Friday, October 26, 2012
Powerful in the Present
Thursday, September 27, 2012
The Price of War
Written and performed by Lena Williamson
Look In The Mirror Poetry Collection
Lena Land Books
Bound By Time
Written and performed by Lena Williamson
Look In The Mirror Poetry Collection
Lena Land Books
Monday, September 24, 2012
The Biggest Commitment of your Life
I know without a
doubt that there are people who feel that parenthood is one of the biggest
personal commitments in life. While
others will argue that this honor should be reserved for marriage. After all, both of these events can alter
anyone’s life dramatically.
However I would
like to introduce another HUGE commitment that few people care to nurture,
Self-Love. There are those who are
stable, dependable workers, faithful members of the church and loving
individuals. From the exterior, on the
outside looking in their life seems enviable.
I might have classified myself as one of these people. Through constant conversations and
observations I quickly learned that the parallel between those individuals and
me became broader when I could effortlessly do the one thing that they cringed
at the thought of, being alone.
Furthermore, I
not only embrace the idea of being left alone with myself but I relish in the
fact that at any given time of the day I am always in the company of the one
person who will stay with me through good times and bad for richer or for
poorer, and in sickness and in health.
ME!
I get to spend
the rest of my life with someone who genuinely cares about my opinions whether
rational or irrational, right or wrong.
I am in love with someone who does not hesitate when time comes to take
me out for a night on the town whether I’m in jeans or a dress. I am immersed in a love affair with someone
whose only purpose in life is to make me happy.
I am hopelessly and unconditionally in love with me.
It took me quite
some time, years, pains and tears to realize that the love I had been searching
a decade to find amongst others was with me the entire time. As I look in the mirror lately I think of how
foolish I had been to not see the love I wanted right in front of my eyes.
I challenge you
as an individual to love you more. I
dare you to release the narcissism and selfishness. Self love is not about me, me, me or I
deserve this or that. No, self love is
taking yourself to the movies without needing or wanting the company of
another. Self-love is about spending
time pleasing the neglected part of you.
It’s about whisking yourself away on vacation to the locale of your
choosing just to give yourself the well-deserved attention that would usually
go to your children, spouse or significant other. Become your own significant other. I believe self-love is one of the biggest
commitments of your life. Self-love is
the celebration of you.
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
The Art of Being an Activist
For as long as
there has been an established Government in place, there have been Activist
protesting and denouncing its crippling grip on society. I am also aware that as long as activist have
been marching, sitting and shouting for the freedom of all, Artist and their
various art forms have been the first journalists on the scene giving minute to
minute detail of what is happening around the world. I am not sure if activism inspires art or
vice versa but one thing is certain; one is always a mirror for the other.
Whether the tool
of change is a paintbrush, a Bic pen or a microphone, artists often shed a
spotlight on the destruction that befalls us.
Diego Rivera, a
Mexican painter and member of the Mexican Communist Party during the 1920s used
his murals to expose the atrocities of the Church and its crooked Clergymen.
John Steinbeck,
author of Grapes of Wrath used his
pen to detail the depressing and life-altering journey from Oklahoma to
California during the 1930s Dustbowl Migration.
Marvin Gaye used
his voice to speak for a weary generation of people who were tired of being
beaten and abused, tired of being ignored by the government, screaming out for
an answer in the form of “What’s Going
On?”
Both Artists and
Activists have always walked hand and hand, willing to speak for the masses
because no one else is willing to listen.
They live among us and carry our message to the powers that be. Not always receiving a welcome or thank
you. More often than not they are
greeted with backlash and scrutiny. As
the country music group the Dixie Chicks learned after speaking out about their
disgust toward former President Bush and the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Rapper Jay-z’s
song “Minority Report” speaks volumes
about the lack of a response or support from the White House and former
President Bush after Hurricane Katrina destroyed Louisiana and
Mississippi.
It is amazing
that as human beings we can feel powerless until we have that one weapon. That one weapon that once wielded can raise
an army and destroy one just as easily.
That one weapon of mass destruction, a pen, a voice, a paintbrush or
YOU!
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Quinn Chews Out Chick-Fil-A While NYC Workers Die
It amazes me how
politicians that rise in the ranks within the political arena always seem to
start off as for “the people” but lose “the people” along their journey toward
candidacies for Mayor, Governor, Senator or President.
I admired
Christine Quinn’s political ambition and ascension especially when it came to
her support and loyalty to the LGBT community.
I later learned that she was a lesbian as well. I appreciated her taking a stand against
Mayor Bloomberg on issues such as displacing the Homeless when they clearly had
no other alternative other than the overcrowded shelters they were vying to
occupy.
However Council
Speaker Christine Quinn seems to have lost her focus on recent issues. It did not surprise me in the least to hear
that Quinn took offense over Chick-Fil-A President Dan Cathy’s view on the
state of gay marriage. Nor did it shock
me to learn that she tried to have the only Chick-Fil-A in New York City thrown
out of NYU.
My disgust and
anger toward Quinn bubbles up from the knowledge that she made time to harass
the President of NYU and release a statement asking Chick-Fil-A’s President Dan
Cathy to overcome his homophobia while quickly and callously dismissing the
fact that there are hundreds of thousands if not millions of under paid New
Yorkers working without being paid for sick days.
Felix Trinidad
is the latest casualty in Quinn’s war on everything anti-gay. Trinidad died of stomach cancer on July 12th
of this year at the age of 34. He was
the sole provider for his wife and two young children. What really gets under my skin and festers is
knowing that Quinn will fight tooth and nail for causes close to her heart and
that furthers her political agenda but the same people who get out of work too
late to kiss their children good night but early enough to cast their vote on
election day so that she can keep her seat are being made to work with terminal
illnesses, debilitating pain and agony so that the small businesses that line
Quinn’s pocket will not suffer.
I was once one
of Christine Quinn’s biggest fans and supporters but come Election Day when its
time to choose Bloomberg’s successor this is one vote that Quinn can count on
losing.
Sources: Albor
Ruiz and Erin Durkin of the Daily News
Friday, August 10, 2012
Lena Land Books to Release a Domestic Violence Anthology “When Angels Bleed”
Author L.S. Williamson exemplifies the motto, “No rest for the weary” as she barrels ahead with her next book When Angels Bleed. The book soon to be released will be a compilation of true stories of the battles in the fight against Domestic Violence from the male and female perspective. The victims will be both familiar and indiscriminate as are the effects of abuse. There are women and men being verbally, physically, psychologically, financially, sexually and emotionally abused by those closest to them.
No
one ever tells you to enter at your own risk when walking through the gates of
love. They will badger you into marriage and threaten you with tales of
shriveled eggs if you wait too long to have kids but have no dialogue of
deliverance when that lover of yours leaves you beaten and battered. When it
hurts to be touched, not one of those hugs are light enough to feel or strong
enough to heal.
Warn
us from the time we are old enough to understand that tender kisses and blinding
punches are not a prerequisite to love at all. Let the knowledge of all forms
of abuse be as melodic as a song.
When Angels bleed God sheds a tear
As the blood
flows like a river, far and near.
The Heavens
quiver and the fires in Hell rise higher,
Blaze brighter
as pure evil snuffs out the Angel’s light.
Where goodness
once shined brighter than a July sun,
Now lives fear
and despair, the darkness has come.
Battle scars are
beauty marks on the soldiers of God.
By Lena S. Williamson
Psalm 34:19 "Many are the afflictions of the
righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all."
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