#tbt MY MOM ON THE PODIUM DURING HER ACTIVIST DAYS…we have these great talks about the state of this country ALL THE TIME and what I realized for those who judge others about not knowing what to say or how to react is that it’s KEY to DEFINE YOUR OWN VOICE. I grew up with a parent, a national activist. My friends called her #SisterSOLDIER because she was always on the news and in newspapers during my teen years. The newspapers were always retracting a statement (lie) they told on her. Our Mayor (FLYNN of Boston) used to run from her because she was always calling him ON THE CARPET…in 1988 she was nominated to address a crowd of 35,000 people in Atlanta’s Piedmont Park around the economic agenda of poverty, (one of the many issues she spoke about including the genocide of our community and domestic violence). She sat on the podium with all the Presidential Candidates and our Boston Mayor Ray Flynn refused to show up because she preceded him on the roster. My mother introduced Jesse Jackson, TAKING OUR MAYOR OF BOSTON’S SEAT. When #ReverendLowery (of the SCLC) introduced my mother at the Democratic National Convention week-end, he introduced her as “a little package of dynamite from Boston…” and she delivered a ROARING SPEECH as always…with the opening line “I CHALLENGE YOU AMERICA…” Our phones were tapped well until I got into college, and my friends used to tease me saying I was in the mob because my numbers always changed. But I was the daughter of a national activist and when I got home from school her comrades were in the living room planning their national take-overs…all across this country. We laughed when one of her Black Panther “brothers in the struggle” told her she was raising a bougie daughter, because I was dating outside my race and had friends of all nationalities. I was not into the protests and the lectures…I was doing my own thing. One of my uncles called me the #UnitedNations because I did not discriminate…I always believed that my activism was in my art and that I didn’t need to put my fist up to make a change. That it was never about BLACK & WHITE but what’s RIGHT & WRONG…that our CIVIL RIGHTS is the violation and that we can not take out all our anger on a whole race of people for the sins of their ancestors. We never blamed the system in our household…we only SPOKE THE TRUTH…and truthfully, it feels good to put your fist up…especially today…in the wake of this revolution brewing. And the fight is still the same…it’s about ECONOMICS, EQUALITY and CIVIL RIGHTS. She always encouraged me to FIND MY VOICE, TO SPEAK MY TRUTH…TO NOT LET ANYONE DEFINE ME…she taught me history, gave me books and trusted I would find my way. In the wake of the uprisings happening all across this country, I always have talks with her…when I’m FIRED UP and can’t simmer down and she tells me to HOLD TIGHT…because it’s about STRATEGY, ORGANIZATION and PLANNING for a specific AGENDA and GOALS…she mentors me on when to keep quiet and when to LET IT RIP… And so yesterday, I asked my mother to call me to the table because I know my voice now…and I AM READY. It was a defining moment for me…for my voice…so for those of you out there who don’t know what to say, or how to react to what’s happening…it is OK…find your own voice and your truth…and speak on that. This is a snippet of one of her speeches, my mother always a #FLYGIRL and full of power, a recipient of the #MartinLutherKing #DrumMajorforJustice Award. And she’s still doing the work… The hair is always #DOPE ha ha!
Posted on: Fri, 05 Dec 2014 04:59:00 +0000
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