Cooperative Economics/Ujamaa

Habari gani?  UJAMAA! (Cooperative economics)

Cooperative Economics/Ujamaa: Sharing and pooling our financial resources and goods and services for the common benefit of family and community participants with the goal of building and sustaining cooperative economic enterprises.

This practice Ujamaa grows from a shared understanding that we as humans on this planet are dependent on each other and that loving, sharing, and caring are cardinal virtues.

I am honestly doing some sincere self-assessment here.  On this, the fourth day of Kwanzaa,  I have to ask myself how much am I really supporting black business, enterprise, community efforts for the betterment of our cities, towns, communities, neighborhoods and, yes, our race?

As I look around in parts of the City of Oakland, of all the closed storefronts in black neighborhoods, how many of those were former black businesses?  As an artist and a former arts manager, I am wondering how many of those black arts endeavors have gone by the wayside due to lack of support and how many are going to make it beyond 2015?  Personally I cried when the Oakland Ensemble folded after umpteen years of teaching me to live the life of black art with pride and resilience in spite of dwindling funds from the public and private sector.  Arts organizations that taught me how to produce the art on a dime seemingly no longer exist.

How often have I said out loud or in a whisper that this item would be cheaper at the big box store?  Or, perhaps, I  just gave my good money to the foreign looking and talking man on the corner because he is in my neighborhood.  Did it ever occur to me the reason he is in my neighborhood with his stale bread and cheap liquor?  We as a people can be an easy prey.

We spend hundreds on hair from a foreign land, bought in a store owned and operated by someone that speaks little or no English. We put his kids through college and pay the mortgage on his house that displaced us through that magical word called gentrification.  And, yep, my man is driving a better car and is more technically advanced and advantaged.

This year I am going to at least make the effort to buy black and support black.  I will support black endeavors not only with lip service but with my dollars as well.  The amount of money we are all guilty of wasting throughout the year could indeed go a long way toward the sustainability of that group of black poets, those black theatre companies, black dance studios, black community organizers, black bookstores, black restaurants, black barbershops and beauty salons, black dress makers, and black cake makers.  I will not be afraid to buy a membership or give a donation to a black cause that I care deeply about keeping in mind that no amount is too small.

Books by Debi Mason:

What I Thought Was So Just Ain't - Aging through God's Grace

Amazon.com (paperback)

Amazon.com (Kindle edition)

Barnes & Noble (paperback)

Barnes & Noble (NOOK edition)

ISBN-13: 978-0692236475

Release: June, 2014

Arizona Clay: A journey of self-discovery

Amazon.com (paperback)

Barnes & Noble (paperback)

ISBN-13: 9781606964880

Release: June, 2009

Follow me on Twitter:  @DebiOak

Blessed to be a blessing ...

I am fully aware that we can’t do anything to fix the problem of homelessness in the bay area. Yet I am also moved to an awareness that says we can ignore that feeling of helplessness and do something, anything for people that are less fortunate. 

We come in contact with the homeless each and every day.  Something that I read said that many would greatly appreciate it if someone would just acknowledge their existence.  One homeless gentleman said that he would rather someone look them in the eye and say no to his request for money or food or whatever than to do what we all are guilty of – we treat that homeless man or that homeless woman is if they were invisible.

My heart grieves when I hear a saint of the Most High God say that most of the homeless are drunks or drug addicts or that they choose to be homeless. Some, maybe, but not all. I wish I could say that this thinking was not true of us on this side but I just heard it and I am sure that Jesus heard it, too. Yes, there are those with mental issues but I have to think that their condition must be exacerbated upon the realization that they have no place to go but the gutter, a trash bin or a shelter where they are disrespected and treated as so much of nothing.  Think about it. What would this condition do to a mind that is already fragile and perhaps broken?  It is time for us to change the way we look at the world. If the Lord was not on my side, where would I be?  Where would you be?

So, instead of just thinking about the idea and talking about it, I am doing it. I following my heart in obedience and making  the determination that this Christmas is going to be different for me.  I don’t have much but what I do have is a blessing from God.  So, without a doubt, God has blessed me so that I can be a blessing to someone else. This is going to be a very merry Christmas. Amen.

Blessing Bags

Gallon size Ziplock bags

Items that could go into in the bags:

chap stick

packages of tissues

toothbrush and toothpaste

comb

soap

trail mix

granola bars

crackers

pack of gum

band aids

mouthwash

$2 cash (could be used to make a phone call, or purchase a food item)

hand wipes

you could also put in a warm pair of socks, and maybe a Starbucks gift card

Stories From Granny's Porch, 2016

Donate Now

#oakager   #soulwriter 

Books by Debi Mason:

What I Thought Was So Just Ain't - Aging through God's Grace

Amazon.com (paperback)

Amazon.com (Kindle edition)

Barnes & Noble (paperback)

Barnes & Noble (NOOK edition)

ISBN-13: 978-0692236475

Release: June, 2014

Arizona Clay: A journey of self-discovery

Amazon.com (paperback)

Barnes & Noble (paperback)

ISBN-13: 9781606964880

Release: June, 2009

Follow me on Twitter:  @DebiOak

Granny's Porch, 2016 : preserving the art of story

Our fundraising campaign starts today! Follow this link: 

 https://www.gofundme.com/d9anh2bg  

Opening in Oakland, California, February, 2016: Stories From Granny's Porch. This is a creative project of Oby House Productions featuring the artistry of Debi Mason. First presented on the Lyceum stage as part of the 14th Annual Kuumba Fest of the African American Council of the San Diego Repertory Theatre in 2006 Stories From Granny's Porch shares a view into the lives of those most affected by gentrification in America's cities. Told through the eyes of Granny Arilea Bell, these stories of Montezuma Streets most colorful characters come to life. Pre-production audiences have laughed out loud, shed a tear over the reality of homelessness, addiction and abuse and danced in the aisles to the jazz/blues and gospel rifts of a live combo of musicians. Want to support this project and have your name listed as a true patron of the arts? Search Go Fund Me for Granny's Porch and contribute today! We thank you and appreciate you greatly.

#oakager   #soulwriter 

Books by Debi Mason:

What I Thought Was So Just Ain't - Aging through God's Grace

Amazon.com (paperback)

Amazon.com (Kindle edition)

Barnes & Noble (paperback)

Barnes & Noble (NOOK edition)

ISBN-13: 978-0692236475

Release: June, 2014

Arizona Clay: A journey of self-discovery

Amazon.com (paperback)

Barnes & Noble (paperback)

ISBN-13: 9781606964880

Release: June, 2009

Follow me on Twitter:  @DebiOak

In the Shadow of 9/11

I will never forget the day. I was on my usual travel from Escondido into San Diego down the beautiful Pacific Coast Highway. I am praising the Lord as I watch the sunrise over the ocean and the cliffs  actually excited about the possibilities of the day.  I felt good and I am sure I looked better than I had in years.  I was saved, sanctified and sober. A lovely day.

My friend Mark was at his usual place selling the Tribune in the middle of the road. I always did think that this was an odd place to put a stop sign. Waiting to move forward I see that his cheerful good morning face was not there. He was but I noticed, as I sat there some five cars back, his well weathered face  had a look of something that I did not really understand.

You have to understand that Mark started my day five out of seven days a week.  I knew his story and he knew mine. We were both working a program and sometimes, I have to admit, in the year 2001 it was still a struggle for me.  Mark was what I needed to keep me sober for just one more day.  We never had long conversations just the one or two minutes it took for me to buy a morning paper and be on my way. But that one or two minutes meant so much to me and I am sure to him as well.  It was as though it was a daily confirmation that we can do this.  That strange little white man made a tremendous difference in my life and I doubt seriously if he ever realized it.

 

This day, September 11, 2001, started off strange. It was the end of a summer quickly approaching fall. Something just felt different.  I did not realize it at the time but there was a great shift happening in the spirit realm. I ignored it and turned up the gospel music and praised a little louder.

When it was my turn at the stop sign Mark leaned in and whispered, “They are bombing New York.”  “What?” I said, “Ain’t nobody bombing New York.”  He had that look of serious so I paid attention.  It really was happening and I felt like I was on some kind of drug trip. Suddenly that familiar feeling at the pit of my stomach coupled with a kind of nervousness that I knew so well, from years of being in trouble or about to be, welled up.

An idiot man behind me honked and startled me. No excuses but my first instinct was to flip him off which I did with such exuberance that when I looked in my rear view mirror I knew he got the message to not mess with me.  Making my way to the freeway entrance, I switched on the radio. Sure enough they were bombing New York.  Terrorists had high jacked a passenger plane and flown it into a building in crowded New York City.  It was later in the day that heard that another plane had crashed into the Pentagon and yet another had crashed in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

I’m not sure if we weren’t all feeling a fear that we had never felt before. The crowded 101 was moving in slow motion. Not one car was moving faster than 15 miles per hour.  All of the cars that we passed day after day and never paid much attention to now contained real people, with real lives, with real fear etched across their faces.  We looked at each other. I mean we really looked at each other that particular morning.  It was other worldly.

I reached my place of employment in time to see on the television the second plane hit the tower. None of us that were crowded around that small television could speak.  We watched the news coverage silently and then the unthinkable happened.  The towers fell.  A silent scream bubble up in my throat. Before they knew how to edit I saw what I didn’t want to see. I saw lives tumbling from that building. Bodies and body parts mixed in with everyday stuff . It was horrible and it is an image that cannot be erased even after all of these years. 

It wasn’t as though I had never seen such atrocities in foreign lands played out on the most powerful of all mediums -  the television screen.  These things happened everyday in some part of the world. Even the Oklahoma bombing paled in comparison.  As twisted as it may be, the Oklahoma bombing was an inside job. But the World Trade Center?  These were foreign folks that crossed that imaginary boundary that said that this kind of terrorism could never ever happen on our shores.  This was America after all.  This was sacred and protected territory, right?  We could never be hurt or harmed by anyone other than ourselves. Amen?

But it happened and the Trade Center did fall and three thousand plus souls were lost. No matter the color, the creed or politics their lives were erased and we were helpless.  This is what scared most Americans the most on that day. We finally realized that we’re not invincible.

My way of looking at America changed.  I like so many stopped being naïve. This country is a mess. We have in-house issues that we have not been fully addressed….racism, poverty, homelessness, gentrification, senior health and welfare, police brutality, immigration….   We have the power to change things for the better here and we don’t exercise that power.  We are so busy blaming the legislators, the president, the powers that be. We blame the Mexicans and the black folks and the poor and the baby boomers.  We blame everybody for everything and we waste time doing it. This is exactly where those that are looking from the outside in want us to be.  We are terrorized and full of fear. We are much like the lost platoon that sees movement in the jungle and they end up killing each other.

I am an American. I could not survive as a Syrian or anyone oppressed and shut out in a Third World country.  Am I privileged? Far from it. Does not anything that is happening in this city, this community, this country affect me on a daily bases? Most assuredly and most deeply.  Each day I wake up and ask the Lord to show me what I can do today to make this a better place. Even if my job for today is to write this simple treatise in the shadow of 9/11. 

#oakager   #soulwriter 

Books by Debi Mason:

What I Thought Was So Just Ain't - Aging through God's Grace

Amazon.com (paperback)

Amazon.com (Kindle edition)

Barnes & Noble (paperback)

Barnes & Noble (NOOK edition)

ISBN-13: 978-0692236475

Release: June, 2014

Arizona Clay: A journey of self-discovery

Amazon.com (paperback)

Barnes & Noble (paperback)

ISBN-13: 9781606964880

Release: June, 2009

Follow me on Twitter:  @DebiOak

Grey Areas...

Sometimes my mind wonders and drifts and, to be honest, I believe I have reached that age when I can afford to let it. Swiftly my thoughts soar, sometimes without real direction, moving from the beauty and wonder of trees and oceans, to bible and love thy neighbor and wondering why it gotta be that way. 

Throughout life's journey, or much of it anyway, we are told what to think and how to think and why to think. It is through these orchestrated thoughts that we are told that success and prosperity are to be found. Today, however, as I let my mind wonder, it has occured to me that this kind of thinking is what can stiffle the creativity of somebody like me. This feeling today begs the question, is this the means by which I move closer to becoming somebody else instead of my authentic self?

And what about that word criticism either by self or someone else.  You know, criticism is that deadly silver bullet that can kill a desire, a purpose, a creative spirit quicker than anything else in life. 

Oh, as I remind myself, I am of the age that has given me the freedom to be me.  I am free to wonder in my mind down undiscovered highways and byways just because. I am free to climb great hills and mountains, bathe under glowing waterfalls, tell stories to somebody that just needs to have thier existance acknowledged. I am free to travel full of the power and the love of the Lord without fear, doubt or hesitation. Marvelous!

Lately I can picture the hand of God beneath me as I soar higher and higher. I am so utterly confident that He will catch me if I stumble and I am not afraid to fail because He has my back. There is absolutely no reason for any of us to not try to do that thing that He has purposed for each of us. His unchanging and powerful hand is indeed beneath us.

It is marvelous to be a grown up and to feel God chip away at the last remnant of fear we may have. I am flying and I am content. It is ok to be you. It is ok for they to be they and them to be them. It is ok for me to be me.

"And they shall fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, says the Lord, to deliver you."  Jeremiah 1:19

(c) 2015, USA

#oakager   #soulwriter 

Books by Debi Mason:

What I Thought Was So Just Ain't - Aging through God's Grace

Amazon.com (paperback)

Amazon.com (Kindle edition)

Barnes & Noble (paperback)

Barnes & Noble (NOOK edition)

ISBN-13: 978-0692236475

Release: June, 2014

Arizona Clay: A journey of self-discovery

Amazon.com (paperback)

Barnes & Noble (paperback)

ISBN-13: 9781606964880

Release: June, 2009

Follow me on Twitter:  @DebiOak

Happy is the man ...

is for happy...

Sometimes we just have to remind ourselves

Happy is the man whose soul is anchored in the Lord.

Happy is the man that knows peace.

Happy is the man that says, “I trust in the Lord and lean not to my own understanding”.

Happy is that man that dances a dance of freedom in the midst of a storm.

Happy is the man that can say, “I have more than enough”.

Happy is he that is not swayed by popular opinion.

Happy is he who is foundation sure.

Happy is the man that knows what the saying, “we shall not be moved”, really means.

Happy is he who knows the voice of the Shepard.

Happy is he that knows that they are chosen and set apart.

Happy is the man that understands that we are in this world but not of it.

Happy is he that knows silence and is content.

Happy is he that enjoys his own company and sees that there is indeed a difference between “alone-ness” and loneliness.

Happy is the man that takes a cue from Enoch and makes walking and talking with Lord in the cool of the day a habit.

Happy is he that knows the wonderous working power of the Holy Ghost.

Happy is he who prays like a life depends on it because it does.

         

Happy is he who prays like a life depends on it because it does.

This is happy. This is joy unspeakable.

(c) 2015, USA

#oakager   #soulwriter 

Books by Debi Mason:

What I Thought Was So Just Ain't - Aging through God's Grace

Amazon.com (paperback)

Amazon.com (Kindle edition)

Barnes & Noble (paperback)

Barnes & Noble (NOOK edition)

ISBN-13: 978-0692236475

Release: June, 2014

Arizona Clay: A journey of self-discovery

Amazon.com (paperback)

Barnes & Noble (paperback)

ISBN-13: 9781606964880

Release: June, 2009

Follow me on Twitter:  @DebiOak

This is what it means to be a dad...

http://www.sproutling.com/parentage/paternal-instinct/

Here, Bertie Wells shares what it looks like to parent through loss.  Click the link above and read the full story.

#oakager   #soulwriter 

Books by Debi Mason:

What I Thought Was So Just Ain't - Aging through God's Grace

Amazon.com (paperback)

Amazon.com (Kindle edition)

Barnes & Noble (paperback)

Barnes & Noble (NOOK edition)

ISBN-13: 978-0692236475

Release: June, 2014

Arizona Clay: A journey of self-discovery

Amazon.com (paperback)

Barnes & Noble (paperback)

ISBN-13: 9781606964880

Release: June, 2009

Follow me on Twitter:  @DebiOak