On a warm Saturday, Feb. 26, 2022, Hillside’s Presiding Bishop Dr. Jack L. Bomar, led the sacred, community “Ancestral Prayer” ceremony. It included drumming that girded the rhymical and ancestral honoring blessings with the pouring of libations by Hillside member Sharon A. Smith. Today, she said, “I am the High Priestess” while acknowledging the oldestContinue reading “Closing the Month of Sankofa with Ancestral Prayer and Healing”
Category Archives: Her-story time
Our Creative, Progressive Ancestor: Mama Helen
To summarize my maternal grandmother’s life: She did the most. In the winter months during 1963, my Maternal Grandmother, Helen Mary Wilkes (and also spelled Wilks), was donning a thinly clad garment and acting in the Greek tragedy, “Antigone.” That in of itself is nothing spectacular. That is, except that “Mama Helen” (as were toldContinue reading “Our Creative, Progressive Ancestor: Mama Helen”
Six-Triple Eight: Black Women’s Powerful Contributions in the US Military
Phylicia Rashād on the legacy of the AKAs highlighted in the ‘Twenty Pearls’ documentary – CNN
She walked 2,000 miles: Bridget “Biddy” Mason (U.S. National Park Service)
Prayer pouch with a purpose
I was in that place. I was a “baby Christian” as my Atlanta area pastor used to call us who stayed in the same spot without spiritual growth.
Why revisiting grief in the public spotlight is tragic
I know what it’s like when the ‘weight of the world’ seems put upon your shoulders yet few people around you want to help carry the load. My friend, Gwen Carr, knows well this heavy feeling. She is the mother of Eric Garner, the New York man who received an acknowledged, illegal chokehold by aContinue reading “Why revisiting grief in the public spotlight is tragic”
Filling in the holes: Haiti’s gifts
Photo description: Work designed and created by an unknown Haitan artist who gifted our family with the piece. It is the single art on my table. Remembering and honoring the strength of Haiti and this country’s resolve to save the United States in her time of need.