I felt very special covering my first Presidential rally.  Barack Obama spoke on August 4th (Obama's birthday) at the Lansing Center.  I was up early and excited about the opportunity.  I was so comfortable and nervous at the same time.

I hope that your summer is  going well.  I’ve finally calmed down after my son Gianni’s graduation.  I don’t remember a time when I was more joyful.

I carried an article around with me in 1996 when JonBenet Patricia Ramsey was murdered the day after Christmas.  My birthday is December 27, so to hear about such a heinous crime on a day that was supposed to be so joyful for me stuck to the hairs on the back of my neck like a yoke.

As we prepare ourselves to go through the next growing phase at The New Citizens Press, we’re beginning to experience growing pains.

When we saw each other we just smiled.  The last time I saw her was in May.  I spoke to her briefly on the telephone several times but never met her in person.  She works at an organization that helps children who are in the worst situations.  How could we ever forget the children in our community?  We can write about the tsunami and Hurricane Katrina but what about the children who don't have the same type of parents that you're to your own children. 

On Saturday, March 17, 2008,  the 5th Annual Jasmine Miles Memorial  “Walk of Stars”  was held.  Anna Williams (red sweater) and Nancy Thelen (not shown), who are avid quilters at the Capital City Quilts, 635 S. Waverly Rd., Suite F, Lansing MI 48917  made a quilt for Michelle Miles (yellow shirt) out of material with a lilac print.  Rina Risper (far right) spoke about the quilt.

Before her daughter, Jasmine Miles, was killed in an auto accident, she gave her mother a bouquet of lilacs.
Courtesy  Photo

If You Aren’t, the Prison Population Is...

During a speaking engagement at Mid Michigan Leadership Academy,  a student looks over a portrait of Rina Risper.  It was painted by David Jones who is incarcerated in a Michigan prison. 
Photo by Yohnny Cardena-Abad, 8th Grade, Mid Michigann Leadership Academy

This past week, I had a surprise visit from my mother who lives in Georgia.  Surprise wasn't the half of it.  On a Saturday night at 11:59 p.m., she contacted me to let me know that she would be flying into Grand Rapids at 12:00 p.m.  Grand Rapids?  Did she know how much gas was?

In this  edition, I decided to print an interview that I did with “Wordz in Motion” a telelvision program based in Detroit.  It gives some insight to questions that I have been asked over the years and I thought that I would share them with you.  I’ve been interviewed for radio, newspaper and television programs most recently in Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, Florida.

I want to share with you why we do the types of stories that we do.
    I’ve finally come to terms with the fact that I’m a journalist.  I thought since I didn’t go to school for journalism, I wasn’t a journalist. It’s sometimes hard when you work alone to get a grasp on what your role is and what you’re doing.

No matter what, 2008 will be remembered as one of the most exciting times in political history.  My 6-year old daughter, Anissa, made it quite clear to me as we watched CNN, a 24-hour news channel, while ironing clothes. 

Having children is one of the greatest gifts in the world.  With each anniversary that I celebrate, I'll always celebrate my children, who have been a part of this newspaper journey as well.  My children have taught me to pay attention and to watch carefully.

I believe that people who are assaultive - verbally or physically- have no love for themselves and need to rethink what their priorities are in this life.  I was recently at a place that I frequent and often see the same people.   One of “the regulars” is extremely negative and gossips about others.  She reminds me of an egocentric high schooler, who likes to find the weak to prey upon.

    In 2008, we’re revamping the paper.  Thank you to all of the people who have helped us through it.

My father took pictures.  He was always documenting the lives of others as if he had no existence of his own.  I never really thought about how much of my life is preserved on paper.  I mean photo paper.

     Sometimes we forget how much we actually do for others.  Moreso, some forget how much others do for them. 

There have been some disturbing incidents that have rocked the core of our nation and informs me that racism still exists.

Three days before Thanksgiving, I received a box in the mail from my youngest sister, Kendra. It has been very hard since, my father passed away in late September.

   There are so many things that are necessary to talk about and misleading advertising is one of them.  I try to read the Lansing State Journal almost every day.  I consider them as one of my co-existers.

I've decided that there's a club I don't want to belong to.  I'm one of its newest members and I detest it.  It's a club that consumes you in your waking hours and haunts you while you sleep.

      Do you ever get that sinking feeling every single time you get a phone call?  Kids, haircuts for the boys, hair appointment for my daughter, the last newspaper deliveries and yes of course, food shopping was what was on my mind when I got “the call”. 

It seems as soon as I get comfortable with summer it is over. The summer of 2007, flew by without incident at the Risper household. My children kept...

Since I last wrote we’ve had two more murders. Lansing lost Debra Waidelich and 64-year-old Sandra Eichorn. As of press time a 56-year-old Lansing woman was beaten in her home on Jones Street.

It has been a scary time for everyone.  In Lansing there have been 11 homicides and 2 of the victims were very prominent figures. 

It has been a hot dry summer so far in Lansing, MI and I am loving it.  The children are out of school and I just realized that Amir will be 5 and will be in school all day.  I’m looking forward to spending more time on the newspaper.  It seems like I just had him yesterday.

When I write to you, I do it from the perspective that you are my friend.  My feelings are true and there are not too many people who are honest anymore.  They aren’t honest about themselves.  They don’t take time to make assesments of their lives and ponder it from the perspective of a novel.  I mean take a look at yourself from the outside.  Sit in a chair in your office and watch yourself.

Today, is the first day of the rest of my life.   Imagine if you woke up every day, thinking  that to yourself.

 I watch siblings as they interact with each other.  I am a sister.  I have blood sisters and a blood brother.  But I also have sisters of the soul, who I consider my friends.

     Aging affects all of us differently.  I find it very difficult to comprehend the people who send their children away to go to school without thinking about long-term ramifications.  When my children become college age, I hope they stay right here with me. I shudder when I hear a parent proudly state, "I don't want my child to stay in Lansing (you can fill in any town). He is going out of state to school."

      As it is Mother’s Day, I thought why not write about being a mother.  It’s a time to give thanks and to recognize that the gift is primarily found in the ones who you have brought into the world.

    Summer is  almost here and school is almost out.  It seems like I just had Amir, who is 4 and Anissa who is 6.

          The week before March 31, 2007, which was the date of our first CCCAN's (Capitol City Community Action Network's) first Town Hall Forum, I prepared with feelings of contentment and sentiments ranging from anxiety to excitement.  The members of CCCAN were giving the community a forum to express their concerns and actually be heard.

     Sunday, March 4, 2007.  When I think about Robert Busby, I no longer feel as overwhelmed as I used to.  I felt a sense of anger.  Murder can make you feel that way.
     I told my friend and Robert's friend of 20 years, Suellen, that I was very angry.  She told me to let go of the anger because there was not anything I could do about Robert's murder.

I knew that as soon as I started writing about my children again that it was going to be the impetus for some interesting experiences.

I've been having a grand time with my two youngest children, Amir, 4 and Anissa, 5. Gianni, 14, is in high school and that's been an interesting experience for me.

A man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh." - Genesis 2:24

In our last edition we featured a story entitled "Always & Forever:  A Story of Life and Death - Part I

Dear Readers, It has been a tumultuous two weeks.  I was on City Council on Monday, October 2, 2006 to complain about our Poetry program

The air is getting crisp and the squirrels have started collecting food for the winter.  The birds and people who fly south for the winter are making preparations to leave.

A mural that includes Trinidad Sanchez, Jr. is evidence of how well
loved he was in San Antonio, Texas.  His likeness was added to the
wall after his death.

On August 20, I made a pilgrimage to San Antonio, TX to say goodbye to my mentor and friend, Trinidad (Trino) Sanchez Jr.   It was one of the the greatest spiritual experiences of my life.

It was beautiful.  I could only believe that we would be done before the rain.  The poetry finally came to an end but it was a performance by all that I will never forget.

Dear Readers,
I was reading Duke University's newspaper and found that they did an interesting study on friends.  The study reveals that Americans have fewer friends outside of the family.  Go figure.

Anissa finally had an opportunity to see the ocean and she “wasn’t even afraid of it”.

Dear Readers,

(This is a continuation of the column in the June 25, 2006 - July 8, 2006 edition)

(This Edition Celebrates our start of our Fourth Year.  Celebrate with us by sending in letters or e-mails about the edition that you like or hated the most.  If you just have something to tell us that you learned, that would be great.  Also let us know what you would like to see.  We are working on some great articles for 2005.  I have started a  wall of fame in my office so call and come  by and visit .)