My View from The Front Porch
My view from “The Front Porch”... 57 years ago I made a decision looking out into the world and not liking what I saw on the racial home front. I made a decision that my life would represent a change. Every choice that I’ve made since that moment has been about change and as I look out at my family today I realize that dream became a reality. From the choice in the creation of my children and then their choices in the creation of their children many years later, gives me the comfort in knowing that their very existence will bring about change. Their lives, their choices and their stories will make a difference it will change the view from my front porch.
This story began when I was eight years old and I heard Dr. Martin Luther King’s speech about going to the mountain top. I asked all of the adults around me why in the world someone like Dr. King would be assassinated because the very words that he spoke pierced into my soul and awakened a truth that stayed with me my entire life.
The reverberatory effect of the words that he carefully chose to disperse into the world was evidence of a power that lies far beyond our realities. It was that essence that carried me and my choices about the understanding of who I Am forward into a self examination in everything in my world. I questioned everything and everyone from that day forward about the reality of truth. I was a thorn in every person’s side of authority because I refused to believe what one told me just because of their status. I was one of those children that you had to earn my trust. If our society would allow the assassination of such a great man as Dr. King that spoke with the essence of “pure truth” then who is to say that I would not be next on the list for speaking my truth.
There were so many ones of color that surrounded me that could not understand where my reasoning came from especially since my skin tone was so much different from theirs. There were many years that I did not understand this reasoning because I didn’t understand “White Privilege”. I was one of those brown hair, brown eyed girls that was not on the side of the track witnessing the privileges that were being spoken of. As a matter of fact I came from the side of the track that was being dismissed also. What I did not understand at the time was the privilege that still existed different than that of my peers of color. How my understanding came about was that I was a product of survival by my mother being a single parent and an outcast in her family. She was the one that displayed for me how to survive. My generation called this “getting your hustle on”.
I knew early on that education would be a tool in my toolbox but I became a mother early in my journey which meant I had to get my hustle on by any means necessary. Of course due to my environment and fate, my first boyfriend was a man of color and I have no regrets in making the decision to have my beautiful daughter. Two years later I decided to get married and to continue my education along with getting a trade as a cosmetologist.
Two babies later I realized that it was time to move on so that I could attempt to create an environment whereby my children would have a chance at something really different from my exposure because they deserved that.
In this journey and search for truth it is not for the faint at heart. Being a single parent is no easy task but it’s also not an impossible one. It does take a village to create an environment whereby something really different can happen.
This is why it is important as a society that we invest in our communities to create villages of support, whereby will create a foundation for a greater generation.
Building a business or a family takes much preparation and awareness of your surroundings and associations for great success. This was the hardest lesson that I had to learn in my eight years of the business that I created before it was time to MoveOn again. We learn from our mistakes and we “ Keep It Moving”.
The next chapter of my journey would take me into a career in trucking. I was told by an elder in my Trucking training that I very possibly migrated from a nomadic tribe of the 12 tribes of Israel and that I should not interpret my driving a truck as being just a job for me. It’s very possibly that it was tied into my nomadic ancestry. 35 years later I must say that it has become a very natural career for me. It also has been my saving grace through this pandemic here in the United States. It not only provided me a way to be of service as an essential worker but it also reminded me that I was surrounded and protected. This lifestyle choice has created the opportunity for me to travel this entire country and I’ve had the opportunity to make some very interesting connections in my spiritual world of unfolding. In this particular time of the pandemic it has been a great time for reflection for many of us and I am very honored to be my children’s mother. My children have shown me that my legacy is in good hands when I look at their lives and their choices and my 14 beautiful grandchildren. I am able to see that this journey has truly been worthwhile, rewarding and a reality of truth.
So, as I continue my travels the vision is getting larger and larger and the view from
“The Front Porch” is becoming ever so bright. I hope that in the future I am able to share more of the stories that have come from this porch. I would like to dedicate this piece not only to my family but to my very good friend Miss Arizonaz (AZ)and I will post a link to a video that tells her own story. She has been one interesting Sistah and I have enjoyed our journey together. Aho!!
Comments
Post a Comment