Lamentation 212, Verse 718 by Carla M. Cherry

Carla M. Cherry

I love this poem.  The more I read it, the more I love it.  It is heartbreaking, scary and beautiful.  

Lamentation 212, Verse 718 by Carla M. Cherry

 

Are you still moving to Texas after you retire, I asked.
“Nope,” my friend replied.
“I’m staying right here in NYC. At most, I’d go upstate. It’s the best place to be. Politically.
The weather isn’t too crazy, we don’t get hit with a lot of storms.”

Three weeks later, on Wednesday, September 1, 2021,
Ida whelmed Northeastern skies, sent rivers surging,
flooded our subway stations and streets, stranded more than 600 cars,
left a sinkhole in Morris Park and drowned eleven of us
in mostly illegal basement apartments.  

 

Friday.  My locs freshly done at the salon.
After lunch at Maxwell’s, I walked from 111th and Fifth Avenue
to my BXM7 stop on 120th and Third,
nodding to the hip-hop and salsa music from passing cars,
past congregations on stoops, schools,
La Marqueta and shoppers along 116th,
politely declining and wishing God’s blessings
on two hawkers of $2 Metrocards
as I deposited $60 on mine
with my pretax-earnings-funded Commuter Benefits Mastercard,
failing in Spanish to explain to the woman who stopped me
that the 6 train was not coming.  

 

Shook my head at the single-use plastic bags from bodegas and
plastic containers from fast food joints littering the streets,
and dodged secondhand cigarette smoke.
Hotstepped six feet away from
the stiffened carcass of a gray rat
on East 119th between Second and Third.  

I wrote two notes to myself in my cell phone:   
one to write to my councilman and the Mayor to demand more funds for the Sanitation Department so that every street is as clean as Park Avenue below 96th,
and the resuscitation of Grow NYC and the Zero Waste Initiative.
The other, to buy bamboo toilet paper and paper towels and Tru Earth laundry strips.  

It just can’t be too late for us to slow the Gulf Stream and sea level rise
with laws curtailing corporate carbon emissions.
To restore the marshlands.
Build flood walls and permeable pavement.
Convert empty office buildings into eco-friendly apartments with terraced and rooftop gardens, first for the unhoused and people living in substandard conditions.
Transform those silent lobbies into ground-floor food markets selling locally grown produce
and sustainably produced home goods.
To ride state-of-the-art public transit and bicycles.
Replace our gasoline fueled cars with hybrid vehicles.

Should managed retreat become necessary, my heart
may dissolve like soil in a mudslide
without the sidewalks where I skipped hopscotch and double-dutch.
The honey locust trees and lampposts that were bases for tag,
my thirteenth floor view of Goose Island, gulls skimming the surface of the bay
that shimmers in sunlight and moonlight, and Pelham Bay Park.
My walks across the bridge to the soft sands of Orchard Beach
and views of Long Island Sound on City Island.

How far would I have to go
for Atlantic waves that knock me off my feet 

Go here for readings from the Blogging Carnival for Nonviolence, including another poem by Carla M. Cherry. 

Go here for details of more poetry by Carla M. Cherry.  

Go here for NVC resources.  

Go here for more from the Blogging Carnival for Nonviolence 2021. 

Geniuses of Transformation: Wisdom from Harriet Tubman

Harriet Tubman has always been an inspiration for me since I was a young child. Having escaped from slavery, she risked her life over and over again to help emancipate others. They called her Moses and sang “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” whenever she arrived intent on helping more to escape.

Tubman returned to the South 19 times to help others escape from the plantation. 

Two of my favourite inspiring quotes from Harriet Tubman are: 

• Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.  

• Don’t ever stop. Keep going. If you want a taste of freedom, keep going.

For more Harriet Tubman quotes, go here to download Treasures of the Geniuses of Transformation.  

Go here for more from the Geniuses of Transformation.  

Go here for more Black history blogs. 

Plus go here for my short film, Harriet, which depicts an imaginary meeting between Harriet Jacobs and Harriet Tubman.   

Whos your favourite Black hero or shero?  Please leave your comments below and please share this with your networks.  Thanks.  

 

Geniuses of Transformation: Wisdom from Nelson Mandela

Today, I am celebrating the great activist and first elected President of South Africa Nelson Mandela.  

Nelson Mandela spent over 27 years in prison as a result of his opposition to apartheid in South Africa.  The apartheid regime hoped the world would forget Mandela, but his wife, Winnie Mandela, along with other anti-apartheid activists, kept his memory alive as a global symbol of anti-apartheid. 

At a time when white extremists were threatening to blow up South Africa rather than put an end to apartheid, Mandela managed to win their respect while maintaining his commitment to democracy and equality.  He even won the respect of his jailers.  

And although it looked as though apartheid would only end in armed struggle, with blood flowing in the streets, Mandela managed a smooth and bloodless transition to democracy, inspiring people all over the world.  

Here are two of my favourite quotes from Nelson Mandela:  

• It always seems impossible until it's done. 

• No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.

For more inspiring quotations by Mandela and other great leaders, go here to download Treasures of the Geniuses of Transformation.  

Go here for more from the Geniuses of Transformation. 

Go here for more African history blogs.  

Go here for African history quizzes and more.  

Who is your favourite Black/African hero?  Please post below and please share.  Thanks.  

 

How Does Covid-19 Affect the Brain?

People who have had only mild infections can find themselves affected ongoingly.  People have experienced brain disorders, dizziness, rapid heartbeat, cognitive problems and more.  And  we don't know how long these will last, or how many people will be affected. 

 

This is indeed a troubling picture.  Check it out:  How Does Covid-19 Affect the Brain?

 

Plus, hearing loss is associated with increased risk of dementia, depression and more. 

 

(Remember, Spiritual Response Therapy (SRT) has an excellent track record at treating and eliminating dementia and Alzheimer's.)  

 

And vision loss can also affect brain health.  

 

If you need some cheering up after all of this, check out these Coronavirus Resources.  

 

Has Covid-19 affected your brain health?  Please post below and please share this with your networks.  Thanks.  

 

 

Why Are Our Children Killing Each Other?

Why Are Our Children Killing Each Other? 

We have discussed this several times on my show and we discussed it again this month.  What do you think?  Please respond with your thoughts and positve suggestions.  I am looking for practical solutions.  And if you are a blogger, please submit your post.  Details of the Blogging Carnival for Nonviolence are below.  

Go here for my most recent show:  How to Deal with Troubled Teens. 

Go here for the previous show:  How Can We Improve Young People's Mental Health? 

How Can We Create a Peaceful World?  This is a question we continue to ask on my monthly Success Strategies radio show on The Female Solution Worldwide TV and Radio Networ.  I have listed some of the broadcasts below, along with links to The Blogging Carnival for Nonviolence and the Global Peace Summit.  

Go here for The Blogging Carnival for Nonviolence 2021.  We look forward to receiving your blog posts!  

Nonviolent Communication with Zelda Speaks 

Readings from The Blogging Carnival for Nonviolence

The Global Peace Summit December 2020 

 

Review of How to Read the Akashic Records

How to Read the Akashic Records

 

Many years ago, I learned a form of energy healing called Spiritual Response Therapy (SRT). SRT is incredibly powerful. Like all energy healing, SRT involves removing energy blocks, and can be applied to any area of life – relationships, money, career, etc. 

 

SRT involves working with the High Self to remove these energy blocks, called “programmes”. The programmes usually relate to previous lifetimes, and a programme, once it appears in one lifetime, will just continue to repeat itself throughout every lifetime until it is removed (or “cleared”). Working with the High Self, we use the Akashic Records to research and clear, or remove, programmes. 

 

Imagine you could enter a vast library containing everything you have ever seen, done, witnessed and experienced, throughout all of your lifetimes – that library can be called the Akashic Records. The Akashic Records can help us to grow and develop spiritually if you enter them with the right mindset, which is a desire to help others and to learn and grow. 

 

Although I understood how to use SRT, I was never any good at it. I practiced for many years, but just could not make it work, apart from one two-week retreat I attended during which my work with SRT flowed. I must have been in the right mental, emotional and spiritual state to be able to perform this work. Fortunately, I had an excellent SRT practitioner who repeatedly cleared me when I experienced programmes which needed to be cleared. 

 

How to Read the Akashic Records sets out a methodology for entering the Akashic Records through prayer and a series of meditations, and with the help of spiritual guides called Masters, Teachers and Loved Ones. Personally, I also include Ancestors, and we can also obtain help in reading the Akashic Records from angels and spirit guides. 

 

The author states that the fact that you are drawn to this book, and are interested in the subject matter, indicates that you are ready to enter and explore the Akashic Records. 

 

Go here to buy it on Amazon.com 

Go here to buy it on Amazon.co.uk

  

How to Read the Akashic Records explores:

• how to prepare to enter the Akashic Records;

• how to enter them;

• how to read them;

• what kind of information we can access;

• how to use the Akashic Records for energy healing;

and much more.

 

I am currently completing an online course on reading the Akashic Records, and this book is a useful guide alongside the course. However, even without the course, this book offers practical means to enter, and read, the Akashic Records. If, like me, you tend to prefer practice over theory, I think you will enjoy this book. 

 

Have you ever wanted to discover what you experienced during previous lifetimes, and/or remove current problems or challenges? If so, this book can help you. Through the Akashic Records, you can discover the causes of any problems or issues, and remove them.  

Go here to buy it on Amazon.com 

Go here to buy it on Amazon.co.uk 

 

Are you curious and wanting to explore the origins of problems – yours and other people’s, and even those of animals – and remove them?  If so, I recommend this book.  

 

Have you worked with the Akashic Records?  If so, what has your experience been?  Please comment below and please share this with your networks.  Thanks.  

 

 

Attacks on Uighur Muslims and Rohingya Muslims

Systematic Attacks on Uighur Muslim Women

Please note:  This blog post contains adult themes and is NOT suitable for children.  

News has been coming out of China about attacks on Uighur Muslims in China.  First, the mainstream news outlets reported that Uighur Muslims were sent to "re-education camps" within China.  

 

Now, we are receiving news of Uighur Muslim women being attacked, sexually assaulted,  gang-raped and tortured in the "re-education camps".  Other Muslim women may also be experiencing these attacks.  I am very disturbed by this, and I am sure you are as well.  

 

If you have followed my blogs and the Blogging Carnival for Nonviolence, you will be aware that I am passionate about Nonviolent Communication (NVC) and that I frequently blog about attacks on Black people, particularly those involved in police officer-related incidents.  These are happening with alarming frequency, and Black people in the UK are 50% more likely to die in officer-related incidents than any other group.  

 

I am always saying that each of these incidents is another reason to practice Nonviolent Communication (NVC), and, of course, they all are.  

 

However, there is so much suffering in the world - all different countries, all different cultural backgrounds, experience violence.  Many of them experience extreme violence.  

 

In conflict situations, rape is commonplace - it is used as a method of subduing the population.  

 

One woman, Tursunay Ziawudun, has broken the silence on systematic rape and torture of Uighur Muslim women. 

Go here for more from the BBC.  

Go here for more from Daily Sabah.  

Go here for more from The Guardian.  

 

You will also recall the reports of genocide being committed against Rohingya Muslims in Burma/Myanmar.  

 

We must do all we can to stop these atrocities being committed against Muslims, and to end violence in our own communities.  This is one more reason to practice NVC.