Cover Letter to OBS

I've started a new job today - Employment and Careers Coach.  I am really excited about this opportunity to incubate a community, faith based non-profit and design its career pathways for under-skilled low income workers.  My work will allow me to not only shared the professional development skills I've been introduced to, but will let me create an employment program focused on job training, skills assessment, and job creation.

I'm so excited!!!!

I'm looking at some of my old cover letters and happened upon this one...thought I would share....

November 14, 2014

The Organization for Black Struggle

1401 Rowan Ave.

St. Louis, MO 63112

Dear OBS,

I know that everything in life has an ordained purpose - nothing is by happenstance. As a little girl growing up in E. St Louis, IL I witnessed hard working people striving to make a better tomorrow for their families while battling the difficult conditions of their reality.  I lived in a community where people valued their ability to share what they had while also being open to the generosity of their neighbors.  Over the last 14 years I’ve traveled this country for the purpose of working, learning, honing my skills and gaining perspective, with the intention of returning home one day to serve as a resource to my community. That day has arrived, and it is with great excitement and humility that I submit my resume and cover letter for consideration of the Development Lead position for The Organization for Black Struggle.

Over the last decade, I’ve honored my many passions and expanded my skills through diverse work experiences. Most recently, in 2013, I completed a year-long professional development fellowship with the Proteus Fund Diversity Fellowship – a program designed to increase the presence of people of color in philanthropy. Throughout my career, I have sought to remain substantively connected to community work, while also exploring the critical question of sustainability. My career path has nurtured a long term commitment to community; building integrated networks necessary to establish multi-stream funding sources for the sustainability of your organization.

I am extremely impressed with the mission and history of OBS, and its dedicated staff and leadership. I have had multiple opportunities to work with members of OBS through my organizing work with the Campaign to Bring Mumia Home.  During the last two years my work with the campaign has focused on building a sustainable revenue generating infrastructure to support our five-year strategic goals.  Without the support of full-time staff or dedicated funding from grantmaking organizations, we have made significant inroads in creating revenue through merchandising, cultural event fundraising, crowdfunding, and cultivating individual donors through an ambassadorship program. 

In the pursuit of justice, human rights, and democracy I employ the words of Dr. W.E.B DuBois, “…to earn a living by doing the work which I wanted to do, and the work that the world needed done.” I hope to embody these words as the Development Lead for Organization for Black Struggle.  Thank you for this opportunity to share a little about my work, and I am available via email (lillymaples79@gmail.com) or telephone (###-###-####) to schedule a follow up conversation or interview.

Respectfully,

She's definitely a diva

The first time I heard about it was in 2009 during my yoga teacher training program.  I was introduced to so many things - dry brushing, oil pulling, neti pot, and the diva cup.

The latter appealed to me the most, for obvious reasons, until I was told exactly what that was.

Huh; you mean you have to dump out the contents and re-insert it????

Yeah, this "diva cup" also know as a "menstrual cup" is a reusable silicon material that you insert into your vagina during  your monthly flow.  It can stay in for up to 12 hours and can replace the need for tampons and pads.

I was intrigued, but not quite sold yet.  The cost is not prohibitive since you will not have to buy pads ever again each month, but at the time I was like $30-$40 was more than I was willing to budget for this month's cycle.  And when ever I had the disposable income, I had a whole box of pads to get rid of.

A number of years went by and each month I bought my obligatory allotment of tampons and pads, but always curious about one day trying the cup.

Last year while living in "witch country" Massachusetts I was introduced to young women who were exploring this novel idea of loving and appreciating our monthly menses.  I was receptive because I did not understand why I had such a negative reaction to this event that happens like clockwork for over half my life.  Of course not knowing when it was coming and being "surprised" on the day I wore white as I walked away from this tall, dark, handsome fellow does not help to create positive feeling about something that can feel so damning.

But that was years ago, at least a decade, and now I was becoming a pro at predicting when my cycle was coming, and I had to give it to Aunt Flo, she was always kind to me.  Despite the pms's week long bloating, I had a very mild cycle - no debilitating cramps or missed cycles; I was quite blessed.

So with this new awareness I was willing to listen to these witches, I mean liberated women, discuss the beauty and mystic of the flow.  And I was hooked.  I began reading about the power that is generated from the feminine energy when we are bleeding; how this energy would emanate power that frighten men, hence this ridiculous idea that women must be separated from mix groups.

I was encourage to look at the menses, touch it, taste it (although I will not admit to whether I tasted it or not), be comfortable with it's freedom out of the body.

And I was not alone.  This summer a huge deal was made about the woman who was running a marathon and her period started, and she kept running (God forbid!).  Our curiosity of what for so long has been deemed taboo is forcing us to tap into unchartered waters of self love. During this last year I've been having an intimate love affair with my menstrual cycle.  Charting when she arrives, how long she stays, how many days in between the next.  Although there is regularity she still likes to keep me on my toes.  I have yet to identify a pattern with my period, and I sort of like that.  It speaks so much to my own personality.  Routine is desired, but I can't help but rebel into spontaneity.  So this month I was a little surprised that my period came the same day as it did last month and the month before.  (TMI - I'm curious if it was all the good loving I was getting from my boyfriend when I went to visit him in late August that created this regularity...)

But I digress...

And so it arrived last night, which lead me to the local health food and natural products store and asked for the diva cup.  The young lady was not familiar with it, but she was able to direct me to the area where she thought it should be.  And there it was; two sizes - pink for women under 30 or who have not had a baby, and blue for women over 30 or who have had a baby. 
Since my yoni has not been stretched to those limits, yet, I went with the pink.

The instructions were simple enough.  Since my journey into all things my vagina, I was quite familiar with all the folds and holes to navigate.  I also use a jade or yoni egg so inserting large things in my vaginal canal is not unusual.

Upon washing the cup and inserting it in, I did add a pad, just in case I did not do it right.  I got a little concern about whether I inserted it horizontally enough.  It did not feel terribly weird or foreign.  Of course I've used tampons in the past and it felt like the first time I began using them; for the first half an hour you are aware that something is hanging outside of your vagina, but after a while it becomes normal.

I went to bed, slept with it, no problem, and woke up the next morning with clean sheets (this is rare, it does not matter how I position the pad in my panties, I always end up with some type of spot or blot.).

I'm glad that I did add that extra level of protection, because that pad came in handy.  When I went to empty it, which was pretty simple and easy, it was full to the brim.  (turn away if you are skirmish around gooey things)

It was quite liquid, bright blood red, and surprising did not have that distinct period smell.  I'm convenience it must be chemicals in the pad that helps with absorption that mixes with the blood to cause that smell. Anyway, I dumped it in the toilet, rinsed and washed it with soap, and squeezed it back in.

I was not completely sure if it would be enough so I put on a new pad.  Viola, all day I was protected.  I emptied the cup about three times.  Each time I was not even half way full, and mind you, this is my heaviest day.  I spent time looking at it, in awe of it actually, and confident that I truly am a diva.  A master of my own universe.  A conqueror of the unknown, a warrior queen uninhibited by the natural flow of my body.  I am a woman!  Proud and magnificent.  Literally I felt all those things as I slide my diva cup snuggly back in place.

Harry Belafonte Comes to Peoria, IL - an open letter to Mr. Belafonte upon his arrival to Peoria, IL (Jan. 19, 2015)





1965 Selma to Montgomery March, Dr. King, Coretta King, and Harry Belafonte

Dear Mr. Belafonte,
I think it is appropriate to borrow words from Lyndon B. Johnson's 1965 speech, "We Shall Overcome", "At times, history and fate meet at a single time in a single place to shape a turning point in man's unending search for freedom."

Not to be too dramatic, but that moment is now. 

History and fate are intersecting right now, in this place, the All-American city of Peoria, IL.  On January 19th, 2015 for the 23th annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Luncheon, you will be the keynote speaker.  I learned of this divine intervention on my drive into Peoria from New England to return home to live with my parents.

I had only a few years prior learned more about you, Mr.Belafonte, through the HBO documentary, Sing Your Song (2011), http://singyoursongthemovie.com/watch/.  To see the passion, the fire, the beauty of one man who used his angelic voice not to just serenade the world, but to challenge it to be its best self was magnificent.  Mr. Belafonte, you have been either at the forefront or behind the scenes of the national and global social movements of the last 60 years.  Your endurance and love is unmatched amongst world leaders today.  Fate and history has conspired to bring this great man to Peoria.

And what will Mr. Belafonte find when he arrives to Peoria?  For starters a community gasping on their last breaths of hope.  Peoria is best described, as so many All-American Cities, as a tale of two cities.  The predominate areas of underdevelopment and high poverty are overwhelming populated by black and brown bodies. The 61605 zip code, sixty percent black population, has the highest unemployment in the city and the lowest household income.  One pastor commented during the Nov. 25th forum on Ferguson hosted by the Peoria Police Community Relations Advisory Committee, that in fact, the conditions of black people in Peoria are worst than those in Ferguson; Peoria is potentially a Ferguson waiting to happen.  The geographic location of Peoria to St. Louis (Ferguson) and Chicago - three hour drive either direction - position it as a tinder box, ready to explode. 

And yet, it has not.  This too is divine.  These deep intentional breaths stabilizing the optimism of Peoria residents has been supported by veterans of the Civil Rights and Black Power movements.  There are many black and brown people here in Peoria that leverage their capital -social, financial, and human - to create a little more breathing room for the masses to sustain themselves, and yet the air is thinning.

Here, then emerges a contingent of young, community-minded, and inspired people. Inspired by Ferguson, inspired by New York, Oakland, and Chicago, inspired by you Mr. Belafonte.  Infused with a faith that we are at the right moment, and most importantly on the right side of history.  Out of their activism has sprouted, the Peoria Freedom Fighters.

The Peoria Freedom Fighters is a hodge-podge of concerned citizens, that are seeking to use their voice and body to demand systemic changes. These young people embody the spirit of Mark Clark - native son of Peoria, who was assassinated along with Fred Hampton in the Dec. 4, 1969 police raid in Chicago, IL.  Mark Clark represented the power, intelligence, and humanity of the people in his community.  He started the Black Panther Party in Peoria, and in 1969 began one of the first feeding program for children and youth at Ward Chapel AMC.  The legacy and spirit of Mark Clark still lives in these young people dedicated to fighting against injustice.

It is divine will that you were invited to speak at the MLK Luncheon this upcoming Monday, Jan. 19th, just ten days after the film Selma was released and screened in Peoria.  The young leaders of Peoria Freedom Fighters, recognized the value of that film to this movement, and actively encouraged their friends, family, co-workers, church and community members to go and support the film.  Other young motivated people are working in the communities organizing teach-ins around economic justice, focused on creating an economy that is equitable and just for all people. They are empowering residents of Peoria to participate not just in civic engagement through registering and casting their vote, but through participatory democracy, holding these elected officials accountable for their words and deeds.

Mr. Belafonte on Monday Jan. 19th when you stand to address the residents of Peoria, IL at this luncheon, know that Peoria Freedom Fighters will be there in the audience absorbing every word you say.  Being present in the gift of this moment that has been bestowed upon us by your presence.  We will take heed to your direction, and continue to study and apply your example.

We are organizing, we are building movements, we are emboldened by the presence and leadership of individuals like you who do not shirk away from opposition or hatred, but instead mount up with wings like an eagle to stare evil thoughts, ideas, and actions down with a smile and determination for good.  We will be victorious; we have been in the past and will continue to do so, because we are motivated by a love supreme.

Thank you for being a loyal and loving servant leader to humanity.  Your being is not in vain.

With humble appreciation and awe,

Peoria Freedom Fighters

A Revolution of Love

I often distract myself with the thoughts and words of others to avoid the painful process of trying to understand and articulate my own.
It is a cowardly act, I know, but through my yoga practice I've been exploring being with discomfort. Breathing through it, in fact, has help me find a little more space within my own being to begin to explore my truth and my words.
I don't recall the moment off the top of my head, but I do remember it was while I was living in Philadelphia that I came up with the phrase, "Love's Revolt". At first it was to represent a non existent art form that I had yet to express. I'm not a traditional artist (in fact what artist is, but I digress). I don't have musical talents. I cannot draw, and my dancing is questionable. Although I have always enjoyed writing. I know that being a writer is also an art, but my writing was not creative, more journalistic, so I did not categorize it as artistic in nature.
At the time I developed this phrase I was dabbling in decoupage and collages. I "up cycled " a coffee table and designed a collage on it. This, I thought, would be the prototype of what was Love's Revolt. But to no avail. I actually stop decoupaging all together. So now I was stuck with this idea with nothing to define it. I knew it would represent some form of art that I was later to imagine and develop, but in that moment, it was left in the fallopian tubes of my unfertilized artistic womb.
And then I found yoga. Not just my personal practice, but I became a yoga teacher. While teaching my classes I enjoyed using soul music as the soundtrack for the class. And the phrase, Love's Revolt emerged again, strongly, with a passion. So I named my offering of yoga, Love's Revolt Yoga. It has stuck and grown. I developed a simple website with that name and have identified myself as a yoga teacher under that name.
But yet, I don't feel like this is the final maturation of this term. For me, it still feels deficient. That my yoga practice is not enough to feel the space in defining this idea of Love's Revolt. And maybe I need to do more internal soul search to completely understand what this idea means.
Love's Revolt. Love's Revolution. Can they be interchangeable? I want them to be, but I'm not sure if they give off two different meanings.
For me Love's Revolt is a declaration of war. A manifesto declaring an end to hate, intolerance, but most importantly, indifference and suffering. It is an expression of humanness. A celebration of humanity; destruction of a disregard for human life . A reality that our power lies more in our ability to be thoughtful and concerned for one another as oppose to dominating another utilizing fear.
Love's Revolt is the kryptonite of fear. It's power and application is in dire need right now. As Stevie Wonder so eloquently puts it, "Love is in need of Love today". We are living in a society that seeks to punish and ostracize those who cause them distress and whom they fear. There is greater effort placed in exacerbating our differences and little concern in seeing the great commonalities we share as a human race.
Through my journey in yoga, I have come to learn that the fear begins from within. Marianne Wiliamson says it best, "it is our fear that frightens us the most..." not external fear but our internal fear. The fear of our greatness- our shared greatness. Our fear of abundance. Our fear that we can have the life we have imagined and dreamed for ourselves.
Love's Revolt is an internal revolution as much as it is external. A revolution of self love. A revolution of Ahimsa. The Sanskrit term that means non-harming, love and kindness. This term is defined in the Yoga Sutras as the first Universal Law to be practiced by all of humanity no matter their race, creed, religion, or orientation. It is the law of love. And in order to understand how to practice it externally, you must be able to apply it internally; to self first.
And that can be a daunting task. But not one that should be ignored. It requires a great deal of courage and bravery to explore the deficiencies and discomfort of loving self. An assessment of the good and bad of one's self. And an acceptance of what is. Being okay with what you find, and extending love and compassion to it. Once we are able to practice love and acceptance on self first, it becomes second nature to extend this to others.
Love's Revolt is how I chose to live this life on this earth. Indebted to those who came before me and in service to those that will inhabit this earth. My thoughts, words, and actions are funneled through the ambrosia of Love's Revolt. Everything I produce, from the exhale of my breathe to the institutions of radical revolution I create will embody the spirit of Love's Revolt.
Love's Revolt is more than just an art, it is a revolutionary act of being human. A humbling of one self to its internal power and a blossoming open to the infinite possibilities of humanity. Love's Revolt is a declaration of forgiveness! An end to fear and an embrace of peace.
I commit myself to this path, and I humbling seek the presence of your energy on this journey as well.
Peace and love

Wake Up Itches...

Ohhhh, Lawd have mercy, we all going to need to take a collective sigh.

So much stimulation going on, it's overwhelming.

If I did not have yoga, Lawd only knows I could be holed  up in here self-medicating on anti-depressants and bottles of vodka instead of marijuanna and wine.

Too much is going on all at once.  Hell since Obama's re-election in 2012there has been a visible crisis everyday.  The 300 hundred plus extra-judicial killings of black boys and men.  Beginning with Raymarley Graham, but gaining media attention with Trayvon Martin.  Snowden. Schools Closing. Syria. Government Shut down. Record breaking stock market. Food stamps cuts. Sequester. Stop and Frisk. Fruitvale Station.12 Years a Slave. Drones. Nelson Mandela. Beyonce. Rkelly. Cuts to Unemployment Compensation...

A lot has been going on.

There is an immediate need to take several deep cleansing breathes (the yoga teacher in me is coming out).  

Once we have collected ourselves, at once, we need to figure out what the hell is going on.  Right now there are too many analysis focused on individual politics.  All these things are separate entities that cannot be discussed  in tandem . One issue at a time.  We have to fully dissect one issue at a time, instead of seeing this madness as a whole body that needs triage stat!

Well this is unrealistic.  What we are dealing with is a disorder.  As described in "A Leader's Framework for Decision Making (Harvard Business Review - David J Snowden and Mary E. Boone) .  The Cynefin Framework is a logic model designed to explain complex, multi-faceted issues or challenges - or what the framework calls 'disorder'.  "Here, multiple perspectives jostle for prominence, factional leaders argue with one another, and cacophony rules. "

This precisely explains what we as the black community, are currently functioning in- a disorder.  There are too many issues that are overwhelming us; prohibiting us from dealing with  them individually.  On top of the most pressing issues like the killing of black children, the rabid unemployment, and a failed education system, we have to deal with the politics of respectability, of individual freedoms, of  internal self hate; that Fanon described, Kanye West, R Kelly Creflo Dollar, Barak Obama self hate.  (Its okay, breath through the discomfort)

We need to sit down and figure this thing out rationally.  Using logic, science, thought, spirit.  We are inundated by all these distractions and attacks at once and we are suppose to know how to deal with it? Lets be very honest.  The X-Genreation was appropriately named.  We don't know shit, except  for what the ruling class wanted us to know.  How many of us in grade school studied about Communism's role in the victory of the New Deal? How many learned about the Black Panther Movement and its 10 point plan, in school?  How many of us were taught that Dr. DuBois was an integrationalist who was half white?

Malcolm said it best, "We've been hoodwinked, bamboozled..."  We don't know shit about what is going on.

Did you know there was a militant wing of the ANC in South Africa that were training in Zimbabwe in the 1980's poised for a militarily strike against the Boar South African regime?  Did you know in 1985 the U.S. government dropped a bomb on its own citizens; in the city of "Brotherly Love"?

Of course we are utilizing valuable time and scholarly intellect on bullshit like Beyonce being a bad bitch.  Who cares!  Hell ever black and brown woman is a bad bitch.  That's what we do.  And to be completely honest, Beyonce is faux-chicken fries to the likes of Ramona and Pam Africa who walk through fire and call a mutherfucking pig and mutherfucking Pig to his face, after he's  knocked her two front teeth out of her mouth, while she was defending her man!!!!!

Y'all don't understand, but you are going to.  If it will be sooner, where you can be apart of the solution. Or later, when you are on the other side of history.

We are moving into the age of Humanity. The epoch of Europe has collapsed.  We are now in the between time, or as Baldwin eloquently defines, "the long meantime." The next 30 years will determine how the rest of the 21st Century will shape. In the same way, the first 50 years help determine how the 20th Century would be remember.

Lets take a collective inhale, together.  Regroup. Use logic and strategy to map out our plan. and exhale through the process of resurrecting humanity.

A time to serve (unfinished)

“If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done.” John13:14-15
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13: 34-35
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it, that the Father may be glorified in the Son; if you ask anything in my name, I will do it.” John 14: 12-14

My father, Rev.Wilson, has been encouraging me to read the book of John for many years. He would tell me that if I sought to truly understand Jesus and His purpose on this earth that John would provide that enlightenment. As any child would do, I resisted, but as I began to grow into my own adulthood the words of my father would linger in my subconscious until one day I sat down and read the book of John with my daily devotion. It was then that these specific verses spoke to my spirit in a very dynamic and humbling way.
I’ve always known that my life’s work was meant to serve the people, but I had no idea that my greatest teacher in service would be Jesus. It is through this journey of service that I come to you asking to share in this work of serving the people. Jesus’ work was feeding the poor, clothing the naked, healing the sick, engaging the downtrodden, and loving the forgotten ones.
Today many of our very own people are suffering greatly during this systemic recession. Unemployment amongst African-Americans in this country is at an alarming 16%. Students who are able to go off to college return with massive debt and no job prospects. Our community is suffering daily by lack of nutritious foods and quality health care. Our children still feel the pressures of under achievement.
The time is now, more than ever to take up the baton of revolutionary servitude as best demonstrated to us by the life of Jesus. It is one thing to know and confess Jesus to be Lord in our own lives, but it is another type of journey to take up His cross and do the greater works He has prepared us to do.

The P.E.A.C.E Campaign, Philadelphia Economic Advancement Collective is asking you and your congregation to join us in using our collective voice to shine a light on the injustices that continue to plague our urban communities. Dr. King so eloquently said that an “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” We must wash away the impurities of economic discrimination, police brutality, and environmental racism to create a society that reflects the beloved community we all seek to exist in.
The P.E.A.C.E Campaign is organizing daily teach-ins and community awareness events registering people to vote, collecting signatures for petitions demanding better conditions for our community, and providing literature and information on current statistics that plague our collective upliftment. We are asking to partner with your church by providing resources and volunteers to engage the community in one on one dialouge about the ...

I ask that you too join me in the streets of Philadelphia witnessing through revolutionary service by opening your church up for the community to ...

Thoughts of the American Negress

Everything happens for a reason; being open and responsive will make all the difference in the world when interpreting those reasons.

My mate once shared with me, persistence and patience precedes progress. Whether or not I truly understand the depth of this wisdom, it does resonate with my current state of existence.

I am a writer, have been a published writer since the age of 10 years old, but my patience and persistence has been inconsistent and so has my progress as a writer. I am now in 2011, focusing my thoughts, words, and actions to manifest that of a writer, and so here represents the rebirth of Love's Revolt, the blog.

On this blog I will share my thoughts, views, and opinions of what is happening in our world from an American Negress' perspective. I'm sure you're thinking, "we have that already, its BET"; and if you truly believe that then you should really read this blog, if nothing else for fodder to chew and digest.

We have yet been "paid in full" as a people the promissory note Dr. King eloquently spoke about in that famous hour long speech that gets butchered into 20 second sound bites. He says, "When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

Well if you've not been awoken, Negro male, by the sound of the police siren, then Negro woman you've been jarred from your sleep by a 4am phone call asking to come down to the police district to know that we still do not benefit from the riches and gains of this American dream as a people.

Sure of course, a few token Negros have been sprinkled on top like pepper in this melting pot, but the majority of American Negros (like 85% of us) get left at the bottom of the pot to flavor the American culture.

There still exist a major deficit when it comes to the American Negro's experience compare to that of other naturalized citizens. Michelle Alexander writes a timely and much needed book called the New Jim Crow, explaining how the criminal justice system is and has always been designed to revoke the rights of these American citizens that happen to be blacker than blue. I just received the book from Amazon and will be reading it over the next few days so as to use it as she says, "...for...those who have been struggling to persuade their friends, neighbors, relatives, teachers, co-workers, or political representatives that...our criminal justice system operates...a lot like an era we supposedly left behind, but have lacked the fact and data to back up their claims."**

This blog will serve in that same fashion, providing insight, data, and perspective of the American Negro experience from within the American Negro's veil. Helping folk, who feel this eerie familiarity to just a few years ago when American Negros were lynched, driven from their homes and communities, and forced into political and economic exile and underworld, navigate the current bureaucracy of neocolonialism.


Check in once a week to get the scoop of global affairs from the Amercian Negress perspective.

Peace and love

You've Got To Be Kidding!!!!

Hey I get it, I love Jesus just like the next good Christian, but I really think Jesus would do more than take a Black man to church on Easter Sunday, he would be in these streets demanding jobs for all people!!!

I don't understand why these connections are not being made more adamantly.  The reason there is violence is because there are NO JOBS.  The reason there is poverty is because there are NO JOBS.  The reason we comprise 70% of the prison population is because there are NO JOBS!!!

What does going to church have to do with this?  Its a repeat of the 1995 attempt for atonement.  Yes we got issues, hell, who does not have issues.  But we also have little to no economic means for protecting and providing for our families and communities.  In 1995 like today we were experiencing a financial downturn.  We were in the middle of welfare reform, failing schools, omnibus crime bills, deregulation of industries, and international conflicts...no different than today.

But it is different today, because right now, its worst.  We are in the middle of one of the worst legislative governing bodies we have ever seen, the highest prison population in the world, massive cuts to the social safety net, increased long term unemployment, record breaking foreclosures, and a dismantling of public education never experienced before in the history of our country.

What will taking a Black man to church do to at minimum address these global atrocities.  Nothing in my opinion.  Absolutely nothing.

It is a farce, an embarrassment to the name of Jesus, that at the time of this great struggle for humanity we are encouraging Black males to go to church on Easter!!!  For What!!!???

Don't get me wrong I believe in the institutional relevance of the Black Church.  Its importance to the fabric of the black experience.  The liberation theology that once rang out strong and committed to freedom for all, but that's not what I've been observing for the last 20 years.

I'm overwhelmingly disappointed. There are no words for me right now, and so I will put my head down and stay low on the grind.  Diligent on the path towards organizing and writing, and strategically aligning with resources that are going to facilitate the shifts we are experiencing and will continue to experience until we move from the age of Europe to the age of Humanity.

Peace and love!