Alabama, Selma, and Black Women!

Alabama....

Alabama spoke up for the world. However, folks acted shocked about the outcome of the recent, Senate election, including me. I guess we had forgotten about the successful Montgomery Boycott where people did not ride public transportation for 381 days. Yes, you read that right, 381 days. And, their efforts also caused the Supreme Court to make a federal decision that Montgomery HAD to integrate those buses, and Black folks could sit anywhere that they wanted to.

POWER TO THE PEOPLE!

Now, let’s talk about not riding those buses. What did that mean?

That meant that folks had to work together to get people to work, home, to the grocery store, to doctor’s appointment, and anywhere else that folks needed to go. I’m thinking about that Alabama heat and long dirt roads and many folks probably had to walk. Just knowing folks like I do, I know there were many days when people were like “Man, I can’t take this no more; I am getting on that bus.” BUT, they held out.

Selma...

The images of Dr. King and all of the other servant leaders trying to cross that Edmond Pettus bridge still horrifies me. To see those open water hoes being pointed directly on people can be a bit much to take. Yet, the folks went back and eventually successfully crossed that bridge.

Resilience.

Alabama has a history of resilience...

The stories that are coming from that November 12th Senate election are so inspiring. People deciding that they could and would be heard. I watched a video of one lady crying after voting; it was her first time. Another man who voted for the first time talked about how good he felt after he voted.

Y’all, it feels like an uprising in our country...

Black Women....

I can’t say enough about them. We show up, work our butts off, and never complain. It’s natural for most of us. When I see woman whining and complaining, I am always confused, especially when the women who are complaining just don’t carry some of the burdens that we carry.

Black Women Rock....

I love being a Black woman.

It’s Good!

Thankful Thursday: A Peaceful Run

Let's start with: I love where I'm from! I grew up in Mt.Vernon, Alabama, not far from Mobile, Alabama, where everbody knows each other. I've been visiting my sister, Janet, and I instantly reverted back to that Southern feeling: going to people houses to eat butter beans, waving at everyone person whom I see, eating fish that has come fresh out the water and dogs that are not on leashes...Oh the joys of the South.

Monday, I overslept and did not get the chance to run, and it rained that evening and so that canceled my evening run.

But Tuesday, I was determined to get my run in. Yes, it's hot in Alabama, but I still needed to run. I woke up at 8am, put on my running gear, got my water, and an apple and headed to park and run near the Middle School that I use to attend: Belsaw Middle School.

I started my run, and I really did not feel that hot. I thought "I can do this." I ran down one street and then the next street and my first mile was 10 minutes 30 seconds. However, all of a sudden, I started to feel like a slug; it was hot as s#%t and humid, and I felt like I was trying to run through a swimming pool, but I kept on chugging alone. I had to run at least four miles.

I turned down one street and there were two really small dogs who were not on leashes, and they were barking as loud as they could and running towards me. My heart started to race, and I know country dogs, and I knew that if I said "GET," they might leave me alone. So, I said "GET," but they continued to chase me. I was running and kicking at them at the same time. (Something like running kickboxing.) Finally, they turned back, but more dogs appeared barking to the top of their lungs. Maybe one was on a leash, and two were behinds gates, but the others, which seem to be about 5 to 10 of them, were not on leashes and were furiously barking. My heart was racing. I was screaming "leave me the f@#k alone." (Did I say that it was hot and humid, and I felt like I was trying to run in a swimming pool? So, you know I couldn't pick up much speed.) Finally, they left me alone. I turned down another street and there were even more dogs that were not on leashes. DAMN!!! ( I am really trying to understand why people just let their dogs run loose.)

Therefore, I spent the entire run trying to find streets that were dog free. (Impossible.) Finally, I decided to run on the main street with no shade, and remember that I am in that Alabama heat and it had to be the hottest morning of the year. So, I started to run/walk, because I was feeling faint and did not have a water bottle with me. I thought "I must make it to the Post Office," and I finally did. (I was so happy to see that Post Office.) I went inside The Post Office and basically begged for a cup of water, and the nice Post Office lady gave me a Styrofoam cup full of water. (What joy!) I gulped it down and proceeded to run/walk back to Belsaw Middle School so that I could make it to the car for relief from the heat and those dogs.

Well, I tried different streets on the way back, but every street had dogs that were not on leashes. Finally, I decided that I must pick up a stick and charge any dog that came my way. Most of the dogs saw me, and decided  that I was not worth the energy in the heat, but the same really, small ones that I saw at the beginning of the run, decided that they would try me again, but this time, I had my stick.

The stick didn't scare them, and they stayed on my heels until I got to the end of their street. (Those small dogs are the worse.)

Needless to say, I finished the run, but I could not help but think about my Peaceful Runs back in Virginia. (Oh, the little things.)

So, today, after that eventful run in Mt.Vernon, Alabama,  I am Thankful for my peaceful runs in the DC area where the dogs are on leashes and the heat, on most days, is bearable.

When I finally get home, and I go for a run, I will not complain about a d@#m thing, and I mean it.

There is no place like home....SWEET HOME ALABAMA!!!

Happy Thankful Thursday My People!!!!!!

Do something that brings you complete joy today.

"In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote

There are two things that I absolutely savor about the holidays: the time to do morning workouts and the time to read.

So, today is the day after Thanksgiving, and I have enjoyed every moment of this day. I woke up early and talked to my momma on the phone, went to Barnes and Nobel, ran six miles, and spent the rest of the day reading In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. What Joy!

I must admit that this book left me feeling really crazy and in deep thought about life, death, the act of killing, the death penalty etc.

Truman Capote is quite dear to my heart, because we were both raised in Alabama. Capote and Nelle Harper Lee, author of To Kill A Mockingbird, were both raised in Monroeville, Alabama. (Great things DO come from Alabama.)

In Cold Blood is the TRUE story of two ex-convicts, Dick and Perry, who went to Kansas to kill a family whom they didn't know. The family was the well-respected Clutter family: Herbert, the father; Bonnie, the mother; Nancy, the daughter; and Kenyon, the son.

While in prison, another convict told Dick about the Clutter family. He told him that Mr. Clutter was rich and kept a safe with money in his house. Dick decided that once he was released, he and his friend Perry, would drive across the state of Kansas, to the Clutter's home, and rob them.

However, once they got to the house, Perry and Dick realized that there was no safe, and they were only able to retrieve between $40 and $50 from the family. Things took a BAD turn, and all four members of the Clutter family, who were in the house, were killed; Mr. Clutter 's throat was slashed, and the rest of the family was shot in the head. (The Clutter's had two older daughters who did not live with them.)

Capote spent years, alone with Nelle Harper Lee, interviewing the killers and the people in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas in order to give the reader snapshots into the Clutters' lives and the minds of the killers.

This novel really disturbed me. I live a carefree life, and I am cautious but fearless. I go out at anytime by myself and feel pretty safe. I refuse to live in fear, but I needed to be reminded of the fact that people like Dick and Perry do exist in this world.

Also, Dick and Perry both were sentenced to death, and this made me think a lot about the death penalty. I spent a summer at Amherst College studying Crime and Punishment. We discussed  the death penalty at great length, and I am not sure if it the death penalty should or should not be considered a cruel and unusual punishment if you believe that death starts at the moment that a person finds out that he has been sentenced to death. Can you imagine the agony that a person must go through when he knows the exact day and time that he is going to die?

Things that make you say hmmmmmmmm......

This book is captivating, easy to read, very revealing about the minds of two killers, and it will make a person think.

 "It takes a great deal of history to produce a little literature."  Henry James

Truman Capote