Celebrating Our Differences
In my everyday existence there is rhythm. My life has a soundtrack, a pulsating beat which inspires, words that move me, and a flow as smooth as butter. I performed an experiment recently where I attempted to survive a day without music. I failed miserably. Like air,…
“Music is defined as vocal or instrumental sounds (or both) combined in such a way as to produce beauty of form, harmony, and expression of emotion.” -Oxford Dictionary Recently, my bonus father, Wayne Lambert and I sat at the kitchen table discussing his affinity for music. Over the…
It’s 4 a.m., my alarm blares and I lay there thinking, “Do I really have to get up? I can just be overweight, out of shape and eat what I want. The Mister will still love me, so it’s cool”. I said the last part while stumbling into…
Drummers beat out the rhythm of harmony from their bongos as they enter the rear of the chapel with skillful artistry and measured synchronicity fingers palms heels of the hands strike forcibly upon the hollow of the vessel we call the drum melodious flowing sounds that invade…
Garden Spices met YeYe Omileye Achikeobi-Lewis a few years back. I chronicled my journey to Asheville, NC to a ceremony that honored the Four Elemental Mothers. Along with her husband, Chief Olu, Omileye was “answering the call’ to host and facilitate the event. She has conducted a number of…
“Until the lion learns to write, all the stories will glorify the hunter.” -African proverb On opening night for Black Panther, the movie based on the Marvel comic book character and the mythical African nation of Wakanda, I was front and center with a close friend….
I met Kerrigan Casey at a wonderful Black History program, Youth Program: Who We Were Then and Who We Are Now, held at the library in Florence, AL. Part of the program, Casey was the ‘live art’ exhibit who was painting/creating, as other folks performed. When I saw…
This morning I woke for some reason thinking of the yoga and racism article I recently read, shared on Facebook and all the comments it elicited. Then I thought of the diversity facilitator training I went through and thought what good does it do? Who benefits? Does anyone?…
Charlene Carter has a smile that signifies her vitality. She is an exuberant trailblazer that shares her many gifts and talents in the Shoals area. The oldest of 3, Carter revels in the fact that she is fabulously 60. “We can be free at any age.” She grew…
Confederate monuments continue to be controversial as we Americans seek to understand our past. In memorializing the past by building monuments, it is easy to obscure reality, to glorify a cause, and to justify the actions of a group of people. The difficult part is acknowledging the past…