America, how beautiful - your lands are vast, your people are many, your days are rich, and your sorrows of many are hidden. 

If you get the chance to read any of my current blog posts that deal with identity and America, you will know that I think there is much hiding in the good ole U.S.A. Much of this rhetoric comes from being a US history teacher, a black one at that, that sees so many details and many stories be completely avoided in curriculum and resources. It doesn't change until you get into college and you have a bad ass professor who has spent their precious time researching and researching this fabulous not yet famous stories of the American past.

This comes at NO surprise to me, I remember having conversations with one of my history professors in college, she encouraged me to think about graduate level studies. She, a white lady, reminded me we need more voices like mine, more perspectives of color in academia. She was so direct to share materials and resources and names of black scholars and writers consistently urging me to think, read, write, talk. I am forever grateful for her enthusiasm and nurturing.

And though I didn't go on to graduate school to discuss black identity, I am here on this blog writing away... and in my every day life starting up conversations about this very topic that gets me so jazzed. Though it is a continuing struggle to find the materials, to find the voices, today there are significantly more black voices and websites discussing and pushing the topic of race in the United States. So much so, that the public (mainstream) has the audacity to get 'tired of' all the race talk. Ha, I find it comical, that it can become tiresome to hear about a racial group and their ensuing life and struggles, though they exist right here in the midst of this nation... but I will digress for now!

We owe it fortunately and unfortunately to the events that have transpired over this most recent decade, from deaths of black boys, to elections of a black president. Black voices have risen. Black stories have risen. But let's not be lost to the fact that so much is still hidden, so much is still un-researched, not yet discussed. I hope to share my perspectives here at marbledtogether, but also share voices of others making noise for the sake of good in this country.

Some topics that are fresh on my mind, are housing/place and gentrificaiton/displacement. Here's a selection of what I am currently reading/talking about/thinkingthrough! These are voices from black and white perspectives.

1. Matthew Desmond, author of Evicted spoke at the University of Houston's Graduate College of Social Work. Though I have not yet read the book, the stories Desmond shared were important for Americans to hear about.

2. On Being podcast shares the work and perspectives of two African American's Annette Gordon a historian and Titus Kaphar an artist as they discuss belonging and citizenship in a place. 

3. Fresh Air podcast from NPR shares a stories of why ghettos are the product of government sanctions... even at the local and state levels.

4. The Reformed African American Network shared a sermon/ conference session from Cole Brown, a Portland pastor, about gospel work throughout and within gentrification. This is a must listen! Watch the video here: https://youtu.be/jHqzG5oo0tg