One of My Favorite Quotes.... Thanks Toni Morrison!

 

Happy Thursday!

God Help the Child by Toni Morrison

Love is in the details.....

Have you every had an experience with a person who paid very close attention to the details?

Someone who brings Aspirins for you when you go out just in case you get a headache. Or, someone who remembers that you are vegetarian and always invites you over when he cooks fish. There is love all over the details.

Toni writes with love in the details. I can feel her love for details oozing off of the pages when I read her books. God Bless the Child is no different than Toni’s other novels with close attention paid to the details which reads how love feels: simple yet complex.

Since Sunday, I have read God Bless the Child two times. I read it the first time for the enjoyment of the story, and I read it the second time to play close attention to the details.

This novel is written from the first person point of view mixed with some third person point of view. The first person point of view allowed me to hear from each character personally, and the third person point of view allowed me to gain a little more perspective. Lots of details were given to character development, and the character development drove the plot.

In the novel there is:

Sweetness: The mother of Bride who withheld love from her child because of her dark skin. “Here color is a cross that she will always carry. But it’s not my fault. It’s not my fault. It’s not my fault. It’s Not."

Bride: The daughter of Sweetness who came out of the womb “Midnight Black, Sudanese Black.” However Bride turns her cross into her glory. “She capitalized on her dark skin, stressing it, glamorizing it.”

Brooklyn: Bride’s best friend who seemed slightly jealous of Bride. She refers to Bride as "Beautiful dumb bitch."

Sofia: A woman who was locked up for fifteen years for child molestation. Once freed from jail, she reminded herself that “freedom is never free. You have to fight for it. Work for it and make sure you are able to handle it.”

Steve and Evelyn: A White Hippie couple who took good care of Bride when she needed it. “Here she was among people living the barest life, putting themselves out for her without hesitation, asking nothing return.”

Rain: The daughter of Steve and Evelyn who fell in love with Bride. “I miss my black lady.”

Booker: He was in love with Bride. “Bride was knock-out beautiful, easy, had something to do everyday and didn’t need his presence every minute. Her self-love was consistent with her cosmetic company milieu and mirrored his obsession with her.”

Queen: She was Booker’s aunt who “comforted him, strengthened him and validated the unfairness of the censure he was feeling from his family."

Now, you may be wondering how did Toni fully develop these characters and discuss child molestation, skin color, life and its up and downs, the horrors of prison, love, family, college, with a hint of mysticism and so much more in only one hundred thirty something pages?

Well, My People, she did it by paying very close attention to the details......

There is love in the details.

Read this novel over and over again!

Long Live THE TONI MORRISON.

I hate to let this book go, but I must.

Next, I’ll be reading The Dragon Can’t Dance by Earl Lovelace, a very intriguing man whom I met at the Bocas Lit Fest... Just wait until you read about my encounter with him.

This is the day.......

And He Was Loved!

I recently attended a memorial service for a former student who took his life....

I taught not only this student but his older brother as well. They are super bright, military children who moved around a lot, but they seemed to have adjusted just fine to the high school where I currently teach.

The student who committed suicide was quiet, yet funny, and he was active in both his high school and college drama clubs.

Hearing about him taking his life made me think about him and his brother wondering if there were signs that we all missed. Also, wondering if there was any way possible that this entire situation could have ended differently.

However, his pastor reassured everyone present at the memorial service that mental illness is just like any other disease with outcomes that are not always what we may like. The pastor comforted us by lovingly declaring that God is with us all of the time, and this child was not alone when he took his last breathe. He was with God, and God probably shed the very first tear.

The pastor mentioned love a lot, and I have wondered, since hearing about this child’s death, if he was loved enough. However, by looking at his parents, brother, and all of the people who filled that church, it was apparent that He Was LOVED!  Knowing this child, and seeing images of him that his family displayed after the service, I know that he knew that He Was Loved.

When the pastor stated several times that He Was LOVED, I thought about Pilate, from Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison, who poignantly made the declaration to every person who was present at the funeral for her beloved granddaughter, Hagar, that She Was LOVED!

"Suddenly, like an elephant who has found his anger and lifts his trunks over the heads of the little men who want his teeth or his hide or his flesh or his strength, Pilate trumpeted for the sky itself to hear, "And she was LOVED!

It was important to Pilate that everyone knew that her dear, Hagar, Was LOVED!

It seems that death always makes people think about love, and many of us wonder if the person who died knew that he/she was loved, and oftentimes we also want everyone to know that the deceased person was loved. 

My people, there is something to this LOVE THING for sure... It is mentioned in The Bible so many times, and it appears that God places high priority on it. It is stated in the word that:

"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is LOVE."  (1 Corinthians 13:13)

One of the basic human needs seems to be love and it is free and should be given and received freely, all of the time, so that at the end of our lives our families can be comforted by knowing that We Were Loved!

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!!!!

The African American Female Writer....

It seems as if The African American female writer is taking the world by storm.....

The Toni Morrison, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, is releasing a new novel in April titled God Help the Child. Based on the number of articles that I have read about this novel, I don't think that I am the only person who is excited about this news.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is definitely setting the world on fire....

Her novels, Half of a Yellow Sun, Purple Hibiscus, Americanah, and The Thing Around Your Neck, are referenced a lot in the literary world. Her TED talk is absolutely thought-provoking. And, when I am with people who love books, Adichie's name is sure to be mentioned.

Cynthia Bond

Natalie Baszile

Cynthia Bond and Natalie Baszile have both been touched by The Oprah Winfrey.

Cynthia Bond's novel, Ruby, is Oprah's latest book club selection, and you should hear Oprah go on and on about this novel; I definitely put it on my list.

Natalie Baszil's book, Queen Sugar, is being made into a drama series for the OWN network, and I can't wait to read this book as well.

We all know what can happen to a writer's career after she is touched by Oprah. 

Morowa Yejide

I am currently reading Morowa Yeide's novel titled Time of the Locust. Yejida was a finalist for the national PEN/Bellwether Prize and is a 2015 NAACP Image Award Nominee for Outstanding Literary Work.

Other African American Female Writers who are buzzing are Attica Locke, Lauren-Francis Sharma, Tayari Jones, Octavia Butler, Edwidge Danticat, Delores Philip, Tananarive Due, Dolen Perkins-Valdez, Ayana Mathis, and there are soooo many more out there!

When historians write about this time period, they sho' better include the African American Female Writer!

This Is The Day...Let's Rejoice and Be Glad.

Over and Over and Over.....

Quote from Song of Solomon

Today, I've been thinking about the value of doing some things over and over; It's called practice....

For instances, in order to get better with cycling up big hills, a person needs to ride hills often...like over and over.

I hated cottage cheese; however, I needed to get creative about putting more protein into my diet, so I ate just a little cottage cheese over and over, and NOW, I am in love with cottage cheese.

There was a time when I would not read a book again. However, it seems that if it is a book where I want to get a deeper understanding or if I really want to fall in love with a book that I already love, then I must read it over and over.

This is my fourth or fifth year teaching Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison, and every time that I read and teach this book, I fall more in love with it, and my teaching of this novel seems to get better. Every time that I teach it, I switch it up some, and every year it seems like I get more awesome ideas out of students than the year before.

So, this year, I decided to add a creative project to the teaching of Song of Solomon, and it is going so well. The students are pulling things out of this novel that I have never thought about, and I am definitely seeing a few things from a different perspective.

After class I was wondering if these are the smartest students that I have ever taught, or am I getting better at teaching this novel and creating activities that causes the students to soar.

Each year I have the option to teach whatever novel that I want to, and sometimes, I switch up, but I do believe that there is value in doing some things over and over and over....

If we keep doing Anything over and over; We must get better???

Or, I sure hope that we do. (sigh!)

By the way, one of my students was in Chipotle, and he noticed that a poem by Toni Morrison was on a Chipotle cup. He took a picture of the cup and sent it to me....

Well, I did a little research, and Toni Morrison and a few other writers are now writing for Chipotle. I am completely ecstatic that the literary world is colliding with popular culture, and my students are noticing it.

The student bringing in this cup with the writing of Toni Morrison on it confirms to me to continue to teach Song of Solomon over and over and over!

Happy Wednesday...

Keep Your Eyes On the Prize....

Don't Get Distracted My People; Keep Your Eyes on the Prize!

ALONE!

Soooo, I recently finished reading The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseni AGAIN!

As I was reading it this time around, the thought came to me that sometimes we must take a figuratively journey, and we must take it alone. We may go through something, life happens, and the only person who may be able to help us is us. Other people may be there for support, but sometimes we must take the journey alone, with a higher power, that some of us call God.

One of the main characters in The Kite Runner, Amir, was compelled to take a journey. On this journey he had support and even a few guides, but he had to take this journey alone; no one could walk it for him. On this journey he had to rely on himself, and he discovered a lot of things about himself like the fact he could stand up for himself and others and that he could face fear head on and survive. At the end of his journey, Amir was a changed man.

As I was reading about Amir, I thought a lot about Milkman, one of the main characters in Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison, who also had to take a journey, and he had to take it alone. Like Amir, Milkman had support and guides, but he had to take the journey alone in order to grow.

Once Amir and Milkman took their journeys, there seemed to be some type of shedding of skin along the way, and they both seem to grow new skin that came with happiness, peace, and even relief.

Now, I believe that if we learn and grow through the small lessons that life teaches, we will be well equipped for the journey that we must take alone. You know how sometimes we will try to avoid tough situations or blame other people when things happen? Well, doing these things do not allow growth to take place and therefore our alone journey may be tougher than it should be or may even take longer than it should.

I believe that life does prepare us for next if only we would heed the lessons alone the way.

So, I try to be mindful about what I put into my spirit, because what I put into my spirit, may be just what I have to rely on when I take my journey and take it alone....

Life Will Force Us To Grow.........Ohhhhh Boy!!!

"If We Surrender to the Air, We Can Ride It" from Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison

Every time that I teach Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison, there is always a message that I get from it. And on this read, a student pointed out the last line of the novel: "If you surrendered to the air, you could ride it," and this quote has been on my mind every since.....

Surrender, Surrender, Surrender! So That We Can Ride!

I've started training with a cycling team, and I must admit that every time that I ride with them, I am extremely nervous. The team consist of about fourteen men and four ladies, and these men are fast and furious. Now, I love to ride with these guys, because they are very helpful, caring, and emphatic to us women who want to ride fast and furiously just like them. However, loving to ride with this team does not keep me from being fearful. (Sometimes, we must act even if we are afraid!)

On the rides, I do a whole lot of thinking and trying to be in control instead of just surrendering to the ride.....

Yesterday, we did our training ride on the inside, because our regular route was icy. I put my bike on the trainer and the quote "If you surrender to the air, you can ride it" came to my mind. I decided to stop thinking and just surrender to the ride, and once I surrendered, I had an awesome ride. I sent a text to a friend after the ride and told him " I decided to surrender to being uncomfortable, and I had an awesome ride," and I did.

I am constantly having to remind myself that with whatever I do, I normally want to go to the next level, and biking is no different. I want to ride faster and stronger than I did last season. So, I must be willing to be uncomfortable, to stretch, to take constructive criticism, to get out of my comfort zone, to get rid of old bad habits for new good habits, to give up control, and to surrender to the change that is going to take place.

However, I have to constantly remind myself of my goal, because I always think about quitting the team and going back to my comfort zone. (My people, being uncomfortable is no fun, but it is necessary for growth.)

Many of us have set goals for the new year, and know that making these changes is not going to be easy; it will be uncomfortable, you will have to stretch, you may want to revert back to what you have been doing, you may cry, you may feel like 'why,' you may need to be coached, BUT I am challenging you and me to "Surrender to the Air, So We Can Ride It."

Me being me, I believe that this lesson that I am learning from cycling is soooooo much bigger than cycling; we just never know what God has up his sleeves, but I do believe that when we answer God's calling, it is always preparation for us to receive even bigger blessings that add to the good of the world.....

My people, "If We Surrender to the Air, We Can Ride It."

"I Wish I'd A Knowed More People. I Would Of Loved 'em All. If I'd A Knowed More, I Would A Loved More." Spoken by Pilate from Song of Solomon....

I never thought that I could love the novel Song of Solomon more, and I do. My love for this book is completely overwhelming at times. And, that love spills onto my students.....

This year, instead of teaching one AP literature class, I am teaching two AP classes. At times, the grading can be quite overwhelming, but the good definitely outweighs the bad. I now get to have discussions with double the number of students that I have in the past, and therefore, I am given more ideas to play around with.

Teaching this novel this year, I thought a lot about love, not necessarily romantic love, but just love between people.

Song of Solomon in the Old Testament in the Bible is a series of lyrical love poems that are written between a young woman and her lover. Many people believe that Song of Solomon is an allegory of God's love for us or divine love that is within our hearts. Soooo, Song of Solomon is all about love.

I thought a lot about why would Toni Morrison name this novel Song of Solomon? On the surface it appears that there is no love in this novel at all. However, after close analysis, it became clear, on this read, that this book is all about love.

Pilate, one of the main characters, stated as she was dying "I Wish I'd A Knowed More People. I Would Of Loved 'em All. If I'd A Knowed More, I would A Loved More." After I read this line and gave a lot of thought to Pilate, I realized that Pilate was love. Almost everything that she did was out of love. She almost killed a guy out of love for her daughter; she tried to save another character's life out of love; Milkman loved to be in her house, because she knew how to create love, and on and on and on. Pilate was one big ball of love.

There is a secret society in this novel that is called The Seven Days. "The organization is composed of seven Black men each of whom is assigned a day of the week who kill white people at random every time that a black person is murdered and the assailants are left unpunished" (Sparknotes). Guitar, a main character in Song of Solomon and member of The Seven Days, states: "It's about loving us. About loving you. My whole life is love." Those men, who were members of the seven days, stated that they did those killings because they loved their people; it was all about love.

A major theme in this novel is Journey and Flight, and that theme is based on an African American folktale called "The People Could Fly." In "The People Could Fly," Africans, who were turned into slaves, had special powers to fly back to African. So, Solomon, a character in the novel Song of Solomon, had the power to fly back to African, and one day he grabbed one of his children and flew away and left his wife Ryna and their other twenty-one children behind. I asked the students why did Solomon leave his wife and children behind, and one of the students stated that "Maybe he loved freedom more than this family." So, I began to think that maybe he flew away so that he could free himself and maybe find a way to go back and free his family. Maybe, his flight was all about love.

Yea, on this read, I realized that Song of Solomon is all about love.

If you have not read Song of Solomon, I highly recommend that you read it, and read it more than one time!!

I love this woman.......

Oh, What A Night!

My Toni Morrison Collection!

Yesterday, after work I went for a run, went to the grocery store, cooked, and then I decided around 8pm that it was time for me to read... I went to look for my Nook, and lo and behold, I thought that I had left it at school. For a brief moment, I almost went into panic. I only watch the news, and I had already watched enough. I am not fond of talking on the phone at night, and there was no way I was going to read another book when Song of Solomon was on my brain. Soooo, I was desperately trying to figure out what was I going to do from 8pm until I fell asleep.

I decided that I could read Song of Solomon in book form until I could get to my Nook. I checked the Toni Morrison section of my bookshelves, AND I have eleven Toni Morrison books on my shelf, but no Song of Solomon. (What the HELL, No Song of Solomon!)

So, I was forced to watch TV until I fell asleep!!!! (HATED IT!)

This morning when I got in my car to go to work, there was my Nook, sitting on the front seat!!

Oh, What A Night....

Words and Punctuation!!

I absolutely love language and punctuation; it is so powerful! When I received the above example of how language and punctuation can be manipulated to convey so many messages; I just had to smile.

When I think about how carefully author chooses words and punctuation to convey their messages, it completely leaves me in awe. 

In the foreword for Song of Solomon, Toni Morrison spends an entire page telling the reader why she started the novel with the sentence:

"The North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance agent promised to fly from Mercy to the other side of Lake Superior at three o'clock."

It would be a shame  to read any of Toni Morrison's books and not notice and appreciate every sentence, in just the same way that it "pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it" as stated in the novel The Color Purple.

Today, I am so loving words and punctuation!!!!

I Got To Tell It!!!!!

So people, I got something to tell, and I must tell it NOW.

Here it is......

I got fire shut up in my bones.....

and the fire was caused by Toni Morrison and.......

this awesome novel: Song of Solomon!!!!

I did a sigh as soon as I got that out.

I have read Song of Solomon so many times, and every time that I read it, the urgency that I feel is unreal: I think about it, and I think about, and I think about, and I see something new every single time, and then I have more to think about, and I think about, and I think about........

I am so blessed that I teach Advanced Placement (AP) English, and I get to teach whatever novel that I want  to, and you know that I start every year with Song of Solomon. The discussions that this novel generates is enough to make me need to run around the school at least five times just to squelch some of the excitement that is "shut up in my bones."

Last week, one of my students asked me a question about breastfeeding in relationship to one of the main characters in Song of Solomon who was breastfeed until he was "old enough to talk, stand up, and wear knickers." This lead into a discussion about the woman on the cover of Time Magazine who was breastfeeding her child who was "old enough to talk, stand up, and wear knickers."

I mean, I have a whole classroom full of people to discuss one of my favorite novels with for at least three weeks or until every last one of us get sick and tired.

And every single time I read and discuss this novel, I am given something new to think about....Oh, how BLESSED I am...

Now, I am on chapter four of Song of Solomon, and it's literally like "fire shut up in my bones." As I am reading it and writing this blog, my heart is racing, and I almost want to cry tears of joy that Toni Morrison wrote this incredible book that has taken my love for reading and teaching to a whole 'nother level.

Wow, if you have not read it yet, you MUST......

Please read this novel.....OK

And if you have read it before, Please read it again......

My heart is on fire........

I got to go; Song of Solomon is calling my name!!!!

By the way listen to Toni Morrison talk about Song of Solomon...

"Ain't she amazing?" or in my teacher voice "Isn't she amazing?"

I just had to tell it.........

Are our faces and hearts saying the same thing?

I was starting to plan for the teaching of Song of Solomom by Toni Morrison, and I ran across this excerpt in my files. After a quick search, I realized that I got this from Oprah's website. It sure touches my heart everytime that I read it. (Toni Morrison is deep.)

Here it is:

"One of Oprah's favorite lessons comes from Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison and the question she asked of all parents: When your child walks in the room, does your face light up?

"When my children used to walk in the room, when they were little, I looked at them to see if they had buckled their trousers or if their hair was combed or if their socks were up," she told Oprah in 2000. "You think your affection and your deep love is on display because you're caring for them. It's not. When they see you, they see the critical face. But if you let your face speak what's in your heart...because when they walked in the room, I was glad to see them. It's just as small as that, you see."

Toni's comment has become one of The Oprah Show's most profound lessons and has touched the hearts of many viewers—including Gennece, who says that hearing Toni's lesson changed her. "My daughter ended up dying of cancer," she says. "And the last two years [of her life], every time she would come home—whether it was from chemo or a party or the grocery store—I would always say, 'Niecy's home! Niecy's home!' And she would get so excited. ... That made a difference in my life. And now when children are in my space, it's authentic that my eyes light up, because my heart lights up."

Do our faces show what our hearts are feeling?

I love that Toni Morrison!!!!

Thankful Thursday: Written and Spoken Words

“For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” Matthew 12:33-37

Today, I have so many things to be Thankful for until I was totally confused about what I should write about. I thought about summer, fresh vegetables, love, digital devices, where I live, Jesus, lunch, my biking groups, my mother, but I saw this quote on Facebook:

and, I knew that I had to write about how much I love words. Whoever wrote this quote is a master with words, and this quote touched my heart and made me want to take my relationships to a whole 'nother level. (Words do have the power to transform.) 

My love for words began when my mother use to take my siblings and I to the BookMobile, for those who do not know, a BookMobile is a library that is on a bus and it normally travels to places that do not have a libraries so that the people can have access to books that they can borrow. (Yes, I grew up in a town that did not have a public library.)

This bus looks a lot like the bus that use to come
to my hometown!

I would get enough books from the BookMobile to last for two weeks and could not wait for the BookMobile to return so that I could borrow more books. As a kid, I fell in love with the Flowers in the Attic series by V.C. Andrews, and I loved those romance novels by Bertice Small. I remember spending boring Saturdays reading a good book, and I would soon forget that I was bored; I would be in the attic with the children from Flowers in the Attic, and I would travel the world with the women in Bertice Small novels. (Oh, the places you can go with words.)

Once I became a high school teacher of literature, I really started to pay closer attention to words: "Why would a writer use this word instead of that word?" etc. I can take a passage and analyze the words forever, because words are loaded with meaning and most authors use words purposefully. (I just love words.)


I must admit that I have so many words stored in my brain, on my phone, on sticky notes, underlined in books. I have a quote that can match almost any situation, and I use them mostly to inspire me and anyone else who may need a word of encouragement.  (I am a quote junkie.) 


Asha Bandele and Zora Neale Hurston use words to write about love like no other.. Randall Robinson takes words and makes really heavy topics read like mystery novels.. Toni Morrison takes words and can seriously confuse the reader by telling the same story from many perspectives in the same book.. Tananarive Due uses words that can make a reader not able to sleep for quite a long time.. Langston Hughes uses words that makes the reader marvel..and I hope that I use words to inspire.........

People, I can't live without words!

Today, and everyday, I am Thankful, Thankful, soooo very Thankful for written and spoken words.

Let me leave you with a poem titled "Words" by Anne Sexton:

Be careful of words, 
even the miraculous ones. 
For the miraculous we do our best, 
sometimes they swarm like insects
and leave not a sting but a kiss.
They can be as good as fingers.
They can be as trusty as the rock
you stick your bottom on.
But they can be both daisies and bruises.


Yet I am in love with words.
They are doves falling out of the ceiling.
They are six holy oranges sitting in my lap.
They are the trees, the legs of summer,
and the sun, its passionate face.


Yet often they fail me.
I have so much I want to say,
so many stories, images, proverbs, etc.
But the words aren't good enough,
the wrong ones kiss me.
Sometimes I fly like an eagle
but with the wings of a wren.


But I try to take care
and be gentle to them.
Words and eggs must be handled with care.
Once broken they are impossible
things to repair.

Happy Thankful Thursday "My People."

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

Hilary Mantel

Let me say it again for the record: I love Toni Morrison. I think that her novels are some of the greatest books ever written. Her characters and storylines are completely fascinating and unforgettable. I am always curious to know what somebody like Toni Morrison reads. I can not image her enjoying an Eric Jerome Dickey book or even a Terry McMillian book. I would image that she reads books that are extremely thought provoking, well written, and full of information. Because her books are full of historical content and great details about humans and human behavior, I would image that most of the books that she read would be history or anthropology related. 

Toni is the reason that I read Wolf Hall. This is what she had to say about it in an interview with USA Today: "was so good, I had to go buy the book book, or whatever it's called now. When I like a book, I want to add my notes. Exclamation points! And questions marks! I want to corrupt it with my responses."

So, after reading this comment, I instantly downloaded Wolf Hall and has been held hostage by it for over a month. This book is mostly about Henry VIII and his strong desire to find a way out of his marriage to Katherine in order to marry Anne Boleyn. This novels has lots of characters and storylines and can be quite confusing. It took me sooooo long to read it, because it is not one of those books that I could read when I had a spare moment; I had to read it when I was fully engaged or the different storylines and many characters would have me completely confused. 

This is a book that I would totally expect Toni Morrison to enjoy, because it requires some of the highest levels of thinking in order to comprehend it. There were many times when I wanted to say f#ck it, but I kept on reading; there was no way that I was going to punk out on a book that is loved by Toni Morrison. (I had to prove that I can read books that are on her level!)

Hilary Mantel is an English writer who has received many accolades for this novel Wolf Hall, and I would only recommend it too someone who has something to prove like me or someone who is completely fascinated with King Henry VIII.

All I can say is "I's Free Now" and no longer held hostage by Wolf Hall!

"Give Me Liberty, or Give Me Death"

"I don't even know,
where my life would be,
if you hadn't shown,
shown your love for me,
broke the chains,
chains that were binding me.
Gave me liberty.
SET ME FREE
(Myron Butler and Levi)

The song, Set Me Free, whose words are above, is a song that I listen to often. Everytime that I hear it, I am reminded how great it feels when the chains are broken. LIBERTY BABY!!!

One 4th of July, I sent Valarie Boyd, the author of  Wrapped in Rainbows, (You must read "Wrapped in Rainbows." It is about the life of Zora Neale Hurston and so much more. Every single word is a joy to read.) an email message to wish her well. When she responded to my note, she wrote:

"Freedom is a beautiful thing, ain't it."

All I could think about after I read her words were: "Yes it is."

In Beloved, by Toni Morrison, the main character's story is based on a real life story.

Sethe is a former slave, and one day, Sethe saw a White Man approaching the place where she currently lived. She had some type of slip of the mind, and she thought that the man who was approaching was her former slave owner coming to take her and her children back into bondage. Sethe grabbed her children and tried to kill them, because she would have rathered for her children to be dead than not be free.

For a woman to want to kill her children, rather than have them put in bondage, must mean that freedom should be cherished and/or being in bondage is HELL.

A few weeks ago, we had a pep rally at school, and the children were so FREE. They were dancing, singing, shouting, leaping. They SEEM to not have a care in the world. We all know that teenagers have many things going on in their lives; however, at that pep rally, they really were a perfect picture of freedom.

Often, if not everyday, I think that it is important for us to exam if there are any CHAINS that are holding us back. If we are not doing some sho' nuff good belly aching laughing, doing some real hard dancing, experiencing peace and joy that passes all understanding, or doing whatever else that makes us feels free every now and then; then we must ask ourselves WHY NOT!

Are we worrying about the thoughts of others? Are we worried about what others might think if we take the road less travel? Are we afraid to get out of the box that we have been in forever? Are we guarding our hearts expecting pain and hurt?

Remember: "Whom the SON sets free, is truly free indeed!"

"Song of Solomon" by Toni Morrison

I really feel the need to apologize to my readers. Please don't think that I have just neglected blogging. When I start something, I stick to it, unless it just doesn't work. So, here's what's been going on:

It's been a little over a month since school has started back, and life has really picked up for me. No more early morning workouts, naps during the day, breakfast, lunch, and dinner whenever I feel like it. I am back on a schedule.

I am still doing ridiculously, difficult workouts with the greatest trainer in the world, Berhane, working out on my own when I'm not working out with him, meeting friends out, reading for pleasure, and doing LOTS of reading for school.

I have been reading my students' writing to assess where I need to start and where I need to take them. Today, I read so many thesis statements until I finally told the students, "My brain is tired, and I can not read another one." They laughed, but of course, they still wanted me to read just one more.

I have been reading lots of short stories including "Thank You M'am" by Langston Hughes, "Marigolds" by Eugenia Collier, "The First Day" by Edward P. Jones, "The Worn Path" by Eudora Welty, "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker and many, many more. I have also been reading The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, which I must say is going really well; the students really love this book. We are having interesting discussions, and this book is also generating some great writings from my students.

However, the book that has consumed most of my time is Song of Solomon by one of my all time favorite writers, Toni Morrison. I am starting the discussion of this book with my students tomorrow. So, I had to read it AGAIN (This makes the umpteenth time) so that I can have a fresh perspective of the discussions.

With Song of Solomon, Morrison has strung together so many different stories in a way that is very intriguing. The names of the characters is enough to stimulate nine weeks of discussions: Ruth, Milkman, Pilate, Hagar, Empire State, Macon Dead, First Corinthians, Guitar, Saul etc. If you notice, the names of many of the characters are taken from the Bible, and most of the characters are related to their name in some way.

I'm going to leave you with one of my favorite passages from Song of Solomon:

"You think because he doesn't love you that you are worthless. You think that because he doesn't want you anymore that he is right -- that his judgement and opinion of you are correct. If he throws you out, then you are garbage. You think he belongs to you because you want to belong to him. Don't. It's a bad word, 'belong.' Especially when you put it with somebody you love. Love shouldn't be like that. Did you ever see the way the clouds love a mountain? They circle all around it; sometimes you can't even see the mountain for the clouds. But you know what? You go up top and what do you see? His head. The clouds never cover the head. His head pokes through, because the clouds let him; they don't wrap him up. They let him keep his head up high, free, with nothing to hide him or bind him. You can't own a human being. You can't lose what you don't own. Suppose you did own him. Could you really love somebody who was absolutely nobody without you? You really want somebody like that? Somebody who falls apart when you walk out the door? You don't, do you? And neither does he. You're turning over your whole life to him. Your whole life, girl. And if it means so little to you that you can just give it away, hand it to him, then why should it mean any more to him? He can't value you more than you value yourself.” 

Toni Morrison is DEEP, DEEP, DEEP! WOW!!!!!!!!

If you have not read Song of Solomon, I recommend that you pick it up tomorrow or download it RIGHT NOW! But listen, this is one of those books that makes a person think, so you can't read this book while you watch television; it requires undivided attention.

But, believe me, it's so worth it!

Happy Reading!!!!!!

"The One Right Now: Perfection" Toni Morrison

Toni Morrison

The Bible is one of the most fascinating books ever written; the stories have stood the test of time. I'm not sure if all of the Bible should be taken literally, but I really want to believe that I can literally and figuratively walk on water, tell a mountain to move and it moves, be put into a fiery furnace and when I come out, not be burnt or even smell like smoke. Somebody knows what I am talking about.

However, there is a quote from the Bible that I take literally, and it can be found in the Old Testament Habakkuk 2:2. From the English Revised Version it says "And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it."

To write my visions for my life and make it plain, I decided to create a vision board. For those who don't know, a vision board is literally a poster board where I put words and images that convey the visions for my life: I have a lady running and doing yoga, I have the image of people laughing and talking etc. I have words such as What are you eating, Go to Ghana soon, and Meet and form a relationship with Toni Morrison.

My vision board!

Meet and form a relationship with Toni Morrison. I know what you are thinking, but I really want to get to know this wonderful, bright writer, and I do believe that it will happen.

Wednesday night, The George Washington University hosted a conversation with Toni Morrison. She came on the stage and instantly she was captivating. Her presence is enough to quiet an entire auditorium and put joy, amazement, wonder, and anticipation in a person's mind.

Toni Morrison at The George Washington University: I'm loving that hat!

She talked about her life and her books. She also read from her novel A Mercy. (There is nothing like hearing an author read her own words).

Finally, she took questions from the audience!

A student from Howard University asked Toni which one of her books did she enjoy writing the most? Toni said:

"The One that I'm Writing Right Now: Perfection"

This lady is deep! This answer almost took my breathe away. I really wanted to do one of those praise dances from back in the day.

"The One that I'm Writing Right Now: Perfection"

Being the person that I am, I started to think, "Why not apply this answer to life." Why not live with the idea that whatever we are doing right now is the best ever: my best pain, my best happiness, my best struggle, my best day, my best teaching, my best workout, my best RIGHT NOW: PERFECTION despite and inspite of  the situation?

One thing I know for sure is that RIGHT NOW is all that we have. Why not make it the BEST, RIGHT NOW!

So, my vision of meeting and forming a relationship with Toni Morrison has not happened yet, but know that because I have written the vision and made it plain, I am going to do my part to make this happen.

I promise that when I meet her, you, my readers, will get to read all about.

Make today your BEST ever.

Superwomen

"Faster than a speeding bullet.
More powerful than a locomotive.
Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.

Look! Up in the sky!
It's a bird. It's a plane. It's Superman!

Yes, it's Superman - strange visitor from another planet who came to Earth with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men. Superman - who can change the course of mighty rivers, bend steel with his bare hands, and who, disguised as Clark Kent, mild mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper, fights the never ending battle for Truth, Justice and the American Way".

If I have heard this quote once, I must have heard it at least a hundred times. When I think of this quote, however, Kent Clark as Superman does not come to my mind. What comes to my mind are three incredible women who were able to help change the course of  women's history, help bend the pendulum of literature from White men, and birth and raise nine women in the "dirty South" and I mean the DIRTY Jim Crow South. All three women fought for "the never ending battle for Truth, Justice and the American way", doing this all while being mild mannered, very much like Kent Clark. Let's briefly discuss Sojourner Truth, Toni Morrison, and my momma: Nettie Armstead Stallworth.

Sojourner Truth

Sojourner Truth, whose given name was Isabella Baumfree, was born a slave and was bilingual. Image a slave being bilingual. Well, she was! She spoke Dutch and English. She luckily ended up in the state of New York, and New York began the gradual abolition of slavery in 1799.  Sojourner's master promised to free her, but he reneged on that promise. REALLY!!! So, "Superwoman Sojourner" decided to run away, or as she put it, walk away.  As time went on, I am cutting her story a little short, she decided to become a traveling preacher. Now, anyone who knows anything about "religious people" know that being a woman preacher has been frowned upon for years, but to try  and be one in 1843 and make money doing it, truly makes Sojourner a "Superwoman."  She also had the audacity, being an ex-slave, to stand at the Ohio's Woman's Right Convention in the year of  18 and  50 and say "I can work as much and eat as much as man, when I could get it, and bear the lash as well -- and ain't I a woman" in her famous "Ain't I a Woman Speech."  This sho nuff makes Sojourner Truth a "Superwoman". "She didn't leap tall buildings in a single bound" like Superman, but she did help to start changing the way that African American women were viewed, and that definitely puts her in the "Superwoman" category.

Toni Morrison

Now, my all time favorite who made my vision board, Toni Morrison, definitely qualifies to be in the category with "Superman."  I am really pondering which one of her writings put her in this category: Sula, The Bluest Eye, Love, or my all time favorite Song of Solomon. Okay, I'm being bias, but really, everything that she has written puts her in the "Superwoman" category.

Please allow me a few minutes to digress and talk about Song of Solomon.  I taught this novel for the first time this year, and I must say that I had a ball.  My students and I dissected this novel the same way that a scientist dissects a rat. One of my students, in her digital portfolio, stated that "this was an awakening experience, not that I didn't not know that my people (African Americans) were capable of writing scholarly novels, my previous teachers just never embraced the novels as Ms. Stallworth did."  Another student stated that "I got more out of Song of Solomon, than I have out of any other book I have read."

Back to my point! Historically, schools have mainly focused on White male writers: William Faulkner, William Shakespeare, F. Scott Fitzgerald, just to name a few.  Don't get me wrong, I love these guys and their writings, but I know that there are some women writers who deserve to be in the ranks with these men: Zora Neale Hurston, Virginia Wolfe, Tananarive Due, and of course, Toni Morrison. Toni Morrison, has firmly established herself in the rank with these men and has started the literary pendulum to shift towards women.  Her works are studied in Colleges, Universities, and High Schools across this country, and she has even made the AP English exam. So, I don't have to say much more about why she is a "Superwoman."  She may not be "faster than a speeding bullet," but when a  person can began to shift the literary pendulum, that definitely puts a person in the "Superwoman" category.




My momma, Nettie Armstead Stallworth


Now, my momma, Nettie Armstead Stallworth, name is not in any history books, and she may never be talked about on television or the Internet, except in this blog, but she definitely qualifies to be a "Superwoman."  Raised in the rural South, she met my daddy, LJ Stallworth, and they went on to have nine girls.  That was not a typo, they had nine girls and no boys.  My momma would clean the house, wash and fold clothes, and cook breakfast and dinner, we ate lunch at school, without a single complaint. Now, only a "Superwoman" could do this. She would press our hair, pick vegetables from a mile long garden, and can the vegetables, without saying a "murmuring word."  Now, doing all these tasks definitely makes my momma a "Superwoman."

After my daddy died, my momma made the decision to leave the house that we were raised in despite what anyone thought.  Not only did she leave our childhood house, she left the state and moved to Georgia. This women had the audacity to leave all that she knew and start a new life in her 70s, she even briefly, had a boyfriend. Now, that's a whole 'nother blog that I may get to later. She is not "more powerful than a locomotive," but she did successfully raise nine strong girls with my Daddy, and this definitely puts her in the category of "Superwoman."

So, I can't take anything away from Superman; he really was Super. However, there are other Superheros, some are known and others are unknown, but their imprints will be left on the world forever.