My mom’s baby sister, someone who has always been a part of my life, transitioned from this life to the next on Thursday, June 25, 2026. It was the same day that President Donald Trump hosted a political rally and the “Great American State Fair.” The same week that Congress was asked to approve supplemental funding of nearly $88 billion to continue a war in Iran that American citizens did not ask, and the audacity of this request came after the current administration told the American people lies that they wanted to be more financially efficient. The government “efficiency” only lasted long enough so nearly one hundred thousand Black women could lose their federal government jobs. My soul cries out for the Black women and the families that remain negatively impacted by such grievance.

As America celebrated 250 years, I wanted to write and challenge us to tell the truth about our nation’s history and the current conditions of this land that was supposedly “made for you and me.” But I couldn’t do that because I was carrying for my dad as he recovered from surgery and was being present for my aunt during her last days. After a 2 ½ year battle with stage 4 colon cancer, the body of this Black woman laid itself down. On that morning, I began the day alone in the quietness of my home, reading the Holy Bible and praying. This year, I’ve been reading through the minor prophets with the women’s Bible study from my church. Throughout the scriptures, prophets share their laments often. In his book, Prophetic Lament, Soong-Chan Rah wrote, “Lament in the Bible is a liturgical response to the reality of suffering that engages God in the context of pain and trouble (pg. 21).”

My aunt didn’t write her own, but she left us a handwritten note outlining her memorial service asking that we have a reading of the Old Testament, New Testament, and in capital letters she wrote, “IMPORTANT include a reading from Job.” I was asked to select the scriptures. As I prepared, I reviewed Vanessa K. Hawkins’ study on the prophet, Amos, entitled, The Roar of Justice. In it, she shared an anatomy of lament that begins with a complaint (questions in misery), then petition (asking God to act), and closes with a praise (hope/assurance in the Lord’s character) (pg. 98). So, I sat on that morning, after reading Job 3:20-26, and wrote this lament:

When Death Comes Knocking

How long, O Lord must we wait as death knocks at our door?

How long will the tears roll down our cheeks?

How long will anxiety fill our hearts? And our bodies are robbed of sleep?

O Lord, my God please provide eternal rest for the weary soul,

Release of the captive,

Victory over the evil one,

Pardon on the day of judgment.

Command your angels to wrestle until the end.

I praise you because your word is true;

Your love is steadfast;

Your Holy Spirit will provide comfort, care, and rest for our weary souls.

It is not your desire that any one of your children will perish

so I look forward with hope and great anticipation for the eternal life that is to come

where the wicked will cease from trouble and the weary will be at rest,

where there will be no more struggle, suffering, pain, or death,

where we will be warmed by the eternal light and presence of the Son,

where love abounds forever and ever. Amen.

Two weeks later, I returned to my town to share the scriptures and this lament at my aunt’s memorial service with our family and all the friends who loved her. We all wore pink, and I was reminded then, as I am now, that our love, our family, and our community will continue to sustain us, and with God as our anchor, we will carry on.

I know that I am not alone in my personal and public laments. Most often, I’m inspired to keep going by the ancestors that have gone before me. This summer, I read a book about the anti-lynching advocate, Mrs. Ida B. Wells Barnett. “At the age of twenty-two she had taken on a powerful railroad and won (pg. 41).” A cash reward of $500 (approximately $16.5K today) was due to her for the violent assault that she endured as three men dragged this petite—she was barely five feet tall—Black woman from a train because she refused removal from the “ladies” car to the “colored” car. The case was overturned nearly two years later, and she never received the money. Considering “her disillusionment with the legal system” (pg. 42), she wrote in her diary revealing her love for Black people and her community, and assurance that she was anchored in an unwavering faith in God. From her pen to God’s ears, she wrote a lament:

I had hoped such great things for my suit for my people generally. I have firmly believed all along that the law was on our side and would, when we appealed to it, give us justice. I feel shorn of that belief and utterly discouraged, and just now if it were possible would gather my race in my arms and fly far away with them. O God is there no redress, no peace, no justice, in this land for us? Though has always fought the battles of the weak & oppressed. Come to my aid at this moment & teach me what to do, for I am sorely, bitterly disappointed. Show us the way, even as Thou led the children of Israel out of bondage into the promised land.

(Ida B. the Queen, pg. 43)

These are the prayers and laments of Black women that are written through tears in the quiet, dark moments, and yet rise to a just and all-knowing God, who sees, cares, and will do something about it. You just wait and see. Receive this incents and offerings, oh God.

This month, I am recommending Michelle Duster’s Ida B. the Queen: The Extraordinary Life and Legacy of Ida B. Wells as my “Culture” reading. Enrich your faith and understand God’s heart for justice, by studying the book of Amos with Vanessa K. Hawkins’ The Roar of Justice.

Support Black-Owned Bookstores in America (listing by state) with your purchase.

On Thursday, October 29, 2026, I will be giving the keynote address in my local community at the Durham Cares Advancing the Vision Fundraiser Dinner. This is a free event that is open to the public, but registration is required here.

We most know Tubman for becoming the chief conductor of the Underground Railroad (UGRR), a stealth and organized community of anti-slavery leaders who put it all on the line to end the violent terror of cattle slavery. In her book, Harriet Tubman: The Road to Freedom, Catherine Clinton wrote, that “the UGRR was a full-fledged grassroots resistance movement, representing the truth national goals of democracy and liberty.”

Last summer, I took an intergenerational group of Black girls and women on the “Journey to Freedom” following the footsteps of Harriet Tubman along to the UGRR from USA to Canada between Juneteenth and the Fourth of July weekend. We will continue to share these stories, this history, and leadership with the next generation.

As a result of that experience, I was featured in the USAToday 250 video and article titled, “We explored the ‘uncomfortable’ and inspirational truths about the Underground Railroad.”

It begins:

Arnold Montgomery looks to the future by looking back through Harriett Tubman’s eyes.

On a recent visit to the rural area where the Underground Railroad’s most famous conductor was born enslaved in 1822, Montgomery, 71, can’t help but be moved by her tenacity. Her resilience. Her refusal to quit.

And he worries that the current political climate means historians and everyday Americans are being encouraged to downplay the reason she’s famous: She helped dozens of enslaved people escape to freedom at a time when owning another human was not just legal but socially acceptable.

“How can you move forward if you don’t know where you came from?” the retired substance abuse counselor from Canton, Ohio, asks out loud.

Although many enslaved people tried to escape what was formally known as “chattel slavery,” Tubman is the most-remembered name from the Underground Railroad, a loosely organized system that aided people running away from enslavers by crossing the Mason-Dixon Line. Tubman escaped in 1849.

Continue reading at USA Today. Check out more of Leadership LINKS “Journey to Freedom” footage.

I am currently reading Catherine Clinton’s book, Harriet Tubman: The Road to Freedom, in preparation for our next journey and national storytelling efforts. I highly recommend it as we continue to look back in the Ghanian Sankofa spirit, as a way for moving forward.

To understand how African Americans, descendants of the Transatlantic Slave Trade, remained hopeful during the dark centuries of their enslavement and how their faith motivated them to acts of liberation, you must study the book of Exodus as I recommended last month. And to under the deep roots of the Christian faith for Black people in the United States, you must learn how to see Jesus as the suffering servant; one who is acquainted with our grief and sorrows; who cares and provides physical and spiritual blessings on the poor, marginalized, and children; who died unjustly at the hands of the state because of the collaboration of a powerful, yet corrupt government, false prophets, and religious puppets. If you cannot yet see that, then you, have not yet encountered the God of the Holy Bible. Towards this end, this months “Faith” recommendation is James Cone’s, The Cross and the Lynching Tree.

Support Black-Owned Bookstores in America (listing by state) with your purchase.

Next month, I am partnering with author, friend, and certified Grief Educator, Natasha Smith to host our second “Leading through Grief” Retreat for B.L.A.C.K. Women. The retreat will be held August 30-September 1 at St. Francis Spring Retreat Center in Stoneville, NC. Deadline for the retreat is quickly approaching on July 15, 2026.

Grief comes to us in waves. Sometimes when we least expect it. When we hosted our first B.L.A.C.K. Women “Leading through Grief” retreat, I could hold the grief of others, as we plan for this retreat, I suspect that I will also need to be held.

My Aunt Latrice Monica Williams transitioned from this life on Thursday, June 25, 2026. This is a picture of us with her daughter on the day after they discharged her from the cancer treatment facility on March 4.

She was placed in hospice care on March 7. Since some of you have been praying for me and with our family during this time, and since her immediate family has made the public announcement, I wanted to share this update with you. My aunt also read this newsletter and would discuss it with me regularly. So, as a fellow writer with journalistic tendencies, I’m going to miss engaging with her in that way.

I have learned over the three decades of journeying through private and public grief that none of us are okay doing grief work or taking that path alone, so I hope that you will send or sponsor the right women to join us for this year’s grief retreat and encourage them to register before the retreat deadline.

So, I draw on the words of the prophet, Jeremiah (23:27-32 NIV), as he makes proclamations about lying prophets:

They think the dreams they tell one another will make my people forget [God’s] name, just as their ancestors forgot [God’s] name through [idol] worship. Let the prophet who has a dream recount the dream, but let the one who has my word speak it faithfully…”Is not my word like fire,” declares the Lord, “and a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?” “Therefore,” declares the Lord, “I am against the prophets who steal from one another words supposedly from me. Yes,” declares the Lord, “I am against the prophets who wag their own tongues and yet declare, “The Lord declares.” Indeed, I am against those who prophecy false dreams,” declares the Lord. “They tell them and lead my people astray with their reckless lies, yet I did not send or appoint them. They do not benefit these people in the least,” declares the Lord.

There is a Word from the Lord to the United States because of false declarations like these, because of our capitalistic greed, unrestrained violence, abuse of power, rejection of the poor and the stranger, and because our unwillingness to tell the truth, and because we don’t repent, repair, or turn from our wicked ways.

A few years ago, I wrote an essay entitled, “A Black Woman at War: Battling for God and a nation’s people” and reflected on the political, social, theological, and historical public wresting that I contextualized personally in my Black and feminine body. I began the essay with a quote, “We are in a battle for the soul of this nation,” as declared by Joseph Biden during the final phase of his race against Donald Trump. I shared then, what I still believe is true today: the enemy that we all ultimately face is not a president, political party, or any human, bur rather a principality and power, the spirit of the antichrist.

As we consider the American250 proclamation, I write because the nation is on fire and we are not paying attention or listening to the right people who can pour cooling water on our burning house. There was a dream given and then an invitation extended from Lady Liberty, but that dream was ignored and the invitation was revoked. As I continue the purposeful work that the Lord has given me, which includes, raising up the next generation of Black women as moral leaders and change makers, I remind them of the true prophets and catalytic leaders that have gone before us. We remember the Black women like Harriet Tubman who have always served as the moral conscious, true prophets, and catalytic leaders of this country, challenging us all to continue in the journey to freedom and live up to our highest ideals. Together, we are fighting for the soul of our nation.

As I write for this community, I promise to keep identifying the threats, speaking truth to power, and following in the footsteps of my ancestors, who worked tirelessly to pursue freedom and make a better country and world for all humanity. I will continue to appeal to the soul of America. Historically, this has been the work of Black women, advocates, and the Black preacher. However, we are at such a crisis point where this must become the work of any and every one of goodwill.

Specifically, preachers of predominately white churches or any white cultured or white dominate spaces must increase their learning, exposure, and courage in this moment. For, too often, their theology has focused exclusively or primarily on the soul of the individual. Saving souls and sharing good news is paramount. However, if we do not understand both the spiritual and physical implications of the gospel, then we have misunderstood the Sermon on the Mount. We have misunderstood Jesus’s proclamation of his own ministry. We have missed the entire message of the gospel of John. We have not yet understood the Lord’s prayer or Jesus’s high priestly prayer in John 17. The sermon, commentary, or book of the white preacher or theologian misses the mark when it is not large enough to speak to individuals as a part of a collective whole people group, nation, or tribe. All true prophets in the Bible demand that preachers and national leaders speak to the nations. So goes the king, so goes the people.

We must all get on this journey to pursue freedom and justice for all, unless we become consumed by the fire. I have been studying the minor prophets this quarter, and by all accounts, the United States has been found guilty of God’s judgments. We have found our feet slipping as Jonathan Edwards declared in his sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” The fire is hot, and just because God’s grace and his appointed time of judgment has not yet come upon us in full form, we must not deceive ourselves into thinking that we are safe or that God is pleased.

We are delusional in all our dreaming, our wickedness, our greed, our self-flatter, and celebrations about our own “greatness” and blaming the pageantry on Christ. As Edwards states, “All wicked men’s pains and contrivance which they use to escape hell, while they continue to reject Christ, and so remain wicked men, do not secure them from hell one moment. Almost every natural man that hears of hell, flatters himself in what he has done, in what he has now doing, or what he intends to do. Every one lays out matters in his own mind how he shall avoid damnation, and flatters himself that he contrives will for himself, and that his schemes will not fail.”[1] Do not be deceived. The United States of America is a young nation, and the American experiment is capable of failure. All the woes to us.

We need everyone to do a soul check now, and to stand guard over the house. How will you join the “Journey to Freedom” Movement?

Reflecting on the themes of this month’s writing, I am recommending the books Night Flyer: Harriet Tubman and the Faith Dreams of a Free People by Tiya Miles and my Journey to Freedom: Discovering the God of Deliverance, Exodus Bible study.

After reading this month’s newsletter, some may be asking themselves, what can I do to join the “Journey to Freedom” movement? I will offer a few opportunities with you in the coming months. For now, you can take the following steps:

· Share what you have learned with your local community. This essay and the video are both great conversation starters.

· Financially support the work of Black women-led organizations or other organizations doing good justice work to support marginalized communities. Consider “Investing in a Girl” with my nonprofit, Leadership LINKS, Inc.

· Have a Bible study or a book club discussion using these resources:

Night Flyer is a faith biography of Harriet Tubman, which also includes the freedom stories of her contemporaries, Black women spiritual leaders: Jarena Lee, Zilpa Elaw, Old Elizabeth, and Julia A.J. Foote. Miles writes, “I offer a portrait of Harriet Tubman, the fierce dreamer and fragile leader of a people who refused to be ghosted. Called Moses by her followers, she was one among many wilderness walkers who crafted an epic, yet imperfect, culture of resilience (22).” By reading books like this in community, we collectively learn from true prophets and leaders who have sought and found a better way.

In keeping with the theme, my Journey to Freedom Bible study is written as a layperson’s community through the book of Exodus as God guided his people out of their enslavement and into a purposeful life that he promised.

Support Black-Owned Bookstores in America (listing by state) with your purchase.

This month, I am sharing an opportunity from one of my colleagues, Dr. Jeanne Porter King, President of the Transporter Consulting Group. Dr. King is offering a 4-week Leading Well Virtual Workshop on Stress Recovery, Resilience, and Sustainable Self-Caer for Leaders beginning this week. This workshop is educational and leadership-development focused and is not intended as therapy or mental health treatment.

Scan the QR Code above to register and pay. Price: The pilot rate is $40.00 per person, includes workshop materials. Act quickly!

[1] https://www.jonathan-edwards.org/Sinners.pdf

The impending death of a loved one is the reality of my personal life, and that is the reason why I am operating at about half of my capacity. Death is the reason why my days start slower, why I am ending some things early and starting others late. It is the reason why have missed some deadlines and why my inbox is out of control. It’s the reason that I haven’t intentionally checked in with my paid subscriber community. (I apologize to y’all.) It is also the reason why, in this season, I have released those standards about whether I have had a good and productive day. I have been moving at a slower and more intentional pace, and that has been good for my soul.

And yet, I am not aloof to the realities and injustices that continually press in on the local, national, or global scale, often a result of poor governance. As a Gen Xer, I have not been one easily tempted by the influence and distraction of the news, online entertainment, or social media, so I can silence the noise or turn off the notifications. That’s a good thing because if I was constantly distracted and only focused on all those external things, I would never be able to attend to the reality, needs, and losses in my own life, family, community, and work.

And yet, I understand that we do (all of us) have an important responsibility to the public. How we live out our collective responsibility may look different for everyone but for me, as a Christian who takes the Holy Bible seriously, I long to continually lean into the prophetic work of truth telling. I am currently studying the minor prophets with the women in my Sunday School class (yes, I still I attend those). Often, the prophets are messengers of God who are speaking to nations (not individuals) about the injustices, abuses, and violence they have bestowed among vulnerable people because of their denial of God, greed, and commitment to idol worship.

So, while I am not performative in my public and communal justice work, I am invested and deeply committed to this level of truth telling, and how I spend my time, talent, and treasure (especially with Leadership LINKS, Inc.). There is much to grieve in the public sphere for death is all around us. The public death is not simply the loss of physical life, for it can also include the death of our hopes, dreams, futures. We can grieve the death of what we thought this nation was, or what we hoped our lives would be. Death and grief are able teachers.

When we think about the personal death and grief that we carry, I want us to consider:

What is happening in me/us?

When we think about the public death and grief, we might ponder:

What is happening to us?

Is our brush with death or grief making us better? Is it because of someone else’s bidding or a result of our own doing? The work of prophets is to warn the people and speak truth regarding the pain, violence, and destruction that is sure to come among an unjust and unrepentant who do not uphold the Lord’s standard or submit to the way of Jesus. This is some of the work that I do through writing and sharing in this community.

However, I want us all to pause long enough to consider that while it is true, sometimes we have no control over the losses that come into our lives. It is not true that we have no agency in how we respond to the various ways that the thief of “death has climbed into our windows” (Jer. 9:21). I shared some of that pondering and reflection, along with the tension of personal and public grief during a keynote address that I gave at the University of Virginia a few years ago.

The video includes an introduction and Q&A session. My keynote begins around 4:30 and ends around 37:10.

So, what shall we do with the death that so easily besets us?

I begin to close the address with the words:

I think we have allowed the death to make us emotionally numb, because the truth is: It takes work to choose life. It takes work to go against the grain, to care, to pause, to listen and learn, and to tell the truth about history. It takes work to inform yourself and do research so that you can respond intelligently about issues, to act in humility when you have done wrong or don’t have all the answers instead of pretending that you are right and that you do. It takes work to tell the truth when society tells us that everything is relative and only the people in our camps have common sense. It takes work to build and lead well when everything around you is rubble. It takes work to connect with people who are not like you, to forgive, to care, to trust, and to love again. It takes work to hope and have faith despite what we see.

Robert E. Quinn wrote, “When given a choice been deep change and slow death, we tend to choose slow death.” In this place of conversion tonight, I am inviting you—the right now and future leaders of our country—into deep change. This is the conundrum of our lives: death and life are the only two choices. Who are you becoming individually, and collectively as a community?

Through my writings and in the face of death, I hope to encourage you to choose life, love, integrity, compassion, and courage again and again. Death does not have the final word!

I am now booking speaking engagements for Fall and Winter 2026 and into 2027. To get started, explore the “Book Dr. Natasha” tab and complete the “Speaking Request Form.”

In Love,

Dr. Natasha

Reflecting on the themes of this month’s writing, I am recommending the books My Folks Don’t Want Me to Talk About Slavery and When Life and Beliefs Collide.

My Folks… is a book of twenty-one oral histories of former North Carolina slaves edited by Belinda Hurmence. As we approach the 250 Years of American Discourse, I think it important that we continue to Tell The Truth about this nation’s founding, how our country has been able to accumulate it’s massive wealth, and then use that power for global dominance and domestic terrorism across generations.

After we lost our firstborn child, my son, a mentor and friend invited me to attend a women’s conference where Carolyn Custis James, author of When Life and Beliefs… was speaking. I received her book that weekend, and that was the beginning of my healing work to reconcile such deep lost and disappointment with my faith, and what I understood as truth concerning God’s character.

I offer these two resources to you this month as you reflect on the personal and communal work of grief, loss, and injustice.

As a Black girl from South Carolina, I have held on to my faith, education, a commitment to love, and community as survival tools for this journey we call life. I believe that reading is important, which is why I have faithfully committed to writing, reading, and sharing resources over the years.

I also believe and am encouraged by the faithful witness and testimonies of the elders and ancestors that have gone before me to show us the way. I believe and accept their words as true, so I leave you with the words of formerly enslaved, Mr. W. L. Bost (who was interviewed on September 27, 1937 at 87), who said, “I know folks think the books tell the truth, but they sure don’t. Us poor niggers had to take it all.” To this statement I say, “Don’t just read. Read the right books” with ears that are willing to hear and eyes that are willing to see the goodness that God intends for all people, how far we have fallen, and the opportunities that we have to choose life.

Support Black-Owned Bookstores in America (listing by state) with your purchase.

This weekend, I am supporting my friend, fellow author, and retreat co-host, Natasha Smith, at the Grief Grows Here Summit. I will be facilitating a Garden-side Chat about Leading Through Grief.

If you are not able to join us in North Carolina this weekend, but need support, care, and community, please consider joining us for my B.L.A.C.K. Women “Leading Through Grief” Retreat with Natasha Smith. Dates: August 30-Septembet 1, 2026.

SERMON ON THE MOUNT

Prior to closing his sermon, Jesus warns his listeners about false prophets. The NASB Translation reads:

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits…So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not hear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits.” Matthew 7:18-20

He continues:

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter [emphasis added]. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; LEAVE ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.” Matthew 7:21-23

I’ve read these passages many times over the years, and this week’s reading is the first time that I recall my translation using the words “YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS,” perhaps those words jumped out to me this week because lawlessness is what we are witnessing everyday by national political leaders in the United States.

Today, I am not focusing on them. Today, I’m writing about us, those who call ourselves Christians, who proclaim to be disciples of Jesus Christ, people who look forward with great hope and anticipation to the new Heaven and new earth that is promised when we put our faith and hope in Jesus. Today, I am writing to the people who embrace His kingdom.

PUBLIC WITNESS OF THE CHURCH

I write to you sisters and brothers because it matters what we believe about Jesus, whether we know God’s Word, take God’s Word seriously, and act on what we know. When we are hearers and doers of God’s Word, we have a solid foundation to stand when bad weather comes, and it is coming.

As God’s people, dearly beloved, we need God’s Word, and we also need discernment and courage to stand on and speak the truth about what we know. We must not be ashamed to call out false prophets whether they are operating inside or outside of the church or in the public arena. I am concerned about the number of young people who have left the church. Among their top three reasons for leaving is hypocrisy. The young people have watched our acts and have concluded that we do not believe the message that we preach or we lack faith in acting on what we know. Either way, they are taking their chances out in the streets. That’s an indictment on us, not them, for we have failed to do the right thing or say the right thing when it really matters.

Telling the Truth matters. Building our lives on a solid foundation counts. Calling out false prophets is necessary, especially when people have not yet heard or understood the true character or Words of Jesus.

PROBLEMS WITH OUR SOCIETY

Part of the problems that we face in our society is:

· Everyone has been empowered with a platform through social media. While I understand the pros and cons of this level of access, creativity, or ingenuity, we must know that everyone who positions themselves as experts are not worth our time, attention, or money.

· The careless use of technology, lack of focus, or disinterest in reading deeply, thinking critically, working collaboratively or solving problems together, has not expanded our human connection, worldview, or thinking, but instead has made our world smaller through algorisms. Therefore, enough people are not researching, fact checking, or being challenged to a higher level of thought or human engagement.

· In recent decades, the church in United States has not consistently and collectively been a credible public or prophetic witness to the injustices in our land. Instead, the church has either gotten in bed with politicians for favors, traded righteousness for money, or has been too inwardly focused on what’s happening within the four walls of a building.

The latter statement is one of concern because too often, the “church representatives” who have made the choice to get in bed with politicians or trade their righteousness for money, are the same ones that have the biggest churches, largest social media platforms, extended influence, become the best sellers, and present the lives that the “American Dream” tells us that we should all want. Too often their choices lead to injustice and lawlessness in their personal, professional and political lives, and if the watching world finds out it is often too late. Jesus would call these “church representatives” false prophets, but the young people or those who do not know Jesus’ character or words cannot differentiate between them and the rest of us.

Currently, I’m going through a study of the minor prophets with the women in our church. During our first lesson, the facilitator asked the question, “How do we distinguish between a true and false prophet?” Several answers were given but I will only share a few of them here.

We must first consider: Who sent them? A true prophet is sent by the Holy Spirit and will reflect the Word and will of God. We must then consider: Does what they say come true? Old Testament prophets spoke about the coming Messiah and although the Messiah did not come during their lifetimes, prophecies continue to echo and support each other through a historical thread until the appointed time. The Words of professing prophets of our day should reflect and support the inspired Words of scripture. In other words, we need something solid to measure the prophet’s word against. And the last consideration allows us to reflect where we started. We must consider: What fruit are they producing? The scripture tells us that good trees bear good fruit. Galatians 5: 2-23 reveals that “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” We can contrast the character, behavior, and “good fruit” of true prophets with what Jesus submits as the bad fruit of false prophets which often leads to lawlessness.

WHEN MEN FAIL AND WOMEN WAIL

As I close, the last problem that we face in our society is that we have casually allowed too many men—often white—to fail upwards without real consequences for their actions. Our nation is currently being led mostly by middle aged or elderly white men who have been allowed to fail upwards. I have written on numerous occasions about how our nation does not trust women to lead, and that is to our destruction.

When I gathered a community of Black Indigenous Women of Color (BIWOC) to pray together and work on the Voices of Lament book project, the year was 2020. We were in the third year of President Donald Trump’s first term. That summer, we experienced a racial reconciling and entered a global pandemic that has led to millions of deaths across the globe. The women on the project prayed together, wrote prophetically, and they told the truth about the United States and how the president’s language and policies impacted their communities. We wailed together and cried out letting the church know that our house was not stable.

I wrote in the book’s introduction that “I believe that God’s women must rise quickly now to lead us and show us all how to respond to this present darkness.” I called for the BIWOC because we know what it means to live under conditions of lawlessness, to remain steadfast, to tell the truth, and to share hope for ourselves, each other, and the next generation. We know and follow The Way.

Over the past year, I have wondered what would have happened if the church in the United Sates had read that book when it released. When I survey the bestselling Christian books of 2022, they include a devotional, stuff on Christian living, and even a couple of fiction books. There we were literally fighting for our lives, trying to recover from a global crisis, political unrest, and systemic racial injustices, yet the church was carrying about business as usual and casually reading the same stuff when the wounds of our people were serious. We were not equipping our people for the present moment nor the moments ahead, so here are, and here I am again, asking you to listen to Jesus, to reject the false prophets who partner with the empire to crucify our Lord again with their lying tongues and lawless actions, and to hear the truth-telling voices of wailing women.

In Love,

Dr. Natasha

In honor of Women’s History Month, I am sharing personal narratives with historical context of Black Indigenous Women of Color (BIWOC) from across the global.

This month’s recommended reading includes my first editing project, Voices of Lament: Reflections on Brokenness and Hope in a World Longing for Justice, where 29 BIWOC share their reflections on the Hebrew acrostic poem, Psalm 37. The book includes personal essays about how God deals with the wicked and the righteous, sharing the reality of our personal God, God’s faithfulness to diverse people groups who suffer under empire, and highlight a Shero (many hidden figures or unknown women) from throughout history who have trusted God’s faithful words and embodied the highlighted passage through service, justice, and righteous living. The book also included poems, liturgies, and beautiful artwork throughout.

As a quick devotion, listen to these short video reflections from Voices of Lament contributors, and subscribe to my YouTube channel for notifications and future video content.

As we approach the 250 American Discourse celebrations, it is important to remember the full story and lift up the names and stories of American s/heroes that the United States is too quick to ignore, overlook, or forget. I will not forget Sojourner Truth. I will continue to lift up her name, and invite you to read Sojourner Truth: A Life, A Symbol by Nell Irvin Painter.

Support Black-Owned Bookstores in America (listing by state) with your purchase.

Grief deserves a safe place to land. I’m participating in the Grief Grows Here Summit on May 2, 2026 in Raleigh, NC hosted by author and co-facilitator of my B.L.A.C.K. Women “Leading Through Grief” Retreat, Natasha Smith, to hold space for grief, healing, and growth.

Register for the Summit.

“What must we do now?”

Many are weary and have fallen into despair. Some simply put their heads down or entertain themselves to death. Others don’t know what to do, so they paralyze themselves and do nothing at all.

I don’t know the thoughts that you are keeping or if there is anything that prevents you from sleeping at night. Perhaps all is well with your soul; you remain hopeful and are committed to good work in your local community. That would be good news.

Today, I write simply to raise my voice as one among many who have answered the call for Christians to consider the responsibility that we have as public witnesses of the love, grace, truth, and justice of Jesus. For me, faith is not simply about personal piety or the afterlife, it is about saying “yes” to God’s invitation to partner with the divine and bring about goodness and light into the world. It is about acting in faith once I have prayed, “your kingdom, your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” I just finished reading the book of Revelations and was reminded again of all that we—believers from every tribe, language, nation, and people group—have and can look forward to when heaven and earth is made new.

In the meantime, we collectively watch, pray, and work to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living (Psalm 27:13).

Our nation is in crisis, and unfortunately the moral decline has been championed by a theological malfeasance by the church and the state which presents a danger for citizens, neighbors, and the world. Last month, I was privileged to gather with Christian leaders from diverse traditions to pray and reflect through this current historical moment. Together, we workshopped a statement and call to courageous and faithful witness.

I invite you to read the statement and ask if you are willing to join as a signee today.

Sign the Statement

In honor of Black History Month, I also raise my voice to challenge and invite you to invest in the next generation. Consider the stories that you share about Black people, and how you can support Black-owned or Black-led organizations throughout the year. Specifically, I am asking you to invest in Black girls.

My nonprofit, Leadership LINKS, Inc. celebrated our 10^th Anniversary of incorporation last year. You can view our 10 Year Impact Report here. Through this organization, I intentionally raise up the next generation of Black women leaders and changemakers.

If we want better leaders, then we must invest in them.

That investment includes our time, talents, and treasure. It’s my honor to invest in small groups of people over long periods of time through this organization, and we need your help to continue that good work. We need a diverse community of like-minded people to prepare these emerging leaders to follow in the footsteps of the bold and courage Black women leaders who have come before us as truth-tellers, advocates, educators, ministers, and community servants for Black women have always been the moral conscience of our nation.

Through this organization, we will continue to share the public narrative and make a public call to Christians, the nation, and communities domestic and abroad to tell the truth and form a more perfect union. Please stand with us by donating or becoming a month recurring donor today.

Check out our Soul of a Nation video.

In honor of Black History Month (which is USA History that should be read and studied by all throughout the year), I am sharing personal narratives with historical context of two Black leaders and descendants of the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

This month’s recommended reading includes my memoir, A Sojourner’s Truth, which shares my upbringing as a Black girl from Orangeburg, South Carolina and reflects on the history of African Americans in the United States through the theological lens of Moses and the Exodus narrative in light of the metanarrative of God’s redemptive story.

You can find the book online anywhere books are sold, and I am also reading the audio book.

I am also sharing the bestseller Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, as a follower up to last month’s classic, Fire Next Time by James Baldwin.

Support Black-Owned Bookstores in America (listing by state)

If you are local to the Triangle, NC area. I will be teaching from my Journey to Freedom Exodus Bible study this weekend. Details and registration.

I am also partnering with author, friend, and certified Grief Educator, Natasha Smith to host our second “Leading through Grief” Retreat for B.L.A.C.K. Women.

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So I’ve been thinking more intentionally about the stories that we tell, the narratives we recreate and particularly how those stories and narratives are used to socialize a people, to endorse the abuse of power, and even radicalize people into political or violent action. Public Narrative shapes what and how we remember, through what lens, and it has the power to shape our future.

When Langston Hughes wrote the poem, “I, Too” in 1926, this intellectual Black man from an oppressed people group was telling us exactly how he saw America and the shapers and keepers of the American story. He told you exactly how he saw and felt about himself and the people who looked like him. His story, the public narrative that he crafted for himself was filled with laughter and joy, and good eating—even if the delicacy that his mother created began with the straps from master’s table—he would eat well, and grow strong. He would insist on joy and have a hopeful future.

When Nina Simone sung the words, “Mississippi Go**am” and then passionately recounted the violence murders of the four little Black girls in Alabama, the assassination of Dr. King in Memphis, and continued tracing the public narrative of American violence, and how it caused her to be upset, to lose rest, and to curse, she was revealing a truth about America. She was telling us that in her Black and feminine body, she lived in a land that she called her own, but it was actually a place where she did not belong. She revealed how this tension and lack of belonging cause her to stop believing in prayer and to become violent. For violence begets violence; lies, more lies; hate, more hate. So, she asks the question, “Why don’t you see it? Why don’t you feel it? I don’t know.” It’s a desperate cry and plea of someone who has given up all hope, who no longer is able to dream.

This is AMERICA when power is abused, when greed takes over, when violence is the tool, when humans separate themselves and forget God.

The prophet Isaiah wrote about a people who have lost their way to become wicked, and in their boldness, there is no correction so ruthless power goes unchecked.

“We hope for justice, but there is none; For salvation, but is far from us (Is. 59:11b NASB).”

The prophet knows the truth, and he has proclaimed it in public. To those who have ears, let them hear.

“Justice is turned back, And righteousness stands far away; For truth has stumbled in the street, And uprightness cannot enter (Is. 59:14).”

The prophet knows the truth, and he has proclaimed it in public. To those who have ears, let them hear.

“Truth is lacking, And one who turns aside from evil makes himself a prey. Now the Lord saw, And it was displeasing in His sight that there was no justice (Is. 59:15).”

The prophet knows the truth, and he has proclaimed it in public. To those who have ears, let them hear.

So, when humans fail, as we often do, and God’s patience runs out, whenever it most certainly will, God will indeed bring about salvation, justice, righteousness. God will repay all people according to their deeds. There will be retribution for the many things that God holds against a rebellious and unrepentant people.

To those who have ears, let them hear.

So, what must we do now?

In a recent interview, author and professor, Ta-Nehisi Coates lamented the cowardly behavior that we are observing from institutions. He challenged the audience to live lives of integrity, and if you are a person of integrity, to defend what you say you believe.

I have the audacity to believe the words of the preacher and prophet, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. “that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits. I believe that what self-centered men have torn down, men other centered can build up. I still believe that we shall overcome.”

Live a life of integrity, one of belief and faith, one that is anchored in truth. Live this life bold and courageously.

I will not say today, “Don’t be afraid.” For fear can be a real emotion telling us that our lives are in danger and therefore, we need to respond.

How will you respond to the public narrative? As a true or false prophet?

In this moment, like right now, we need all people to become strong and courageous. We need everyone to consistently do some big or small thing to right the wrongs, to tell the truth in the face of lies, to shine light where there is darkness, to bring unity to chaos, to show love instead of hate. If you are afraid, then we need you to do this good and righteous work with your knees bulking, your legs shaking, and your stomach in knots. Do it in community with others. We need you to stand, move, and act anyway.

Do not lose hope. Do not forget to dream. Instead, remember that you are not powerless. You do have agency. You can make a difference somehow. We are all watching, waiting, and working for the sons and daughters of God to be revealed. We can make a better world for ourselves, our children, our children’s children, and the children that are yet unborn. And they will remember what we did and how we responded in this moment.

We can write a better story.

Coates continued, “Someday, we will come out of this into something else...and if none of us are hear to see it, tell your children who the cowards were.”

God is with us:

“As for Me, this is My covenant with them,” says the Lord: “My Spirit who is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your offspring, nor from the mouth of your offspring’s offspring,” says the Lord, “from now and forever (Is. 59:21.”

May it be so, Lord Jesus.

This month’s recommended reading includes a beautiful theological work, Liturgies for Resisting Empire by my dear friend Kat Armas, and the classic, Fire Next Time by James Baldwin.

Support Black-Owned Bookstores in America (listing by state)

If you are local to the Triangle, NC area. I will be teaching from my Journey to Freedom Exodus Bible study next month. Details and registration.

I am also partnering with author, friend, and certified Grief Educator, Natasha Smith to host our second “Leading through Grief” Retreat for B.L.A.C.K. Women.

More to come…

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A few hours ago, due to a lawsuit led by the likes of NC Attorney General, Jeff Jackson, a federal court ruled that the Agriculture Department acted unlawfully by refusing SNAP payments, and as a result, the administration has decided to provide half of the benefits through the program’s contingency fund. SNAP recipients under the age of 18 are approximately 39%, with approximately 11% of those children being under the age of 5. In a country that boasts about being amongst the richest in the world, these things should not be.

From a regime that claims Christianity with the continuing and alarming support of mostly white Christian evangelicals, these actions are contrary, not simply to the teachings of the Bible. They are contrary to the teachings of Jesus Christ.

The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to see the oppressed free, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor (Luke 4:18-19).

Jesus Christ’s ministry has spiritual and physical manifestations. This is the reason that Jesus walked around physically healing sick people, raising the dead, and giving food to the famished. The faith of true disciples, Christ followers, includes physical acts that align with the practices, principles, and actions of Jesus. To respond otherwise is “goat behavior” (Reference: Matthew 25:31-46), to which Jesus will call people into account for their actions.

This past weekend on November 1, I had the good fortune of hearing Rev. Dr. Willie James Jennings speak twice. This was not my first time hearing him speak, and I read a couple of his books in my doctorate program, so I am acquainted with his work and kingdom contribution. But on this morning, he spoke on the topic “Christianity vs. Christ followers” and gleaned from this book, After Whiteness: An Education in Belonging. I’m sharing some highlights and reflections for consideration.

Dr. Jennings shared history about the purpose of education in the United States of America.

Who was education for? The master’s son

What was the purpose of education? The master’s son was trained to understand his self-sufficiency as a white man.

What was the end state or goal of this education? For the master’s son to learn how to make his world and then to own it

This was the reality of the education of whiteness as it was formed in the womb of colonial Christianity, and this education was deeply rooted in a theological imagination. Once the world is made and owned by the white master’s sons, and they start reaping the benefits of mastery and ownership, then that brand of Christianity and success is viewed as God’s providence.

So, instead of viewing themselves as an affront to God’s mastery and ownership, they view themselves as favored by God. Therefore, any threats to their faith, their brand of “Christianity” is also a threat to what God is doing in the world.

It is critically important that we study to show ourselves approved, not just the Holy Bible, but also history. If we study history, then we would know that much of the propaganda, the misinformation, and disinformation that we are witnessing in the nation right now has been perpetrated before. This is not the first time that one of our presidents has broken the law or that politicians have fed themselves and left their constituents hungry. This is not the first time that laws have been written or ignored because of racialized agendas. This is not the first time that government agents have used violence against people in the streets without being provoked or without due process.

Now, I am not saying that we have seen “this type” of lawlessness before, for we have not seen a twice impeached and convicted President have control of the House and the Senate, and the support of the majority within the Supreme Court. The lack of checks and balances and this level of impunity is unprecedented. Only a few weeks ago, I sat in a room at a conference in Atlanta, GA to listen to Rev. Bernice King, daughter of Dr. Martin Luther and Mrs. Coretta Scott King, when she emphatically warned us that we have not seen this type of lawlessness before. So, there is cause for great concern when injustice is emboldened and empowered and then wrapped in a cloak of Christianity. Living in that world is dangerous because the master and his willing sons will literally kill others to maintain the deception and illusion of the lie that they are the masters and owners of the world. They leave no room for God.

It is with this historical and theological backdrop that Dr. Jennings presented responses to this type of Christianity.

1. Some people understand that this “Christianity” is bad, so they reject it. The people who fall into this category have been presented with this “Christianity,” and they decide that they want no parts of it.

2. Other people decide that this “Christianity” is bad, but they accept it anyway. Maybe they are threatened or afraid, so they may accept this “Christianity” in the day light, while they practice something else or nothing at all when night comes.

3. Then there are the last two groups of people who either accept this version of “Christianity” as their own and allow the narrative that the master has spoken over their lives to control their lives. It is the master’s world after all.

But then there is a last group who looks beyond the master’s tools and the master’s ways, to see with their spiritual eyes that there is something to “Christianity” or someone beyond the veil of what the master has spoken over their lives, so they accept the faith and rework it from the ground because they have spiritually experienced something that is beyond them. So, they learn through their suffering how to rework their faith.

It is this latter group that comes to see Jesus as master, owner, creator of all things in Heaven and on earth. This latter group becomes followers of Christ. They are the sheep who hear the shepherd’s voice and only respond to his voice. This group learns the straight and narrow way, and they walk in it. They learn how to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly (Micah 6:8) in the dark as agents of the one true master and owner.

They build bridges, communities, churches, schools, and they cultivate a shared world. In their faithfulness, perhaps, the one sheep who has wondered off will return to the master, and the goats can become sheep.

Will you continue to build bridges with me?

This is an extremely tough time for many. Several of my capable and qualified colleagues and clients are now unemployed or under employed. And for those of us who are entrepreneurs, potential clients are being much more reserved in their spending because of economic uncertainty. Several writers, like me, are now seeing platforms like this as their only sustainable income. All of these realities have come near the Robinson’s house.

Will you consider supporting my work in the following ways:

1. BECOME A PAID SUBSCRIBER

I have started a weekly Word of encouragement with this online community, and will begin resourcing them in the New Year.

2. CELEBRATE AND INVEST IN MY NONPROFIT, LEADERSHIP LINKS, INC.

Please register to join us for our 10th Anniversary of Incorporation.

On make a monthly or one-time donation in honor of this milestone anniversary.

3. DIRECT PEOPLE TO MY BUSINESS FOR CONSULTING AND EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP COACHING SERVICES

Website: www.T3LeadershipSolutions.com

4. DIRECT PEOPLE TO MY SPEAKING WEBSITE FOR 2026 BOOKINGS

www.NatashaSRobinson.com

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These four areas of doom are recurring themes as I listen to friends, colleagues, and mentees in my personal and professional life, and as I observe the chaos that is happening in our world, our nation, in the news, and on social media.

Global mayhem is the norm, and unauthorized and unrestrained violence is the daily reality of many of our lives. My daughter is attending her first semester of college, and every week since her start, there has been a violent murder on a college campus or a violent incident ending the precious life of a young person. A few weeks ago, a 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee, Iryna Zarutska, was violently attacked and murdered on a train that students from my daughter’s university are supposed to take for transportation.

A couple of weeks ago, the body of the 21-year-old Black, male student, Demartravion “Trey” Reed, was found hanging from a tree near the campus of Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi. The Mississippi state medical examiner has ruled the death a suicide, but Demartravion’s family as secured legal representation and has requested an independent autopsy and investigation.

In this life, death is an enemy to all of us. If that was the end of the story, then, yes, there is much to despair. But there is a God. Now more than ever, I believe that we are in desperate need of God. We need God to lift us from the wiles of the devil.

Because the truth is, there is much that we do not understand. The realities of our frail and human existence are staring all of us in the face. The illusion of control has failed us. But there is a God who is all knowing, all wise, all understanding, and who is in control. There is a God who cares.

So, when the dooms of the things that are outside of our control… Death, Depression, Distraction, and Despair..come to kill, steal, destroy, or take us under, we need a God who reaches out a hand to lift us up. We need to know and trust the certainty and hope that we have in that God who is able and willing, not to keep us from all trouble, but to be with us in the midst of our trouble and to carry us through.

Would you like to get to know more about that God?

I am pleased to announce that my Hope for Us: Knowing God through the Nicene Creed Bible study has gotten a facelift. The content is the same, but we have added some design elements and have updated the resources that are available in the Appendices.

Beginning next Wednesday, October 1, 2025 between 8:00-9:00 pm ET, I will facilitate a live 6-week virtual study. Purchase the study workbook and then register for the live study here.

Next month, my nonprofit, Leadership LINKS, Inc., is also releasing a 6-week introduction video series to accompany the study. So, if the live study dates don’t work for you, you can register at any time to participate in the asynchronous course individually, or you can gather a group of friends to begin a cohort together. Register today. All proceeds from the virtual studies support the work of the nonprofit.

With our Leadership LINKS Network Partners, we are also pleased to offer a free Facilitator Guide and video series so adults can teach the important Doctrine of the Trinity to Youth. You can download the guide and access the video series from our YouTube channel.

Sometimes when life gets too hard, we need to take a break. We need to sabbath. We need to draw away and be alone with God, to listen to God’s still small voice. We need to play, and remember that there is still beauty, goodness, and daily grace available to meet us. We need a community to encourage us along the way.

These gentle reminders are the opportunities that I am creating with upcoming retreats in the fall and winter months.

It is not too late to register for Black women to register for the “Leading through Grief” October 12-14, 2025 retreat with co-facilitator, author, and certified Grief Educator, Natasha Smith. We will continue to accept registrations through the end of next week for the remaining 9 slots. Register today.

We currently have 8 slots remaining for the Henry Nouwen, In the Name of Jesus retreat (Dates: November 14-16, 2025). This is a co-ed, multi-ethnic, and intergenerational retreat. Details and registration information can be found here.

We currently have 15 slots remaining for the B.L.A.C.K. Women’s Leadership Retreat (Dates: December 14-16, 2025). Register today.

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…you know the part in Dr. King’s dream that “my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will be judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character…that one day in Alabama…little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.”

It is such a lovely dream. Out of the abundance of his heart, Brother Martin’s heart speaks. A leader of character, one who actually leaves an impactful legacy, is someone who is not simply concerned with his or her own house, children, family, or country. Brother Martin was concerned about the future world we are creating for all children.

Today reflects the reality of our lives living in a fallen world, that death and life kiss, that beauty and ashes are strange bed fellows, that there are some leaders who serve their own interests and there are others who live to serve others. The latter is the moral leader of character that our world needs.

As I write, the country is mourning yet another shooting of innocent children attending school and in a sacred community. I do not forget the agony of the Sandy Hook School shooting on December 14, 2012. After that tragedy, our nation’s president, the brown man and father of two Black girls, got on the national stage and cried real, human tears, then asked his colleagues to pass reasonable gun legislation. His congress refused to do so, and his Republican colleagues were beginning to get vocal about not wanting him to have any wins. You know, because “history has its eyes on you,” and the American narrative certainly does not allow space for a compassionate Black man to save lives.

The country did not demand the safe protection of children, so we all went about our days. I remember thinking to myself, “Oh, we don’t even have space in our hearts to protect cute little white children anymore. So, the rest of us colored folks and our children, are most certainly in grave danger.”

And the senseless, unregulated shootings kept happening at schools and churches and mosques, in homes, on the streets because we, as a country, never heard Dr. King’s word. Not really.

We did not hear his dream “that one day this nation will rise up and live out the truth meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal’….we can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity.” They did not all accept the charge to go back to their states, cities, slums, and ghettos and become part of the change instead of wallowing in despair.

I heard the charge, and I accepted the call. Thirteen years ago, I began praying and gathering a community to intentionally invest in Black girls and young women, and raise them up to become the next generation of moral leaders.

Today, Leadership LINKS, Inc. celebrates its 10^th year of incorporation. I am convinced now more than ever that if we want to see better leaders, we have to invest our time, talents, and treasure so the legacy of leadership that is produced is one that serves the greater good of humanity.

Will you support us in this important work, by making an investment in Leadership LINKS, Inc. today? We would like to increase our monthly recurring donors by 100/month before the end of this year to prepare for organizational sustainability and great impact for the next 10 years and beyond.

Thank you for your prayerful consideration.

Her tears led to a conversation about all the anxiety and fear that comes with being a Black mother in the United States. I understand those emotions all too well. Having now sent our one and only daughter off to college, I awake everyday with the reality that she is a Black girl living in a country and culture that hates her existence, and I trust God will be her strong defense. My lament often turns into prayer and then purposeful work.

I think back to the time when I was my daughter’s age. We were a country under the leadership of William “Bill” Clinton. America was experiencing economic prosperity, but that didn’t trickle down to my home. Black people loved him. According to the Roper Center at Cornell University, Clinton garnered 83% of the Black vote in 1992 and 84% in 1996. The Black community and Black church culture dubbed Clinton the first “Black President” because we could not fathom ever having a President that looked like us, and because he graced our pulpits and entered our neighbors with such ease and relatability. The guy played saxophone, had charisma, and rubbed elbows with Black elite, and that was before the Monica Lewinsky scandal, which in some places gave him more street credibility.

I became an adult, a Black woman, in the United States in 1997. I entered adulthood, not as a college student, young person learning a trade, someone working a blue collar job or family business, or a teenager sleeping endless days on my parent(s)’ couch. I entered as a leader and public servant, someone who took an oath to “Support the Constitution of the United States of America, and to defend it against all enemies foreign and domestic.”

Thankfully, for the five years that I trained as a midshipmen candidate and midshipman at the United States Naval Academy, and the six years that I served as an officer in the United States Marine Corps, I kept that oath with integrity. I served with Sailors and Marines who were bold and courageous enough to do the same.

When I graduated college and was commissioned as an officer, there was more to grief. By age 22, I had already lost two grandparents, an aunt, and my mother. I still didn’t have financial independence, though I did receive a low-interest loan to start my career.

By the time I was honorably discharged in 2008, I was married and the mother of a toddler. She was born into a different world. I survived a war that we never should have entered, but I was close enough to know that I didn’t want my daughter to become a motherless child. Having lost our first child, I also knew that I didn’t want to be without her. So, I gave up the “fight for freedom” only to find that the country was about to plummet into economic disaster, which led to an empty savings account and the loss of our home.

And yet, I, alongside the Black women, who remain in my community, continued to pray, work, serve, build, grow, love and be loved together. We are the Matriarchs, and have been, long before our age dictated the proper time and transition. Having lost or cared for parents and grandparents, we have raised ourselves, our children, and other Black children in a hostile and unforgiving world.

And because we show up with such excellence, intentionality, and care with our hair slayed, skin poppin’, and outfit on lock, it is tempting to assume that this life and our work has been easy. I assure you; it is not.

92% of Black women in the United States are waking up every day to a traumatic nightmare that they did not create. After years of advocacy, education (for we are among the most educated), community organizing, justice work, and fighting for upward mobility, we are watching our work (my work and the work of our ancestors) crumble. The racialized agenda of the current political regime has caused a rise in unemployment among Black Americans. Over 300,000 of Black women have lost their jobs between February and April 2025. In my entrepreneurship and coaching practice, I am confronted daily with the reality of qualified or overqualified and educated, yet unemployed Black women, some who are not even getting called for job interviews.

I understand from my life experience, reading history, and my doctorate research that Black women have been the heart of every major movement for humanity and justice in this country. From the time that we were brought to these shores, Black women have been socially conditioned to care for everyone, yet people do not consistently care, fight for or support us. In her book, Black Women will Save the World, White House Correspondent, April Ryan wrote:

[Black women] offer America her moral compass as she [America] decides between two visions for the future: one that is broad, inclusive, and fair, and another that is undemocratic, dangerous, and hateful…Black women are triumphing, but we also continue to pay a profound price for our personhood and our leadership.

At least in this moment in history, America has made her choice. That choice is an affront to the identity, continuous work, and moral leadership of Black women. It is an affront to a just and righteous God. I agree with Ryan, that we need more Black women in leadership as they “navigate a world that wasn’t built for them but needs them more than ever.”

As Black women lead, I encourage them to do so in a manner that is honoring of their full humanity—caring for their minds, bodies, and souls—while affirming their identity with other Black women, and like-minded people, who will support them. The life and leadership path of Black women can be hard, isolating, and filled with despair without care, cultivation, and community. We often do more with less. We give more than we receive. We honor more than is due. We are grateful and committed to purpose, so we persevere. Yet, I am not oblivious to all that Black women carry.

I know the pain, grief, and suffering of living in this Black, feminine body. And I also love this identity and community in which God has graced me. I would not want to be anything other than a Black woman, period. I love, serve, and embrace Black women and girls. My unconditional love is why I intentionally create psychologically safe spaces to affirm the identity, clarify purpose, and equip Black women and girls for leadership and service.

Black woman, are you okay?

Like-minded Community: Support is an action verb. If you support my work and the leaders that I serve, please start by becoming a paid subscriber of A Sojourner’s Truth: On Faith and Culture and The Leadership Post (coming this fall) today.

I am hosting two B.L.A.C.K. Women Leadership Retreats this year.

The October 12-14, 2025 retreat (registration deadline: September 15, 2025) will focus on “Leading through Grief” with Black Woman Grief Author and certified Grief Educator, Natasha Smith.

The December 14-16, 2025 retreat (registration deadline: November 14, 2025) will focus of end-of-year reflection and setting intentions for the New Year.

All retreat information and registration details can be found here. I look forward to serving and being in community with you.

The tour will begin tomorrow evening with our Journey to Freedom Juneteenth celebration. With our Network partner, St. Francis Springs Prayer Center, we will have a 4-course dinner curated by Dr. Gregory Thompson, Juneteenth: Faith & Freedom documentary viewing, and discussion with the documentary host, Pastor Rasool Berry.

TAKE THE JOURNEY WITH ME: This event is almost sold out. If you are in North Carolina or a surrounding area, we have 5 tickets remaining to purchase.

The intergenerational Global LET experience, will take 20 travelers from six states on a journey from North Carolina to Canada, concluding the tour at the church where Harriet Tubman maintained membership in Canada.

In light of the national discourses around public education, banned books, the erasure of Black history and historic figures, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), in their “Black Girl’s Guide to Travel,” Essence Magazine has taken notice of the need and a rising trend of literary tourism. They featured our upcoming tour as part of the conversation.

While the literary tourism trend is inspiring, touring, educating, and building character and confidence through leadership development, while creating access and opportunities for Black girls and young women is not a a trend for us. Tourism is an intentional part of our leadership development programming, and how we cultivate changemakers and global leaders of character at Leadership LINKS.

We completed our fifth Leadership Experience Tour (LET) this spring. Inspired by my memoir, A Sojourner’s Truth: Choosing Freedom and Courage in a Divided World, we took our LINKS Leaders (mentees and program participants) to Orangeburg and Charleston, SC. Check out our highlights, and thank you to our travel partners.

Harriet became known as “Black Moses” for being a liberator of her people. Therefore, we will use my Journey to Freedom Exodus Bible study to explore her freedom journey alongside that of Moses and the biblical Exodus narrative.

As we prepare for our upcoming Global LET, our nonprofit community is considering the life, faith, and leadership of Harriet Tubman as she inspires our hopeful pursuit of moral leadership in a dark world.

You, too, can become a part of this story.

We have a few ways for you to intentionally support the development of Black girls and young women, and take the Journey to Freedom with us:

TAKE THE JOURNEY WITH ME:

• LET’S SEE HAMILTON - We will attend the Hamilton play on Broadway at 7:00 pm ET on Saturday, June 28, 2025. We have 6 extra tickets (centered balcony) that are available for sale for $350 each. These are a first come, first served offering.

Those who want to purchase tickets and join us for the show, should email our Board Treasurer at finance@leadershiplinksinc.org, with the SUBJ line: Hamilton Ticket Purchase, include your full name, quantity of tickets to purchase, and phone number. She will send a Paypal invoice, and once the invoice is paid, will email you the ticket(s).

• TAKE THE VIRTUAL JOURNEY - as a fundraiser for the tour, we are also selling virtual tickets ($100 each). Anyone can purchase these tickets and they will be able to take the journey with us virtually. Once your ticket is purchased, our Executive Assistant will send an email to invite you to join our online platform, Mighty Networks.

  

  Virtual travelers will receive a virtual passport, be invited into a private online community with bus travelers and other virtual ticket holders. The online community can be accessed via an app, website, or email. Virtual travelers will receive behind the scenes footage, participate in our daily devotionals, daily wrap ups, live streams, site visits, and chats with our Youth and Young Women Leaders, leadership team, tour guide, and guests on the journey. They will also participate in our wrap and reflection session after the tour.

  Once you accept the invitation, there are three ways that you can take the journey with us:

  • Download the Mighty Network app and follow the journey.

  • Log in and follow the journey on the Mighty Network website.

  • Adjust your email settings and have the journey come to your inbox.

• In is not too late to sponsor the tour. The Global LET is a unique learning experience to invest in and cultivate the types of leaders of character and truth-tellers that we need. Any financial support that you can offer will help cover the commitments we have already made, and also support our nonprofit as we prepare to celebrate our 10th Year of Incorporation in August, and build for sustainability for the next ten years and beyond.

There are various ways to support through our Fundraiser page.

The Global LET “Sponsorship Package” and details can be downloaded from the tour website. Thank you for your prayerful consideration and for sharing with others.

I hope all is well with you and your families. I am more committed than ever to the person of Jesus, the truth of the Holy Bible, and the discipling people to follow in the way of Jesus. As the people of God, we need sound theology and a deep conviction to holiness and righteous now more than ever. We need community, accountability, and spiritual practices that can sustain us during these dark times. Let us not forget that light shines brightest in the darkness. To this end, I have partnered with several friends to offer a few opportunities to help you grow in your faith, equip you to lead and serve your community, and inspire and encourage you on the journey.

Please continue joining us, and sharing these opportunities with others.

1. Beginning Wednesday, March 19, 2025, I will be hosting an 8-week virtual Bible study through my Journey to Freedom: Discovering the God of Deliverance Exodus Bible study. Purchase the book via Cokesbury.

Written as a layperson’s commentary, this is the only Exodus Bible study that is written by an African American woman, connecting the significance of the Exodus narrative to the historical faith and justice movement of Black descendants of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. We have been here before, and we need to look back to glean wisdom from God and those who have suffered well, to discern how best to move forward. The study includes Bible reading, individual and small group discussion questions, weekly reflection exercises, and spiritual rhythms and practices to sustain you on the journey. Then register to join the virtual study group.

Audience: Intergenerational invitation to a multi-ethnic community of men and women, boys and girls. Let the elders teach so the young will know and remember who God is, what God has done, and if God was faithful to deliver before, he is able to do it again.

100% of the proceeds for the virtual study will go to support my 501(c)(3) nonprofit’s upcoming Global Leadership Experience Tour (Global LET), a 14-day spiritual pilgrimage and leadership education experience for Black girls and young women. This intergenerational opportunity with follow-up the footsteps of Harriet Tubman, charting the Underground Railroad North to Canada. Find out more about the tour and how you can support, by visiting our nonprofit’s website.

2. This month, I am also continuing the We Will Set Our Hope Series with my friends Pastor David Swanson and Latasha Morrison. This month, we will focus our discussion on my Voices of Lament: Reflections on Brokenness and Hope in a World Longing for Justice.

Voices of Lament is my first editing project, and I spent two years beginning with the racial reckoning and COVID pandemic in 2020 writing, praying, and building community with the 29 Black, Indigenous, Women Of Color (BIWOC) who contributed to this project. This book calls the “wailing women” (Jeremiah 9: 17-26) to the forefront to speak about how God deals with the wicked and the righteous through Psalm 37. I believed firmly then, as I do now, that the leadership we need during the darkest of times is from people who have learned how to journey through the dark. So, I invite you to listen and learn from the testimonies and deep lived theology of these faithful women, and have them serve as an invitation from God about how you might respond to the current crisis.

Register to join the virtual conversation being held on March 19, 2025 at 3:30 pm ET. This event is free and open to the public.

3. On March 27, 2025, I will be hosting an online workshop “Hope for Weary & Wailing Women of Color” in partnership with my friends at Christian Community Development Association (CCDA). This is a free offering.

Audience: Women of Color

Register to join us.

4. Upcoming Retreats - Jesus modeled for us throughout his earthly ministry that we need to draw away and rest, particularly when we are on the run, when crowds are pressing in and making demands, and when we are exhausted from being on kingdom mission for God. I am hosting quarterly retreats for the rest of the year.

   “The Way” Retreat Series will continue with the next retreat on May 8-10 (registration deadline is April 15, 2025) featuring the written work, Bearing God, by our Spiritual Guide, Dr. Marlena Graves.

   

   Continue joining me, giving this opportunity to another, and share with your leadership team. Quarterly retreats will continue throughout the year.

   

   Audience: Intergenerational, multi-ethnic community of men and women

   I am also hosting two retreats near the end of the year for Black women leaders.

   Retreat dates: October 12-14, 2025 and December 14-16, 2025. Register to join in community with us.

   

Read more

In January, the year 2025 of our Lord, only days after Donald Trump was inaugurated as the 47^th president of the United States, only days into his executive orders and the shock of his racialized policies that 92% of Black women in America knew were sure to come, I was preparing to board an airplane in the state of Georgia. As I walked down the hall towards my gate, I saw a dark-skinned Black boy approaching. He was skipping with joy in his light blue sweat suit as he ate cookies. I noticed that this sweet boy—perhaps in the sixth grade—was accompanied by a white, blond-haired woman. From their loving interactions, one would assume that she was either his mother or a close relative.

We are good with the visual, so far, right?…concerning unconditional love, and colorblindness, and reconciliation, and MLK’s dream, and how far we’ve come, and can’t we all just get along, and I don’t see color. Well, let me tell you what else I saw. I saw this same Black boy wearing a bright red hat with the white lettering, Make America Great Again (MAGA). I saw this vulnerable Black boy, who looks cute now, but is only a few years away from the people who take up familial space, seeing him as a superpredator. He will go from pet to threat, from superpredator to prey in no time. In a few short years, he will leave his white mother, and he will be all alone.

I mean, who knows, he could become Randall Pearson from This is Us. He could stuff all his questions about his identity and how his life came to be, down into the toes of his feet, and he could work really hard to become accepted in his white world, to not stand out in all his blackness, to overcompensate for not being white enough. He could be blessed to marry a Black woman like Beth, who loves him unconditionally, fiercely, a Black woman who protects him, and who reminds him daily that he is worthy of love, and that he is enough. Perhaps he and his Black wife will have Black children, and they will live happily ever after.

Or perhaps he will become like Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, a sexual abuser of at least one Black woman. Perhaps, he will grow up to marry a white woman who obstructs justice, while he still holds a key to the land, and perhaps he will go to his grave and that life will be enough for him. Perhaps, he will be like Herman Cain. Perhaps he will embrace all the pleasantries, the false sense of community, and drink all the poisonous red Kool-Aid until he dies from the very thing that they told him was no big deal. And then the community will forget about him, because to them, he was always a dispensable tool. To them, he was always enslaved. And what do you do with enslaved people? You work them until they die, and then you forget and continue writing stories about them and people who look like them, so we all forget.

As a Black woman and a Black mother who was preparing to go on a retreat for rest, my soul could only lament. I lament for the loneliness and the isolation that would come because this Black boy is being formed in relationships that are out of step with the Black community. He is out of step with 92% of Black women, and 78% of Black men who do not ascribe to the MAGA philosophy. For us, the MAGA philosophy, it’s policies, and practices have a clear and calculated racialized agenda.

And apparently, there were millions of voters in these yet to be United States of America who, like this Black boy, were just skipping along eating cookies. Because cookies are appealing to the eye and are good to eat. But most cookies have no nutritional value. If you didn’t know, now you know. It is not just Black and Brown people who will be harmed. The philosophy will negatively impact the most vulnerable among us: to include our elderly and those in need of health care, the poorest among us, the refugee population (you know, those who come to America “the right way,” countless of them who are supported through wonderful Christian organizations like World Relief and World Vision). The philosophy will negatively impact your neighbors, it will weaken our country, our relationships with allies, our creditability on the global stage, and it will impact your pocketbook. So, thanks for the economic vote of confidence.

I lament that this white mother is giving this Black boy cookies that are appealing to the eye, and are good to eat, but the end is certainly death. She doesn’t understand that under her faithful love is toxic poison. She is worse than Mommy Dearest. She is sprinkling that colorless, odorless white poison all over her son’s cookies, and the only way he will ever be free is if she stops leaving her Black flower in the attic.

I lament that he will die of isolation or loneliness because he hates himself or because there is no good Black man who writes to him with the honesty, love, and passion that Ta-Nehisi Coates writes to his son. He will die if there is no Black man like James Baldwin writing to his nephew telling him to love white folks anyway. He will die of self-loathing, and if they don’t get to him first, he will lynch himself. He will die like strange fruit on the vine, and the people, who are supposed to be “his people” won’t even notice. It will be an isolated incident. It will be unfortunate. It will be because of a mental health crisis. It will always be his fault. My heart breaks for him.

I lament, not that he does not have a Black mother, but rather because he has the worst kind of white one. She can never be Langston Hughes’ mother telling him, “Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.” But history and her commitment to the MAGA philosophy informs me that she is not the woman who will put her life, body, or ideals on the line for the sake of her Black son. No, in her own self-righteousness, self-preservation, and self-care, or perhaps to soothe her own white guilt, she has brought him into her own world. She has not modeled the love or leadership of Immanuel, the one who came down to be with us in our world.

That Black boy will grow up to become a Black man. He deserves a mother who has coached him so he knows how to respond when the police pull him over for a busted taillight so perhaps, he doesn’t get shot in the back, because no amount of money that he earns will exempt him from the possibility of that experience. Just ask Tyler Perry. He deserves a mother that does not espouse an ideology and philosophy that goes against his very being. He deserves a mother that will tell him that in this here flesh in America, he does not have a home, but by God’s grace, he can become a good Black man, who makes a home with a family, and builds a community that resembles the now-and-not-yet kingdom. He deserves a mother that is not afraid to tell the truth, one who assures him that she will be with him to love, nurture, and protect until he builds up the stamina to do and sustain that good work. He deserves a mother who cares enough to make her dwelling among a diverse community of Black people, who understands the Black dilemma in the United States. I lament that he does not have it.

I’m continuing the We Will Set Our Hope discussion series with my friends Pastor David Swanson and Latasha Morrison, with a discussion of Latasha’s latest release, Brown Faces, White Spaces: Confronting Systemic Racism to Bring Healing and Restoration. Register to join us and invite a friend.

I’m continuing “The Way” Retreat Series with Part 2, guiding participants through the writing of Dr. Marlena Graves during the weekend of May 8-10, 2025. Registration deadline is April 15, 2025. Visit my speaker website for details and registration about this retreat, and others in the series.

I am hosting two retreats for Black Women Leaders in the Fall/Winter 2025. Registration is open, and details can be found on the B.L.A.C.K. Women’s Leadership Retreat webpage.