So yesterday was a day complete in social justice and community activism from sun up to sun down.




I began the day hosting a community viewing and discussion of the movie Harriet. It was a historical depiction of the wonders, fearlessness and resilience of our Black American Hero, Mrs. Harriet Tubman, formerly known as "Minty", more popularly known as "Moses"!!! And Moses she was!!! Yes we have learned and heard about her before but most have been denied an opportunity to get to know her beyond the cursory account that is taught during the one sacred month of every year when most schools feign interest in Black history. Thus, movies such as this are crucial not only for Black Americans but all others who live, travel or work here in these united states. Mostly, unfavorable propaganda has been spewed about us [Black Americans]. Not much positive. Not much truth about the good, the bad, our strengths, our courage, our resilience, our fearlessness in the face of the most horrific of circumstances which are also conveniently not discussed. Still, we persevere. We are a phenomenal people. Yes we are!

One Hundred local residents showed up to watch and discuss the film. I am impressed that these gatherings are always received well! People welcome and thank me profusely for creating a safe space and an opportunity for us to come together on a positive vibe in celebration of us. Old friends and neighbors are always happy to find one another at these events. ALWAYS, the audience thanks me for keeping this tradition going. As long as they show up, I will.

Yesterday had some personal challenges for me however. This film has been plagued by one controversy or another; from the choice of the non Black American star to portray an icon from our history, to disturbing comments about Black Americans made or endorsed by Ms Erivo, the actress who was cast in the role, to the film company dissin' a project with [Black] GirlTrek at the last minute to now the movie's affiliation with Comcast Cable who if going to the Supreme Court to strip Black Americans of our civil rights instead of settling a legal matter with Byron Allen (Google it. #boycottComcast!).

With all of this in the backdrop, deciding to in any way promote this movie was difficult. My heart was not in it until I saw the community. But for the commitment I have to the uplifting our community through our history and telling our stories and a helluva' lotta' coaxing from my friend Demetrius who helps me plan these event, I might have passed on it. Instead I took the moral high road and hosted what turned out to be a very engaging and inspiring event. There was no mention of any of these controversies. Either everyone rose above it or just did not know about it. It was a fantastic day filled with positive energy!

Two lucky attendees won a book about Harriet Tubman, another won two tickets to see My General, a play starting in January at The Arden Theater in Philadelphia about the life and times of Harriet Tubman and one lucky non-profit serving the interest or persons of the local Black community, will receive a small stipend generated by the proceeds from this event. It was a good day had by all!!!

Icing on the cake was a trip to NJPAC in Newark to hear Nikole Hannah Jones and others speak on the genius of her 1619 Project! Talk about invigorating. Understatement! If presented with the opportunity, do go hear her speak and definitely get a copy of the prized NY Times magazine which has repeatedly sold out as fast as it is printed. LOL!!! Powerful reading. I cannot imagine that the actress who did a very good job at portraying our hero, Harriet Tubman, still has misguided notions or feelings about Blacks in America or is unclear that it is upon OUR shoulders that she stands allowing her to live, work and thrive in America. But just in case, somebody tell her to pick up the magazine or go hear Ms. Jones speak. She will leave with no doubts. Not a one!!! LOL!!! Loved it! Thanks to Ryan Haygood, CEO of NJ Institute for Social Justice for hosting this wonderful, timely and powerful evening. He, and a few others too, also offered powerfully enlightening commentary!

Again, thank You God for a wonderful day filled with good friends united in celebration of Black History; Black People!!! Loving Us proudly, unapologetically and consistently 365!!!

Black Folks Gathering in Alabama; Day One...

Most of the gangs all here! Day One of our four day Alabama journey has concluded. At different times throughout the day, we arrived in Montgomery, AL by plane and by car from 8 states across the country; Sacramento California to upstate NY! 

We checked in the hotel, enjoyed lunch at two different Black owned locations; Martha's Place Buffet and Catering or Island Delight at Dexter and closed the evening with a reception and gathering at the hotel where we officially met and introduced ourselves to one another. Chef Rod of downtown Montgomery Doubletree prepared the bites for our evening reception and hipped us on what there is to do in this city steeped in Black history. Veronica Smedley, a native of Montgomery and owner of a recently opened Black owned souvenir shop in Montgomery, Tours of Montgomery, who just happened to be in our hotel, asked to speak with us, told us of her new business, invited us to visit her shop and shared with us historical tidbits about her magical city she still calls home.

Each of the ladies told us about herself and why she is here. We thanked them with a gift bag of goodies to include a t-shirt, a scroll of our itinerary and a copy of Bryan Stevenson's acclaimed and motivating book, Just Mercy! Despite a few mild hiccups in our travels, by 11:00 pm, we all had safely arrived. It was a lovely Day One of our four day journey!!!


Wish you here because:


When Black Women (Folks) Gather, AMAZING THINGS HAPPEN... Guys too! Hope to have some men on our next journey. We NEED your wisdom in the house too! (smile)


Stay tuned...

On White Fragility

Finally I am reading White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo, a white woman who essentially wrote an open letter in the form of a book to her fellow white folks. It's been out for a minute and I have heard much about it but I am just getting to reading it. It is worth my time.

Having grown up with, schooled with and competed with white folks, the book affirms that which I know. Notions of white supremacy are quite humorous to me and seemingly, given life, time and experience, incredible to this white female writer who spills the[ir] tea. I applaud her. She forces the reader to delve into unsupported myths or perceptions, be they of superiority or inferiority. Either way, Don't believe the hype!

As I read this book in the midst of trump's current madness, I ask myself, just how far will [some] white Americans go to uphold or protect the fallacy of white male superiority specifically. What else can this chapter of American history be about? trump has violated [or exposed the hypocrisy of] every ideology that America claims to hold near and dear, he stole an election with help from a foreign agent known to be hostile to the US, he has reduced America to an international laughing stock, he has jeopardized our national and international security, delivered the civil unrest the republican party has baited for decades and now he is portraying behavior unbecoming of even the least skilled mafioso from shake down extortion of a foreign leader to intimidating witnesses with suggestions that whoever the "snitch" is should be killed [he hopes one of his lesser educated and/or deranged followers hears his whistle] and STILL he is in office. INCREDIBLE! Except that he is white and male.

NO other, not even a white female could have gotten away with a fraction of the sins he has committed. That is telling. That he is a white male, he is white America's son, husband, father, brother, dear ole' grandpa, etc. He is the face, the foundation, the sperm donor that supports the false narrative of supremacy that makes their whiteness matter, that which makes them "superior" in their mind to even the most successful and/or intelligent Black or person of color. To paraphrase Toni Morrison, what else does white America have?

Just as President Obama shattered on the world stage, America's promotion that Black Americans are inferior, shiftless, lazy, ineducable, uncivilized, unscrupulous, incapable, unfaithful and so on, similarly donald trump has unveiled for the world to see the fantasy of white supremacy. Again, just how far, how long will America allow this political tragedy to play out on the world stage? How long? While finally I am proud that the Democrats have taken a step to restore what order we once had and show some muscle for defending the nation and the sanctity of government as a legislative and authoritative body to be respected, I am cautiously optimistic that America is ready yet to properly deal with her fragility nor the presence and truth of trump no matter how despicable they find him now as they found him in 2016... Time will tell.

In the meantime, read this book and host an interracial and inter-generational conversation about the book and race in your community; professional and otherwise...

Respect Yourself...

We Need to Talk About How Asian Owned Businesses Treat Their Black Clientele
Tiffany Diane Tso

This is definitely a conversation that MUST take place, at least in the Black community. We give our dollars indiscriminately. We don't hold folks accountable for how they treat us or demand anything in return for our dollars. The Asian merchant business plan is to study our consumer habits, what we like, what we wear, what we buy, what we eat, move into our neighborhoods, sell "us" back to us at even a fraction less than Black merchants (and sadly, we support them over our own), run them out of business, disrespect us, hire none of us, get rich in our neighborhoods selling us products, often inferior products and too often from behind bullet proof glass, send their kids to US colleges to represent themselves as minorities, using strides made by Black Americans against Black Americans to displace us in academia while earning a living exploiting and displacing, disrespecting us in our neighborhoods. It's crazy...

It is the face of why I reject the term People of Color. People with skin color often share nothing more than that, skin color. Implicit in the term is a sense of allegiance, camaraderie or an experience, at least in America, between us. Such is not the case yet these persons are put in positions to represent what it means to be Black or minority in America. They know not our experience. They know not our history that gives them opportunity. They are not alone. They give cover to white America and allows her to use them and others to avoid the discussion of race, specifically as it pertains to being Black in America. That, however, is a whole other conversation...

In the meantime, the Black community must stop supporting merchants and others who value our dollar but do not respect or value us. I am a firm believer that in life, we teach folks how to treat us. We have taught the world that we don't demand respect or gratitude in exchange for our dollar. Kudos to this author, Tiffany Diane Tso, for speaking a truth. The comments to the article actually discount the notion however that it is white supremacy that feeds Asian anti-Black racism but instead suggest that they come to the US with such sentiment already embedded.

Good read. Click here for a link to the article. Check it out. Let the "difficult" conversations begin. Don't be bullied away from worthy discussions that will heal us with taunts of being painted xenophobic or the like for daring to state an opinion that some will condemn as "inciting" or "uncomfortable". For some reason, we have convinced ourselves as a society that we are not supposed to have these conversations or say or do anything that makes us uncomfortable. I totally disagree. That is not how we grow. I appreciate the author of this article. Let the conversation flow...

America Has an Epidemic But It Ain't Opioids...

Photo reportedly from El Paso Walmart Shooter's Twitter page

As I awake to news of yet another mass shooting in America, two in less than 24 hours, I write...

America has an epidemic alright and it ain't opioids, Black folks, folks with Brown skin who speak Spanish nor Muslim folk who wear burkas or turbans. It IS ANGRY, TERRORISTIC WHITE MEN! You created it America by ignoring it, denying it, making excuses for it, refusing to legislate it, or tying it to preservation of some inalienable, uncivilized and primitive misinterpretation of the 2nd Amendment "right" to own and bear arms, so now you must own it. Two mass shootings in less than 24 hours, three in less than one week, is what "Making America Great Again" looks like. NONE of us is safe. Not even those chant at trump rallies nor the greedy capitalists who support him to receive undeserved tax breaks...

Dems, THIS IS your platform. Don't shy away from it or be bullied by the republicans who have folded to a man they once denounced who they now support who ran for office advocating gun violence when he declared that he could shoot someone on 5th Avenue and not lose supporters. They heard him... They believed him... They heed his call... The republicans are the party who endorse him and his behavior. They are the party, who even before the racist xenophobe seized the white house, has spent years since the civil rights gains of the 60's chipping away at the bill, spewing divisiveness, protecting hate and fueling the flames that are now igniting across this country. Still, they are the party in bed with NRA lobbyists that won't vote to address gun control. Just last week they voted not to limit access of guns to the mentally ill. 

The "party of Lincoln" is now proudly:

the party of fear, 

the party of hate, 

the party of the deplorably ignorant, 

the party of racists and white nationalists

Certainly however they are NOT the party of patriots as they falsely proclaim. 

They [and the media] created and now protect trump. 

They are the party with blood of America on its hands...

Who does not remember the emotional President Obama following the shooting of innocent babies in Connecticut? He consoled the nation and pleaded for gun control. Repeatedly however, the republicans do nothing beyond offering empty, insincere thoughts and prayers in their condolence no longer accepted by the families nor America by extension. Some republicans are now being sued, for calling the shooting a hoax and for their unfounded attacks on the families in Connecticut who lost their precious babies. How did the republicans think their years of spewing hate was going to play out? What can we expect to hear from this white house regarding murderous white boys inspired by trump to kill innocent people, to follow his lead as proffered to walk out on 5th Avenue in NYC and shoot without consequence? How long after the Sunday morning talk show circuit concludes can we expect that someone in the trump administration will carefully craft words palatable to the American ear for dummy in chief to read from a teleprompter absent the glee he and the republican party must feel from the fruit of their labor?   

It is time to turn on evil America! Put the blood of your kin and that of our nation ahead of politics. Place it squarely in republican hands and the grossly tiny little hands of the chief occupier of the white house. Call them out for what is clearly a deliberate and unapologetic UNdoing or, some would say, uncovering of America. Call them out for their part in an awakening and blatant approval of America's ugliest sentiments - Hate & Racism! Call out the media, also culpable in creating the reality of trump, in their unquenchable thirst for ratings, giving around the clock coverage to both trump and the shootings!

America has a problem with white males who engage in domestic terrorism, inspired by republicans and other cowards who occupy our governments and corporations. Kudos to Mayor Pete for being the first to state the obvious; that which neither mainstream media, other politicians nor white folks in general are willing to say. America's most pressing problem is not those who are vilified daily by the press, persecuted daily in courtrooms across America or legislated against in the halls of Congress. America's problem is angry, insecure and frightened white men who suffer from a combination of arrested cognitive development or severely arrested maturation, a fear of extinction and of course a fear of karma for the deeds of their forefathers. Mayor Pete will catch hell for speaking truth to power but seemingly his words have inspired others this morning to voice his concern of the obvious. Call it leadership... 

Wake Up America!

Fess Up America! 

America Has an Epidemic But It Ain't Opioids... 

Millennials & Privilege in "Post Racial" America...

For all who believe and wage your hopes and bets for America on the realization of post racial millennials, just remember, the hippies were similarly perceived. When the rubber hits the road and the time comes to share or relinquish or for some, to even acknowledge that which comes with the mere designation of white skin, attitudes will change.

Just a few days ago, I was sharing with some folks that I attended a mostly White school. During grades K- 8, I was the only or one of two, three if I was lucky, Black students in my class. We were unceremoniously and unashamedly grouped according to academic standing ("A" Class, "B" Class, "C" Class, "D" Class). Who are the educators who did this? I need not ask why. The reasons are obvious. It is disturbing because it was intentional and deliberately divisive on so many fronts...

All through school however, I got along well with my peers, both Black and White. The intended barriers had no effective or lasting affect on my experience. While they joked that I sounded or talked like a White girl, Black students did not jeer me or call me a sell out, uncle tom or ban me from their circles. I think they mostly celebrated in our own way, that I represented for US in the "A" Class. "The Higginbothams were [Black and we were] smart". My White peers also liked me. Many still think I was Senior Class President, because always I have been vocal and present. For sure, I was voted Homecoming Queen [I was shocked my cheerleading braggadocious Mom was not - Love me some her!!!], only the second in our school's history. It was a popularity contest. So in other words, even though some grown ass and likely not so happy photographer failed to have a decent photo of my victory for the yearbook (oh there was prejudice) they, my White peers, got me and I got them. We were together in some capacity for 13 years; K thru 12. We grew up together...

For as long as I remember, and certainly by middle or high school, I have always celebrated my Blackness, never shying away from who I am or trying to be something or someone I am not. I do not recall ever trying to or feeling the need to be or act White to fit in. I remember that as early as 3rd or 4th grade, a cousin who had teenage cousins shared with us that the older kids had told him that we did not have to salute the flag. We were only required to stand. So as early as that I only stood. I stopped saying the words and crossing my heart. The words did not ring true or pertinent to me, not even as a child. Something about that "justice for all". It was the 60's... I remember too that long before Martin Luther King Day was a holiday, my Mother allowed that in a show of support for it to become a holiday and in solidarity with other Black students, that my siblings and I did not go to school.

So for as long as I can recall, I have found my way to be my authentic self and still remain credible in both worlds, Black and White. I was under no delusion that I straddled two worlds. We went home to very different communities. My neighborhood was 100% Black and had been so for at least two generations. My Mom grew up there. It was familiar and I liked going home. In retrospect and very gratefully, I think I learned early in life that people appreciate realness. I learned early to unapologetically be my authentic self...

Fast forward to my 10 year high school reunion. Things changed. Some of my peers had changed. The "cool" kids did not seem so cool. We were no longer children in the protective environment of academia or the innocence of youth. We were now grown, had gone off to college or whatever it was we decided to do. We had significant others and had been exposed to politics and who knows what other kinds of influences to change us. As children, I do not recall our ever discussing politics, religion, income or even race (beyond some really superficial innocuous comments). We might have known that someone was Catholic, who was Italian, Polish or Irish, Black or Puerto Rican or who were the families more well off but we did not have deep discussions on any of these topics, certainly not politics and race. Some were certainly regarded prejudice, especially some of the teachers and administrators, but they were few and mostly covert. There were no known skin-heads or honorary kkk members amongst us, not as far as we knew... Don't get me wrong, we were conscious of race. It was not Utopia. There are stories to tell but mostly, we got along...

I was happy and excited to go to my 10 year reunion. I had been with these people for all of my child life. I wanted to see them and catch up on what we were all doing. My graduating class of less than 100 was 10% or so Black. Only me and my Black boyfriend showed up. LOL! No real surprise there. Some of the "cool" White kids did not come either. It has been 40 years and I have never seen some of them again as they have also rejected subsequent reunions. I get it. It is based on experience. Mine was mostly good...

I remember some of the students I felt most close to in high school and looked forward most to seeing, were now very standoffish and not so excited about seeing me. It was a wake up call. I learned that day that life had shaped us. These were not the kids I grew up with who were innocent and not fixated on race despite what their parents might have told them about Black folks at home. They were not the kids who voted me Homecoming Queen and who would have shared their marbles and their privilege with me. They had been touched by the world and like the hippies before them, had become their parents whose ideologies they might have previously rejected or not been aware of as children. The hippies before them became the establishment they rejected as will they... My peers had come to know their standing, what had been preserved for them, they wore it proudly and stood ready to accept and even if unknowingly, protect it for the next generation as their parents had done for them. Although I did not understand it as such then, I have come to realize now that what they were protective of stood fully prepared to preserve was their privilege. Helen Who??? I heard them...

So post racial millenials will be so until such time they come to know and really benefit on their own, not through their parents, their privilege and entitlements, better described as their standing of preferential treatments in life. History tells us that they will not relinquish or share their marbles or privilege with their "good friends" either... They too will deny the existence of any such privilege
especially if they knew hard times or grew up poor. They will deny how societal systems are structured to benefit them. I optimistically hope to be wrong about my pessimistic views regarding our youth but I would not bet one single of my marbles that I am... 

See What I mean?
Data Source: National Longitudinal Surveys

James Weldon Johnson said it best, Black folks, not because we want to but as a matter of survival, understand White folks [better than] even when they don't [want to] understand themselves. Try as they may, White folks alternatively, still do not understand us. Their life or existence does not      dictate to them that they have to... To borrow a term, Black folks are "Caucasian Anthropologists" who have become successfully schizophrenic as we have learned to naturally adapt our presentations and even our thinking according to the situation at hand. Call it Black survival in a jungle of whiteness... 

On the Matter of Abortion...

On yesterday, 25 "men", with the support of a "woman" governor in the state of Alabama passed the most restrictive bill ever in opposition to a woman's right to have an abortion. I have never had an abortion in my life and I am not even sure I could have BUT it is and should ALWAYS be my decision resulting from an internal discussion I had with myself and with whomever I CHOSE to include beyond me. I feel and fear for women still in their reproductive years... 

This obsession old and/or undesirable white "men" have with women's bodies has nothing to do with abortion but has everything to do with protecting whiteness and keeping the "little misses" in line, making sure women know our place and that it is them, White "men", who are still in charge. Sadly insecure women, largely the 53%, blindly follow their "men" no matter the potential of risk, harm or shame to themselves, their daughters or to other women.

What kind of inhumane, unfeeling, heartless monster or womanless woman would force a woman or child who has been raped or exposed to incest to carry that baby to term? What kind of womanless woman supports, marries or stays married to this poor excuse of a "man"? Never will it be their loved one who is forced to endure this kind of inhumane injustice, just other people's wives, daughters and girlfriends who don't have the means to find refuge to otherwise protect or take care of herself. It is all quite sad...

If in fact these god-awful subhuman "politicians" could pass legislation preserving only the lives of White babies, no matter how conceived or how poor or young the Mother, they would. Black, Brown, Red & Yellow women could have abortions all day, everyday. There would be no backlash. As a matter of fact, there would be unlimited resources to fund all such efforts. Historically and still women with melanin have been sterilized with or without our consent. Dream legislation for them would prohibit abortions for White women and girls but mandate the procedure for the rest of us ensuring maintenance of white dominance or white majority status thus ensuring longevity or sustaining life for the continuity of closely held, logic defying delusions of white greatness, superiority and/or supremacy...

Discard the hype. Throw away the mantra. Abortion has never been about religion or any of the other things the masses have been taught to parrot or shout at already emotional women entering or exiting abortion clinics but ALWAYS about fear of extinction of the white race by insecure and evil white "men" who know their history and who understand and fear karma even more...

Hang in there women. I am sorry that this settled matter about OUR bodies remains. Fight on...