Burnell Taylor
It is such a joy to see this young man, Burnell Taylor, talk about his experience of enduring and subsequently surviving hurricane Katrina, and moving on with life, and to hear him sing “I’m Here,” the song that Celie in The Color Purple sang when she achieved one of the best realizations of all: that no matter who or what considers itself above… Continue reading
Please see this remarkable film when it opens in New York City at the Cinema Village on February 1st, 2013.
Fullness of Heart
(For the people of Bab Al Shams, Gate of the Sun encampment
in Palestine). Watch the video below and glory in the magnificent voice of Bernice Johnson Reagon formerly of Sweet Honey in the Rock. When this voice is raised, pray it is raised for you.
I have learned today that this is not Bernice’s voice; the singer is… Continue reading
I have always been a help to you; remember the Civil War? Sometimes I was the only entity available to alleviate pain. When I was not allowed to grow, the suffering of soldiers, Union and Confederate, was unendurable.
-The Opium Poppy
Breaking the Taboo, a film about the failed war on drugs, is a must see for everyone. It is narrated beautifully by Morgan Freeman… Continue reading
“The first time I heard Howard Zinn speak I was a student in the deep South, and amazed that anyone could stay alive long enough to say such things. He was completely fearless, totally relaxed, making joking asides as he went straight to the bloody heart of Empire. How much time it has saved me, having him as a teacher my second year in college.… Continue reading
Aloisea Inyumba, presente
Aloisea, my younger sister,
it was love at first sight.
For there you stood
in the garden of the presidential
compound
along with its sister occupant
and you were both giggling
like Spelman girls
at a Morehouse tea.
I saw in you my roommate
from Uganda
with her proud and honest
gaze;
her stoic lack
of pretension:
I saw my other… Continue reading
I Confess I Do Not Understand the Mind That Needs to Cause This Suffering
©2013 by Alice Walker
For Nurit Peled who sent me the photograph: Palestinians Going to Work – Morning Routine
I confess
I do not understand the mind
That needs to cause this: Palestinian workers
herded like cattle
In a long line
To their places of… Continue reading