My old skool, true skool New York party heads will all understand the double meaning of the saying “Freedom is the new Life”, as I refer to it in its literal concrete reality of the past location to the present & metaphorically in its realness of meaning & relevance in the present. I had a sistren talk with my friend of too many years to count, who is part of the type of family we choose-the one without immediate blood connection, but rather immediate heart & soul connection that can often bond more than blood. We turned on Sade’s “Soldier of Love”, opened a bottle of a Shiraz & Grenache Yellow Tail blend, inhaled the intoxicating aroma of Spring time trees & talked about life, love, career, family, friendships & our globally worldly & globally New York experiences.

The conversation turned heavy on love & lost friendships that have been destroyed & let down by lack of closure, communication & reciprocity. The type of communication & reciprocity that allows you to understand & overstand that everyone has a struggle with their own personal baggage & even if their baggage may seem a lot less than yours, it is still a struggle for them to carry on their shoulders, whether their shoulders are delicate, strong or super human brawny; whether Black, White, East, West, North, South, short, tall, male, female, rich, poor, gay, straight, Muslim, Jew, Christian, Buddhist or agnostic- we are all in this struggle called life in the here & now- individual, continent, nation, block, avenue, street and roundabout.

Genuine, reciprocated communication is probably the most selfless gesture you can give to another, particularly in a love relationship. If you love someone, entertaining them in a conversation whether you would prefer not to have it or not shouldn’t be such a sacrifice because it’s as much about listening as it is about talking. Sometimes an e-mail or text won’t suffice in the communication needed by another as much as a hug, hand written letter, phone call or face to face chat or smile. The type of real, genuine , “actions speak louder than words” gesture that stares whatever you fear on the other side dead in the face. The type of action that takes the cowardly lion from his fears to knowing that true courage means acting in the face of fear -even if it takes a little wine from the wizard to act. Fear & inability to communicate can be the biggest deterrent in finding one’s freedom, life, love, happiness & peace. Communication is about finding each other’s comfort levels & understanding that sometimes you may have to sacrifice or get out of your comfort zone in love for another to give & receive the reciprocity needed in communication because it takes two people to have a conversation & it takes reciprocity in love & respect for another to make a conversation worth its weight in gold.

So what do we do now but seek a focus that is turned to how we find the communication & reciprocity in moving forward in mutual progression & self evolution, while finding our freedom in the newness of new beginnings of life, where Sade is our soldier of love, belting out the beautiful soundtrack to our story thru its painful thorns, exhilarating sweetness & in its waiting to exhale moments of simple peaceful tranquility. FREE YOURSELF, FREE YOUR MIND & the rest will follow!

We went on to speak about Sade’s cover on the April issue of Ebony in its amazing beauty, where at 51 she looks better than she has ever looked. We spoke about how Sade & Demi Moore either made a pact with the devil or found some sort of fountain of youth in the taste of new love at an age where they are comfortable enough in their own skin to not sweat the small stuff. A time in their life when because of real life experiences, they are able to be open to just giving & receiving real love that is based in the reality that there really is no such thing as unconditional love, but rather a commitment to working through the conditions of love. We didn’t overlook the fact that the images shared in Sade’s Ebony cover story are controlled images of an elusive superstar who shares all of herself in her music with the public & keeps the everyday living part of life as exclusively her own until she is ready to craft it into a contained, controlled, beautiful package to share with the world, on her terms. We talked about a generation of global 30 & 40 somethings-with late 20’s & early 50’s consideration, who ache for a magazine that truly speaks to the true essence & growth of our generation. A new era in our female sisterhood where Amy DuBois Barnett, Michaela Angela Davis, Lola Ogunnaike, Kierna Mayo and Joicelyn Dingle are the Editrixes in Cheif working in unison in bringing new life to where Honey left off & where a new global beginning of Ebony needs to go.

A new decade of the Global African & her global fusions throughout the Diaspora & on the continent, a new decade where new Imans are discovered from Somalia to Harlem & photographed by new Peter Beards while on the path to becoming globally branded entrepreneurs, where new Pat Clevelands are discovering their fashion design talents while finding success on global runways with new Stephen Burrows, Valentinos & Halstons. A new time where the cool kids in defining their generation, all hang in the same global circles & pride themselves in their individuality & differences as much as their group collectives & commonalities. A new era where new Noami’s are discovered on the streets of Kingston & Brixton, Beverly Johnsons are found from Buffalo to Rotterdam. A new era revival of the passions of artists where there’s a new Harlem Renaissance, Warhol, Basquiet, Cotton Club, Buena Vista Social Club, the Shrine & black star revolutions & experiences in the arts, fashion & politics. A new decade where new James Van Der Zees, Malick Sidibés , Gordon Parks, Melvin Van Peebles, Robert Townsends, & Spike Lees are capturing “Black Orpheus”, “Do The Right Thing”, “City of God”, “The Harder They Come”, W.E.B Dubois, Langston Hughes, Chinua Achebe, Maya Angelou, Jospehine Baker, James Brown, Lena Horn, Sidney Poitier, Che, Biko, Malcolm X, MLK, Fela & Nkrumahs of the new decade ushering in the wind of change- in real time revolutions of their evolutions. A new decade when we pay homage to the past where Pan-Africanism awakened the world in a new found global fusion of shared art & revolution that crossed over beyond color, nation, religion, sexual orientation or continent, while living in the present & preparing for the future. There are tons of global fusionist women & men who need a voice with an new editorial model that is about a team of visionaries combining their visions instead of one person’s vision defining millions of global people with a plethora of global fusions. As the African proverb says “two heads are better than one” -The Time is Now!

I stood in my kitchen, watched & listened to the conversation between my Mexican born, Sante Fe raised, New York soul remains sistren, born to an African-America/Native American mother & a Russian Jewish American father -who found one another & fell in love thru their New York artistry, & my Ghanaian born, New York soul remains bredren who once worked for the former Secretary of State, Kofi Anan, in the the U.N. ’s communication department & is currently in a relationship with a Spaniard, newly transplanted in New York, who left her home for the sake of love. They spoke about how they both love Larry David’s show, Curb Your Enthusiasm because he reminds them so much of their individual families, who are from completely different parts of the world, with different hues, different religious orientations, yet very familiar experiences. This was one of those every day moments for me in New York that constantly showcases the melting pot that is quintessentially New York, as it continues to provide the perfect backdrop to our global fusions.

The conversation went on about what my female friend did for a living, as she spoke of her families handmade paper business used in design by interior designers & architects. My male friend turned & asked if the paper was Indian & my female friend replied- “no it’s made in Mexico”. I thought how ironic since Mexicans are technically descendants of “Los Indios”- Indigenous or Native Indians of the Americas . I then thought what if Mexicans would stand up in unity & embrace their Native American Indian heritage to reclaim their just due reparations & to put an end to all the hypocrisy & propaganda of the battle against illegal immigration that has made Mexicans the poster child in America for illegal immigration in the land that once belonged to them. What if African descendants throughout the Diaspora revived the spirit & actions of Pan-Africanism, heeded the Sankofa bird’s call & started a “Back to Africa” movement that invested in Africa’s growth & forward movement. What if we stood up individually & as one tribe – checking every box on the census in honor of our collective ancestors to be counted & spoken for?

“If a language is lost then a culture will be lost”-these are the words spoken by a native Navajo Indian on PBS’s Indpendant Lens documentary- (2007) Miss Navajo: A 21 year old competes in the Miss Navao Nation pageant. I watched this documentary tonight as it told the heart breaking stories of the new generation of Navajo Indians who have come to realize that they are losing their culture & language because generations before them were made to feel ashamed of their culture & language in order to assimilate them into their colonizers way of life & language. What if Native Americans never gave into their raw deal? What if Africans of the Diaspora never lost their names, culture & language? What if Hitler, wars, slavery, colonization & genocides never existed? There are so many “what if’s” in life, but those words are for those who end up with regrets of unachieved tasks & dreams deferred. The new focus is on “When” & “How”, not “What if “!

“We always need to be improving ourselves, whether it’s physically, mentally, spiritually, emotionally- be a better person tomorrow than you are today”

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowliness. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” Mark Twain