Posted on Sunday, April 24, 2016

Now That Harriet Tubman Will Be on the $20 Bill, I Can Say Goodbye to President Obama…

Hello World,

Remember when I noted on my About page “I typically blog on Sundays and Wednesdays (to coincide with Sunday Morning Church Service and Wednesday Night Bible Study), but sometimes I may post more or less depending on what is going on in my life… If God can be patient with me, I hope you can too?” Well, there you go… I did so much writing last month and the beginning of this month (various freelance projects), I was empty…all the water in my creative well had dried up and I was empty, chile…I felt drier than my dry dreadlocks but now, I’m feeling fuller again (plus my hair is did and moisturized as of yesterday LOL), and I feel like I can flow once again…(I tried to get started when I had a few drops of water down in me, but that proved to be too soon, but I’m back…I promise 🙂 )

So on Wednesday, when I heard the news that Harriet Tubman, a modern-day Moses for American black people as she led many slaves out of slavery, is going to be on the front of the $20 bill, my inner child did a Holy Ghost dance…

When I was a nine-year-old student at Pathway Christian School, my class dressed up as our favorite historical characters for “Character Day.” At that time in my life, I was obsessed with reading books about slaves. I think the fact that I was one of about 20 or so black kids in a school of about 200 or so white kids, I was starving for knowledge about black people.To my school’s credit, the library had a series of children’s books about slavery and important people during that time. One of the books I read was about Harriet Tubman. I was fascinated that this woman persevered after getting knocked in the head with a weight by a slave master and was willing to sacrifice so much to usher fellow slaves to freedom.

So when it came time to choose a character to be on “Character Day,” she was my choice. My parents helped me fashion my costume including a head wrap as Harriet’s head was covered in the pictures I had seen of her and a drab brown dress as I imagined that slaves did not have access to the best and most colorful of dresses. I was so excited when a local newspaper photographer took a picture of me and another student and told us we would be in the newspaper. But when I saw the photograph, I was equally disappointed. The other girl’s character in the photo was correctly identified as Betsy Ross, but I was simply and incorrectly listed as an African woman. I’ve kept that newspaper clipping since then. I’m not even sure why…But I wish I could tell that photographer that Harriet Tubman deserved to be recognized then… And now for generations to come, all Americans will recognize her whether they want to or not…

Not only was Harriet Tubman a hero for black people, she was a hero of the Christian faith which is why my spirit is grieved that Dr. Ben Carson, who is a devout Christian, attempted to downplay Harriet Tubman by suggesting that she should be honored on a $2 bill, which hardly one ever sees anymore?

How can a black Christian man fix his mouth to say such foolishness? But then again, after all of the foolishness that he let fly out of his mouth during and after his failed candidacy for president, I should be nan surprised…But you know what, Dr. Ben Carson, I hope when these new 20s come out, someone makes them rain on you….

I’m so glad that bumbling brain surgeon (how, Lord?) Ben Carson will not be our second black president, and I’m so grateful that our current first black president Barack Obama blessed us to make this new money happen…(Y’all know he had to have something to do with this…)

We may or may not see another black president during our lifetimes, but we at least we can pull some Harriets out of our wallets any time we please…

Thank you President Obama…I feel like going on…

Any thoughts?

Posted on Sunday, March 6, 2016

The Top 10 Blog Posts and or Articles for Black Christian Women in February 2016

Hello World,

Well, Black History Month 2016 is a wrap, but I’m still doing my monthly post in which I list interesting blog posts and or articles for black Christian women from last month that intrigued me as a black Christian woman ( but you don’t have be a black Christian woman to to check them out:) ! ) As usual, let me know if you like my list! Enjoy and share!

1. “Dancing 106-year-old Describes the Day She Charmed the Obamas: ‘I Can Die Smiling Now’” by Colby Itkowitz

Excerpt: Deeply faithful, McLaurin attends a weekly Bible study, and she said it’s helped her stay upbeat and healthy. That, she said, and a diet of fried beans and peas. Other than a back surgery about 50 years ago, she hasn’t had any major health issues. See more at: washingtonpost.com.

2. “DeVon Franklin to Suggestion in Church That Wife Meagan Good Should Cover Up: ‘She’s Going to Wear What She Wants to Wear in the Name of Jesus’” by Yesha Callahan

Excerpt: “This is not offensive, but I was at the grocery store and I looked at a newsstand and I saw you, and you had your breast showing,” one woman in the audience said. “So, so, I wasn’t gonna come here, I wasn’t, but the Lord brought me here to see you. You’re beautiful. You are a beautiful young woman, and your testimony is awesome. It’s awesome. Amen. Amen! And the Lord let me come and push past the judgment … because you have to make sure what you say and what you do match up, you understand? So we gonna cover up, right?” See more at: theroot.com.

3. “Too Sexy for Church Appeal: When Does Cleavage Become Sinful?” by Charlene Aaron

Excerpt: Ayesha Curry, wife of NBA player Stephen Curry, received a ton of backlash from people who said she was shaming women who dress less modestly. Actress Meagan Good, who is also a Christian, has often been criticized for wearing clothing viewed as too sexy. See more at: cbn.com.

4. “They Lost Trayvon, Eric, Sandra, Jordan, Dontre. Now These Mothers are With Hillary” by Juana Summers

Excerpt: As rain pelted the rooftop of Mount Zion Missionary Baptist church on Monday afternoon, five mothers — united both in their grief and their purpose — came to share their stories. The women, from five different cities, had each lost a child to a high-profile case of violence. And each had thrown her support behind Hillary Clinton in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. See more at: mashable.com.

5. “The Legacy of Women in the Black Church” by Pastor Tiffany Thomas

Excerpt: Black women have a long and intricate history with the church. Women, making up 70 to 90 percent of black congregations, have always found the institution of the church a place of refuge, of solace and hope. As far back as African American history begins, during a time when their bodies were bound by the violence of slavery, black women gathered to worship communally a God who gave freedom and liberation in the salvific power of Christ. See more at: christianitytoday.com.

6. “Black Women and the Imago Dei” by Austin Channing Brown

Excerpt: In the late ’80s and early ’90s when I grew up attending a predominantly white private school, words like diversity and multiculturalism had not yet been popularized. So schools were still developing curriculum and experiences largely devoid of cultural depth. In my experience, all of my teachers were white, as were the principal, librarian, and other staff members. We regularly used illustrated Bibles, storybooks, and movies in which all the characters were also white. When teachers posted pictures of Jesus in the room, Jesus was always depicted as white. See more at: todayschristianwoman.com.

7. “Meet the Incredible Woman Chosen to Lead Mother Emanuel Church After Last Year’s Shooting” by Collier Meyerson

Excerpt: Clark is unabashed about being a woman at the pulpit. During a part of service where visitors to the church introduce themselves, one particular gentleman calls out, “I’m going to ask, like I do every year.” She begins to fan herself. “Will you be my valentine?” The church erupts into laughter and cheers. “The answer is yes,” she says to her husband. More laughter and clapping. See more at: fusion.net.

8. “Charleston Shooting Survivor Jennifer Pinckney: ‘I Want to Carry on (Clementa’s) Work’” by Jesse James DeConto

Excerpt: The first lady of Charleston’s Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church offered two enduring images: her late husband’s smiling face lying in a casket, and the bullet holes that riddled the church walls when she went to clean out his office a week later. See more at: religionnews.com.

9. “Professor Who Donned Hijab in Solidarity Announces Exit from Christian College” by Women in the World Staff

Excerpt: A college professor at a Christian college in Illinois has agreed to leave her position at the university after she posted a photo of herself wearing a hijab in solidarity with Muslims on social media. Larycia Hawkins drew ire from the administration at Wheaton College over the photo and her remarks on Facebook, where she wrote that Christians and Muslims “worship the same God.” See more at: nytlive.nytimes.com.

10. “First Female African-American General in the Army National Guard Visits Windsor Church” by Jenna DeAngelis

Excerpt: “I’ve had many people, both black and white, tell me that, ‘C’mon you can’t do that. You’re never going any further than this.’ and to me that was always a challenge,” Cleckley said. Every challenge became an opportunity and every opportunity became another page in her book, A Promise Fulfilled. See more at: fox61.com.

Any thoughts?

Posted on Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Leonard Pitts’ Novel ‘Grant Park’ Provides a Framework to Say Goodbye to President Obama

A Book Review...

Hello World,

Earlier this month, I delivered a speech as a part of my church’s annual Racial Reconciliation Service. I was asked to speak on the theme “Things We Have in Common” based on Ephesians 4:1-6. About the time that I was asked to be the featured speaker in October, I was aware that a creeping sadness was starting to make itself known in my consciousness. Maybe it’s just me, but ever since President Obama was elected in November 2008, the air has felt different, like a new optimistic oxygen had been injected into the atmosphere overnight from the moment Senator Obama was named the victor in the presidential election to the morning we woke up living in a country where a black man was named president-elect. This new air had me feeling high like I was a party balloon floating and preening…

So as the days ticked by last October while a new crop of presidential candidates began vying for our votes (when I finally started paying attention to them anyway), it occurred to me that we were on the cusp of President Obama’s last full year in office. And since I had that realization, I feel like I’m breathing a little less of that new oxygen, like I’m a party balloon just past its prime hovering closer to the ground each day…

So what does all of this have to do with Grant Park, the latest novel from Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Leonard Pitts, Jr.? Like the youth pastor of my church is fond of saying in his sermons, I’m so glad you asked that question. Below is the official description of the book…

Grant Park is a page-turning and provocative look at black and white relations in contemporary America, blending the absurd and the poignant in a powerfully well-crafted narrative that showcases Pitts’s gift for telling emotionally wrenching stories.

Grant Park begins in 1968, with Martin Luther King’s final days in Memphis. The story then moves to the eve of the 2008 election, and cuts between the two eras. Disillusioned columnist Malcolm Toussaint, fueled by yet another report of unarmed black men killed by police, hacks into his newspaper’s server to post an incendiary column that had been rejected by his editors. Toussaint then disappears, and his longtime editor, Bob Carson, is summarily fired within hours of the column’s publication.

While a furious Carson tries to find Toussaint—while simultaneously dealing with the reappearance of a lost love from his days as a 60s activist—Toussaint is abducted by two white supremacists plotting to explode a bomb at Barack Obama’s planned rally in Chicago’s Grant Park. Toussaint and Carson are forced to remember the choices they made as young men, when both their lives were changed profoundly by their work in the civil rights movement.

Racial Reconciliation…

As I began to prepare my speech, I realized that the two-term presidency of President Obama has been the proverbial “best of times” and “worst of times.” Below are the exact words from my speech…

In reflecting on President Obama’s historic presidency, the anniversaries of so many pivotal historic events have coincided with his two terms in the White House. Last year, we recognized the 50^th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the 50^th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday in Selma, Alabama. In 2013, we recognized the 50^th anniversary of the 16^th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama. And less than 50 years after his death, The Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in D.C. debuted in 2011. All of these pivotal events happened during the Civil Rights Movement when there were seemingly two Americas – one for White America and one for Black America.

And yet during this time, over the last eight years, the nation has grappled with the deaths of black boys from Trayvon Martin to Tamir Race, the Confederate flag debate and the shooting massacre at Emanuel AME Church and more.

Time seems to be moving forward and standing still.

While I was preparing my speech over the last few months, I read Leonard Pitts’ Grant Park. And while it is a work of fiction, it made me feel like I was in 1968 watching the sowing of seeds of civil unrest that came to a glorious fruition when President Obama was elected in 2008. Pitts does an excellent job of capturing a conversational President-elect Obama just hours after he wins the election. And as we know now, eight years later, racial reconciliation in this country, despite President Obama’s election, still has a ways to go. Pitts’ novel provided a framework to examine where we were in 1968, how far we came in 2008 and the journey we still have to tread post Obama…

A Love Story…

My favorite character in the book was Bob Carson. In 1967, he was an 18 year old eager to join the Civil Rights Movement so much so that he elected to attend small Christian college in Mississippi to the alarm of his white parents. He welcomed ” protest and snarling dogs and Freedom Riders and marches and injustice and voter registration and ferment…change.” After arriving on campus, he joined Students Organized in Unarmed Love (SOUL), which included black and white students, and met Janeka Lattimore at one of the organization’s meetings. They quickly begin an interracial romance which obviously was particularly challenging then. So I love a coming-of-age, against-the-odds love story. It reminded of the real-life interracial love story of novelist Alice Walker and Mel Leventhal which also began at the height of the Civil Rights Movement. (I read about it in a book about her life. ) So even while I was thinking deeply about the nuanced racial issues that were examined in the novel, I was also racing through the pages to see what happened to Bob and Janeka. When Bob first sees Janeka at a meeting, he is immediately drawn to her beauty and curvy body but then scolds himself for his lustful thoughts. “This was his sister in the body of Christ. She was his colleague in the struggle for human rights. More than that, she was a human being with a mind, and emotions and a soul and inherent, intrinsic worth. Yet, her he was cataloging her, the pieces of her, as though she were side of beef. What kind of loathsome male chauvinist pig had he suddenly become?”

I won’t tell what happens to them, but I will say this. Young Bob is an enthusiastic Christian ready to take on his pastor about racial reconciliation as it is espoused in the Bible even quoting Malachi 2:10, a Bible verse that I used in my speech. (Thanks Mr. Pitts 🙂 !) But Old Bob had evolved into “an Easter Christian, a Christmas Christian, when he bothered to be any kind of Christian at all.” I speak from experience: One of the things that will make you lose your religion is lost love…And that’s all I have to say about that…

The Future of Journalism…

As a journalist, I also appreciated the examination of the journalism industry. At the start of the book, Malcolm Toussaint is disillusioned with his career although it has been good to him, taking him “from a hovel on the south side of Memphis to this palace in Chicago, two Pulitzer Prizes, countless lesser awards lining the walls of his office.” He also writes a “twice-weekly nationally syndicated column,” and “New York Times bestsellers blurbed by Oprah Winfrey and Bill Clinton.” Despite Toussaint’s “storied career” in journalism, my field has been undergoing a seismic shift with the advent of the Net…It’s scary and exhilarating at the time…Sadly, newspapers and magazines continue to die, but I have hope that true storytelling will survive…somehow and some way…

So here are a few of the lines that ring true for journalism going forward. “Suddenly, it was no longer enough to be the best journalist you could be, to do the work and put it out there and let it speak for itself. Suddenly, you were supposed to keep a Facebook page and answer emails and moderate discussion on your message board.” Here is a description of a young journalist in the novel who actually wanted to work at a newspaper: “The old heads in the newsroom called people like her ‘true believers,’ meaning Gen Y kids who somehow missed the memo that a thing was not worth doing unless it was done digitally.”

While there are more elements I can highlight in this excellent book, I hope I’ve given you enough to get this book! And if you’re looking for a way to come to grips with the pending last days of President’s Obama’s presidency and be entertained at the same time, Leonard Pitts’ Grant Park is a must read…

Any thoughts?