“Where do we go from here, where do we go? And is it real or just something we think we know? Where are we going now, where do we go? ‘Cause if it’s the same as yesterday, you know I’m … Continue reading Where Do We Go From Here?
My great-grandmother was generous to a fault. The stories of how her house was a haven for needy people abound. My grandmother inherited this value, and I grew up never knowing who would show up for lunch at her table. … Continue reading What we model…
The Metaphor: So, I planted a rosebush next to my mailbox. I thought it would be a beautiful thing. I thought it would grow up and have pretty pink flowers and like so many of my neighbors’ mailbox flora would … Continue reading “The Rosebush and the Root”
I love you. I have loved you since before I could write my own name in either cursive or print. As a child, I publicly waxed poetic about you. I pledged allegiance to you every morning. I sang songs to … Continue reading “Of Thee I Sing”
1444 marks the beginning of the Atlantic Slave Trade. This is when the Portuguese transported the first Africans to Europe as slaves. By 1526 they expanded their reach and delivered their first shipload of enslaved Africans to Brazil. In 1619 … Continue reading Slavery and the Roots of Racism/White Supremacy
My father took me to the eye doctor not long ago. The pressure in my eyes has been slightly elevated. After a thorough examination and waiting for the eye drops to finally kick in, the doctor told me I’m doing … Continue reading Ignorant Beliefs of Cultural Roots have Damaged Life in my community
I hold each kernel between my fingers. The seeds were planted close together, and, in order to reap the benefit of each new start, I must separate the small plants. Because they are so close, very little dirt adheres to … Continue reading The Ongoing Work of Growing Things
The first time I read Richard Wright’s 1937 essay, “The Ethics of Living Jim Crow: An Autobiographical Sketch,” it took my breath away. I stumbled across it while flipping through a fat volume I’d checked out of the library, The … Continue reading What I Never Knew: Reading Richard Wright
If we truly seek harmony in these yet to be United States, we must stop the hagiography of its founding and fix the fragmentation built into this nation of our cohabitation. Continue reading Racist Roots of a Revolutionary Nation
Three-Fifths 