The Compass 11 Monday, October 29,2001 ECSU FOOD FOR THOUGHT SISTA TO SISTA WSPOtATIONS LaTonya Raynor Speaking Abundance Into Your Life Chynamistress@aol.com This article is not targeted to ward any particular individual; how ever there is an issue among females that exists across the nation. There is no agreed upon phrase for it. However, in this article, I would like to coin it “female disempowerment”. The term “disempowerment” comes from the base word “empowerment.” This term means to encourage others to be productive and gain self-confi dence in one’s self. The prefix “dis” adds a negative connotation to the word, so that it has the opposite effect. Because Elizabeth City State University is a predominantly black college, the females on this campus face a double-minority issue. Black women have more than two different physical characteristics that may induce discrimination against them. These two characteristics are being black and being a female. This means that black females are prone to greater difficulties in the business world as well as the social scene. Women of the past fought for women rights and equal opportunity. It was a hard struggle due to re searched history. f\/lany women were killed at sporting events in the pro cess of trying to integrate into male- dominated sports Even now, women still face unequal treatment and opportunities, regardless of race. In the job market, women have to com pete very hard to get into a male dominated field. Representation is few in some areas. Overall, females deal with many issues besides the ones mentioned here. It is feasible to say that we, as females, should have a closer bond to one another. Every female has a unique and special personality. How ever, females are prejudged nega tively most of the time by another female more so than the other gender. I suggest that we should think about another person’s life situation and why they may act a certain way. There are environmental influences that affect a person’s rationale or behavior. Think of new ways and ideas of being people-friendly. This not only help others be positive about them, but it helps you in the long run. Let’s set examples for our younger females, because they will be the ones taking care of us. If they adapt to “female disempowerment”, who will stand for our female culture? Kimberly Blackwell Whether you are a born-again Christian or not, your words are what will determine your fate. For example, if you say that you are a failure, you will fail in everything that you do because you have spoken your negativity aloud and, in the process you have made yourself believe what you said. And the more you say it, the more it will come to pass. That is why it is important to think about what you are going to say before you say it. In Ephesians 4:29, Paul says, “Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be encouragement to those who hear them.” Proverbs 15:4 explains that gentle words brings life and health. God gave us power to speak things into our lives. In Proverbs 18:4, 6-7 Solomon says, “The words of a man’s mouth are as deep waters, and the wellspring of wisdom as a flowing brook. A fool’s lips enter into conten tion, and his mouth calleth for strokes. A fool’s mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snares of his soul.” Now, if you believe and speak good things into your life, the Bible says, “a man’s belly shall be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth; and with the in crease of his lips shall he be filled.” But in order to be able to speak good things into your life, you have to have faith and inner strength. Remember that everything that the devil tells you is a lie. The devil is the father of lies and the ultimate deceiver, so remember, if he tells you that you are a “nobody,” know that you are just the opposite, which is “some body” A lot of people today crave possessions that belong to someone else and are upset and discontent because they want what the other person has. This is a form of envy. When one envies another, they often speak their feelings aloud. They may express how badly they long for what the other individual has. A person who does that really does not under stand the power of the mouth. How ever, you never know the other individual’s circumstances or how they were able to get what they have. That is why one should be careful for what you ask you, you just might get it. Mathew 7:7 says: “Ask and it shall be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you.” So remember, instead of speak ing negatively and longing for what is not yours, speak positively and be thankful for what you have. When you constantly remind yourself that you are an abundance, you will be, be cause you have spoken those bless ing into your life. So the next time you want to speak something into your life, this is what you should do; get in front of the mirror and just say “Bless ings, thou art loosed!” mm presents BROTDERS IN CHRIST m EVERY MONDAY 8 P.M. BU'IXER HALL LOBBY "Let Brotherly Love Continue." Listen for your chance to WIN concert tickets, club passes and more! NTELOS Pavilion events, Virginia House of Comedy Jazz on the Boulevard concert series, Culb Rockafellas... •rv'«• WRVS-FM 41,000 WATTS 89.9 ECSU \ A Part of your Community Broadcasting at 41,000 watts to northeastern NC and southeastern VA