France has a lure about it. When I was a young girl growing up in an inner city housing project, the thought of living in France was alluring. I didn’t know anything about the country other than what I learned from Ms. Gandy, my high school French teacher and library books. I’ve always loved to …
The History of Black Americans in France-Part One Read More »
I grew up in a musical family. My two older brothers were singers and musicians. Our cousins had a traveling singing group named, “The Hewlett Sisters.” When my sister and I were younger, we traveled with them to many churches in Memphis and North Mississippi. Eventually, they recorded their gospel songs and traveled across the …
The History of Black Music: Music-The Communicator Read More »
I write and speak about growing up in abject poverty in the Jim Crow South. I hope that sharing my family’s story will help inspire and empower others. I still live in the South, but in a different region of the state. Times have changed over the years but sometimes, I still feel like that …
Our local travel group from Tennessee visited picturesque France in November of this year. We were divided into two groups and the tour buses took us across the countryside. Thirty seven of us were assigned to the group one bus. We had knowledgeable tour leaders, an energetic tour manager, and a skilled driver. Our tour …
Our local travel group of nearly 75 excited voyagers went on a rendezvous to France this fall. Because of the number of people, we were divided into two groups to allow us to have a magnificent experience. Our group of 37 was group one. We met group two in passing and at our farewell dinner. …
When I was a teenager, I dreamed of going to Paris. My high school French teacher, Ms. Eleanor Gandy, was patient as her class of poor and low-income teenagers struggled to understand the language and pronounce the poetic sounding words that flowed into one another. Just hearing the tender and exotic language made us swoon …
On Veteran’s Day this year, I was in France with a local travel group. We spent 12 days touring the country. On the second day, we visited Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial. It was a sombering experience. My late Dad and three brothers were veterans, and I am a veteran. Many people do not know …
I grew up in the segregated South. Dad served during WWII but was not able to vote until President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965. It was a tough place for Black people, but it was our home. We lived in the segregated part of town and lived under racist man-made Jim Crow …
On September 16, of this year, God called home our loved one, George Hewlett lll, a brilliant musician, artist, and singer. He was our eldest sibling. When I wrote about our family’s journey out of poverty in my first book, “The Tangled Web,” the first chapter is entitled “Where’s Tippy?” in honor of him. George …
My older siblings were my rock. I was proud to be their little sister and tried to emulate them. I was the youngest of five, three boys and two girls. Our ages spanned across 10 years. We lived with our parents in a loving family. We lived in abject poverty but felt we were the …