Take a thread from these thoughts and write for at least 10 minutes…and then 10 minutes more…to tap into your mind on the topic of connection and barriers to connection.
Connection and the possibility for connection surrounds us. The oxygen we breathe together connects us.
What do we share? What brings people together? What separates people. What are the barriers we build?
November 23rd through December 2nd…that’s where I am…and then three more days for the extention retreat. All of this, in the ballroom of the Konocti Harbor Resort and Spa on the shores of beautiful Clear Lake (California’s largest self-enclosed lake). I’ve traveled from St. Louis back to one of my homes and it feels good…
In honor of the combination of Black History Month and Valentine’s Day week, I’m running a “Black Valentine” series to profile vibrant Black couples and individuals I’ve met in St. Louis. I met Linda and her husband Charles at a Kwanzaa celebration where she was showing her art. Since then, we’ve met several times in…
Poem Against the First Grade by George Venn Marking the Magic Circle: Poetry, Fiction, and Essays Alex, my son, with backberry jam smeared ear to ear and laughing, rides his unbroken joy with words so fast we let him get away on the jamjar without clean cheeks first. He spills frasasass tea with milk and…
Sankofa can mean either the word in the Akan language of Ghana that translates in English to “go back and take” (Sanko- go back, fa- take) or the Asante Adinkra symbol. A cloth supporting Adinkra symbols is termed an “Adinkra cloth” and has its own particular uses and meanings. As a young woman in the…
Dedicated educator Doug Johnson inspires us with these thoughts. –JGR __________________________ The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference.The opposite of art is not ugliness, it’s indifference.The opposite of faith is not heresy, it’s indifference, and the opposite of life is not death, it’s indifference.— Elie Wiesel Teaching the poor, like any other human…
Poets. Org has a wonderful list of 30 things to do to celebrate poetry month (April, right?). 31) But, here’s one they haven’t thought of. My father, Erwin A. Thompson, encloses a poem along with his bill to the Great Central Lumber Company. The women down there enjoy this so much that when once he…