We Who Believe in Freedom...
Full Moon in Capricorn🌕♑️
Greetings Fam!
Happy Full Moon in Capricorn! I’m back from vacation and it was quite a day yesterday. With so much going on my post is a day late! I wrote my essay yesterday (after scrapping two others), but I finished so late that I decided to post today. We are still in the energy of the full moon so the words are right on time. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
Last week the incomparable Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon (Sweet Honey in the Rock, Freedom Singers, Harambee Singers) transitioned this world and elevated to the high honor of ancestor. With her passing and all that is going on in the world in mind; this week I bring you, in the words of Dr. Reagon, “We Who Believe in Freedom Cannot Rest.”
Finally a gentle reminder that The Burnt Sugar Arkestra under the direction of Mario Van Peebles are celebrating the musical legacy of Melvin Van Peebles on August 9th & 10th at Lincoln Center. See the info below and see you at the show!
As always, thank you to all my new paid and free subscribers! A reminder that I am donating 10% of what I earn here to organizations of my choice. Thank you again for you support!
Together…We are strong. We are resilient. We are powerful. We are intelligent. We are talented. We are joyful. We are focused. We are beautiful. Remember who we are. Remember who you are. Lest we forget…
Happy Full Moon in Capricorn! 🌕♑️
Friday & Saturday, August 9th & 10th MVP: A Multimedia Stage Play Inspired by the Music of Melvin Van Peebles By Mario Van Peebles featuring Burnt Sugar the Arkestra Chamber @ Alice Tully Hall 1941 Broadway New York, NY 7:30pm Pay-What-You Choose (from $5/Suggested $35) For tix & more info: https://www.lincolncenter.org/MVP
Listen to me read “We Who Believe in Freedom Cannot Rest”
Please note: The audio is not as updated as the written word. I made a few changes to the essay , but I didn’t have the energy to re-record. Such is life. Enjoy!
We Who Believe in Freedom Cannot Rest
Bay-bee!! This post is going to be short and sweet or maybe I’ll get on a roll and it will be long and strong. Who knows, but I know this is the third thing I was going to post today. I wrote a new thing and scrapped it. Then I pulled out an old thing and scrapped it. Then I was on my way to the book launch for my girl Karen Good Marable’s beautiful children’s book Yaya and the Sea when I saw The News. Bay-bee! Folks were shook. Dismayed. In disbelief. And I was wondering why? I mean I actually have a lot of “why” questions. Why were ya’ll so willing to support a president who you saw was being propped up by a popsicle stick every damn time he was in front of a camera? I mean really? He was forgetting people’s names! I mean were ya’ll really all for Joe all the way to November? Were ya’ll watching this man for real? It amazed me how shocked people were at today’s announcement. I knew it would take some time for him to put his ego aside, but I knew eventually Jill would look over at Joe and say, enough is enough honey. It’s time. But in all seriousness he was in no shape to carry on and that is not ageism, that is facts!
Everybody is stressed about it being so close to November, but we have time! [See France!] I think what’s really getting folks panites in a bunch is that ya’ll know you are going to have to get out there and do some work! Put some money down. Make some calls. Knock on some doors. You can’t just sit back and let November 5th come and go.
I’m hearing the things that people are saying and I am reading the things that people are writing; good, bad and ugly and mark my words we are about to see things get very ugly. We are about to find out how much Black women are loved or hated while in the same breath putting all your hope in us to bail this country out once again. Won’t we do it?? We are about to find out just how much liberal/progressive white women will stand with Kamala or if they are still mad about Hillary. Won’t we find out? I'm not even going to mention the other white women cuz we already know that they consistently vote against their best interests year after year. I know we are about to see the underbelly of the Black male ego and their hurt feelings about some sista who did them wrong so they won't support another sista cuz they still believe that 45 actually cares about them because he trotted out Amber Rose and Kanye and made yet another pair of limited edition sneakers reaching for that low hanging fruit of a voter. Yo, get your cuzins! I love my brothas with all my heart, but those with sense really need to go holla atcha people. And let me not forget the Black women who are so wrapped up in patriarchy and self doubt that they would never vote for another Black woman. That in and of itself is a dissertation, but I digress.
Now I’m gonna keep it 100 and admit that when Kamala originally ran she wasn't at the top of my list, but right here, right now, I’m standing on business and we can scrutinize her on the other side and trust there will be scrutiny. But also trust me when I tell you that the Divine 9 are circling the wagons. #IYKYK
I have been saying for months that this election was not going to look how people think. Amanda Seales says she “be knowin’,” but Amanda is not the only one. I be knowin’ too. I’m not on the socials with my knowing, but I 👏🏾BE 👏🏾KNOWIN’👏🏾! I also know that this circus is not over yet. I think there are more “clutch the pearls” moments on the way. We are in the midst of a paradigm shift so hold on to the guard rail!
Right now, I'm calling on all those who have a practice of ritual intention to start setting them now and if you’ve already been in practice, keep going! Corral your covens! Ya’ll out here looking for endorsements to make you feel better, but who or what do YOU endorse? Where do YOU stand? In the words of Pete Seeger, “Which side are YOU on?” Look to YOURSELF? How do YOU feel? What is YOUR spirit telling YOU? What junk do YOU need to release from your psyche on this full moon in Capricorn?
This past Tuesday, July 16th, Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon made transition. Not only was she the founder of Sweet Honey in the Rock she was also one of the original members of the Freedom Singers and Harambee Singers. She was a scholar of music as a social justice and healing tool and was a master at her craft. When she passed I started thinking about all the work that our elders and ancestors have done to get us to this point and how long we have rested on their work. I’m not saying that there haven’t been people out here continuing to fight for freedoms (BLM, Black Voters Matter, Fair Fight, etc.), but that push in the 50s and 60s is what most of us have rested on. When our elders and ancestors took to the streets or ran away from plantation labor camps they often had no idea what was on the other side, but they KNEW they had to go. That folx, is called faith. I know that word is often linked to religion, but it’s not about that. It’s about a knowing and a belief in what you cannot see. In the case of Dr. Bernice, she used her voice. She saw how the vibration of sound brought people together. How it moved people to action; gave them courage to carry on and move forward in the face of death. We have been resting on the work of our ancestors, but as Dr. Reagon wrote and sang, “We who believe in freedom cannot rest!” Now that doesn’t mean to run ourselves into the ground cuz I can feel the energy of Tricia Hersey stopping me right there and telling folx to sit a spell, but what I am saying or what our now ancestor Dr. Bernice was saying is that we cannot rest on our laurels. We cannot rest because unless all of us are free, none of us are free! “We who believe in freedom cannot rest until it comes.”
I know we have a long way to go. I know that this country was built on racism and violence. I know that voting is not perfect. I know the electoral college is trash. I know there are people that are still going to come up with excuse after excuse not to get on board because all of this scares them; the power of Black women scares them, but my question is, what scares you more? I want you to really sit with that. What scares you more?
On this full moon in Capricorn it’s time for us to lean into the qualities of this sign. It’s time to be visionary, a trailblazer, a leader, it’s time to strategize. Go to your altar and ask your ancestors for wisdom and discipline because we have to be as purposeful as possible, and only call on your elevated ancestors cuz we don’t need no more drama! Ha! Remember the past so we don’t repeat it. We have seen this behavior before. Remember who you are. Too much work has been done to just lose it all cuz we’re tired or heartbroken. To quote myself, “If you recognize you’re on the ground, you can get up!” Can you see where you’ve been yet? Are you touching the ground yet? Can you feel it? Yes? Yes? Ok, then now it’s time to get up!
Listen to “Power on the Floor” by Shelley Nicole’s blaKbüshe
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I love the energy in your words Shelley!! Particularly when you speak on the power of Bernice Reagon: "She saw how the vibration of sound brought people together"... My only two cents is that the "I'm with her" is not it. Let not a tainted saying lead us. 🙃