“Welcome. What you pay attention to, grows.” The battered, wooden sign greets visitors to De Heerlijkheid van Heule, an organic farm on the outskirts of Kortrijk, Belgium. Heerlijkheid van Heule roughly translates as “Glory of the Hill” in Dutch. Operated by Oranjehuis, a group home for at-risk youth, the farm combines the simplicity and beauty …
Read more “Tilling the Soil of a New Reality: An Organic Farm in Belgium”
“You’re doing great,” Natalie, the swim instructor, said. “Try again.” I took a deep breath and submerged my face in the frigid, pool water. The images of my enslaved African ancestors flushed my memory as I blew a slow blast of bubbles. I gasped for air as I broke the water’s surface and rubbed my …
We heard the drums before we saw them. A steady, staccato beat beckoned us to walk farther across the bridge during the opening ceremony of the Akumal Arts Festival and Residency. Ta-ta. Um-ta-ta. Um-ta-tat-ta-ta. Um-ta-tum. Cresting the hill, we followed the beat until five Maya in traditional dress blocked our path into town. Their smooth, …
I came to Mexico to die. I was broken and in 2016 I broke up with America. I felt strangely orphaned in my 40s after the recent deaths of my parents. The well of romantic prospects dried up and I wasn’t willing to swipe right to find a new partner. I built a successful, political …
McClendon is a humble man who dreams and acts audaciously. A Detroit native, McClendon is a pastor of Berean Chapel and the Michigan Regional Representative for IIRP. He was formerly an executive assistant to Coleman A. Young, Sr., Detroit’s controversial, first, black mayor. McClendon also served as the Southeast Michigan area director for Prison Fellowship …
Read more “On Meeting Henry McClendon and Restoring Brokenness”
In recent years, the Black Lives Matter movement has been problematic. But its core values aren’t. Founded in 2013, the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement is a “decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by Black people and to promote anti-racism. Police brutality, hate crimes against Black …
Read more “Can Restorative Practices Save Black Lives in Detroit?”
I had been on suicide watch for two days. Every hour on the hour, a female floor attendant knocked on the metal frame of the bed to make sure I was still alive. The bed smelled of urine and sweat. Faint murmurings of fairies and blood came from the bone-thin woman sleeping on the cot …