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Showing posts from September, 2010

A Gathering of our Native Americans

"The tribes who still live the traditional way of life believe that nature and the Indian people spoke the same language. They believe that nature was the guide and provider for the tribe and that nature gave each tribe power and its own unique identity. The tribes developed dances around the animals and natural forces in which they believed. It is those dances that are danced at pow-wows." Gathering of Nations, A PowWow Experience Ever been to a pow-wow? I have and it was beautiful. And I hope to one day go again. I was raised in the Black experience, but per my Mother and Father I do have Native American ancestry. My mother’s family mainly from Kentucky could possible carry the blood of Shawnee Indians and my father’s people, mainly creoles from Louisiana and later Texas, carry the blood of the Chitimacha Indians. Many others do as well, yet how many people outside of active Native American tribesmen actually know what that means. What does it mean to be a Native American i...

My Perfect Staycation!

I had every intention of going to that concert in Charleston. I’d bought my ticket during the fan presale and was all hyped and ready to once again see the amazing Jason Mraz. Then reports came in about bedbugs and I didn’t want to chance a hotel. So then I decided I would just drive the more than an hour and a half back to Bluffton after the show. But after the murder of my neighbor, I wasn’t ready to make that drive that late at night. On Sunday evening I started debating if I should go. The concert was on Wednesday, but by Monday morning I had my mind set on a vacation at home. And yes, I did initially take the entire week off just to attend one concert during the middle of the week to a city that is less than two hours away. Hey that’s what you do when you have vacation days to use. You use them or you lose them and I get a lot of Paid Time Off from my employer. Which I would say I deserve it, because I’ve been at my job for nearly ten years. Back to my staycation. I could’ve gotte...

The Murder of My Neighbor

What if all of this (life) is just a test and right now half of us are passing and half of us are failing. The purpose of this test would be for the entire human race to get past superficial things like skin color and religion. When those of us pass we get to move on to the next level of spiritual enlightenment when we die, but when those of us fail we are doomed to this crisis existence on earth all over again, until one day it’s too late, and the promised one returns only for those ready for the next step of this journey. Regardless if I’m looking toward Buddhism or Jesus Christ, the essence of death boggles my mind. I have no idea what happens next and so at night I often imagine where our souls go once they’ve departed. In actuality I hate death, and yet I know it comes for me, it comes for us all. In preparation for the unknown, I try to live a clean life, and I try to do no harm. What does the Bible say, love thy neighbor? I want to practice that. Thou Shall Not Kill. My neighb...