Celebrating Our Differences
Zero: Prologue Self-hatred and narcissism exist in a mutualistic symbiotic relationship, often appearing as one or the other. This is because many people use the term ‘narcissism’ colloquially (i.e., as a general diagnosis of a self-congratulatory/concerned person, with little to no regard for the myth of Narcissus…
Garden Spices welcomes Abby Clark, who plays a vital part in the Project Say Something protest against a Confederate Monument in Florence, AL. Her work, #protestspotlight, documents profiles of individual protesters, their motivation, and vision. Here are some of the protesters spotlighted.- Victorine Today’s #protestspotlight shares the voice…
Dr. Maguerite Mariama Dear Friends, Our ancestors knew how to plan for difficult moments such as these – as their lives were filled with them. We’ll get through this just as they did, with cultural inclusion, strategic planning, and communal LOVE. Yes, we must strike a balance…
Estranged Fruit In my motherland, gay people are worth a pile of dry leaves. Their heads are cracked open like watermelons and their hair thrown everywhere like streamers and confetti. Their voices are drowned by the crows that pluck their eyes out for breakfast while good people do…
“My yard sign finally arrived.” Wanda Gail Campbell Since the mid-2010s, the term “cancel culture” has slipped into media prominence. Now many, including this author, seem to be pondering what, exactly, does use of the term even mean? The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines it as the act of canceling or the removal “of support for public figures…
By Susan D. Peters Caste: a system of rigid social stratification characterized by hereditary status, endogamy, and social barriers sanctioned by custom, law, or religion. Merriam Webster’s dictionary If ever a book turns the accepted definition of the “race problem” on its head, CASTE: The Origins of Our…
So much of the Confederate symbol idolatry is based upon the false narrative of the Lost Cause. Project Say Something has been protesting a monument that sits in front of the Lauderdale County Courthouse, in Florence, AL. True to its mission to educate while taking action, PSS conducted…
I remember my grandfather, Pops, bristling with anger when hearing Black folks referred to as ‘Colored.’ I knew that it was a term the government and the media used to describe us prior to, say, 1970. As a little boy, I asked him why it upset him…
I recently watched the rebroadcast of an ABC 2017 Special- Taking the Stage: African American Music and Stories that Changed America. It was a wonderful tribute to the African American community. Faces of so many well-known citizens graced the stage (and the audience) at Washington’s John F….
I continually tell my readers; I write the stories that come to me—and this story blindsided me. The protagonist, the leading character in my latest novel, Winter’s Lament, showed up in my life during a blizzard. It literally snowed for ninety days. I couldn’t go outside. Friends came and shoveled…