Category Archives: Relationships

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Season 4 of OWN’s ‘Greenleaf’ Returns Tuesday, September 3!

Hello World,

Y’all, our favorite megachurch drama OWN’s “Greenleaf” is coming back on Tuesday, Sept. 3 at 10 p.m. EST to kick off Season 4! That’s right, Saints! No more rushing home from Bible Study to tune into the Bishop & Lady Mae show on a Wednesday!

“Season Four finds the Greenleafs attempting to maintain a united front in the face of losing Calvary to Bob Whitmore (Beau Bridges) and Harmony & Hope Ministries, but secrets past and present create what could be fatal fractures in the family’s fragile foundation. Lady Mae (Lynn Whitfield) and Grace (Merle Dandridge) form an uneasy alliance as they endeavor to reclaim their church from Harmony & Hope — Grace from within the church where she’s operating as interim head pastor and Lady Mae using her persuasive ways from the outside. But Grace’s mission becomes complicated when a mysterious phone call sets in motion a chain of events that threatens to reveal her biggest secret yet. The Bishop (Keith David) continues working to mend his rift with his wife Lady Mae, while day by day Harmony & Hope’s grip on Calvary tightens.”

Below is the trailer:

There was a LOT in that trailer, right?! I won’t break everything down until Season 4 kicks off but it looks like we will finally find out what happened with Grace in Phoenix, Noah Kendall, Grace’s first love from Season 1 is coming back and Charity may be sleeping with the enemy aka the fine black guy from Harmony & Hope Ministries!

The hit megachurch drama series “Greenleaf” is produced for OWN by Lionsgate in association with Harpo Films and Pine City.  Executive producers are Oprah Winfrey, Craig Wright, Clement Virgo, and Kriss Turner Towner.

Y’all can catch up on the show’s complete three seasons on Netflix AND by reading my “Greenleaf” recaps! Here is “Greenleaf Finale Recap, Season 3 Episode 13: The New Life…”

And if you want to read recaps of all of Season 3, just go to the search button on the upper right and search by using the term “Greenleaf Season 3!”

So are you ready for Season 4 of OWN’s “Greenleaf?” Y’all know I am!!!

Any thoughts?

 

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The Top 10 Blog Posts and or Magazine Articles for Black Christian Women in June 2019

Hello World,

If I don’t get a chance to tell you tomorrow, Happy Independence Day in advance to those of my subscribers who live in the USA! Although we are divided on many issues as a country, there is still no place that I would rather live and dream than in the United States of America! (And that’s not to say that I don’t want to visit countries all over God’s beautiful earth, but I digress..)

So y’all, I’m back with my monthly roundup of blog posts and or magazine articles for black Christian women! Below is my Top 10 monthly roundup of blog posts and or magazine/newspaper articles for black Christian women for June 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. “Meet Rihanna, The Shy Gal” by Sarah Paulson

Excerpt: PAULSON: Have you always been a person of real faith?

RIHANNA: I’ve always been. My first time praying and fasting was when I was 7 years old. I did that on my own, because I wanted to go to New York, and I knew that this was a sacrifice I had to make in order for God to make sure I could get there.

PAULSON: Have you ever felt that God abandoned you? Or have you questioned your faith?

RIHANNA: Not my faith, but I have been in a place where I felt like maybe I had disappointed God so much that we weren’t as close. Actually, that happened to me while I was making Anti. That was a really hard time, but, thank God, I got through it. See more at: interviewmagazine.com.

2. “I’m Single, Saved, Celibate & I Want To Have Sex” by Monique Love

Excerpt: So, allow me to break the ice by confessing with you where I’m at in my life: I’m single, celibate and I want to have sex – I don’t want to wait anymore.

Shocker! I know this isn’t what you’ll hear from the average Christian however, this isn’t your average cookie cutter article either. We get down to the real issues Christians are dealing with in today’s world and let’s be honest, desiring sex is definitely one of them.

I’ve been celibate for almost six years. And throughout this journey of purity by way of honoring God with my body, it’s been a roller coaster ride. Some seasons, my mind is on a heavenly high while other times my mind wanders to some low, impure places. See more at: xonecole.com. 

3. “How Michelle Williams Is Healing And Moving On After The Worst Year Of Her Life” by Charli Penn

Excerpt: “That’s right. People have been like, ‘Michelle, this is a season for people to love on you.’ That’s hard to accept when you’re independent. It’s hard to sit down and just let somebody love on you, take care of you. I’m in a church where I’m being discipled. I don’t have to wear makeup. I can just go in and worship the Lord—go to church and just be. I’m getting back to my first love, which is God. And that had been a part of my success before. I was serving God. I’m forming that habit again.” See more at essence.com.

4. “Everyone (Even Barbara Walters) Told Sherri Shepherd Her Ex Was Sorry, But She Married Him Because She Was Lonely And Horny” by Victoria Uwumarogie

Excerpt: “I was in a place in New York by myself, lonely,” she said. “At the time I was in my 40s and scared. I was like, ‘I’m getting older, who’s going to want to be in a relationship?’ It was a lot of stuff done out of fear. I was also raised to in the church to believe you can’t have sex before you get married, so I was horny! The whole celibacy thing, this idea that it’s better to get married than to burn. So I got married too because I was horny, and look, we never had sex.” See more at: madamenoire.com.

5. “LaKeesha Walrond, New Black Woman Seminary President Breaking ‘Glass Ceilings’” by Adelle M. Banks

Excerpt: NEW YORK (RNS) — Sitting in her office on Manhattan’s far west side, the new president of New York Theological Seminary, the Rev. LaKeesha Walrond, recalled how she once was reprimanded as a youth for crossing the pulpit area of her church during a choir rehearsal. Back then, she was taught, and believed, that women could not be preachers. After a career as an educator, executive pastor of a Harlem megachurch and, since June 3, the first African American woman president of the 119-year-old seminary, Walrond sees her trajectory as a sign that “God had this plan.” After serving at First Corinthian Baptist Church, where her husband, the Rev. Michael A. Walrond Jr., is senior pastor, she views her leadership of a 300-student multidenominational seminary focused on urban ministry as a reason for hope for other women. See more at: religionnews.com. 

6. “Rose Hudson-Wilkin to become Church of England’s First Black Female Bishop”

Excerpt: She will be consecrated in a service at St Paul’s Cathedral on 19 November and installed at Canterbury Cathedral on 30 November. In addition to being Chaplain to the Speaker, Rev Hudson-Wilkin, who was born and raised in Jamaica, has served until now as Priest in Charge of St Mary-at-Hill, in London.  “I am excited to have been called to be the next bishop of Dover in the Diocese of Canterbury with its long history of Christian witness,” she said. See more at: christiantoday.com. 

7. “The First Black Barbie to Use a Wheelchair is Here, and People are Loving the Message It Sends to Kids” by Amanda Krause

Excerpt: The doll is the first black Barbie to use a wheelchair, and is featured in Mattel’s Fashionista line, which is a part of the company’s ongoing attempt to create more inclusive toys. The Barbie was announced during the New York Toy Fair in February 2019, and officially launched in June. See more at: insider.com. 

8. “Why Brianna Mason is excited to be first African American crowned Miss Tennessee” by Amy McRary

Excerpt: “I can’t even put into words how special this is,” Mason said at a press conference after her win. “I have been competing for so long, and there’s a Miss Tennessee room with portraits of all past Miss Tennessees, and none of them looked liked me. And so I’ve made it my goal for the last couple of years to make sure my face gets up there not just for me, but for all of the young ladies who look like me and don’t think they can do it just because of their skin color.” See more at: knoxnews.com. 

9. “Breakfast of Champions: Serena Williams Scores Her 1st Wheaties Box!” by Maiysha Kai

Excerpt: It’s the most important meal of the day, and she’s known as the greatest female tennis player to play the game, so how is it possible we’re just now celebrating Serena Williams getting her own Wheaties box? As it turns out, Williams is only the second black female tennis player to grace a box of Wheaties and only the fourth female tennis player of all time, following Chris Evert and Alice Marble. In 2001, General Mills paid tribute to the legendary Althea Gibson, one of Williams’ well-known influences, but it would take nearly another two decades for them to honor Williams, who is widely recognized as the “GOAT.” See more at: theglowup.theroot.com. 

10. “NASA Renames Street in Front of Headquarters after ‘Hidden Figures'” by Rachel Frazin

Excerpt: NASA has renamed the street in front of its Washington, D.C., headquarters from “E Street SW” to “Hidden Figures Way” to honor the black female scientists featured in the book and movie “Hidden Figures.” Scientists Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson were honored at the ceremony on Wednesday. Also honored were “all women who have dedicated their lives to honorably serving their country, advancing equality, and contributing to the United States space program,” according to a NASA statement. See more at: thehill.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 magazine and newspaper articles for black Christian women, you don’t have to be one to appreciate these pieces  🙂.

Any thoughts?

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Dr. Lawrence M. Drake II Releases New Book ‘Color Him Father’ to Help Black Fathers Heal After Losing a Child – NEW BOOK ALERT!!!

Hello World,

As today is Fathers Day, I want to introduce a new book Color Him Father that was released to honor fatherhood. I’m reasonably sure that becoming a father is to a child is one of the proudest moments of a man’s life. But what happens when a father loses that child? You don’t hear about the latter scenario because in a perfect world, a child is a father’s legacy, living long after that father has gone on to be with the Lord. But since we live in a fallen world, sometimes a father will not only welcome his child into this world but he will also usher that child back to the Lord. Businessman Dr. Lawrence M. Drake II experienced that when his 41-year-old daughter Kia Nichol Drake passed away in 2017. She suffered from sarcoidosis and stomach cancer.

Although she only passed away two years ago next month, he was able to capture his feelings about his daughter’s life and her untimely death. In his poignant story, he admits that initially when he discovered that his then wife was pregnant, he was ambivalent. They were married college students and their budget did not include a line item for the birth of a child. In fact, he could not take home his baby daughter initially because although he had three jobs, he didn’t have health insurance. But once she was born, he delighted in his daughter, and he became a parent of a son about two years later around the time he graduated from college.

He writes about attempting to balance his ambition to excel in his career and family life, recalling that by the time his daughter graduated from high school, the family had moved 10 to 12 times!  He reveals how she began asserting her independence when she quit her high school’s basketball team after she scored the winning shot at a critical game. She told him she didn’t want the “pressure” of a being a star athlete. And although she was expected to major in business at Florida A&M University, she elected to major in psychology in part so she wouldn’t have to travel as much as her father traveled in his business career. She aspired to help battered women and other women in horrific situations as she experienced an abusive relationship in college. And in 1997, she graduated from college with a degree in psychology.

He reveals his admiration for his daughter when although she was diagnosed with stage 4 sarcoidosis in 2006, she “fought through her fears” to give birth to a son two years later at 32 years old. As I read his story, it gave me insight into how my father may feel or think about me. Although my father is a retired pastor, outside of the pulpit, he is a quiet man and while we have had many, many, many discussions over the years, I’ve never thought to ask him how he views my life and the decisions I’ve made. But from reading Dr. Drake’s story about this daughter, although we may not realize it, our fathers are thinking about us more than we know…

And if you would like to know more about Dr. Drake’s account of his daughter’s life,  you will have buy his book and read it for yourself…

But Dr. Drake’s story about his daughter Kia is not the only story that is shared in this important book. Below is the official description of Color Him Father:

It’s a brotherhood no man wants to join – the group of men who share the pain of losing a child. Whether that child is an infant, teenager, young or full grown adult, grieving the loss of a child is a heartache that can break the strongest of men.

Now, seven men who hold membership in that fraternity of fatherhood have come together to share the sorrow of their suffering. In their own unique voices, these men tackle perspectives of being a Black father that are rarely discussed.

In Color Him Father, you will step inside these very personal and intense stories of love and loss, tragedies and triumphs….But these stories will take you beyond the pain as they share their deep commitment to fatherhood.

Whether you’re a man traveling a similar path, supporting someone who has made that journey, or just want to gain insight, these touching testimonies will enlighten and educate people from all walks of life.

Released by Brown Girls Books, Color Him Father will encourage all fathers to renew their promises to their children, while motivating young Black men to become even more committed to the brotherhood of fatherhood.

Below is a trailer for Color Him Father:

Dr. Lawrence M. Drake II is an accomplished businessman, author, scholar, and emerging thought leader on the complexities of Black fatherhood in America.  For over forty years, he’s held a variety of senior-level positions at global companies, including Coca Cola, Executive Leadership Council, PepsiCo, Cablevision Systems Corp., and Kraft Inc. As the President and CEO of LEAD, a 21st century learning advocacy organization, he skillfully oversees initiatives that prepare the current and future generations of leaders for success in their academic and professional endeavors.

Based in Atlanta, Georgia, he is a life member of Alpha Phi Alpha, Fraternity, Inc., and actively serves on the boards, or is a member of notable organizations such as the American Psychological Association, Association of Black Psychologists, and Judson University. His personal interests include creating new memories with his wife, his five children, and seven grandchildren.

Below are the tour dates for the book, and for more information, go to: coloroffatherhood.com.

Any thoughts?