I’m 12 and sitting on the sofa next to my brother Ron, who’s 19 and on the telephone. My second oldest brother is so suave that I cannot hear a…

“I am one man that do love his children” ….  His voice rang across generations and blazed up from the page I was reading in Herbert G. Gutman’s book, The Black Family…

You can’t applaud and take notes – Samuel F. Yette Charles Lloyd’s Hymn to the Mother is go-to music, when I’m working diligently to maintain persistence and sanity, remain emotionally supple, and recalibrate…

Aaaahhh listening to Al Young read Something About the Blues!  Aaaahhh watching Black men accept the Frolicking Challenge! Aaaahhh listening to Billy Preston frolic on the organ ….  Aaaahhh lifting my voice to harmonize with…

Photo by Fana Babadayo How do I infuse happiness – wreak happiness? – into my community engagement work? How do I execute rigorous planning? When do I push? When do…

Smile but be serious is how Herschell Happiness put it during one of Graham Central Station’s classic intro jams! Working on my whisper is how I remind myself to avoid…