Celebrating Black History Month-Leaving a Legacy

Recently, I went to a Memorial Service for a woman who was like family

As I sat and listened to her family talk about her life; how she had helped them, inspired them taught and instructed them throughout their lives, I thought.  Here was a lady that had an ordinary life, yet she had influenced those around her tremendously.  She lived to pour into the lives of three generations.  What a blessing that was for her family.  It was not only a gift to family, it was also her legacy.  It was echoed in the words of her children as well as they reflected on her words and related the things they had experienced through her.   Yes, her work on this earth had been completed, but it will live on long after she has gone.  She didn’t have a great fortune to leave her family; but, what she left was far more valuable.  It was something that will never lose value with time.  I know many of you can reflect on things that your Mother or Father has said and done.  Those things can either influence us positively or negatively.  As parents, Aunts, Uncles, Older Sisters and Brothers, we have an awesome responsibility to our family.  What we say and do does matter.  It matters now and it will matter long after we are gone.  So, I ask, what will your legacy be?

What Will Your Legacy Be?

When we look back on your life, what will we see?

What will your legacy be?

Will your memory live on

long after you are gone?

Will you have lived in such a way

that someone will have something good to say?

We have a dream to fulfill,

A foundation to build.

Will you leave behind a useful design?

Will your life be a tapestry for generations to be?

Will your children respect what you have left?

Will they be able to follow in your steps,

run with your shadow and learn all there is to know?

Are you living the proper lifestyle?

Are you doing something worthwhile?

will your life be an open book

For anyone who wants to take a look?

Are you building a foundation that will endure;

one that is secure?

You do not have to be a Queen or a King

To make your life count for something.

You do not have to be Rosa Parks

To leave your mark.

When we look back on your life, what will we see?

What will your legacy be?

Is your life so set apart

that it can change someone’s heart?

Whose life will you have changed for the good?

Can anyone be proud to stand where you once stood?

Can your children walk in your steps without regret?

Will your words still speak?

Will they inspire the weak?

Will your teachings live on long after you are gone?

Will your prayers see your family through the trying years?

Can they draw on your wisdom and your strength

When you are no longer here?

If anyone drinks from your cup,

Will they be lifted up,

challenged and inspired to go to a higher place?

Can they take your baton and win the race?

Are you creating a history that will last

From generation to generation?

Because as it is, so shall it forever be

your family legacy.

When we look back on your life, what will we see?

What will your legacy be?

copyright Patricia Newman-Harris

Celebrating Black History Month by saying thank you

This Black History Month we take time to celebrate and remember our past by giving thanks to those who have contributed and sacrificed to bring us to where we are today.  I want to take this time to honor our former President, President Barack Obama.  I am so grateful for his service as President.   I think he is the embodiment of Dr. King's dream.  He understood the dream, he believed the dream and he is lived the dream.  Thank you President Obama.  This is my tribute to you.

As President of the United States, you showed the nation what it was like to have a President with conviction, honor and integrity.  You demonstrated to the nation your belief in the term, "By the people, for the people."   

I still remember that day back in 2008, when you became America's first Black President.   I still feel the significance of that day,  My eyes still fill with tears when I recall the image of Americans, of all colors standing together as you took office.   You see, as a child of the sixties it represented so much for me.  Most of all, it represented the fulfillment of Martin's dream, a dream I never thought I would live to see fulfilled.  You gave me the ability to believe in man's ability to reach beyond the barrier of race.  

Thank you for forging us back on a path to freedom, justice and equality for all.  It has been a rocky road filled with set backs, but because of you I still believe that we can continue on the path you have blazed for this nation.  

Just like Martin, you have taken us to the mountain top.  You pointed and "we ran up."  You  are no longer able to continue as our leader but because of you, we can continue the climb with the hope and the audacity to believe that, no matter who we are or where we are from, we can live the American dream.

Remembering Our Heritage and Being Thankful for Our Legacy

As I look back on this picture, I am reminded of how far we have come.
Because I know the cost of freedom, I am eternally grateful for the sacrifices that were made.  What price freedom?

Will We Ever?

If Martin were here today,

What would he say?

Would he be surprised to discover

That we have failed at world peace;

That wars have not ceased?

Would his eyes fill with tears

Over the wasted years?

He sacrificed to leave this nation

With a vision.

He wanted us to embrace his vision,

Understand his dream,

Live his dream.

He spent his life trying to right the world’s wrongs

In order to give us a place to belong.

His vision was not for some.

It was for everyone.

It hurts to know that he risked his neck

Only to have us throw away the check.

As a nation, we still stand firmly apart.

Nothing seems to penetrate our heart.

We sing we shall overcome,

But we still can’t live as one.

Will we ever stand where he stood?

Will we ever understand what he could?

Will we ever see peace?

Will wars ever cease?

 He gave his life.

For us, he willingly sacrificed.

We owe every slave

That went to his grave

His dream untried.

We must stand for Emmitt Till,

Whose dreams were never fulfilled;

For  everyone who couldn’t ride

In the front of the bus

Like us;

For those entertainers who couldn’t walk

Through the front door,

And for those who aren’t here anymore.

To Martin, and Medgar,

President Lincoln and John F. Kennedy;

To everyone who fought for our equality;

To every soldier that defended this country

To the death.

We owe a debt.

For them,

We must climb every mountain,

Swim every sea,

And grab hold to every opportunity.

We must learn to live as one.

That is the only way

We can show our appreciation

For all that was done.

copyright 2014, Patricia Newman-Harris, Living the Dream

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY TO ALL

Love Is

Love is an outstretched hand in time of need

It is the planting of mercy’s seed.

Love is a cooling rain

It is a song"s sweet refrain.

Love is a passionate kiss,

Love is a loved one dearly missed.

Love is a field of flowers in bloom,

Love is a lover’s moon on a warm summer night in June.

Love is an enchanting dance.

Love is allowing the heart a second chance.

Love is a tender caress

Restoring the weary soul with rest

Love quenches the thirsty man

Beached on the desert sand.

Love is our hearts song

It’s that place we know we belong.

Where love abides,

There also resides a cooling tide

That comforts the heart with sweet peace

Upon which the weary soul can feast

Out of the abundance of the heart love doth come

Like the warmth of the morning sun

Giving radiance and light

On the darkest of nights.

Love is life and breath

It is giving all you have left

It is the rhythm of two hearts beating in time

Love is the poet’s rhyme.

Love is the romance we make,

It is the give and take.

It is our rapture in blue

It is all that we know as true.

Love is our heart’s center.

It is that place we are safe to enter.

Love is that special place two can hide.

Love is you and I

copyright Patricia Newman-Harris

Remembering Edwin Hawkins

This Black History Month, I would like to shine the light on Edwin Hawkins, who as a gospel artist, was an inspiration for so many.  He will be sorely missed by many.  I'd like to share my favorite of his songs.