Reviving the Green Book

In 1936 Victor Hugo Green, a mailman from New York, created the Negro Motorists Green Book. As a postal worker, he knew where Black folks could travel, eat, and rest safely. His idea to create, publish, and sell this book protected many a weary traveler in search of gas, food, and lodging. For $0.25, a […]

Take me Back

Guide me O ThouGreat JehovahPilgrim through this Barren LandI am weakBut Thou art MightyHold me with Thy powerful Hand I can still see and hear my dad and the other deacons singing this at the altar on Sunday morning. Dad often led morning devotion and this song was part of the repertoire. If the Pastor […]

Black Friday

My friends and family know about Sacred Friday. It’s my one day out of each week when I don’t answer my phone and I rest from external media. I eat food I didn’t cook and pour glass upon glass of Truth and Valor, whilst seated in front of the tele. Or not. Sometimes I settle […]

Why did you say yes?

Rob Porter. David Sorensen. Al Franken. Harvey Weinstein. John Hockenberry. Matt Lauer. Roy Moore. Bill Cosby. these men comprise a hall of fame list of abusers, adulterers, and misogynists and every single one of them are married, some more than once. the details of their indiscretions have been bandied about in the news, debated on […]

freedom begins in the mind

we have euphemisms for everything: he’s on that stuff, where, stuff is drugs, narcotics.  by contrast, “he got that stuff” means he has AIDS or is HIV positive. he’s “different” or “like that” or “funny.” back then such phrases meant gay, today we don’t even speak the word and if we do, it’s said in […]

let hope dance

my dad called tonight looking for my sister whose flight was due to arrive around 11am this morning. of course he knew i’d know where she was and i did: she was in her hotel dreading the 30 minute drive across the river to his house. before we ended the call he asked, are those […]

grace and mercy

friends, when i mess up and spend what seems like hours ranting to a colleague about someone else who messed up, i must fess up. what a morning. mini fires burning throughout the work forest and i am not smoky the bear. while i’m trying to address these issues, tonka calls me. we go on […]

look at this fool

so the book title, “look at this fool” has more material than i could ever imagine. the latest in a line of fools is “the sheik” who made his presence known via a social media site. we worked at the same company before he joined the company i’m at now. he asks me to take […]

the truthteller

the truth is, i’m mad at myself. mad that i let myself waste 4 years. some months ago a different ex asked me why i’m single. he went on to list all my fabulous attributes, and trust me there are many, and wanted to know “what’s the deal? you keep yourself up, i know you […]

color me badd

i am convinced that white women are hyper-sexualized. they like to talk bout it, be sexy (or try to be), find otu what you do or think about it, write about it. they are obsessed with sex, sexuality, beauty, and weight. during the lecture this morning, my instructor was on the panel and the topic […]