Opinions & Editorials
Mood Vibrations from Within
By Hakim Abdul-Ali The total living experience is a magnificent opportunity to develop and achieve spiritual and psychological advancements for one’s soul. I firmly believe that all one can frankly say about the living experience and its mighty lessons is “it is what it is” and this rings true in more ways than one. It’s…
Read MoreGetting Older Is A Blessing, But Can Be Inconvenient
By Barney Blakeney My Aunt Sarah used to say getting old is a blessing, but it’s sometimes inconvenient. For two weeks I had planned the late Friday afternoon meeting with the folks from the Charleston Rhizome Collective. The Charleston Rhizome Collective last year received a grant from ArtPlace America which will be used to provide…
Read MoreUngrateful White America
By Beverly Gadson-Birch Every day in these not so “United States of America” is a struggle for Black folk. This is worth repeating, I said “everyday” is a struggle for Black folk. Before the sun rises, folks are scheming on what they are going to do and how they are going to keep black folk…
Read MoreDelving Deep Into Black Striving
By Hakim Abdul-Ali In Black America, as it is in the other various other Americas of modernity, there’s a persistent thought always floating around in the individual and collective mental psyches of everyone. And that’s about achieving something notable for self and to provide and take care of one’s family and loved ones. “Delving…
Read MoreBeing Civil In The Face Of Incivility
By Barney Blakeney Ever had something that just sticks in your craw, a bad vibe that just won’t go away? For the past week I’ve been battling this bad feeling I got after a confrontation that’s left me re-evaluating a lot of stuff which has to do with civility, courtesy and tolerance. Last week I…
Read MoreApathetic: If The Shoe Fits, Wear It!
By Beverly Gadson-Birch Why have pastors distanced themselves from the chaos taking place in the black community? Does anyone care about the high crime rate among young black males and the dual educational system operating right under our noses in Charleston County? Where the heck are our leaders? Why ‘da heck are y’all so silent?…
Read MoreTo Seek Love is for All to Feel
By Hakim Abdul-Ali Today’s article is for grown up folk, so don’t get it mixed up with reckless naïveté or unscripted absurdities. No, this is an attempt in understanding a few of the prudent traumas and emotional changes occurring in some of our daily lives at this very moment. I had a provocative experience…
Read MoreJoan Mack and Tessa Spencer Adams – Two Busy Bees
By Barney Blakeney I’ve been trying to write this story for the past couple of years – something that tells the inspiring tale of two very energetic women who have had profound impacts in our community – a story about media journalists Joan Mack and Tessa Spencer Adams. Joan is Tessa’s aunt. I’ve always been…
Read MoreMartin Luther King, Jr: “You May Slay The Dreamer, But The Dream Lives On”
By Beverky Gadson-Birch It was April 4, 1968, fifty years ago, when Dr. King was assassinated on the balcony of the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis, Tennessee where he went in support of the striking sanitation workers. If you are old enough to remember the King’s assassination, you should also remember where you were when…
Read MoreAnother Moment in Time
By Hakim Abdul-Ali Greetings to you on this special day. It’s truly a marvelous occasion to relate to one and all that during this magnificent occasion in the here and now, it is a sublime juncture to celebrate “Another Moment in Time” by uttering that “All praises are due to God Alone.” I’m…
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