My 40 Acres - BOMA Minute 4-30-17

My 40 Acres & My Mule

There are some issues need addressing

some sins that need confessing

Truth is I’ve been used like a tool

for all these years I’ve worked

yet I’m still being jerked

Where are my 40 acres and my mule

The Pope confessed his dirt

to the millions the Vatican hurt

to the Jews who lost there lives in the holocaust

but not once has he mentioned

its slave-trading dimension

or the 100 million African souls lost

Tell me how long will these nations

continue their starvation

of those on whose backs they were built

How long will white lies

flourish while a black dies

Tell me, how much more blood must be spilt

I’m tired of playing the fool

What happened to the golden rule

Tell me, where are my 40 acres and my mule

Where’s my 40 acres and my mule? 

April 2000

PHEN/Fend For The PROSTATE

Guns Aside - BOMA Minute

Deferred Dreams - BOMA Minute

“What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up

like a raisin in the sun?”

-Langston Hughes, Harlem (1951)

One Man - BOMA Minute

One Man

If one man would make up his mind

to everyone he meet’s be kind

and fix his heart on that which is true

If one man would be so bold

as to embrace the gospel and hold

just think what a million men can do

If one man changed his thought

each time the tempter brought

some selfish scheme that would his neighbor undo

If he thought for just a minute

just where is the kindness in it

just think what a million thoughts like that can do

If David could slay that giant

though huge and extremely defiant

and Solomon had the wisdom to think things through

If Shadrach could walk through fire

and his entire village inspire

just think what a million Shadrach’s could do

If Noah could build that ark

though some people thought it a lark

and Jesus could cure those deaf and blind men too

If Sampson’s strength was that of ten

ordinary men

just think what a million Sampson’s can do

If Muhammad could move a mountain

and cause rocks to spew like fountains

and Drew Al could start a movement true

Just think what a million of us could do

If one man would take a second

when his needy neighbor beckoned

and followed literally Moses’ tenth command

With spirits filled and nourished

our neighborhoods would flourish

how quickly peace would spread throughout the land

If one man made up his mind

to no matter what, be kind

No matter what others might put him through

The strength of that man’s resolve

would all our problems solve

And just think what a million men like that can do

-Ty Gray-EL 

Mexican American War - BOMA Minute 4-25-17

On this date, April 25th  in 1846 the Mexican American War began. 

As the current president talks about building a wall, too few of us know that most of America was once Mexico. Few know that the Mexican American War was the preamble to the Civil War and that Race; and more particularly, the enslavement of Africans was its principle instigator. Most northern Republicans opposed it; most southern Democrats supported it, fueled by their vehement belief in Manifest Destiny. 

The Democrats believed that the more Mexican land they possessed, the more slaves they could acquire; plain and simple. They supported the war in hope of adding slave-owning territory to the South and avoid being outnumbered by the fast-growing North. John L. O’Sullivan, editor of the Democratic Review, coined this phrase, “It is our manifest destiny to overspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions.” In other words, we will overtake the entire continent to keep our bronze-skinned meal tickets. 

This has been a Breath of My Ancestors Minute brought to you by the Institute of Radical Reconciliation and The Enslaved African’s Rain Garden Project… #WeMustNeverForget

Thutmose III - BOMA Minute 4-24-17

April 24th is set aside as the start of Thutmose III rule over Egypt. He was Egypt’s ruler for close to 54 years, from 1479 BC until 1425 BC. 

It should be noted that Thutmose III, or Old King Tut, was a black man of African descent. Why is that significant?

Over the years, due to the advent of white supremacy and the promulgation of racism the identities and legacies of far too many Africans have been stolen; going so far as to deface African artifacts for the purpose of distorting truth. 

In fact, Racist ‘alternative facts’ have caused whole continents to shift. Can someone please tell me how Egypt left the continent of Africa and moved to the Middle East. I would suggest that you look at a map of the PANGEA and realize that the term “Middle East” didn’t even exist before the 1850’s. Coincidentally, that is the same time-period when the man-made Suez Canal separated Africa from itself. and inserted it into the man-made continent called the Middle East.  

It’s time we Wake up…This has been a Breath of My Ancestors Minute brought to you by the Institute of Radical Reconciliation and The Enslaved African’s Rain Garden Project… #WeMustNeverForget  

Reconciliation Journey - BOMA Minute 4-23-17

On this day, April 23, 1947 Bayard Rustin and George Houser were the principle organizers of the first Civil Rights Freedom Ride through the South. 

They titled it: “The Journey of Reconciliation”

Two organizations were the ride’s principal sponsors. The first was CORE, the Congress Of Racial Equality and the second was the Fellowship For Reconciliation. Sixteen men, 8 black and 8 white embarked on The Journey of Reconciliation. Created to force the United States to uphold the 1946 Supreme Court ruling that declared ‘segregated seating unconstitutional. Morgan v. Virginia was a landmark decision with a 6-1 ruling in favor of desegregation, declaring segregation on interstate buses illegal. 

However, when they rode through Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Judge Henry Whitfield had some of them arrested. Ignoring the Supreme Court Ruling, he sentenced the blacks to 30 days and the whites to 6 months on the Carolina chain gang.

This has been a Breath of My Ancestors Minute brought to you by the Institute of Radical Reconciliation… #WeMustNeverForget 

Goree Island -BOMA Minute 4 22 17

On this day April 22 we remember Goree, a small 45-acre Island off the coast of Senegal, West Africa. Goree Island became the golden gateway to the European Slave Trade with the first recorded slave transactions dating back to 1536. It is believed that the Portuguese were the first Europeans to set foot on the African Isle around 1444. 

However, the house of slaves was built by the Dutch in the late 1700’s. It is believed that between 1550 and 1850 upwards of 20 million Africans passed through the Door of No Return. Imagine 20 million, chained, shackled and manacled human beings confined, naked, 30 at-a-time, to an 8x8 concrete cell. Fed gruel once a day; forced to lie in their own excrement; waiting weeks at-a-time for their only relief, to be packed like sardines in the hold of a slave ship. Today Goree Island has become a tourist attraction, a Historical Museum where visitors swear they can see, hear and feel the spirits of those who passed through The Door of No Return.

This has been a Breath of My Ancestors Minute brought to you by the Institute of Radical Reconciliation… #WeMustNeverForget 

The Azor BOMA Minute 4-21-17

In 1877 the Liberian Exodus Joint Stock Steamship Company was established with $6,000. On this day, April 21, 1878 two hundred and six formerly enslaved, fed-up Black folk set sail from Charleston, South Carolina headed for Liberia, West Africa. They made their flight upon a sailing bark called the Azor. It is reported that more than 5,000 area folk, fed up with slavery and Jim Crow, applied for passage.

The naysayers said repatriation would never work but despite America never really supplying adequate support to its former meal tickets, there were some notable successes. By 1890, the Azor passengers were well established and had proven their worth. The Reverend David Frazier opened a coffee farm with 20,000 trees and was elected to the Liberian Senate in 1891. Mr. Clement Irons of Charleston, built the first steamship constructed in Liberia. Mr. Saul Hill established a successful 700-acre coffee farm. One passenger, Daniel Frank Tolbert was the grandfather of Liberia’s 20th President, William R. Tolbert, Jr.

This has been a Breath of My Ancestors Minute brought to you by the Institute of Radical Reconciliation… #WeMustNeverForget 

The Moses Lady - BOMA Minute 4-20-17

This day, April 20, 1853 is set aside as the first day Harriett Tubman started taking passengers on the Underground Railroad. On this first run she lead her own flesh and blood sister plus her two children out of bondage from somewhere around the Eastern Shore of Maryland.

She returned a year later to set her brother free and in 1857 she led her elderly parents to freedom. It is believed that over a 10-year span Ms. Tubman made upwards of 19 journeys and freed more than 300 men, women and children.

The following is a narrative of one of those episodes.

This has been a Breath of My Ancestors Minute brought to you by the Institute of Radical Reconciliation… #WeMustNeverForget 

Emanuel 9-BOMA Minute 4-19-17

This day, April 19, 1816 is celebrated as the day Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church of Charleston South Carolina opened its doors. In 1822 the Church was burned to the ground because one of its founders, Denmark Vessey, allegedly hatched a slave revolt. He was executed, along with 30 men for the plot. In 1834 all Black Churches were outlawed in the South so congregants worshipped underground until 1865 when Emanuel A.M.E. was formerly reopened. 

On June 17, 2015 a white supremacist sat through Bible Study and then shot to death, nine of its parishioners, including the Pastor. This is a tribute to the Emanuel 9.

Fort Pillow Massacre BOMA Minute 4-18-17

On April 18, 1864 - More than 200 Black Union troops were massacred by Gen. Nathan Beford Forrest and his Confederate forces at Ft. Pillow, Tennessee. My name is Lightnin Gray and I gotta question for you; is you ever heard the story of Martha Rainwater? She was a great large woman, stood most of 6 foot tall and her skin was dark brown, looked like Tennessee whiskey. She had a full rumbling voice sound like it was comin’ outta a deep old canyon somewheres, and she had a piercin’ gaze that make you think twice ’fore you spoke to her. But the thing that would strike you most ‘bout Martha, after you got past them eyes, was her hands. She had great big ole hands. Her hands was unusual large for a woman. Hell, they’s unusal large for a man, for that matter.  

But I’m gettin ahead of myself in this here story. Now she was born in Manchester (that is Eaglesville for you whippersnappers) in the year eighteen and thirty. Word was that she was part Chickasaw and that is how her family come by the name-o-Rainwater and also ’splain that whiskey tint to her skin. They say that Martha could swing a sledge hammer and drive a rail nail good as any man. But nail-drivin’ aint what give Martha the legend; it was them hands what did that.

At the Ft. Pillow Massacre that woman saved more than 50 men’s with them big ole hands…and I wish I had time enough…

This has been a Breath of My Ancestors Minute brought to you by the Institute of Radical Reconciliation… #WeMustNeverForget 

Gouldtown - BOMA Minute 4 17 17

On this day, April 17 1843, Theophilus Gould Steward was born in Gouldtown, New Jersey. Gouldtown just might be the oldest so-called colored settlement in America, In 1675 an Englishman by the name of John Fenwick purchased the land. The black township derived its name however, from a black man named Gould who married Elizabeth Fenwick, granddaughter of the wealthy colonist. Their union caused a scandal which rocked the New Jersey for miles around and inflamed Fenwick with shame and disgrace. Intermarriage between blacks and whites in those days was taboo and in some states, forbidden. However, the couple toughed it out and raised a family.

Theophilus was rare in that he was raised in a free black family in a  town owned by free black people in the mid-1800’s; rare indeed. In 1863, at age 20 he became an ordained minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Following the Civil War, Steward helped organize A.M.E. Churches in South Carolina and Georgia. He was also active in the Reconstruction efforts in Georgia. He graduated from the Episcopal Divinity School of Philadelphia. Later in 1881, he was awarded a Doctor of Divinity degree from Wilberforce University.

This has been a Breath of My Ancestors Minute brought to you by the Institute of Radical Reconciliation… #WeMustNeverForget 

BOMA Minute 4-16-17 Emancipation Day

Let me tell you another history fact. I worked on the rail when the first ‘lectric train come through here. The first trial run was done right yonder on the Bladensburg track in the year of our lord, 1867. I ‘members the years cause they run right long wit my age you, see. I ‘members they’s just start usin’ them new fangled battrys and the train speed reached almost 20 miles and hour! They’s a lot of fellas what died using them new fangled battries cause all you need to do what touch it wrong. I’s ‘lectacuted least maybe four or five times grabbing holt of them thangs, but the Lord let me live. 

They is one day I aint never gon’ forget long as I live, cause of the glory ‘ttached to it; the day of Jubilee. President Lincoln signed the paper. I members it was a fine spring day in April of ’62. Little Hollis Harvey used to fetch things from over to Washington from time-to-time. Little fella; he come barreling down the main road (Edmondston) on a big brown mare. It’s strange cause you ain’t seed much of colored men’s ridin no horses in them days. He’s standin’ straight up in the saddle shoutin’ “we’s free, we’s free, he done signed that mancipation, we’s free. Man you talkin bout some cake-walkin and mashin-drinkin that night. I recollect the rail station shut down and everything. I member’s we had a high time. 

This has been a Breath of My Ancestors Minute brought to you by the Institute of Radical Reconciliation… #WeMustNeverForget 

BOMA Minute 4-15-17 A. Phillip Randolph

On this day April 15, 1889 A. Phillip Randolph was born in Crescent City, Florida. He formed a small union of elevator operators while attending The Collage of New York City. Mr. Randolph later became the principle organizer of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. In 1925 he gathered the brothers together and explained how much of a commodity they were to the U.S. Railway system and how much more valuable they would be as an organized union. 

His was the first union of predominantly Black workers to be granted a charter by the American Federation of Labor. He wrestled with the Pullman Company for ten years before he won recognition as the porters bargaining agent. He convinced the company that the white folks train ride would not be as comfortable without the Pullman Porters and he was instrumental in persuading President Franklin D. Roosevelt to set up the Fair Employment Practices Committee. In 1957 A. Phillip Randolph was elected a vice president of the AFL/CIO. He was also one of the principle organizers of the historic 1963 March on Washington along side Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He lived to be 90 years old.

This has been a Breath of My Ancestors Minute brought to you by the Institute of Radical Reconciliation… #WeMustNeverForget 

BOMA Minute4-14-17 Lincoln's Assassination

On this day April 14, 1865 an assassin’s bullet took the life of the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. The War Between the States was taking its last gasp of breath and would fizzle out just 6 weeks later. More than a half million died because a few believed that the color of a persons skin determined their worth. On the evening of Friday April 14th just after 10pm John Wilkes Booth entered the balcony of Fords Theater on 10th Street NW between E and F in Washington DC and shot him, at point-blank-range in the back of his head,  with his wife sitting next to him. 

Mr. Booth was amongst those who believed that Abe Lincoln had ruined the country with 13th Amendment, which supposedly freed the slaves. Mr. Booth’s intention was to ‘make America great again’. We must remember how far and to what lengths some will go to ‘take their country back’ because they sincerely believe that black is inferior and white is superior. There have been a great many  casualties in the war over the souls of black folk and President Abraham Lincoln was one of them.

This has been a Breath of My Ancestors Minute brought to you by the Institute of Radical Reconciliation… #WeMustNeverForget 

The Colfax Massacre-BOMA Minute 4 -13 -17

On this date April 13, 1873, the Colfax Massacre  erupted in Grant Parish Courthouse in Colfax, Louisiana.

The White League, a paramilitary group intent on securing White rule in Louisiana, clashed with the almost all-Black state militia on Easter Sunday. The result left 150 families missing a loved one. Of the 150 black men that were slain, more than half of them were slaughtered in cold blood while just 3 members of the White League were killed. It should be duly noted that the League was a Democratic organization and noted again that the Democrats have not always been liberal supporters of Black causes.



Two laws that Southern Democrats hated were the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments. The Fourteenth Amendment granted citizenship to Blacks and declared that no state was to deprive them of "life, liberty, or property." The Fifteenth Amendment prevented a state from denying the vote to any person because of their race. Together, these laws guaranteed Blacks equal citizenship and the good people of Colfax just weren’t having it on Easter Sunday of 1873.



After the Colfax Massacre the federal government convicted three whites for the murders. But as fate would have it, they were freed when the U.S. Supreme Court declared that they had been convicted unconstitutionally.

This has been an educational Breath of My Ancestors Minute brought to you by the Institute of Radical Reconciliation… #WeMustNeverForget 

BOMA Minute 4-12-17 Civil War

BOMA Minute 4-11-17

On this day, April 11, 1881 Spelman College was established as The Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary in the basement of Friendship Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia. It was founded by Harriet E. Giles and Sophia B. Packard who traveled to Atlanta from New Salem, Massachusetts for the express purpose of starting a school of higher education for black freedwomen. Pastor Frank Quarrels of Friendship Baptist donated the space and they started the school with 11 African American women and $100.

In 1882 the ladies returned to Massachusetts in search of funds to support the project and were introduced to John D. Rockefeller. He was so impressed with  their vision that he visited the school in 1884, which had now grown to 600 students and 16 faculty members.  It is reputed that Laura Spelman requested her husband to settle the debt on the land. Rockefeller's wife Laura, her sister Lucy and their parents, Harvey and Lucy Henry Spelman, were also generous  supporters of the school. The Spelman’s were longtime activists in the abolitionist movement. Thus, in 1884 the Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary was re-named Spelman Seminary in honor of Laura Spelman, John D. Rockefeller's wife. 

This has been an educational Breath of My Ancestors Minute brought to you by the Institute of Radical Reconciliation… #WeMustNeverForget 

BOMA Minute 4-10 -17

On this day, April 10th we celebrate the birth of Jesse Binga, who at one time was considered the wealthiest black man in Chicago. He began amassing his fortune by cutting hair, working as a Pullman Porter and acquiring real estate. Born in Detroit Michigan in 1865, he moved from state to state settling in Chicago in 1893. As the African American population grew in the Windy City so did has bank roll. In the first two decades of the 20th Century Jesse Binga amassed enough to open his own bank. In 1921 the Binga State Bank opened with a $200,000. Within 3 years that had grown to over $1.3 million. 

His bank provided the African American community with an option. They didn’t have to deal with the predatory lenders who preyed on the black working class. Of course racism had to raise its ugly head as the white folk hated his success. His home was bombed no less than 5 times and forced him to close his bank at the beginning of the great depression. They trumped up charges on him and put him in jail for embezzlement in 1933. After his release, the once wealthiest black man in Chicago spent the rest of his life as a handyman. He died in June of 1950. This has been a Breath of My Ancestors Minute brought to you by the Institute of Radical Reconciliation… #WeMustNeverForget 

BOMA Minute 4-9-17 Paul Robeson

On April 9, 1898 - Paul Robeson was born in Princeton New Jersey.  There aren't enough adjectives in the lexicon to articulate the genius of this poet, author, actor, singer and human rights activist. This son of a formerly enslaved A.M.E. preacher won a scholarship to Rutgers when it was unheard of for a black man to do so. He became a champion debater and Phi Beta Kappa valedictorian. Twice an All American in football, he also lettered in baseball, basketball and track before graduating in 1919.

He was among the first successful black actors to star in motion pictures and was one of the most gifted poetical orators that God has given breath. His first film was produced and directed by the highly acclaimed, yet little known black filmmaker, Oscar Micheaux. He was featured in several  Hollywood films but was never satisfied with the treatment black people received in La La Land.

He began to focus on African studies and languages, speaking out on the black struggle for equality. He received death threats in the Deep South. His speeches put him in the crosshairs of the FBI and COINTELPRO, it’s counter intelligence program. Because of his loyalty to black causes he was brought up on charges and dragged before the House on Un-American Activities. Speaking up for Africans in America, according the Senate and Congress was an un-American Activity. 

They revoked his passport, black-listed him and took away his ability to make a living. Paul Robeson frightened white America. He was a big, black, uppity, multi-genius-polymath who America silenced because of the color of his skin. He passed away in 1977… This has been a Breath of My Ancestors Minute brought to you by the Institute of Radical Reconciliation… #WeMustNeverForget 

BOMA Minute 4-8-17

On April 8, 1833 Charles Richard Patterson was born into slavery on a Virginia plantation. He escaped by climbing over the Allegheny Mountains, trekking through the hills of West Virginia and crossing the Ohio River to the Greenfield Underground Railroad Station.

He took a job with a Coach making company. Mastering the craft of making horse-drawn carriages and out shinning all his competition, he formed the C.R. Patterson & Sons Carriage Company and was awarded several patents. 

When C.R. passed in 1910 his eldest son took over the business. He began noticing more and more ‘horseless’ carriages. At a company board meeting he made this observation. “In 1902 there was one automobile to 65,000 people and by 1909 there was one vehicle for ever 800 people…I believe its time for us to build a Patterson horseless carriage.” On September 23, 1915 the first Patterson Two-Door Coupe rolled off the assembly line.  

However, not being able to compete with the Henry Ford Motor Company, the Patterson’s closed their shop in 1939…This has been another Breath of My Ancestors Minute brought to you by the Institute of Radical Reconciliation… #WeMustNeverForget 

Breath Of My Ancestors Minute 4-7-17

The whole world agrees that Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone. But very few know that it was an American of African descent that improved the device for public consumption and gave him the idea in the first place.  On this day April 7, 1885 - patent #315,368 “Apparatus For Transmission of Messages By Electricity” was awarded to Granville T. Woods by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. Five months before that on December 2, 1884 he patented the “Telephone Transmitter” Patent #308,876

The History Channel website says “ …In March of 1876, 29-year-old Alexander Graham Bell receives a patent for his revolutionary new invention, the telephone.” No where in the history books have I found a mention of Granville T. Woods, nor his improvements to the Telephone or the Telegraph. There are more than 8 billion cellphones in use today, more phones than people and what’s sad about it is that none of us could have ever placed a call if it weren’t Mr. Woods.

Let the record reflect that not only has our labor been stolen but also our brilliant ideas. This has been another Breath of My Ancestors Minute brought to you by the Institute of Radical Reconciliation… #WeMustNeverForget 

Breath Of My Ancestors Minute 4-6-17

Very few of us know of the New York Slave Rebellion starting on this night, April 6, 1712. Approximately twenty fed-up enslaved Africans and Native Americans armed themselves with knives, guns and swords then set fire to an outhouse on Maiden Lane near Broadway in Manhattan. They then shot and stabbed any man, white or black, who attempted to extinguish the blaze. 

When the smoke cleared more than six white men were beaten and nine were dead. On the morning that followed, the governor of New York commanded the militia to, in his words, “drive the island.”   Six escaped torture by committing suicide. It was known that only twenty were directly responsible but more than seventy were arrested. Of those seventy, twenty-seven were convicted and sentenced to death. Six were hung by the neck.  Twenty were burned at the stake and one was stretched to death on a breaking wheel. 

Shortly after the rebellion, New York’s legislature toughened its slave codes. If three or more blacks were seen congregating, they were subject to forty lashes with a cat-o-nine-tales.

This has been another Breath of My Ancestors Minute brought to you by the Institute of Radical Reconciliation… #WeMustNeverForget 

Breath Of My Ancestors Minute 4-5-17

On April 5, 1839 Robert Smalls was born enslaved in Beaufort S.C. Hating slavery all his life, he determined early that he would be free. Working around Charleston’s seaport, he taught himself to read, write and pilot steamships. He learned to master tricky currents. He maneuvered around the harbors and docks so well that the southern ship owners came to rely on his expertise. 

Early on the morning of May 13, 1862, twelves month into the Civil War, he secreted his wife, three children and 12 escaped slaves aboard the Planter, a Confederate Steamship. He piloted the steamer through Confederate waters flying the Rebel flag. Once he cleared the range of the Rebel cannon, making it safely to Union waters, he hoisted a white flag of truce and turned the ship over to the commanding officer of the Union fleet. 

Robert Smalls, his family and crew were welcomed as heroes and awarded their freedom. President Lincoln personally acknowledged his bravery making him a Captain in the U.S Navy. He later served in the South Carolina House of Representatives and was elected to the U.S. Congress. This has been another Breath of My Ancestors Minute brought to you by the Institute of Radical Reconciliation… #WeMustNeverForget 

Breath Of My Ancestors Minute 4-4-17

One of the most significant episodes in the history of Africans in America occurred on April 4th 1968, when James Earl Ray gunned down Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the balcony of the Loraine Hotel in Memphis Tennessee. One of God’s drum majors for justice was brutally slain and it seemed as if a piece Black consciousness was sucked out of the atmosphere. 

I can still recall the horror that spread through our communities and the pain that consumed us. A pain so profound that we torched ourselves.  We must remember the sacrifices made by those like Dr. King and Malcolm and all who gave their lives that we might thrive. We Must Never Forget…

This has been another Breath of My Ancestors Minute brought to you by the Institute of Radical Reconciliation… #WeMustNeverForget 

Breath Of My Ancestors Minute 4-3-17

On this date April 3, 1826 James Madison Bell was born in Gallipolis Ohio.  For more than 40 years as an African American Poet and Author, he performed public readings in verse. As a zealous abolitionist he would recite his poetry to all within hearing and on one occasion he spoke his mind in rhyme to the 21st president, Chester A. Arthur.

It is reported that he used his spoken-word abilities to raise funds for John Brown and his raid on Harper’s Ferry in 1859. His poems addressed the issues of emancipation and the abolishment of slavery. He was also active in the African Methodist Episcopal Church and was said to be an active conductor on the Underground Railroad. As a purveyor of the spoken word myself, I am especially proud of Mr. James Madison Bell…This has been another Breath of My Ancestors Minute brought to you by the Institute of Radical Reconciliation… #WeMustNeverForget 

Breath Of My Ancestors Minute 4-2-17

On this day April 2, 1939 Marvin Gaye was born in Washington DC. He was an accomplished musician and silk-voiced balladeer who honed his skills under streets lamps in the District of Columbia. His talent was showcased in several singing groups around the country before he landed in Motown. His genius earned him a Grammy Award and ultimately led to his Induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The poetry in the words of the first album he produced are as relevant today as the day he penned them, when he ask the the world: 

“WHAT’S GOIN’ ON”

Mother, mother, mother

There's too many of you crying

Brother, brother, brother

There's far too many of you dying

You know we've got to find a way

To bring some lovin' here today,

Father, father

We don't need to escalate

You see, war is not the answer

For only love can conquer hate

You know we've got to find a way

To bring some lovin' here today

Tragically Marvin became an ancestor and departed this life just a few hours before his 45th birthday on April 1st 1984.

This has been another Breath of My Ancestors Minute brought to you by the Institute of Radical Reconciliation… #WeMustNeverForget 

Breath Of My Ancestors Minute 4-1-17

On this day April 1, 1949 - Gil Scott Heron was born in Chicago Illinois. His scholarship and command of the spoken word made a significant impact on me personally. As a literary genius and a founding father of Rap and HipHop, he impacted the entire world.

He wrote his first book of poetry at age 13. He penned his first novel, ‘The Vulture’ when he was 19 and two years later released his debut album, “New Black Poet: Small Talk at 125th & Lennox” including his iconic, “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised”

Poet Extraordinaire, Gil Scott Heron passed away on May 28th 2011.

This is has been a Breath of My Ancestors Minute-brought to you by the Institute of Radical Reconciliation-We Must Never Forget