THE RAINBOW IS ENOUGH, I AM TOO

I remember being 15 years old and thinking, “I don’t really want to be here anymore”, wishing I could instantly snap my fingers and disappear from my life.  Luckily, I was too afraid to play the “magician” and attempt a permanent disappearing act. But one night when I laid down to sleep I dreamt that I had died. I experienced the sensation of leaving my body and traveling through a tunnel of penetrating white light. This porous light infused every part of my being and emanating from this light was a love so intense and satisfying that I could’ve spent an eternity in that dream.

“WINDOW SEAT” TO A BLACK WOMAN’S SOUL

I woke up two days ago and my partner said, “You won’t believe what’s #2 on yahoo search, Erykah Badu”! “Really, why?”, I said. He explained to me that it was related to the video for her new song, “Window Seat”, in which she sheds all of her clothes. I thought, ok, she must have done that for a reason. In fact, one of the reasons I have grown to love Erykah is that she makes no apologies for being herself and not fitting into a prescribed category – a statement within itself being a Black woman in America.

JUSTICE FOR HAITI

” Haiti also endured 60 years of U.S. embargo and almost 20 years of U.S. occupation as well as intervention through backing of military dictatorships and undermining of the democratic process with the ousting of democratically elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 2004. In the course of the U.S. developing a future relationship with Haiti, it is essential that we reconcile and address the detrimental policies of the past so that future policies serve the interests of the Haitian masses as opposed to the ruling class and foreign corporate interests.”

Read entire article on the Baltimore Sun commentary page by clicking on Justice for Haiti: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.haiti25,0,6005298.story

MY HAITI:HEROISM OF A GRANDMOTHER

Below is a message I received from Jean-Jacques Gabriel, a Haitian-American. He gave me permission to share his sentiments with you- it is reflective of the spirit of the Haitian people.

Greetings,

Like many of you, I was crushed to hear news about the earthquake in Haiti. I was born in Haiti, spent the first 5 years of my life there and have sustained a connection to family and homeland. For 4 days, we went without news of my grandmother and other family members. The wealth of thoughts and prayers throughout this time helped buoy spirits during the hard process of waiting for word. When we finally got news of my 80-year old grandmother

VOICES FROM THE CONGO

This petition  comes directly from the people of the Congo. Show your support and act solidarity with the women, men and children of the Congo!

Click here to sign petition and support Congolese voices

I DREAMT LAST NIGHT, I WAS IN CONGO AGAIN

When I’m speaking about Congo I make sure that I provide a political and historical context often not presented in Western media – “What is taking place in the Congo is a resource war, a geo-strategic battle being waged on the backs of the Congolese people and in the wombs of Congolese women. Congo is the home of the greatest humanitarian crisis in the world and since 1996, nearly six million people have died.

As I awoke on this Christmas morning from my dream in which I was in Eastern Congo again, I realized

CALLED BY THE CONGO: THE JOURNEY HAS JUST BEGUN

Dear Family,

Almost a year ago, I was compelled to contact, Friends of the Congo, a DC-based advocacy organization, after viewing the, Nov. 13, 2008 interview,   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b07P7T-_Ano on the Democracy Now program.  I was attempting to understand why there was a “veil of silence “, around the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo in Western media – a country which the UN  reports  as the greatest humanitarian crisis in the world since World War II, in which nearly 6 million people have died, and hundreds of thousands of women have been systematically raped

TO FOLLOW YOUR HEART, TAKE A LEAP

To follow your heart, take a leap: A father’s commitment to Africa lives on in his daughter’s work for justice
By Makeda Crane ~makeda.crane@yahoo.com

(This article originally appeared in the Baltimore Sun in the Maryland closeup section, Sun, February 22, 2009)

On the weekend after Thanksgiving, I went home to Brooklyn, N.Y., to visit my father – the man whose height and stature always felt like a wall of protection between me and the world. As I sat beside his hospital bed in these last few months of his life, I had watched the body of this once robust, 6-foot-2, 240-pound man slowly transform into a wilted flower.

Now he was down to about 130 pounds. I whispered in his ear, “Daddy, do you remember me telling you that I’m going to the Congo”? He nodded back, but I wasn’t sure if it was a mere nod of recognition or true comprehension.

My personal connection to the Congo had been forged by my father, Ernest Crane. Born and raised in Harlem, he would often say,