Since time immemorial, people of African ancestry have greeted each other with optimistic greetings that presuppose that there is good news worth sharing. However, in our current generation, good news fails to reach the masses with the hyper speed and ubiquity that the terrible news does.  We have heard of the countless murders of our precious children on the streets by those known and unknown to us. We have bid farewell to our young and old men and women, as they become entrees for the voracious appetite of the prison industrial complex. We have heard over and over again that our children do not measure up to Anglo-normative education standards.  These stories fuel a perspective of Black people that we are perpetually at a loss, that we have no self-determination, and that our efforts are futile. I reject that.

Most people of African ancestry that I have encountered are physically and mentally healthy, have graduated from secondary and many from postsecondary educational institutions, participate tangibly in family life, maintain employment, and make strides in helping the world be a better place. My experience, sprinkled with a few “statistics,” prompted me to question the overall conversation about Black people. Why was the dialogue so often confined to the tales of our folks being “caught up,” whether permanently or temporarily? Furthermore, even among the brothers and sisters who I know that are in subpar situations, many including my brothers on the inside and sisters who quit school temporarily are learning from their mistakes and attempting to do better.

My goal with my work on this website and in my writing is to help us to remember the good that we do. It is my prayer that we will learn how to articulate the incredibly important issues that concern us but also the amazing ways that we have and continue to address them.