I want to say Thank You for supporting the Queens project to Diane Jefferis. She will help me tell stories of women like Barbara Jordan who a member of the House of Representatives and a leader in the civil rights movement. She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom and was the first African American woman to deliver the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention.
For February, I was going to do a 10K, but snow deleted that. (not mad)
This month’s celebration of 50 years of life was with good friends in Selma, Alabama. I have the craziest group of friends. Someone will come up with a stupid idea and four other grown people will “Amen” it. But it does make for the best adventures.
It was a once in a lifetime experience. But getting there, not so much. And that is life. Our everyday experiences may leave something to be desired, but we should not sacrifice the incredible moments we have the chance to be a part of. God puts all of these people in our lives and creates beautiful moments. Don’t miss them because you are focused on the wrong thing. Be where you are and love it.
I know April is going to be off the chain. God is making 50 the best year yet.
I want to say Thank You for supporting the Queens project to Kelly Hensy Cobb. You will help me tell stories of women like Harriet Tubman, who was born a slave named Araminta Ross. She was an abolitionist, humanitarian and during the Civil War, a Union spy. She used the Underground Railroad to rescue about 70 enslaved families.
I want to say Thank you for supporting the Queens project to Jacklyn Deaver. You will help me tell the stories of women like Elizabeth Jane Crochrane who wrote under the name of Nellie Bly. She was a ground breaking reporter who took trips around the world and faked insanity for the story.
Last Saturday, I had the privilege to revisit a moment in our nation’s history.I stood in the middle of the street in Selma, Alabama and listened to one of the people involved in Bloody Sunday retell his story. It was a surreal moment.
In an age where everything is designed to overstimulate, a man telling the story of his oppression gives me hope. As he spoke about one of the darkest days of his life, last Saturday he stood in that same place as a member of the US Congress, beside an African American President with a crowd that reflected the dream of Dr. King. His message was one of hope.
I appreciate that John Lewis did the hard thing that Sunday fifty years ago. Many times we don’t want to do the hard thing, because it is hard.
But what really gets me is I serve a God that is just. Even though things look unfair. He levels the playing field.
A young man who stood up for the right to vote, now represents all of the people to protect their rights. He didn’t grow bitter or discouraged, He knew this was in the hands of a God who sees our sufferings and vindicates.
Rasicm, hatred and oppression are not dead, but neither is the Lord who conquers them all. He can take something like the Edmund Pettus Bridge, a relic of the KKK and use it to turn a corner in the Civil Rights Movement. This bridge will always be associated with giving all people the right to vote. Got to love God’s sense of humor.
I want to say Thank you for supporting the Queens project to Crystal Singleton Patton. You will help me tell the stories of women like Mary Jane McLeod Bethune who was an educator and civil rights leader. She was one of seventeen children and the only one in her family to attend school, so each day, she taught the others what she had learned. Bethune wrote later, “I considered cash money as the smallest part of my resources. I had faith in a loving God, faith in myself, and a desire to serve.”
For .99 cents, you can get a Amazon Kindle copy of this book today. When You Forget Your Phone is a devotional that challenges you to memorize God’s word. If you know God’s word, it is easier to stand on His promises when your world is turbulent.
The fifteen verses included in this devotional are verses that God has spoken in the life of the author over the last year. This book will give some insight into her journey with the Lord.
I want to say Thank you for supporting the Queens project to Marsha Bolden. You will help me tell the stories of women like Shirley Chisholm who was the first African American woman to be elected to Congress. Even though she was born in the U.S. her mother sent her to Barbados for her early education. She said “Years later I would know what an important gift my parents had given me by seeing to it that I had my early education in the strict, traditional, British-style schools of Barbados. If I speak and write easily now, that early education is the main reason.”
My life has been blessed with some amazing women who have shape who I am. I have also been influenced by the stories I have read about women who carved their own niche in this world. Help me celebrate by supporting my project, Queens of Freedom.
http:// https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/photo-project-titled-queens-of-freedom/x/4745599#home
Family Tree will be shown at the Oklahoma Urban Cinema Festival in April. We hope you will join us there.
