Vision Beyond The Lens by -J.J. McQueen-

In the universal world of journalism you find yourself meeting people that you'd always dreamed of meeting and stumbling across those that you should meet. Yesterday I met an amazing lady by the name of Sandra "Sandy" McWilliams . Now I'm saying that like she's a household name but she isn't. Sandy is one of the millions of Americans that live a purpose driven life. Sandy has pledged to walk 700 miles in the summer of 2009 and one of her stops this week was at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Harford County Maryland When I found out that she was walking 700 miles I thought this lady is nuts. My tune changed after I figured out why she was doing it. PSP. Progressive SupraNuclear Palsy, or PSP, is a devastating brain disease. PSP ravages the nerve cells that control walking, equilibrium, vision, speech and the ability to swallow. The catalyst behind Sandy's motivation is her mother, Allene; who has also been diagnosed with PSP. Following her moth...

The Purple Heart is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those who have been wounded or killed while serving on or after April 5, 1917 with the U.S. military . If there was such an award for serving and surviving their community's wars, I'd present Joseph Jones, President & CEO, Center for Urban families and R&B Singer " Mario " of Baltimore both purple heart awards. These gentlemen have survived and continue too fight the war on drug abuse and broken families. Joe as he's referred to by friends and colleagues is a reformed drug addict and current activist on the war on drugs. He and his team have helped countless families thru the rehabilitation process. (see http://www.cfuf.org/Jones ) Mario, was recently the keynote speaker and moderator for the Center for Urban families latest forum entitled, "Saving Our Families: T he Impact of Addiction on Youth & Parenting" . This young man was phenomena...