If you had a shelf for your three most special possessions (not including photos, electronic devices and things stored on them, people or animals), what would you put on it?
My Grandmother Eva Palmer’s Musical Sewing Box. It plays “Let Me Call You Sweetheart.” My collection of African-American figurines. Some special edition Collectors plates created by African-American artists.
Grandmother Eva’s Music Sewing Box
Eva Sophronia Gordon Palmer — Grandmother Music Sewing Box
If you had a box labelled ‘happiness’, what would you put in it?
Happiness is spending time with my brother Stephen, my cat Sylvester, being outdoors in sunny warm weather, and photography. I don’t think either Stephen or Sylvester would like to be put in a box. On the other hand since Sylvester is a cat maybe he would like being in a box but definitely not Stephen!!
Sylvester in my old Laundry Bag
Sylvester Cat Yoga on the bed
Sylvester Cat Yoga Pose
What do you want more of in your life?
Free time and money!!
Daily Life List: What do you do on an average day? Make a list of your usual activities you do each day.
Since I still work a full-time job I spend Tuesday through Saturday at my workplace.
Working in the security field I spend a lot of time at work since the job entails generous amounts of overtime. So between my commute which is one hour going and another hour returning home, plus 8 to 12 hours spent on the job that’s pretty much the majority of my time. This is why I enjoy my Sunday/Monday weekends and look forward to retiring in Spring 2018.
Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?
Being invited by Gov. Andrew Cuomo the the Paid Family Leave Rally held last Friday at the McBurney 14th Street YMCA!! It’s not every day that a working class woman like me gets a call from the Governors Office!! Kudos for Gov. Andrew Cuomo for reading the New York Times article done on me and Stephen last year.
Hearing Gov. Cuomo and Vice President Joe Biden speak and endorse Paid Family Leave was an exhilarating experience!! As some of my long-time Followers know I’ve been fighting to get FMLA from my job so I can care for my developmentally disabled brother Stephen. Truly it has been a long and winding road but I owe many Thanks to Congressman Hakeen Jeffries, my legal Team from A Better Balance, Gov. Andrew Cuomo who I have faith will push through and make Paid Family Leave a reality for the citizens of New York and Vice President Joe Biden!!
Looking forward to attending Buddhist Prayer and Meditation Services at Shinnyo-en New York City temple with my Japanese girlfriend. I thank all my Friends whether they be Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu or Buddhist for their unwavering support and encouragement in my efforts to secure FMLA for Stephen.
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)
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)
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.
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.
Family Photographs dating from the 19th to 21st Centuries. My paternal Grandmother Eva Gordon Palmer labeled the older photos. The photos from the 19th Century were all taken in Photography studios located in New York City where my Great Great Grandmother settled with her five children after my Great Great Grandfather William Henry Halstead passed away. William Henry Halstead served in the Civil War as part of the 29th Ct. Colored Regiment. Please click on the below links for more information on him and his unit.
My Paternal Grandparents Eva and William Palmer married in Jan. 1919 and had several children. All the boys passed away from polio except my Dad Edward G. Palmer. His nickname was Precious. They had three daughters Helen Louise Palmer Garcia, Thelma Rosalie Palmer Varner and Eva Palmer Stuppard.
All the people pictured except me and my brother Stephen have gone onto Glory and are Living their Heavenly reward.
Stephen Vincent Palmer ~ QCP Christmas Party 2013Ancestor Branches ~ A Photo Collage I made for the Employee Art Show in 2012.Me and My brother Stephen December 1961William H. Halstead name as inscribed on the Colored Soldiers Monument in Washington, DCWilliam Henry Halstead Headstone ~ Sleepy HollowMMC 2002 GraduationMy 56th Birthday Party Celebration Feb. 27thHow I look now at age 56.56th Birthday Party CelebrationFifty-Sexy. Fifty-Sultry.
Henry KeyserFredrick H. Halstead_Sept. 6, 1898_Little’s Brother. Little was my Great Grandmother.Aunt HannahAunt SusanRosalie Palmer_William Palmer’s Sister. William Palmer is my Grandfather.Aunt Carrie_George Gordon’s sisterAunt CarrieMy Grandfather William Junius Palmer in Mt. Morris Park located in Harlem New York circa 1926 with four of his children. The two children in white are twins but the boy died of polio. My father Edward Gordon Palmer is not featured in this picture because he was born in 1930.My Dad Edward Gordon PalmerDaddy Edward Gordon PalmerEdward Gordon Palmer 1935. This photo was taken by the famous Harlem Renaissance Photographer James Van Der Zee.Unknown Ancestor on my Dad’s side. I’m sure my Grandmother did label this photo but the label must have gotten lost. This is a Tin type and at some point the label must have fallen off so I do not know her name.My Mom and Dad Mable and Edward Palmer. They were married Dec. 1955 in Dayton, Ohio. Later my Dad brought my Mom back to New York where my brother Stephen and I were born.My Marymount Manhattan College Graduation photo, 2002.Stephen and I at his residence Queens Centers for Progress in Queens, NY. Stephen has Autism yet works and has a very active social Life. We are very close.Mom ~~ Mable Elizabeth Palmer born 1930 in Davy, West Virginia, raised in Dayton, Ohio.My Aunt Thelma Rosalie Palmer Varner.Eva Sophronia Gordon Palmer — GrandmotherMommy ~~ Mable Elizabeth Palmer
The music sewing box belonged to my Grandmother Eva Sophronia Gordon Palmer. She married my Grandfather William Junius Palmer Jan. 1919. It plays the tune, “Let Me Call You Sweetheart.” Grandma Eva was a Milliner before she married my Grandfather. Their son Edward Gordon Palmer was my Dad.
The beat up white dresser was part of a childhood furniture set my Dad purchased for me when I was five. The dresser is the only piece to survive over the years. I will be 56 on Feb. 27th and basically that dresser has followed me for 50+ years.
My Childhood Dresser I’ve had since age 5.Grandma Eva’s Music Sewing Box
Espiritu en Fuego/A Fiery Spirit 