Drop A Wish, Hope or Prayer

What is your wish, hope, or prayer for humanity in the coming year?  Please remember, all comments are moderated.  Thanks

Salone - Part 2 - A Generation Without Labels

My last post spoke of labels placed on individuals simply because of a general impression of their demographic. “I meet a vanguard of people who see labels as other people’s problems.  These individuals baffle the label makers, leaving them in a guilt-tinged quandary... and sounding rather mechanical.”   

My family and I came to know Salone completely by chance.  My daughter, Aijalon, and I were sitting in a coffee shop.  I tried to have some quality daughter father time but all Aijalon talked about was someone using a particular video editing application and everything being done with it.  I could not figure out just how Aijalon saw all that detail through the glare.  A lot of light came through 20 to 30 linear feet of glass on 2 sides of the shop.  Finally I said. “Stop staring.  Go ask.”   Salone sat diagonally from us on the far side of the shop. The next thing I know, I was loading equipment and stands in the back of my Tahoe in preparation for a video shoot.   

She gave us a blue business card that read Property Management not film editor.  There were no negatives in the fact that she pursued seemingly divergent areas.  Her long term business goal remains to own a production company.  Entrepreneurial sense, eye for talent, running multiple enterprises simultaneously, building business relationships beyond her “demographic” environment, and just down right push, just like every other person, Salone labels herself by her actions. 

That label is entrepreneur – business woman, performer, fitness trainer.  Her entrepreneurial path came through her family, particularly, her father and grandmother.  She grew up in Savannah Georgia.  Much her time was spent around Anderson Street near downtown.

Both of her parents worked and family provided daycare for Salone and her youngest sister.  “Dad always had a 9-5 and another business.”  Her father drove a truck after his “day” job.   He came in for sleep and went back out to work for Chatham Area Transit.  He physically could not do it anymore after many years.  But, there were other endeavors.  This included a real estate partnership with Salone. 

Her grandmother was a business woman and sheer force of nature.  She owned a store that sold peanuts on Martin Luther King Blvd. in Savannah, Georgia. The store became a bit of a hangout for family members.   The grandkids bagged the peanut.  At one point, she went mobile of the “peanut trail” and sold products out of a station wagon.  Grandmother paid the kids.  $20 dollars in the early to mid 90s for 7 or 8 year old, “That was a lot of money to me!”          

Salone, now 29, sought her first business loan at 22 years old.  Her first attempt was denied.  Currently, her main business is SalFit and Associates which provides personal training, fitness products, nutritional guidance, and other dance oriented fitness like Zumba.   She is developing a web-based fitness platform as well.

As we spoke about all of this and her current path, her face helped tell her story.  It moved from one smile to the next.  Her eyes rarely diverted.  I wondered about her path.  With her family’s businesses and early entry onto the business world by choice, how did performing arts come about?  So I asked.  From the photos below, what do you think she said?

Read Part 3

CLICK HERE TO PREVIEW ON AMAZON

Salone Part 3 - A Generation Without Labels

With her family’s businesses and early entry onto the business world by choice, how did performing arts come about? Read the first post in the series, A Generation Without Labels Part 1.

“I was an at risk youth.”  Her voice rather matter of fact on the point.  She continued, “I felt I had to fight a lot!”  The label of learning disabled followed for years. Low expectations came with that – inwardly and from others.  

Salone dwelt in the tale of 2 streets, Martin Luther King Boulevard and Anderson Street.  On 
one hand, Salone had a paternal grandmother and business woman that made her store the family hangout. Her uncles, aunts, and cousins were there.  They all participated in the American Civil Rights Movement.  She had her parent’s love and influence, especially the work ethic of her father.  

On the other hand, she had a God-Fearing maternal grandmother.  Salone read the Bible to her on many occasions.  This grandmother lived in what turned out to be a place of social warfare for Salone.  Life on Anderson Street infused physical and emotional combat into her demeanor before she became a teenager.   She fought around the house.  She fought in the neighborhood.  She fought at school.   Name-calling or an offense drew an immediate fight.  That was the normal order of business for her and many others.  Standing up for yourself in a fist-fight was the culture.  It was all personal.  Don’t back down.  Don’t apologize.  Attack.  

These 2 mentalities put Salone into a dichotomy that mired her mind in despair and a poor self-image in her heart.  She knew life could have and should have been different.  Her grades and behavior drew a referral to St. Pius Community Center, an outreach program on Anderson Street.  It became her safe haven.  There she found dance and a mentor who added thoughts to the positive end of the dichotomy, to start tilting the scale back toward the MLK Blvd. side.  When a holiday program came around, Salone wanted in.  The director of the dance troop required an audition.  Most of the others were older and were more experienced than Salone.  Here technique suffered.  Her instructor spoke frankly with her about the audition.  Yet, she made the cut.  The passion and aggression she expressed in the audition made the difference in the eyes of the director.  

She changed her look, no more tomboy fight gear.  She let her hair grow.  Emotionally, she still struggled.  Grades, she struggled.  Trying not to fight, she struggled.  But, she felt like she was making progress.  Then, one significant incident nearly put her into desolation from which she saw only one out.

Salone knew a fight brewed in the background.  She remembers looking for teachers when she entered the gymnasium.  Lots of students… no teachers.  She tried to steer clear of a certain group of girls.  When confronted by one of them, she tried to leave.  Salone fought them all.  That fight nearly turned out the school.  There was blood.  The police handcuffed her and took her to jail.  Is this all there is for me? I’m trying to do better.  Can I not escape? Am I this worthless? Is this how it ends for me? 

This incident revealed that she was not winning the battle between the 2 streets. Undeniably, no if and or buts, no excuses, understand that you do not understand.  You may have been there, done that but you are not her.  You are not Salone.  Those who cared for moved into action, emotionally, physically, and legally.  

From that point on life got consistently better.  Dance continued to be her outlet.  She picked up an interest in film and television in high school.  By the time graduation rolled around, Salone was headed to one of the most renowned colleges in her desired field, Savannah College of Art and Design – on a scholarship at that.

Read Part 4 of 4: http://potluckearth.blogspot.com/2013/01/salone-part-4-generation-without-labels.html

A Generation Without Labels

Maybe not quite without any labels, instead labels of their  choice….  It’s a Potluck Earth is an idea that brewed for at least a decade.  Now that it is live, the path has me in wonderment, especially with this being an election year in the United States.  Election strategists grouped, labeled, targeted, wooed, and even marginalized individuals as an entire religious, racial, and/or ethnic demographic.  On every turn, I meet a vanguard of people who see labels as other people’s problems.  These individuals baffle the label makers, leaving them in a guilt-tinged quandary... and sounding rather mechanical

From the blond, freckled-faced, country boy who grew up driving a tractor in the southern United States to the young lady who lived in the midst of the Bosnian War, they possess another noticeable attribute.  They will go where they believe God or life wants to take them and make a plan to get there with an ad lib or two when necessary.

One such person is Salone Jones.  Her path has been hard fought and is still in progress.   She is an entrepreneur – business woman, performer, fitness trainer.

One thing that she has going for her is something that I find missing in some talented artists.  She realizes that an independent artist is an entrepreneur, best take on that mantle and become the part.   Read Part 2  http://potluckearth.blogspot.com/2012/12/salone-part-2-generation-without-labels.htmll

Sterling Silver Diamond Accent Flower And Heart Charm Bracelet (Google Affiliate Ad)

Mother's Day of Rest

Mother's Day of Rest

by Al Hardy

After a day of

Singing and praying,

Breakfast and dinner,

Repeatedly wiping and combing,

Dressing and undressing me

And dismantling my disobedience

Mother nods off while combing her hair 

                     

I Need a New Mobile Device

 I'm looking for a new mobile device
- 4G
- Call clarity mandatory
- Gotta have Quality Video and Photos for mobile uploads
- Gotta have Dependability
- Needs easy navigation through apps.
Any recommendation?

Family HealthCare Center, Fargo ND - Part 2, Refuge

The Family HealthCare Center provides needed primary care and dental services for Medicare, Medicaid, and uninsured patients... basically, anyone in need.

If that wasn't awesome enough, the clinic is also part of a refugee resettlement program.  Individuals... families forsake the ecosystem of their homeland, possibly never to return.

Samantha (Sam) Kundinger is the Director of Development at the Family HealthCare Center.   Her efforts focus on grant and raising funds for the programs.  The strategy she develops with the CEO, Patricia Patron, is vital for sustaining the quality care provided by the clinic.

Mark Johnson is the Construction Project Coordinator.  The building was restored to provide better and more efficient space for the staff to treat patients.   Mark knows every detail of the restoration.   Pictures are available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/62836983@N08/

Sam and Mark made a great team for conducting the tour.  Sam's energy, despite the late evening, played well off Mark's careful directions to the architectural facets and utility of the newly renovated building.

Mark Johnson and Samantha Kundinger

As the tour progressed, I learned more about the people that the center serves.   Sam expressed the needs of the local population and of those in the New Americans program.  The New Americans program helps immigrants and refugees resettle.  They come to the clinic through a local and international Christian organization.   

The majority groups of refugees are natives of Bhutan. 

The Bhutanese resettlement results from people moving out of United Nations sponsored refugee camps. - https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/bt.html.   India, Nepal, and China are some of the countries involved in resolving the political tensions that caused the refugee issue.  In the meantime, the United States receives some Bhutanese transitioning into a life that may take a long time (if ever) to feel like normal.  There are individual and families from other Asian countries, as well as from African and South American countries.

I spoke to Patricia Patron about her plans and vision for the clinic only to find that she knows a thing or 2 about  the deeply personal decisions and internal conflict this type of  transition can bring, even in an unstable political  situation.   More to follow.  

El Cadejo Part 4

  El Cadejo are spirits that follow travelers, one black and one white. They look like dogs.  The black one is perceived as harmful.  The white one is perceived as a protector.  In a previous article I implied that the difference between me speaking Spanish rather than English could well be down to who got off the ship at what port of call.  In the last article, I wrote of particular ship voyages, the Diana and the Vigilantie, implying how families were separated over Africa, the Caribbean, Central and South America, and the U.S. 

Click to View More

My great grandmother was born a slave.  She lived to be over 110 years old.  I was not old enough to remember her.  Most of my older brothers and sisters remember her well.  She may not have been too far removed from parents who suffered under the international slave trade.  This puts another spin on "He can pass."  A family relationship to Central or South America may not be as distant as one would think.  

This brings me back to the party and the well meaning but potentially problematic comment, “He can pass.” 

What of the El Cadejo lurking around thoughts of skin color?  Well, there were stronger spirits in the room, the spirits of hospitality, respect, and warmth projecting from the hosts.  That set the tone of how I approached others and how they approached me.  It turned the entire situation to something that connected us - brought us closer instead of something that segregated us.   

       

El Cadejo Part 3

El Cadejo are spirits that follow travelers, one black and one white. They look like dogs. The black one is perceived as harmful.  The white one is perceived as a protector.  In the previous article I implied that the difference between me speaking Spanish rather than English could well be down to who got off the ship at what port of call.

Emory University’s Voyages Database contains records on the human trafficking of Africans into the Americas and the Caribbean (http://www.slavevoyages.org/).  One can track ship commission dates, ship names, voyage dates, regions of slave trade, destinations, and more. The database shows how different traders purchased people from the same region then distributed them from New York to Argentina as part of international commerce.

For example, in 1793 both The Vigilantie and the Diana did their slave trading along the Gold Coast regions of Africa.  The Vigilantie left with 340 human cargo.  It disembarked 294 into Suriname.  Afterwards, it sailed into an unspecified port in the Spanish Central Americas (Panama-Colombia border area). The database does not list how many disembarked.

In the case of the Spanish Central Americas, persons from the Vigilantie and other ships were distributed throughout the Latin American isthmus and South America. In some cases, the resulting population of those with African ancestry reached 50% of the recorded population of Spanish colonies.     Construction of the Panama Canal brought immigrants from the Caribbean Islands and other countries into Panama to find work.    

The Diana left with 40 souls and arrived at the Caribbean island of Sint Eustatius with 35.  It disembarked 12 souls.  It sailed into Savannah, Georgia, USA delivering 23.

These two voyages are examples of how it is possible that families may have been split between the English speaking colonies, such as Georgia and Spanish colonies, such as Panama.   

Read Part 4

El Cadejo, Part 2

 El Cadejo are spirits that follow travelers, one black and one white. The black one is perceived as harmful.  The white one is perceived as a protector.

Preview at Amazon

In many of the guests, the soulfulness of their voices, the movement of their dance, the Afro that was better than mine, made me understand that my speaking English instead of Spanish may well be where a slave ship delivered its cargo.  

Emory University’s Voyages Database contains records on the human trafficking of Africans into the Americas and the Caribbean (http://www.slavevoyages.org).  One can track ship commission dates, ship names, voyage dates, region of slave trade, destinations, and more. The database shows how different traders purchased people from the same region then, distributed them from New York to Argentina as part of international commerce.  – Read Part 3

El Cadejo, Part 1

A head nod, a short phrase that included something like paso, I looked at another man I had also met at the party.  His overwhelming willingness to translate from Spanish to English helped me feel comfortable among the mostly Panamanian guests. “You can pass,” he answered.  There was a brief pause.  Then, I laughed. Other guests laughed with me.

After all the jokes comparing Panama City against Colon, after the hand-waving and gesturing about the difference between the Atlantic tide versus the Pacific tide, after the gossiping and cutting of eyes, after the wide-eyed children who were unable to stop laughing and incapable of slowing down - even for a moment, after having a really good time at the party, I thought about the comment, “He can pass.”  I came to understand why there was a brief pause. - Read Part 2

And We Danced

Family HealthCare Center

Recently, I toured the Family HealthCare Center, an important community clinic  in Fargo, North Dakota, USA. 

The clinic provides needed primary care and dental services for Medicare, Medicaid, and uninsured patients... basically, anyone in need.

If that wasn't awesome enough, the clinic is also part of a refugee resettlement program.  Individuals... families forsake the ecosystem of their homeland, possibly never to return.  The clinic helps with health, language, and even dietary challenges. 

.

I have plans to cover this clinic more and focus on the people dedicate to this work.  In that, there may be an opportunity to relate a specific refugee story - understanding the sensitivity in doing such story.

Excerpt from 

Song of the Oppressed

A single, soulfully raw voice,

a moan with words and tears,

captures the travail of

generations.

Fingers and lips echo the tragic rhythm

of unsettled feet....

Lemberger Strasse

     In Lemberger Strasse, I chose to enter into the tunnel.

Red Earth closed in around me.

    I followed the guide.  Not a thought of how the journey would end entered my head.  I thought more of not getting my clothes dirty, as if that really mattered.

    I lowered my head here and there.  I listened to the guide... an escape tunnel, in the event of a siege, down through the water well and out the side of the mountain.

    We stopped where the tunnel floor gave way to a steel grating that was supported by steel girders, hammered into the Earth.

    The guide beckoned. I followed.  Some would not.  But, I stepped out and stood up, suspended between fear and comfort, bright sky and dark water, between the two people of whom one could become.

Happy Holidays

Family

Location: Rockford, Alabama, USA