Can I talk to you? How many times do we see people walking, riding in cars and sitting down with others focused on their cell phones?

It is so commonplace that seeing people conversing in the absence of a cell phone is odd. That’s right “odd.”

Have you ever been talking to someone or a person is talking to you and one of you stops mid-sentence to check your phone for no apparent reason?

I know what you are thinking. We all have heard the statistics, read articles and even feared for another person’s life because we passed them and noticed they were texting. How about people standing in lines, even waiting overnight for the next biggest and best device? This is proof that our current obsession with cell phones may be getting out of control.

Society maybe able to ignore the issues related to extreme cell phone and social media use but it has a cost greater than we know.

I recently began to notice young mothers ignoring their precious children seeming to be almost hypnotized by their phones, then becoming angry at the simple request of their children asking for water, a snack or attention.

These little ones desperately need love, attention and guidance.

What are we teaching them by our self indulgent behavior? If genuine communication is lost, people become more anti-social. Humans need touch, to hear a voice and have eye to eye personal attention. This is how humanity remains human.

At this rate, people will lose the ability to talk to each other. It may also cause someone to be less caring, displaying less value on other people’s feelings.

Texting is now the new easy way to tell people things that you would have possibly never said in person or even on the phone.

Social media has caused young people to even commit suicide because of bullying.

Listen, I love my phone and there is nothing wrong with technology as long as we use it wisely.

The intriguing features, the practical uses and the world literally at your finger tips can have an intoxicating impact. But I think it is time to sober up.

If you see yourself in this article in any way, please take the next few days to evaluate the time spent or should I say time lost.

Can I talk to you?

•••

Unity always makes life better.

There is an old saying, “It takes a village to raise a child.” Well, people here in Vicksburg believe it.

Music, food and the sounds of children playing filled the air at New Main apartments as several churches and ministries came together to host a Community Block party recently.

The spokesman said this was another way to reach out to the youth in our city.

Who says we can’t work together? Working together makes everything  much easier.

As we see the problems in our world increasing, we who have hope should be sharing that hope that lives with in us.

Creating a positive atmosphere and demonstrating love in action goes a long way.

The children were excited and grateful for the activities. Many parents and grandparents also joined to enjoy the food and live music.

Local team Equally Yoked ministered and Christian Rappers Team Go (featuring Latonya Coleman) of Jackson also ministered through song.

People from around the city joined in the festivities. The event ended with a short message and prayer for that neighborhood.

This event was free to the public and was made possible through donations.

Special thanks to all the churches, pastors and businesses.
Michelle Johnson is a native of Vicksburg and is in private practice as a licensed marriage and family therapist, is owner of River View Behavioral Health and is a licensed minister. Michelle is active as co-chairperson of the Mayor’s Faith Base Council, founder of  Adopt- a-Street for Prayer (Vicksburg) and Greater Love ministries. As a conference host speaker, she enjoys mentoring and helping others reach their Destiny through hosting conferences, book writing seminars and producing plays.

Emmy nominations pit mainstream programs against niche fare

By FRAZIER MOORE and LYNN ELBER, AP Television Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) — “This Is Us.” And that is them.

When Emmy nominations were announced Thursday, one side of the TV coin hinted that broadcast’s cultural relevance might be staging a comeback. This was thanks largely to the 11 nods granted NBC’s “This Is Us,” which broke out last fall as something no one had seen in years: a hit mainstream family drama that had everybody talking (and sometimes choking up) while critics swooned.

The show’s hold on the nation’s hearts and eyeballs was further demonstrated by Emmy nominations that include those for best drama series, two for lead actor, and two more for best supporting actor and supporting actress.

NBC also scored mightily with its 22 nominations for “Saturday Night Live,” which, flourishing in the politically charged Age of Donald Trump, tied with HBO’s exotic thriller “Westworld” for most nominations.

In all, NBC landed 64 nominations, vaulting far ahead of fellow broadcast networks ABC with 34, CBS with 29 and Fox’s 21.

Even so, HBO, as usual, claimed first place with 110 nods, while streaming service Netflix had a robust 91.

That represents the other side of the coin, both in the TV universe overall, and, more specifically, for the Emmys, where broad-based, popular programs must vie with niche and premium programming for Emmy love. (The awards-cast is scheduled to air Sept. 17 on CBS, with Stephen Colbert as host.)

Netflix big-shouldered the nominations’ best drama category with three contenders: “The Crown,” ‘’House of Cards” and “Stranger Things.” Rival streaming platform Hulu got its first-ever nods, totaling 18, and Amazon had 16.

“This Is Us” creator Dan Fogelman says he initially had an instinct to pitch his prospective series not to a broadcast network, but to cable, “because cable can be considered cooler,” as he explained Thursday. “But the show didn’t feel like it needed to be on cable.”

“I think there is a place for television that is for everybody, art that is for everybody, that also hopefully can live in the conversation with the darker, edgier stuff,” he said.

This is the remarkable feat of “This Is Us.”

FX was the leader among cable, scoring 55 nominations and reinforcing its image of coolness with such edgy fare as “Feud: Bette and Joan,” about the epic clash of Hollywood divas Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, which reaped 18 nominations, and the third season of “Fargo,” which got 16 nods.

HBO’s “Veep,” the most-nominated comedy with 17 bids, is bucking for its third consecutive top comedy trophy. Star Julia Louis-Dreyfus has the chance to build on her record of most wins for a lead comedy actress: She has five for “Veep” and one for “The New Adventures of Old Christine.”

But Emmy voters showed their willingness to recognize new comic faces and voices, which are flourishing on streaming networks and cable. Donald Glover’s freshman FX series “Atlanta” earned a best comedy bid, as did Netflix’s “Master of None,” starring Aziz Ansari.

There was also room for “Modern Family,” an old favorite on broadcast network ABC, although it earned only a handful of bids besides best comedy, including for Ty Burrell in the supporting actor category. HBO’s “Silicon Valley” and Netflix’s “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” round out the best comedy ranks.

Samantha Bee, who broke into the late-night male domain with TBS’ “Full Frontal with Samantha Bee,” earned a variety talk show nomination for her efforts. Her competitors include “Late Show” host Colbert as well as Jimmy Kimmel, John Oliver, James Corden and Bill Maher.

Netflix’s sci-fi series “Stranger Things” received an impressive 18 bids, including one for star Millie Bobby Brown, while its “The Crown,” a lavish peek at the life of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth as played by the nominated Claire Foy, received a total of 13 bids.

So did the dystopian Hulu saga “The Handmaid’s Tale,” including a nomination for star Elisabeth Moss. AMC’s “Better Call Saul,” the “Breaking Bad” spinoff, is also nominated, along with star Bob Odenkirk.

“Girls” didn’t get a best comedy bid for its sixth and final season. But this groundbreaking HBO series cleaned up for its guest actors, with nods going to Becky Ann Baker, Riz Ahmed and Matthew Rhys, with Ahmed and Rhys nominated in drama categories as well, for HBO’s “The Night Of” and FX’s “The Americans,” respectively.

Competing with Rhys, Odenkirk, Sterling K. Brown and Milo Ventimiglia (both of “This Is Us”) and Anthony Hopkins (“Westworld”) for best drama acting honors are Liev Schreiber from Showtime’s “Ray Donovan” and Kevin Spacey of Netflix’s “House Of Cards.”

Foy and Moss are joined in the best drama actress category by 2015 winner Viola Davis from ABC’s “How To Get Away With Murder,” Keri Russell of “The Americans,” Evan Rachel Wood in “Westworld” and Robin Wright from “House Of Cards.”

As the Emmy hubbub over “This Is Us” suggests, this is all a different world from TV’s early decades, when the Emmys were largely divvied up among just three commercial networks; a world where, until the late 1980s, cable fare didn’t even qualify for Emmys.

When viewers tune in the Emmycast in September, they may never have seen, nor even heard of, many of the programs competing for awards. Bedrock shows like “SNL,” ‘’Modern Family” and now “This Is Us” will represent a throwback: TV that more viewers have a rooting interest in.

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Entertainment Writer Sandy Cohen in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

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EDITOR’S NOTE — Frazier Moore is a national television columnist for The Associated Press. He can be reached at fmoore@ap.org.