Ellington

Brother Hustle: "Bill Withers sang it best: ‘Sometimes in our lives/We all have pain/We all have sorrow./But if we are wise/We know that there's always tomorrow.' I also like what little orphan Annie sang during her stage play: ‘Just thinking' about tomorrow clears away the cobwebs and the sorrow until there's none!'

"But for the people of the Gulf Coast currently dealing with that oil spill, tomorrow could be more tar balls, frustration, hopelessness and speculation. I can imagine individuals standing on the Gulf shores watching their livelihoods slip sliding away because of a large tar mat. I can hear the voices of Gulf Coast residents sing these lines from a Donny Hathaway song: ‘Don't leave me hanging (oil company and federal government) on to promises./You've got to let me know!/Where is the love?'

"While the people wait for an answer and/or solution to this current crisis, the Hustle-McBride Family and Human Crisis Council are on the way to the Gulf Coast to help. Two weeks ago, Cootie and Dudley McBride drove their Law-N-Order SUV to the Louisiana Gulf Coast to provide legal counseling for affected residents.

"As soon as Rev. Cletus' deacon mechanics tune up the engines of three double-Dutch church buses, the rest of the McBride Family and Human Crisis Council will go to areas affected by the oil spill and provide psychological counseling, medical assistance, vocational career training, Juicy Juice on Ice, etc.

"We hope to be ready by tomorrow!"