Through her words, her undeniable presence and voice she left an indelible mark on the world. She wrote this poem two years into President Jimmy Carter’s term; the year Harvey Milk became the first openly gay member of the San Francisco City Council. Who knew that 36 years later the poem’s sentiment would be still… Continue reading Still I Rise ~ Maya Angelou
Category: Fleshing It Out
Freedom Singers at the White House
Need an alternative to football after your turkey dinner? Check out this video. Especially important for the young folk among you…
Adjustments,Tucks and Plans
We can be encouraged by young folk like my niece, Karen, working on the ground in many ways to “lift every voice”.
“We Shall Not Be Moved” ~ March On Washington 1963
America has been here before. Watch this video of the Freedom Singers that preeminent day 53 years ago. The Freedom Singers began in Albany, Georgia in 1962 during the Civil Rights Movement. From L-R: Charles Neblett (bass), Bernice Johnshon Reagon (alto) Cordell Reagon (tenor), unknown and Rutha Harris (soprano). This performance was at The March… Continue reading “We Shall Not Be Moved” ~ March On Washington 1963
Van Jones: “Whitelash”
During these unsettling times we sorely need Van Jones’ down home, razor sharp intellect and insight.
And now…moving on…My letter to the Young Folk
I’m impressed with how you are engaged and involved with today’s political & social issues. I’m hopeful for America’s future because YOU are that future. And yet it breaks my heart to see you filled with stress at having to witness the moral degradation of late. Exhausted from the two-year fiasco we’ve endured we’re also… Continue reading And now…moving on…My letter to the Young Folk
The Day the “Colored Sign” Walked Out
Penny Patch, Panola County, MS. 1965. Photo by Tom Wakayama Guest Blogger: Penny Patch Lyndonville, Vermont “In 1962 I was a young white woman working as an organizer for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in Southwest Georgia. A brilliant young man named Charles Sherrod was our project director, my teacher and mentor. And during… Continue reading The Day the “Colored Sign” Walked Out
President Obama: “What could more American than this?” [Bloody Sunday]
Last night I read from John Garner’s The Art of Fiction about the theory of the “fictional dream”—a notion that the writer makes us “see” the story by giving us images that appeal to all our senses, eliciting emotion. I thought of this as I watched President Obama’s electrifying speech delivered this past Saturday in Selma Alabama on… Continue reading President Obama: “What could more American than this?” [Bloody Sunday]
Selma, The Film
I saw the movie and love it and I’m thrilled that a black woman, Ava DuVernay, directed. This is the story of a seminal moment in American history: the 1965 Selma to Montgomery, Alabama marches for the rights of blacks to vote. It was a horrific time in the story of our nation. This film gets… Continue reading Selma, The Film
“The Whitewashing of James Brown”
In the 60s James made being Black a badge of honor with the mega hit song: “Say It Loud (I’m Black and I’m Proud)”. So how can it be there’s not a single black person helping to tell his story in the new film Get On Up?