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A night view of LoCA.
Serah Chule, Austin t Sambo and Benny Bwanga Ghosting out in photos 😂

Today on "SPEAKING MY TRUTH THROUGH AN IMAGE" we reflect upon this powerful poem by Amanda Gorman.

Amanda S. C. Gorman (born 1998) is an American poet and activist. Her work focuses on issues of oppression, feminism, race, and marginalization, as well as the African diaspora. Gorman was the first person to be named National Youth Poet Laureate. She published the poetry book The One for Whom Food Is Not Enough in 2015. In 2021, she delivered her poem "The Hill We Climb" at the inauguration of U.S. President Joe Biden.

When day comes we ask ourselves,
where can we find light in this never-ending shade?
The loss we carry,
a sea we must wade
We've braved the belly of the beast
We've learned that quiet isn't always peace
And the norms and notions
of what just is
Isn’t always just-ice
And yet the dawn is ours
before we knew it
Somehow we do it
Somehow we've weathered and witnessed
a nation that isn’t broken
but simply unfinished
We the successors of a country and a time
Where a skinny Black girl
descended from slaves and raised by a single mother
can dream of becoming president
only to find herself reciting for one
And yes we are far from polished
far from pristine
but that doesn’t mean we are
striving to form a union that is perfect
We are striving to forge a union with purpose
To compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters and
conditions of man
And so we lift our gazes not to what stands between us
but what stands before us
We close the divide because we know, to put our future first,
we must first put our differences aside
We lay down our arms
so we can reach out our arms
to one another
We seek harm to none and harmony for all
Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true:
That even as we grieved, we grew
That even as we hurt, we hoped
That even as we tired, we tried
That we’ll forever be tied together, victorious
Not because we will never again know defeat
but because we will never again sow division
Scripture tells us to envision
that everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree
And no one shall make them afraid
If we’re to live up to our own time
Then victory won’t lie in the blade
But in all the bridges we’ve made
That is the promise to glade
The hill we climb
If only we dare
It's because being American is more than a pride we inherit,
it’s the past we step into
and how we repair it
We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation
rather than share it
Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy
And this effort very nearly succeeded
But while democracy can be periodically delayed
it can never be permanently defeated
In this truth
in this faith we trust
For while we have our eyes on the future
history has its eyes on us
This is the era of just redemption
We feared at its inception
We did not feel prepared to be the heirs
of such a terrifying hour
but within it we found the power
to author a new chapter
To offer hope and laughter to ourselves
So while once we asked,
how could we possibly prevail over catastrophe?
Now we assert
How could catastrophe possibly prevail over us?
We will not march back to what was
but move to what shall be
A country that is bruised but whole,
benevolent but bold,
fierce and free
We will not be turned around
or interrupted by intimidation
because we know our inaction and inertia
will be the inheritance of the next generation
Our blunders become their burdens
But one thing is certain:
If we merge mercy with might,
and might with right,
then love becomes our legacy
and change our children’s birthright
So let us leave behind a country
better than the one we were left with
Every breath from my bronze-pounded chest,
we will raise this wounded world into a wondrous one
We will rise from the gold-limbed hills of the west,
we will rise from the windswept northeast
where our forefathers first realized revolution
We will rise from the lake-rimmed cities of the midwestern states,
we will rise from the sunbaked south
We will rebuild, reconcile and recover
and every known nook of our nation and
every corner called our country,
our people diverse and beautiful will emerge,
battered and beautiful
When day comes we step out of the shade,
aflame and unafraid
The new dawn blooms as we free it
For there is always light,
if only we’re brave enough to see it
If only we’re brave enough to be it

Transcript of Amanda Gorman's inaugural poem
BY THE HILL STAFF - 01/20/21 01:32 PM EST

Today on "SPEAKING MY TRUTH THROUGH AN IMAGE" We hear from Luis Roy Zulu who is a software engineer, philanthropist and entrepreneur.



When all is well, all good looking and healthy, death is far from our minds as it is something that is still a taboo to even abruptly think of in some cultures.

Despite all this, death is the most terrifying and inevitable enemy of all mankind. Death does not prejudice, stigmatize, or is partial. Death does not care what race, tribe, s*x you are or what position or power you have, death will look for you, it will locate you, and it will quench the last breath out of you.

Yes death is coming, if death is inevitable, what then is the purpose of life? Why are you living?
People usually say, you only live once, so enjoy yourself while you can, which in most cases advocates for illicit acts, why then, don’t we say you only live once, so better prepare for the after life? Could it be that they don’t believe, that we could live after death through the resurrection in paradise?

I don’t intend to answer these questions as most are opinionated.
When we die, those whom we thought were worthless while our physical body was in good health, are the ones that will mourn us. When we die, one ultimate thing stands out, weather buried in a first class cemetery to the human eye or the nth class, we all turn into dirt (dust), which clearly shows how equal we all are.
How then do you want to be remembered after you die?
What legacy will you leave behind?
What lessons will people learn from you?
What name will your offsprings inherit?

Remember, when one life ends another begins... this is true with the illustration of the pictures attached, once a mango falls off a tree due to decay, wherever it goes it gives chance to new life.

What kind of name does the new life inherit? What legacy do they live by? Was it a sweet mango? Bitter? Or tasteless?

Remember every man's life ends the same way. It is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man from another.

If you’re reading this, it means you’re alive, you still have life, so thank God, as you pass your thank you’s reflect on this:

How can I treasure the people in my life more knowing that they will someday die?

Would I rather have more people at my wedding or at my funeral? Why?

What would others say about me, and what do I hope they would say?

What can I learn from the death of a loved one?

All in all remember, Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live.