State of Mind

This week, let your inner world and the outside one converge in a photo.

Billy Joel – New York State of Mind (Audio)

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New York Skyline as seen from Central Park

Harlem blues

Jay Z Empire State of Mind featuring Alicia Keys Lyrics

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Jay-Z & Alicia Keys Perform Empire State of Mind (AMA’s 2009)

The Classic One and Only Frank Sinatra

Frank Sinatra – New York, New York

The Road Less Traveled | The Daily Post

On February 21, 2016 By dancingpalmtreesIn 101st Airborne Division, 569th PSC, Army, The Road Less Traveled | The Daily Post, U.S. Army, Uncategorized, United States Army6 Comments

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/the-road-less-traveled/

Feb 21, 2016

The Road Less Traveled

Pinpoint a moment in your past where you had to make a big decision. Write about that other alternate life that could have unfolded.

Major Decision #1

November 1977 to November 1981 when I joined the United States Army. This gave me the opportunity to not only serve my country but travel to Europe and meet people from all over the United States. I did my Basic and AIT at Ft. Jackson, SC. I was posted at the 569th PSC in Augsburg, Germany and at the 101st Airborne Division located at Ft. Campbell, KY. During my four years in the Army I also went TDY (temporary duty) at various bases inside and outside the U.S.

The Army reinforced the sense of discipline, accountability and responsibility that my parents Edward and Mable Palmer had already implanted within me. I received an Honorable Discharge and am very proud to be a U.S. Army Veteran.

1978 Augsburg, Germany

Deborah Ann Palmer U.S. Army 1977-1981

Major Decision #2

September 1995 when I decided to move forward in earning my BA at Marymount Manhattan College. My Dad Edward G. Palmer had just passed away that year May 13, 1995 at age 65 and I then became responsible for both my mother Mable Palmer and my brother Stephen Palmer. I felt I needed to get my BA as being a College graduate was both my Dad’s desire and mine but I was just too busy running around living free and easy. Once my Father died I inherited his responsibilities and I felt that college would give me an up in terms of critical thinking and advancing my then career.

Being a student was both exhilarating and challenging. At that time Marymount Manhattan College was a private Women’s Catholic college which had just begun to admit men on a limited scale. Therefore the classes were small and the professors took a personal interest in the intellectual and educational development of each student. By the time I went to MMC all the instructors were secular not the Nuns that had preceded them many years before. The professors and the Dean were dedicated to helping Ladies succeeded especially returning Women students like myself.

At that time I was 36 years old definitely not a teenager but an adult who worked full-time and a caregiver. I did briefly attend Marymount Manhattan College around 1987/88 but being in my 20s was my wild & crazy period so I did not stick it out even though I was doing very well in school. Not to say the professors were easy on the students in terms of work load. There were tons of novels and other books to read and 25 page research papers to write on a bi-weekly basis. I suppose it was stressful but a positive stress. An intellectual challenge and I rose to the occasion.

Entering college as an adult I knew that I wanted to major in English literature unlike an 18 year old who is inexperienced with the world in general and probably has very little work experience. At age 36 I had already served my country as a soldier in the United States Army and had many years in the workplace. Many people including some relatives kept asking me “Why are you majoring in English? Are you going to become a teacher?” My answer then as now is I Love English literature and I knew I could pass and no I had no intentions of becoming a teacher.

My Mom who was still living at the time never asked me any ridiculous questions. She was happy that I cared for her, went to work, studied hard in school and went to church. Mom was proud of me and my accomplishments. Sadly my mother followed my Dad into the hereafter August 1998 at age 68. Neither she nor my Dad ever got to see me graduate from Marymount Manhattan College May 2002 when I was 43 however their spirits spurred me on to successfully complete a difficult year long course called Women in Urban Leadership, make the Deans List in 1999 and graduate Cum Laude. Both my parents were born in 1930 at a time when racism, lynchings, discrimination and Jim Crow ruled America. They felt that my generation as the first generation to benefit from the Civil Rights Movement could and should uplift the race through education. My accomplishments were not just for me but for my parents, grandparents, aunts and great-uncles who never had those opportunities.

Marymount Manhattan College opened up a new world to me, helped develop my writing skills and gave me confidence in those writing skills. During this time the then Dean Joan Brookshire said to me that I had a gift for writing. My professors male and female built me up and I felt a sense of accomplishment. So for me returning to college was probably the best decision of my adult life.

Marymount Manhattan College 2002 Graduation photo

Say Your Name ~~ The Daily Post

On February 8, 2016 By dancingpalmtreesIn 23andMe, Africa, African American Queen, African Goddess, African King, DeBorah, DeBorah Ann Palmer, Edward G. Palmer, Edward Gordon Palmer, Edward Palmer, Mable Elizabeth Palmer, Mable Palmer, Say Your Name, Uncategorized5 Comments

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/say-your-name/

THEDAILYPOST

Feb 8, 2016

DAILY PROMPT

Say Your Name

Write about your first name: Are you named after someone or something? Are there any stories or associations attached to it? If you had the choice, would you rename yourself?

The name Deborah is a Hebrew baby name. In Hebrew the meaning of the name Deborah is: Bee. Deborah was the Biblical prophetess who summoned Barak to battle against an army of invaders. After the battle she wrote a victory song which is part of the Book of Judges.

http://www.behindthename.com/name/deborah

You may read about the heroic exploits of DeBorah (Judges) in my previous post. The Song of Deborah is Judges Chapter 5.

The Lioness of Judah Reigns

I’m not really sure who or what my Dad had in mind when he named me. Perhaps he was a fan of Deborah Kerr who was a popular actress during the 1950s. Once he told me that he wanted to avoid the traditional Palmer female family names and name me something different, a name he thought would be unique. However when I was in the 3rd or 4th grade there were about five (5) Deborahs, Debras, Debbies in my class!! So much for unique. Like most African-Americans born during the 40s, 50s, and 60s pretty much you either had a passed down family name or a Bible name. Later in the 1970s and thereafter African and Muslim names became popular I believe in an attempt for African-Americans to reconnect to the Mother Land.

About six or seven years ago I did a Free DNA screening given by 23andMe. Here are the results copied from an old document.

Through my maternal line my ancestors were from Mozambique. I belong to the maternal haplogroup I also probably have some Nigerian ancestors. My maternal genetic

makeup is 85% Africa, 12% Europe and 3% Asia.

Our ancestry and genealogy are traced through mitochondrial DNA which

is only passed down from mother to child. This is fascinating information.

By the way the study affiliated with Dr. Henry Louis Gates was free and they

were targeting African Americans mainly to ascertain my African Americans have such high levels of high blood pressure and diabetes. I wanted to have my DNA traced for

several years and when I saw the ad in Ebony or was it Essence along with

the word Free, I immediately signed up. I was so thrilled to find out this

news. Now along with my African co-workers feel a more direct connection

to the Motherland.

Naturally, I’ll never be connected to Mother Africa the way in which my co-

workers from Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Togo, and Mali are

since they were born there and have a direction connection with the

culture, language and respective tribes, I feel now more of a blood tie. Now

I can plan for my pilgrimage to this country of my ancestors in the next 20 years.

In a way I envy my fellow bloggers who were born and raised in Africa and who had the opportunity to retain their traditional African names, perhaps some indigenous belief system, culture and language. Sadly when my ancestors were kidnapped and brought here on slave ships all of that was stolen from them. Even when I do visit Mozambique or Nigeria I will never know my tribe and cannot speak any of the tribal languages. However I do feel a very strong spiritual connection to my African ancestors especially those who came here during the Middle Passage. This may sound strange to some people but from time to time they speak to me as do some of my family members long deceased some as long ago as from the Civil War. My paternal Great, Great Grandfather William Henry Halstead served in the Civil War. Their voices rise up from ages past beckoning to me as a 21st Century Scribe to write about them so that they are not forgotten.

William H. Halstead name as inscribed on the Colored Soldiers Monument in Washington, DC

William Henry Halstead Headstone ~ Sleepy Hollow

In December of 1863 my Great Great Grandfather, William Henry Halstead, who

lived in Tarrytown, New York, traveled to New Haven, Connecticut to join the

29th Connecticut Colored Infantry. On his Volunteer Enlistment papers it notes

his occupation as a farmer. He enlisted for three years and was discharged on the

24th day of October 1865. He married and had five children. William Henry

Halstead passed away in 1888 and was buried in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in

Tarrytown, New York. His wife moved to New York City with her five children.

Her children grew up in Harlem and belonged to various organizations such as Odd

Fellows, Ladies of the Grand Army of the Republic and the Daughters of New

York.

The same goes for my Native American ancestry.

Several years I wrote a blog post about that dilemma also called “The Cruelty of Christianity” basically when the Europeans first invaded America in 1492 or thereabouts the Native Americans had the land and the Europeans had the Bible. Now the Europeans have the Land and the Native Americans have the Bible. Perhaps their revenge are the casinos and tax-free cigarettes.

https://dancingpalmtrees.com/2012/05/05/the-cruelty-of-christianity/

Sometimes I get the feeling that she is me and I am she.

Quilts

On January 18, 2016March 18, 2017 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.

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

http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ug97/quilt/walker.html

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………….

If I Could Turn Back Time ~~ The Daily Post

On January 18, 2016 By dancingpalmtreesIn DeBorah Ann Palmer, Edward G. Palmer, Edward Gordon Palmer, Edward Palmer, If I Could Turn Back Time ~~ The Daily Post, Mable Elizabeth Palmer, Mable Palmer, Stephen Vincent Palmer, Tyrone Davis - If I Could Turn Back The Hands Of Time, Uncategorized2 Comments

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/if-i-could-turn-back-time/#like-72083

DAILY PROMPT

If I Could Turn Back Time

If you could return to the past to relive a part of your life, either to experience the wonderful bits again, or to do something over, which part of you life would you return to? Why?

First the musical interlude!

Tyrone Davis – If I Could Turn Back The Hands Of Time (Best Version)

Early childhood when my brother Stephen and I were little and both of our parents were alive. Those were the best days of my life. Playtime. Carefree. No worries. Could eat anything I wanted. No bills. No debts. The Love of my Mom and Dad. True Happiness.