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Future Honors His Grandmother At FreeWishes Golden Wishes Gala
Future Honoring Grandmother, Emma Jean Boyd
Photo Credit: Kevin Le
(November 19, 2019) It was a magical evening at the Georgia Aquarium this weekend as Future and his FreeWishes Foundation hosted their 8th annual Golden Wishes Gala honoring Metro Atlanta Seniors. More than 750 seniors dressed in their finest attire attended the annual Gala. Seniors danced the night away to live jazz music provided by the Douglas Whatley Jr. Band and hits spun by DJ Bluue. The seniors enjoyed a luscious Thanksgiving styled dinner in the spectacular setting of the Ocean’s Ballroom. Seniors learned about Future's FreeWishes foundation, their ongoing community events, and ways to be involved. Guest speaker, Fulton County Commissioner Natalie Hall, spoke about the "future" she envisioned for Atlanta seniors. Future and his mother, FreeWishes Foundation co-founder, Stephanie Jester, presented a surprise community service award to Emma Jean Boyd, Future's grandmother. A final performance by the legendary Jazz and R&B vocalist, Jean Carne, wrapped up the warm and positive evening.
On behalf of Future's FreeWishes Foundation, we would like to express our sincere gratitude and appreciation to our sponsors, volunteers and community leaders for their continued support.
Our 8th Annual Golden Wishes Gala sponsors included:
Jet One Charter, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Aetna, Luxury Connections, Zaxby’s, Chick-Fil-A, JenCare, Freebandz Touring, and InTouch Properties.
For more information on how to support or donate to Future's FreeWishes Foundation:
Email: info@freewishes.org or visit www.freewishes.org
Watch "Golden Wishes Gala" Re-cap Here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTiDSsavu9I
It's a family affair. Future stands with daughter Londyn (left), his grandmother Emma Jean, mother Stephanie Jester and sister Tia Wilburn-Anderson
Photo Credit: Randollaa
Future Crowns Gala Queen: Annie Wright
Photo credit: Kevin Le
Future with family - from left Eddie Jester, Stephanie Jester (Mother) and daughter Londyn.
Photo credit: Randol
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Obama Speaks
(CNN)Former President Barack Obama has largely stayed out of the spotlight since leaving the White House in 2017, choosing to avoid much direct criticism of his successor and not heavily engaging in the national dialogue more generally.
But when Obama does take the time to offer his thoughts on the state of our culture and our politics, he's always worth listening t
Which brings me to what Obama said at an Obama Foundation event Tuesday about young people, social media and the demand for absolute purity of belief in all things. Here's the key bit:
"This idea of purity and you're never compromised and you're always politically 'woke' and all that stuff. You should get over that quickly. The world is messy, there are ambiguities. People who do really good stuff have flaws. People who you are fighting may love their kids. And share certain things with you."
Obama went on to note that he is bothered by a trend he sees "among young people particularly on college campuses" where "there is this sense that 'the way of me making change is to be as judgmental as possible about other people and that's enough.'" Added Obama: "That's not activism. That's not bringing about change. if all you're doing is casting stones, you're probably not going to get that far. That's easy to do."
It would be easy to see Obama's comments as a shot at President Donald Trump. Because, well, Trump's entire presidency is about sending tweets and casting stones.
But I think Obama is up to something much more complex -- and important here. The rise of "cancel" culture -- particularly on the left and particularly on social media -- is one of the defining hallmarks of our culture in the post-Obama presidency. Say something wrong, tweet something people disagree with, express an opinion that is surprising or contradicts the established view people have of you, and the demands for you to be fired, de-friended or otherwise driven from the realms of men quickly follow.
The goal of many of these cancel culture acolytes appears to be simply to move from outrage to outrage -- pointing fingers and yelling "here is the bad person. RIGHT HERE." Left unsaid -- but without question present in the underpinnings of this worldview -- is that there are only good people (aka people who agree with me on all things) and bad people (those who don't agree with me on everything.) There is no gray area. It's black or it's white.
The point Obama is making is that politics -- and life -- are rarely that cut and dry. No one, including you, is all good or all bad. "People who do really good stuff have flaws."
This is especially true when it comes to the political realm and the 2020 campaign. At the moment, the fight within the Democratic Party is between the liberal, "no compromise" wing (represented by Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders) and the establishment, pragmatic wing (represented by Obama's former Vice President Joe Biden
December 21, 2019
Atlanta, Georgia
Black-ish wins NAACP image award
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