VIVA VOLODOS!

Arcadi Volodos is a young Russian Pianist that burst onto the classical music scene in the lat 1990s.  Many young artists take the competition route.  Initially the Tchaikowsky Competition was the pre-eminent international piano competition.  Over the last two decades it has been eclipsed by the Van Cliburn in Texas.  A handsome few pianists side-step the competition circuit and manage to achieve renown on their own (or through the skill and artifice of a excellent manager).  Volodos is just such an artist. 

Gifted with the eloquence and technique of Sergei Rachmaninoff, one of the titans pianist/composer titans of the early 20th century, and a compatriot, Volodos has received critical acclaim the world over.  He is particularly skilled at transcription, the art of arranging a piece from one instrument or medium to another.    Among his most famous transcriptions, the Rondo Alla Turca, the final movement of Mozart's Sonata No. 11 in A major, K. 331, has been swept up by every daring and ambitious pianist, myself included ( I should have it down pat in another year or so :)  Volodos' transcription is basically Mozart on steroids.  I have juxtaposed the two versions below.
  

Volodos manages to infuse Herr Mozart with some serious bravura while throwing in some light-hearted humor.  Some artists call the piece affected and vulgar, I however, love the humor and grandiosity of the piece.  One day I will perform my own version on YouTube.  Stay tuned!

STRAIGHT TALK!

Back in the day when I would peruse the personals, I always found it a little humorous and not a little ironic the number of ads that featured themselves as "straight acting."  These ads were in the gay section or a gay paper altogether, promoting this characteristic as if it were a badge of honor or some desired quality that was short in supply and demand.  It points to a deep psychological schizm in the gay psyche, one that is at odds with itself causing sensational tension in the personality.  On the one hand gay men's sexuality is a statement and testament to their identity.  On the other hand this self-same identity is a source of shame and guilt, one which they cover up or mask by appearing "straight acting."    When one acts straight the entire premise is to prevent folks from perceiving, picking up on or figuring out you are a homosexual so that you can "pass".

These are the folks we call "closeted".  They have consigned themselves to hiding their sexuality as gay men by appearing to act straight.  Some of them succeed, some of them do not.  An entire culture and language has sprung up around acting straight for gay men.  It is all too obvious the reasons for this behavior.  Society too often breeds contempt for the minority, for those who differ from the majority. It seeks conformity with the mass and will use whatever means necessary to break down the minority so that it may be absorbed into the majority.  This is assimilation.  Society says, "you will be assimilated".  The consequences for refusing assimilation can be severe from being branded an outcast to death itself.  Hence we find communities or groups of outcasts who come together  for commerce, comfort and transaction and safety.  The gay community is one such community.  But there are those for whom the price of maintaining their individuality and identity is too steep a price to pay.  They opt in to the assimilation program, the price tag being their integrity (and sanity).  Society can be none too forgiving when it comes to its demands of conformity.

The straight acting phenomena goes to the heart and soul of what it is to be gay.  It defines acceptance and rejection in our psyches.  It projects our authentication or our falsehood into the world.  This projection, whichever it may be teaches the world about who we are, to respect us or to mock us.  I am not naive enough to believe every gay person should be an out and proud gay person. I recognize there are situations and places where an out spirit is a dead spirit.  Those brothers and sisters of ours in those positions deserve nothing but our prayers, encouragement and assistance wherever possible.  What I speak of here is a cultural identity which has become so powerful it is a behemoth, it has taken on a life all its own and become a vacuum that is sucking so many of us into it.  I, myself was a member of the straight acting clan until I decided I wanted to pay the price for individuation.  To be truthful the costs rise and fall according to the situation.  The majority of my friends have accepted me.  My parents did not.  They cast me out.  It is all too clear that should I foreswear my sexuality in a born again household, we can move on as if the pages of that chapter had been torn out never to be seen again.  But I want to keep my history.  I want to read every dark, ugly chapter that was full of struggle, angst and depression to remind myself of how far I have come and how sweet the nectar of individuality is.

Individuality is not for everyone.  But because the gay community is a small community relative to the heterosexual community, there is more scrutiny, more expection and demand from us to stand and be counted or to continue to be scattered like the four winds.  The problem with being scattered is our power as group is severely diminished.  A house divided against itself cannot stand. The more of us that close our books the more society laughs at us and mocks us because it does not understand us.  And it is a truism that people fear what they do not understand.  That fear leads peopleto express all kinds of ugliness and depravity.  The more of us who become open books, the more society will understand and the less fear they will nurture.

It is up to us to show the world who we are.  We can declare our authenticity or declare our falsehood.  Feeding into the straight acting culture weakens the authenticity of the gay community.  If we cannot express our own authenticity in the world what right do we have to expect the world to honor us?  Authenticity is a journey, though.  It can take a while to get there. But as the road stretches out before you it gets easier the further along you travel. You eventually come to a difficult intersection to cross, which can seem impossible to cross but having crossed it, a whole new world opens up before you.  The road from then on will be smooth sailing and an open book.

SERENADE TO MUSIC

Many, many, many moons ago, as a young man in my twenties, I was confused and anxious   I sought answers on any number of subjects wherever I thought I could find them.  My greatest source was of course, books.  But there were somethings that books could not tell me.  In my search a few times I contacted psychics.  I remember the first psychic I ever contacted. Now, I am by nature a highly sceptical individual so I was unsure what she had to offer me.  But I was also very interested in the esoteric sciences (Edgar Cayce, Theosophy, the Ancient Wisdom, numerology, astrology, ESP, and other manner of psychic phenomena) at the time.  Curiosity spurred me on. 

When I contacted her I spilled no beans, I waited for her to speak to me.  I answered no questions as to why I was calling (she actually did not ask, either),  I remember she said she had to "tune in" to me.  She took a moment and the first statement she made was, "I see you wearing headphones."  This immediately got my attention!  At the time I was not driving, I took public transportation and walked; I could not be seen without my walkman and headphones.  "And everywhere that Thomas went, his walkman was sure to go!" I loved music and had been listening to music since I was a child.  Back in the 70s we had one of those enormous stereos that was literally a piece of furniture like a chest or cabinet.  I used to sit on the side of it listening to easy listening music (yes, easy listening music).  I took in The Carpenters, Johnny Matthis,  Helen Reddy, Montovani and his Orchestra, and many others.  Then in 1979 a few years after my mother re-married my second step-father, a military man, we were stationed in Germany.  At the time we had two television channels in English and one radio station in English.  In search of music I started checking out the German radio stations and heard classical music for the first time-and I was hopelessly smitten at 11 years of age. 

After the initial statement of the psychic, that she saw me with headphones, she said that I was" intently listening to music, intently as if you were getting something from it." She said I was deriving "something subliminal" from the music.  It was at this point that I realized my relationship with music was something magical, that what I felt when I listened, though it refused to be dragged into words, was something deep inside me.  Subsequent readings from her did not prove as fruitful or worthwhile but I often reflect on what she gave to me anent music.  It has made my relationship with music all the more special now that I know it affects me so deeply.

There is a piece of music in the classical repertoire by Ralph Vaughn Williams called Serenade To Music.  The orchestral version with Vernon Hadley and the London Phiharmonic Orchestra is one of those pieces that takes me to another place.  The original version was scored for orchestra and choir.  In this version, one of the verses runs thus:

  I am never merry when I hear sweet music.

The reason is, your spirits are attentive –

 The man that hath no music in himself,

 Nor is not mov'd with concord of sweet sounds,

 Is fit for treasons, stratagems and spoils;

 The motions of his spirit are dull as night

And his affections dark as Erebus:

Let no such man be trusted.

 "The man that hath no music in himself...let no such man be trusted."  My sentiments exactly.  As much as I would like to consider myself special, I believe music has the same effect on all those who are attracted to its sweet sounds.  How else to explain why so many can be brought together so willingly under its delicious strains?  People come together for few reasons but music is one of the reasons we do come together.  And when we do we forget who we are, our travails, and submit to the music.  It speaks to us each, individually answering some special need we have, opening some lovely space inside us that no other person, place or thing can manage. 

 British orchestras have exceptional string sections with few rivals, particularly when they perform pastoral music, a genre which hearkens to the bucolic life of shepards in the country side. Vaughn William's piece is just such an one.  Another of my favorites is also from Vaughn Williams, Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis-a sombre, long, rambling orchestral piece.  After the initial outburst of the orchestra it settles down with a violin solo that evoles into a quartet.  The orchestra and the quartet start a conversation, back and forth it goes until it reaches a glorious climax and then retreats. Toward the very end two violins emerge from the fray with the sweetest sounds, the most exquisite harmony anywhere in the repertoire.

Music is my salvation. Were it not so, I  hazard to guess what sort of person I would be; what else I would use to calm my tempestuous inner life and a strong but rampant mind.  I don't know why people succumb to alcohol and drugs when there is music.  It provides me a high that I cannot reach through any other means-a spiritual high that stretches beyond the reaches of the mind.   There is nothing like great music. It is truly God's serenade to the soul, his little lost child in a far away country.  He reminds us oh, so subtley by whispering to us in a language that by-passes intellect and reaches for that spark hidden deep inside us.  This is something only a serenade to music could accomplish!

"I'M SPIRITUAL, NOT RELIGIOUS"

If one is familiar with the central tenets of any religion it comes as a surprise to look across the world and view the stupendous tensions within religious communities.  Never mind the tensions between believers and non-believers!  The Sunnis and the Shiites have been bickering since the death of the prophet Mohamed almost two millenia ago; the Catholics and the Protestants made Northern Ireland a battlefield for some thirty years; Orthodox and Ultra-Orthodox Jews have their issues with their less stringent brethren and there are even divisions among Mahayana, Vajrayana and Hinayana sects of Buddhism.  Whence cometh all the strife and tension?

Too often we fail to redeem ourselves, that is, we fail to remove the dross from our character and constitution.  Our failings as human beings, that is to say our uncontrolled emotional states, our unwholesome desires, our ambitions for power, status and wealth, our self aggrandizement and our covetousness form a thick layer or crust around our spiritual selves preventing the light of the spirit from shining through.  This is what the old testament refers to as "dross".   Dross is a layer of waste that forms during the metallurgy process that must be scraped off less it cakes and hides the true splendor of the metal.  This is what is referred to in Isaiah I:22 e(Thy silver has become dross, thy wine mixed with water:) and Isaiah I:25 (And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin:). Dross in this sense dilutes the true self.

It is human nature that interferes with religious or spiritual expression.  We compromise the integrity of the teachings that have been passed down to us for centuries.  We stir in our vanity and pride with the pure, life-giving waters of the spirit and we separate and distinguish ourselves, the one from the other.  Often one will hear someone say, "I am spiritual, not religious,"  which in turn draws the ire of those who call themselves religious.  The distinction between religion and spirituality is tainted with the same impurities as those between the religions themselves, namely man's vanity and pride.  To claim the spiritual and not religious title can be pure or impure.  I suspect it is oftentimes a badge of honor and pride created to distinguish those who are thinking intellectuals from those who are blind followers of religion.  I, myself was guilty of this failing in my youth before a measure of knowledge and wisdom settled over me.  Having crossed the border from youth to maturity, having moved from ignorance to knowledge, I like to think I am in a position to describe the difference between religion and spirituality.  It should be here stated that they are separated only by the thinnest of lines and are more like different sides of the same coin.

The Temple of Solomon was constructed to house the Ark of the Covenant, which was the Shekinah or dwelling place of God.  The Ark was a portable artifact carried by the Israelites.  It was decided that there should be a more permanent and fit habitation for the dwelling of the Spirit of God. We see in I Kings VI:1-38 that the temple was constructed to exacting proportions.  The instructions  were very specific down to the cubit or foot.

The temple had three main courtyards or areas where the congregation, transaction and fellowship between individuals took place. These three courtyards roughly symbolized the stages in the development of the individual's spiritual journey.  The first courtyard was the largest where the greatest amount of individuals gathered.  This courtyard represented the first tier of religion, those entering the faith but not truly committed.  The second courtyard held a smaller amount of folks, those who had passed beyond the first tier, who took their faith seriously.  The third, almost exclusive courtyard led to the Holy of Holies, the most sacred area of the temple.  Only one person and one person alone was permitted to cross the threshold of the Holy of Holies, the priest himself.  The Holy of Holies represents the inner sanctum within ourselves, the one place no other person may breach, the one place where the deepest part of ourselves provides spiritual nourishment and sustenance.  These courtyards illustrate the progress of the individual of faith, from one point to another.  In this journey there is no room for spiritual pride or arrogance, for separation or delineation.  We are all children of God.  Separation or belief in separation is among the greatest errors to which we succumb. Religion are spirituality are essentially about one thing: unity.  We are to resolve our disparate natures into a unity, which is the true hallmark of spiritual evolution.

Religion is an instrument through which we may achieve unity.  Such unity is achieved through process, through ceremony and pageantry, through the scientific method, if you will.  Religion is the art and science of invocation and evocation, the process (through the ceremonies of the religious service) by which we invoke the name of God and evoke aid and relief.  In I Kings 18:17-46, which Georg Friedrich Handel so beautifully and exquisitely set to music in his Oratorio, Elijah, we see the art and science of ceremony, of evocation and invocation.  Elijah sets about to prove whose god is God, the heathen god, Baal or Jehovah.  Baal fails to answer his followers but Elijah is able to call down fire from heaven to consume a sacrifice thus showing that the god of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was indeed God.  So many of our religious ceremonies have completely lost their meaning.  So few of us understand the purpose and meaning behind the pageantry of the religious service.  We perform them blindly and robotically.  But have meaning they do.  This is the value of Religion, it provides the foundation upon which the life of faith may be built.  The guidelines, the instructions, the tenets are the materials  or the blueprints we use to construct our own Shekinah, or habitation fit for the indwelling of the Spirit of God. The value in Religion lies in the fellowship and congregation, provided the journey of faith is being shared by all involved.   The only fault in Religion lies in man's expression of it.  There are those who do their deeds loudly in front of others and boasting s of their faith so that others may hear them.  These are the ones who distort faith and belief in faith.  Jesus speaks squarely of these in Matthew VI:1-7 when he says "Take heed that ye do not your alms (gifts or charity) before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your father in heaven.  Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men.  Verily I say unto you, They have their reward."  Jesus goes on to make the same comparison of those who pray aloud so that others can hear them.   These "hypocrites" are the ones who sit in the front pew at church on Sundays. They are the reason so many look down on "religious" folk.  Instead of their faith and way of life being their advertisement for their Christianity, they instead advertise their hypocrisy.  This is the ugly side of faith which leads some of us to say, "I'm spiritual, not religious."

As one moves through this world, manages their being and strives to "walk in the light", from the outer courtyard to the inner courtyard, one's faith deepens.  Perseverance in walking in the light leads to a more potent expression of the life and one's ability to help and provide for others in a measure of ways. It is said that truly all creation travaileth waiting for the birth of the sons of God or as Paul says in Romans 8:19, "For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God."  As our faith deepens and the life becomes more refined or redeemed as the Christian would say, we find a deeper thirst upon us, one for the living waters Jesus speaks of in his conversation with the woman of Samaria at Jacob's well (John 4).  At some point, just as the prodigal son did, we must leave the home, the congregation to go in search of who were really are, to test all the knowledge and instruction we have received against the temptations and vices the world offers.  It is an initiation of sorts.  It tests our mettle to prove our worthiness to continue seeking the great treasure of spirit. Much of  Joseph Campbell's writing was dedicated to the archetype we call the hero. The hero, who is the higher self, sets off on a journey to rescue a damsel in distress or treasure.  The damsel is akin to the great archetype of the feminine aspect of deity, God the Holy Ghost imprisoned by the lower personality or ego.  The hero usually sets off with a group of individuals pledged to help him on his journey, each for their own reasons.  Along the way the hero faces many dangers by a powerful (the lower self) foe which has no other desire than to prevent him from reaching his goal.  Along the way the ranks of his allies thins, until he alone must face the dragon or the creature that stands between him and the damsel or treasure.  The force that guards the treasure is there for a reason, to make sure the hero is fit and worthy to obtain and wield the power of gold or worthy to take the hand of the damsel thus marrying the higher self with the spiritual self.  It is little different really, than the protective father who wants to make sure his daughter's intended is worthy of her.

This journey, the journey of hero or the spiritual man, but for his allies, is a solitary journey where he must call upon all his training, his instinct and intuition, his love and his intellect, his faith and his common sense.  It is a journey not fit for all of us. Some of us like the safety, comfort and familiarity of fellowship and there is nothing whatsoever ever wrong with this.  We are all called at some point to start the journey, the journey that heads East to the land of the rising sun (a symbol for the truth, wisdom and light).  We come to realize that Religion and Spirituality regardless of which path we travel inevitably lead us all to the same place, regardless of the different names it may be called.  Jesus said, "in my father's house are many rooms..."  There is room enough on this journey for us all.   We must walk in the light to truly understand that the difference between religion and spirituality is not one hewn from pride and arrogance, from disparity and dissension.  One (Religion) forms the basis for the other (Spirituality).  We should take our lesson on this subject of Religion vs Spirituality from Ephesians 5:8, For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord, walk as children of light.  We come from darkness and ignorance but Religion provides us with knowledge and Spirituality leads us to light, therefore we must abide in our knowledge of the light.

MONEY IS THE MANIFESTATION OF LOVE?

There are times when the country needs to take note of lessons being taught right before its eyes.  Such times include the Chris Brown/Rihanna saga, for it highlighted domestic violence for a young generation; the pageant for plus size women brought under the auspices of comedienne, Monique, for it highlighted and gave dignity to plus size women.  Another such time I caught on a few episode of Gene Simmon's Family Jewels last season.  Last season his paramour of more than two decades, Shannon Tweed, walked out on him. She longed to have their union legalized and recognized before God and man.  However, Gene Simmons resisted marriage satisfying himself with the arrangement so many men are accustomed to and revel in: "why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?".

However, last season it came to a head when his lover and mother of his children, Shannon Tweed, left the mansion and went to her parents' home.  The situation forced Gene Simmons to deal with himself, his children, and his mother in a manner he had not previously done.  He under went therapy for all to see.  I give the man a tremendous amount of credit for a few reasons.  He is a man, a straight man, for starters.  Second, he has lived in a culture of rock stardom where pretty much anything was at his disposal, alcohol, drugs, women...   This can not help but inflate the ego of a man. These two things would tend to prevent a man from seeking out therapy or counseling because of his ego.  And he certainly would not do it on national television for the entertainment and consumption of the country.  Mr. Simmons deserves a tremendous amount of credit for taking this step and allowing us to follow along as he sat with his therapist and allowed her to uncover layers of himself and admit his failings, his Peter Pan complex and/or the ailing psychology of the perpetual bachelor (even though he was engaged in a common law marriage with two adult children).

In one of his sessions with his family, I believe, they were speaking about his role as a father.  Mr. Simmons made a statement which I found intriguing but not at all surprising.  He said, "money is the manifestation of love."  I thought, "Wow, Gene has some philosophy going on up in here!"  I wondered if that statement was of his own or something he picked up somewhere.  I was not surprised at the statement because typically this philosophy, whether spoken or unspoken is the guiding light of most men who have families.  Men are traditionally the "breadwinners" of the family.  However,  too often this role is woven into the very fabric of their existence causing pernicious problems when they are laid off,  unable to find work or not enough work.  Simmons was asked if he thought he was a good father and answer yes, that he provided very well for his family.  When his children were asked the same question they essentially said he was an excellent provider but not so good as a father. This could not have been easy for a man to hear, but hear it so many men should.

Men must be brought around to the fact that being a provider and a father are things that may overlap but they are essentially different in nature.  For a provider there is no emotional connection, he simply makes and provides provisions. Many men have this lifestyle when they pay child support but have no interest or affect in the lives of their children.  A father on the other hand, one half of the equation of parenthood, has the responsibility  of teaching his children discipline and responsibility. He has to make a connection with his children different from that of the mother, who provides love, nurturing and emotional connectivity, if you will. It is the presence of our mothers that teach us how to love and how to connect to others.  Our fathers teach us how to deal with people and to be honorable in such dealings so that we may be a reflection of the integrity of our family.  When a man comes home and plops his feet on the sofa and watches television or slips off into a nap or reads the papers and suffers his family no interaction, he is a provider, not a father.  He must learn to enlarge his scope and understand that money is NOT the manifestation of love.  For when there is no money, is there no love?  When one does not have money does that mean one is unworthy of love?  Does the absence of money make one unfit for love?

Money is a concrete form of energy that we utilize to conduct business and transaction.  Money is not the manifestation love.   Our fathers should be the first to teach us this so that we understand the relationship between money and ourselves, so that we understand we are not our money and that our being consists of honor and integrity, forms of energy which are not concrete but non-the-less as potent a form of energy as money.  The bond between father and child is a special bond.  Our fathers have much to teach us.  Though Gene Simmons made an error in judgment with his statement that "money is the manifestation of love", he later appeared on The Talk and talked about rearing his children and the role Shannon Tweed also had in teaching their children the philosophy they live by.  He spoke of instilling in his children a work ethic, of the importance of making one's way in the world.  The few times that I have seen Mr. Simmons on television this year I have been impressed with his honesty and candor and his willingness to share his feelings and his vulnerability.  I think as a father, he ain't half bad!  And I think the country's fathers and men have  an opportunity to learn a valuable lesson from his exposing his feelings and his vulnerability.  No, money is not the manifestation of love.  Love is the manifestation of love!

THE STRONG BLACK WOMAN AND THE ANGRY BLACK WOMAN

It has been said that "the hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world."  Historically women have not wielded power to the extent that men have but they are the eternal fountain from which empires and kingdoms perpetually spring.  History has often concealed women as the powers behind the throne.  The power they wielded was not obvious or conspicuous but subtle and inconspicuous from Nefertiti, Cleopatra and Mary, the mother of Jesus, to Coretta Scott King, Nancy Reagan and Michelle Obama.  A woman is gifted with a power all her own.  That power is nature's means of evening the odds or balancing the scales.  A woman's power may be base, relying on cunning and seduction (Cleopatra) or it can be exalted, growing out of love and wisdom (Mary, the mother of Jesus).

The power of each of the sexes comes from different places, is born of different circumstances.  Power has many characteristics, endurance, perseverance and strength, being principle among them.   When these pass through the female  they are tempered by love and understanding.and become an alloy peculiar to women.  This alloy of endurance, perseverance, love and understanding grant women a phenomenal strength, the phenomenal strength of the Phenomenal Woman or the indomitable strength inherent in the utterance, Still, I Rise.  These two poems evolved out of a black woman who epitomizes the strong black woman, Maya Angelou.  Maya Angelou's youth was poisoned by a sexual assault; as a young, single mother she turned to prostitution to support herself and son.  Instead of getting trapped in this lifestyle as so many unfortunate women do with its train of violence, drugs and alcohol, she went on to become a trained dancer, which brought her much success in this country and overseas.  She eventually started her writing career, which would catapult her to worldwide recognition.  One may posit that her strength came from the trials and tribulations she faced, and faced down and over which she triumphed.

It is a truism that difficulty builds character and tempers the human constitution as the blacksmith's hammer tempers a steel blade.  But what happens when a woman travels the road of life and encounters difficulty without the benefit of strength, endurance, perseverance, love and understanding?  Instead of this valuable alloy she has a potion of  bitterness, anger, and deviousness and becomes shackled by hate, unable to find a resolution to the unbalanced equation that is her life.  Perhaps she has a right to be angry based upon the circumstances of her life. When a black woman is or becomes  the angry woman she is the urban phenomenon we call, the angry black woman.  She is the one with an attitude of defiance, the one who hardly listens and constantly talks.  She is obsessed with letting people know she has authority and strength, which more often than not come off as aggression and bullying.  She is pissed off at people because they do not seem to recognize her, respect her or honor her.  She wants to be known or perceived as intelligent but this too frequently degenerates into deviousness.

When I first saw The Real Housewives of Atlanta I was drawn to the "real" character of Nene Leaks, like most people.  Her no-nonsense way about things was often refreshing.  She was fun and bubbly.  But as the seasons progressed and loyalties dissolved and situations and circumstances came and went I saw an angry black woman emerging.  Nene Leaks proved bombastic and argumentative and...angry, always up in someone's face.

With the benefit of Psychology we know that anger is simply hurt on steroids.   Often women who are angry at the world and those around them, suffer or nurture some sort of hurt.  It may be the guy who loved them and left them;  a painful bump on the head  or concussion from the glass ceiling at work; or in general the refusal of the world to acknowledge them for who they THINK they are.  She has not yet achieved the wisdom to understand that often what you think you project into the world is often not what the world sees.  Her anger needs to be diffused at its source.  Her attitude needs to be channeled down constructive avenues.  Her intelligence needs direction.  Her love, the hallmark and beauty of women, needs to be reborn.

This my hope for Nene Leaks.  I believe she is a beautiful woman, angry now and burdened with an unbalanced equation, but I hope she EVOLVES into a strong black woman.  A strong black woman does not need to yell for her strength and integrity go before her.  A strong black woman does not have an attitude problem for her accomplishments have given her character confidence.  A strong black woman does not need to be aggressive for she draws others to her by the stature of her character.  These were the women we called grandmother and great-grandmother, the ones who took the sexual assault of lascivious ole massah, the ones who looked after and nurtured little white babies, the ones who cleaned the houses of white folk, the ones who were refused entrance and denied rights,but they held their heads high and kept their backs straight and walked with dignity.  These were the first strong black women.