Copyright has authorized private use but the link won't always connect on the top video "We are a Family Weaved from a Golden Thread".
If having a problem: copy of this link and paste in your browser : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oy0ljnZ_mJo
Above is a Memorial shared at the 2017 Biloxi Reunion for some of our family members that passed several years prior.
Above is a video of Spoken Word by Moses Hooper at the Cleveland Family Reunion 2019. The -WORDS- are listed below. There is a clearer sound version of of the Spoken Word linked below as well. I am so impressed by this young man!-Elaine
Above is a video snippet of the performance from Casey on the Cello and Sonya on the Violin at the Cleveland Family Reunion 2019
These cousins--fabulous women-- were absolutely wonderful even though they never played together until the reunion !- Elaine
From Lia (Descendant of Carline Johnson Perryman ):
Family,
Copy and paste this link to go to the outside website page of the Kansas City Star:
https://www.kansascity.com/news/coronavirus/article242589011.html
“Know Your Past, Shape Your Future”
Click the triangle to play the audio by Cousin Moses Hooper
_________________________
“Know Your Past, Shape Your Future”
Written and performed by Moses Hooper cw 2019
My parents...
They told me to know my past, least I meet the mistakes my predecessors made.
They failed to tell me history was hi-jacked
That it was intentionally held, hostage by hostile historians describing different versions of who my predecessors were.
All my life I was taught to believe half-truths in school
All the while, unequal academics aided and abetted
segregative systems rigged to teach children how to play the fool
This system is supported by interlinking corporate interest, Primarily for whites, with social, economic, and political privilege
I'm pretty sure they never expected the Information age to provide witness to our history book’s discrepancies Offering opportunities for opposing and opposite narratives to make a way into the mainstream
Streaming portraits of my ancestor's endurance through hardships, hate, and pain.
Who would have thought that 400 years later blacks would be subjugated to a modernized version of the same marginalization and oppression?
I think my ancestors knew and protested...
by dreaming of me and you
You see,
Black people like me grew up in a paradox called America where,
inhumane depictions painted portraits of imbeciles and criminals for me to identify with.
A model of inferiority consistently portrayed black people in weakness,
as worthless, poverty-stricken predators, subordinate, sub-human, slothful, sluggards for centuries enslaved
And in the same time frame, white people have been portrayed as prosperous, peaceful, power-filled, protectors of the greatest freedoms known in history.
This story is regurgitated senselessly to our children without foresight of their psychology
In my humble opinion, this offense is inhuman, and profane
It’s profound that most people can see it, or they don’t want to
They,
Are hypocritical criminals in massacre
This,
is the narrative that they gave,
superimposed, bombarded and raided in militant campaign
Over and over
They constantly broadcasted these scare tactics in images on TV networks to scare the masses to behave
This is the past they conveyed
We are the people disillusioned, used in, every single way,
stripped of family country, language, opportunity, and pay
We are the people hated for the contributions to this country, we made.
Or is it simply because of the complex complexion of melanin reflected in our skin?
Later in life, hieroglyphics hidden in plain sight like graffiti revealed that the majority of Egyptian kings and queens like Nefertiti beard black and bronze-colored skin like me
They reigned over powerful democracies that were prosperous and peaceful
They trained their young, led their families, and sang loud praises to the heavens above
Where do you think we got our volume from?
I guess it's dangerous to tell little kids that their ancestors actually had superpowers, too they begin to believe again...
And for this, our ancestors are pleased For we are our ancestors wildest dreams With me, be patient,
I am still learning,
I am still maturing,
I am still waking up,
Everything, I don't know it yet,
I know I don't know enough, and knowing more doesn’t make me an authority. Being myself and leading others to do the same, does.
So I pursue self-mastery by living a principled and disciplined life.
I am learning to consider others of higher esteem, and constantly examining my own heart to cultivate humility. So please, be patient with me...
I'm still learning how to tie my shoelaces,
but someone keeps telling me
I need to pull myself up by my bootstraps
What boots?
Look,
I love my fellow man, my brother, my counterpart.
We are differing shades of the human race
And that is exactly what we are...
Parts of one another crafted by our creator
Modeled in His image to encounter His creation in relationship to Him.
All of it,
from the dust of which we are made to the cosmos that we can't yet explain All of its dominion was intended for human commitment to command.
This is our Heavenly Father’s demand
So,
Proclaim, let there be light that shines in the hearts of men, binding us together to praise and glorify Him Who rules over hearts and guides man to shift, change and transform to reflect Him
May we confront, confess, and repent to reconcile the sin and stains of our past May we value the present moment and understand,
That this the time given is God’s gift to man
And may we intentionally shape a better future,
Together