Connecting the past to the present for a better future.
On May 2-4 2025, we celebrated our Alumni Reunion Weekend at Tennessee State University, a leading institution of higher learning and historically black university (HBCU). We returned to the Land of Golden Sunshine by the Cumberland’s fertile shore. It was extra special for us, The Vintagers! Fifty years ago, the class of 1975 graduated and …
My family and I lived in abject poverty, but we had an abundance mentality. If you’ve read my many blog posts or memoirs, you are familiar with my family’s story. We made it out of poverty and so can you! My four siblings and I grew up in a two-parent household in the segregated South. …
Breaking the Cycle of a Poverty Mentality with an Abundance Mentality Read More »
I write about my family’s life in poverty to educate, encourage, and hopefully inspire others. We lived in poverty but didn’t have a poverty mindset or mentality. There are many reasons why people are impoverished. Regardless of the reasons, if you have an abundance mentality, you will succeed. I lived in poverty in the segregated …
In the book, The Nature of Prejudice by Gordon W. Allport, the author wrote, “When we think of prejudice, we often think of race prejudice.” He concluded that this is an unfortunate association of ideas because throughout human history, prejudice had little to do with race. The association of prejudice with race is recent. As …
The Partial History of Racial Prejudice- Part Two Read More »
When I was a child growing up in the segregated South, I didn’t understand prejudice. Now, that I’m an adult, mother, and grandmother, I still don’t. I grew up in abject poverty, but in a loving household with two parents and four siblings. Prejudice was the reason our intelligent, WW11 veteran father was denied employment. …
The Partial History of Racial Prejudice- Part One Read More »
As mentioned in part one of this article, two of my favorite authors, James Baldwin, and Richard Wright lived in France. According to the book, African Americans Voices of Triump, many of Black America’s intellectuals considered France, especially Paris, to be a haven of liberty and grand culture in the 19th century. James Baldwin spent …
The History of Black Americans in France: Part Two Read More »
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 »
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. …