Instagram Posts from the Week of Feb. 2, 2020

Featured Song - Feb. 5, 2020

Featured Song: “Fan Mail” by Micah Bournes (@micahbournes) (ft. Propaganda)

“Religious hypocrites white american pastors/Spoke of integrity, purity when they blasted/President Bill Clinton Back in 90 and 8/But support a chauvinistic prideful bigot today/I wonder what they would say if Donald J. was a Democrat/Moral compass point to where the power and the money at/Whitewashed tombs only fools could ignore/How the very same Lord that you claim to adore/Reserved the harsh words for people just like you/Who quoted all the scripture but was blind to the truth”

“Separation of the Church and state is written/In our laws with the freedom of religion/Plus you claim that our nation has biblical foundations/Fascinating, let me ask you somethin’ Christian/If you think a Muslim is your enemy/And your Savior say to love your enemies/Then you ain’t got no excuse and I really am confused/Why you wanna ban Islamic Refugees/If the Bible say you s’pose to love your neighbor/And to be hospitable even to strangers/Tell me why most of your friends got the very same skin/You don’t even know the people you afraid of/The crazy thing about it all to me/Jesus was a Middle-Eastern refugee/Mama Africa embraced him/But America so racist/Baby Jesus woulda been a casualty”

This song, and the entire A Time Like This album, changed me. I am deeply grateful for Micah Bournes speaking truth to power. Click on the hyperlinked song title above to listen to and purchase the album through Bandcamp. 

#fanmail #micahbournes #song #featuredsong #propaganda #atimelikethisalbum #fightevilwithpoetry #politics #seekjustice #socialjustice #lovemercy #walkhumbly #dismantlewhitesupremacy #dismantleracism #endracism #endracismnow #endxenophobia #endnationalism #endwhitenationalism #endreligiousbigotry #endalldiscrimination #music #faith #evolvingfaith #support #lovegod #loveyourneighbor #love #challengethenarrative #broadeningthenarrative


Additional Rec. - Feb. 6, 2020

Additional Rec. - “50 Years Later, She’s Still at the Library” by Ben Steelman

In early December, my friend Greg texted me about an idea he had for something I could post about on the BtN IG account. While at his grandma’s house, he met Joan Coco. He told me that Joan Coco was the first African-American to work at the New Hanover County Library in Wilmington, NC. Greg also said that Joan Coco was interviewed by her daughter about her experiences and that she had given him a copy of the interview on a CD. He was so kind to let me borrow the CD, and I wish there was a way I could share the interview. Since I can’t do that, I will highlight some of what stood out to me from the interview and included a link above to read more about Joan Coco.

Joan Coco was interviewed by her daughter Cassandra Coco on March 25, 2011. She spoke about her background and early memories in school, growing up during the time of legal segregation, and encountering prejudice. You could hear her joy as she explained that her proudest moment was when her daughter was born and that she is proud of her daughter’s accomplishments. Cassandra Coco expressed pride in how her mom worked two jobs while going to school and was active in her daughter’s school. Cassandra Coco said that regardless of whatever was going on, her mom was there for her and provided encouragement. They reminisced on times when they didn’t have enough food and when they ate meals of rice and beans. Joan Coco gave advice for her daughter who is now raising her own kids saying to always make time for them.

Joan Coco loved working at the library and helping people gain knowledge, and her dream for her daughter is for her to follow her own dreams. During her time working at the library, she began by working in the back at first and moved out front when the library was integrated. She told stories of the racism she experienced, knowledge she gained, how relieved she was each day when she got off work, and one of her first times having to talk about racism with her daughter.

Joan Coco said that the saddest moment of her life was when she had cancer in 2000. She wants to be remembered as the best mother, the best grandmother, for being there for people, for having a door that was always open, and for feeding everybody. Cassandra Coco wants to be remembered as a good daughter, loving and caring mother, good friend, family member who was there when she could be, and phenomenal person. The love between Joan Coco and her daughter Cassandra was evident as I listened to this interview. Also, Joan Coco was 61 at the time of the interview, and I am incredibly thankful for the opportunity to soak in her wisdom.

#additionalrecommendation #recommendation #joancoco #cassandracoco #wilmington #wilmingtonnc #family #community #dismantlewhitesupremacy #endwhitesupremacy #inallinstitutions #justice #humanity #empathy #equality #reflection #action #lovegod #loveyourneighbor #love #learning #socialjustice #seekjustice #restorativejustice #lovemercy #walkhumbly #challengethenarrative #broadeningthenarrative



Book Rec. - Feb. 8, 2020

***Trigger Warning***

Current Read- 12 Years a Slave by Solomon Northup

“So we passed, handcuffed and in silence, through the streets of Washington - through the Capital of a nation, whose theory of government, we are told, rests on the foundation of man's inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness!” (Northup, 1853, p.30).

“All the frowns and threats of Freeman, could not wholly silence the afflicted mother. She kept on begging and beseeching them, most piteously, not to separate the three. Over and over again she told them how she loved her boy. A great many times she repeated her former promises - how very faithful and obedient she would be; how hard she would labor day and night, to the last moment of her life, if he would only buy them all together” (Northup, 1853, p.49).

“Never did the sun move so slowly through the heavens - never did it shower down such fervent and fiery rays, as it did that day. At least, so it appeared to me. What my meditations were - the innumerable thoughts that thronged through my distracted brain - I will not attempt to give expression to. Suffice it to say, during the whole long day I came not to the conclusion, even once, that the southern slave, fed, clothed, whipped and protected by his master, is happier than the free colored citizen of the North. To that conclusion I have never since arrived. There are many, however, even in the Northern States, benevolent and well-disposed men, who will pronounce my opinion erroneous, and gravely proceed to substantiate the assertion with an argument. Alas! they have never drunk, as I have, from the bitter cup of slavery” (Northup, 1853, p.79).

“An hour before day light the horn is blown. Then the slaves arouse, prepare their breakfast, fill a gourd with water, in another deposit their dinner of cold bacon and corn cake, and hurry to the field again. It is an offence invariably followed by a flogging, to be found at the quarters after daybreak. Then the fears and labors of another day begin; and until its close there is no such thing as rest. He fears he will be caught lagging through the day; he fears to approach the gin house with his basket-load of cotton at night; he fears, when he lies down, that he will oversleep himself in the morning. Such is a true, faithful, unexaggerated picture and description of the slave's daily life” (Northup, 1853, p.117).

“Ten years I toiled for that man without reward. Ten years of my incessant labor has contributed to increase the bulk of his possessions. Ten years I was compelled to address him with downcast eyes and uncovered head - in the attitude and language of a slave. I am indebted to him for nothing, save undeserved abuse and stripes” (Northup, 1853, p.126).

“Mistress Epps stood on the piazza among her children, gazing on the scene with an air of heartless satisfaction. The slaves were huddled together at a little distance, their countenances indicating the sorrow of their hearts. Poor Patsey prayed piteously for mercy, but her prayers were vain...The effect of these exhibitions of brutality on the household of the slaveholder, is apparent” (Northup, 1853, pp.181,185).

Solomon Northup, a free man, wrote about the cruelties of being taken into 12 years of toil, agony, and trauma before being reunited with his family. Gone are the romantic depictions of the life of one enslaved on this soil as seen when a whitewashed narrative is told. It’s past time for accurate history books, conversations about slavery that don’t result in white people getting defensive, and reparations for descendants of the enslaved. 

#currentread #12yearsaslave #bookrecommendation #bookrec #solomonnorthup #audiobook #history #slavery #reading #learning #empathy #equality #reflection #action #seekjustice #restorativejustice #lovemercy #walkhumbly #reparations #challengethenarrative #broadeningthenarrative