Like most writers, I have a day job.  I get up every weekday (and 1 Sunday) morning; fight Chicagoland traffic for up to an hour; do a running slide to my desk, barely making it on time; and log in … Continue reading The Enchanted Castle

Imani: Faith -To believe with all our hearts in our God, our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders, and the righteousness and victory of our struggle Here we are at final day of Kwanzaa and the first day of … Continue reading Imani: Faith

Kuumba (Creativity): To do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it Kuumba was always my favorite day because I get to share … Continue reading Kuumba: Creativity

Nia (Purpose): To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness. When I look in the mirror, I see Deborah-Lolli-Mom-Aunt-Sister-Friend. But when I step outside of my … Continue reading Nia: Purpose

Ujamaa: Cooperative Economics – To build and maintain our own stores, shops, and other businesses and to profit from them together This is this one of the most difficult of all the Nguzo Saba (Seven Principles). In the 21st century. … Continue reading Ujamaa: Cooperative Economics

Ujima: Collective Work and Responsibility – To build and maintain our community together and make our brothers’ and sisters’ problems our problems, and to solve them together The Saturday before thanksgiving, I made 20 dozen dinner rolls and the next … Continue reading Ujima: Collective Work and Responsibility

Kujichagulia: Self Determination – To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves, and speak for ourselves. My daughter has an unusual name. It is literally something her biological parents made up so she’d have the same initials as her older … Continue reading Kujichagulia: Self Determination

Umoja: Unity – To strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation and race 75 years ago, during the great Negro migration, my grandparents moved from Tennessee to Chicago. Living first in a tenement on the west-side, then … Continue reading Umoja: Unity

I learned today that Mr. C. has passed.  Though it’s been 35 years since I last saw him, not a day goes by that I don’t think of him. Rest in peace, Mr. C…and thank you for everything. Dear Mr. … Continue reading REPOST…Those Who Can Do More, Teach…

When I first got him, he was a chubby eight-month-old.  He had curly thick hair and an eye that sometimes drifted to the left. I remember the first time he clapped. He was able to crawl and to sit himself … Continue reading His feet touch the floor…

I’m 52. I am fifty-two. I’m not 39 again. I’m not forty-twelve. I’m fifty-two years old. I’ve got natural home-grown hair flowing down to the middle of my back, long curly eyelashes, and a rack of awesomeness. My nails are … Continue reading 52

  My boys— young men—were born into a world where the expectation was juvie at 15, fatherhood at 16, prison at 18, and death before 25; but I was blessed with their care at young ages: the oldest boys when they were 4,5,6, the youngest when he was 8 months; and a girl when she was 5.  There are no words for how much I love these children, and I am blessed again to know them as young adults. It’s mind-boggling. The short version is, my youngest son is preparing to apply to colleges and my second oldest just became … Continue reading Boys to Men

I’ve been a writer all of my life.  I had a short story published in the church newsletter when I was seven-years-old. And the Church Bells Rang was an allegory about the power of successful marketing. Ok…fine…I didn’t even know … Continue reading Writing Life

I love Mondays. I know, I know…but really, there’s nothing wrong with me. I know, most people work all week dreaming of Friday. Not me. I don’t like Fridays at all. I’m a procrastinator, and Friday means I’m outta time … Continue reading Happy Monday!!

Dear Mr. C.,      I was a student at LTHS from 1980 to 1984. Once upon a time, on a Friday afternoon in the fall of 1982 (my junior year), you stopped me in the hall and demanded my … Continue reading …Those Who Can Do More, Teach…

So over the past few years, my kids have occasionally stood beside or behind me at my desk; each time asking “Are you done yet?” My answer is always “Almost. Just a little more to go.” The kids would cheer … Continue reading On Writing…with kids…