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A RARE JOURNEY and WORDS RARELY SPOKEN by Rare Womack



About the Author

Poet Rare Womack was raised in Hartford, CT and has lived there for most of her life. Though she considers herself an introvert, Rare is indeed a people person. Mother, caregiver, poet, actress, author, philanthropist, photographer, baker, and abstract artist. When Rare finds time away from her artistic side, she enjoys jigsaw puzzles, and a good game of spades.




About the Books

Rare released her first book of poetry, A RARE JOURNEY, in 2014. She calls this book an autobiographical memoir. A chronical of her journey, her experiences. Every line is delivered with passion and honesty. Her second book, WORDS RARELY SPOKEN, was released in the fall of 2015.

Though often compared to more well known poets, Rare has her own unique way of formulating her thoughts and experiences into verse. In her first book, Rare states: "It pleases me to be able to skim through the pages of my life and be reminded of an "episode". How fortunate am I to be able to pull up a chapter, a verse, or a line, and relive a moment passed!" Rare Womack continues to reside in CT where she is active in the arts andtheater. She's working on her next book with a tentative release date of April 2018.

My Colorblind Rainbow




About the Author

27 years old, born and raised in the Washington D.C. area, writing has been a passion of mine since I was young, and I have loved reading for as long as I can remember. I started writing my first book, My Colorblind Rainbow at the age of 22 as a hobby, not actually pursuing a career in writing at the time. At 26, I decided to continue writing My Colorblind Rainbow, taking a leap of faith and following my dreams of self-publishing my first book. Fantasy, sci-fi, and teen dramas are my preference & I love writing for and about marginalized groups, races and genders, but my main goal though, is to reach out to young black women and be a part of that representation in literature that we love to see, but often don't.





About the Book

My Colorblind Rainbow

Darlene Jones is a fifteen-year-old African-American teenage girl living in Durham, North Carolina in 1940. She has an ordinary life, but things quickly become complicated as her sexual identity comes into question when she meets a White girl, nineteen-year-old Rose who isn't like any girl she's ever met before. My Colorblind Rainbow explores adolescent love and nonconformity, as these girls struggle with racial tension in the south. Their bond not only threatens their own lives, but friendships, and the relationships with their families as well.

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FORWORD FROM AUTHOR

(THE LINKS TO THE REVIEWS & READERS TEAM BELOW)



I often discuss with my husband what being a Luo culturally means. Despite all other cultural influences that converge in me, I most strongly identify with Luoland and the Luos. Although I was born in Luoland, Kenya, I’ve spent most of my life in Europe; from preparatory school in Yorkshire to universities in Britain and Germany.

My husband is German and has lived most of his life in Franconia, Bavaria. So the more we delve into the vagaries of our mutual attraction to each other, the more we uncover. We often talk till the small hours about our customs, rites and rituals, religious beliefs and societal norms. It was fascinated me that Germans, and Europeans in General, still keep their old traditions and beliefs alive. It’s not unusual to walk into a modern chrome and marble bank to find them displaying old farming equipment, an ancient cart filled with pumpkins and straw, right in the marble and glittering bank foyer, to celebrate harvest time as it was done five hundred or a millennium ago. It always makes me think:

Why do we back in my mother continent, Africa, call everything that reminds us of our ancient times “backward” and feel ashamed to display them publicly? Why don’t we talk to our children about them? Why do we not care that these traditions, the rites and rituals of harvests, spirituality, marriages, weddings, funerals and births, die away?

There are many such examples. In Europe, Europeans have merged their ancient traditions with modernity. In Africa, we despise or are ashamed of our traditions and run away from them. We don’t even want our children to know that “we used to be like that”. It is true that you can’t go forward without knowing where you’re coming from. Through my discussions with my husband, I began to dig back into African traditions that have been lost, or squirreled away to museums and private collectors in the West, and even in China and Japan. My husband and I have become a thousand shades of archaeological discoveries.

This is how I came to write the Bound to Tradition trilogy. Once the books were written and my husband read them in the German translation, it was clear that one or two things had to be explained to the readers. In particular were the Luo terms of endearment and nicknames which may confuse readers because these terms they defy both logic and reality. A male may address a female as “father, grandfather” or “mother, grandmother”, irrespective of age. A female may do exactly the same when affectionately addressing a man. Likewise, parents address their children with these terms of endearment whether the child is a boy or a girl, an infant, a teenager or an adult, including grownup children who are already married and have children of their own.

Luos revere their forebears and hold them in high regard. The older one gets the more they gain respect and reverence. View these endearment terms as no different from other cultures whose terms of endearment are angel, precious, honey, heart, mouse, soul, darling or sweetheart, irrespective of age or gender.

Another “confuser” is the word disease. Luos used this as a curse word because they associate disease with ungodliness, crime, divine punishment or luck of personal hygiene. It can be used on its own or in a phrase or sentence.

I hope that you’ll now enjoy reading my interracial romance books and win gems from two cultural worlds. Thank you for reading my story.


SYNOPSIS


“BOUND TO TRADITION TRILOGY”

BOOK 1: THE DREAM





The story in my Bound to Tradition books takes place between 1950 and 1979.
The young Luo girl Khira, fights against the traditions of her people and society in order to achieve her personal modern world. Half orphaned, she is brought up by her extended maternal family in very conservative Luo traditional values. At the age of five months she gets betrothed to the neighbour’s son, Barry, who himself is only six years old.

Khira’s life changes when, at age twelve, she is sent to a British missionary boarding school, St Mary’s. Here she meets other schoolgirls of her age and older, but with a completely different “modern” upbringing – the daughters of Kenya’s political and economic elite. For the first time she learns about the world outside her family and clans people. These schoolmates become Khira’s role models. She listens, watches and imitates them as well as her European and Euro-American teachers, and in particular her fifty-year-old Englishwoman headmistress, Miss Churchill, who is unmarried and devoted to missionary work. Soon she’s the perfect chameleon – during exeats and holidays she slips into the Luo “well-bred maiden”, but during school terms she strives to be ultra-modern in thought and behaviour.

Unfortunately Khira’s uncle, responsible for paying her school fees, dies and the girl is forced to leave school. Furthermore, she is now fifteen and according to traditions, in a marriageable age. Khira fights against this. She succeeds by pointing out that Barry is still carrying on his education and being a student’s wife living with her parents-in-law is not what a loving family would want to relegate their daughter to.

But helping her mother cook, fetch water and firewood is not exactly what she – the “modern” Khira – would call a career. Yet the family is too poor to pay for any kind of trained skills.
Fortunately her headmistress, Miss Churchill, with whom she kept contact, intervenes and gets Khira to a secretarial college in Nairobi. Miss Churchill offers to pay for the girl’s tuition fees if the girl can take care of her boarding and lodging. Khira can: Barry’s older sister Edwina and her husband Jonathan both live and work in Nairobi. Khira would live with them, the family agrees, and the couple would now be her “duenna” to make sure she does not lose her “purity” before her wedding day.

She does well at the secretarial college and achieves relatively high speeds in shorthand and typing in less than a year. Khira at last manages to find employment as a steno-typist in an international company in Nairobi, the Lindqvist Group. And that’s where she meets Erik, a Swedish industrialist old enough to be her father.

Erik Lindqvist is a man with both a past and little regard for women, because his first marriage so disappointed him that he mistrusts all women and has avowed never to marry again. At the age of eighteen he had left home and started out as a manual labourer in the harbours of Gothenburg, Malmö and Hamburg before breaking off to Africa to manage a clove plantation in Zanzibar owned by the Frenchman de Jonghes. Within two years of working in Zanzibar, Erik, now twenty-four, marries his employer’s daughter, Claudette.

When the marriage remains childless it begins to disintegrate and graduates into wanton promiscuity and infidelity. Claudette begins to drink heavily. Erik has in the meantime started an antique business in his home city of Gothenburg, run by his younger brother Sven, while he remains in Zanzibar to continue managing the clove plantation as well as collecting more African antiques and artefacts for his antique business. Soon he is collecting from as far away as Kyoto and South America. At a party in Tananarive, Madagascar, he meets an Italian count who has a coffee plantation in Kenya. He learns from the count that the latter is planning to start a transport company with a fleet of transporters to convey goods from the Kenyan port of Mombasa to all the landlocked countries like the Southern and Northern Rhodesia (later Zimbabwe and Zambia) as well as Uganda and other central and southern landlocked African countries.

But the count needs a financial partner or two. Erik grabs the chance, finally moves to Nairobi after Claudette’s death (liver sclerosis), and begins to build his industrial empire, the Lindqvist Group, involved in transport, franchises for Japanese cars, office machinery, fleets of small aircrafts for the tourism industry, shipping and forwarding, banking, wool in Australia and oil in Canada.

His favourite pastime is womanising. But when he meets Khira his attitude towards women reverses out of orbit. At first his sole intention is to adopt the sixteen-year-old half orphan. Khira on the other hand, after moving away from Edwina and Jonathan’s home, has other plans for herself and Erik. Despite himself, he is not immune to them. She’s the child-woman with the wisdom of a septuagenarian, an incredible poise and the gracefulness of ancient aristocrats. It is the beginning of a passionate love with a lot of cultural and traditional stumbling blocks on the soon-to-be-lovers’ path – from both of their cultural and familial worlds. But the two naturally ambitious and strong characters are also well armed for both worlds.
They finally marry.


BOOK 2: THE INITIATION





With Erik as her coach, Khira is finally an adept businesswoman and Vice Chairman of the Lindqvist Group. She has achieved her lifelong dream with a loving husband at her side and five children…
Until her traditional beliefs catch up with her and she secretly allows her eleven-year-old daughter to be “initiated into womanhood”. Erik finds out what Khira has done when their daughter is on the brink of death. Any immediate adequate medical assistance is not within reach because the family is out for a weekend in Tsavo National Park.

Once again betrayed by a woman he loves and trusts blindly, Erik loses control and physically attacks Khira with a blow that sends her crashing to the wall. He ends up with a wife in a coma and his worshipped daughter fighting for her life. It is night time in the savannah, hundreds of miles away from the nearest hospital in Mombasa, and the only transport available is a Range Rover, the only means of communication a radio call to the Hilton Hotel in Nairobi which is nearly four times farther away than Mombasa. He cannot reach any of his pilots, whether those flying the tourist fleets or his private jet. Because it is the not only the middle of the night but also a weekend.

He has to somehow get his comatose wife and dying daughter to the hospital in Mombasa for medical attention, then take it up from there.

Fortunately a small Cessna that had brought in American tourists is docked at Taita Hills lodge (sister lodge to Salt Lake, and only twelve miles away) in Tsavo. Using both foul and fair means Erik forces the Cessna pilot to fly him and his family to Mombasa in the dark African night…


BOOK 3: THE SEPARATION




In the end Erik has a comatose wife in a clinic in Montreux, Switzerland, and his children to take care of. But he had never learnt how to be a hands-on father. Besides, his daughter is also traumatised from witnessing her father hit her mother into a coma because of her – the daughter – and is under psychological treatment. Erik turns to his parents and Khira’s best friend, Joyce, for help, hoping he could then run off and escape his own torments about his family in this tragedy. But Joyce won’t let Erik simply run away. She gives him the choice of either remaining at the side of his wife and children or risking losing custody of the children and (Khira’s) half of his immense wealth – due to a POA Khira and Joyce had signed years ago as a pre-emptive to such an eventuality, without Erik’s knowledge. And once again he sees betrayal by a woman he loved and trusted. But Erik has to fight his demons and make a choice…


The books are on Amazon worldwide as paperback, hardcover and Kindle.

Paperback:
www.amazon.co.uk/Bound-Tradition-Dream-von-KOry/dp/1481919636
www.amazon.co.uk/Bound-Tradition-Initiation-von-KOry/dp/1481927507
www.amazon.co.uk/Bound-Tradition-Separation-von-KOry/dp/1481927302

Kindle:
www.amazon.co.uk/BOUND-TRADITION-Book-1-DREAM-ebook/dp/B00BJKFYF6/
www.amazon.co.uk/Bound-Tradition-Book-2-Initiation-ebook/dp/B00CS5AOOC
www.amazon.co.uk/Bound-Tradition-Book-3-Separation-ebook/dp/B00E0INE5G

The username @AkinyiReadersReviews has been created for Author A P Von K'Ory Review & Readers Team. Join and receive FREE books to read and review.

You can also visit the Page at fb.me/AkinyiReadersReviews and send Page messages at m.me/AkinyiReadersReviews.


Lupus Leave My Daughter Alone!!!



About the Author

My name is Pearl Lily and I am the mother of six adult children and eight grandchildren I am also an educator all Rain Speaker Bruer member child abuse Advocate and soon to be inspiring children's author. The book that I would like to highlight is the one titled Lupus leave my daughter alone. As a mother it's very difficult to see your child even as an adult to suffer I am in a position now of raising my daughter two children aged four and five one who suffers from autism and developmental delay because of her substance abuse but looking at my daughter and her daily struggle as a result of her lupus condition is heart wrenching feeling that any human being can endure for the more watching your child demise.





About the Book

As a mother it is extremely difficult to see my daughter go through this challenging time with her Lupus. I never knew what Lupus was until my daughter complained that she was in so much pain in her chest, seeping of body fluid coming out of her pores and skin scorched and fragile as if she was a victim of a house fire. Hand, face, skin all victimized by Lupus. Her soul and spirit forever changed, not knowing why she suffers such terrible fate. But God gives her the strength to keep moving.

HiddenScars



About the author

Michelle A. Marsh is a published author​ whose creative writing capability captures the reader's attention​, by allowing them to have a front row seat into her ​vivid imagination.

Michelle's passion for writing, started at an early age. Once quiet and shy, she allowed pencil and paper to ​serve as ​her voice. Later in life, Michelle would participate in a journalism course, that solidified her love for writing. In college she ​continued to develop her writing skills and ultimately ​would hold​ jobs that allowed her to utilize ​this valuable skill and become a respected writer​.

​Michelle is the most creative, when writing fiction novels. She ​​values her readers, therefore she writes from the heart about different topics that are relatable across all walks of life. She has earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Paralegal Studies with a career in government. Michelle is the mother of two young adult sons​ and has one adorable grandson​.

​Michelle grew up in Brockton, Massachusetts, the "City of Champions" and currently resides there. She enjoys writing, spending time with her family, friends and traveling. ​One of Michelle's motto is, "my life experiences have served as some of my best teachers"​

​Her mission is to produce quality writing material and become a respected writer among her peers. She's committed to provide enjoyable reading material that is encouraging, entertaining, informative and relatable to not only her readers but everyone. Michelle wants to encourage others to hone in on their creativity, express their ideas in writing and be the best that they can be, no matter what their passion is. Her desire is to showcase ​her written work ​one day theatrically.




About the book

After not one, but two traumatic events take place on the same day, Grace Johnson is left to push through this difficult time, alone. Deeply missing the one person who could truly give her the comfort and support she so desperately needs, Grace is left to conceal her own HIDDEN SCARS, that time alone would reveal. After months of struggling to put the shattered pieces of her life back together, a shocking discovery unfolds a dark truth that forces family members (already at odds with each other) to choose sides; turning on each other during a time when their bond should be unbreakable. When the truth erupts, exposing it all, it may just cost one of them the ultimate price!

More about Michelle A. Marsh:
www.michelleamarshauthor.com

A PROMISE




About the author

Rosa M. Campbell, a mother of 2 children ( Marrisa: 22 years old & Joshua: 18 years old), educator, mentor, community advocate, inspiring children's author (first book with be released in July 2017), Founder of PROMISE2U, and author of "A PROMISE". Ms. Campbell has been working in Early Childhood education for over 20 years. She has been employed with Alachua County School District since January 6, 1987. She currently reside in Newberry, Florida. 




About the book

A PROMISE is a great children's book that will introduce important social skills and promote healthy conversations in homes and schools.

Identifying & Breaking The Cycle





About the Author

Saniyyah is a motivational speaker that provides thought provoking, life changing speeches across the world. She believes that working on self first, creates a domino effect to cause others around you to change.

Mayo has been cultivating a relationship with the written word since a haiku poetry assignment in fifth grade which exposed her to the power of writing as a means of healing and self-expression.
She expanded her expertise by receiving her Master's degree in Clinical Psychology (with a focus on Marriage and Family Therapy). She is currently providing counseling services in Southern California.

Saniyyah wrote her first book titled Identifying and Breaking the Cycle. The book addresses subtle cycles within families, relationships, and self that go unnoticed causing deep rooted issues leading to destructive behavioral patterns. Identifying & Breaking the Cycle offers a valuable resource to anyone in need of guidance, or to those who can benefit from being made aware of destructive behavior before it gets out of hand.




About the Book

Saniyyah Mayo has been cultivating a relationship with the written word since a haiku poetry assignment in fifth grade exposed her to the power of writing as a means of healing and self-expression. Several major events in her teenage years threw her life into upheaval: first, the immense grief brought on by the untimely death of her beloved 16-year-old brother, and later, the birth of her first child at the age of 16. Such moments compelled Saniyyah to grow up quickly. In addition to the newfound responsibilities of caring for a baby, the teenage single mother struggled with the insensitive critical judgment of society at large and the lack of emotional support from her family.

However, ever-tenacious, Saniyyah tapped into her own will power and self-confidence and pushed on through these challenges, undeterred, and determined to defy the negative expectations of others. Through it all, writing remained as a powerful ally and method of coping. These experiences would also help inform her writing of Identifying & Breaking the Cycle.

Saniyyah’s strong interest in the social sciences led her to pursue a B.S. in Criminal Justice, in the hopes of working with at-risk youth. She also gave birth to a second daughter seven years after the first, and took up an active role in her church’s youth ministry. These opportunities exposed her to the complexities of family life and the impact that repeated cycles of behavior can have on an individual’s psyche, even if they don’t realize that.

Recognizing the importance of the family unit as both a cause of as well as potential solution for a range of recurring social and psychological problems, Saniyyah expanded her expertise by beginning graduate study in Clinical Psychology (with a focus on marriage and family therapy), for which she received a Master’s degree. This further empowered Saniyyah to make a difference in the lives of families and provided her a solid theoretical ground to pen Identifying & Breaking the Cycle.

Today, Saniyyah resides in California with her husband of 14 years and three children. She looks forward to working hard to making a difference in the lives of children and families in need of liberating themselves from their own adverse cycles of behavior.

More about Saniyyah Mayo:
www.saniyyahmayo.com

Africa For Smart Kids - Book1: Let's talk about Africa! (My school of Africa) (Volume 1)



About the Author

Beatrice Achaleke is a mother of two kids, a lecturer, author, and founder of the many organizations and including the GloBUNTU Transformational Mindset System®, Follow Me To Africa, Africa for Smart Kids, The GloBUNTU Fellowship, Diversity Leadership and much more. She is a multiple award-winning social transfopreneur. Beatrice was born in Cameroon and lived for 20 years in Austria from where she travelled extensively and worked around the Globe. Beatrice He is the author of many articles and books many books including “Voices of Black European Women, 2008, Vieltfalt statt Einfalt. Wo ich herkomme, 2011, Erfolgsfaktor kulturelle Vielfalt. Andere Menschen. Bessere Teams. Neue Kunden, 2013, Shit happens, How to transform your individual breakdown into a collective breakthrough, 2016. In 2015 She relocated to South Africa. Upon her return back to Africa it dawned on her that she knew so little about the continent that gave her life. She made a commitment to questioning her own perceptions of Africa. The result is this series of books. She is the Author of more than 5 books and countless articles.





About the Book

Let’s talk about Africa It is the United Nation’s International Decade for People of African Descent, so Nguisse and Atabong, two teenagers children of an African mother and a European father, born and brought up in Europe decided to find out more about their origin in Africa. They meet their Cousin Prince Fuareke, a very knowledgeable and smart 16 years old student who is ready to answer all their questions and much more. Mosquito Zangalo does not want to be left out, so she comes up with a challenge for you. This first book shows you an Africa you probably don’t know. It provides you with fascinating insights including facts and figures that will blow your mind, entertain you and above all, open your eyes to a completely new Africa, a continent full of surprises. “Let's talk about Africa” is book1 of a brand new series called “Africa For Smart Kids” Enjoy and watch out for book2!

More about the book:

Better Out Than In Part One





About the Author

Ms Cooper was born in Harare, Zimbabwe in the late 60’s where she lived until she migrated to the United Kingdom in the 90’s. She lived in the UK for 12 years earning her Rn degree there. She moved tot he U.S. in 2003 where she furthered her education. She earned a BSN and later an MSN in Nursing Administration. Ms. Cooper has 2 children; 1 adult son and teenae daughter. She currently resides in Suger Land, Texas with her daughter.




About the Book

Better Out than In takes us on a journey from Africa to the U.S. through the author’s experiences growing up and marrying into domestic violence. She speaks to the history of her abuse as well as that of her siblings and how it came through many hands and methods. From watching her father beat her mother on a regular basis to a horribly abusive step-mother who beat and demeaned her, and having been date raped and forced into an abusive marriage, Ms. Cooper paints a chilling image of the effects of domestic violence. Traveling to another continent, the author escapes her tormentors and builds her self-confidence, gets an education and builds a new life for herself. A powerful story of determination, courage, and refusal to accept the status-quo.

More about the book:
CLICK HERE 

I AM MY BROTHER'S KEEPER, NOT MY BROTHER'S KILLER



About the Author

Cynthia Harris Casteel was born and raised in Maryland. She attended Morgan State University and went on to be a teacher. After teaching for over 35 years, Cynthia finally retired. Her husband, Charles and she moved to Savannah, Georgia where they still are working to make a difference with the youth. Cynthia enjoys writing poems, inspiring plays and novels. 

I Am My Brother’s Keeper, Not My Brother’s Killer is her latest novel, and the first one was Frankie’s Angels. I Am My Brother’s Keeper, Not My Brother’s Killer was written out of her love for young people. Cynthia’s book was written to “awaken” them of the consequences of making some wrong choices.




About the Book

Malachi Jackson has a choice. He can go to college and get a good education, or he can join the neighborhood gang. If he joins the gang, he can make some quick money, but there are consequences for joining the gang. He wants to get out of his grandmother’s house and that quick money could really come in handy. He is also an “A” student and because this is his senior year, his mother wants him to go to college. He ends up seeing his life come to full term through the eyes of a mortician. The mortician gets to bury a lot of the neighborhood gang members and those who get caught up in the middle of these senseless killings. The gang life has consequences.

Will Malachi be his brother’s keeper or his brother’s killer? The ending will shock you!

Black Women in Europe Blog™ Anniversary Book: 10 years in the making



About the Author

It never occurred to Adrianne George to publish a book before her multi-award winning blog turned 10 in 2016. It was then that it became clear to her that the best way to memorialize that landmark was to publish an anniversary book. Black Women in Europe™ Blog Anniversary Book: 10 years in the making is the result.

Adrianne is an American expat who has lived in Belgium, England and Sweden. She is the author of several published travel articles, has contributed to Voices of black European Women Volume 1 from Black European Publishing Haus, and several blogs. She spends a significant portion of her time sharing positive news about black women in Europe and in 2010 created the ground-breaking Black Women in Europe™ Power List. She takes her role as an unofficial African American Ambassador to the World seriously and is living proof that a smile is rarely lost in translation.




About the Book

The Black Women in Europe™ Blog was created to celebrate the lives of the ordinary and extraordinary black women living in Europe. This book is dedicated to them. You will meet 11 Sheros I have encountered over the past 10 years. Many of them have gifts for you contained within. They all have unique stories and talents to share.

The book also contains quotes from women we have met in our social network. You will meet all the women on our Black Women in Europe™: Power List – A List of Our Own© I started in 2010.
You will also meet two men who have supported this blog and brand from the beginning. Their support has been paramount to my success.

More about the Book:

Poems By Author: Renee’ Drummond-Brown




Rutha’s Freedom Still Dreams!
By: Author: Renee’ Drummond-Brown

“If the Son therefore shall make you free,
ye shall be free indeed.”
(John 8: 36 KJV)
Rutha,
those songs
motivated the marchers
to march on
with a King,
But we shall overcome
someday
‘STILL’
needs to be ‘sung’.
Or
has we shall overcome;
come and gone?
Just ‘Sing’ Freedom Singer,
 Just
‘Sang’ on,
for all
wrongs!

  
…So ‘SANG’ on
Ms. Rutha Mae
as if it’s
the last song.
…Dance
like David danced
with all your might.
Your chorus
rings out
for those of us
who are frighten.
Your melody
is in tune
with none other
than the Triune.
Your Godly chant
stops Satan’s
unwanted blues.
Your hymns
teach us
of
the Father’s
Good (Infallible) News.
Your track record
is impeccable
with ballads
to choose.
And with
God before your solo-
we simply
can’t lose.

  
…So ‘SANG’ on
Ms. Rutha Mae
as if,
it’s the last song,
…and then
dance
the dance of David,
 while ‘You’ long
for ‘our’ dreams
of freedom,
within
those songs!


Rutha,
You smelled freedom in the 60’s,
You tasted it in the 70’s,
You touched it in the 80’s,
You saw it in the 90’s
You ‘sang’ about it in the 2000’s
…and ‘I hear’ in ‘2017’…
…just like David’s Psalms;
Rutha’s Freedom
Still Dreams on…


  
I love you Ms. Rutha Mae Harris.
FOREVER ‘YOUR’ Pittsburgh Author: Renee’ B. Drummond-Brown

Dedicated to: Songbird/Activist, Ms. Rutha Mae Harris,
Original Freedom Singer of the Civil Rights Movement


THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED SERVICE!








MS. RUTHA MAE HARRIS
By: Author Renee’ B. Drummond-Brown
THANK YOU FOR YOUR INVOLVEMENT IN THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT (POEM)

                                                                             
Thank you concerning the Movement,
with your gift of songs,
Thank you for knowing and singing
“It Was the Blood” for me,
while being done wrong!
Thank you for singing about that “Old Time Religion”,
that we so longed!


Thank you for singing
“Before I’ll Be A Slave I’ll Be Buried In My Grave”
Thank you for singing
“Just A Little Walk With Thee”
while being brave,
Thank you for singing
“He’s got the Whole World in His Hands”
While Non Violence
was Dr. King’s message of the day!


Thank you for singing our way in,
and out of those jails,
Thank you for singing
“I’ve got Jesus and that’s enough”,
with no bail.
Thank you for singing:
“He’s so Real” in times,
when you were frail.
Thank you for singing
“We’ve Come This Far by Faith”
can’t turn around,
and we won’t go to Hell!


Thank you for singing
“Pass me not, O’Gentle Savior”,
and hear my humble cry,
Thank you for singing
“Somebody Prayed for me”
and told Satan GOOD-BYE!
Thank you for singing
“I won’t Complain”
which made our oppressors wonder why?
Thank you for singing
“Walk in the Light”
while always prepared to die!


Thank you for singing
“Precious Lord Take my Hand
while you took that stance,
Thank you for singing
“How I Got Over”
while taking that chance,
Thank you for singing to kids
“I’ve Been In A Storm”
and “Respect Yourself” in advance,
Thank you for singing
“I’ve Got A Testimony” to President Barack Obama,
as you ‘RUTHA MAE HARRIS’,
do your Holy Ghost dance
(In Song)!
  

                                                                   Dedicated to:                                                     
Black, Brown, Red, Yellow, and White Men who bled and died
 For The Civil Rights Movement!


Published@ The Metro Gazette Publishing Company, Albany, GA.
All Rights Reserved@2015
No part of this poem may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without written permission from the author.


Mixed Up Maxie Being Me!


About the Author

Maxine Ann Bailey
I am very happily married we have a son. My husband and I enjoy travelling and holidays abroad, we hold dinner parties and love entertaining.

I was born in 1960, in Stockport, United Kingdom. I lived with both of my parents and I have siblings. One minute my parents would tell me that I was deaf and the next they said I was playing up. My deafness was not acknowledged, I was punished for not answering when called by my mother, I wasn’t allowed the television volume to be raised so I could hear and when I asked what was happening I was shushed.

I took to reading, I love books everything but science fiction, which I find scary. When I left school and started my working life, I was treated really badly in various jobs. I was ridiculed, ignored or accused of being ignorant and worse of all being excluded because it is easier to ignore me than to make an effort to include me.

I started to write my book in 2012 when I finally got sick to death of seeing deafness and deaf people being wrongly portrayed on television and strangely enough during writing the book I had recourse to take my employer to tribunal for disability Discrimination.

I am currently very happy in my new job working with young children as an assistant in a Nursery and I love the way not one child gets frustrated or snappy when they have to repeat what they are saying or because I am repeating what they say wrong. It is a blessed relief to be able to be completely me among my work colleagues who recognise my deafness and make sure that I am included in all aspects of every conversation be it about work or social lives. I love it.

I am now happier than I have ever been both at home and at work.




About the Book

This book is my story of growing up being deaf and living among people who either didn’t have a clue or just pretended it wasn’t there.

I was born at the end of 1960 and I believe that my mother discovered I was deaf when I was a toddler about to poke a knitting needle in the electric socket. Apparently she shouted me twice to stop but I didn’t respond to her, so she ran to me and grabbed the knitting needle. She said I almost jumped through the ceiling when she grabbed the needle and this alerted her to the fact that something was wrong. Upon confirmation of my hearing loss, mother’s next act was to brush this information under the carpet and pretend it wasn’t happening. Hence my shame and embarrassment of the ‘stigma’ attached to deafness as mother told me more than once that you can see other disabilities such as blindness, the walking stick is a clue, and physical disabilities are obvious also but because you can’t see deafness those who are deaf are seen to be stupid, thick and not very bright. She informed me that I would never be as bright or as clever as my siblings.

I went to mainstream school and every September my mother called the school to tell my teacher to sit me at the front of the class, that’s as far as the acknowledgement of my deafness went. Unfortunately, at secondary school we had a different teacher for each lesson so I was able to sit at the back and try to keep a low profile. However, that isn’t really possible with being deaf as I never heard the teacher telling me to be quiet and earned the nickname “Trouble” for a) my constant talking and b) every word being heard by anyone in earshot, I wasn’t aware then, that I am incapable of whispering. Being deaf I find trying to follow what is going on around me can be very frustrating, I have (and still do) experienced some very embarrassing, hilarious, frustrating and miserable situations on a daily basis and seen how different people, including myself, can behave towards deafness. Oh the stigma attached to being deaf, I was called all sorts, ignorant, not very bright, irresponsible oh the list was endless and this mostly from my mother.

As I grew up between the 1960’s and 1980’s I learned to be ashamed of my “handicap” and I became adept at keeping it secret that I “had trouble hearing” and It wasn’t until I was 24 years old that I began to tell people I was deaf and then only if I really thought they needed to know.

and it must have had some bearing on how my character developed. I tried to keep a low profile at home as I was sometimes punished for not hearing and I was told that I had ‘heard something’ (referring to my deafness) and was playing on it.

This book tells how, I as a deaf person overcame numerous obstacles to achieve my dreams. I swallowed my pride aged 19 and started wearing hearing aids, and during my journey I discovered that I was ambitious and capable I also discovered that had I been able to hear properly during school years I would have passed all my exams with flying colours.

I developed a habit of taking a book with me wherever I went and at every opportunity I would sit and read, people automatically assumed that I didn’t respond because I was reading my school friends gave me another nickname “bookworm” and whoever wanted me made a greater effort to get my attention. A few years ago I learned that some friends thought I was paranoid because during conversations I would constantly nudge the person next to me to ask ‘what did he/she say?’ and ‘what was that?’

In group activities I get bored easily in when I can’t hear properly and I go off into my own world, fidgeting and amusing myself. I forget that because I can’t hear them, it doesn’t mean ‘they can’t hear me’. Consequently there was always something for me to get into trouble for. Nowadays I am happy to speak up and ask people to slow down or repeat something

During a work placement at the local fire station the fire safety officers showed much interest in how being deaf affected myself, my family and my daily life. They were shocked to learn that my two sons acted as my ears in case of emergencies. I have had school teachers ask me how I manage and for advice on how they should approach deaf children in their classes. There are very few organisations that actually have any deaf awareness understanding or training and colleagues I have worked with have behaved in dreadful ways towards me, even though it may be unintentional it is no less discriminating than when done intentionally. I believe there is a very large audience out there that could learn a lot from reading my story.








Books by Renee' B. Drummond-Brown




About the Author

Renee' B. Drummond-Brown was born in North Carolina (Marine brat) at the US Naval Hospital in Camp Lejeune to wonderful parents, Mr. and Mrs. Peter Charles Drummond of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She refers to her parents as being the sole reason behind her strength but God is the wind beneath her wings. Renee' has traveled to Kenya, Africa, on a Missions trip and has lived across the states on various Military bases, including Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. Renee's siblings are Delbert Dwayne Drummond and the late pastor Shawn Charles Drummond.

The Center for Urban Biblical Ministry (CUBM) will forever hold precious memories for Renee'. Renee' was grateful to serve as class president for her alma mater, where she earned her degree in Christian ministry in December 2014. She has continued on a straight and narrow path, furthering her educational pursuit of excellence at Geneva College of Pennsylvania in Christian Ministry leadership, with a minor in biblical theology studies. She is married and refers to her spouse, Cardell Nino Brown Sr., as her soul mate and very best friend. The couple has three children: Cardell Jr., Renee', and Raven Brown.

While at CUBM, Renee's writing career blossomed into Renee's Poems with Wings are Words in Flight, a phrase that eloquently coins her work. She is an accomplished poet. The dominant themes of her writings are spiritually based. She has been led to write about blacks' history, the civil rights movement, slavery, family, and the African American woman, who at times is taken for granted. Drummond-Brown has published her third book and several poems, one of which was written for the original Freedom Singer of the civil rights movement, the legendary Ms. Rutha Mae Harris, titled Ms. Rutha Mae Harris, and published by Judith Hampton-Thompson, her publisher, in the Metro Gazette Publishing Company, Inc., Albany, Georgia. Renee's poetry has wings and has flown across God's great seas.

Although much of Renee’s time is spent at Geneva College, her love for creative writing is undoubtedly displayed through her very unique style of poetry. When asked by others about her writing style, Renee’ posits, ""God’s Word in the Holy Bible, King James Version, inspires my writings, thereby making my poetry very different and unconventional."" Renee’ credits her writings to the following: God before all else; her English professor, Ms. Lydia Bright, for taking her writing up a notch from creative to an academic style of approach; Dr. John Stanko, for building her confidence and challenging her to want to write more; Ms. Rutha Mae Harris, for always encouraging her to continuously write; Dr. Todd Allen, for coaching her relating to public speaking about her writings; Barbara, her mom, and Terri Drummond for always being those extra eyes and ears when needed in the late-night hours; Mrs. Judith Hampton-Thompson, her publisher; the Metro Gazette, for believing in her work before all others; and finally her husband, who puts the final seal of approval on everything she writes. Inspired by Dr. Maya Angelou, Renee' pledges this: ""Still I write, I write, and I'll write!""


About the Books




To the Highest Bidder: Renee’s Poems with Wings Are Words in Flight

Renee's Poems with Wings Are Words in Flight is a collection of poetic injustices that reflect periods in time relating to slavery, Civil Rights Movement and the 21st century. We Cannot Forget To Remember Our Past, And. . . We Cannot Remember To Forget Our Present, And. . . We Should Never Forget, That We Were Sold: To The Highest Bidder! Renee' B. Drummond-Brown.





The Power of the Pen

Renee's Poems with Wings are Words in Flight are a plethora of poetic thoughts penned to:
I nspire and
N urture
K indreds, while
P reparing and
E mpowering the
N ations.





Renee's Poems with Wings Are Words in Flight: I'll Write Our Wrongs! 

Renee's Poems with Wings Are Words in Flight is a collection of poetic accounts designed to have colorblind justice, hear the truth, touch freedom, taste love, and smell the Rose of Sharon. This book is written with such conviction that it is sure to cleanse the soul, mend the broken heart, and ultimately transform one's mind.

More about Renee:
Poems Wings Words Flight
Power of the Pen
Sold Highest Bidder
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