Wedlock

The deeply religious Evander Holyfield said he had "a revelation" that he would knock out Lennox Lewis in the third round of their first heavyweight title fight.But in a recent conference call, Holyfield revealed a deeper reason for his prognostication: That revelation was out of anger at being labeled a hypocrite by his opponent.Lewis, 34, had gotten under Holyfield's skin after implying that Holyfield -- who is married but has fathered five children out of wedlock -- wasn't quite so holy.

County Council Chairman C. Vernon Gray says that "all African-Americans are living black history."It's an important point to ponder now, during Black History Month.The important contribution of Africans to the vigorous growth of the United States is becoming better known through this yearly celebration.Researcher and re-enactor Houston D. Wedlock, a resident of Oakland Mills, tells of the Buffalo Soldiers, the black troops in the segregated Army who helped open up the West and fought with distinction, although they were denied many of the rights and privileges accorded white soldiers.

ANGELINA COUNTY, Texas -- During the first half of my life, the way things were:1. If you didn't go to church, you were going to Hell.2. You didn't dare say anything against segregation.3. If you were liberal, they called you a commie.4. Abortion was against the law no ifs, ands or buts.5. Movies, radio and TV were totally controlled by censorship.6. America was a Christian, God-fearing nation.7. A single marijuana cigarette was enough to send you to prison.8. A baby born out of wedlock was a horrible sin for which there was no forgiveness.

They traveled across the Western frontier, fighting rustlers and bandits to protect the nation's territories. But Houston Douglas Wedlock's great-great-uncle and other Buffalo Soldiers never reached most American history books.To correct that, Mr. Wedlock of Columbia's Long Reach village offers educational programs about his uncle, Charles Davis, and other members of the decorated all-black cavalry and infantry units.The trucking company safety manager is the only Howard County member of the Baltimore chapter of the Buffalo Soldiers Association.

They traveled across the Western frontier, fighting rustlers and bandits to protect the nation's territories. But Houston Douglas Wedlock's great-great-uncle and other Buffalo Soldiers never reached most American his tory books.To correct the slight, Mr. Wedlock, of Columbia's Long Reach village, offers educational programs about his uncle, Charles Davis, and other members of the oft-decorated, all-black cavalries and infantries.The trucking company safety manager is the only Howard County member of the Baltimore chapter of the Buffalo Soldiers Association, which promotes the soldiers.

A quest for honor where it's long overdueFirst Sgt. Augustus Walley was not one to talk about his heroism. Nor was the United States government.That's why Houston D. Wedlock is determined to recognize him with a street named in his honor in Baltimore County.Mr. Wedlock, 58, discovered Sergeant Walley while poring over histories of the Buffalo Soldiers, African-Americans who served in segregated military units during every American conflict from the Indian wars to the Korean War."When you look at the defense of the nation, so many great role models have passed on," says Mr. Wedlock, a safety manager for Preston Trucking Co. "[In the media]

Sgt. Augustus Walley never told anyone he was a hero.When he returned home at the end of World War I, the former cavalryman settled into a rowhouse on Etting Street with his brother and lived there quietly until his death in 1938.His niece, Inez Lee, now 86, recalled that her bachelor uncle was a small, thin man who had a way with horses. But he never talked about his life in the Army, so it wasn't until a few years ago -- when some military historians knocked on her door -- that Mrs. Lee learned the truth.

On her 21st birthday, Lisa Winslow wrote a letter to her parents, thanking them for having her. They had been just that age when she was conceived -- out of wedlock -- and the change she must have made in their lives was very vivid for her."Thank you for giving me a family," Lisa wrote, "when a lot of other stories that started like yours very seldom end up like this one."Lisa died before she could deliver that birthday letter. Her parents discovered it among the things she left behind. Born too early, Lisa Winslow also died too early.

Republicans should propose in this session of Congress legislation that would end welfare for anyone having a child out of wedlock. Our preference is to end, one year after the legislation is passed, all forms of economic support for single mothers who have new children.These would include an end to aid to families with dependent children, an end to subsidized housing, an end to food stamps, an end to all forms of assistance for those single mothers currently on welfare, an end to visitation rights for illegitimate fathers and a change in the tax codes to make them more favorable to marriage and children.

As politicians frame the discussion of welfare reform, as they offer their description of what a successful American family should look like, as they talk of the virtues and values we should be teaching our children, I find myself in a very uncomfortable place, a very unfamiliar place.I find myself agreeing with them.I am a member of the generation that rejected the Ozzie and Harriet family model. The revelation of my formative years, with Nixon and Laos and Kent State, was that you could not trust the pronouncements of white, male politicians.

I miss Murphy Brown. Not so much the sitcom of old, although I did watch it regularly and loved Candice Bergen's sass and style (great white shirts, cool accessories) as TV reporter Murphy Brown. But what I really miss is a time when campaign discourse about unwed pregnancy centered on a grown-up, albeit fictional, woman rather than a 17-year-old, and very real, girl. Back then - 1992, to be exact - it was slightly comical when Vice President Dan Quayle triggered a dispute by holding up Murphy Brown as a symbol of the breakdown in family values because the fictional character had a fictional baby out of fictional wedlock.

SCHEDULE HIGHLIGHTS This weekend's events run the gamut from spoken-word poetry to book signings to musical performances and more. For a complete list, see baltimorebookfestival.com. MUSIC STAGE Tomorrow 5 p.m. -- LVT, acoustic rock 6:15 p.m. -- David Bach, contemporary jazz 7:45 p.m. -- Unity Reggae Band, reggae Saturday 11:30 a.m. -- Mambo Combo, soco/sambo 1 p.m. -- Almost Recess, a cappella 2:30 p.m. -- Charles "Big Daddy" Stallings, blues 4 p.m. -- Marc A. Evans, R&B/soul 5:45 p.m. -- The Players, ska/reggae Sunday 11:30 a.m. -- Rude Dog, blues 1:30 p.m. -- Chopteeth, Afro-funk 3 p.m. -- Melanie Mason, acoustic blues 4:30 p.m. -- Junkyard Saints, zydeco 6 p.m. -- The Carl Filipiak Group, contemporary jazz CITY LIT STAGE Tomorrow 5 p.m. -- Reception 6 p.m. -- "Camera Stories: Photographs & Narratives" featuring t.p. Luce, thaBloc, John Slaughter, Brother in the Bush Saturday 11 a.m. -- Maryland Writers Association Novel and Short Works Contest Winners 12:15 p.m. -- Jack Fruchtman, Atlantic Cousins: Benjamin Franklin and His Visionary Friends 1 p.m. -- Paul Mandelbaum, Garrett in Wedlock 1:45 p.m. -- Buzz Williams, Spare Parts 2:30 p.m. -- Masha Hamilton, The Distance Between Us and Staircase of a Thousand Steps 3:15 p.m. -- Writers on Publishing 4:30 p.m. -- Matt Bondurant, The Third Translation 5:15 p.m. -- Litapalooza, music and reading Sunday 11 a.m. -- Nurturing the Culture of Literature: What Is CityLit?

On April 6, 2005, MALLORY B. WEDLOCK peacefully passed away at LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah. He is survived by his friend Ann Evans; two lovely children, Dashney Ann, Malik Mallory; mother, Florine Cook; father Harry Wedlock; sisters, Vivian Cook, Monica Wedlock and Zurita Brown; brothers Tyrone Wedlock and Jerry Gibson. He is also survived by other dear family and friends too numerous to list, but too special not to mention. On Thursday, friends may call at the VAUGHN C. GREENE FUNERAL SERVICES, 5151 Balto.

The deeply religious Evander Holyfield said he had "a revelation" that he would knock out Lennox Lewis in the third round of their first heavyweight title fight.But in a recent conference call, Holyfield revealed a deeper reason for his prognostication: That revelation was out of anger at being labeled a hypocrite by his opponent.Lewis, 34, had gotten under Holyfield's skin after implying that Holyfield -- who is married but has fathered five children out of wedlock -- wasn't quite so holy.

County Council Chairman C. Vernon Gray says that "all African-Americans are living black history."It's an important point to ponder now, during Black History Month.The important contribution of Africans to the vigorous growth of the United States is becoming better known through this yearly celebration.Researcher and re-enactor Houston D. Wedlock, a resident of Oakland Mills, tells of the Buffalo Soldiers, the black troops in the segregated Army who helped open up the West and fought with distinction, although they were denied many of the rights and privileges accorded white soldiers.

ANGELINA COUNTY, Texas -- During the first half of my life, the way things were:1. If you didn't go to church, you were going to Hell.2. You didn't dare say anything against segregation.3. If you were liberal, they called you a commie.4. Abortion was against the law no ifs, ands or buts.5. Movies, radio and TV were totally controlled by censorship.6. America was a Christian, God-fearing nation.7. A single marijuana cigarette was enough to send you to prison.8. A baby born out of wedlock was a horrible sin for which there was no forgiveness.

They traveled across the Western frontier, fighting rustlers and bandits to protect the nation's territories. But Houston Douglas Wedlock's great-great-uncle and other Buffalo Soldiers never reached most American history books.To correct that, Mr. Wedlock of Columbia's Long Reach village offers educational programs about his uncle, Charles Davis, and other members of the decorated all-black cavalry and infantry units.The trucking company safety manager is the only Howard County member of the Baltimore chapter of the Buffalo Soldiers Association.

They traveled across the Western frontier, fighting rustlers and bandits to protect the nation's territories. But Houston Douglas Wedlock's great-great-uncle and other Buffalo Soldiers never reached most American his tory books.To correct the slight, Mr. Wedlock, of Columbia's Long Reach village, offers educational programs about his uncle, Charles Davis, and other members of the oft-decorated, all-black cavalries and infantries.The trucking company safety manager is the only Howard County member of the Baltimore chapter of the Buffalo Soldiers Association, which promotes the soldiers.

Sgt. Augustus Walley never told anyone he was a hero.When he returned home at the end of World War I, the former cavalryman settled into a rowhouse on Etting Street with his brother and lived there quietly until his death in 1938.His niece, Inez Lee, now 86, recalled that her bachelor uncle was a small, thin man who had a way with horses. But he never talked about his life in the Army, so it wasn't until a few years ago -- when some military historians knocked on her door -- that Mrs. Lee learned the truth.

On her 21st birthday, Lisa Winslow wrote a letter to her parents, thanking them for having her. They had been just that age when she was conceived -- out of wedlock -- and the change she must have made in their lives was very vivid for her."Thank you for giving me a family," Lisa wrote, "when a lot of other stories that started like yours very seldom end up like this one."Lisa died before she could deliver that birthday letter. Her parents discovered it among the things she left behind. Born too early, Lisa Winslow also died too early.