Blog

As an incarcerated individual, I’ve struggled to find purpose and hope. Your program has been a beacon of light, guiding me toward transformation.

The biggest shift for me has been going from directing all my power in the pursuit of a personal goal to conquer, to remembering that all power is shared power, that I want to use that power to be of the most benefit to the most people, and that the way to do that is in connection with (not competition with) other women - or men!

To see firsthand the amount of care and concern and passion that the people of Free Food put into everyday existence restored in me a high degree of not only respect but compassion for the suffering, the needy.

And so, in some realm where consciousness meets consciousness, Donald and I continue our friendship, dance like the spirits we are, grateful to feel our eternal connection. 

Then we remember that any place anyone does not see is just a place they are hungry. Because we are full, we can offer love until they remember, too.

Fortunately, I learned something along the way that served me well. We don’t do those kinds of things for anyone but ourselves, and when we do, we feel good.

Artwork has always been a refuge for me—especially at this stage of my life. It speaks for me in ways where people will finally hear me without judging who I am or what I am… that to me is the purpose of the Black Tara

In that moment, in the middle of Harlem, on a porch with a bunch of people I didn’t even know a few weeks earlier, I felt welcomed. Like a neighbor myself.

I’ve managed to find meaning and purpose for my life at a time and place that I never thought possible. But, with the help and guidance from The Art of Soulmaking, the impossible has become my new reality.

Raylene’s community watched out for each other. They made sure that whoever didn’t have money had enough to eat. If someone didn’t have a place to live there was always a couch. If someone’s mom was on drugs, someone else would take in the kids.

There is the ineffableness of an experience with women sharing their power. You have to feel it to know it. But it can move mountains.

Two of our former interns received certificates for their participation in the re-entry program and work commitments prevented several others from receiving their awards.