Happy Valentine's Day

What is this thing called love that we are so mindful of

That causes us to seek and seek until we find that one

Special one we vow to love, honor and cherish our whole

Life through.

For love, we will go through the fire and the rain.

It is a feeling that is hard to explain.

Love is that language between two people that only their

Hearts can understand.

When we find someone who hears and understands, we know

With all certainty that we have found a love that will never change.

Today, tomorrow and forevermore, it will always be the same.

That is when we know we have found a love that was meant to be.

We know love is meant to be when two hearts unite for eternity.

As if sharing their love was destiny.

Love is a dream they alone can see.

It does not come in any color or shade,

It is wondrously and mysteriously made.

Love is something we cannot surmise.

It takes us by surprise.

With a look, a touch or a voice,

The heart makes its own choice.

Lovers simply react.

Once they fall, there is no turning back.

Love holds them in an enticing trance.

Such is romance.

The moment the heart is stolen,

Love becomes golden

Filled with magical nights

And candlelight

Until, alas, the two soon confess love unrequited

And their hearts are united,

Creating a bond that was meant to be

Throughout eternity.

To all the married couples out there, newly married or married for how ever many years,

I celebrate you.

Today, we celebrate your love.

May God bless your union with his sweet peace.

May the vows you have professed one to another

Be your anchor and your strength.  May your love

towards one another always be settled in the heavens above 

and in the earth below.  May you always be in love.

copyright P. Newman-Harris

Black History Month---Remembering Our History, Telling Our Story

Part of knowing where we are going is knowing from whence we have come.  Sometimes, it's easier to focus on the things that are wrong, but if there is one glimmer of hope to be found, it will light the path to higher ground.  I have learned that focusing on the positive is what will take us where we want to go.  I am so grateful for those people who had the courage and the endurance to press forward through the darkest years in our history.  Because of them, we must continue to bring light where there is darkness.  I will be forever grateful to the people who sacrificed so we can enjoy the opportunities we have today.  We may not be where we want to be, but we are heading in the right direction.  We have to continue in faith believing (in spite of what we see) that we will reach the mountain top.  Hold on, because there is a change in the wind.

A Change is in the Wind

A change is in the wind

I know it is coming I just don’t know when

Talking drums beat a message of hope over land and sea,

Hope for those hungry and living in abject poverty

A change is in the wind

I know it is coming I just don’t know when

A renewing rain will wash over hills and plains

Bringing an end to the suffering and pain

There will be economical gain

For all who have lived under unbelievable strain

Hold on.

My brother,

Hold on my sister,

It won’t be long

Before a change will come

Soon, there will be no dying little ones,

No more sickness and disease.

This will be a wind that frees,

Releasing all the chains that now bind.

It will bring a freeing of mind

Like never before.

Of this I am sure.

Believe me when I say a change is going to come

Just keep looking to the Son

Talking drums are beating a message of hope over land and sea.

They say it is time for you to drink from the cup of mercy

I know a change is coming, I can feel it in the wind

I know it is coming I just don’t know when

copyright P. Newman-Harris

Tribute to President Obama

It's hard to sum the years in a few words.  One thing I do know is that the time passed much to fast.
It was a turbulent start and a turbulent end to your term.  In spite of the challenges, I think America under your influence, was an America we can be proud of.

Although you received harsh criticism throughout your terms, your vision for this country was understood and supported by many.     Your commitment to greatness goes beyond words.  From the very beginning, you set a remarkable standard.  You would have accomplished more with the cooperation and respect you deserved based on your title, as well as your record of excellence.  Your endurance through it all is a testament to your courage and strength.   In my opinion, you far surpassed all standards by serving with humility, honesty and integrity.  We could not have asked for more.

Thank you for taking our nation to higher heights as well as for looking beyond class, person, race or place to the heart of each and everyone of us.  Yes, there are those, who will never acknowledge what you accomplished, but their opinion really doesn't matter.  The fact that so many Americans have taken to the street to demand excellence from anyone who takes the Office of the President is proof that you set a standard for all who will follow.  Thank you for giving us the audacity to hope and to believe that no matter who we are or where we are from, we have the right to and can live the American dream.

Only Love

On this, the Inauguration Day of Donald Trump as President of the United States, I struggle with what to say.  Then, I remembered something my Mother always said, "If you can't say something good, say nothing at all."  So, what I can say is that I pray for our nation, and I pray for the world. One thing I do know is that we cannot expect anything positive from an agenda of hate.  No matter what comes our way, we have to remain positive that the love in the hearts of the many will outweigh the hate in the hearts of the few.

I say good-bye to President Obama and his family and thank them for being a positive influence upon this country and the world.  To President Obama I would like to say thank you for showing us hope, respect and integrity.  You taught us that America is not just me and its not just you, it is us.  One thing that describes us all, no matter what the color of our face, no matter what place we may have once called home, in this great land, we are all Americans.

Only Love

Some of the greatest balladeers

Have reduced us to tears

With songs we will never forget.

We memorize the words,

But our hearts have never heard.

Nothing erases the barrier of hate.

We keep making the same mistakes.

If we want to start anew,

We have to change our point of view.

We can’t write a new song

With a chorus of hate.

With love, we can end the heartaches of our past,

And build a legacy that will last.

Only love will right our wrongs

Only love will heal the hurt,

Only love will make our children strong

Most of man’s years have been fraught with tears.

If peace is what we seek,

Whether it’s written in Spanish, Hebrew or Greek,

We all must understand.

It doesn’t take some great design and plan.

The solution lies in the heart of man.

If we want wars to cease,

If we want to walk in peace,

All we need is love.

Only love will right our wrongs.

Only love will make us strong.

Love will help us write a new song.

Love will help us get along.

All we need is love

Love, love, love.

Every day God declares his love

And manifold blessings throughout the universe.

In confirmation of his message from above.

All we need is love

Only love

Only love.

Only love will pave the way

To a brighter day.

Only love will take us to the mountain top.

Only love will make the hurting stop.

All we need is love

Only love

Only love.

All we need is love

High in the heavens

And in the earth below,

All we need is love.

Only love

Only love

A KING FIT TO BE A KING

A King is what you were destined to be
One who could see injustices others could not see.
Hand chosen by God to lead the battle against inequality
You were a King fit to be a King.
You changed the world with one cry, "Let freedom ring."
You gave your life to right the ultimate wrong.
Yours was not a message of violence, but one of love,
peace and humility.
You could forgive the unforgiveable,
Motivate the unmotivated and move the seemingly immovable.
You awakened the sleeping and quickened the dead in spirit.
You taught us to draw from a well spring of strength.
That lay dormant in the pain and agony of injustice.
You gave us a vision of what was on the other side.
You ignited our hearts with pride.
You enabled us to see that we could overcome,
If in our hearts we would believe.
That was your hope.
That was your dream.
You penetrated the darkness of hopeless and despair
and became a beacon of hope, challenging,
inspiring and gently courageously guiding us through.
Like the great men and women who championed freedom's cause,
the light of your legacy of hope lives on.
They may have stilled your voice, 
but, in our spirits, we can still hear your cry,
"Free at last.
Free at last
Thank God Almighty,
We are free at last!"
All hail to you Martin.
Forever, in our hearts
you will be a King,
fit to be a King.

copyright:  P. Newman-Harris

Celebrating the Birth of a King

Dr. Martin Luther King stated, in his "I Have a Dream" speech:

"In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check.
When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir.  This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Right" of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

Through his sacrifices, Dr. King paved the way for us.  he laid the ground work for all the opportunities we now enjoy.  Yet, some of us are squandering those opportunities.  He placed money in our names long ago in the bank account of opportunity.  If you knew you had been left and inheritance, would you not rush to claim it?  Dr. King risked his life to leave us an inheritance.  It is ours to claim.  I am so grateful for those opportunities.  Every day, I am grateful to Dr. King and to all those on whose shoulders we ride.



Seize the Opportunities

Little boy, little girl
Do you know how your history unfurled?
Do you know of the perils of slavery,
of the price others paid for you to be free?
If it had not been for those who went before,
There would be no open door.
Do you know that there was a day when black people
could not learn to read or write?
Can you imagine what that must have been like?
For our people, knowledge became the key to opportunity.
Ultimately, it was the light that led the way to
our forefather being free.
The same holds true today.
Yet, the wisdom that is ours to take is being thrown away.
That's why so many of us live with our backs against the wall
Barely able to crawl.
Our lives are so enslaved
That our desires and dreams are going to an early grave.
We are so blind we cannot see
That we hold the keys to opportunity.
Some are so complacent they cannot see the subtle attack.
Everything we have earned is slowly being snatched back.
We have to fight to keep what we have earned.
We cannot do this if we refuse to learn.
Ultimately, the decision to live right is ours to make.
We have the wisdom to realize that drugs do not give,
they only take.
They take your home, your will to succeed,
Your wife.
They will even take your life.
Are you willing to pay such a price?
No one in his right mind would willingly lay down his life.
Have you considered this?
Wasted opportunities are opportunities we willingly miss.
Do you realize that you are guilty of ingratitude?
Check your attitude.
Are your actions saying thank you to those who paved the way
Or, are you throwing it all away?
There may come a day when what little we have may be stripped away.
We must prepare for that day.
We have to prepare our minds.
There will be no welfare lines,
There won't be anything to fall back on
in our time of need.
So, take heed.
This is a dog eat dog world,
and only the strong will survive.
If you don't have what you need to make it,
you will be eaten alive.
God opens doors,
but he won't make us walk through them.
We have to seize each and every window
of opportunity that comes our way.
We cannot throw anything away.
Everything we possess
was obtained through the blood, sweat
and tears of those who have gone before.
We must be thankful for every open door,
Accepting the challenge and the responsibility
to seize every opportunity.

Copyright 2014:  Living the Dream, Patricia Newman-Harris

Dr. King's I Have a Dream Speech
delivered August 28, 1963 at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D.C.
can be viewed at Americanrhetoric.com

Tribute to those lost in 2016

2016 was a difficult year for so many of us.  Having to say goodbye to so many talented and well-loved people is hard.  We will miss them all.


While reflecting on life and death, and the loss of so many, I wrote this.

When life begins, God opens the door and sends us forth.
When life ends, he opens his arms and welcomes us home.
Though the doors of life here are closed shut forever,
Our life with God goes on forever.

We can take comfort in the memories we shared, the conversations,  as well as     
the moments of love that were given.  Those are the gifts that are left for the living.
They will be ours to treasure forever; long after our last good-byes, long after our
last cries, they will never die.

My condolences to the families of all who were lost.

To Earth, Wind and Fire, you are all my heart
and I thank Maurice White and the group for
the memories you have allowed me and my
family to make.  You are truly uniquely a
"Shining Star", for the whole world to see.