Experienced a moment yesterday that almost paralyzed me: doubt.

Doubt, I believe is a symptom of fear, a very clever and jealous thief of time, creativity, logic, and success.  Doubt impedes progress. 

Faith won out.

Life is not always easily categorized… and neither is art.  Occasionally we are just invited to observe. 

Today, I will soak it all up and in!  

Photo courtesy Flickr The Tyler Davidson Fountain, 1973

Bathing beauty.  Spring has arrived.

Vintage swimsuit circa 1912.

cul·ti·vate (verb)

According to Merriam-Webster Online:

to improve by labor, care, or study 

Like the landowner in the photo… I cultivate.

Thirteen

Yesterday, I attended a video* premiere for a new gospel music artist at the request of one of my best girlfriends.  Why did I?  Simply, because she asked me to.

Friends from the age of thirteen – our friendship is older than our oldest children, as we warmly remind them.

Now that’s beauty er, beautiful.

Two little girls in a park near Union Station, Washington, D.C., 1943

Library of Congress via Flickr

*The video for the song “Beautiful” is composed and performed by local independent artist, Kebra Harris-Moore.   It is an inspiring and uplifting work addressing the issues of self-image and confidence, as experienced through the eyes of young men and women.

Friend her on Facebook.

Going to town on Saturday afternoon, Greene Co., Ga., 1941

Via Library of Congress/Flickr

Saturday.  Day of leisurely pursuits.

Three days ago I paid $4.11 a gallon to fill up my car.  

Driving is fast becoming a luxury activity.  In sprawling Los Angeles with few transportation alternatives that are also time efficient - I am concerned about the residual effects of such pricing: increases in goods, services, and perhaps, unemployment. 

Think conservation!

Receipt for love.  Hilarious.  

Inspired Success

Mama exhorted her children at every opportunity to 'jump at the sun.' We might not land on the sun, but at least we would get off the ground. - Zora Neale Hurston

Young girl jumping on a trampoline at the Sarasota High School Sailor Circus, 1952

The Coloured Idea Band of Sonny Clay arrives in Sydney, 1928 / Sam Hood

Dance girl!

It Wasn't Child's Play: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated as he stood on the balcony of the Loraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, April 4, 1968.  Born January 15, 1929, he was 39 years old upon his death.

I remember when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed.  I was very young, but I remember the sadness, tears, and anxiety that covered our neighborhood during that time. 

      

My parents, two older brothers and I were living on East 77^th Street right off Central Avenue in Los Angeles at the time.  It was a neighborhood filled with transplanted Black southerners who knew too well the horrors of segregation, discrimination, and the Ku Klux Klan (KKK).  They migrated from Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama, and they feared and prayed for Dr. King’s health and welfare, supporting the civil rights movement progress with cautious optimism.

 

We lived in a working class neighborhood where families were the norm: two parents, kids, and for some, grandparents.  Our extended family lived within a three-block radius of our home. 

I can still see our neighbors and family members gathered in small groups, talking on their front lawns or talking at the curbside in hushed tones.  Everyone wore strained, confused and anxious expressions.  Men were talking loudly, angrily even, and being shushed by the women because kids were within earshot.  They killed Martin Luther King!  I see it all now in dream sequences.  It was April 4, 1968 and was real.

I wonder what Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. would think about our fractured families, incarcerated men, three military engagements on foreign shores, record Black unemployment, homelessness, dissolution of unions, technological dependence, violent tendencies, and social ineptness.  I could go on but I won’t.  It is April 4, 2011 and it is also real.

If you care to review the history of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s assassination, I found great archival coverage at this source:

Times Online UK http://tinyurl.com/3vd4xsj

Please support the building of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in Washington, DC  here

Sunday Efficient

Forms part of: George Grantham Bain Collection (Library of Congress).

Circa 1910-1915

I am producing several projects simultaneously and will be working today from my home office. 

A woman’s worth is her independence.

Happy Birthday Marvin!

Sunrise: April 2, 1939 – Sunset: April 1, 1984

“There'll come a time, when the world won't be singin'

 
Flowers won't grow, bells won't be ringin' 


Who really cares?”  – Lyrics from Save The Children performed by Marvin Gaye

Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. known worldwide as Marvin Gaye.  A phenomenal artist, performer, songwriter, and composer, Marvin is celebrated as the embodiment of soul.

Lesser celebrated is his challenge to the world to treat the earth with kindness and respect… preserving the living right of our children to live and grow in a healthy and safe environment.

Watch the video of Save The Children here 

I support Planet Lunchroom and their efforts to “greenovate” school cafeterias  and invite you join me in supporting this organization.

The song, “Save The Children” is written by Al Cleveland, Marvin Gaye & Renaldo Benson, from the Motown album “What’s Goin’ On

Happy April Fool’s Day!

August 11, 1909 – Library of Wales