From the Editor: Personal Upheaval, a Pandemic and #BLM

2020 is NOT living up to the hype I ascribed it in 2019. My life as I knew it imploded in-front of my eyes and the dreams, hopes and future I had planned had burned to the ground; leaving in its wake two traumatized little boys and a Mama grappling to rise from the ashes. All of this amid the Covid-19 Epidemic in which all 3 of us caught the virus although my youngest had the most severe symptoms. None of us needed hospitalization (Praise God!!), but I’ll admit there was a tense 48-hour period where I watched my 7-year-old like a hawk. Now… the George Floyd and Breonna Taylor incident. As a black woman and the mother of 2 black sons, when I heard George Floyd call for his mother, it reverberated in my heart as though one of my own boys was calling out to me.

I am emotionally and mentally fatigued. I just don’t have the capacity for more. My heart is broken. My grief is intense. I have felt myself buckle under the weight of it all.  The only thing that keeps me rising daily is not my own strength but that of the one that lives inside me. The one who orders my steps and cocoons me in his presence.

As a nation, as the world, even on a personal level, we needed the ground to shake. We need our voices to be heard. We need the heartsick to find hope. We need the men and women of God to rise up and awake from their slumber. For too long we have endured and for too long others have overlooked the injustices all around us. We have talked behind closed doors and have made empty pacts. We needed a shaking of our foundations. We needed a separation of the wheat from the chaff. We needed the cry against injustice to reverberate throughout this land from brown and white people. We needed some fundamental sins exposed and brought to the light. We needed the vibrations of the collective #BlackLivesMatter Movement to saturate the air. Not because other lives don’t matter, they most certainly do, but because the broken cry of a marginalized people needed to pierce the air and the vibrations of their voices needed to tear down some walls!  For too long black lives haven't mattered enough. It’s the collective cry of a people who want to be seen, a people who want to be heard; a people that want to be recognized as people first and the color of their skin a non-factor.

Photo Credit: WithUInMind Photography

It has encouraged me seeing so many people rise up for the cause. I am inspired by the meaningful conversations starting to take place. I am uplifted at seeing white people coming alongside their black friends, neighbors and countrymen to cry out “enough is enough!”. I’m heartened seeing leaders rise and prominent figures lend their voice to the cause. It is beautiful to see people of all nationalities coming together for a common cause.  United in their pursuit for equality and against injustice. 

Crown Rocker...you were made for a time such as this.

In your sphere of influence, however large or small that may be, we were created to shine His light in the darkness. We are called to reign where we are and work, in partnership with Him, to bring his Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. We are to listen… truly listen to each other. We are to come together united against injustice and help establish His order. In whatever capacity you are able. Have the conversations. Share the cause. Reach out to the families of law-enforcement. Have conversations with your coworkers, neighbors, friends and family. Not all of us will speak on a national or international platform, but we all have one and we should make the necessary effort to love, listen, learn and grow. Pray and intercede. The Commander of Heavens Armies hears you!

Prayer IS a strategy!

I will delay the release of the June issue of The Everyday Crown Rocker Magazine by a week. It will go live June 22nd instead. 

If you too find you are struggling mentally or emotionally, please reach out. Do not suffer in silence. You don’t have to! You are not alone!

Check out the following resources for emotional, mental and spiritual support:

Mike Davis - The Emotional Success Coach

Latara Venise - Color Your Soul

Carmen Riley - Zion Restoration Counseling Services

Tamara Carroll - The Joy Queen - Create Joy Today (Art therapy)

Theresa Horne - Sisterhood of Strong (Fitness and Wellness)

My heart is heavy too Crown Rocker, but I have seen God perform miracles in this season. I have seen him restore what the locusts ate away. I have felt His strength sustain me even on days when I don’t have the capacity for the burdens I carry. I have felt his peace, and he has given me his comfort; he has been my refuge and my safe place, all the while fighting my battles for me. You are not hopeless! He is and will do for you all he said he would. He is fighting your battles, he is working miracles and he is sustaining you through it all. 

Photo Credit: WithUInMind Photography

Sometimes, you need to stop, pause and rest and let God restore you. Let God fill you up. Access the resources he has given you. We WILL get through all of this better, stronger and more resilient than ever before. God has not left us, nor has he forsaken us. He has equipped us with all we need to fight the battle against injustice and to rise and spread the light. 

So rock your crown girl as the bridge your Heavenly Father has equipped you to be! 

From this crown rocker’s heart, to yours.

Jasmine