Category: William Palmer

The Nubian Ninja Stings America

On By dancingpalmtreesIn Cathay Williams, DeBorah, DeBorah Ann Palmer, Edward G. Palmer, Edward Gordon Palmer, Edward Palmer, Nubian Ninja, Uncategorized, William Henry Halstead, William J. Palmer, William Junius Palmer, William Palmer3 Comments

 

Most people who know me know that I’m an Opinionated Black Woman. I’m not ashamed to say that I’m a Liberal/Progressive on most issues. I support Women’s Rights including a Woman’s right to choose. Yes I’m Pro-Choice. I also support my Gay and Lesbian family, friends and co-workers. I have no shame in my game and no filters. Also I don’t care about what people think of me. Only my opinion of me matters to me.  As I’ve said before and I will continue to say I validate myself. I don’t look for support from anyone or anybody else.
As an African-American Woman I know what it is to be the target of assumptions. During the eight years I’ve been at my current job (I’m a museum security guard) it has been white men (however white women can be just as ignorant) who assume that because I’m a Black Woman I must be a drug dealer or a prostitute. Some whites right away look at the color of my skin and my gender and just figure she’s a slut and a hoodrat.
Some feel that because I’m Black that gives them the right to touch me. For some strange reason I cannot fathom white people have some sort of sick fascination with African hair. Well I’ve got news for you. I’m not running a petting zoo so unless I know you and know you very well Don’t Touch Me and Keep Your hands to Yourself. Let me say this loud and clear, I Do Not Like or Want to be Touched especially by strange white people!!  Observe Personal Space!!
Also I’ve been called everything but a Child of God.
This is the candidate that many white Americans support and want to be the next President of the United States.
Trump. Just another name for a disgusting pervert masquerading as a “Voice of the People” The only people he represents are the KKK, the American Nazi Party and the Christian Identity movement. For those of you who don’t know about these groups. Look it up. Also Donald Trump’s father was a Grand dragon/wizard or whatever idiocy they call themselves of the KKK. Now you understand where he gets his racist, biased, bigoted views.  A male who uses women. Has had numerous failed marriages and businesses. A white male who wants to build walls instead of bridges.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/15/us/politics/donald-trump-women.html?emc=edit_na_20160514&nlid=58215227&ref=headline&_r=0
Whites never even consider that I’ve served my country and I’m a United States Army Veteran. I graduated from Marymount Manhattan College with honors. I’ve been working for close to if not 40 years and have always supported myself while taking care of my developmentally disabled brother. Nor do they see me as their Sister in Christ only as a nanny or personal servant. News Flash!! Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben took off the apron and Chef’s hat and now work for Black Lives Matter!!  #BlackLivesMatter
But then again my contributions plus the contributions of my parents, grandparents, great grandparents, great-great grandparents have been negated by most white Americans and Europeans down through history. It is their choice to go by stereotypes, assumptions, stupid politicians, idiot preachers/ministers and corrupted media. Because a person is a certain color, race, nationality, religion (non-Christian) right away they must be some type of criminal or terrorist.
Shame on you America. For you know neither my story nor my song.
However the songs of white Americans/Europeans are constantly celebrated. They celebrate murdering thousands of Native Americans, capturing and enslaving Africans, Jim Crow, years of colonialism against Black and Brown peoples systematically attempting to remove their own indigenous faiths/religions, destruction of native cultures and desecration of native/indigenous lands, using the CIA to prop up dictatorships in foreign countries which have numerous human rights violations.
Tell me Republicans/Conservatives are you really proud of this history?!
As Memorial Day in America is rapidly approaching I will continue speaking on this issue in a future post.

Quilts

On By dancingpalmtreesIn DeBorah Ann Palmer, Eva Sophronia Gordon Palmer, Everyday Use Short story by Alice Walker, Helen Garcia, Helen Palmer Garcia, Quilts, Thelma Palmer Varner, Uncategorized, William J. Palmer, William Junius Palmer, William Palmer12 Comments

https://goo.gl/photos/93pk8FMZcV3ezqss9

Quilts

On the surface the beautiful design, the warmth on a cold winters night while underneath an intricate patchwork of stitches all coming together joining not just pieces of fabric but generations. In my case me granddaughter to my paternal Grandmother Eva Palmer. Grandma Eva died when I was 5 or 6 so I did not get to know her well but that quilt held her memory however faint to me for quite some time.  The colorful triangular patches sewn together combining functional with fancy.
Grandma Eva Sophronia Gordon Palmer — Grandmother Music Sewing Box
Grandmother Eva’s Music Sewing Box
Eva Sophronia Gordon Palmer — Grandmother Music Sewing Box
Grandma Eva’s Musical Sewing Box that plays, “Let Me Call You Sweetheart.” 
Her patchwork quilt so lovingly made for me the first child of her only surviving son, my Dad Edward G. Palmer was like an umbilical cord linking us together. Now both my grandmother and my Dad have long since passed on but every time I see quilts I think of Grandma.  Some threads represented the sons she lost to Polio other threads her grandchildren representing the next generation.  And I possess her quiet strength and strong faith to endure tragedies and celebrate triumphs.
Eva Sophronia Gordon Palmer -- Grandmother
Eva Sophronia Gordon Palmer — Grandmother
Eva Sophronia Gordon Palmer. My Dad’s Mom. She married my Grandfather William Julius Palmer on Jan. 15, 1919. My grandmother was 27 when she got married to my grandfather who was 40. My grandmother was a Milliner, my grandfather a shipping clerk. I have very vague memories of her.
When I read the story Everyday Use by Alice Walker which is supposed to be a riff on the Bible’s Prodigal son I the good girl, the faithful daughter became the prodigal daughter who eventually returned to the fold.  Every so often whether permitting I make my pilgrimage to Harlem to walk the streets of the Harlem Renaissance and every day people like William and Eva Palmer raising a family on a shipping clerk’s salary. My Grandfather William Palmer taking the kids to Mt. Morris Park (Now Marcus Garvey Park) on an outing.
Grandfather_4kids_1926
My Grandfather William Palmer with four of his children at Mt. Morris Park around 1926. My Dad Edward G. Palmer is not in the photo because he was not born until 1930. The little boy on my GrandDad’s lap later died from polio.

Everyday Use

Short story by Alice Walker

Sometimes I can still remember traveling to Harlem with my Dad to visit my Grandma Eva. In my mind I’m still walking around her large apartment. I see my Aunt Eva’s piano. I see my Dad looking out the window while playing with the window blind cords and then I hear my Grandmother’s voice telling him to stop and for all of us to come eat.
Then memories fade………….

France

On By dancingpalmtreesIn 9/11, African American Queen, African Goddess, Bangladesh, Bigotry, Buddhism, Buddhist, Christianity, Edward Palmer, Eva Gordon Palmer, Evil, France, French, French National Anthem - "La Marseillaise" (FR/EN), Gay, Gladys Young, Goddess, hatred, Hattie Banks, Helen Garcia, Helen James, Hindu, Homosexual, India, Iran, Islam, Jesus, Jewish, Judism, Love, Love Train [Original 12" Version] - The O'Jays (1972), Muslim, Paris, Racism, Terrorism, William Henry Halstead, William Palmer, Winston Churchill - We Shall Never Surrender (Full Speech)3 Comments

This is a very long two part post.

French National Anthem – “La Marseillaise” (FR/EN)

My blogging buddy K.B. who lives in Paris is safe, alive and well. He is grateful to all Americans for their prayers, encouragement and support.

I totally disagree with the hate towards France being spewed on Facebook!! Yes we all know that France was a Colonizer back in the 18th and 19th Centuries but the people alive today, the people maimed and killed in those horrible attacks have nothing to do with with what happened centuries ago. Yes we do need to learn and heed the lessons of the past. Colonialism and Slavery must continue to be taught in schools so we recognize wickedness and choose another path. On that note yesterday I left a group that I thought was about the positive because of the evil statements made against France. People who return hate for hate are little better than the oppressors.

Winston Churchill – We Shall Never Surrender (Full Speech)

https://youtu.be/CyoMp2JceOw

Governments often make problems that make others suffer. My parents, grandparents and great grandparents went through racism and Jim Crow but they did not hate this nation, their country. As a Black woman I experience bias, racism and bigotry often but that does not give me the right to lump all white people in the same pot as an excuse to hate and spew venom. As a Christian I represent Jesus Christ so I can never do this. My spirit and soul do not allow me.

Love Train [Original 12″ Version] – The O’Jays (1972)

https://youtu.be/iTp0AlTuPNA

Many of those murdered in France and on the Russian airplane blast were innocent children. Hatred solves nothing. We cannot go back and change the past. Also keep in mind on 9/11 many French, European and other nations supported New Yorkers and Americans. Being Pro-Black does not give me the right to be anti-white or anti-European. Why? Because the Love of God and His compassion is in my heart. Most people of color have experienced bias and bigotry in some form but I refuse to deny aid, support or prayer to those in need. I pray for everyone. I’m still praying for the innocent Russian people killed in that airplane explosion. Hate is divisive. Please do not use this tragedy as an excuse to incite or fan the flames of hatred. I wholeheartedly and unashamedly support and stand with the people of France and victims of terrorism worldwide! Show Love to all.

‪#‎France‬‪ #‎Paris ‬‪#‎OneLove‬   #America

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I Rise Above hatred, bias, bigotry & racism.

I know what it is to be treated with the wide brush of stereotypes.
Working with the general public can be a challenge and if you’re a Black Woman wearing a uniform, a uniform that designates a form of authority more challenges come your way.

My Great, Great Grandfather William Henry Halstead left his life as a Free farmer and joined the Union Army for the benefit of his enslaved sisters and brothers and for his descendants unseen and yet unknown. But maybe he did know that Stephen and I would reap the benefits of his sacrifice. My Dad Edward G. Palmer left City College and joined the Air Force to fight for an America that did not even consider him a man but duty and honor came first. Thanks to the sacrifices and Love from my ancestors my generation of Black Americans became the first generation to benefit from the Civil Rights Movement. I’m carried on the shoulders of giants.

My Mother, Grandmothers and Aunts rose above the indignities of Jim Crow.

Sadly some look at me and see only color or gender. I’ve been approached by white males thinking that I’m a drug dealer or available for sex. Obviously I had to set them straight.  They needed to be firmly re-educated.

But I’m more than race, nationality or gender. Like most people on this earth Black, Brown, or white I’m a human being of complexity. That’s why I had to speak out against vile remarks being leveled at the French people. God created people. Humans created race & divisions.

I’ve come to think that the reason God placed me in the museum was to root out my preconceptions, illusions and delusions about people of other faiths.
Over the almost 8 years I’ve worked there the Ladies and Gentlemen I’m closest to are Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu & Jewish. By being around and in close contact with co-workers outside of my faith I’ve learned a lot and mostly not to be judgmental. I’ve even visited their Houses of Worship and learned that these faiths are not so different from Christianity. If I had been born in Iran, Egypt, Bangladesh, India, I would be a practitioner of that faith. We are all people who want the same things in life.

One God. Many Paths.

Earlier this year I spent two weeks in the hospital. The reason I’ll keep private but the person who visited me and took me home is Gay. Again another lesson of acceptance. Every time I’ve prayed for help God sent someone from another race, faith, gender, or sexual orientation to assist me.

I could lower myself to the level of bigots, haters, slanderers & spew a fountain of venom and vindictiveness but I choose not to. I choose if not to Love everyone but to at least to respect all people regardless of race, religion, or sexual orientation. When I make mistakes or say the wrong thing I go back and apologize. Nobody is perfect but these errors in judgement provide me the opportunity to examine myself.

I’m sure as I make my way towards March 2018 and retirement God will have even more Life Lessons on my path towards Enlightenment.

Still Rising.