For Everything a Reason


Ian Brown – F.E.A.R.

https://youtu.be/8f8wAXDZ9D0

2 Timothy 1:7 New King James Version (NKJV)

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

F.E.A.R ~~ False Evidence Appearing Real

We hide behind that Wall of Silence thinking if I’m just quiet enough I can slip under the radar. They won’t see me. I can hide and everything will be alright not knowing or not caring that Silence = Death.

We’ve become a society of trained apathetic circus clowns who when the powers that be say jump we ask how high. If we shuck and jive continually bowing down to the institution plantation head clowns. If we kiss their ass long enough perhaps we will be permitted the privilege of being allowed to slave another day.

Judith with the Head of Holofernes
Judith with the Head of Holofernes

Reduced to a mass of sniveling groveling cowards we’ve sold our birthrights for the few crumbs that drop from the Overseers table. We rant and rave against Ferguson, Staten Island and other atrocities but back away from the injustice in our own backyards. Completely ignoring all the weapons within reach, easily at our disposal. All we have to do is pick them up use them but instead we say it’s not happening to me so I’m safe. Safe for how long? Who guarantees that you’ll magically be released at the age of 62 or now 66? There are no outside saviors.

It’s you that will make a difference. Do you really think that by ignoring the cries of others that evil, harm, & wickedness won’t come your way? You’re living in a glass bubble. And why post scriptures of peace, love and redemption without acknowledging that even Jesus got angry and threw the money-changers out of the Temple. But No we mix idly among thieves, robbers, rapists, stalkers tethered to electronic mind numbing devices entranced by technological marvels ignoring the mud and filth accumulating on our clothes while building empires in the sand. Yes the brainwashing has been completed successfully and the new slave masters smile from on high.  Disconnect. Disconnect.  Disconnect.

Nzingha African Warrior Queen
Nzingha African Warrior Queen & Priestess

Interesting how some men feel that women should sit down, shut up and be quiet when it comes to abuse, bullying, stalking, threats and/or sexual harassment. If it happens to the woman personally or friends of her, she is cautioned to keep quiet because the attacker is of an alabaster hue and she resides in Ebony. Too late. Pillsbury Dough-boy meet the Nubian Ninja.

When I was a kid I heard some Black people say, “If you’re white you’re alright. If you’re Brown stick around. If you’re Black get back!”

That was then. This is now. Those days and that bullshit thinking is over.

#WomensLivesMatter

But any attempts to silence me will only cause me to cry out louder, talk more, yell, scream, fight and organize against injustice. Never tell a woman who has survived being battered, abused and harassed to hold her peace. I already bear the scars of war so what’s a few more? Yes there should be an expectation of safety in your home, at your workplace, house of worship and school. Not only will I stand up for myself but also for any woman who needs me and requires my assistance. Who taught me to be such a Sassafras? Edward G. Palmer. I am my Father’s Daughter. I am a Soldier. I am a Righteous Warrior of God. I am unafraid.  Who took up the Sword in my defense?  My Mother Mable Elizabeth Palmer. I am My Mother’s Daughter. Warrior Queen!

You Gotta Keep the devil Way Down in the Hole.

Blind boys of Alabama, way down in the hole

https://youtu.be/mzIuUW9VUr0

Ancestral Memories & Captured Moments


Ancestral Memories

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.

https://dancingpalmtrees.com/2013/07/13/genetic-memory/

Connecticut Twenty-Ninth (Colored) Regt. C. V. INFANTRY

http://www.conn29th.org/descendants.htm

Stephen Vincent Palmer ~ QCP Christmas Party 2013
Stephen Vincent Palmer ~ QCP Christmas Party 2013
Family Photo Collage
Ancestor Branches ~ A Photo Collage I made for the Employee Art Show in 2012.
Me and My brother Stephen December 1961
Me and My brother Stephen December 1961
William H. Halstead name as inscribed on the Colored Soldiers Monument in Washington, DC
William H. Halstead name as inscribed on the Colored Soldiers Monument in Washington, DC
William Henry Halstead Headstone ~ Sleepy Hollow
William Henry Halstead Headstone ~ Sleepy Hollow
African/Native American Queen
MMC 2002 Graduation
My 56th Birthday Party Celebration Feb. 27th
My 56th Birthday Party Celebration Feb. 27th
20150227_181128
How I look now at age 56.
20150227_181205
56th Birthday Party Celebration
Fifty-Sultry
Fifty-Sexy. Fifty-Sultry.

20150228_152856 church lady

Henry Keyser
Henry Keyser
Fredrick H. Halstead_Sept. 6, 1898_Little's Brother
Fredrick H. Halstead_Sept. 6, 1898_Little’s Brother. Little was my Great Grandmother.
Aunt Hannah
Aunt Hannah
Aunt Susan
Aunt Susan
Rosalie Palmer_William Palmer's Sister
Rosalie Palmer_William Palmer’s Sister. William Palmer is my Grandfather.
Aunt Carrie_George Gordon's sister
Aunt Carrie_George Gordon’s sister
Aunt Carrie
Aunt Carrie
Grandfather_4kids_1926
My 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.
Edward Gordon Palmer_early 1950s
My Dad Edward Gordon Palmer
Edward G. Palmer_Early 1950s
Daddy Edward Gordon Palmer
Edward Gordon Palmer 1935
Edward Gordon Palmer 1935. This photo was taken by the famous Harlem Renaissance Photographer James Van Der Zee.
Ancestor_Dad_Side
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.
Mable_Edward_Palmer
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.
DAP2002MMCGrad
My Marymount Manhattan College Graduation photo, 2002.
DeBorah_Stephen_House2
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.
MablePalmer
Mom ~~ Mable Elizabeth Palmer born 1930 in Davy, West Virginia, raised in Dayton, Ohio.
Aunt Thelma circa 1940s or 50s
My Aunt Thelma Rosalie Palmer Varner.
Eva Sophronia Gordon Palmer -- Grandmother
Eva Sophronia Gordon Palmer — Grandmother
Mable Elizabeth Palmer circa 1950s
Mommy ~~ Mable Elizabeth Palmer

Let Me Call You Sweetheart


Eva Sophronia Gordon Palmer
Eva Sophronia Gordon Palmer

Music Box

I have my Grandmother’s (Eva Palmer) music sewing box that plays “Let Me Call You Sweetheart.”  The music box that my Dad brought home after my Grandmother’s funeral. The same music box passed down to me after my Dad died. Where it will go when I’m gone is known only to God since I never married nor had children.

My grandparents were married in 1919 until my grandfather William Palmer died around 1962 or 1963. My grandmother passed away around 1964 or 1965. I was very young so I don’t remember much about her but I Love her musical sewing box and wind up it every so often just to hear that lovely melody. In my mind’s eye I can still see the brownstone in Harlem where they lived. If I think very quietly and carefully I can envision all the rooms and marveling at my perception of largeness and space.  Then it fades away to St. Albans, Queens and the house on 115th Road where I grew up.  A house that shrank after my parents deaths. Too many memories crowding in on each other so I sold it in 2000.

My parents Edward & Mable Palmer were married for 40 years from 1955 to 1995 when my Dad passed away. My Mom went to join him in 1998.

Marriage was very serious to both my grandparents and parents. It was not a trial run or something to be thrown away or cast aside like we see now.  Eva Gordon was my Grandfather’s second wife as his first wife had passed away. There was a big age gap between them as my Grandfather William Palmer was in or near his 40s and I would guess my Grandmother to be maybe 20 or 21 at the time of their marriage.

Music Sewing Box
Music Sewing Box
Grandma Eva's Music Sewing box
Grandma Eva’s Music Sewing box

All of my grandmothers boy children died from polio except my Dad Edward Gordon Palmer. I can’t even begin to imagine giving birth yet not knowing whether or how long your children would live. I guess that’s why people had so many kids in the 1910s, 1920s & 1930s.  There were so many diseases and no vaccines that it was a miracle if a child lived beyond toddlerhood.

Grandfather William Palmer with 4 of his children at Mt. Morris Park in 1926.  My Dad is not in the photo because he was not born until 1930.
Grandfather William Palmer with 4 of his children at Mt. Morris Park in 1926. My Dad is not in the photo because he was not born until 1930.

Fast forward to December 1955 when my parents Edward and Mable Palmer married. I was born first then my brother Stephen came along in May 1961. By 1963 Stephen was age two and had not spoken a word. Doctors back then labeled Stephen “emotionally disturbed” and advised my parents to put him away in an institution. My parents Did Not take the doctors advice but took their son back home, loved him, raised him and taught him as much as they could. For those of you who remember the horrors of Willowbrook you know why my parents could never do that to Stephen.  Today Stephen works and has an active social life.

I say all this about my family history to point out that marriage is no Garden Party. You take the good and the bad the better and the worse and yes in sickness and in health.  Love is not all the sappy romances we read about in books or see on TV or in the movies. Love is the real world. Real Life. Where there are no guarantees but many unseen rewards.

Mable & Edward Palmer
Mable & Edward Palmer

When I hear this melody as sung by The Mills Brothers I envision them all dancing in Heaven.

http://youtu.be/0ma8t2m2FQ8

Mable Elizabeth Palmer

Recall Ohio


I recall Dayton, Ohio. The alleyways in back of vacant houses. Recall Ohio with the Heart of the Miami Valley. Dayton, Ohio ~ My mother’s hometown.

Mable Elizabeth Palmer
My Mom, Mable Elizabeth Palmer

Wright-Patterson Air-force Base where Mable met Edward, Freeing her from strutting Jim-Crow every day torments, misery, agony, murder. Daily degradation, Escape is imminent. Mable was Harlem bound.

Mable Elizabeth Palmer
Mable Elizabeth Palmer

Tornado swept clean. Where have the Ohio Players gone? Recall Ohio sitting on the porch with Grandma Hattie watching time stand still.

Recall Ohio as a firstborn from New York. I see Dayton, Ohio through the eyes of the Prodigal daughter who never returned.

http://youtu.be/e5PmhjaLXwc

Color Him Father. Color Him Love.


Memories of Daddy

HAPPY 85TH BIRTHDAY IN HEAVEN DADDY!! Feb 11, 1930 to May 13,1995. WE LOVE AND MISS YOU ALWAYS. DEBORAH AND STEPHEN

Edward G. Palmer Korean War
Edward G. Palmer
Korean War

Proverbs 13:22 English Standard Version (ESV) 22 A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children…….

My Dad was that Good Man. He fought the good fight of faith. Daddy persevered during his short stay on this earth always putting his family first and taking joy in our accomplishments. An inheritance is more than money, more than genetics or DNA. Our Dad left us an Inheritance of morals, values, good character, faith in ourselves, love and concern for our fellow humans and animals. Yes, speaking for my brother as well as myself, Stephen and I are truly proud to be our Dad’s Legacy into this world. Edward G. Palmer ~ Feb. 11, 1930 – May 13, 1995.

Stephen, Me & Daddy at my 1977 High School graduation.
Stephen, Me & Daddy at my 1977 High School graduation.

Edward G. Palmer was everything that his name Edward embodies: Edward is an English given name. It is derived from Old English words ead (meaning ‘wealth’, ‘fortune’ or ‘prosperous’) and weard (meaning ‘guardian’ or ‘protector’).

My Dad Believed in us!! And today my brother Stephen and I are all the better for Daddy’s faith in his children!

Tears of sadness for I will never on this earth Dance with my Father again. Daddy our next dance is in Heaven.

http://youtu.be/J_mzw2MdIFY

Our Florida vacation around 1986
Our Florida vacation around 1986

Our Dad was the Guardian, Protector and Provider for our family. A Loving Husband and Father. Dad’s middle name was Gordon which means “Beloved”. Truly he was a Beloved Father always looking out for his family. 

First Dance with My Father
First Dance with My Father

HAPPY FATHER’S DAY IN HEAVEN DADDY. LOVE, DeBorah and Stephen.

Edward Gordon Palmer_early 1950s