African American History Month

February 27, 2016February 27, 2016 / Psal121 / Leave a comment

The United States was built on the backs of African Americans, Mexican Americans and Asian Americans. That is why I love Black History Month. It tells the stories I never got to hear in school. It reminds me that my people are not shiftless and lazy. They have great minds and hearts contributing to society.

It reminds me that you can come from nothing and add something significant to life. In my Queens project, the women I chose made a contribution to society that changed the fabric of it. Ordinary women did extraordinary things.

For this project, I chose women from all walks of life. I will share some of the photos I have taken, thus far. These are my Queens of Freedom.

Bessie Smith, the Empress of the Blues

Betsy Ross, mother of the American Flag

Madam CJ Walker, first African American Millionaire

Delores Hueta, Labor Leader and civil rights worker

Rosa Parks, civil rights activist or the mother of the freedom movement

Sacagawea, lead Lewis and Clark across North America

Shirley Chisholm, first African American woman elected to Congress

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UPP Creative Photography

February 25, 2016 / Psal121 / Leave a comment

This week I got to meet some great families. We created some moments. Remember the Groupon can help capture memories.

Connections

February 24, 2016 / Psal121 / Leave a comment

Sandy wanted to slap him, but was afraid he would shoot her. Michael Singh was their leader at the moment. He kept them alive when killers were searching for them. She was attracted to him, but he was very annoying. This adventure was turning out to be more than she could handle.

Connections

She and her best friend found missing relatives, spied on cheating spouses and caught a few bail jumpers. This private investigator never imagined the bad guys would chase her.
Running for her life, Sandy Herrick discovered that God was the only one with her who wasn’t talking smack, trying to kill her or get into her pants. As she and her friends try to figure out who framed them, they all discover that there was more to each other than they thought they knew.
As evil forces closed in on them, they have to determine who they trust and what they believe about each other. Would this be enough to save them?

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Connections

February 17, 2016 / Psal121 / Leave a comment

Kayna and she were foster sisters. They grew up together. They fought like sisters, until now. Kayna had an edge on her that told another story. Someone could get killed messing with Kayna. Sandy didn’t have time to find out why because their current situation was life threatening enough.

Connections

All Sandy wanted to do was make a living. She was a private investigator taking care of her 10-year-old daughter living in the hood with her biological mother, who loved to gamble. She would find missing relatives, spy on cheating spouses and occasionally catch a bail jumper. She knew that private investigation work would put her in some tricky situations, but she never imagined bad guys would chase her. That stuff only happened in movies.

Connections is available:

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Tell Their Stories

February 13, 2016 / Psal121 / Leave a comment

I love that there are months to celebrate African American History and Women’s History. It is the opportunity to tell the stories of people like you and me who accomplished things that moved us further along on life’s journey.

My current photo project is inspired by a group of women who changed life for the people around them. These women taught us about freedom, self worth and beauty. They walked us to freedom through dark woods in the dead of night. They built fortunes washing clothes and combing hair. They leave a legacy that the impossible can be done.

I call them Queens because these women led when it wasn’t easy. Anyone can do it when it is easy, but these women did it when there was nothing in it for them. When all of the odds where against them. They made a difference.

Because of women like Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth, Betsy Ross we are free. We are not restricted by someone who owns us. Because of women like Elizabeth Cady Stanton we can own property and manage our own lives. We can be lawyers, architects or millionaires. We can be what God created us to be and not limited by what man thinks we should be.

Bessie Smith was raised during a difficult time in our country’s history in 1892. She lived in the segregated South. Her parents died when she was young, so she and her brother would dance and sing on the streets of Chattanooga, Tennessee to earn money. In 1912 she started her career as a dancer traveling with a troupe. She would later get a job as a singer, which would lead to better paying jobs.

By the 1920s and 1930s, Smith was known as the Empress of the Blues. She would headline shows and traveled around in her own custom made rail car. What was more important is she gave voice to a style of music that got its roots in America. Bessie Smith understood the blues, it was her life. She poured everything she had into it until it consumed her.

If we don’t tell these stories who will tell them? Young girls need to know you can climb out of hard times if you have perseverance and a dream.

Connections

February 9, 2016February 9, 2016 / Psal121 / Leave a comment

Sandy was a private investigator trying to make ends meet. She worked with all kinds of people, but only offered a few select services. Photographing cheating spouses was one of those things. She had someone else doing the printing…

Stink was a 35-year-old Latin American man who had a variety of professions. She never questioned him on them, because she was afraid of what he would say. She had never had to post bail for him, so whatever he did he was good at it. She didn’t know his real name; she had met him through an acquaintance.

Stink handed her a manila nine by eleven envelope with stains from his morning coffee on it.

“Your girl was a freak.”

“Stink man, if I see these pictures on the internet I am going to lose my hand gun license the hard way.”

“Sand, would I do that?” He flashed a grin he used on many other women.

“Yeah, and you need to know that I will shoot you,” she said looking him in the eye.

She walked off looking tough, but the only thing she had shot lately was a target at the gun range. She knew to get her bluff in early, a trick she learned in parenting. But now it was time to deliver the bad news.

Connections is the story of a Sandy and her best friend as they find missing relatives, spy on cheating spouses and catch a few bail jumpers. This private investigator never imagined the bad guys would chase her.
Running for her life, Sandy Herrick discovered that God was the only one with her who wasn’t talking smack, trying to kill her or get into her pants. As she and her friends try to figure out who framed them, they all discover that there was more to each other than they thought they knew.
As evil forces closed in on them, they have to determine who they trust and what they believe about each other. Would this be enough to save them?

You can order Connections on:

Amazon

Createspace

We are family

February 6, 2016 / Psal121 / Leave a comment

The final section for this series is Emotional. It speaks to making social and meaningful connections with others. These are the people you encounter and who influence your life. Sometimes is it family, sometimes it is friends, sometimes it is strangers on the street.

Do I think I can walk out of the house in my pajama pants to run some errands? My sisters and daughter would kill me.

Do you ever really leave BSF leadership? I have friends who still taunt me with “We sure miss you in the mornings.”

The other day I encountered a woman who tried to hold it together while she told me how her life was falling apart. I could not put words together to console her. After she had walked away, the Holy Spirit gave me instructions and I followed His wisdom.

The last couple of years of my life has focused on the connections that influence who I am. One of the things I learned was that the only thing that last forever is your relationship with God. All of our other relationships on earth come to an end but everything else builds on that relationship with God. If you want to have peace, allow God to have the most influence in your life.

If God takes someone from your life, trust Him. He knows what is best for both of you. I had too many influences or the wrong influences. God showed me through a series of trials that things that I thought were true of people was not. People who I did not like, He taught me to love and cherish. People who I loved, He cut from my life.

When I was younger, I had a good friend who I met in college. She had a great deal of influence in my life because we were friends. She was intelligent and well connected. She had a lot going for her. She also had some things going on in her life that God’s word did not approve of. At that point in time, God did not have the influence in MY life to counter the influence she had. God removed her from my friends list and began to teach me His ways. Looking back over my life, He was right.

So today when He starts removing people from my friends and family list, I roll with Him. When He adds people, I roll with Him. I know it is not about me. My influeners list is short. All of the people on this list KNOW God and LOVE Him.

Take a serious look at the people you are connected to. This area of your life can take all your energy and drain you if you allow the wrong people to have influence. I look at the stop signs God has placed in my life and I know He was right.

I remember one time He gave me a “go” sign and I thought He was tripping. I was doing a small group study through my church. I remember sitting at the little table for sign ups. I had one person from church interested in joining my group. Then I watched God surround this Ph.D student with a bunch of seasoned social workers. I remember thinking, “Wow, God that is soo cool.” We have all been praying for each other ever since. Trust Him. My small group is better than your small group.

The only thing better than my small group (and yes my sisters are part of my small group) are my sisters, Pooh and cousin Kisha. I am going to send a shout out to the travel group, WWC because I do not want anyone smothering me with a pillow on our next trip.

I spend time with these people and share life together. We don’t always agree, but we do lots of laughing. Make sure the people who influence your life can make you laugh, support you when you cry and point you to the Most High God all the time.

These are the people who influence my life. They say “That’s stupid, don’t do that.” Or as my younger sister says, “I have friends in this city and do not want to see you on a episode of Cops.” We are family.