my hair has walked thousands of miles through time
Today I looked at my hair and felt the soul of my ancestors flow through me. I could hear them speak to me, admonishing me to move forward, be the great and shining star in the sky, amongst the many millions of stars, all of us together, lighting the universe and paving the way for something incredible and beautiful.
Some spoke like thunder, others in whispers, but each ancestor reassured me that if I follow my path, greatness was not far off. And my grand crown was only the beginning of a life journey that would unfold, like a lotus flower.
My hair…my locs…it houses centuries of my history. It has traversed time and traveled over thousands of miles of land. It has lived many lives and experienced many things. And now, it finds me here, in this land, on a new journey.
I welcome the voyage. And my hair, my locs, will continue to leave the oral history of my lineage, for as long as it is nappy and natural, and filled with the soul of my ancestry.
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on life and writing: a manifesto
I am a writer. But I am human first. I am a female, a woman, a spiritual soul who goes beyond all this world has said I should. Writing is my profession and only one dimension of me, a multi-dimensional creature with various thoughts and beliefs that transcend me, the writer–a small part of the goddess I am and will always be. I have no interest in being placed in a box that says I must believe this way or that based on my vocation. My vocation, although a great part of me, does not encompass my thinking in every respect. I have the privilege and inclination to think like a scientist, anthropologist, philosopher and any other school of thought that entices my senses.
As a philosopher, in particular, I have the privilege to share an array of ideas that speak to all I’ve learned and have meditated on over the course of my life. I am the philosopher goddess who has pondered the many questions of man and have conceptualized everything fire, water, air and earth; everything in space and time. I have the right and approval of the universe to break bread with it and share my thoughts with it, learn about it, sleep and dream with it to the benefit of my spiritual and intellectual growth. I am not singular in body or spirit, and certainly not in mind. I am greater than societal notions and idiosyncrasies. I am not the singularity of ideas that make up my race, creed, social hierarchy, economical status or generation–I am everything earth. I am bigger than the words I write or speak and the beliefs of my ancestry. I am them, in part, yes, but much more; I am a light in the dark and vast universe. I am stretching… Continue reading
thinking clearly
It isn’t easy to think clearly when the world throws so many messages out into the atmosphere. It is bombarding and sometimes difficult to sort out the real from the imaginary. There is a never-ending barrage of contradictory information, or seemingly contradictory information, that leaves me sometimes scratching my head.
What is accurate? What should I ignore and what should I pay close attention to? Sometimes I don’t know. I do know that it takes time to adapt to the ever changing bits of information that float into our lives. Everything I have ever learned has transformed me into the me I am today, everything right and wrong, true or false.
Although a constant challenge, each day things become clearer. I am able to fully understand the things I need to do to become the best that I can. The future is incredibly bright, obstacles and all. There is nothing that cannot be overcome. And I plan to take life by the horns and ride it to the end. If nothing else, this is clear to me.
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soul introspection
*originally written for and published on iZania.com
Soul introspection. I’m sure it is a concept not many can wrap their minds around. But soul introspection is about the collective searching within. It is about all of us, as people of color, looking at not only our immediate history, but the history of our people throughout generations and time. It isn’t always easy to take stock of our lives and how we’ve come to be where we are at this moment in 2007. But take stock we must if we are to advance individually and collectively.
There is no single answer or formula to follow that will work for all. But if all stop…and I mean STOP, for just a second to examine, learn and grow from our past, all that we perceive to be futile efforts to attain the greatness of days gone by, will become the very stepping stone we need to embrace our glorious future. This examination will allow us to see how our past melds with our future. This learning will give us the tools we need to return to our birthright. It is not something that is outside of us, it is within us–in each of us. It is in our children and all that we nurture in them.
Ask yourself a few key questions and dig deep for the answers.
- What stands between me and greatness?
- Were my ancestors watching, what advice would they give me based on their experience?
- What role have I played in stagnation in my life?
- Do I believe in my power?
There is a collective spirit presence that cloaks itself around our people. This presence whispers to us daily. Some will hear and take action, others will dismiss it as impossible and not worth entertaining. That voice is not only… Continue reading
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