Filed under: My Life... | Tags: cerebral palsy, disability, family, God's plan, purpose
My sister and I a few years back
I don’t believe I’ve ever really shared much about my sister, Catherine, with you. She is perhaps closer to my heart than anyone else on this planet. After watching the newest episode of Law & Order: SVU, which featured a woman who was bound to a wheelchair, which my sister is, I couldn’t help but feel this overwhelming urge to share a little bit of our story on Twitter. So I did just that. Below are the tweets. You’ll have to scroll to the bottom and read up for the story to make sense.
(PS: If you’re the crying type, you may want to go ahead and grab some tissues.) (more…)
Filed under: race, Think About It | Tags: adoption, black, children, family, race, soceity, white
Adoption is not something to be entered into haphazardly. One must consider all the possible outcomes, occurrences, and obstacles that may arise. This is even more true when a family (or individual) is considering a transracial adoption (when the race of the adopted child is different from that of one or both adoptive parents).
This is not a new issue in the United States. Transracial adoptions nearly stopped for 20 years, from the early 70s to the 90s, when they were condemned as “cultural genocide” by the National Black Social Workers Association (NBSWA). In 1994, after the Metzenbaum Multiethnic Placement Act (which banned any agency receiving federal funds from interfering with adoptions based on race or nationality) was passed, we saw a significant rise in these adoptions. This act, as well as the Interethnic Adoption Provisions amendment, were designed to eliminate racial discriminations within the adoption system. (1) (more…)
Filed under: Stories | Tags: family, food, interview, narrative, prayer, prison, story, TI
I’m normally not a narrative, fiction based writer. I actually find that it can be difficult sometimes. Since I started school, we had to write a paper for my English 1101 class based on the idea that we were having coffee with a rock star. Well, I’ve always wanted to sit down with this particular gentleman for a while, so I jumped at the “opportunity.” Enjoy the story.
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- T.I. after a 2003 arrest
It felt like my mind was spinning just as fast as the engine in my rental car as I sped down Interstate 40 about 20 miles outside of Memphis, Tennessee, on my way to meet with a man that no one, outside of his family had spoken to in nearly eight months. I personally wanted to know how this time away had affected him, but did others? What should I say? Would anything be off limits? What can I learn from him? Would he give good answers? Would I ask good questions? Should I just focus on having a good conversation instead of giving him some automated survey type of interview? I had not a clue.
Veering off on exit 241, I headed south on US 1 through the small Arkansas town of Forrest City. My heart began to beat faster. A left. Then a right, and I saw the Forrest City Federal Correctional Complex appear on the horizon, off my driver’s side. The last left turn down Dale Bumpers Drive and the one mile that lead into the FCC felt like it lasted the majority of the 30 minute drive. (more…)
