Black and Blue

The story of a Black life in America -- THREE STEPS FORWARD, and FIVE STEPS BACKWARD!

I got that one from my Mother in a little old town called Screven, Georgia.

Hey southern cousins, do you remember that one? After Mother spoke those words, I started hearing them everywhere. Then I started hearing, "You got to work twice as hard just to catch up, and three times as hard to TRY to get ahead!'

My question then and now is "WHY?"

What I have learned since Georgia and it was spoken out loud by Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr -- the color of my skin!

Ms. Ellen Cogdell, my sixth-grade teacher told me, and I remember it to this day, Black will never melt in the melting pot. We just need to learn to get the hell out of the melting pot and create our own path. But, alas, since integration, too many of us have stayed in the melting pot, and look at what we've gotten for our efforts!

I keep telling me that no one can judge me until they have walked a mile in my shoes. You have no idea how I feel until you have lived Black for 70+ years. True you may empathize with me and my feelings, and I would go far as to say that you may have a great understanding of what has led to my feelings, but you would HAVE TO BE ME to know how I feel.

No hurt intended, just facts from my point of view.

Peace and blessings this morning as I wallow in my BLACKNESS and ponder my next move in this beautiful day!