and African American religious studies scholar. He is currently an assistant professor of religious studies at my alma mater (University of California, Riverside). His research addresses the intersections among religion, politics, and popular culture.

"Harvard Divinity School is among the premier centers of theological education and hubs of academic inquiry," Walton said. "I am honored and humbled to join such an amazing scholarly community, particularly since HDS has a proven track record of neither resting on its reputation nor being lulled asleep by its laurels. Its continued commitment to recruiting and cultivating cutting-edge scholars of religion in general, and of American religion in particular, makes it the place I want to be."

Walton's scholarly work is grounded in the progressive strand of the African American religious tradition and informed by the creative potentiality and rhythmic sensibility of hip-hop culture. His first book, Watch This! The Ethics and Aesthetics of African American Religious Broadcasting, is an important intervention into the study of African American and American religion. As he explains, those working on Christian religious broadcasting have given little attention to the phenomenon outside of white, conservative, evangelical communities, while Black liberation theologians have yet to give careful attention to televisual representation as a site of theological production.

"Jonathan Walton thinks historically, ethically, and theologically," said Amy Hollywood, Elizabeth H. Monrad Professor of Christian Studies at HDS, who chaired the faculty search committee." His intellectual range, his energy, and the interdisciplinary nature of his work on African American religions make him uniquely suited to HDS and to the University as a whole."

Drawing on British cultural studies, Walton explores the interrelationship between the media used by African American megachurches and the theologies thereby conveyed. He argues for forms of theological innovation within the productions of black televangelism that are enabled-perhaps even generated-by the media that televangalists use, and he asks what the implications are for black theology and the study of African American religion when one attends to these particular forms of religious and theological expression.

"He is an exciting young scholar whose field work with contemporary religious communities will bring an added dimension to our course offerings and faculty coverage here at HDS and at Harvard more broadly," said Dean William A. Graham. "I feel strongly that with this appointment, together with that of Mayra Rivera Rivera, Assistant Professor of Theology and Latina/o Studies, who will also begin her work at HDS on July 1, we are now well staffed in two important areas that we have wanted covered for some time."

Trained as a social ethicist, Walton earned his PhD in religion and society from Princeton Theological Seminary. He also holds a master of divinity degree from Princeton Seminary as well as a BA in political science from Morehouse College in Atlanta. His insights and reflections concerning the intersections of religion, culture, and society have been noted in numerous prominent news media outlets, such as CNN, The New York Times, Time magazine, and NPR.

"I look forward to this challenge," Walton said of his appointment to HDS, "Just as I look forward to contributing to the intellectual, spiritual, and familial climate on campus."