Hi Facebook Family: I hope all of you had a happy New Year celebration. Im sure in 2015, Ill be hanging out with some of you guys! One thing I did to start off my year, was to go to the movies. I went to see Selma. I have to tell you that it was brilliant. And you know me,Sensitive Charlie, in certain particular scenes, the film brought me back to my early days of touring through Selma, Montgomery, etc. when I was in The Crystals. Theres one scene (which I wont describe in case you see the film) where I broke down because it seemed so real to me. I had experienced so much racism directed toward me when I was only 13 years old. When the movie was over, and I was walking out of the theater with my manager, I had a deja-vu moment regarding my brothers and sisters. You see I was 1 of 11 children growing up. Some of my older siblings were old enough to have been my parents. And there were others who were close to my age. As I was leaving the theater, I had the realization that NONE of my siblings had experienced the things that I had. NONE of them had experienced first hand, the horrors of racism in the South. And then it dawned on me how different I was from my siblings. But the one person who understood me so well was my Mom. As a young child, I always wanted to make things right. If I thought that something wasnt fair, my Mom would let me speak to her about it. She always made me feel secure about being truthful. And by giving me this security, she always allowed me to see both sides of the coin. My sister, who was two years older than me, would ask my mother, Why do you let her speak her mind like that? And my Mom, with her wisdom knew that I was speaking the truth and she gave me that freedom to express myself. And this enabled me to develop the strength that I have today, and my self-endurance. As I got older, I traveled outside of the U.S. to other parts of the world. And there I witnessed more racism in other cultures and the horrors and poverty resulting from it. So today, I can say from experience that racism is much more than an American evil. And only when we recognize how the Creator values us, then we can begin to value each other; as He created all of us with greatness; and without the arrogance, jealousy and pride which tears people apart. In the film, Martin Luther Kings speaks of these things. Selma is a brilliant film, with some great performances, and an even greater message for all of us. As the film ends, there is a song performed by John Legend and Common. Listen to the part where John Legend sings, Glory!; when I heard it, it made my heart quiver; for when all is said and done and no matter what weve gone through in life--the good and the bad--we are more similar than we are different, and we are all One in the eyes of The Creator. Glory! Love you all, La La
Posted on: Thu, 08 Jan 2015 02:45:39 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015