Words can destroy nations. Words can mend hearts. Words can capture memories.

Words are powerful. Yet, words are nothing until someone has the courage to let them form like the Big Bang in their mind and spill them onto a page.

Back in my younger years, I hated writing. Mostly because we had to write for some grade according to someone’s rules. Today, I write because I have found my own voice. While I continue to work on my craft, I never lose sight of the bigger picture and historical continuum.

“A writer should get as much education as possible, but just going to school is not enough; if it were, all owners of doctorates would be inspired writers.”
—Gwendolyn Brooks, Report from Part One

This craft that has been entrusted with me (and many others today). It’s due to those who wrote before me that I can write today about my view of the black experience and beyond. Too often, I only see quotes from a handful of writers of colour—Alice Walker, James Baldwin, Maya Angelou, Ralph Ellison, Toni Morrison, W.E.B. DuBois or Langston Hughes. I’m take this moment in time to shine light on a few others that may not get the same exposure.

• Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968)
  You probably have heard of this guy. I wanted to include him because of the timing. Today, April 4th, is the 46th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination. MLK was a writer. His words still resonate today. He was 39. I’ll be 39 in 4 days…just thought you might want to know.
• Phillis Wheatley (1753-1784)
  Phillis was the first African-American woman to be published. At the time, it was thought that it was impossible for an African woman to write poetry.
• Gwendolyn Brooks (1917-2000)
  Gwendolyn was born in Topeka, Kansas but spent the majority of her life living in Chicago. In 1950, she won the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry for her work, Annie Allen. She was the first African-American to win a Pulitzer in any category.
• Robert Hayden (1913-1980)
  Robert was born Asa Bundy Sheffey. He was a writer and teacher (University of Michigan & Fisk University). He considered himself “a poet who teaches in order to earn a living so that he can write a poem or two now and then.” Robert’s most famous works centered on the intersection of key historical figures like Harriet Tubman and Nat Turner, and the Black American experience.
• George Washington Williams (1849-1891)
  George is famous for his book, History of the Negro Race in America. He studied over 12,000 sources over the course of 7 years to create this work.

“…to the friends and foes of the Negro in the hope that the obsolete antagonisms which grew out of the relations of master and slave may speedily sink as storms beneath the horizon; and that the day will hasten when there shall be no North, no South, no Black, no White,—but all American citizens, with equal duties and equal rights.”
—George Washington Williams

These word artists created ripples in history. Poems and prose. Culture and race. Politics and history. Their words have stood the test of time. Their ink is the foundation upon which I write today.

I am a writer.

It took me a long time to be able to be able to say this declaration. Now, it’s my turn to create useful works with my ink...print or digital. My intention is that my words create a ripple for future writers to fall in love with the craft and make a forward shift.

My biggest new chapter begins In 4 days, I will finally take the step that the giants before me took. On April 8th, I’m publishing Flexibility Not Required: Yoga for Men v1.08. It’s a conversation to help men help themselves.

I’ll follow that up with 22x22: A Haiku Project, 22 categories and 22 haikus for each category. It’s in honor of my youngest brother that committed suicide at the age of 22. As a part of 22x22, I’m looking to partner with a national or international suicide prevention/awareness organization for a special project related to World Suicide Prevention Day, September 10, 2014. If you are aware of any organization, please contact me at conscious@accessandoptimism.com.

Much gratitude for taking the time to read my words.