Faith is reborn and Daily Cultivating and Consulting Creativity, Intellect and Expression

Daily Cultivating and Consulting Creativity, Intellect and Expression

Hey Pham,

I am trying out www.hubpages.com . (Check my page www.hubpages.com/djdannak) It is this awesome site that will share everywhere, but I didn't realize it would only deliver the link here. It is part cool understated blog and part webpage home which equals your own hub.

A lot of you say a lot of wonderful things to me about how I express myself and the accidental intellect I have become. Thanks for the LOVE and I am excited to report I have found an avenue expression for all of me and "my stuff". Check me out and click the links on the page too

Let's catch up right quick...

October 19th was the day that grief turned 30. Last Monday made 30 years that My beautiful mother Helen Dianne King Kiel went over to the other side of Jordan. However my personal pastor, mentor and friend encouraged me not to continue to acknowledge grief and loss, but seize the faith that I will soon see her face, as well as, gleefully look upon the face of Jesus who paid the price so that my mother and can be together one day.

So I press...

Faith was reborn just about everyday last week, as well, through test and trials that my Faith truly brought me out of...so maybe just maybe Hope can spring eternal as long as my faith is in tact...

So I press...I press to be obedient because I also learned last week that my obedience (to God that is) is the greatest demonstration of my Faith and it is that FAITH that GOD responds to....

So I press...and as a songwriter sang "I look for him to take the pain out of the pain and the hurt out of the hurt"...and another sang "I wanna go ....where Jesus is....I got a mother over there...where Jesus is..." (me too)

So I press and I wait...and while I wait I must share while on this side of Jordan...meet me at my hub....www.hubpages.com/djdannak

Blessings to my Bishop Dr. Kenneth Ulmer who recently suffered this loss (last week), as well as, my high school classmate who updated her status to reflect that her mother transitioned today also ...

ALL LOVE
Ashe
Amen
Danna

Pause ...Consider...African American Actresses can and will open films...

Part 1

Disclaimer...the blog below is not what I intended when I opened the "new post" window to write...but it is what flowed like blood from a fresh cut...

I use the above title not so much as what this whole blog will be about, but I have just noticed that positive and negative thinking seem to work the same way. Have you noticed that the more you say anything the closer and closer and closer it gets to becoming true. Haven't you also noticed that if fact already supports a supposition like the one above, it will not improve if everyone keeps saying it. Repeating it does not make it okay, right or true forever. Consider this...the sooner you stop saying it; it like that dream deferred and that raisin in the sun will shrivel up and die and not continue to fester like a sore and then run...

As some of you know I am a writer and not an actress, but a good number of the stories that I am interested in seeing told or want to tell tend to be a reflection of the personal culture I know extraordinarily well. I am woman. I am Black (or African American). Nearest to my heart is the narrative from and about either or both groups.

I appeal to readers, listeners, writers and bloggers everywhere to pause and consider the idea that if we lift the veil of this daily "hammered" notion and begin to believe that not only is it possible, but imagine and see it as reality...it could happen. African American Actresses can and will open films to huge box office.

And so it has been with every great struggle: Women Suffrage, Anti Slavery and Abolition, Civil War, Anti Lynching, Black Codes, Jim Crow, Integration (whether we agree that it was for the best or the worst) Civil Rights, Affirmative Action, Roe V. Wade, the Vietnam Wall, Martin Luther King's Birthday (thank you Stevie Wonder and others for Marching in your long fur in Washington, DC) the list of movements is long and wide, but you get it right ? Someone(s) with clout, resource, focus and determination had to have a vision and then an action plan to support that vision to make it happen or as the saying goes to "make it rain". Say it with me...African American Actresses can and will open films to huge box office.

We of course want to shout of all the actresses: Jill Marie Jones, Kerry Washington, Golden Brooks, countess Vaughn, Tracee Ellis Ross, Queen Latifah, Halle Berry, Monica Calhoun, Nia Long, Terri Vaughn, Ruby Dee, Suzanne Douglass, Napiera Groves, Taraji P. Henson, Kim Fields, Erika Alexander, Lisa Bonet, Phylicia Rashad, Sanaa Lathan< Gabrielle Union, Kay Pri Marcus, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Paula Jai Parker, Victoria Dillard, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Tangi Miller, Viveca A. Fox, Vanessa Williams (both of them), Angela Bassett, Regina King, Esther Rolle, Bernadette Stanis, Alfre Woodard, Theresa Randle, Marla Gibbs, Theresa Merritt, Mabel King, Isabel Sanford ....Writers: Judi Ann Mason, Tina Andrews, Suzanne De Passe, Yvette Lee Bowser, Mara Brock Akil, Gina Prince Bythewood, Danna Kiel :-), Teanne Coleman-Chennault; Directors: Euzhan Palcy, Chip Fields, Debbie Allen, Mayeen Bassey, Julie Dash, Neema Barnett, Danna Kiel :-); Producers Kimberly Ogletree, Alyss Dickson, Joyce Washington, Helena Echegoyen, Bridget Davis, Tracey Edmonds, Poppy Hanks, Robi Reed, Holly Davis Carter, Rashida Turner that daily regularly and often make it their business to shift the paradigm and "Move That Bus" on a house that is in need of repair. Say it again ...African American Actresses can and will open films to huge box office.

(these lists are full of known and unknown folks (young women and those making their way) and they are all endless..they are in no order as these women are ALL SIGNIFICANT in contribution)

While the belief, the imagination and vision to shift to the reality that entitles this blog will not be a march on Washington or even a march through Hollywood or Beverly Hills for that matter...I just believe that some positive thinking is in order and so is a new conversation...words do have power... say it ...African American Actresses can and will open films to huge box office.

My prayer is that gate keepers will choose their words more carefully when speaking on the "now" possibility and the future. This is not a rant or even a "somebody done me wrong" blues song. I was yes tried by fire (yesterday), but awakened to press for the multi-prong solution to what is a (corporate model) fact based challenge. (I been aware and worried about this for much longer)

We are all professionals and business is certainly carried on a particular way in Hollywood. I don't think any entertainment industry professional agrees with all of the rules all of the time, but we all know you must work the system as is to carefully, clearly and fairly point out its flaws. Once the flaws are higlighted, SOLUTIONS must replace joints, washers and nuts that are not allowing the system to operate properly.

Growing in Going in Creativity
Ashe
Amen
Danna Kiel

Chane is Now-We Are a Movement....Talking Healthcare with Tanya Acker

Our onging Derrion Albert Conversation...What we do now.....

Conversation Pieces...


Conversation from Wednesday regarding Tuesdays Blog
Leslie Williams Boissiere
Amazingly well said as always.

lwb
12 hours ago · Delete

thanks ...where you at Big B
6 hours ago · Delete

Conversation from Thursday regarding Tuesdays Blog, as well
Jennifer Muirhead Johnson
It's hard to believe that something like this could happen. And it seems like the people in the crowd were excited by the violence rather than shocked or outraged. Could it have anything to do with all the violence we see on tv, film, billboards, in music? Or are these kids just used to violence because they live with it everyday?
57 minutes ago · Delete

Danna Lafaye Kiel
I believe...there are so many puzzle pieces...some fit and some don't. All the things you mentioned tv, film, billboards and music are impactful because this generation is more visual than ever and desensitized because of the over stimulation and over titillation that comes with that territory, as well as, their reality. I think to a good extent the bar on what satisfies gets raised quarterly with the new lows in the music, television, gossip and reality. Teachers, schools, after school programs, boy scouts, girl scouts, Delteens, Debutante organizations, young gent organizations are not as well funded nor does what we teach or give through any service groups get amped quarterly so as to successfully compete with what's out there in the media marketplace or the plethora of channels through which this media is delivered and received (I heard 4th graders talking about getting an iPod touch (on sale it retails for $200 to $250)) and then couple all of that with parents who have checked out because they are working all the time, because of multiple jobs or in some cases strung out on various substances. You end up with what we spoke about earlier "weapons of mass destruction" parading around as our youth...
2 seconds ago · Delete
Write a comment...

More Conversation pieces...

I am posting conversations, thoughts and statuses because I really believe that we've got to permanently change how we get down on the day to day. WE ALL (including myself) function in a sort of tragedy to tragedy sort of way. We are at the peak of dialogue when the cataclysmic event happens and then we return to a whispering valley until the next catastrophe for which dialogue again peaks. We are admittedly awake, but we must remain consistently ALERT. As my grief over Derrion Albert turns into an action plan I am posting ideas, suggestions and commands through twitter and my FB statuses. Today I posted couple of commands and got some interesting responses ...I will share here....

sidebar in
Let us not forget that the family of Derrion may never be able to stop grieving this horror. I personally don't want anybody who is awake and alert to miss an opportunity to INSTIGATE CHANGE in the hearts and minds of not only ourselves, but other "Everyday People".
sidebar out

More conversation pieces...

Danna Lafaye Kiel To all my FB and Twitter Fam call any and every child you see today a SCHOLAR or GENIUS (if they don't know what that is tell them)
9 hours ago via Twitter · Comment · Like / Unlike · View Feedback (5)Hide Feedback (5)

Comments and "likes" were

Shannon Haley, Sonya Gibson and Cushon Bell like this.

Shannon Haley
Good Morning View Park Scholars :)
9 hours ago · Delete

Mia Brandlmeier
View Park Prep!!!
9 hours ago · Delete

Danna Lafaye Kiel To all my FB and Twitter fam it is not to early to tell your little ones they are and encourage them to be SCHOLARS (Ali's school does)
11 hours ago via Twitter · Comment · Like / Unlike · View Feedback (4)Hide Feedback (4)
LaTisha Green-Hernandez, Sabrina Slocum-Johnson and 2 others like this.
Write a comment...

I later posted ...


Danna Lafaye Kiel Wants FB and Twitter Fam to continue calling any and every child you see a SCHOLAR or a GENIUS

Comments and "likes" were the following...

7 hours ago via Twitter · Comment · Like / Unlike · View Feedback (4)Hide Feedback (4)
Natasha Warsaw likes this.

Darryl Moore
But Danna...what if the kid is really dumb as heck??? LOL...then I would be teaching the kid to lie...that ain't good. LOL
7 hours ago · Delete

Breuna Baine
Encouraging a kid's self confidence is one thing but giving them accolades they haven't earned is just making a fool of them and giving them an undeserved sense of entitlement. Too much of that crap already.

Danna Kiel
Bre...I disagree I believe that we have to believe in the genius or the scholar in every child... it is their own potential we must literally call out of them and by saying it as often as the opportunity presents and dialoguing with them it also sets an expectation and that is one of the keys to educating children, youth and young people ...our babies big and small have to know that somebody cares and believes in their potential for success...the Derrion Albert situation has brought me to the realization that even though he was a scholar those who killed him died many intellectual, spiritual and cultural deaths on the inside long ago and I believe we all have a role in stopping these Weapons of Mass Destruction wrapped in the minds and bodies of today's youth who without education, self esteem and living in poverty believe that their identity is wrapped in what they wear, what they drive, how many babies they can produce and how many folks they can terrorize, maim or even kill...I believe calling children "scholars" or "geniuses" is one small step in the long walk toward what Marvin Gaye commanded..."save the babies!"

Blog Pham,

I am drunk and high off the notion that real change can happen as evidenced by the election of November 4th, 2008 and successively the events of January 20th, 2009...so I am with my whole heart trying to do my part...the Revolution may not be televised, but there is a Revolutionary Movement afoot and I am cranking up my "moving" truck now. Join me for the ride or grab your keys and join the caravan of ....

Love

Ashe'
Amen
Blessings everybody...

Rev Jackson, Bow Wow and Nas have come forward will there be more....

To Jesse, Nas and Bow Wow...Thank You, Thank You and Thank You...

Will there be more who come forward and say something ? Will there be more who raise their voices in order to raze change and fight for a transformation of values? I ask this of our citizens who have a higher profile (some call them celebrities or stars) and through their raised profile can shine a light on the tragedies and work of everyday people. Day to day many preach, teach and mentor young people. The work however of the everyman and everywoman goes virtually unnoticed and those who do it go without thanks, reward, recognition or even acknowledgment.

My hope and prayer is that citizens with raised profiles can in a fair exchange with the consuming citizens who have acknowledged their God Given talents by purchase or aquisition of their content return love, support and admonition in times of pain and anguish as with the death of Derrion Albert (Katrina Victims, Amadou Dialo, Yusef Hawkins, Latasha Harland you are not forgotten). We really are family !!!

It is the role of adults everywhere to wrap arms of Love and protection around all of our young people. It is also our role as parents, teachers, preachers, principals, caregivers and more to lend tongues of reason, listening ears and willing hands to heal the hearts and change the minds of these same young people.

My mind is still baffled and my heart is still weak from a news story, odious in nature as this one.

Excerpts from CNN piece contain quotes from Grandfather, Aunt and others...His memorial was even burned the next day....

"He was in Bible class this Tuesday night. Church on Sunday," Walker told WLS-TV. "I have no trouble out of my grandson whatsoever. This thing that happened to him is so horrific that we just don't know what we're going to do. We lost a really dear friend in my grandson. He was a blessed child."

Walker said the family was struggling to come to terms with why Albert was killed.

"I don't know where all this anger come from these people today," he told WLS-TV. "That's just too much anger for someone to have in their heart. All I can do is I'm going to pray for these people, I'm going to to pray for forgiveness." Video Rick Sanchez asks, "Are our young people salvageable?" »

Albert's aunt, Rose Braxton, told CNN affiliate WGN-TV that the family was hurt again when a memorial in Albert's honor was burned down.

"To go and burn a memorial after such tragedy, then that just speaks for itself to what kind of people they are," she told WGN-TV.

Family and friends asked the community to turn in anyone they knew who was a part of Albert's beating."

Rev Pfleger said it best ...

"What kind of person, what kind of individual, has such rage and such anger and such madness?" the Rev. Michael Pfleger said. "We've got to get to the hearts of our children, because nothing, nothing, excuses or justifies the actions of an individual who would beat another individual. Nothing justifies that in this society. "

"All I know is...something gotta be did !"
(anonymous GA man)

PS: So People what is our Action Plan ? ..I'm serious ! - What is our plan ?

Blessings
Amen Everybody

The Slaying Derrion Albert/My FB Status/Open Letter to Jesse, Al, Kanye and Van

Danna Lafaye Kiel Is hurt, shocked and dismayed by the brutal beating death of 16 yr old Derrion Albert another sad chapter in our ability to support our own

Nadine Cherry-Camel
isn't that horrible! i just don't get it for the life of me:( makes me so sad
4 hours ago · Delete

Eric Antonio
that is just sad...
3 hours ago · Delete

Cynthia Bennett
What is going on with our children? All I could do is cry.
3 hours ago · Delete

Danna Lafaye Kiel
I feel you Cynthia ...it shook me to my core the little bit of the brutality that I could stand before I had to change the channel...Nadine I just don't get it either ...like what is happening to our children...where does that kind of blood thirst come from to beat another child to death and I am still trying to understand why no one could help ? Were there no adults, nobody of sound and sober heart or mind to pull him away before it was too late...I am sorry you guys I am just baffled is all I can say and I want to know WHERE IS THE OUTCRY ...where is Kanye,Jesse or Al with their big mouths now !!!! Van Jones SOMEBODY...Preachers in Chicago need to be with the family....the grandfather and aunt sitting on tv this morning should not have had to sit alone on a national stage like they did on one of the morning programs
31 minutes ago · Delete

My epilogue/open letter to Jesse, Al, Kanye and Van

While I have called out Al, Kanye and Jesse as big mouths in the previous paragraph I have opened up to include Van Jones whose Big Mouth has clearly been used for Good and not evil too because as I beseech sister and brother black leadership coalitions to come out come out come out wherever you are I also hope that as most of you rally around injustices that are White on Black you will rally around the outstanding bill in the mailbox labeled "self destruction" addressed to the Black community from the mothers, aunts, parents, friends (and more) of every man, woman, preganant woman, child, niece, nephew, son, grandson, grand-daughter or friend that has suffered, bled and died senselessly and unjustly at the hands of people that looked like them.

I have a son...I also teach as a puzzle piece to how I make my living...despite how frustrated my inner teacher gets with my outer students...I want the best for them with my whole heart...as a mother my heart goes out to the caregivers of this young man ...that your child is dead is one thing, but to wrap one's finite mind around the brutality he endured until unconscious and transitioning is beyond anything I could reason or intellectualize or contextualize...the grief would probably make me go insane...

In times of trouble while my mouth will call on the Lord God and mine eyes will look to the hills from which cometh my help and remembering that my help comes from the Lord who has made heaven and earth....my hands will reach for the earth bound work that it will take to do what MARVIN GAYE SAID .."Save The Babies !!!!!"

Amen
Blessings Everyone

PS: JESSE, KANYE, AL, VAN, Common, DL Hughley ....I am listening out for you !!!!!!

Tanya Acker On Change is Now www.blogtalkradio.com/djdannak this Saturday

Join us this Saturday when we host Democratic Strategist and Political Analyst Tanya Acker on Change is Now-We Are a Movement at www.blogtalkradio.com/djdannak join the chat by calling us 347 215 7743 or just visit www.blogtalkradio.com/djdannak

They say the 3rd time is the charm. I am writing this blog from the Youtube share "post to a blog" function for the 3rd time. The first time the text cleared I am not sure of what I did. There was however no rough draft, it was not saved anywhere so it was just gone ...real gone. I started and finished it a second time from the dome. This time I decided I would highlight and "copy" the text each time I made major changes so that if it got swept away, I could "paste" it back. I then clicked "post to blog" at the end. I noted that when I went over to the "blogger" page it hadn't posted yet, but I attributed it to needing more time to travel over. I wake up this morning and return to blogger for no new blog There is of course no "save" and youtube doesn't save it to your channel so ...the genius at 2am is gone....so here we go again...

I have been on a on again off again hiatus this summer. I am proud to announce that we are back...bigger and badder than before...and we were pretty big and bad when we began.

I am excited to host a guest that I am extraordinarily proud to have on the broadcast, Tanya Acker.

Before I tell you all about her because some of you are going..."I went to Howard and I don't know her". Let's talk...

A guest like Tanya Acker thrills me because I believe that God put me on this earth to share through verbal and written communication...I talk and write a lot.

I believe that sharing is critical to the uplift of the race, African American to Human and everything in between. I will of course cop to having a particular focus on the African American race...one of the greatest charges Booker T. Washington left us was to "Uplift The Race" and I am down for the race to which this quote directly refers.

I love knowledge and information. These two along with wisdom and understanding I thought were the gateways to adulthood. As children my twin sister and I read encyclopedias at random, memorized the greek alphabet, combed through the Atlas and flipped through the dictionary because we thought the book was so big and pretty.

I therefore believe it is my responsibility to share because knowledge is in fact power. I share information not only to inform, but to inspire ....to not only inspire, but INSTIGATE ACTION.

My vision for instigated action and change are clear and fine tuned everyday as a mother raising a 7 year old son. It is my personal mission to make the world better for him and his friends. It is also my mission to do what I can while I am here on earth to make the world better for those around me in particular those whom I love. The care of children who carry God Given intellect, but little wisdom and no filters that say "I shouldn't say this", "I can't" or "that's somebody else's job" keep parents and teachers alike on our toes and striving to live in moment to moment truth. The little people and the big little people (teenagers) are daily going for what they know and what they don't know...we must also do the same.

I share because if I can spread love via the magic red carpeted internet super highway (and any other avenue, street or boulevard accessible) then those around me with whom I can directly and indirectly connect might start to instigate some change too...we may all indeed uplift the race.

When I see and hear the Tanya Ackers, Kamala Harrises, Melissa Harris Lacewells, Yolanda Pierces, Harry Allens and Bell Hookses (and so many more) of the world then I see with clarity that my duty and obligation are to share with you not only who they are, but what they have to say. Their leadership is clear, expressive, sensitive, appropriate and most of all informed on matters big and small.

I therefore count it a rich pleasure to be able to host the one and only Tanya Acker to my show this Saturday, August 22nd at 8am. Please call us 347 215 7743, chat with us or just listen at www.blogtalkradio.com/djdannak

Tanya is an amazing Democratic Strategist and Political Analyst who is truly the sharpest tool in the shed and is fearless when doing real battle with colleagues and peers on the world's media stage. She is also gorgeous. She truly uplifts the race African American to Human and everything in between.

A frequent guest on various television and radio broadcasts (including “Larry King Live,” “Anderson Cooper 360,” and “Headline News” on CNN; “The O’Reilly Factor,” “Hannity and Colmes,” Your World With Neil Cavuto” “Geraldo at Large,” “Studio B with Shepherd Smith,” and “The Live Desk with Martha MacCallum” on the Fox News Channel; “Verdict With Dan Abrams” on MSNBC and “Kudlow & Company” on CNBC, Verdict with Dan Abrams, as well as various other broadcasts on the E! Channel and the U.K.’s Sky News) Tanya Acker is presently a member of the panel of experts on SheSource.org, a resource for news media seeking experts on diverse topics. Acker was cast in and shot a CBS primetime television pilot, created and produced by the creators of “Extreme Makeover Home Edition,” in which she worked with individuals in challenging situations and helped them resolve their crises. (www.shesource.org)

During her studies at Yale Law School, from where she graduated in 1995, Acker worked in the Office of White House Counsel in the Clinton White House, in the Civil Rights Division in the United States Department of Justice, and interned at various private law firms. After graduation, she served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Dorothy Wright Nelson on the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals; her duties during this appointment included advising and making recommendations to Judge Nelson and other judges about rulings on a broad variety of cases, and preparing Judge Nelson for oral argument on matters before the Circuit. (www.shesource.org)

Please join us this Saturday by participating in the courageous conversation....

They say if a tree falls in the forest and no one is around does it make a sound ? Of Course !!!! Thank you Dr. Donna Kiel, Carolyn Radcliff, Robin Thede, Royale Watkins, Joyce Washington, Tiffany Jameson, Nikea Gamby Turner, Nefetari Spencer, Napiera Groves, Maronzio Vance, Cass Odum, Beth Payne, Sheree Devereaux and sooooooooo many more who listen and have been guests....you are out there and you're listneing...THANKS

Blessings

Amen Everybody

Bad Habit (and Grapes)

Okay I have not updated my blog in forever and while I have everything on my heart to talk about from Funny You Tube Videos to Jesus and right now to Green Grapes I simply have not checked in...

I have however this evening seized an opportunity You Tube gave me to update my blog...

Green Grapes remind of my co worker, fellow Skegee Alumni and Frat Brother Chris Price who passed away in the classroom almost 2 years ago (October 22nd 2007). Despite the forward motion of life I think the "return to school" will forever and always be something that is harder to manage because of that loss...Chris and I had communion over green grapes about 2 weeks before his sudden transition. It was one of the heartier moments we shared. I think they were my grapes....which doesn't matter much now, but I can see him reaching out to me and asking for some as we crossed paths on the sidewalk across campus. It has been and still is hard to enjoy grapes. It wasn't until buying grapes a month or so later and allowing them to mold that I realized I had no desire to eat them.

Impetuously I would tend to when seeing them on sale for 1.99 /lb or less grab them and purchase before getting them home and losing all urge to eat them because I can think of no one, but my dear friend Chris Price.

Today was different... as we ease into the home stretch that is the end of summer and prepare for school to start ...I pushed passed the pain to put the green grapes I purchased last week and had not touched into a bowl for Ali and I to snack on and ate past the loss.

I will with each purchase of "sale" grapes keep pushing passed it...because grapes are good for us and that is the real moment that Chris and I shared....so here's to good health...

connection to Maxwell's Bad Habit video...absolutely none

This is all attached to Maxwell's video for his new single Bad Habit which features one of my favorite actresses Kerry Washington because when I hit the "share" button to post it on my facebook page "post to a blog" came up and I thought I would seize the moment for an over due update...Honestly music and video give me a creative imperative...

Much love to Yasmin Kavanaugh (Savanna Marsh Mama) for the love she gave me a week ago

In Jesus Name
Amen Everybody

Conversation Pieces

This is my conversation peace...

Facebook as many know is an awesome community of folks... some you know, some you don't and all of whom you are getting to know or are getting to know you ("hoping you like me")...I love it because as I once told someone it is a way to be in the conversation despite the miles between me and them (friends, loved ones, peers and colleagues) ...I also happen to love to talk (www.blogtalkradio.com/djdannak) and exchanging comments that become conversations is right up my alley.

Facebook consistently and persistently gives me the chance to put my best face forward. I tweet, but the level of engagement and connection offered by facebook is matchless....well matchless for having rich deep connections and conversations with people whom you've never met or seen and is not in the name of love, lust or dating...

The short conversation I had below with Bay Area friend Jacquinn Scales was a chance to express something that I often try to say to whomever will listen.

At the speed of life however we are all on to the next thing in 24 hours or less...having a medium to record these short exchanges or conversations as they were called before phones and internet allows someone like me to leave little legacies that have meaning beyond the "24 hours or less" ...so I turn to my blog-all things real the shelf life of a blog is 24-72 hours (even it is archived until the internet becomes obsolete, can you imagine what that day will look like or what might be next...at this moment I cannot). I am never that hard to please and 24-72 hours will suffice. All I pray to do is plant seeds that can and will grow...so today I am a gardner.

What appears below is Jacquinn's comment about a "status" I posted. I think Jacquinn was picking on me Sunday evening as he had commented earlier on a previous status...but when I received the thumbs up from him and an innocent bystander, another "Facebook Friend" and fellow Alum from Tuskegee commented later in the day on the conversation I thought...."I believe I will share" and so it is

My status read ....

Danna Lafaye Kiel just got caught up watching TI's Road to Redemption

and Tonya jumped in and then came Jacquinn and me

Tonya Hussein Michelle at 11:33pm March 15

I kind of really like that show.

Jacquinn Scales at 11:47pm March 15 via Facebook Mobile

Do you feel as though its kind of a shame that black influential people have to get into trouble before they seek to help the community? Ti and Road to redemption. Then Lil Kim who got in trouble and all of a sudden while in jail has this passion to want to help foster kids. What are your thought?

I think Jacquinn raises a thoughtful and provocative question...below was my answer

Danna Lafaye Kiel at 12:04am March 16

I believe it is what it is ....Here in America we live in a media influenced society that maintains an investment in a star system...I teach for a living and I used to work in records...large numbers seem to always be influenced by what a a very few do (how they live...what they sing about or rap about or in the case of actors the movies they make) so honestly I think its important that if the spotlighted few find an opportunity to use their powers for good and not evil and the change of heart or the revelation of the true heart is sincere and authentic then let it "do what it do" ...the rest of us are responsible for consistently doing our part (if it is our aim) to push the images and profiles of those who have honorable lives worthy of admiration, adoration and have the charisma to captivate and positively energize those in need of such influence and inspiration

Kelley Woods at 11:32am March 16

Well said Dana...I am loving your vibe on this one...It's a struggle out there...Stay with it!!...One Love

Jacquinn Scales at 1:11am March 16 via Facebook Mobile

Very insightful. I wasn't tryna imply that their efforts were phony or anything. I believe God uses folks for different reasons. Its just I wondered what your thoughts were because so many people say "Its a shame it took TI going to jail in order to serve you" and blah blah blah. Hell in my opinion he's making more of an impact with these kids ... Read More than some of these faith leaders and other so called black leaders. I recall being young once...I was in foster care sixteen years and went straight from that into the juvenile justice system and served for years in the California Youth Authority. A lot of things contributed to that that only a selected few could identify with my pain. TI doin a good job and I see him impacting more and more lives along with other megastars as well. S*** we all know government won't do anything on our behalf much less people like ********* so we need the TI's, david banners, Nas and others.

More seeds before I move onto the next backyard garden....

I believe that in the Obama Nation we currently live in and beyond there is work to be done and with Stimulus money trying to trickle down (4 Billion for Police forces (across the nation) and Gang Warfare Prevention)...those who have the strength, courage and the will should be working harder than ever to turn love into action...Love of God, self and country. When we truly love ourselves we will see, hear and think more clearly. We will believe our own dreams and work until they come true. We will speak the mother tongues of care and compassion. We will also do the work that needs to be from Watts to the Whitehouse to rebuild our nation, our world and her people....(do you hear the violins or the drums (the rim shot) or the 808 or horns (trumpet or sax) playing in the background? ...I do :-)

Between Friends

It is never my intention to let a month go by between posts, but here we are two days shy of a month since my last post (Feb 8th). If you read my December blog Passion v. Profession you know I like a few others have a struggle or two (wink wink sarcasm sarcasm). Profession is currently whoopping Passion's tail.

I work everyday like most folks and though teaching is a more than an honorable profession, I count the days til summer and in the process try not choke somebody's child or slit my own wrists :-). I love math, but what I do everyday is not my passion. Since my return from DC the work has been all consuming. I am at the corner of Tired Ave and Overwhelmed Blvd and one block away from Exasperrated Lane. This is life. Momma said there would be days like this...and there are.

My heart is however warmed when I can purchase necessities for my son (lunch pail, backpack and shoes), lotion and a much needed Ped Egg for my own feet. When a "comfort song" (Prince, D'Angelo, Erykah, The Spinners, Lena Horne or Miles Davis) plays on the radio in my car, I can bring into focus...the work. The eye chart at the end of the hallway reads C for "car note", I for "insurance", F for "food", G for "gas", L for "lotion", R for "Rent"...I believe you know the eye chart I am talking about.

So as I do the everyday work of building the life I live and would like to live, I vigorously pursue MY PASSION, wisdom, patience, humility, integrity, honesty and understanding. As a result I (like most women) am very busy. My son's life is the only life more important than my own. Everything I am is because of him. Everything I do is for him (and his future).

I have so many beloved friends with whom I've been blessed to amble along this very active, organic and passionate journey. I am everyday lifted not only by my relationship with Mother/Father God, but by the friends Mother God has blessed me with. Two different days this week Ali and I broke bread with 2 very close friends, Charlotte Dugan and Jennifer Johnson.

My friend Charlotte describes our friendship as a conversation that began from a random introduction in 1998 that has never ended. We have seen each other through joy, pain, loss and the life changes that come with our brand of motherhood...singlemotherhood. Jennifer and I met through a mutual friend and then renewed our friendship vow shortly after Ali was born and renewed it again after she married and gave birth herself. When together our conversation traverses a landscape of topics that only mothers with command of the "poor short term memory language" can even appreciate.

The day after an incredile Salmon and Coconut Rice dinner prepared at her hands, I had the need to complete a conversation we'd begun about exceling in an area. We were combing over what some educators call, the Essential Question. Our essential question is "what is it that I do?" or... "what is it that I am good at?"

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Last week I spoke with someone and we were having too deep and too engaging conversation about life and I expressed the concern that I believe that my Dad worked his whole life performing jobs that adequately and at times inadequately took care of our family. He is now 70+ and never (I don't believe) worked doing something he loved. I concluded our convversation with not only this revelation, but said "that is my fear I don't want that...but it feels like exactly where I am going. I simply don't feel good at what I desire with all my being to do (write and direct films) and it feels like I don't have the time to put in the hard work to become good at it and I am already over 39 :-). I spent time with another filmmaker (Director, editor and writer as well) and while he has freelanced way more in the field and built a strong level of expertise he too is further over 39 than I am and has not attained the tangible level of success that allows him with comfort and at the very least routine to earn more for his family. He however provides and provides consistently based on my every visit to their apartment for birthdays and communion. I am not the only one with some concerns.

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Yesterday evening while sitting in my after school component I wanted to close my conversation with Jenn over our ponderance of our Essential Question, "What is it that I do?" She expressed that she and a friend are starting a business and her concern was "Am I smart enough to do this?" The short answer is ..."of course you are !" the long answer came to me yesterday and I text(ed) her and I want to share with you what was revealed to me...

"I thoroughly enjoyed our time together yesterday and we had so many unfinished conversations, but the only thing I know at 41 (which is a little late, but better late than NEVER) is I just have to believe in me whether it feels crazy or not because whether I am excelling at "it" today or not if I am passionate about being "it" or doing "it" I have to believe with all my might that I am fine and greatness is within whether I can yet see it or not (the bible says Greater is He (or She, the creator) that is in me than "he" (or she) that is in the world)...I just have to believe and so do you...every moment (or incident) that makes us unsure is an opportunity to learn and grow...I know it sounds preachy, but as we head down these roads less travelled or well travelled with the brand new landscape that progress and change have created it gets rather lonely and all we have is ourselves..."

My other blogging friend said to me that maybe my blogs from Passion v. Profession and others that turn inward (maybe too far) were a cry for help...I believe Mother God heard my cry...so the journey continues...

PS: Y'all know Ali will be 7 in April so we know the picture is a little dated... :-)...we have indeed come this far by FAITH !!! (I hope you know the rest of the song...)

Part 1: Million Man to One Million or More Strong ....Reflections on Inauguration

Space Log:

January 18th we (Ali, one of my students and myself) arrived into National Airport around 11:00am on time. We deplaned. I had been last in my beloved National Airport back in August. In August I had only anticipated our victory and that Inauguration would be ours. It was 2 days before the big day and VICTORY was now ours. We took pictures with the "Barack" cut-out and headed down to get our luggage.

We retrieved our luggage, loaded metro cards and headed to the platform to wait for the train. We boarded with all of our luggage and headed out to the Branch Avenue Station on the Green Line.

We arrived into the station where our Ft. Washington, MD host picked us up. We got in and I immediately returned to the metro station to catch whatever I could of Sunday's Big Free concert. I will not bitch about the fact that tickets were needed to get to a certain area and in all of the texts I received from the PIC (bka Presidential Inaugural Committee), it was never communicated that tickets were needed.

I was soon able to sift out the rumors that if I continued walking toward the Jumbotrons I would still be able to enjoy whatever was left of the show. This information would have been more helpful before I rode all the way to Foggy Bottom GW Metro Station to get to the back side of the Lincoln Memorial where I could not access the show instead of hopping off at Smithsonian Metro Station and sitting down quickly to enjoy whatever was left of the incredible 2:30p concert.

I walked and I made it around to a screen and caught the close of what sounded like an incredible show. I had walked the perimeter of a large area hearing Bono, but unable to see him until I got in that night. I still haven't seen the whole concert and I hear John Legend and James Taylor smashed it. Everyone's got homemade DVD's. It will work out.

The plan was to meet up with my sister. Before meeting up with her I walked and walked trying to get a lay of the land for the Big Day. We have all planned and talked...talked and planned for months and weeks. Some friends had fallen back and decided not to make the pilgrimage to Washington.

Despite some financial challenges and yes some challenges at work. I decided to make the trip anyway. I surveyed the mall. I surveyed the not so jumbo jumbotrons. I checked out the American History Museum that was opening at 8:00am instead of 10am to accommodate anyone who wanted to stay in from the cold. I even met two local ladies who like me were surveying for Tuesday, as well. We called it a "practice run". For the record a lot of the DC locals were either trying to flee the city or not coming out. It was refreshing to meet these two "Auntie" aged women trying to figure things out.

I eventually met up with my sister near the American History museum where we got Empanadas and hotdogs. We exchanged gifts, love and hugs.


As we talked, used the restroom and walked a feeling came over me. The sun was beginning to set though it had barely risen this day. I'd been on the mall many times since October 16th, 1995, but I heard the Men of the Million Man March whispering to me. I felt the spirit of that day speaking directly to me. I, Black Woman, was there. Despite how inappropriate some may have thought it was, I had to bear witness to One Million Men on the Washington, Mall. The weekend before I had run into so many of my Skegee classmates at the local clubs and pubs who (Muslim or not) were in town to "march". There seemed to be Beautiful Black Men everywhere ! (I had to be there).

14 years ago Minister Louis Farrakhan convened Black America's Men to meet on the mall to talk about and demonstrate "leadership". There were many public reservations about the controversial American Muslim leader convening such a meeting. As a DC resident I just kept thinking "They're letting him have the Capitol Steps and the Mall...they can't be as afraid or uncomfortable as the media claims". I also reflected that Martin Luther King had gathered more than a few folks in 1968 so freedom of assembly had definitely rung over the years. I am not comparing King and Farrakhan, just reflecting upon "controversial" million (or not-so-million)-plus gatherings on the Washington, Mall.

I had not felt afraid in 1995 and despite the magnitude of Barack's campaign, I was not afraid of what would or could happen on January 20th. I also attended the speech in Denver at Mile High Stadium. I was not afraid there either. Fear of "what might happen" was just not on my radar.

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There were black folks who actually worried that there would be some "incident" at Inuguration. "You know how 'our people' are when we get together", reflected a friend's friend'; as though "our people" were the going to be the only people in attendance. It sounded idiotic to me. It was frustrating, but not my issue. I was more worried about say a threat on Barack's life than "Pookey" vs. "Quan" or even the Jena 6 vs. Arian Nation.

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While the Inauguration is a Federally supported event and the differences between January 20th, 2009, October 16th, 1995 and August 24th, 1968 are very clear, I still believe I heard whispers of love, support and triumph from those who had experienced those historic days. I felt the continuum. They seemed to say that the way has been made...run on.

History says there were 250,000 at the March on Washington. The Million Man March is said by the Nation of Islam to have been attended by 1,000,000 . The media and the National Park Service (Park Police) reported between 400,000 and 450,000. Farrakhan even threatened to sue the Park Police for the reporting those numbers. As an attendee I feel confident there were WAY more than 450,000, but after looking at the 1.5 Million helicopter shot on Obama's big day , I hate to break it to Farrakhan...We were "Strong" that beautuful day in October 1995, I am just not certain we were "One Million Strong" (please don't sue me).





Here's the thing...I am not certain if it matters anymore. I just know over this continuum we are "53 million plus" strong for Barack and its been a long time coming...like since slaves and abolitionist whispered for freedom long time coming...these things don't just happen over 2 or 3 years more like hundreds...

My reflections on January 20th, 2009 are these .. It was too cold to be out there; trying to see too many folk the night before I was disappointed at not having gotten up early enough to get out onto the mall space between the monument and the capitol (we made it to the nice space between the Washington Monument and the War World II Memorial which some consider "Mall Enough", I do); the swearing in was incredible (despite the HUGE disapointment of having to watch the whole thing on a jumbotron through a dead tree), but the stress (so many street and gate closures obstructing the walk to the mall that was already an inevitable 2 miles) of walking 2+ miles to get there was distracting to the moment for me (and a few others whose names have been protected for fear of "incredible moment" backlash); Ali was so completely fatigued from the walk that he slept through

swearing in (I still have guilt and nightmares about the walk to the mall for my 6 year old, I take full responsibility for the decision) ....I am still tired...I enjoyed Denver and the DNC way more....

Am I glad I was there ? Yes after a hard fought year of volunteering, campaigning, canvassing, phone banking and just daily debates I had to stand in the spot ordained for me in Washington, DC to witness HISTORY. I had to breathe DC's frigid air of HOPE, COURAGE and BEAUTY. Yes I had to be there !
















BTW....Good times did actually roll for me in DC on my beloved U Street...stay tuned for my next blog ...

Black History Month Thoughts...just for today

I have several blogs clogging my pipes, but this gushed out today...I will catch you up on all things Inauguration and DC. I will catch you up on all things on the job, as well. I also found myself INCREDIBLY thrilled watching my son play "Bitty Leauge" Basketball at Rancho Cienega.



Today let's talk history....I open with an excerpt from Dr. Yolanda Pierce's Blog (in response to her partner Dr. Lacewell) from the Kitchen Table which brought me out of the "Blog Funk" I've been in...here goes

"When I think of Black History Month, I think of the stories like Seymour's that have yet to be told; I think of the songs, and the histories, and the poetry yet to be written about the African American experience. I think of the current political moment we are in, as well as the 400 years of struggle from which it emerged. I think about the courageous educators like Carter G. Woodson, who fought to have Black history recognized as American history.

Like you, I wish that we had no need of a separate month to recognize these achievements. I wish that we would seamlessly weave the stories of all people at the margins into the very center of the history that we teach. I wish that the silenced and the voiceless would find expression in our country 365 days of the year. And I will continue to work towards that goal. I've dedicated my life to working toward that goal as I teach this material every month of the year."

Excerpt from The Kitchen Table..."Black History, Black Stories"
by Dr. Yolanda Pierce

Dr. Pierce's words were incredibly profound and serendipitous for me today. I have spent the last two weeks since my return from a very cold and excruciating Washington, DC researching Sojourner Truth, Myrlie Evers and John Hanson (the Black Man ...there was a White one too). I just yesterday expanded my research to Carter G. Woodson (I have read Miseducation of the Negro, but I was not aware of his struggles with the NAACP and Howard University) and today stepping up to the First true liberator of Black Folk, Harriet Tubman. She didn't just theorize, lead and hope....She FREED 300 or more slaves !!!!!!!!!

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I am often frustrated by the idea that "Black Leadership" is revered as the province of men (Martin, Malcolm, Mandela and Me (as the T-Shirt from my college days went). Although no longer a part of the American History standards for the state of California a study on WEB Dubois and Booker T. Washington has just fallen to the desire of individual instructors. I observed the AP History teacher teaching it anyway and including Marcus Garvey as the three "Black Leaders" of the time. He lectured on the differences between their schools of thought. I turned him onto Dudley Randall's poem. He was not familiar. It was the least I could do watching from the sidelines.

There is however no noting of Harriet Tubman's HARD WORK woven into any standards or lecture. There is nothing even said of Isabella Baumfree bka Sojourner Truth who preached and lectured about Black Liberation and Women's Liberation before the turn of the century. She also "lobbied" (if you will) for the government to GRANT land to Freed Slaves moving west. We never got our 40 Acres, but she was seeking a remedy for the "Exodusters" leaving the South to begin their lives West. I am a graduate of Tuskegee University. I am not trying to diminsh the significant contributions of our menfolk. I am just trying to bring Harriet and Isabella out of "novelty/black fact status".


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It is not that I don't know who the aforementioned historical icons are. It is not that I haven't looked these historical icons up before in an Encyclopedia of old (I miss encyclopedias do you miss encyclopedias ?), but with my radio show and the desire to be an authentic master or reasonable expert on this information, I too am daily (365 Days) disappointed by the OMISSION of Black Stories in the pantheon of "American History". I recently read that when Sojourner Truth met Abraham Lincoln, he is said to have shown her his Bible that was said to have been given to him by "Black People in Baltimore". Maybe Obama was trying to make sure that everyone was at the Inauguration. I am more sure than ever I want to be a purveyor of the African American History Gospel, like Carter G. Woodson.



As a math teacher waiting on my afternoon classes I often listen to the same AP History Teacher teach from a text that is so profoundly deficient, that I want to yell out "Lewis Latimer !" like someone with Tourettes Syndrome as he teaches them about Thomas Alva Edison.

I quoted Dr. Pierce's words becauseI am thrilled, moved, inspired and renewed by them (check the whole blog at www.princetonprofs.blogspot.com). I am personally looking to change the world through this "acknowledged" knowledge and information that can at the very least enrich the landscape from which children and young people are taught (media, film and literary work) and at best become fully woven into the fabric of American History. One day it will all be taught seamlessly as a NATURAL part of the American Experience. I am working for that day !

all love
danna

We Just Had Terri Vaughn On...check the archive

Good morning family,

Its the weekend again. I don't normally use my blog for radio show promotion, but I wanted to reach out today and say ...check us out at www.blogtalkradio.com/djdannak . We just had a magnificent show with actress Terri J. Vaughn and her baby son who can be heard in the background.

Terri has a documentary of note called "Angels Can't Help But Laugh" . The documentary chronicles not only the paucity of work for African American actersses, but even for those working the challenges on their journey. It is a COURAGEOUS and bold work that should be should not be missed. Start with www.angelscanthelpbutlaugh.com .

Today she talked with us about her journey to acting to Hollywood and the present. We had an awesome chat room. We were also blessed to have Samaria Graham from the Facebook Family join us in the chat room and on the air. Samaria joining us is totally a result of the network that we have built along the Facebook faultline. We are shaking things up thanks to not only Facebook, but our own tenacities and belief in the higher calling and purpose.

I am as those on the ground know, headed to DC this weekend ...tonight actually. We arrive in the morning and its been a journey to get there. I will not consider the journey over until Thursday when return home and of course have lived to see and tell about it.

I am honored that God has birthed me and allowed me to be alive to see a time such as this. I am thankful to the mother/father/creator for the breath of life and for this opportunity.

Anyone reading or who gets to listen to my show ....know that I take you with me to DC

Blessings
Danna and Ali

Wine and Grilled Cheese

Hey Family,

The awesome thing about blogging is that you can blog about everything and nothing. The terrible thing about blogging is that you can blog about nothing and everything.

I write this today hoping that it will mean something.

I have never blogged on the weekend. I thought I would try it out. Ali and I spent the night with a good friend and her toddler, we woke up on the slow train and eventually made it home by 11:00am. The decision to not go to church in light of my blessings (a new car) might have been too easy.

I just know that I run from my own home because it is not the tidiest and it is a constant reminder of everything that feels wrong. There are all these projects from sewing to reading to my writing that I want to get done. Piles of fabric, books and papers are everywhere. While the reminders are mostly in the car; there is also the nag of the lesson plans and other preparations for work that are either half done or not done.

I typically walk in the apartment and peruse for what is in need of the most urgent attention. Today (like most) it is the laundry. After my decision I went on to the kitchen to prepare Ali some lunch and realized that I have a lower oven that may work. I made this discovery in a calm still moment. This is I am sure mundane for you but sadly critical for me.

The gas stove/oven was given to me around Ali's 5th Birthday (April 2007) shortly after I moved in. It was January of 2008 before I stoppped up everything long enough to purchase and have installed the proper piping to actually operate it. Ali's Godmother who gave it to us never recovered the stove top burners, but we now had a conventional oven or ovens I should say. For what its worth we had been using a toaster oven, microwave and griddle to prepare our meals.

I have for a year baked cookies, chicken and pizza in the top oven for which you can only "bake" (heat comes from the bottom). I have unsuccessfully, but persistently prepared cheese toast/grilled cheese without the benefit of a top heat element to broil these items. I recently began preparing pig/turkey-in-a-blanket where it became most evident that something was going to have to give. Most items I'd been preparing the last year of course cook from the bottom though at an accelerated rate. Cookies and thin crust pizza do just fine. Croissants wrapped around turkey dogs however come out baked sometimes burnt on bottom and mildly gooey (virtually uncooked) on top.

On Saturday this was our fate. I awkwardly flipped them over and baked the other side which made them Gobble Gobble's in a rectangular blanket. Well today in a calm still moment as I stood in the kitchen for longer than my obligiatory 10 minutes I stared at the stove/oven thing and realized that instead of using the lower oven to store other pots that maybe I should turn it on. Ali's lunch menu was soup and sandwich and grilled cheese sandwiches would go nicely with the soup I was also heating up.

I turned on the temparature knob to 400 degrees and turned the "selector" to broil. I put the cheese toast in, waited and scored. I served the soup and sandwich delicacy to my son with pride.

I settled myself in a lot of humility and yes some shame. I ate my own soup, prepared my own cheese toast and poured myself a glass of wine. Another quiet still moment emerged (Shiraz does that). Though not 4 star, my son was satisfied and for once so was I.

These "wrong" things (all around me) will never be "right" if I don't pause long enough to see the solutions that have been staring me down all along.

Blessings from and on a Sunday
danna

The 7th Day of Kwanzaa Imani - Faith

This is the last day of the Holiday season and Kwanzaa. The rest are just days off work.

It is January 1st and I have agonized about not breaking bread with you since the 10th or something like that. I also got into a quagmire trying to get a radio show up after an awesomely awesome time with Drs Melissa Harris Lacewell and Yolanda Pierce, the ladies of The Kitchen Table on December 20th whose blog you can find at www.princetonprofs.blogspot.com . I have agonized more.

Time keeps on slipping into the future and with each day so much to do preparing for the holidays, being on holiday and returning home from holiday.

Over the break I have contemplated the meaning of life or if I was just having a nervous breakdown and no one told me. I know I love imparting math knowledge to young peole, the "practice" known as "teaching" is however daunting. I like most single mothers are in need of relief. I am personally looking for a caped hero who is never coming.

My two favorite things in the world to do: writing and talking, I didn't get at during this "break". Now its summarily over. I sit here writing listening to Stevie Wonder thinking of my friend Judy with whom I spent time with in Atlanta as our sons born two weeks apart became reaquainted. We talked non stop about Love, Life, Pain and music, the music, the music, the music all things Stevie Wonder, The Roots, Incognito and my new boyfriend, Q Tip. I even got to watch the Donny Hathaway Unsung....I was blown away.

My Christmas Holiday was also spent crossing county and state lines through Atlanta, GA; Selma AL; Montgomery, AL; Coffeville, AL; Birmingham, AL and finally Huntsville, AL (the place of my birth). I updated Facebook and Twitter all along the backroads and highways we drove.

I constantly contemplated where we were going as we drove, as well as, where I was going mentally and spiritually particularly on a journey for which my 6 year old son, Ali is my constant companion. We however travelled with Faith as our constant companion each time we set out.

We never doubted that whether late or early we'd always arrive at the desired destination. Even if we got lost or became concerned about a route choice, we would consult the human GPS at the local gas station or just a nice Black woman in a convenient store to get back on track.

We were visiting relatives and friends...old friends and some new. Upon our arrival in Coffeville, AL to the Kiel Settlement we were greeted by my cousin Nikki whom I had not seen in 15 years. When we last laid eyes upon another she was 19, pregnant and pouring her heart out into 6 feet of dirt where her mother was being laid to rest a few feet from where my own mother was already resting.

Nikki and I spent time on Christmas Day running to the local Walgreens which was approximately 40 minutes away in a town called Thomasville, AL and while there we bought Poinsettias for the grave sites of our mothers.

As well, while in Coffeville for the annual Family Reunion, I met my cousin's new girlfriend Dina of whom I was initially suscpcious, she looked white and all I could think was that after a year of campaigning for Barack Obama my high road talk of race was still mired in some challenges. She turned out to be Egyptian, which made it all okay somehow.

After time spent with her and the sensitivity she showed toward my son Ali I realized that an unwilling faith to be sweet to her made me a recipient of her sweetness. She was authentic. She was genuine. I got a New Year's text (of the many :-) from her 15 minutes after I thought ..."I should text Dina ...I miss her".

I find often that if it appears to be honest and true then I have to go with it. "Going with it" is Faith. I believe that it could be the most important of the 7 Principles that Kwanzaa and the Nguzo Saba . As a believer in the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, it is in the Christian Tradition a huge concept to wrap my head around and live by.

The thing that gets tricky is how to comfortably walk in the confidence of that faith. I work to discern which came first the Chicken called "Faith" or the Egg named "Confidence"...or is it the Chicken named "Confidence" or the the Egg named "Faith".

I just know that Faith without works or action is in fact dead. If I believe it and the rest is honest and true...I will have to "go with it" in action, deed and spirit. The next time I think I should text a new friend...I will stop and do it.

In 2009 I am therefore going to "go with it" and always take Ali with me....

See you at Inauguration (because I went "with it" back in January 2008) and give us a listen this Saturday, January 3rd at www.blogtalkradio.com/djdannak

oh yeah....

Keep the Faith ....in Barack... in ourselves.... and others