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It's been about two weeks since I reactivated my Facebook profile after leaving for over a year to focus on school and on healing. Upon my return, I was reunited with friends and introduced to others. Facebook's "people you may know" feature gave me daily suggestions about who to (re)connect with based on mutual friends we shared. Imagine my chagrin when my ex-boyfriend popped up, who is the literal last person I would ever want to think about. I quickly blocked him with the wrath of God and continued on my Facebook shenanigans for the day. For Kevin Kantor, the person that Facebook suggested he "may know" was actually his rapist. His poem about what ensued absolutely brings me to tears every time that I listen to it. Not simply for his powerful individual story, but for all of the young men who have been victims of sexual abuse who are afraid to tell their stories. It is because of this shroud of silence, this defective and toxic societal misunderstanding of masculinity that these horrors continue to happen to our young men. We don't allow them to speak about it, so those who victimize them go unpunished and typically go on to victimize others. We need to normalize letting men share their stories. We need to normalize allowing men to be human. I cannot force society to do that, but I can start by doing that here in sharing Kevin's poem. May he inspire young men across the world to acknowledge their own stories to whoever they trust. You are not alone. We love you!
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It is no secret that one of my favorite public intellectuals is Cornel West. I consider it an honor to live contemporaneously with such a brilliant man who has been as passionate about community upliftment as he has been knowledgeable about it. I had the honor of meeting him at a liberation event for Oscar Lopez Rivera, and hearing him speak in person left me absolutely captivated. As a Pastoral Ministry major in undergrad, who minored in philosophy, West's concept of what he calls "prophetic pragmatism" greatly appeals to me because it is concerned with reconciling what West once referred to as the "radical utopian impulse" of Christianity, with its practical human application of serving "the least of these". This talk he had recently with A.R. Bernard fleshes that concept out a little more and challenges all people, but particularly those of faith, to keep this in mind for the upcoming elections. Enjoy!
10/19/2020 MUSEUM MONDAYS - MICKALENE THOMAS In true New York fashion, I rarely get starstruck. New York City is the home of so many celebrities that you tend to bump into them often if you live here. I have run into celebs in all sorts of places from shopping centers, to the art store and even the subway. And each time, I have kept my quintessentially New York cool. Each time, except, when I almost met Mickalene Thomas. Both times I was so starstruck that I began visibly fangirling. Both times I was on the bus (#DontShameMeForNotDriving #ImANewYorker) and she was outside. Both times, I stood in awe that one of the greatest contemporary artists had a studio right in my neighborhood of Clinton Hill, Brooklyn. Both times I was close enough to take her in, but too far away to approach her.
 I decided to kick off Favorite Food Fridays with one of my new favorite foods. Like most of us, I stockpiled groceries during the time we were all under stay-at-home orders. Grocery shopping was one of the few activities that I left my house for and so I wanted to make it as special as possible by trying new things. One of my assignments in my transformational leadership class was to embark upon a transformational project for 5 weeks. I chose to become more conscious in my eating, which for me meant incorporating more plant-based foods into my diet and also eating more fish. I discovered Beyond Meats and fell in love! So when I found out that they made Italian sausage, I decided to give it a try. The results were delicious! Read more for the recipe.
 TL Cross, one of my friends from LaGuardia High School, is one of the best conversationalists I have ever met. Once in conversation, he casually mentioned Howard Thurman. He explained that his father was blessed to have Thurman as a Professor and that he had even come over to have dinner with their family. I was so intrigued by some of the topics discussed over dinner that I knew I needed to research Thurman further. What an incredible human being he was! Not only was he one of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s mentors, but he was a powerful scholar, clergyman, author and community leader. Perhaps best known for his epic tome "Jesus and the disinherited", Thurman was committed to a Christianity that would "live for the weak as well as the strong -- for all peoples whatever their color, whatever their caste." I am so moved by many of his sentiments and reflections. In this time where many of us are contemplating how much COVID has slowed the entire world down, his meditation on slowing down feels especially relevant. Read more to see the rest.
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