Category: Soulful Thoughts

What Does It Mean to Be the Color BLACK

I have to wonder if today could be my last all because of a white man with a gun and a badge. I can’t wear a hoodie over my face, it’s a mask. A mask that says SHOOT ME!! But you don’t even ask. You don’t ask about my background such as where I grew…

Read More

The Gift of Death: “Since You Left”

I SEE: Death ushers me into the recognition of my own mortality and the blessing of “family” who call on me to know purpose. It reminds me also that maybe a meaning of the purpose of my life is found in continuing the contributions of those resting souls who made sure I could whisper on my pillow words of connected affirmation: “So here is family.”

Let’s Not Forget Charleston: “The Heavenly Cloud of Nine Witnesses” Are Calling for “Action-Oriented Sympathy”

  This evening I inhale the gift of celestial grace bestowed upon the nine members of the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church: Cynthia Marie Graham Hurd, Susie Jackson, Ethel Lee Lance, Depayne Middleton-Doctor, Clementa C. Pinckney, Tywanza Sanders, Daniel Simmons, Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, and Myra Thompson. The devil-driven gunman who killed these nine members of the…

Read More

Church Mothers:Thinking of Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy

I love “Church Mothers.” I appreciate their celestial confidence. I love how they designate certain church pews as their own; I love their hats, and the way they smile. They are the metaphorical waters of many church fountains. Often they hold the tears of weary members, baptizing them into wellness. Church mothers are the givers,…

Read More

Thinking of Michael Jackson: for My Sister Aleah

This evening of January 20, 2016, I am missing Michael Jackson, not the images of him I hold in my mind. I am missing the way in which he peered into the public with the enigmatic innocence he carried in his eyes. I am hoping that when I close my eyes on the days I miss him most, I will see him through my memory, and, hopefully, language will help me call in prayer the humanity I am sure he loved. Talk about finding purpose in the hum of a Michael Jackson song!

Five Kernels of Corn: A Thanksgiving Prayer

Thanks Lord. During this year’s dinner, you took me “undercover.” I thought I was going to a Thanksgiving dinner with friends; however, you gave me the unmerited grace of a blessing grounded in the meaning of five kernels of corn. Lord, you saw that I needed the five-corn-kernels to carry around with me in 2016 as a reminder of your blessings, your gift of beautiful grace.

“What Happened Sandra Bland” by Miriam “Robyn Hood” Hyman

“What Happened Sandra Bland” Sandra Bland Sandra Bland What happened? Damn! Wish I could have been a fly in your Cell I would tell Of your truth How you were mistreated How you were abused How you were cheated Another black life lost My energy depleted Working on a plan To have the enemy defeated…

Read More

“Stepping Out of Silence”: A Good-by@ Hello Moment

This afternoon I distill the silence around me as I reflect on a senior citizen celebration at the Oakwood University Church on the campus of Oakwood University on Saturday, July 25, 2015. That Saturday was, for me, one of those “Good by @ Hello” moments. Metaphorically speaking, a “Good-by @ Hello” moment is a flash…

Read More

Conversation with My Open Heaven GOD

My open heaven GOD spoke a word of revelation to me that California Sunday as I walked the beach. Today my prayer is this: GOD as I speak, pray, and listen to YOU, help me to trust and believe YOU. Help me to employ the measure of WOW FAITH YOU bequeath to me daily. Thank you LORD for giving me the sand upon which to feel my feet, the ocean water to cool my feet, and the heaven that pours out restorative revelations through the beautiful mind you have given me: AMEN and WOW!