Posted on Sunday, February 14, 2016

Discovering Atlanta Through the Eyes of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Driver Tom Houck…

(me and my hubby & Tom Houck and another tour goer)

Hello World,

Last week my husband Robert and I were thinking about what we could do to celebrate the sixth anniversary of our first date yesterday. As I was listening to 1380AM WAOK on the way home from work on Wednesday, I realized I had a fun and educational option. Derrick Boazman host of “Too Much Truth” was interviewing Tom Houck whom I had never heard of before. Tom, a white man, was the driver of Dr. King and his family for several months. In a gruff, hearty voice likely emboldened because of the precious history he possesses, Tom described how being kicked out of high school in Jacksonville, Florida for merely participating in a Selma march in 1965 eventually led to being in the inner sanctum of the very leader of the Civil Rights Movement as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s driver.

In 1966, Tom’s civil rights activism brought him to Atlanta to work for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). In one of those fortuitous moments that forever changes someone’s life, Dr. King saw Tom across the street from the SCLC where he had gone to make a call on the pay phone and invited the 19-year-old to have lunch with him and his family. That lunch led to him being asked to drive for the King Family. Tom describes his experiences as their driver as a part of his Civil Rights Tour, a bus tour in which Tom takes people to see the historic sites in Atlanta that provided the landscape of the capital of the Civil Rights Movement.

At the end of the conversation, Tom offered two tickets to the first person who e-mailed him the answer to this question: What was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s real first name. I was literally pulling into my driveway when I heard him ask the question. I parked, unlocked my front door and ran to my computer, hurriedly e-mailing him the answer: Michael. For the first five years of Dr. King’s life, his name was Michael. However, when his father Michael King Sr. changed his name to Martin Luther King Sr. after becoming inspired by Martin Luther, his son, who was Michael King Jr., became Martin Luther King Jr. I nearly fell off of my bed when I received an e-mail later that evening from Tom letting me know that I had won the tickets! I told my husband we could celebrate our history as a couple by celebrating the history of our beloved city. He agreed that it would be a great way to celebrate our first date anniversary!

Tom Houck beginning his tour…

My hubby focusing on Tom…

Dr. King’s first home is in the Old Fourth Ward area of Atlanta which was once known as Shermantown after General Sherman took over the area during the Civil War. The home is on Auburn Avenue known as Sweet Auburn, but I didn’t know that Auburn Avenue was once Wheat Street. However, the name of the street was later changed because Wheat Street was thought to be too rural of a name for a metropolitan street. Yes, Sweet Wheat doesn’t sound as cool for sure! But that explains the name of the historical Wheat Street Baptist Church on Auburn Avenue. Wheat Street Baptist Church was the site of the church scenes filmed in the movie “Selma,” Tom told us.

In the beginning of the tour, we went by Dr. King’s elementary school Howard Elementary School. The school building, which is vacant, later became a high school which has notable graduates including Maynard Jackson, Atlanta’s first black mayor; Walt Frazier and Vernon Jordan. Tom also took us to the SNCC Freedom House. Freedom Houses were designated places where civil rights workers could retreat and reside.

The site of the pay phone where Tom met Dr. King…

Tom met Dr. King across the street of the SCLC headquarters, which I took a picture of from the bus…Not the best picture, but you get the idea hopefully…

Morris Brown College, the only HBCU founded by black people, was organized in the basement of Big Bethel AME Church, which is located in the Sweet Auburn district…Civil rights leader Hosea Williams and Derrick Bozeman are Morris Brown College graduates…

See that blue sign? It is the sign for the original site of the Atlanta Daily World, the oldest black newspaper in the city…It was once a Republican newspaper as blacks were mostly Republican years ago since most segregationists were Democrats…

A Loss Prevention Hero series mural honoring Congressman John Lewis…

The second The Loss Prevention Hero series mural honoring Mrs. Evelyn Gibson Lowery, the deceased wife of Rev. Joseph Lowery. Mrs. Lowery founded SCLC/Women’s Organizational Movement for Equality Now, Inc.

Although it wasn’t an official part of the tour, Tom told us that Citizens Trust Bank, which was founded by black businessman Heman Perry, on Auburn Avenue, was where he received his first car loan! AND Daddy King, who was on the bank’s board of directors, co-signed the loan!!!

Before we left the Sweet Auburn district, we learned about John Wesley Dobbs, a rail clerk who was unofficially named the mayor of Sweet Auburn because of his work to achieve equality for black people…Seemingly in homage to Dobbs, Atlanta’s public schools were integrated on the day of this death, August 30, 1961, Tom told us…Above is a statue honoring Dobbs, who is the grandfather of Maynard Jackson…All of his six daughters graduated from Spelman College. They are reported to be the largest group of sisters to graduate from the school…Incidentally, I interviewed Dr. June Dobbs Butts, the youngest of the sisters and a sex therapist, for an UPSCALE magazine article I wrote years ago…

We rode by the now defunct Terminal Station, which was once a prominent train station in the city. Atlanta was once named Terminus which I originally learned after watching “The Walking Dead,” which is back tonight!!! Yay!!! And before Terminus, Atlanta was known as Marthasville. I cannot see Atlanta residents calling ourselves Termliens or Marthaaliens so I’m glad we changed to Atlanta because ATLlien is so doggone cool…

We passed through the Castleberry Hill District, which was revitalized by Herman J. Russell, a construction magnate…I had the opportunity to meet him just months before he passed away in 2014. He attended the National Book Club Conference while promoting his book Building Atlanta: How I Broke Through Segregation to Launch a Business Empire.”

Tom took us to Dr. King’s last home before he died which is located at 234 Sunset Avenue…

Daryl, a recent graduate of Clark Atlanta University, sang freedom songs as we passed by some of the historical stops…

Along the way, we passed by Washington High School where Dr. King graduated from when he was 15 years old to attend Morehouse College. I did not know that Lena Horne also attended Washington High School!

One of the stops was the home of Alonzo Herndon, who was once Atlanta’s wealthiest black man. Herndon built his fortune on his barbering business. His stately home is across the street from the home of Grace Towns Hamilton, the first black woman elected to the Georgia General Assembly. Unfortunately, her home was barely visible due to the overgrowth of weeds as well as the overall decay of the structure…We also passed through the Atlanta University Center and by the original Paschal’s Restaurant location as well as Busy Bee Café.

One of our final stops was South-View Cemetery, which is located on Jonesboro Road and was designed “to provide a respectable place for Christian burials” for all people including black people who were once not allowed to be buried in certain cemetaries. It opened on April 21, 1886. It began as 26 acres and is now over 100 acres. 80,000 people are buried there including Herman J. Russell and the wife of John Lewis, Lillian Miles Lewis. Below are pics of the graves of other important people who are also buried there…

The grave site of John Wesley Dobbs

The grave sites of Daddy King and his wife Alberta King…

If you look at to upper left of the grave marker, you can see this tiny picture of Daddy King….

Dr. King was originally buried in South-View cemetery before his body was moved in 1970 to its current location alongside his wife at the King Center. One the way back to Auburn Avenue where we started the tour, we passed by Atlanta Federal Penitentiary. Tom told us that Marcus Garvey was imprisoned there which is interesting to me as the daughter of Jamaican immigrants.

We learned much more that I wasn’t even able to include in this already lengthy blog post!

And hopefully, you will be inspired to take a Civil Rights Tour with Tom Houck, the driver of Dr. King and his family. For more information, go to civilrightstour.com.

Any thoughts?

Posted on Sunday, February 7, 2016

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

Hello World,

It’s hard to believe that 2016 is a month old, and I hope it’s been a great year for you so far. As I’ve done for the past few months, I’ve corralled another list of 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. “New Pastor Coming to Emanuel AME Seeks to Bring Hope, Unity” by Jennifer Berry Hawes

Excerpt: The Rev. Dr. Betty Deas Clark has been named pastor of Emanuel AME Church, where nine black worshipers were gunned down on June 17 by an avowed white racist. She will be the church’s first female pastor. See more at: postandcourier.com.

2. “How a Facebook Comment Turned into a Nightmare for ‘the Evangelical Harvard’” by Sarah Pulliam Bailey

Excerpt: It’s not the first time Wheaton has wrestled with theology and identity. But the Hawkins case exploded in the thick of a national conversation about the place of Islam, and about race and privilege. Hawkins is one of Wheaton’s five black tenured professors, who make up 2 percent of the faculty, and its only full-time black woman professor. See more at: washingtonpost.com.

3. “How YWCA USA Is Evolving To Better Support Women And People Of Color” by Kathy Caprino

Excerpt: First and foremost, we’ll give the public greater clarity about who we are and what we do. Our mission is squarely focused on eliminating racism and empowering women. The 225 YWCAs around the country serving more than 2 million women and families annually work hand-in-hand with people as they take steps to improve their lives, whether through domestic violence services, housing, childcare, job training, or the many other programs available at local YWCAs. See more at: forbes.com.

4. “Why the Black Church Should Speak Out Against Sexual Predators” by Rev. Dr. Najuma Smith-Pollard

Excerpt: To be silent on Bill Cosby is a missed opportunity to speak to the real people in our pews who have been victims of sexual violence. Here are a few statistics every pastor should know. The national average suggests that 1 in 3 women and 1 in 6 men have been sexually assaulted in their lifetime. Translation, if you have 50 Women in your church, 16 to 20 of them have had similar acts of sexual assault, rape, happen to them as have been described by the 55 women who have come forward about Bill Cosby. See more at: lasentinel.net.

5. “Awarding Purity & Preserving Patriarchy: Why I Don’t Agree With Scholarships for Virgins” by Erica Nichole

Excerpt: The mayor in Uthukela, South Africa is awarding young women enrolled in schools with scholarships, not for excelling academically, but for remaining virgins during their time in school. Yep, there are scholarships for virgins. While the road and process to being granted a scholarship is competitive in most countries, students with exceptional academics are awarded grants to further support their education. But is it right to encourage higher education to women by solely making virginity the qualifier for the grant? See more at: xonecole.com.

6. “Loving the Stranger in My Bed” by Trillia Newbell

Excerpt: As you live, you change. I’m not the same woman my husband married 12 years ago. I’d like to think in some ways I’ve matured, but even many of my interests have changed. I’ve had children, so my body has definitely changed. Even my temperament has changed as we’ve experienced more trials in our growing together. I’m still me to the core, but I’m also different. Because of the familiarity we feel in marriage, it takes intentional effort to stay close as each person changes. See more at: todayschristianwoman.com.

7. “Single Mom of Six Gets Special Gift from Church” by Jennifer Shaw

Excerpt: Pollard’s luck changed on Jan. 3 when Pastor Chris Williams read her letter aloud to the congregation of Church at Antioch, then announcing that she was the recipient of a donated 2002 burgundy Ford Taurus,also as a way of recognizing the church’s one-year anniversary. See more at: contracostatimes.com.

8. “Harlem ‘Church Ladies’ Get Their Due”

Excerpt: Church Ladies: Untold Stories of Harlem Women in the Powell Era is an oral history based on interviews with 15 black women, members of the historic Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, N.Y. The book is a rare glimpse into the world of women’s leadership in the black church and gives voice to Harlem women and their activism during the tumultuous mid-20th century. See more at: blogs.baruch.cuny.edu.

9. “The Black Church and the Habitus of Resistence: An Ethnographic Study of Religious Practice and Social Change” by Joi R. Orr

Excerpt: In the spring of 2015, I observed a longstanding group of moderate and liberal black clergy members in Atlanta, Georgia, whose mission is to “provide leadership, advocacy and service to the homeless, helpless and hopeless in our community.” Every Monday morning, this coalition hosts a community forum to move their agenda along. With this sustained practice, the coalition prepares and situates itself to participate in direct-action campaigns and to take on issues of mass incarceration, a livable minimum wage, and voter mobilization. See more at: theotherjournal.com.

10. “7 Dead Giveaways You’re Attending A Black Church” by Dontaira Terrell

Excerpt: Leave With A Home-Cooked Meal. It’s a week of built-up anticipation, hoping to get a taste of Ms. Gladys’ mac and cheese. Your prayers have been answered the moment you hear there will be food served in the fellowship hall following the worship service. The menu usually consists of good ol’ soul food, but if you don’t hurry, Sister Patterson’s collard greens and Ms. Gladys’ mac and cheese will definitely be gone! See more at: atlantablackstar.com.

If you know of any black Christian women bloggers and or writers, please e-mail me at jacqueline@afterthealtarcall.com as I’m always interested in expanding my community of black Christian women blogs and websites. As I noted before, while this is a roundup of interesting blog posts and or articles for black Christian women, you don’t have to be one to appreciate these pieces :).

Any thoughts?

Posted on Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Pastor Le’Andria Johnson Isn’t the Only Reason I’m Watching ‘Preachers of Atlanta’ Tonight, But She is the No. 1 Reason…My Interview With Her & More

Hello World,

I’m a PK (preacher’s or pastor’s kid) and I rep the A as my hometown so it’s a no brainer that I’m tuning into Preachers of Atlanta on GP alone…That being said, there are 7 specific reasons, I’m tuning into the Preachers of Atlanta tonight at 10 PM ET/PT on Oxygen!

1.Pastor Le’Andria Johnson

Should She Be a Pastor?

When I wrote the blog post “Was It Wrong for ‘Sunday Best’ Winner Le’Andria Johnson to be Drunk Allegedly on Periscope?” back in September, I had no idea she was a pastor of a church or that she would featured on the Preachers of Atlanta which premieres TONIGHT! I thought the name of her church I.P.C. (Imperfect People Changing) Ministries was simply the name of her ministry organization. Now that I know she is a pastor, I still think her being allegedly drunk on Periscope was bad judgment as I noted in my original post and now that I know she is a pastor, I feel even more strongly about this because James 3:1 is true. That being said, I appreciate her “keeping it real” attitude, but as we all know, keeping it real can go wrong real fast…

I asked Pastor Le’Andria Johnson about her decision to become a pastor particularly because there is additional scrutiny. Below is her answer.

Well, I didn’t decide to become a pastor, you know, I just answered the call. You know, not to be so deep, but that’s exactly how it happened. Because I didn’t want to be a pastor you know so. Accepting the call was easy because of my life growing up, you know, and I’ve seen things that I shouldn’t have seen, you know, and I wanted to be different. If I was going to accept the call, I wanted to be different…In doing that, this has been a tedious journey and the scrutiny of becoming a pastor, of course, the light is brighter now. I’m attracting more buzz. It’s something to definitely be prepared for, but it’s going good thus far so. The scrutiny is going to come with or without being a pastor. You get what I’m saying? So it’s rainy some days, you know, and then the sun is out, but I’m good. We good. We making it girl.

I also asked her about the Periscope broadcast incident and would she have changed anything about it looking back.

Well, at the end of the day, you know, I was in my house, this is exactly how I feel about it, and I exposed myself, you know. I was just letting the world, my fans, my supporters, you know, see that I have fun. This was Labor Day, you know, and I was just inviting them into my home letting them know I was chilling. This was a space and a time for me to chill with my family, but I shared it with my followers and my fans. And looking back on it, I don’t think that I would change anything about it. I don’t think I would. It’s the truth, and you know, you can’t change the truth. So it is what it is. It happened, you know. Will I ever do it again? You never know.

Condoms & Cigarettes?

During the first episode, Pastor Le’Andria also passes out condoms and cigarettes to homeless people that she encounters as she is inviting them to her church. I don’t necessarily disagree with her “ministry tools,” but I know these unconventional “ministry tools” will have people talking so I asked her about it.

Well I, again, I didn’t decide to do it, you know. It was a spur-of-the-moment thing. We were going on the streets to minister, and I said to myself, ‘Well, how are we gonna approach, you know, these men and women that are on the streets because you know, you don’t want to walk up to somebody and look at them because they look different from you and expect that they don’t know God.’ So I was like I needed something else so I was like, cigarettes. I heard this voice like, ‘Go get some cigarettes. You know meet them where they are.’ And I was like, ‘Cigarettes?!’And I did it so I took cigarettes and I took one of them when I was walking up and down the sidewalks. I heard, ‘Hey man, can I get a cigarette? Can I get a cig?’ I said, ‘Of course, the only way you’ll get this is if you talk to me about God.’ And that’s exactly why I did it. It wasn’t deep. It wasn’t no 45-minute message or nothing of that nature. It was just passing out cigarettes and talking about God…20 cigarettes passed out, and 20 people came to church the next day. It was a Saturday night. They came on Sunday, and they’re still coming to the church.

And you know, condoms, hey, who don’t practice safe sex? The world practices safe sex so why the church can’t practice safe sex? I’m not, you know, endorsing, you know, sex before marriage, but you know, it’s just what it is. Rather be safe than sorry. The prostitutes were out there. I was passing them out to the prostitutes so just doing the right thing.

Baby Mama Drama!

Also during that first episode, Pastor Le’Andria has some baby mama drama with her husband Forrest Walker, who is being accused of fathering a child before they got married. Now, the baby mama wants Forrest to claim the child although he is unsure of the paternity. Pastor Le’Andria wants him to get a paternity test and settle the issue and they argue about that during the episode. I asked her was she hesitant to reveal all of that on the show. Below is what she had to say about it.

No, I wasn’t hesitant to reveal all that on the show because maybe she’ll watch the show and she’ll be able to hear from my heart and understand what we need her to do as an adult, you know, so I wasn’t hesitant at all. It was another vehicle of communication other than the phone so not at all. My husband, on the other hand, was, you know, probably a little uncomfortable, but you know, he’ll be alright. He’ll be alright. We’re gonna work through this thing together, and we’re gonna make it work.

Below is the interview in its entirety if you would like to listen.

2. Pastor Canton Jones

No Drama?

I’m a fan of the music of Canton Jones and I’ve listened to his show The Canton Jones Countdown Show on Praise 102.5 here in the A so I’m curious to know more about him. In comparison to Pastor Le’Andria, Pastor Canton’s life seems drama-free although in this first episode, he and his wife face high-risk pregnancy issues. I asked him about being a “drama-free” preacher on Preachers of Atlanta. Below is his answer.

I don’t know. I’m just me. A lot of people call life drama. And if that’s the case then everybody has drama, you know. So, ‘Oh my God, we forgot the baby in the daycare!’ Drama! You know what I’m saying? You can make drama out of anything, you know, and everybody can make drama. But I feel like we’re showing our life. Throughout this episode, we’re gonna show that we had a high-risk pregnancy. The doctor told us that we couldn’t have another baby, but we did. And so going against what they said, I don’t know if you call that drama, but we had a life on the line. It’s a lot that’s going to be on there so like I said, there may be some drama on there I don’t know, but my life is just so different I didn’t need any drama. We pastor church on a Thursday with a deejay in the dark so that is odd enough. So that’s what you’re gon see.

Music Ministry

As I noted earlier, I’ve been a fan of Pastor Canton’s music for a while, and one of the songs on the episode “I Can’t Help It” which features his protégé rapper Antonio is fire! (Is that cool to say? I’m not a millennial so…) Pastor Canton says, “Hip Hop music is just as relevant in church as hymns” in this first episode and I agree.

3. #BlackLivesMatter vs. #BlueLivesMatter

Pastor Corey Hambrick, who is a cast member of Preachers of Atlanta, is the pastor of the Life Church Christian Center AND a sergeant detective at the City of Conyers Police Department. His tagline is “I save souls, and I save lives,” but he rubs Antonio, who was in jail from the time he was 18 to 25, the wrong way. He even asks him how many people has he killed. He also asks him, ‘Why do you go so hard on us instead of using justice for good?’ I asked Pastor Canton what “had happened” after that their heated argument. Below is what Pastor Canton had to say about Antonio’s conflict with Pastor Corey.

You’ve got to watch and see that. But Antonio spoke for millions of African-American men in this country that feel picked on by the legal system so he just spoke out based off of his experiences. And Pastor Corey was trying to give a new perspective to Antonio based on him being in law enforcement. So that dynamic was really good. It’s going to be good for the country to see that. How it pans out? You’ve got to watch and see. Those guys really, really, really got into it. And it was up to me to kind of just really bring balance to the situation. And so that is what we tried to do.

4. A Cameo Appearance by Pastor Edward Long Jr.

During this first episode, Pastor Canton invites his friend Pastor Edward Long Jr. to a listening party. I’m sure I don’t have to remind you of the scandals involving his father New Birth Missionary Baptist Church Pastor Eddie Long, but I wouldn’t be a true to journalism if I didn’t ask if those scandals were addressed in Preachers of Atlanta. (I wonder if they asked Pastor Edward Long Jr. to be on the show…) So I asked Pastor Canton about why was he on the show and did he speak about his father.

I just brought him to the listening party to kind of just um…We’ve been doing music together for years on compilations, and I’ve been to their church to sing and perform a couple of times so I just wanted to hear his perspective on the music that day. And he ended up being in the conversation. But he was primarily just there to hear the music we were working on.

Does he at all speak on anything with his father or anything that has happened at his father’s church?

I’m not sure of that. You would have to ask the powers that be because I don’t know. Because everybody kind of… You don’t see all perspectives. I haven’t seen it yet so I’m not sure. I can’t answer that question.

5. A Cameo Appearance by Kyle Norman of Jagged Edge and his wife Marrika

I’m a big fan of Jagged Edge being from the A, and my husband and I go back and forth about which group is better – Jagged Edge or 112. I went to high school at Banneker High in College Park with Richard Wingo of Jagged Edge so I gotta say Jagged Edge. All that to say, I was shocked when I heard that Kyle Norman reportedly assaulted his then fianceé by shoving the wedding ring he bought her down her throat last year. Since then, they have obviously reconciled as they are married and even appeared on the Steve Harvey show together. Apparently, they also discussed their relationship with Pastor Kimberly Jones-Pothier, who is a Preachers of Atlanta cast member and known as “Real Talk Kim.” Pastor Kim has been married twice and says she has a passion for abused women. I didn’t see the Normans in the first episode, but I saw them in a trailer at the Preachers of Atlanta premiere party so I’m curious about what happens in their discussion with Real Talk Kim.

6. Pastor Judah Swilley

I don’t know much about Pastor Judah Swilley, but I enjoyed him rapping at the Preachers of Atlanta premiere party. From the Beastie Boys to Eminem, I appreciate the white approach to rap and hip hop so it’s going to be interesting to see how this Preachers of Atlanta cast member’s story line .

7. An Unconventional Way to Spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ

Now that I’ve gotten all of the juice out of the way, the most important reason I’m tuning into the Preachers of Atlanta is to see the gospel of Jesus Christ being spread to even more people. Now, after you’ve read all of that, you may wonder if Jesus will be highlighted at all, but I think anything can be used for good – even reality shows. This is what Pastor Canton had to say about it.

We are definitely bringing a different perspective on this show, and that is what we wanted to do. We wanted to show hip hop being used in the church and us pastoring a really out there millennial generation and how to reach those people from our perspective, what God has given us, so it was fun. It was a great process, and we would do it again in a heart beat. We loved the experience. And we pray that people get the heart behind what we were doing. But even if they don’t, I feel like there is going to be a set bunch of people or number of people that we were supposed to target that is going to get the message. It’s all about the message of Jesus Christ. It’s all about the kingdom. But the way we brought it is kind of different than what you would normally see…

Let the church say, “Amen!”

Y’all gon watch tonight?

Any thoughts?