The Glory Is Coming!

The first time, I listened to the song Glory written by Common and John Legend, after winning their Oscar, I cried. I’d heard it before but knowing they’d won the coveted Oscar (Academy) Award for Glory really brought it home for me. You see, I’m a Seventies child. I was born at the beginning of the Civil Right’s Movement and completed high school at the height of the movement. I’ve lived through the days depicted in the movie Selma and can vividly remember those times.

As I listened to the song Glory the day after the Academy Awards and then John and Common’s acceptance speech my mind traveled back to the days of my childhood. I thought of my mother and the days she stood waiting for the bus in the cold of winter, the heat of summer, rain and snow to make a meager living to care for my brother and me. I recalled her dream that her four children wouldn’t have to work hard as she did. My two older sisters were grown and on their own at that time, but mom still had a dream for the four of us.

My mind continued to travel back in time as I thought of my ancestors from Africa and how I’m alive today because someone survived the Middle Passage. I imagined them here in this country, toiling in the scorching sun on someone’s plantation; their skin dry and blistered, their mouths cracked and bleeding from dehydration. Yet, they labored on because they, too, had a dream. A dream of freedom for them and their children.

I sit here today with my own dreams. Dreams for my son and my niece and nephew; the apples of my eye. I want for them all what our ancestors marched and fought and died for. I want for them the right to vote as they desire. The right to eat in any establishment while sitting in any seat they choose. The right to attend whichever institution of higher learning they prefer. The right to be as Dr. King said “judged by the content of their character and not the color of their skin.” I want for them the fulfillment of their dreams without compromise. Now, there are those out there who will say, Savannah those things are already in place. Well, allow me to assure you in some places in this modern world, those rights still are not in place.

We must continue as a collective people to fight for the rights of all those living impoverished lives: For African-Americans still struggling for equal rights in this country. For the return of the pride felt by Native Americans who welcomed the first Europeans to this country, only to end up on reservations. For other cultures who’ve migrated to the United States for better lives only to be restricted from moving forward because their accents are a little different from ours. We must fight for women working twice as hard as their male counter-parts yet making half the wages. We must put a final end to human trafficking, domestic violence, child abuse, elder abuse and all other despicable acts perpetrated against those too weak to fight for themselves. Until all receive what the United States defines as equal rights we must continue fight because everyone matters.

Ciao!

Savannah J, providing a place of tranquility away from the stress of life. 

Photography by Javan Shearn http://bit.ly/1Es4ILN and http://bit.ly/1LBuFsv

Http://www.thesavannahjpublications.com 

Follow Savannah on Twitter   http://bit.ly/1tBBC6o 

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Savannah is the author of The Prey now available in eBook on Kindle http://amzn.to/1xg0pgM and on Google Play Books http://bit.ly/1q5hncz

Also look for Raising Tristan on Google Play Books http://bit.ly/1pL4GqN and on Kindle http://amzn.to/1AlHl6g

My Cup Overflows

Part 4.

My young adult years were filled with the same wonder and adventure of others my age on the path of self discovery. I entered college with the goal of becoming a Broadway singer. I was accepted into Boston University on a scholarship, with the opportunity to intern in New York City but declined attending there and instead chose Ohio State University. This would prove to be the beginning of a few bad choices I would make over the course of my young adult years. Things didn’t workout for me at Ohio State but I eventually landed an audition with The Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. Attending The Peabody Conservatory was a dream come true for me, but I wasn’t prepared.

During my high school years, my teachers took a great interest in me and my talents. I was given extra time and attention and even assisted in securing a spot with a choir set to tour Europe. The summer of my senior year I was privileged to sing before audiences in five European countries as soloist with that choir. I took talent to Peabody but I didn’t have the academic preparation for an all music setting. There are certain courses one must take prior to attending conservatory, but I hadn’t done so. Mostly because I didn’t have access to those classes. I also didn’t have the fight and determination then that I now have and so when the going got tough, I gave up.

The years of being bulled and picked on during my youth after Dad died taught me to retreat instead of push forward. I was timid, browbeaten and easily intimidated. Rather than fight for myself, I took the path of least resistance. My mother was there ever encouraging me to fulfill my dreams, but I just didn’t have the fortitude or tenacity. I came home from Peabody after a two year struggle and picked another career path. It wasn’t what I wanted, but I needed a job. It seemed my hopes and dreams as a creative were over, but God was right there in the midst with me. Although I had all but given up on my artistic future, God had a plan.

Ciao!

Savannah J, providing a place of tranquility away from the stress of life. 

Http://www.thesavannahjpublications.com 

Follow Savannah on Twitter   http://bit.ly/1tBBC6o 

on Google Plus http://bit.ly/1pnq9sP 

and on Facebook http://on.fb.me/10p1o32

Savannah is the author of The Prey now available in eBook on Kindle http://amzn.to/1xg0pgM and on Google Play Books http://bit.ly/1q5hncz

Also look for Raising Tristan on Google Play Books http://bit.ly/1pL4GqN and on Kindle http://amzn.to/1AlHl6g

My Cup Overflows

Savannah's Blog

Part 4.

My young adult years were filled with the same wonder and adventure of others my age on the path of self discovery. I entered college with the goal of becoming a Broadway singer. I was accepted into Boston University on a scholarship, with the opportunity to intern in New York City but declined attending there and instead chose Ohio State University. This would prove to be the beginning of a few bad choices I would make over the course of my young adult years. Things didn’t workout for me at Ohio State but I eventually landed an audition with The Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. Attending The Peabody Conservatory was a dream come true for me, but I wasn’t prepared.

During my high school years, my teachers took a great interest in me and my talents. I was given extra time and attention and…

View original post 288 more words

My Cup Overflows

My Cup Overflows Part 3

I remember returning to school after my father transitioned and thinking, “my dad is dead and no one cares. Life around me went on as usual and it seemed as though I became invisible.  I was transferred to a new school; one I could walk to since my father was no longer alive to take me. You see, as stated in my  previous blogs, Dad took me to school and picked me up daily.

The students in my new class were unfriendly to say the least and I recall one young man in particular spearheading bulling campaigns against me. Under these new circumstances, I not only felt lost, but afraid as well. My emotions ricocheted inside me like a ball in an old fashioned pinball machine; never really knowing where to come to a rest. In essence, I didn’t know how or what to feel. In hindsight, it was apparent, I wasn’t the only one feeling unhinged. My father had many friends and family feeling the impact of his death as deeply as I did.

My mother did an amazing job in the midst of her own trauma and pulled us together as a family. She took me to counseling so that I had a non biased person to talk with. She became an active part of my school’s PTA and upped her participation in my life. Essentially, Mom did her best to become mother and father to us. Despite my mother’s best efforts, my wounds from losing my dad, my hero were too deep.  I succumbed to the negativity around me that came from the outside my home. I was at that age where the opinions of others carry more weight than those of our family.

As a result of my vulnerable state I began a slow decent into the abyss of depression. The ironic thing is, I had no realization, I was depressed. I made a series of decisions over the course of my young adult and adult life that at times cost me dearly, all driven by melancholia. All the while I was lost in the chasm of sadness, it often seemed I was alone. But God!

Ciao!

Savannah J, providing a place of tranquility away from the stress of life. 

Http://www.thesavannahjpublications.com 

Follow Savannah on Twitter   http://bit.ly/1tBBC6o 

on Google Plus http://bit.ly/1pnq9sP 

and on Facebook http://on.fb.me/10p1o32

Savannah is the author of The Prey now available in eBook on Kindle http://amzn.to/1xg0pgM and on Google Play Books http://bit.ly/1q5hncz

Also look for Raising Tristan on Google Play Books http://bit.ly/1pL4GqN and on Kindle http://amzn.to/1AlHl6g