Saturday, August 31, 2013

Married Pastor Arrested After Allegedly Passing HIV To Women in His Church

Goddess praised in Africa


by Dr. Boyce Watkins

Pastor Craig Lamar Davis looks like any other healthy, happy, heterosexual pastor with good family values.  He was once a preacher at the Full Gospel Baptist Church in Atlanta and a pillar of leadership in the community.  Also, like a lot of men at the front of the church, the pastor had a thing for the ladies.
Another thing you might want to know about Davis, according to authorities, is that the pastor is HIV positive.  He also didn't seem to care who else became HIV positive after he slept with them.

The pastor was arrested for reckless conduct after police found that he was sleeping with several women with whom he was not married.  A woman by the name of Ronita McAfee says that she met the pastor on Facebook and began sleeping with him.

Ronita says that she became concerned when one of the pastor’s ex-girlfriends called to say that she had HIV.  She claims that the pastor then counseled her (presumably leaning on the word of the good “lawud”) and told her to get tested.   McAfee then says that she believed that, based on her observations, the pastor himself was not interested in getting treatment or changing his sexual behavior, in spite of his status.  This is what prompted her to seek out a warrant for his arrest.

Ronita is, by our best guess, the first person to file for the arrest of someone who was found to be having unprotected sex in Clayton County, GA while knowing that he is HIV-positive.  McAfee says that when the investigation began, another woman in the church leadership stepped forward with her confession about interacting with Davis.  The woman even claimed that she’d been celibate for 15 years before meeting him.  She too is HIV positive.

Ladies, please take a good look at this man, because the fact is that you probably know him.  He’s the nice, smooth, good-looking man that makes you want to get naked on the third or fourth date.  You trust him because you've been raised to believe that a man of God would never hurt you.  In fact, he might be the man that your church has had you waiting for because he is well-grounded in the Christian faith and knows all the religious buzzwords (“I’m saved,” “in the blood,” “God’s favor,” etc.).  He can easily get into your head, because he knows that one defining characteristic of nearly every black woman in America is her deep and unshakable commitment to the church – in fact, the personality traits that make for a good pastor also happen to be the same ones that make for an exceptionally gifted pimp (although not all pastors are pimps).
Goddess Stiletto



As a man who’s written extensively about other sad creatures like Bishop Eddie Long (who also hails from Atlanta, aka the bible-thumping Sodom and Gomorrah), I find Pastor Davis’ case remarkable for several reasons:

First, the courage of these women to step out and publicly reveal the pastor’s deception has saved lives.  I wish there were a day where every 30 and 40-something year old black woman who has caught HIV, Herpes, Syphilis or some other disease would speak out about what happened to them, so that younger women don’t end up falling into the same trap.   Countless women have died from catching something that their man brought home to them after fulfilling his “interpersonal needs” someplace else. Unfortunately, the relentless shame thrust upon “the good Christian girl” with a venereal disease keeps many of these stories from ever being told.  Also, modern feminist thought sometimes leads women to think that it’s OK to run through as many sex partners as the very worst of men.  Many of these women end up paying a significant price for this mentality.

Secondly, the pastor’s denial of his condition and unwillingness to go to the doctor is quite common.  Many women are accustomed to getting regular STD screenings as part of their annual checkup.  Men are not raised in the same way.  There are men I know who sleep with literally dozens of women every single year and haven’t been to the doctor since MC Hammer had a hit record.  Even worse, many women don’t ask and certainly don’t confirm the man’s HIV status as much as they check the size of his bank account or the magnitude of his “swag” factor.  The fact is that if you think he’s got swag, then a lot of other women do too.
Goddess Stiletto's fine... 

Men like Pastor Davis are allowed to prey on unsuspecting women for at least three reasons:

1) Many women value style over substance – if you look good, then you must be good.   I am amazed at how superficial traits are valued more than more meaningful factors, like the content of a man’s character.  Mind you, men make the same mistake, since they falsely believe that when a pretty girl offers you sex, you’re supposed to take it.

2) Many women falsely believe that men who go to church are better than men who don’t.  Bishop Eddie Long should help you to know better than that.  Unfortunately, people consider each case of a pastor doing dirt to be an exception to the rule, without realizing that there are men like Davis all over the country.  Davis is not the man you need to fear;  actually, you need to fear all the Craig Davises that you still don’t know about.

3) Many women don’t ask questions and will gladly sleep with a handsome playboy without checking and confirming his STD status.  If he doesn't mention the other women he slept with before he came to her house, it’s as if those women don’t even exist. Even worse is that the fixation on HIV leads us to forget about how many women have had their wombs corrupted from  all the other STDs that you can get besides HIV.  Many people will brag about having a negative HIV test, but won’t get a full STD screening from the doctor – a researcher in Philadelphia told me that he randomly tested 20 men in an inner city barbershop and found that over half of them had Chlamydia.

What’s the result of the aforementioned factors all coming together, conjoined with intense denial in the black church and a commercialized hip-hop culture where both men and women glorify female degradation and irresponsible hyper-sexuality?  An HIV explosion like you would not believe.  So, every time you hear about folks going from one short relationship to the next or the man with five babies with four different women, just remember that, while all this is happening, viruses, germs and bacteria are being shared with every romantic interaction.  Even worse, because the men aren't getting their reality checks from the doctor, it’s all “out of sight, out of mind” as fancy clothes, exciting parties and bottles of Chirac cover up the epidemic occurring behind closed doors.

Take a note from the lessons of these women and realize that another Pastor Davis likely lives in your own community.  But also note that the Pastor Davis-types of the world are allowed to do their dirty work because all of us continue to empower and excuse the devilish snakes in the pulpit.  A person can do all the evil he wants in the world, and as long as he asks for God’s forgiveness in public (providing no further confirmation that his behavior has changed), we invite him right back into the church and pretend like it never happened.  Just go ask R. Kelly.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here. To check out Dr. Watkins in the Janks Morton Film, Hoodwinked, please visit this link.

AFTER SLAVERY in BRAZIL

World BLACK NEWS & DISCUSSIONS
August 30, 2013
What happened to the black Brazilian woman on May 14, 1888?: The day after the abolition of slavery. A well-written summary of the historic struggle of black Brazilian women. Read here: http://wp.me/p1XDuf-4dY



Uliana Kardash

SURRENDER TO BE FREE




PART II: LESSONS FOR MR. CROW

OK, so now comes Part II…much more challenging for me to share this with all my relations. In doing so I live some of the principles of Sun Dance Way and the 12-Steps of AA (most of you already know I am a grateful alcoholic/addict with more than 28 years of wellness). This summer I sensed it was time for me to no longer pierce in order to dance and/or pray. So I decided …no more… to myself, my wife and Creator. I might pull skulls, but no more holes up front where scar tissue abounds. It‘s kinda fun listening to piercers trying to find a virgin square inch of flesh. You might ask why? After all isn't my body the only thing I really own, the most precious thing I have to offer Creator? Yes that is true. The spirits told me at the Chief Moon Sun Dance in early July, however, that I had honored how committed and sincere my prayers are to Creator. The spirits said that I no longer needed to use the form of giving flesh. They said I understood that the substance or essence is beyond physical reality…it lies in the realm of spirit. I had given enough flesh, I could do other things to make strong prayers and show gratitude to Great Mystery. Further, these same spirits told me after this last piercing to dance off my rope with love not anger.

A little back-story is appropriate here. My first time as an Eagle or Warrior Dancer began in 1995 at Dance For Life (in Goldendale that first year of DFL). I hadn’t pierced before and did not know what to expect when it was time to break…in fact I was scared. By the 4th day I had already seen men bungee-cord-bounce and struggle to break. I heard that if you did not break clean the following year would be hard and full of misfortune. While I did not believe that, it put more fear into my head. Finally the last round of the fourth day came. Just this round and then an exit round to a quick lodge and then to food and water at last! All of the Eagle dancers were to go 3 times to the tree and on the 4th come back and break. I was moving as fast as I could backward and pop, wow much pain but still attached to the tree…oh no what will happen to me know? I tried again with the same result. Then a helper, Dream Seeker, came over and said, “we will help you.”

“No, I cried, I’ll have a bad year.”

He laughed and told me there were many superstitions around Sun Dance ceremony. For Dream Seeker, asking for help from your brothers is a sign of courage and humility…consistent with AA principles and as I believe integral to living the way of Sun Dance. He and Bruce held me by the arms and pulled off my rope…kind of like going for a touchdown in football. With a little help from my friends I had made it…now I was to turn around and get back in line! Suddenly I was aware that my umbilical cord was gone…I felt deep sadness even though I knew water and food were at hand. After that dance I bounced many times, even had to be pulled off the rope when I hung from the tree, and never ever thought about pulling skulls (how that began is another story).

I came to acceptance of being pulled off my rope…acceptance of things I cannot change is powerful medicine. Then at Durwin White Lightning’s dance (Takilma, 1997) I watched him pierce, pray for a while and then dance off his rope. Wow, maybe I could do that an avoid bouncing? The next dance I participated in was the first Chief Moon Piercing Sun Dance (1998) on the Blood Reserve in Alberta. Here I witnessed another different way to break. Jordan Chief Moon simply walked back the 4th time in a dignified manner, held the knot where his harness began, pulled back and released the knot… and pop, he was off. When I was hooked up to the center pole, I tried some dancing-off moves. Maybe pop just one side…nope, not that easy. On the last day when it was time to break I held a picture of myself doing as I had seen…pop, it worked!

I did the graceful walk…knot hold…pop at the next few dances. Then one time honoring someone else’s rope (just another part of being a helper) I felt anger. Not that I had to suffer, but because some wanted to shame this man. I felt he had shown courage to say “enough, I’m finished, I've done my best,” and left his rope on the tree. Using this focused anger I danced off quite easily. A new approach to breaking was mine and I used it every time until 2013 and once again at the Chief Moon Sun Dance. Not only was this to be my last pierce, I was told by the spirits not to use anger. Since I do my best to listen to and not challenge spirits, as I danced in the northeast of the arbor (the same location I first danced in) I thought of how much I love sun dance, to be connected with the Medicine Pole, feeling the flow of medicine down my rope (which is why I keep it taut so no medicine drips off), to be able to close my eyes, lean back, pass through the veil and go into the unseen world - and almost without thought the rope released me…the end of an era for me.

Now, back to Spirit of the Wind Sun Dance. In a lodge one of my (I do my best to treat each dancer with the same parental love as I do my Chanunpa, hence the possessive “my”) dancers talked about how for him piercing would be from his ego, his ego felt he SHOULD do it …perhaps not a good reason to pierce. I heard, acknowledged and honored what he has shared, feeling that this is something I need to heed. Yet when the tree was being painted, fed and then dressed with prayer ties, robes and ropes, I wanted to put a rope on Her. Ah, the spirits work in mysterious ways indeed. Doc was hanging a rope for the Veterans round; it was 100 feet long so we cut it in two. I just sauntered up to the tree and calmly tied the rope on. Oh, not for me, one of the veterans or drummers will need a rope…I’m just being a thoughtful helper… denial is a powerful disease indeed.

On the second day of dance after the long break I got painted for the piercing round. Once on my rope I felt the joy of being connected to the tree connecting Mother Earth to Father Sky, the Star nation…all above and below…the universe. Then I began to do my usual moves to dance off the rope…feeling a deep abiding love for this way to pray. Alas, as hard as I pulled on one side I felt no sense of breaking free….hmmm same results on the other side. At times I pulled hard enough to make the tree dance to-and-fro with me, Her top swaying several feet. Silently I appealed to her, “It’s beautiful to dance with you, but come on, the round is almost over.”

She said, “I’m not letting you go. Why are you here, was it a strong prayer or just a whim of Mr. Ego? Further, you shared with others your plan to not pierce, but that left you no room to live in the moment like you did by pulling skulls at the Chief Moon Sun Dance this year.”

At that ceremony one of the dancers had been hurt while getting the tree. When we were in the arbor some of the men were concerned about what was going to happen now. I suggested we send strong prayers for his health. I was guided to pull skulls for him although I had not intended to pull…I was free to act in the moment.

I told the helpers I needed to stay with the tree and go ahead and finish the round. After the arbor was empty, I sensed I needed to make amends to the Medicine Pole…I was connected to Her under false pretenses. I went over to Her, touched Her and felt I needed to do something I almost never do, get on my knees and pray. That was humbling and I felt a great sense of release. I asked how could I make amends for my mistake? She asked me to recall my first time piercing…I need to ask my brothers for help. When the prayer round began, I told the helpers that I would break at the end of the round with their help. The 2 men who would stand next to me I have danced with dozens of times and the third who would stand behind me completed his four years when I was a helper and had been one who pierced me. Before the time to break came, I tried one more time to break…”no”, I heard Her say…you must surrender to be free. How many times as a dancer did you need to get to that place of acceptance that you cannot so it alone, ask the spirits for help and then complete your dance?” With a vigorous yank I was free. One of the men who pierced me said he was trying to give me a pierce that would allow me to easily dance off my rope. For those who don’t know or believe it, this supports my belief that the spirits guide the piercer’s hands. Here several weeks later the scabs have just come off and the piercings are still very tender…just to make sure I learned my lesson. I think I did!

I told the other helpers I needed to stay with the tree…finish the round I’ll break during next one. After the arbor was empty, I sensed I wanted to make amends to the Medicine Pole since I connected to Her on a whim. I went over to Her, touched Her and felt I needed to do something I almost never do: get on my knees and pray for HELP! That was humbling; I felt a powerful sense of release and forgiveness. I asked how could I make amends for my mistake?

She asked me to remember my first time piercing…I needed to ask my brothers for help. When the prayer round began, I told the helpers that I would break at the end of the round with their help. I have danced with Red Tail (my piercer), and Jim Eagle had picked me up and gone for a touchdown dozens of times. I asked Josh to stand behind to hold space. I was a helper as he had completed his four-year commitment, and he was the other who had pierced me this time. Before the time to break came I tried one more time to break on my own.

”No”, She said…”you must surrender to be freegive up to win. How many times as a dancer did you get to acceptance that you cannot do it alone, then ask the spirits for help and complete your dance? You completed 9 Eagle/Warrior dance commitments going through the same process each time.”

I was pulled hard and the vigorous yank they gave me set me free. One of the men who pierced me said he was trying to give me a pierce that would allow me to easily dance off my rope. For those who don’t know or believe it, this supports my belief that the spirits guide the piercer’s hands. Sun Dance contains much mystery.

Here several weeks later the scabs have just come off yet the piercings are still very tender… perhaps just to make sure I learned my lessons? What were they you might ask? I want to do my best to be impeccable with my words. There is no reason I need to share what I am gong to do in the arbor or elsewhere…expectations can be premeditated resentments. Another thing is to beware of making commitments. They are like telling the universe/Creator I know the future…some say making plans is how to make God laugh! Asking for help is a courageous act of strength, not pitiful weakness…glad to have this one reinforced. Finally, I want to do my best to live in the moment… future tripping holds little or no value. I think I have learned these lessons…I’ll let ya’ll know as time goes on. -told by James D Schumacher




SOUL EXPRESSIONS: the return

   2.

Soul Expressions 



Observing this aspect of water MikiJamison said, "I am looking at a Dancer of beauty and liquid light grace unfolding in the ray of sunlight!"

I turned around within myself to see myself in an attempt to understand what we were looking at, why we were allowed to see this and realized we'd returned to touch our light in the beginning of our journeys. We'd returned to the First Place.  Here we'd learned to express ourselves when we were neither child, nor adult, mystic, or fool. It was the First Place where all Life played to become, where all Life contemplated its joy, and unraveled, gathered, spread out, colored and embraced its aspects, or attributes before passing through the Veil to become matter.

The parallel. - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories 1.20.13





THE WORLD OF MISSIONS



Interesting perspective Joel Osteen has. His words seem based upon an assumption of man's superiority over Nature. There is a subtle suggestion that man's existence, his being is somehow the center of life's movements. The ring of Pastor Osteen's words sounds like God's actions are awaiting man's nod to act out on our behalf.

"If you take the limits off of God he will amaze you.." Joel Osteen said. "He will amaze you with his goodness..."

In the glory days before the missionaries Earth centered people (I don't like the term, but it speaks to Western ears) never shared this sensibility with their children, or their grandchildren, and my life intertwined as it has been with those mysteries that connect land to spirit and Creation to the movements of Life in one's body the implications of Rev. Osteen's words have the same spirit to them that disassembled the indigenous cultures for the advancement of Europe across the globe. In other words missionaries have employed the same sense of God to Native people for centuries. The words, and the examples of the missionaries led to the end of each tribe's culture, and sovereignty.  Missionary work was the sudden, or gradual desolation of culture, loss of language, ceremonies, effective parenting, and the traditional relationship with the Creator, and the Earth, our Mother that held the world in balance. The 'visitors' did not understand our sacred ways until their archaeologists and anthropologists picked up the shattered pieces, and began listening, and learning from the rubble. The mission of that Church system is still in place in Africa, Asia, Turtle Island, Greenland, etc...

It is in the words. It lives in the words. Native peoples know and remember the words, and Pastor Osteen speaks those words our elders suffered under. Their grandparents warned and taught, as best they could, the cunning ways of the missionaries, and taught the children they could teach how to hunt for their souls, and remember the language of their ancestors, and listen to the land of their People. The stories are in the books the white people wrote. Churches and their missionaries are still in league with traffickers stealing children away from Native parents. The spirit of those words are still wrecking havoc on the lives conquered by missionaries globally  It has not ended the ripple effect of those word's spirit, and the way American missionaries operate is little changed. By my own eyes and experience as recent as June 2013 this approach, and sense of God is still being insinuated and presented on reservations across the US as the way of God! - Gregory E. Woods 8.30.13



a sad note:

"In this short essay I was responding to a post on a friend's Facebook wall. She is an author, a Christian. Our backgrounds connect at an important part of my life. That being said I took a risk making this observation. In real life the staunch supporters of the Church are not students, and anything that challenges patterns of belief is attacked. It is no different in cyberspace. It is sad, but predictable. I've enjoyed so much in the circles of learning and sharing, but sadly conservatism and Christianity are the most resistant to change, challenge, revelation and transformation." - Gregory


Créole fashion

Amour Créole Magazine

Her love for the fashion world and drive to take on challenges is what drove this Haitian beauty into the world of modeling. Ania Charlot, like many others in the Haitian community, grew up in a family where her parents strongly believe the only way to make it or have a better life is through education. After completing college, Ania moved on to her true passion which has led her to walking the catwalk during Mercedes Benz fashion week in New York and appearing in editorial spreads for Vogue Italia.




SOUL EXPRESSIONS: formless

Soul Expressions




RECOLLECTION of….

“... and so we flowed from one place to another free and unaware of what could constrict our play, our movement. Looking back there was only the immediate. The moments meant for the moment had layers and existed as unfoldings. It was fun. It was the most incredible of emotions to have that we could not take into our terrestrial bodies when we found out what two people were going to give us life on Earth.

I remember with fondest those long expanses of wideness, and how hard it was to fit our memory of endlessness into time.” ~ Heart Song Stone Man 1.19.13

   

Thursday, August 29, 2013

The PAGAN WAY

The Order of Avalon
HERB OF THE DAY


Skullcap

Scullcap is a plant that is derived from the mint family and is easily grown.Since it is a perennial,Scullcap, reproduces year after year and can grow to a height of three feet. It grows well in damp places and meadows.This wonderful herb got it's name from the helmet shaped flower that grows on it. At one time Scullcap was also known as madweed or mad-dog scullcap; it was thought to be a cure for rabies.
Witches use Scullcap for many things. It is believed to be helpful for meditation and for helping with dreams and visions. Sprinkling around the home will help to keep a tranquil aura and promote a peace and love effect. This herb is also often used in love spells and charms. Scullcap is also often used in self initiation rites and for dedicating oneself to the old ways. Scullcap is used in hand fastening ceremonies as a bonding herb for the couple. It is believed to promote fidelity in a commited relationship. Many people also use it in mojo bags and carry it to attract money.

This little perennial holds many wonderful properties inside. Here are just a few of the vitamins and minerals found in Scullcap: calcium, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, zinc, beta-carotene, B-vitamins and Vitamin C. It is thought to be a powerful antioxidant. It's most common use is for headaches and is wonderful at relieving stress. Other uses have been for pms,improve circulation and has been given to alcoholics who suffer from withdrawl symptoms. Some modern herbalists use Scullcap to prevent epileptic seizures. The parts of the skullcap plant used for medicinal purposes are the leaves.A good cup of scullcap tea will help if you suffer from pain or insomnia.

A closely related herb, Chinese skullcap, has anti-oxidative, anti-inflammatory, and antihistamine properties. It is also used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat tumors. It is now being tested in hopes to find treatment or help for combating bladder, liver, and other types of cancers. The Chinese laboratories have found an element present in scullcap that may be used in treating hepatitis B.

There is caution when using this herb as with anything else you would consume or rub on your skin. If pregnant or nursing, consult with a physician before using. An overdose of this medicinal herb can cause giddiness, stupor, confusion, and twitching.



 Adriana Lima

CHEMTRAILS, a problem



Spent many days as a kid, and many of those days I would look up. We all did. We aloud wondered about those lines. There was a difference between an airplane's trail across the sky, and those lines that started out as straight, and slowly widened and dissipated. That took a long time, and we'd loss interest standing there looking up when it was our turn at bat, or someone was next in a game of tag.

None of the adults knew what those lines meant and Mommy would always slightly smile looking up to see the space ships, or flying creatures I thought were in the sky leaving lines. That's what I remember. And then I grew up when a few years ago someone showed me a documentary about chemtrails. 

"Damn." was all I could say in astonishment. 

Now what to do about it? I don't know. How do I contribute? My medicine takes me away from the political front lines. The question I ask, and I am sure others ask is simple, clear and to the bone of activism. "What are my gifts and how can I contribute?

Mine are in the spiritual arts, and the creative arts where I've been a part of solutions for a long time. 

Another question is a question that always arises. "What is the next right step?"

- Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories 8.29.13




MY GOD THAT DELIGHTS

"A powerful display of powers. How much of themselves do they know, or is it the pose that makes the image magical, or is their mystique for a moment, a captured moment by the photographer?" – Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories 8.29.13

Shevon B. Jones posing with models posing for Relaxlist Suriname
June 21, 2013

Shevone B Jones
August 28, 2013


PATRIOTISM

Betsy Smith
https://www.facebook.com/betsysmithmodel

"Devotion to the idea of supremacy has led to the destruction of lives, infrastructure, culture and self-worth, and defined even well meaning Americans as terrorists. For that alone the cost of retribution is high and nigh upon the horizon." - Gregory E. Woods 10.28.12







Wednesday, August 28, 2013

AUNTS in Yemen must be something...

Someone in Yemen is struck by how pretty his aunts legs are.
Some nephew in Cairo is enamored of his aunts' beauty.

Aunts in the Arab world must be a hot topic!


ORANGE

Black Spoken Word Artiste Yvonne Akeba in orange


Yvonne Akeba, orange is your color, but why? Why is often left out of the observations, and the compliments you receive. Orange is your color for several reasons; chief of which is the ability of the Black of your skin to arise and say its poetry to the accompaniment of the song, the sound of your smile dancing to the essence of your being. Orange against the Black of your skin says you have the firm grasp within you on what is important. You are present in the Earth, our Mother, and what that means is expressed in the relationship to colors African women possess. Each color says something different from the others. Colors come from different places, and have different experiences to share, and reasons to compliment who you are with other colors known to the world.

 The color orange is wholesomeness. It is the bold nature of being dark skinned and beautiful of face, and form. For you orange compliments the birth processes you went through to get from there to here enabling you to be present with the Creator when you are touching the core entity of Feminine Energies with words.


Yes, orange becomes you because it says, “You are magnificent.” – Gregory E. Woods Oct. 28, 2012





NEW LIFE

Aiyana-CapoSewa Tracy Smith



Aiyana, I have and always will be impressed with the presence of a pregnant woman. The story of one's pregnancy is as potent and as powerful a state of being as a Goddess re-creating the world. Every pregnancy moves in a circular fashion fashioning a world within a world. It is a mystery, a mysterious thing played out over and over again as something unique and original. The creation of the world cannot be as simple as it is often explained. It can't be a single act in the distant past. The process of creating, and giving is continual. It the perennial in our gardens, the returning season of spring, and the pine tree amongst pines in a forest melting snow in the winter, and feeding animals in the summertime. 

Creation, the making and the beginning of the world are in the present. It is now. It never stopped being the beginning as Creation multiples from a flash of inspiration and insight into moments, and days, and years into the perpetual dialogue between Life and Death upon the Earth, our Mother.” ~ Gregory E. Woods
November 2, 2011






Tuesday, August 27, 2013

HEALING THE RACIAL DIVIDE



Racism is not cloaked in most of the south because too few ppl  want to see it so they don't. Because we dont look for it racism is not real to us. Those who participate in racism think racism is just the way things are & thereby keep the reality in focus, strengthening it. Their own actions of alienation of those who are different from themselves are common so they dont see it as a problem. The coloreds & the whites in these rural areas of America accept separate & unequal treatment as how it is & they dont step outside of the box of racism they accepted as children. Then they train their children to believe the same BS.It is a NEVER ending cycle if we dont force change.

The reason the confederate flag still flies is because some are still fighting the Un-Civil War & winning. We still have separate & unequal America alive & well outside of the major urban ghetto meccas & the facade of integration. At the same time people of color are still attacked with immunity on jobs, on the street & remain jobless because this is how the war is won. If blacks cant find jobs they must steal to eat. When arrested in the fight for mere survival, they are then subject to legalized slavery, working for nothing but the will of the government that has mastered enslavement of the poor.

Black ppl (including my 40 year old cousin who grew up here in the Sanford area) dont go to the places that did not accept them 20 or 30 years ago. Yes the KLAN attitude still exists here & white ppl here still see ALL black ppl as criminals. But black ppl dont talk to white ppl in order to force them to see the humanity in us.

I talk to white ppl all the time to make sure they see me in all my humanity. Because we dont let go of the past, the past doesn't let go of us! We must stop acting like we CANT go to places because they dont want us in them.We must also force white ppl to see us even though it is uncomfortable to be around ignorant racist. The only way to stop racism from continuing is to stand in the face of racists & ask them why the are who they are.

Do U know that local Ft Lauderdale black people still do not go to the beach because they think "white ppl dont want us there!" This is what they tell me. The Ft Lauderdale pool on the beach has NO black swimmers. When a black guy found out my daughter & I swim he told us to go but it costs too much. We swim on the beach for free & had a pool in our complex so we did not force white ppl who still don't want us in the same pool with them to deal with us. The racial divide is wide & strong. But we ALL strengthen it by giving too much attention to it.

Where your attention goes, the energy grows. We must stop feeding the reality of racism by changing our behavior to accommodate it. I take FREE ME everywhere I go. I act free so I am free. Try it. U might like it. Even when silly white ppl treat me like I don't belong & even ask me where I am from because locals don't go near them, I am still “free me” & I am still walking free. So my conclusion is that ppl live up to your lowest expectation. Expect more & receive it!

I was on a mock jury at the Sanford court house with my daughter & 4 white women on HLN during jury deliberations for the Zimmerman trail. Only 1 of the white women said she thought Zimmerman should go free. I asked her why? She said because she did not know what Trayvon was doing & why he just didnt go home instead of waiting for Zimmerman in the dark. I shared that the only person in his home was his 12 year old brother. I then asked, "Should Trayvon have allowed a creepy pervert to follow him home? Even if Trayvon got in the house & locked the door, the pervert could come back & get him or his brother later. So wasn't it right to try to hide & then when caught ask, 'Do U have a problem?' & when the creep reached for his gun/phone shouldn't Trayvon have fought for his life?"

She looked stunned! She said she is not a racist & she didn't want me to think she was racist. She repeated this several times during our conversation. But when she left I saw her crying in her car because she realized she did not give Trayvon the consideration she should have given any human being. I did my job. I did not curse her out or tell her she was racially biased. I just shared my perspective to allow her to see that her perspective really was biased.

We need to share more stories. I am video tapping my stories & sharing them on youtube.com. I will share the page with you soon so U can C the power of Truth.

Much Love & success with healing the racial divide. - Michelle Lynn Harvey July 19, 2013



commentary

"You are consistent and persistent, Michelle, with the truth and the heart of what  matters. With what matters you are truthful, frank and plain. It isn't simple what you've asked of others in the way you live, Michelle, but it is simple if one addresses their contradictions in the reasons they really are not free! - Gregory


Daughters of RA
August 23, 2013

SUJAI

I Am Clearing the way for those who want to join the Paradise Club.
Michelle Lynn Harvey is managing Vice-President at Michelle Lynn Productions.



I moved to Trinidad in 1998 and then to Florida in 2002 because my daughter & I decided we had the ability to live the paradise life. After reading about the Garden of Eden in the Bible my daughter asked what we had to do to go back to paradise. I said we cant. She said that makes no since because God wants what's best for us & Paradise is The Best. I realized she was right!!!!    So we decided to try to do the things that would allow us back into Paradise!  We did what God asked us to do in Genesis & Deuteronomy as much as we could. We became vegetarians because we did not want to do harm to nature & the Bible said God gave us herbs/plants for meat. We just tired to get along by sharing kindness & joy. Then the most beautiful places to live in peace & harmony with my daughter & my surroundings found us. Life was beautiful despite the work of daily life. Photo #1 shows some of The Haven that found us in Trinidad. An 8 bedroom, 6 balcony, 4-1/2 bath house we made into a bed & breakfast. We got paid to take ppl to the beach, Carnival, Tobago.., Life was fabulous! Then we returned to the US.

We noticed more & more ppl became uncomfortable with the peaceful life, even in Trinidad. Ppl striving to dominate & control others instead of controlling themselves seemed to be the norm. Now rights are being taken from those who just want to live free because freedom for many white ppl means they should have the right to tell the rest of the world how to live & what their rights R when white ppl have taken rights from ppl all over the work in order to have the right to dominate other countries & other cultures. To believe they have the right to tell every country how to treat their ppl when Americans suffer is unconscionable.

The fact that many of the racist in small towns have been working diligently to keep coloreds in their place as they fight to take rights away from "City Folk" has been unbelievable to me. “Stop & frisk”, “Stand Your Ground” allowing white men to start a fight & then kill the person they harass if they start to lose the fight, "Obama Care" being a bad word. There is a mental malfunction that rules the legal system because it is based on white fear & not rational reality & God's laws of judgment. Fear is a faithless reaction to paradise. When Adam & Eve became afraid to walk around without clothes they had begun to do scary things. They were not afraid of others. They where afraid of their own thoughts & actions!

I was the 1st female to be hired to work construction for the Federal Hwy Admin in 1977 & I thought my opening the doors would help white men get comfortable with ppl of color & women in management positions. Some white men & women have moved forward. But too many have not! I am a Civil Engineer & City Planner, master planner & builder. But it seems things in the South & in the minds of fearful white men cant accept growth and building. Racial, social & class development & growth R stunted by thinking stuck in racist fear. We R further from paradise in 2013 than in 1977 because southern men & other megalomaniacs refuse to accept the humanity of anyone who does not look like them. They seem unteachable/unshowable, too primitive to grow into harmonious coexistence in paradise. The world is an amazingly beautiful place, especially Florida. But these idiots cant just relax & allow EVERYONE to justly live in peace! So sad for paradise.

Would Paradise be Paradise if U lived there?
Would Heaven be heavenly if U lived the way U live here?
Do your thoughts words & actions show the world that U care?
Do U help others live a life without fear?

All we must do to being paradise back for us,
is to live in peace & harmony, stop the arguing & trust
that this is the same place that God created, healthy & robust.
For all of Gods children we can do this & we must.

Let go of fear, build faith, live truth,
Allow the world to be a place of comfort for our youth.
Be fair & honest, call out lies, just be,
The child like, adult who can play well with others joyfully.

For U to share this life just chose to live justly
Do unto others as U want others to do unto U is sanity!
This is my life, my vision what I see.
This is the past, my present & the future for me!

How about U? I have been called the eternal optimist & I am comfortable with that because what U believe is what U manifest, make happen & accept in your life. I reject foolishness so it does not stay around me. What U accept is what U have. What R U accepting in your life? What do U want? Join the Eternal Optimist Club as we envision paradise & make it happen for us while letting those who cant live in paradise move into their gated communities that lock them in self made prisons of fear & shut themselves away from FREEDOM.

We R moving to the next level of joy! Only people for paradise allowed to help us do the work! No Free Loaders Allowed. Leave your doubts behind! We R preparing our teams. How Can U Help Us Live the Paradise Life? - Michelle Lynn Harvey August 24, 2013






THE GIFT

Morocco and Mommy were the deep memories of my youth my father supported, and I believed in. I believed and knew the combination would catapult me upward into heights I'd not dreamt of. It happened, and it is happening. My father's great gift to me was spoken when he said to me at 18 years of age: "Gregory you could do anything you want as long as you develop your talents. I'll take care of the bills..." - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories 8.27.13




GLASS & EYE .




Glass, I was taught, is liquid. Eyes, I learned, are the moist definitions of the intangible qualities of people's souls. Both are mirrors telling the truth. Being unable to lie they can only be clear until pain blurs the vision. Hurt souls can train the eyes to create the illusion of hardness to protect a vulnerable soul by learning how to alter the appearance of gentleness into something that appears menacing. A mirror cannot. It can only be itself, but the eyes can tell multiple stories until one person comes who can read the soul, and tell the story with the clarity of a mirror. 

- Gregory E. Woods 1.18.13

dark African Woman sitting 



Carrina Suicide

AFRICAN DANCERS


dancer Aisha Mitchell by Richard Calmes against backdrop of graffiti !!!!

dancers African !!!!

dances with fire in hands




My cat TEACHER

SWEET TORTURE

My Black cat is named Teacher. She and I are very close. We protect each other. 

Outside I walk her with a purple leash, and a red collar. We go on walks together around the yard, the woods, parks. She attends and participates in some of my ceremonies, and she guards me when I am not well. Many times she sits on my shoulder looking at the world until something catches her eye. She is a fierce fighter, and very protective of the house. She guards the house alerting us of every animal, person, or spirit near the house. She reads energies with high skill. I depend upon her ability to see, defend and direct me towards spirits near, or in our house.

Teacher is Panther like in temperament, and appearance. She reads everyone who enters my house, and attacks anyone who touches her without permission, or whose spirit does not jive with hers. Teacher also hunts with me, and we spend long days together in quiet solitude appreciating everything we see. - Gregory E. Woods 5.4.13

under arrest
SEXY ASS


Monday, August 26, 2013

What of it?

Goldie Hawn on the red carpet at 67.


Chicktagram
Jessica Jane Clemen
may 26, 2015

It is astounding how forced Beauty is placed upon the ideas and the perceptions a woman wants to insist are valid. Often women can pull their natural appeal to the side in favor of what they want to project as their optimum feature. Breasts are a good example of the conflict, the walking contradictions. - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories 5.27.13




ATWOOD CREATIONS

Wendy Nguyen carrying a Brian Atwood bag is of the stylish Wendy's Lookbook.

Lily Collins is wearing a black mini with Brian Atwood's leopard India pumps.


SEEN & NOT SEEN

Coloured thoughts of, about and for Life


May 24, 2013

"What we don't see surrounds us with colors and light from another place of time and space in creative imagings we glimpse from time to time, and children see as real worlds..." - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories 5.26.13


"The purpose of life is to discover your gift. The meaning of life is to give your gift away." - David Viscott


Black models

black models
gallery


Evelyn Lozada trying on shoes



GLAMOUR

"In the illusion of the present is the notion that the glamour of a modern Western city is the epitome of sophistication, and fun had by a button push makes youth fabulous. But the enablers of this ideology keep countless young men and women in the dark about the sustaining forces of the civilization at present in command of the world's resources. In a culture out of sync with the natural rhythms of Life, and divorced from the primal forces of Nature there is a tendency to escape from a vague numbing pain that is just out of reach of comprehension.  The education of people gropes, by design, in murky territory, and in the end people graduate from universities, for the most part, disconnected from the myriad worlds of yesterday, the present, tomorrow, and the undertones of the spiritual legacy of knowledge and spirituality from the worlds beyond and within!

Glamour glosses over the passage of mystery and keeps a multitude of brilliant souls from gazing into the hand of Time with deep knowledge, and from 'seeing' into the Crystals of Knowing..." - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories 8.24.12



ART is LIFE

Artist Cult

Nikki Nova
November 2012


"There is a level of contradiction within the beauty of simplicity and story. It is the lack of elaboration, and the position of the painting that is poignant. It rubs the senses with something we don't want to admit but all of us know what it is we are seeing and reacting to. It is just a matter of time we see this same depiction in a crowd somewhere living in the isolation of a woman rendered invisible by the crowd rushing forward into their futures." - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories


titled: Paswaters for Cult 
"Ark of the new covenant." is how  Jack Place described this drawing. 


1. I am a male so I know that every female is a martyr & without own fault, 2. This flawless body has no bellybutton - it is either FIRST WOMAN EVE or an ANGEL - neither born of a human mother, 3. Artistically a powerful excellent drawing, 4. Controversial enough - impossible to overlook, good for publicity, 5. Also very beautiful, so far topping the list of Creation ...Tibor Spitz 


"Ark of the new covenant." - Jack Place