It is not smooth. It is not straight forward. It is not always easy.
Have you ever had someone say they are grateful, but…
Those people are not grateful. They greedy. Be grateful.
Affirmation
Blog
The Grace of Autumn
The colors of autumn send a signal to us that things are changing. They are beautiful and fleeting.
Artist of the Week
Elizabeth Catlett’s artwork and life painted a noble and human way of life for African American and Mexican working-class women. Her work tells accurate stories of their lives.
She was born in the United States in Washington, DC, in 1915. Raised by her mother because her father died shortly after she was born, Catlett spent summers with her grandparents in North Carolina.
She graduated from Howard University with a degree in Art and the University of Iowa with a Masters in Fine Arts degree. In 1940, she got a job as the department chair of Art at Dillard in New Orleans.
The first female professor of sculpture at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, School of Fine Arts San Carlos, in Mexico City, Catlett taught there until she retired in 1975.
Her work is collected in America, Mexico and the Czech Republic.
In addition to supporting marginalized communities in protests marches, Catlett was also commissioned to create monuments for the Ralph Ellison, Louis Armstrong and at Howard University. Social justice was a matter that filled her work with images of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Black Power and other African American figures.
TV Show of the Week
This month I think I am going to focus on those reality shows that I go to.
When I need to chill and not think too much I watch The Great British Baking Show. I mean imagine a group of Brits in a tent making all kinds of things. It has broaden my knowledge of baked goods. Given me some ideas of things to try. But mainly it is just entertaining to watch these people bake stuff in a tent.
I mean I never thought this would be a fun think to do. But it is nice to watch.
Art of the Month
I am most grateful for those amazing writers and artists that have share their words with the world over the past couple of centuries. Even though they have not been lauded, people of color have been telling their truths for as long as we have been in the world.
Alexander Dumas, Phillis Wheatley, Simon of Cyrene, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Paul Lawrence Dunbar, Priscilla Shirer, Nat Turner, James Baldwin, Cora Jakes Coleman, Maya Angelou, Lorraine Hansberry, Ntzoke Shange, August Wilson, Nelson Mandela, J California Cooper, Lecrae.
Affirmation
Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:18
Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits. Psalms 103:2
I spend much of my time thinking about what I want and need. It is time to focus on what I have and be grateful. Making the invisible, a little more visible.
The Grace of Autumn
The smell of dust burning as the radiator comes on for the first time. The hiss of the steam as it comes out of the pipes for the first time of the season. I am grateful for a warm spot.
Nice Story
It was narrated in her own voice. Audrey Hepburn. It is on NetFlix. Worth the time.
TV Show of the Week
So I came to this show late…but I do like to skip the hype. There was a lot of hype around this when it started. It was right.
It starts a little slow for me. But the energy gets there. The one thing I love about this limited series is that it gives me the chance to see Americans how others see us. This action adventure series is on Netflix and I enjoy how it is shot. It allows me to see my world different.
It has the ageless Sanaa Lathan and Greg Henry in it as they play cat and mouse with us. Binge it over a weekend.
Artist of the Week
General Moses is a drawing by Charles White of Harriet Tubman. She sits on these rocks like she is on a throne, giving counsel to many. The first time I saw this I remember thinking wow, what a powerful woman this was. This is an ink drawing created by Charles White in 1965.
Mother and Child Sorrow by Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller in 1962 and is a bronze cast sculpture. I love that a woman was creating art that spoke to the abuse African Americans received during that time in history. Cheers to women who tell our stories by any means.
